Evening star., 1898-08-18
WHY THEY RESIGNED.
Partial Explanation From Sixth
Massachusetts' Former Colonel.

Partial Explanation from SINth
massachusetts Former Colonel.
From the New York Herald. today.
Having landed troops from Guantanamo,
at Montauk Point, the auxiliary cruiser St.
Paul arrived in quarantine yesterday morn
| ing, bringing seven passengers, including
five officers who resigned from the 9Th
Massachusetts Volunteers in Porto Rico be-
cause of dissensons. They are Col. Charles
F. Woodward Lieut.. Col. George H. Chat
| fin Maj. George H. Taylor, Capt. L. a.
Goodell and Chaplain William F. Dessault.
| The other passengers We're Lieut. Col. Ives
| of the Signal Corps, U. S. A, and Colonel
Wagner of the commissary department,
| U. s. A
The former officers of the Massachusetts
regiment left for Boston at 3 o clock. Col
onel Woodward, who commanded the 9th
Massachusetts, is a state senator from
w Wakefield. He is the president of several
| street railroads and has been connected
with the state militia for twenty-nine
years. He was one of the four men named
| by the governor to raise the regiment. Re
garding the troubles which resulted in his
and his fellow officers resignation Colonel
Woodward said:
| in closed cars for Charleston. We remained
| at the latter place in the cars for twenty
Tour hours before We were transferred to
the Yale. On the transport we had insult
| ficient food and limited supply of water
which was wretched stuff to drink. Thirty
men in one company alone were made i'll
on the trip to Santiago, and one man died
and was buried at sea. l complained to the
proper authorities of the food and water
and the reply was, you'll get a -
sight less before you get more
Santiago was reached on July II, and
after wasting nearly two weeks off that
place and Guantanamo, we started for
Porto Rico, arriving at Guanica on July 25
All the fghting at Guanica was done by
the 9th Massachusetts. In our seven COM
panies, which routed the Spaniards, sew
eral men were wounded. Then the long
march from Guanica to Ponce was ordered
The men were laden with three days ra-
tions a canteen. roll of rubber and wool
en- blankets and 120 rounds of ammunition
besides their arms. They were driven like
cattle, and after the first five miles the
road was so rough that one could hardly
keep his footing. The only water that could
be had wasn't fit to drink. 1t ran through
bitches dug to irrigate the land. The cat
tie waded through it and the natives wash
ed their clothes and emptied their garbage
into 1t. Is 1t any wonder the men dropped
i'll and exhausted? They pleaded that they
could go no further. One whole company of
regulars, including their captain, gave out -
Colonel Woodward was asked if his resig-
nation was due to his refusal to obey
what he had declared in former interview
were the orders of General Garretsou-to
shoot the stragglers.
Il would not, he replied, carry out GER
tain orders concerning my regiment which
would work untold hardships on the men
after they had endured almost superhuman
tolls. / can't tell you that the orders were
to kill men many of whom 1 know per-
sonally, but l will say that there was a
mentioning OF shooting. can give no de-
tails of the trouble until I have made my
report to Governor Wolcott. In that report
the history of the whole affair will be
given.'
Narrating the hardships the men of his
regiment suffered in Porto Rico Colonel
Woodward asked:
Would you shoot men under such cir
cumstances2''
my resignation he continued was ten
dered upon my refusal to obey the orders
Those of the officers who are now with me
followed at once, and all the captains would
have done the same, but they had been de-
tached and assigned to other regiments"