The record-union., 1898-10-05


that there was more complaint of the
shortage of medicine among the in
fantry than in the cavalry service.
Going back to Tampa he said that at
the season he was there, the first half
of June, the site was without objection,
but he had felt that it would be wet
later in the season. 1t was his i'm
preston Tampa had been selected as a
camp site after the beginning of the
war and was incidental to the intended
movement on Havana. There was, he
said, at the times, shortage of sup
plies at the camp but nothing" he
added, that a soldier should complain
Of They had comfortable tents and
the commissary supplies were sufficient.
The water supply also was good. He
said the men in his command were we'll
taken care Of. Moreover, very few
men were at that time sick. He had
himself gone into the hospitals and
had found the men Well General
Wheeler said he had no control over
any of the supplies which were taken
to Santiago on the transports when he
left Tampa. This was attended to by
the different staff officers. He only
knew from conversation with them lat
ter that there was an abundance of
supplies OF all character.
Returning to the Santiago campaign,
he said that only two regiments had
reported a shortage of rations and he
had Immediately telephoned to the rear
and the shortage, which was due to ac-
cident, had been adjusted There was
suffering when the men We're compelled
to lie on the breastWorks. The meat
was poor and they had no bread, but
hard tack. They were forced to live
in the sun and water alternately and
necessarily there was much sickness.
While they had the full quota of doc
tors and nurses, he thought that if
more had been furnished the men would
have been better cared for. AS for ra-
tons the days supply was generally
issued. Whenever the troops went
into action they would throw their food
away as we'll as their packs and they
often did not recover them.
General Wheeler took up the COM
mon report that the Cubans stole
goods thus discarded. 1t was not fair,
he said, to thus accuse the natives, for
there was so much of this fiOtsam and
jetsam that hungry and poorly clothed
be blamed for helping themselves. He
said he had seen among the 2200O who
came out of Santiago many ladies of
refinement who were emaciated and
evidently hungry In reply to ques-
tions he stated he never had heard of
any shortage of commissary or ord
nance supplies at Santiago, but he had
been told that the medical supplies
were short, yet he had no personal
knowledge on this point. He had seen
some wounded men crawling to the
rear in the ngagements, but as a rule
as soon as man fell in battle he was
carried to the hospitals by the Medi-
cal Corps. He said that as a rule the
quality of hard tack was good. Where
there was deterioration it was due to
local rains and not to the fact of orig
inal inferiority.
The spirit of the army <as such, he
said, that there was no disposition to
complain. They were ali proud to
be there and willing to undergo hard
ships
Replying to a question from Colonel
DENLY, General Wheeler said the reg
ulars had shown a greater ability to
take care of themselves than the vol
unteers. The volunteers We're more
careless. but the volunteer cavalry men
were not so negligent as the other vol
unteers, because they were generally
Western men who had been used to
camping. He thought this fact had
had a strong influence in causing the
health of the regulars to be better than
that of the volunteers. Captain Howell
asked to what he attributed the devel-
opment of disease after the captula-
ton of Santiago. General Wheeler re-
piled that it was due to the climate and
to the exposure made necessary. All
the men seemed to be more or less af-
fected by the conditions. He had, he
said, known of no instance of a sick or
wounded man dying from want of care
from the physicians. So far as he
knew there was general commendation
of the medical corps, except that on
one or two occasions there had been
some grumbing in regard to the gen
eral conditions. He thought there was
a deficiency in the number of ambu-
lances. but this deficiency was due to
the exigencies of the campaign. Cen
eral Wheeler also said in reply to Cap
tain Howell that he knew of no con
pa. He was not acquainted with
case in which a bed of a vehicle was
shipped on one vessel and the wheels
on another. His memory was not dis
tinct as to complaints from physicians
in his command as to the scarcity of
medical supplies, but he thought there
were some such complaints and IN
such cases he had had them supplied
as promptly as possible.
There had been difficulty in getting
the transports to lie as near in shore as
was desirable, rendering it difficult to
get at supplies promptly.
In this connection General Wheeler
revealed the fact that he had felt
somewhat hurt that his had been the
fourth command ordered to be land
ed. when he thought his rank entitled
him 10 the first landing. General
Shafter had given the order which thus
affected him.
Speaking of the sleeping apartments
of the transport, General Wheeler said
they We're quite warm and there was
some discomfort He had often gone
down among the men at night and
found that there was comparatively
little complaint, except for the heat.
Coming back from Santiago to Mon
tauk, he had sailed on the Miami, hav-
ing chosen it because it was said to be
the worst. He found it very comfort
able and when they landed, there were
only thirty-four sick and only three or
four of these We're too i'll to stand up
for inspection. There was plenty Of
water on the vessel and a sufficiency of
ice for the sick, though not for others.
After the destruction of Cervera's
fleet, the army was more abundantly