The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-09-16
Hnrdships of Present Camp Life Moth
ing of the Army of 1S01-65.
MORE MEN WERE ILL In 1862
THAN ALL THE TROOPS UNDER ARMS
DURING THE RECENT WAR.
No Army Was Ever So Well Cared For
as the One Raised and Equipped
in Such a Hurry This Year.

FREEPORT, ILL.,, Sept. 15.-The joint re-
union of the Forty-sxth Illinois and Steven
son county soldiers brought thousands here
to-day. Among the speakers were Colonel
DornblaZer, of the Forty-sixth Capt. F. H
Marsh, Judge Crabtree, General Byers, of
Wisconsin, and General Grosvenor The
sentiment prevailed that all of the Philip
pines should be retained. General Gros-
venor, who delivered the principal address
of the day. said in part:
Since the annual meeting of the Grand
army or the Republic of 1897 great events
nave happened in the United StateS-eVents
which VIII change the map of the world and
stamp on the American character the ele-
ments or a great cosmopolitan factor. 1t
would seem hitting and proper that we dis
cuss the events of the past year and con-
slider them with reference to the history of
the Grand Army of the Republic and the
soldiers of the war of 1861 to- / know that
L am speaking to men of distinguished mag
nanlmlty of character and generosity of
purpose, and hence l venture to say that
, uhere vii De no men in the United States
who will receive the returning soldiers of
the Spanish war with greater evidences of
comradeship than will the men who
marched and fought from Bull Run to Ap-
pomattox. They will be received in our
homes and be given the front rank in our
hearts affections. The performances of the
Union soldiers will not be discussed by men
in comparison with the men of the Spanish
war, excepting only to show how imperfect
We're the provisions for our safety, our COM
fort and our efficiency as compared with
those of the army OF to-day"
Without discussing the ethics of the con-
troversy between Spain and the United
States Gen. Grosvenor defended the war as
a righteous and a holy one. After detailing
the suddenness with which the hostilities
came and the great difficulties confronting
the War and Navy Departments in provid-
ing ammunition and supplies of subsist-
ence he said
I'm less than q hundred days about 225, 900
men were mustered into the volunteer or
CARNATIONS of the United States and the
regular army was increased to about 60 900,
making somewhere in the neighborhood of
10000 men of all arms and at the end of
one hundred days every man of them was
fully equipped for war. Go with me now to
the camp of one of these regiments and see
what they had: Arms of the best obtain
able character, probably not the Mauser,
not in all cases the g-JorgenSen, but in
every case an efficient weapon, besides
quartermaster supplies in quantities beyond
the. dream of possibility. Go to the camp
and see their tentage, their bedding, their
cooking utensils and their rations and you
will say what l say that no army on earth
was ever so we'll armed, SO well clothed,
so well cared for; and all this was done in
a period of less than one hundred days.
Now we come to the somber and less
satisfactory feature of this war Men have
died Up to the present time it is believed
that the death list By, bullets and wounds
and by disease has reached the terrible
figure of nearly 1900 men. Eleven thousand
men fell dead and wounded at Chickamauga
and more than 5000 men fell dead and
wounded at Gettysburg. One hour at
Gettysburg cost the American people more
lives than has this up to the present
time. There were more men sick in the
spring and summer of 1862 in the Union
army than have been mustered into the
service, including the regulars. This simply
shows that war war, and you cannot
have war in any other way.
Let us consider regiment Of troops
which does not see war. Twelve or thirteen
hundred young men are suddenly called to-
gether to defend their country and march
to the camp of mobilization and instruc-
ton. They live upon one spot of ground
the size of regiment; they eat the rations
of the United States government, ample in
quantity, ample in character, but cooked
and distributed by the unintiated cooks of
the country. They have changed china ties;
they are drinking different water and they
are exposed to all the things which are in
cidental to a camp, and during the first
four or five months, and ordinarily during
the first year, they are exposed to almost
all the diseases known to affiict the human
family.
LAS the last gun of Santiago doomed over
the fever-stricken hills Of western Cuba,
the flag of Spain went down, never to arise
again the Antilles, and the war was
over. But sickness and death held high
carnival and now the test of the surgeon
generals department was made by condi-
ton of things unparalleled in the history
of the world that we have known, and 1t is
not strange to hear 1t said that there has
been lack Of efficiency shown in some
places by the medical corps Of the army.
The American people will hold, first. that
suffering caused by the act of God which
could not be met by the ordinary foresight
of men, shall not be charged up against
our officers, but that the suffering of SOL
diers and the lack of care and attention to
the sick that could have been prevented
by the utmost activity of the representa-
tives Of the government shall be thorough
ly investigated and all the facts mai
ell tod
negligence or overt act shall receive the
condemnation and punishment which a
crime of this terrible character justly de-
mands; but we shall not forget how weak
we were in the beginning and how the gov
eminent was driven, as it were to precipi-
tate acton, and how faithfully the great
complished the, tremendous results to which
/ have referred"
In regard to the questions of policies
growing out of the war. General Grosvenor
said:
ut will not be denied that we are to meet
the questions of Cuban occupation and Gu
ban government by a new set or facts
which were unknown to us when the decla-
ration Of war was made. We shall not act
precipitately. but wisely and conservatively,
and we shall not forfeit any binding obliga-
ton of our promise, but we shall give due
weight and consideration to every new con-
dition which makes itself manifest and IN
the end the same spirit of philanthropy
and civilization which inspired the war
with Spain will be brought into action 10
settle the status Of the splendid island
which we have conquered. Porto Rico is
ours and we will take it and incorporate
it into our domain and assimilate 1t TO our
institutions as rapidly as proper conditions
admit. The Philippines is a problem of the
gravest moment. The status will be settled
by the wisdom of the administration, the
action of the peace commission and the
ratification by the Senate or Congress, and
/ do not care to foreshadow what ought to
be done. We have fought a great fight; we
have finished our course and have kept the
faith, and henceforth we will hold on to
all the territory which we have conquered.
unless the best interests of the American
people shall suggest notifications of that
proposition. / trust that the question of the
Philippines and other territories will not
become a political question think it would
be injurious to the American people, and |
trust that wisdom will dominate the coun-
ellis of the peace commission and that their
report will meet the views of the admin
istration and the American people,
SHOOTING OF SPANIARDS.