The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-18
AN ESTIMATE OF sHAFTER.
An English Captain Says He Is No
Soldier.
From the New York Journal.

| cavalry on the reserve list, Is at the Wal
dorf-Astoria, smiling. pleased, increasing
the number of his pgeasureable emotions
with notes of the talks of men who have
returned from the war.
He was in the war from Ghickamauga to
Santiago, and he has returned from it
| through Hoffman Island and Swinburne Is
| land, as others have. But fever and lack
| of rations have not made him reproach-
| fui. He is not one of those who may make
| the present ugly with regrets for the past
| and fears for the future.
| "Oh, it was an up-tO-date war, and had
| TO see It, you know. A man has 10 die some
| day. and he might as wen get death from
! bullet as from anything elese, he said,
last night, in front of his glass of YER
| mouth He is small thin; he has hazel
| eyes, brown hair.
! Il came to New York on a hunting expe-
| dition. 1 arrived on the day, April %, when
war was announced Would go on hunt
| ing expedition when there was war to
| be seen?
1.-The foreign enlistment act was against
my enlisting with you. l told Gen. Miles,
| about that, and he knew. So l went with
Col. Hamilton as his guest in the Ninth
| Cavalry"
A shadow fell on Sir Bryan Leighton's
| ewes.
You don't mess here as we do in the
"
| officers; you mess in groups. Wen, 1 was
| with the colonel, the doctor and the adju-
tant We were always together. We took
| breakfast together one morning, and in the
| afternoon the colonel, the doctor and the
| adjutant were killed. I remain alone of
that mess.
1T was at Bloody Ford. 1t was well
| named They shot at us from the tops of
| trees while we were unarmed, were taking
| care of the wounded and couldn't return
/ the fire. Why they didn't shoot at me
| don't know. l stood by the colonel, wound-k
| ed, till he died.
Sir Bryan Leighton fell into deep
| thought.
What is your lesson from the WARP"
! he was asked.
| ooh, that you have to advance your
| batteries In order to compete with advanc-
ed rifles" he replied. THE wheels of your
guns are studded with Mauser bullets. Be
fore you came within range you were tar
gets.
Another lesson is that the Mauser rife
! has changed the statistics of wounded and
dead In battle. Formerly the percentage
was four wounded to one dead Now it is
| nineteen to one.
THE Mauser rifle imposes upon an army
a weight of wounded men that no other
rifle has ever made. You know the dead
| men don't count You needn't care about
them. But the wounded have to be taken
| away from the field.
''Wen, Shafter counted on four wounded
to one dead. He didn't count on nineteen.
So he had not enough physicians. Men
fell in the thick grass only wounded, and
were left there to die.
"Why, one-third of the army might
have been saved if there had been more
| physicians.
"Shafter has your sympathy, hasn't hep
the Britisch soldier was asked.
mo" he replied. miles is a soldier, but
Shafter is not. Shafter did not take care
of his commissary. Napoleon, Europe's
greatest man, said, An army marches on
It's stomach He knew. We never had
more than half days rations in Cuba
"You charge the errors of the campaign
to whom?" Sir Bryan Leighton was asked.
'"To Shafter," he replied. He ought to
have known the work of the Mauser rifle
and the necessity for good commissary."
"Oh," said the captains questioner,
"Shafter saw everything and"
''Everything!' exclaimed the youthful
captain He saw the balloons. They
We're visible at distance of four miles.
He came to the firing line in a buggy, six
days after it was all over. He is direct
ly responsible for the errors of the cam
paign."
FLOW were the baloons?" the captain
was asked.
disappointing, he replied. "They were
supposed to heal themselves. When they
were hit, down they went"
"Was the battle of Santiago picturesque
enough for your love of the SPECTACULAR
ne was asked,
Yes" he replied. 1T was a soldiers
battle 1t was like Inkermann which we
fought in a fog and won in Crimea. There
were no orders
What do you think of ToraFs surren-
der?" the captain was asked.
oh" he replied, "Toral wasn't a SOL
der He could have stayed where he
was. There was no need of his surren-
dering. He had plenty of rice. He bad
promise of reinforcements.
THE Americans would have had rein
forcements, too. But they had a yellow
fever base. They couldn't retreat. They
couldn't take Santiago. Whenever they
fired, the smoke remained in the tall grass,
in the damp air. l don't think the Span
ish trenches were well dug but they know
how 10 dig trenches. That was their
strong point against us"
what is your impression of the Span
ards?' he was asked.
"They are gentlemen" he replied.
"There is glory in defeating them. l
thought before I saw them in Santiago
that they were half civilized. How mis-
taken 1 was"
what is the incident of the war that
amazed you?' the captain was asked
"Creelman of the Journal" he replied.
the fires Of the two armies. 1 rushed up
to him. What are you doing here?"
cried.
"'Oh,' Creelman replied nonchalantly I
am drawing the fire of the Spaniards.'
=" For heavens sake mani 1 cried,
don't you want TO see more of this war;
He replied: I want to see all of it.
That's why am drawing the Spanish fire.
Come here; they can't hit anything
offered a mango to him. He would not
have it. Lieut.. Dove extended his hand
for 1t. bullet went into his shoulder.
had no bandage so 1 held the artery TO
prevent the bleeding.
"A sergeant Of the Ninth Cavalry placed
his rifle on the fork of a tree and fired
continually praying aloud, oh, Lord, for
give me for all my sins of omission and
of commission His prayer was intense;
his aim was true. Waiter, another YER
mouth"