Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1898-11-17
GEN. NILES REPORT
Operations of the Army Dur
ing War With Spain.
CAUSE OF SICKNESS IN CAMPS
His Recommendations for Better Coast
Defcnscs and IA Larger
Standing Army.

Washington. Nov. l2.-The report of
Major General Miles, commanding the
United States army, was made public
today by direction of Secretary Alger.
The keynote of the report is found
in one of the opening sentences, whore
it is said: 1.-The military operations
during the year have been eXtraor-
binary. unusual and extensive"
statement which is fully brought out
by the long recital of important events
which General Miles shows have made
the military history of the year 1898
the most remarkable since the end of
the civil war.
In point of interest, the document
divides naturally into four chapters,
for, while brief alluson is made to
such matters as the military expedi-
tions to Alaska. interest naturally CEN
tiers in the portion which treats of the
war with Spain. Under this general
head the report deals with the plans of
campaign, with the war preparations.
with Santiago campaign, with General
Miles operations in Porto Rico, and,
lastly, with the important changes in
existing organizations which are, in
General Miles opinion, necessary to
make the army an effective weapon for
the defense of the country. There i.
an entire absence of any evidence of di-
rect controversy, though certain sem
fences in the report are italicized in an
apparent desire to justify previously
expressed plans or details of the cam
paign, and where it deals with events,
the document is largely made up of
quotations OF official dispatches.
Treating of the war, General Miles
begins with statement of the unpre-
paredness OF the country, showing how
the vast equipment left by the ,0O0,-
600 soldiers of the civil war had been
dssipated or had become obsolete until
the tentage. transportation and camp
equipage was insufficient for any i'm
portant military operation. He re-
counts the legislation Of congress just
prior to the war, looking to the in
crease of the army, and cites his own
recommendation on April 8 that 900
men be provided for coast defense and
reserves; that the regular army be in
creased and about 10000 immunes re-
cruited, making force of 162, 597 men,
which, with the $4,000 naval auxii-
aries, he considered sufficient. Such
force properly equipped, he believed to
be better than large force partly
equipped.
General Miles says in his report that
in the beginning the war problem was
,1xy., ,nl 1,A
WINGED that should our navy prove SUI
perior. the position of the Spanish
army in Cuba would be rendered I'M
tenable with minimum loss of life and
treasure to the United States.
'"There We're two obstacles to be
avoided-one was placing an army on
the island of Cuba before our navy con-
trolled the Cuban waters, and the other
was putting an army on the island at
a time when large number of the men
must die from the diseases that have
prevailed in that country, according to
all statistics, for the last 100 years.
In order that the volunteers should
be speedily made efficient, on April 26
General Miles wrote the secretary OF
war that they should be encamped for
60 days in their respective states and
disciplined and equipped, and their
officers instructed, a matter all-impor-
tant, he said, to their health and eff
cheney.
'This preliminary work should be
done before the troops leave their
states" wrote General Miles, who, in
his report, add this:
''Congregating tens of thousands OF
men, many of whom were not uni
formed, and scarcely properly equipped,
in great camps away from their states,
rendered it difficult for them to be prop
erly supplied with food, cooking uten.
sils, camp equipage, blankets, tentage,
medical supplies, transportation, etc.
and was to great extent the cause, in
my Judgment. of the facilitating effect
upon the health and strength of the
men, who were otherwise in good phys
ical condition. The material necessary
to clothe and equip large armies was
not even manufactured at that time,
and the consequent condition of the
troops for weeks and months was in
furious to the commands in many
ways"
Secretary Alger telegraphed him:
"The president wants to know the
earliest moment you can have an expe-
dictionary force ready to 60 to Porto
Rico large enough to take and hold that
island without the force under General
Shafter.''
General Miles response was: SIN
10 days"
He next speaks of the unsuitabjlity
of transports which were merchant
freight steamers; and of the accumu-
laton of troops and supplies at Tampa,
crowdng the facilities there and caus-
ing great delay.
Finally, the Santiago expedition
sailed on June IA.
He tells how he General Miles,. with
his staff, General Shafter and others,
met Toral, and he Miles told the lat
ter that his government was determined