Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-08-30

of affairs to the Secretary of Mar pg,,
whom he had been in conference liz one
says:
As soon as Santiago falls the trcops
mist All be put in camp comfortable as
they can be made. and remain. / suppose.
until the fever has had its run
Disagreed With AIscr.
Miles did not agree with Secretary AL
ger, for July 81, in A letter. the general
commanding urged the return of the army
to the United States as soon as possible.
July IL. after the surrender was complete.
Gen. Shafter wired as follows TO Cen Miles:
'Siboney. July II. 1895. s4s pm ire
ceived July Is. 1898, by Gen. Miles on
beard Tale)-Letters and orders IN refer
eece to movem2 mt of camp received and
VIII be carried out. None is more anxious
10 get away from here than myself IL
seems from your orders given me that you
regard my forces part Of your command
Nothing viii give me- greater pleasure than
serving you, general, and / shall comply
with all your requests and directions. bur
was told by the Secretary that you were
not TO supersede me in command here. /
will furnish the information called for as
to condition of command TO Gilmore diu-
tant general, A. II. Q.
'sHAFTER. Major General
Gen. Miles very promptly replied as fol-
lows:
PLAYA DEL ESTE. July is. 1885
'tGuantanamoD, il 30 am.
" Gen Shafter:
Telegram received: have no desire and
have carefully avoided any appearance of
sUperseding you. Your command is a part
of the United States army, which / have
the honor to command. having been duly
assigned thereto, and directed 10y the Pres
ident to go wherever ! thought my pres
ence required, and give such general direc-
items / thought best concerning military
matters. and especially directed to go TO
Santiago for a specific purpose. You Will
also notice that the orders of the Secretary
OF War of July IL left the matter to my
discretion. 1 should regret that any event
should cause either yourself or any part of
your command to cease TO be a part Of
mine Very truly yours; so,- ,,r
Major General Commanding United
States Army
Gen Miles then gave Gen. Shafter final
instructions and left hurriedly for Porto
Rico"
AIger's Recent Remarks.
In view of the situation as revealed by
the above kilograms. the following state
ment, contained in the New York Herald Of
recent date, is quoted by the Star:
IF my cablegram TO Maj Gen. Shafter,
informing him that Maj Gen. Miles was
not sent to supersede him In supreme COM
mand of the troops in the field at Santiago
de Cuba prevented the storming of the city
on the day of its surrender and this result
ed in the saving of lives which otherwise
would have been lost in the attack. then
am repaid for sending it a thousandfold."
This statement was made this afternoon
by Secretary Alger. apropos of the publica-
ton in the Herald of yesterday, setting
forth the doings of Maj. Gen. Miles during
his brief stay in Cuba. The Secretary told
me be did not propose to enter into any
controversy regarding the Santiago cam
paign with anybody. The results spoke for
themselves and they were a sufficient jus
LITIGATION for the policy which had been
pursued by the War Department in the
conduct of the operations against Santiago.
My cablegram to Gen. Shafter," he con-
tinued, was simply due to my desire TO
sure him that / intended to be absolutely
fair. Before his departure from Washing
ton, Gen. Miles and 1 had talked the mate
ter over, and he started for Cuba knowing
that he was not in any way to interfere
with the operations which Were under thu
control of Gen. Shafter. That there could
be doubt whatever, / cabled to Gen.
Shafter, informing him that Gen Miles had
left for Cuba with instructions not to in
any manner supersede him commander
of troops in the field at Santiago de Cuba,
and. as i have said il my message prevent
ed a battle on the morning of the day the
city surrendered, then I am repaid thou
San6rClH