Connecticut western news., 1898-11-24
ROOSEVELT ON THE WAR
Tells the Board of Inquiry His
 Experiences.
BOUGHT FOOD FOR HIS SOLDIERS.
and Shortage of Supplies nt rampa-ClothIng Not Suitable For Tropical CIimnte-CouId Not Tell Who Was Responsible.

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 For Tropical CIimnte-CouId Not
 Tell Who Was Responsible. New York, Nov. 23.-Colonel Theodore Roosevelt late yesterday afternoon ap- peared before the war inquiry board at the Fifth avenue hotel. In reply to questions by General Wilson he said:
 T was lieutenant colonel of the First volunteer cavalry, which I formed at San Antonio. It was due, I think to Colonel Wood that the regiment was equipped and got into the field of ac- ton so quickly. I acted as lieutenant colonel from May to July 8. and from Aug. l to Sept. I acted as brigade commander"
 Did the men have sabers ?'' NO. sir: they were to have had ma fhetes, but 1t was just as we'll that they never got machetes. They had Krag- Jorgensen rifles and revolvers.'' Were your men properly rationed in San Antonio?"
 T don't know about San Antonio. was so busy learning my own duties that I couldn't tell whether the food was all right or not. But at Tampa there was a period of 24 hours when there was considerable confusion. I had to buy food for the men, but after we got to the camp outside the town every thing went smoothly"
 Were you ever reimbursed for the food you bought the men?"
 "Oh, my mol That was merely per sonal matter. It was one on me-"
 "Who was responsible for the confu- sion at Tampa when your regiment was ernbarking?"
 '1 can't say, but 1t seems to me that 1t should have been known beforehand what regiments were going in certain transports. Colonel Wood found after an hour and a half spent trying to get the quartermaster that our regiment was assigned to the Yucatan. Then I found that the Yucatan had also been assigned to the Second infantry and to the Seventy-first regiment, New York volunteers, and I had to go aboard the Yucatan and hold the transport down against the Second infantry and the Seventy first New York"
 ''Who do you think was responsible for this confusion-the department or some of the officers there?"
 That I would not know. I was only lieutenant colonel at that time"
 What were the accommodations for the men?"
 Reached Cuba In Good Condition.
 They were not as good as I could have wished. Still they were not bad and the men had the liberty of the deck. The only bad food was the canned corn ed beef. An arrangement was made by which the men could boil their coffee at the galleys, and the men arrived in Cuba in good condition.
 There was little facility for unload ing the transport on lighters. One of my horses was drowned in landing, but General Wood got both of his horses through.
 We reached Siboney at g o'clock at night on the day we landed. After sup per General Wood informed us that we were to start on the next morning and catch the Spaniards. The next morn ing's march was hard one, especially for the rider. There was no opportu- nifty for f1ankers. and it was so hot that about 100 men dropped out for awhile. When the first Spanish outpost was dis covered, General Wood ordered silence in the ranks. and was sent to the right to deploy with his right wing.
 When the Spaniards began firing, I didn't at first know what to make of it. had never seen smokeless powder at work before. A newspaper man was with me when the firing first began. and he called my attention to the Spanish hats in the distance across tthe ravine. We soon routed the men, and word was sent around that Colonel Wood was shot. But soon found the colonel and when I asked him where the Spaniards were he said, They have run away
 Then the fighting was over, and we captured. among other things. Spanish mules loaded with beans, of which we were in need, and we cooked the beans for supper that night, and that ended the battle of Las Guayamas."
 In response to a question by General Dodge, Colonel Roosevelt said there was one thing he could not understand.
 After the first battle and before all the provisions had been landed" he said, "our men wanted beans and to- matoes. There were none, the commis- sary of Siboney said, for the men, but there were some for the officers. The commissary would not even let the men buy these things, saying that they were for officers only. So l had to stretch my conscience as much as possible and loaded two horses with beans and to- matoes for officers, which I immediate ly distributed to the men. That put them in good condition for the next bat tle"
 How about the mems clothing?"
 Tt was good: but as the shirts were such as I would have used in Montana in winter, it was i'll suited to the Cuban climate. The leggings were also bad for muddy roads,
 Colonel Roosevelt then narrated the other skfrmishes and the battle of San Juan Hill