Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-08-31
Defense of Secretary Aiyer.

To the Editor Of The Ey ening Star:
As veteran soldier 1 feel indignant at
the outrageous assaults upon Secretary AL
ger. He IS blamed for the helpIessness and
incompetence not only of the officers, but
also of the private soldiers under him.
Competent officers were not to be had for
| they did not exist. They did not exist even
| in the regular army. for they were totally
unaccustomed to the exigancies of war
That magnificent machine with which
marched to the sea, and which almost need
ed no officers, had passed away, and even
| its traditions were forgotten. Such a ma
chine was the product of three years of act
i've war, and cannot be improvised. Every
part Of the machine knew every other part
perfectly and what every man. company,
regiment or corps could be implicitly relied
on to do We We're thoroughly weaned from
home by our long service, and had become
veterans. 1t takes not only competent Off
GERS, but also competent and experienced
men to go through a campaign well. l do
rot call the helpless mob which has enlisted
in this war soldiers, for they are not and
could not be until long service and priva-
tons had made them such. They are not at
all weaned from home living and are PAM
pered. insubordinate, careless and helpless.
An army has to work together a good while
before it knows itself and can work its own
comnissary, medical and other departments
smoothly and easily. Napoleon could not
have saved those officers and men from
! their own ignorance and incompetence.
Nothing but long service could make the
machine work smoothly The rations which
were brought up with such frightful labor,
ard which could not BE- replaced, at Sibouey
were thrown away by the excited men. A
little battle such an immense event to
them and so unusual that they were afraid
to carry pound of weight. We never threw
away our rations or water In battle, nor
even our blankets. There were plenty of
supplies, but no. officer knew anything
Their minds were on other matters and on
the excitement instead of on their business
The whole machine was a muddle to them
The amateur surgeons had nothing. Why
didn't they see to it themselves, before they
left for Cuba, that they had everything
with them? Such an amateur and incom-
petent mob is enough to drive a Secretary
of War crazy. In the civil war the only
trouble about army "a tons was whether
we could gst them or not. We wanted no
better The bareback we got the At
ianta Campaign, with fifty maggots, four or
five weevi! and two or three centipedes to
each cracker-1 do not exaggerate in thu
le2st-and the meat. green and with worm
holes all through it, would not suit the gem
tiemen of this war. We did not write to all
the newspapers or impeach Secretary Stan
ton We knew that Sherman was giving us
the old stores that had baked for a year in
the sun at Chattanooga and was replacing
them with fresh.
A green regiment happens to be twelve
hours without rations, and it forthwith
riots and plumbers. Often / have gone
twenty-four forty-eight and several times
seventy-two hours without bite. My
horse on entering the battle of Mission
Ridge had been four days without food At
Savannah the $500 horses of our division
(kiipatrick's) were eight days without one
bite, and that in pine country, where they
could not browse bushes.
In the cold winter of 1Sfs3-64 we were from
November till March in the cold country of
East Tennessee, without even shelter tents,
and moving every day We turned into the
woods or fields at night and lay down in tina
snow or mud, often below zero. Not one
tenth of that time were we supplied with
rations, and the country was poverty
stricken and in deepest misery around u.s.
Hardships far exceeding any of the present
war were bountifully sprfnk1ed all through
our service. We did not have one little at
fair like Santiago, where we were all laud-
ed as heroes" but We had 1t hot and
heavy with a worse enemy than Spaniards
for three long years.
No food except army rations was provided
for our hospitals by the government. All
beyond that was provided by fairs and pri-
vate associations. Ten thousand letters a
day were not written complaining of food.
Our letters were about our battles and
marches The whole of the present army
gives every sign of officers and man totally
inexperienced and raw, incompetent to take
care OF themselves and expecting delica-
cies which war seldom or never affords No
one expects invalids in hospital to chew
Fardtack and fat pork. but unless the hos
Pital cooks are worthless or lazy almost
snything can be made of the army ration
The trouble is not in the least with Secre-
tary Alger, but with the imperfect machine
he has under him. When the machine has
been licked into shape by hard service and
has become automatic 1t will be different
Even then these fellows won't get what
they want, but will have plenty of hard
ships They have got to get used TO hard
ships The boot Is on the other leg. II Is
not the Secretary. but the raw army which
should bear the blame
ANDREW VAN BIBBER
Cincinnati. Ohio. August q. 1893