The Red Cloud chief., 1898-09-30
GEN. SKATER EXPLAINS
Wal Misquoted In HI Recent Michigan
speech.

was sfisqnoted IN Ht Recent Michigan
speech.
New YoRH, Sept. 20. -General W. r.
Shafter, who arrived last night from
Michigan, said in an interview: my
remarks about the volunteers in q
speech at Constantine have been mis-.
quoted. ] was speaking at n reunion
OF the Nineteenth regiment. I went to
the front with IL thirty-fve years ago.
1t happened that some Michigan vol
u%nteers got mixed up in the Santiago
fight. merely said that they had not
been intended for active fighting that
day. They had been sent off toward
Aguadorres TO make o fcint. They got
into a cut and q shell was sent into
them, killing and w%ounding some.
They had no business In the cut and
regulars would not have been caught
there. The volunteers were all right
ut Santiago, Handicapped as they were.
They had black powder rifles, for one
thing, and they had not learned what
comes only from the longest drilling
and what constitutes the ideal soldier
that Is, TO stand with other men with
out knowing it,"
ut has been said that there were
10000 Krag-Jorgensens in the arsenal
during the Santiago campaign that
we're never issued" said a reporter.
We'll, / Inn not the head of the ord.
nance department, but the increase in
the number Of companies raised tho
regular army by $4,000 men and these
had to get Krag ,~Jorgensens immedi-
ately, rs they were expected to do tho
bulk of the fighting. How many Of
the small stock of Krags were left af-
ter the $4,000 men were equipped, l
cannot say.
mo one who has not seen &c can
know the effectiveness of smoleless
powder guns. Our batteries had black
powder; the Spaniards smokeless. Ono
day, the 10th or 18th Of July, I was
standing in the trenches trying to
make out with my glasses the location
OF q Spanish battery. Our battery
was several hundred yards to our left.
We could hear the shells leave the
Spanish guns ond pass over us. We
tried to locate the guns by following
the sound, but IL was impossible.
oa0cI We lOuuu bhuC ~ WIS more JTuu
a mile away, behind q fringe of bushes
just thick enough to hide the move
ments of the men. II astonished me
and other veterans who saw the work
OF smokeless powder"
Tho scandals Of the camps" struck
General Shafter as the natural pro-
Snct of inexperieuce among the sol.
diers.
"There has been gross carelessness
On the part OF new men in sanitary
matters" he said. "You can't make
them understand the necessity Of care.
They resent being be-deviled by their
officers for not picking up cigar
stumps, fruit Feelings and doing such
apparently trivial things. In the Civil
wal we often started out with 1000
men and in six months lost 500 Of
them through sickness.
what has befallen the men who re-
lieved me ut Santiago? They had no
such conflict with inclement weather
as we had. They have had plenty Of
food and complete tentagc, but they
have ], 800 sick out Of 5000. SO / don't
think we did SO badly"
|. AS to his coming to New York to
take charge Of the Department Of
tho East, General Shafter said:
~ don't know where I will 90
finally. ] have expressed q wish to 90
to the Pacific coast, where / expect
TO live when I am retired, but before
going l should not object 10 taking
the Department Of the East for several
months, till General Merritt's return.
My wife is from Vermont and / hail
from Michigan and q stay Of a short
time in New York would give me the
chance to meet many persons l have
long wished to see and whom I may
never again have occasion to meet.
"What do / think of the territorial
expansion? Well, / do not think my
views are Of much Importance, but
they are very brief-hold on to all we
get. We had to work hard to get it;
let's keep IL. We are rising into the
position Of a leader among nations
and We must accept the responsibilities
that come with that leadership"
General Shafter said he would 90 at
onceto Montauk Point to take com
mand there.