The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-05


October. The command did not ma, crially
improve in health in that time. This nc at
tributed largely to inability to properly diet
Lieutenant SchendeI, Of the Sixth In
fantry, was the next witness. lie lett with
the Sixth for Tampa, and at Santiago was
terS on the trip from Tampa 10 SanticGo.
Commissary supplies were always suth-
ctent, except for such delays as we're I'M
avoidable from rains and difficulty of trans
portation. After the fall of Santiago the
regiment was fully supplied, AT Montauk
Point the supplies were sum e1ent, nut dur
ing the first week were sometimes deiayed
until late in the day by insufficient railway
facilities. This was soon femedisd. The
men were we'll taken care of by the medical
department. After reaching Montauk I'oiht
the men rapidly broke down. Not more
than twenty-five or thirty escaped illness
OF some sort. The witness Was i'll twice
Lieutenant Colonel Miner, commanding the
SIXTH infantry testlfled 70 MI the moVen1s NJ,
t1ago and return. He regarded the Tampa
camp as excellent. There was difhculty In
getting transportation from Tampa 20 CuEa.
The transport Miami, in which mis- regiment
went to Santiago, was not ut Tor troops.
The men would have died In their quarters
portfolios were left open and air thus sup
piled. The supplies of the men ana or the
officers were the same Most OF ths oihc t,It
were on foot from loss of horses. Speaking
of the attack at San Juan lilll, ne sara
he found when they reached the sunlInit
that Colonel Egbert had been wounded ana
he was in command That niSlt NJ sup
plies came up, and the men were without
food or blankets, except sucn fooC as Trey
the command began to break doW2 anout
the 18th They had dug trenches hy neht
and lay in the wet bitches all day. Inc
hot sun and the wet weather broke the 1aen
down. When march OF three miles Was
made not more than one-fourth Kept up,
but all got in by night. Inc morning q leL
the surrender the witness took the res nlenI
to higher ground and kept GheY1 IN camp.
By personal appeal to General Ken. ne Sc
ro1 x1ncac md talO
a change Of clothing for the men. Cen 1al-
i2ation was the trouble-centratiA1 to1 III
staff departments. he meant. IT me "ftness
could have got one wagon after me sur
render he could have kept his regiment sup
piled. But nothing could have preVent@i ne
sickness that followed the eZ1geacies OF the
Cuban campaign.
Being asked about the diet he said he
would recommend pickles and vegetables for
Scuba. The canned beef was nauseating,
and the men, when almost sSdrvng, Woo
not eat it. 1t seemed to be beer thal t nao
from nutriments as chips. rhe canned corn
beef was good, but they did no; ee- A.;
The Armour and Libby beef was aosolutely
Col. {. b. Hunt. of the First Ohio In
fantry, testified that when his regiment
reached Chickamauga it was poor!y SUP
fully supplied, never had a re1uiSlJlon nlieu
completely. If he made rsquiSltioon 1 l6a
sickness among the troops was not Inc IflL!l
of the camp nor due to the lack OF meul-
cnes, but more to the incapaclty Of oGI1
maLding officers in not enforcing dsclpllIe
and giving necessary care
VIM H. Davis, of Cincinnati, was the next
witness He was sent to Chlckamauga 10
examine the water supply, which he report
Gen. Fl. c. Egbert was called next; He IS
now brigadier of volunteers and colonel OF
the TWenty-second United States infantry
He commanded the Sixth Infantry AFTER the
retirement Of Colonel Cochran untll ne Was
wounded July l. He had no fault 70 nnu
with the camp at Tampa. or the supplies, OF
even with the transport Miami, except with
the ventilation He found troops abundant-
ly supplied for the campaign. The witness
received excellent care at the hospital Re-
ferring to his return on the Seneca, ne salu
the conditions on that vessel were not goOQ,
especially below where the troops were. he
demonstrated against certain conditions ana
Captain Daugherty remedied them. Ihere
was a shortage in water. The boat was
sent away hurriedly. General Egbert said
while the Seneca was not in good condl-
ton for transporting troops, that Its o11-
GERS did not seem to be in command DUR
ing the voyage as much as the surgeons.
When the Seneca reached Fortress Monroe
the surgeon telegraphed to Surgeon General
Sternberg, who ordered the vessel 10 go 10
New York. The next day, to his surprise,
the vessel had not gone. He asked why
and was told the captain refused TO go until
ordered to do so by che Quartermaster's de-
partment The witness called on the cap
tain and found this to be true. After re-
monstrance, against holding the wouna 1sa
men in such a place the witness told the
captain he would telegraph to the secretary
of war, telling him of the conditions ana
asking for orders. Meantime he sent a note
to the quartermaster at Fort Monroe, and
as soon as the situation was understood
there an order was given for the vessel 20
sail at once to New York and the captain
Fred j. Flueger, of Newport, KY, was
next examined. He went to Chickamauga
Aug. 1 to bring home Albert Boedker, or
the Second Kentucky, who was lying in the
hospital He found him in very bad con-
dition He was in a tent with four other
&c NHn hpfxEy no
so narrow that witness had to walk side
ways in going through. The nurses were
detailed men. In an adjoining tent he heard
grooming. and looking in, he saw man
with a quantity of maggots on his body.
He reported this Immediately to the at
tendants, who said they did not know 1t
had happened. They carried the man out,
washed him off and took him back. The
next day he died The witness detailed
Boedker's case, how he took cold from
marching through the rain and was taken
sick the day he reached Chickamauga. He
was at first refused admittance to the hos
pital, but finally the captain got him in. He
lay there twelve days on blanket on the
ground with one blanket over him. Then
he was sent to his quarters for full duty,
and next day at inspection he stood in line
three hours when he again broke down.
He was then in hospital until the witness
brought him home. He reached home Aug.
AT the afternoon session Major Griffith
testified regarding the camp conditions at
Chickamauga and the hospitals. He had
difficulty in getting enough tents and when
he secured the proper number he found the
last ones were of poor quality. From pri-
vate and state sources the regiments were
supplied with hospital tents. AS a rule the
men detailed as nurses were unfit. Witness
asked DIR. HOff for female nurses. This re-
lieved the situation. The staff of the diVi-
sion hospital was Inadequate when the in
crease of sickness occurred. Sickness
among surgeons reduced the working force.
He said there would have been no difficulty
in getting hundreds of competent surgeons
at Chickamauga within a week. He said he
knew many applications We're refused. He
attributed the failure at Camp Thomas
hospitals to red tape" and peace for
thirty years." which incapacitated the de-
partment for expansion for emergency. If
the trouble might have been avoided. One
great difficulty in getting supplies of drugs
arose from passing acquisitions from the
division surgeon to the corps surgeon and
the surgeon in chief This required a week.
He asked the CORPS commander, on June
The epidemic could thus have been avoided,
but no attention was given the request. He
regarded flies and water as causes of the
infection. The beer drinking and the I'M
wholesome food assisted in developing ty-
phoid germs. The mortality from typhoid
fever in this hospital was 66 out of 15S7
cases.
Captain Springer, of the Seventeenth In
fantry, was next examined. He cooper
ated with the surgeons at and after the
battle and knew the wounded were well
cared for
next witness. He served at Tampa, Camp
Thomas, Fort Sheridan and Fort Thomas.
The witness had no complaint at Fort
Thomas from either friends or patients. At
first, at Fort Thomas, there was trouble
for lack of good nurses, but that was soon
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