Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-13
THE MASTERING OUT.
GREAT MISTAKE IN SELECTING
REGIMENTS FROM LEES CORPS.
HIS TROOPS ARB WE'LL SEASONED.
Have Spent the Summer I'm Becoming
Accustomed to Climatic Conditions
Like Those iE Cuba-Many Ignorant
Officers.
Officers.
New York Herald.l

(New York Herald.)
JACKSONVILLE, FLA, Saturday
The feeling here among the men VIII
have had the most experience in militar.
matters Is undoubtedly that great mis-
take has been made in the selection o
the regiments to be mustered out from
among the various troops in General Lee'
corps. The principle OF selection follow
ed seems TO have been TO take those which
had the greatest number of Ill men. ant
this at time when under the special or
der of the War Department a board was
in the city Of Jacksonville investigating
the cause OF the semi-epidemic for the
express purpose of seeking to overcome
it. Yet the War Department seems &c
have not even asked this special board
whether It would recommend these or any
| regiments here to be included in those
that should be sent home.
This selection of regiments TO be mus
tered out shows that the department abb
solutely ignores the military exigencies
Of the situation while stopping to listen
| " lilt IleduluSS Ol polllclduS.
"The plain, unvarnished facts" said an
officer to-day "are that General Lees
corps is worth for the campaign in Cuba
an army of at least 5000 unacclimated
men. They have been here for months
experiencing under the most favorable
conditions weather such as they will ex-
perience in Cuba during the winter. While
hundreds of the men have become i'll, the
responsibility rests entirely with the War
Department in that it did not require
men ignorant of the most rudimentary
principles of taking care of themselves in
the field to observe at least a few of the
simplest things necessary for their health.
| This is especially true of the men at
Tampa"
CARELESsNESS OF OFFICERS.
The natural carelessness of new SOL
diers as to their diet and mode OF life
seems to have been increased by the ex-
ample of carelessness set them by the
superior officers, and correct picture of
the camp, as It was toward the last of
their stay in Tampa would make the
average physician wonder why any Of
| them were left TO tell the tale.
From there they were sent to Fernan-
dina, near here, upon rolling sand-hills,
and with a water supply fully as free
from danger as that of the average north
ern city, and there they showed them
selves unable to profit by the lessons Of
experience, but lived on carelessly, their
surgeons wondering why illness prevailed
i'm their regiments, just as innocently as
though it were no concern of theirs the
colones leaving it all TO their officers, and
they, in turn, leaving II to subordnates.
General Carpenter byi persistent effort,
got the troops to improve their surround
ings a trifie, but the task was one calling
for heroic measures.
At Miami the troops were managed
upon much the same lines. Here they
were shunted off TO a town without any
adequate harbor facilities, compelled TO
drink vile water from surface wells. and
forced 10 live in absolute discomfort
owing 10 the blunder of those in au-
thority, yet without the satisfaction OF
being in the enemy's country
They came to Jacksonville. Since be-
coming part of General Lees Corps a
vast difference is already noticeable.
VIEWS OF A SURGEON
The trouble with the army" said
well-known surgeon, the cause of the
Illness, the bitter complaints may be
stated in plain English, so there need be
no misunderstanding about it.
handle a volunteer army; the volunteers
did not know how TO select camp sites,
how 10 locate their sinks with refer
ence TO the camps, did not understand
the necessity OF boiling suspicious water,
and, as is always the case with raw re-
cruts. they ate everything they could
get hold OF that was new or strange, and
thereby brought on bowel troubles, which
prepared the way for the spread or ty-
phoidfever.
This is the general history-a history
which has caused hundreds OF deaths
which could have been avoided had the
strong military discipline been felt by the
new troops from the moment they en-
tered the camp. The troops can always
take care Of the enemy il they are only
made by their officers TO take care OF
themselves.
Let us take as an example the First
Wisconsin Regiment, representing vari-
Gus sections Of that Commonwealth
They are 10 be mustered out. ostensiby
because of their terrible suffering and
the large number of i'll. 1t is said that
they have less than 500 men who are fit
to parade. and consequently they are all
excused from parade. The officers who
report this are unable to tell how much
malingering there is in the regiment, but
after talking with several officers and
priyates, the unmistakable inference is
that there is more Of it in that one regi-
ment than in any ten other regiments
In the Seventh Corps.
ONE CAUSE OF IT.
In company of that regiment which
mas suffered from typhoid-fever ii is said
that the company commissary fed his
men on bacon and salt meat for two
months, while the troops all around him
were getting just as fine beef as the best
hotels here simply because he was too
Indifferent or lazy TO see that the proper
exchanges OF rations were made. The
fresh meat was ready for every officer
who called for il. but this man could issue
the bacon with less trouble. AS result.
the men were weakened by dysentery and
were exposed 10 the typhoid infection
in another regiment some way, and have
gone to the hospital in droyes.
BY far the most energetic efforts TO
learn how to handle a regiment OF youn-
teers in camp are being made under the
direction Of Colonel Swift. of the Ninth |
Illinois II has not the elegance or ten |
derness of sisterly care that some others |
rejoice in, but the sanitation is looked |
after closely.
General Lee would have had thou |
sand more i'll men in his camp had II not |
been for the fact that he has drawn |
around him on his staff a number OF men |
familiar with army matters, and at the |
same time possessing considerable execu- |
tive ability. For instance the city police |
has been most admirably reinforced by |
the efforts of Major Russell b. Harrison, |
provost marshal; Captain Niche. as adj
iutant Colonel o. 70. Wood as commits
sary, and Colonel Maus as chief surgeon,
nave made records for themselves which
hey can confidently submit to investiga
ion. IL would be Of enormous assistance 10
hem IL they were allowed 10 name, say,
90 officers 10 be sent elsewhere; but, like
good soldiers, they never say they desire
such a wholesale transfer but patiently
20 ahead seeking TO convert the poor ma