The evening times., 1898-08-27
4 RUSSIAN At THE FRONT
An Officer Of the Car Applauds
American PrOwesS.
GRAND DISPLAYOF COURAGE
Colonel Nicolas YermOIOM C0ntrasts
the Campaign 1T santiago With
That Of the Balkan-Preparinx
Military Reports of Americas Ope-
rasiOns for His Government.

Col. Nicolas Yermoioff. the Russian
officer VINO acted as military observer for
his government during the operations in
Cuba and Porto Rico. has returned to
Washington for few days. He regards
the campaign about Santiago as one OF
the most successful ever waged when the
difficulties under which 1t was conducted
are taken into consideration. Col Yer
mofoff is comparatively young officer
but he has seen considerable service in
the field. He had just received his COM
mission when the Russo-Turkish war
broke out and he went into the service.
He was present at Plevna and o,her bat
ties. and then entered the diplomatic
branch OF the army. He is now military
attache at the Russian embassy in Lon
don. from which place he was detailed
to observe the operations of the United
States armies during the war with
Spain.
Col YermolOf remained at Santiago
until after the surrender and had every
opportunity 10 observe the difficulties
and hardships under which the campaign
was conducted While he thinks there
were mistakes made. he is OF the opinion
lHdt, uuutr The ClTcuNStdNctS, lHSy were
very few.
THE principal thing in connection with
the campaign" he said, YVES the diff
Guilty OF operating so far from the base of
supply and the harding of the supplies.
The campaign proved that II Is almcst
impossible to conduct operations when
troops and supplies must be transported
by sea. landed in the surf and then for
warded to the army In the field At San
hn hiftietIlfisS
creased by the fact that there was
noticeable lack of sma boats for landing
the supplies. and while there were album
dant quantities Of food and medicines on
the ships, II was almost Impossible 10 get
them TO the troops.
~ do not think spirited resistance oy
the Spaniards would have prevented a
landing which are usually successful.
even in the face of firing. The landing
party has the advantage OF selecting the
place and as rhis can be changed TO suit
the circumstances. even II the Spanish
had massed their force at Baiquiri. they
could not have prevented lancins. Tor
the troops could have d sembarked at
Guantanamo or somewhere else and the
Spanish could not have opposed them.
Neither do 1 think the siege of Santiago
could have resulted differently. IL the
Spanish had not surrendered. the city
could have been taken by assault While
a DELAY meant enerva ton for the A.neri-
can troops and would thus nave oenenteo
the Spanish a delay would nave given
the Americans time TO secure re-eniorce-
ments. and In the end santiago wou
have surrendered or fallen by assault
You might have lost one. two or three
thousand men. but the city would nave
been taken ,. -
..The spirit and courage displayed by
the American troops was superb l Was
not able to see as much of the volunteer
troops as of the regulars, but wh&i l
saw of both enables me to say that 90
not believe there are any oetter soidiefs
in the world. They settled down 10 the
work in the trenches with the same cou'-
age that they scaled the heights of san
Juan. The fighting is not always the hard
est mart of a soldiers life. When they are
carried away with the excitement of bat
tie they perform prodigious feats of hero
ism. but the steady grind of siege ike
this one is more trying on the men ana
requires even a higher courage than the
making of a charge In both cases 'he
men did their work well and uncompl AIM
ingly They accepted the conditions cneer-
fully and lay in the trenches dag after
day. exposed to all the ills incidental to
a terrible climate-the sun beating down
on them noXious vapors arising from the
soil and exposed to all kinds of fevers
and other ills.
1T is impossible to convey an adequate
view of the difficulties due to the climatic
conditions. Nothing like it has ever come
under nv observation. The enervating
effects of the terrible heat. the difficulty
of maintaining camps for SO many men
in such a limited territory, and the con-
seauent sickness, made the difficulty OF
handling the supplies many times what it
would have been under favorable circum-
stances.
II can only compare it, or. rather. con-
trast it. with the Russian campaign in
the Balkans. There the cold was al
mos, as intense as the heat at Santiago.
but of the two l prefer the cold. There
is some chance of alleviating this. but
none of lessening the heat. l believe
there is less trouble in supplying large
army than a small one. In the campaign
referred TO the Russians had about 250.
0p0 men and arrangements were made
on such a vast scale that everything was
provided and there was plenty for all.
| noticed a lack of ambulances at San
tiago which was not the case at Plevna.
where we lost in the last assault almost
as many men as you had at Santiago.
in one respect your army was to be
and that is on its supply
was abundant. l think the Krag-Jor-
gensen rifle is satisfactory. but l think
it was mistake to have the regulars
armed with this and the volunteers with
the Springfield. Usually the difficulty
of supplying both with ammunition would
be very great. although in this case it
was not noticeable
Col. Yermoloff returned from Santiago
on the Seneca. OF his experience on the
vessel he said: 1.-The Seneca was un-
doubtedly overcrowded. 1t was one of
the worst of this class of vessels. The
officers had plenty of food. hardtack.
beans and other delicacies included in the
regular army ration. The water was six
weeks old. and of the color and consis-
tency of beef tea. There was a little
pure water on toard. but it was reserved
for the sick and wounded. Miss Jennings,
the nurse in charge. used to suggest to
us that she make us some beef tea. as
the water was unfit to drink. We told
her not to tempt us, as we might yield
and deprive the sick and wounded of part
OF their scanty store
Col. Yermoloff will remain in this coun-
try for several weeks and possibly longer.
He is anxious to revisit the scenes of the
operations about Santiago. and also to
porto Picn whore he unab able n