Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-10-25
TALE OF THE SERVICE
Lieutenant Coleman Gives An Enter
tanning Talk Of His Experience
in the Field.
TROUBLESOME SEA CAPTAINS
Necessity of Transports Being Under Con-
troll of Naval Officers Inefficient Light
Artillery Service Emergency
Roosevelt Was Equal To.

ROoSeVeltS Rough RIDERS, reglmental
and brigade quartermaster, expresses
himself as very much pleased at the
idea of getting back to Santa Fe, where
the bracing and health giving climate
is already putting him back to where
he was before falling sick. He had es-
capped sickness of every kind throughout
the Cuban campaign, vas not sick at
Montauk Point, and saw no reason why
he should be sick at all, when he was
taken down with typhoid-pneumonia at
Washington. He had gone there to set
tie up his regimental accounts, and was
naturally surprised to find sickness
overtaking him. However, careful
nursing and doctOring and a naturally
robust constitution enabled him to
overcome the attack, and he left Wash
ington on the Goth of this month for
home. A prominent st. Louis lady
friend looked after the patient as far as
her home, so he had excellent nursing
and did first rate. At St. Louis it was
wet and cold, so he remained in the
sleeper for the hour his car remained
in that city. At Kansas City it was
showing, and he ventured out, but
found it eXpedient to hurry back to the
pleasant and warm quarters of the
Pullman. Lieutenant Coleman packed
his uniform away when he left Wash
ington, so he escaped the Fostering
from curious passengers thai SO many
of the other boys suffered en- route
west.
With the exception of his sickness, of
course. the lieutenant enjoyed his
Washington visit very much. He was
introduced to the president, who re-
ceived him very kindly and made some
remarks that the visitor had just rea-
son to interpret as highly compliment
airy. In fact, the lieutenant was given
to understand that a commission in the
reorganized regular army would be at
his disposal if he wanted it. Just at
present he is not inclined to avail him
self of the opportunity, but some of his
friends are urging him to by all means
accept a commission, as it means a life
position with excellent pay. The lieu
tenants accounts were satisfactorily
settled with the War department,
where he was given a discharge from
all responsibility, with a certificate
which reads as follows: War depart
ment, quartermaster generals office,
w, chtn~tor n n 0ntnhar 10 1RQS
Sir: The quartermaster general di-
reefs me to inform you that your return
of quartermaster's supplies rendered
for the first quarter of the fiscal year
| 80 closed, has been received at this of
| fee, examined and found correct. Re
| spectfully, F. G. Hodgson. lieutenant
colonel quartermaster volunteers: to
Lieutenant Sherrard Coleman, LIST u. s.
volunteer cavalry"
Lieutenant Coleman left Santa Fe
with troop e as it's I'd lieutenant,
which rank he retained until July
9, when he was in the trenches
before Santiago with his regiment.
He was there and then made acting
quartermaster and commissary for the
regiment of Rough Riders, and subse-
| quently was made acting quartermas-
! ter and commissary of the I'd brigade
of the cavalry division.
He says that primarily the cause
of supplies failing or not being on
hand when wanted was the hur-
~, with which tho ~vra1itinn was
organized and conducted. Then the
second, and a very potent cause was the
conduct of the transport captains.
These vessels should have been placed
and managed in the interests of the
service; whereas the captains, who
were in neither army nor naval service,
We're allowed to remain in control of
officers considered first the interests OF
the owners of the boats rather than the
interests of the expedition. Fol- in
stance, a gale was feared and these
ter whether they were unloaded or not,
and the result often vas that when sup
plies were needed at the front they
could not be had because the vessel
to sea. The siege guns We're not un-
| loaded at all, whereas when loaded al
Tampa it was the intention to have
| them unloaded early and quickly. The
| thing to have done would have been t
have compelled these captains to re-
| main neal the shore until their yes.
| sells were %unloaded, OF be placed under
arrest. This reminded the lieutenant OF
how Colonel Roosevelt managed an
awkward situation aboard ship on the
way home. The captain reported that
he could not get up steam as his fire
men had struck and would not work
Colonel Roosevelt replied: They
won't, hey? Well, WI will see about
that" So he went down into the fire
room with a detail of men and told the
firemen thai Ne would give them just
one hour to get UP steam to a certain
pressure, or he would put them in irons
and shut them up IN the nOld until tney
reached the United States. Those fire.
men did not wait for anything further
and steam was gotten up within the
| time specified by Colonel Roosevelt.
The failure of the artillery arm of the
| service at Santiago was so glaring as tt
bring it into general disrepute not only
| with the troops themselves, but gave
the foreign representatives a goot
| chance to cover that arm of the service
| with ridicule in the reports to theil
| governments. The artillerymen really
| did nothing beyond getting themselves
laughed at. The batteries of light ar.
tillery were not only insufficiently
equipped, but they seemed to be for.
aver in trouble OVer something, They