The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-16
GEN. MILES STYLED A GENIUS.
GEN. BRECK TESTIMONY
DEVOID OF ALI EVASION.

ToraI's Nerve Gave Ouf'-He Does
Not Feel That GEN. Shafter Is
| Above Criticism--Interestin ses-
sion Yesterday.
Washington, Nov. 15.-Gen. Breckinridge
continued his testimony before the war In
vestigauon con1nisslon to-day. His evi-
| deuce dealt with the campaign in Cuba
| and the transportation of troops to the
island, lie said he had gone TO Cuba as
inspector general, arriving at Tampa ON
June S. He had observed casually the pre-
paration for the Decentralization of troops
before the expedition left and had conclud-
ed that they were quite inadequate.
"I made no report, however," he said
"as Gen. Miles was on the ground and
could observe for himself"
Continuing, he said that there was no
preparation for landing in the face Of am
enemy other than that which the navy
might furnish. So far as he observed
there were only two lighters and two
scows secured ON behalf Of the army be-
fore the departure from Tampa. 1t was
his understanding, however, that the army
and navy were cooperating In this expe-
dition.
Speaking of the conflict of authority on
the transports. he said the masters of the
vessels did not respond as promptly as
might have been desired
True he said there was "A little navy
cadet on board each of the vessels, but he
had no authority. An actual naval officer
or an officer OF the quartermasters de-
partment on each vessel would have been
better What was needed was prompt
communication between the commanding
officer and the vessels, and the masters OF
the transports did not respond very
promptly"
He was questioned al some length con-
oerning the conduct of the campaign in
front Of Santiago and replied that the re-
suit was what he had expected It would
be. Everything there, he said, was strain
ed to get men on board and consequently
there was comparatively little effort TO se~
cure equipment. While he knew nothing
definitely Of the plans of the campaign he
was sure there was a plan.
lie was quite certain from a conversa-
ton he had had with Gen. Miles that he
had a plan, though he did not say that
this was che plan carried into effect.
"Of course" suggested Gen. Beaver.
Santiago was the goal Of the campaign.
Certainly The fact was published 80
| extensively IN the newspapers that many
Of the men on board the vessels would
| not accept this Information as to the des-
| tination as correct =
Asked as TO his opinion OF the result of
the campaign, he said he thought II was
consistent with the character of the men
who conducted--what was to be expected
from the limitations Of Gen. Shafter. !
think II would have been different II Gen.
| Miles had been In command-that 1t woulf
have been more satisfactorily conducted.
/ think he has more OF the spark and
genius OF command than any man in the
| army, and / am sure that II he had had
charge he would have been In the 'front.'
i rank.
Ex-Gov Woodbury. suggested that tho
battle In front OF Santiago had been fought
and the victory won within eight days OF
landing.
Gen Breckenridge, in reply, said the VIC
tory had been won when Gen. Torals
! nerve gave out.
He believed that the war was the Lords
war and this wonderful success was due
to His supervision. The time for the bat-
tie was, however. short enough. Yet iE
must be remembered that the distance be-
tween the battlefield and Siboney was less
than half days march; but, while he
considered the result as marvelously COM
mendable he did not feel that Gen. SHAFT
ter was above criticism In the conduct %
the campaign. He could not believe the re-
suit was a miracle but he ascribed the
outcome 20 the fact that the army was
one which was capable of meeting all
calls. mo matter how tangled up" he
said 1T went 10 victory
He had at the time quoted Lord Beres-
ford when he said 10 his army upon a
certain occasion: Il have led you into
devil Of a fix and il is now your duty to
| fight like he'll to get out of IT,"
He was sure at least that ali engaged In
the war had acted with zeal and every
man had done the best Of which he was
capable. and he had never known war
IN which there was not criticism at the
close Of II.
Gen. Breckenridge spoke Of the inspector
| generals Office as having been emasculat-
| ed by the order requiring the reports OF
subordinates in that office to be made to
the adiutant general and said that when
he discovered this was so, ne went into the
| aeld as offering the only arena IN which
| he could be of any real service. He had
| intended to say In effect, there Is the desk
In my office; do as you please with at. Gen.
| Sanger was there; he Is, too, from Michi-
gan. thought he could take control OF
the office il il was desired; but he did not
| remain"
Continuing his testimony on the inspec-
tor generals office, ne said that his criti-
cisrn of the change was based on the fact
that il deprived the central authority se-
curing Information and as a consequence
the office was practically useless The or
der had the effect Of cutting the umbiblical
cord, he said, and the circulation was not
| good"
AS result of the change. when he had
asked for facts in the office TO include IN
/ his report he failed TO find any there.
Resnming his remarks of general
character. Gen. Breckinridge expressed tho
opinion that there had not been enough
| fighting 10 obscure other results common
| TO war. He thought the evils which had
/ been experienced were inevitable, under
our American system. He condemned this
system as most reprehensble and said the
! volunteer soldier must always suffer the
worst Of the consequences.
"If the regular stands up under II better
4 ..l..