The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1898-08-31
GEN. JOE WHEELER.
Two Opinions Of Him BY a Fjorth'
eri1 Core spondent.
BEFORE AND AFTER BATTLE.
The Ola Confederate Hero Was
the Man Who Really Won
the Battle OF Santiago
de Cuba.


gets me. and that is how they ever
came to make Joe Wheeler major
general.
The speaker was one Of several cor
respondents who were lying in the
trenches Of Camp McCalla. at Guanta-
namo bay.
What's the matter with joe" |
asked
Nothing as a man: and know his
record as soldier in the rebellion was
of the finest. but he is too old now-he
has not the physical strength or the en-
durance for active campaigning | real
ly feel sorry for him, for in my opinion.
he will injure his record as soldier
and of course kill himself politically"
Three weeks came and went and that
same correspondent and myself were in
the trenches one more. but now they
were on the summit Of the San Juan
hill, one thousand yards from the rear
Of Santiago. 1t was the I'd of July: the
fighting was hot, and over where We lay
behind a little mound Of sand. the
Mauscr bullets sang in swarms. To
lift your head above the embankment
was thing Of peril. to stand upright
was to make of yourself an extra haz-
ardous risk for life insurance compa-
ny. and to remain standing was to offer
a premium for wounds and death.
Just then, entirely alone, along the
rear Of the trenches came walking a
small man. rather stopped in the shoul-
ders and clad in the uniform of gener-
al officer. \ broad army hat was drawn
close to his archcd eyebrows, which
gave him the look of a man in an eter-
nal state of mild surprise. Under the
gray brows his eyes glanced quickly up
and down the trenches, and then trav-
eled to and from the Spanish lines,
taking in all the points of attack and
defense. Across the pretty green valley
that lay between US and Santiago the
ugly little bullets still Kissed as vici-
ously and as thickly as ever. Occa
sionally shrapnel shell would burst
above the ridge, but the little man
moved calmly along. He walked With
the air Of man who wanted something
and knew how and where 10 find it. 1t
was General Joseph Wheeler inspecting
his lines. l poked the man next to me,
pointed out to him the slight form OF
the general as he moved away, still in
tent upon gathering information for
himself. and still calmly Indifferent to
the fire. and asked him the question Of
three weeks before; ''Wh hats the mat
ter with Joe?"
Itwas known to US both then the
conduct Of Gen. Wheeler during the
battle of San Juan, the indomitable
courage he had shown on that day and
the day preceding when he crawled
from sick bed to lead his men to
battle, and, better than all, how it was
due to him that the American army
had not after the victory abandoned the
hill of San Juan which it had won at
the cost of so much blood. These things
were known to the other man as well as
to me, and his acknowledgment was
brief and to the point.
He knows more than | thought l
knew, and can't put it stronger than
that
There has not been man in the
American army who has made better
fighting record than this small, slender
graybearded, kindly gentleman, Joseph
Wheeler. of Alabama. On the night Of
June 90 he was i'll with fever-so Ill
that for time it was difficult for him
to raise his head. On the morning Of
the 30th he was no better On the
morning Of the fight the general an
nounced his intention of going to the
front line, and the members Of his staff
after some argument, managed to get
him into an ambulance, and in this,
sorely against his will for he wanted to
be astride his horse, he started to the
front. 4 half mile Of ambulance rid
ing was enough, and then came loud
calls for General Wheeler's horse. In
a little time the old soldier was riding
down the road towards San Juan hill:
All though the 1st Of July, the general
i'll as he was, kept his saddle, and at
night he was better than he had been
for days. The work that had caused
the death Of many a brave fellow had
been his cure.
1t was Napoleons saying that in war
was the moral part is to the physical
part as FIVE to three. General Wheeler
or the day of the battle Of San Juan
had shown himself possessed Of the
physical three parts, and when night
came he was to show himself the owner
of the more valuable traits Of a COM
mander.
1t is story not ripe just yet for pub
lication, but it is fact that on the
night after our men had swept so g!orl-
ously up the San Juan hill a feeling
pervaded the American army that we
had in many respects grabbed bear by
the tail. We might hold on, to the un-
doing of the bear, and our grasp might
lOOSSu W Oul y" IL NCSlI uSlIOii. 4 AA4"
feeling was so strong that some OF the
leading officers in the army went to
General Wheeler and proposed that he
fall back from the position We had cap
tured. In other words we should aban.
don all we had gained at such a fearful
cost and assume the position we had
taken before the battle. The men who
made this proposition were no weak
lings. They had demonstrated their
courage hundred times and never more
brilliantly than on that very day, but
the fury of the fight was over for them
the moral side Of the soldier was
called for, and they were wanting:
General Wheeler listened to them. and
said:
':We cannot fall back, gentlemen and
we would not if we could. If we can
not hold this place We can hold nothing
in rear Of it. We stay here. gentle
men.