Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-09-08
NEWPORT NEWS, VA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 1895

| BEST for the army and the government
| Ihese were the circumstances under
which General Miles left Washington
atriNlng at Santiago July II. not as :,
| private individual nor as Il visitor ANY
| pr"tenSc that he Went there disrobra ar
! ms authority Or official capacity is TOO
| childish tn be considered by sensibi.
| i.ieh. FROM the moment he arrived nj
! Sahtias" he was responsible for What
I Inisht occur. He arrived there with ,he
vale. columbia and Rita loaded with
i''lahtry and three ships loaded with ar
,n'e'y beside those already disembark-
| 'a' tie designed to disembark the
| troops and artillery named on the west
Siue OF santiago as was Understood 10
| 1ofe leaving Washington. ana before. he
Went ashore he made the necessary ar
| engagements accordingly. He then pre-
| eeeued To the front and after cons,,ltiur
With General Shafter Il note was s-nt
| 10 the Spanish commander by t;.,rr.,]
| "taltrr saying that the connlandin.,
! general of the United States had ar.
RIVED IN his camp With strong reinfo, CO
+ mrhts, ana would meet him between
TIE lines al any hour agreeable to him.
| he reply OF the Spanish commander
MS mat ne would meet him at Il
o'clock next morning. The meeting
was held. and after some conversation
hetWcen General Shafter ana General
| ioral General Miles frankly informed
me spanish general that he had l,ft
washington six days before ana thar
II was then the determination of the
! government that this portion of the
pihlsh army must be captured or des-
'fnSel. He also informed the Spanish
eheral that his rrinforccmcnts h,d ar
rived With him. that some of these
lotces had already dScmbarkrd ANA tho
| remainder would be ,iiseniha rked on ne
vest SIDE OF the harhor AMI that it was
useless for him I" contend against the
Inevitable These TRANSPORTS coulu III =,
Le plainly seen by the Spanish from
.lorro Castle and other points Gems
eral I"ral replied that SO long as he had
! iatlonS and ammunition he had to fight
IN order to maintain th.. honor of the
Danish army In response 10 that he
VAS informed that lie had already
maintained the honor of the Spanish
army aud that further efforts would bc
| useless and would resul, in the w;,ntur
sacrifice OF life. He then said that h;.
vas waiting 10 hear from his governs
Inent and was informed by Gene, a;
niles that he had already taken much
I me for that purpose and would lie
! given until daylight of the following
morning. it being then ; O'clock. II su;,-
nut his final answer He begged for
| longer time and earnestly requested I'M
| I'll II o'clock next day. This was finally
granted by General Miles. the meeting
ssoived and the officers separated on
returning from this conference !, dis
Iatch was received by General Miles
from Washington as follows:
Washington. July II, 1895.
Major General Miles You may nc-
cept surrender by granting parole. to
"iilcers and men. the officers; retaining
,Aer side arms. thy officers and men ar
ter parole 10 he permitted To return 10
spain, the United States assisting. IF
not accepted then assault. unless in
your Judgment an assault would fail
Consult with Sampson ana pursue 81. h
course as 70 the assault as you Jointly
agree upon. Matter should be settled
promptly.
"'R. a. ALGER,
Ii Secretary of War;
ms. the statement SAYS does not
l'"H as II General Miles was there. as
visitor. He WAS charged with th, ~
sponslbilty of ordering an assault mn,
me entertainments and Qualifications of
an army, which, If successful. would
nave cost at least 5000 lives. or of with
ho'ulhg the assault if. in his Judgment
sHeh assault would fail M greater
uiScretlon was ever given To any gen
| eral commanding an army. ana wha,
| IS more, as Will be observed. he was an
thorized TO accept the surrender which
IN the interest of his subprdinales h
generously declined to do, and wcni
away leaving all the honor To his n.yt
III rank. General Shaft.r.
On the morning succeeding the frs,
interview 4 letter was received from
General Ior;ll. of which the following i
! a literal translation
Santiago dc Cuba, July Il. 1895
General in Chief Of the American
Forces q u
Honore,! Sir: Ills exccllencv the
general mischief Of the army Of the is
!aiia "i IuDa. teiegraphs frnm Havana
yesterday at ! r. NJ the following:
helieFins the business of such i'm
pnftance as the capitulation or that
place to be known and decided upon nv
Tue government his majesty, | give Won
notlce that have sent the conditions
OF your telegram asking an Immediate
answer and enabling you also to show
| TINS to the general of the American
army to See if he will agree to await
! me answer of the government. which
| cannot be as soon as when he has de-
4 clded, as communication by way of
Bermuda is .nure slow than by wnv NJ
| hey West. In the meanwhile your
honor and the general of the American
army may agree upon capitulation on
ehe OASIS OF repatriation (rcturning to
| Spaim.'
have the honor to transmit this
| 70 you that in case you may consider.
the foregoing satisfactory. thar he may
designate persons in representation Of
himself who. with those in my name.
may agree to clauses of the captulat; ION
! upon the basis of returning to Spain.
accepted already in the beginning by
| the general n-chief of this army.
Awaiting Il reply. 7 am,
livery respectfully your servant
JOSE TORAL, &C.
AT the meeting on the following aav
General Toral stated that he was PEE
| pared to surrender with the approval
for the captain general of Cuba. but it
would require a little time To have his
acts confirmed by the home govern
fnent; that in the meantime he was
| prepared to appoint commissioners Ia
arrange the clauses of cnpitulation. Not
| only this. he offered to surrender the
balance OF his command, which had not
been under fire during the campaign.
| lsle remarkable offer was on his mo-
ton and was in the nature Of Il sur
prise TO the American generals pres
emit However. at the conference of the
day previous. General Miles had re-
minded him that he had been tender
! Gt1f "a Eyf e.