The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-09-06

tNltJtItil VI Il ~ 1
business Of the surrender was entirely III
ms hands as shown hy the fact that tn
Mar Department Communicated with
him direct. not even mentioning General
Skaters name III the numerous DIS
patches. The following dispatch IS an
example:
Washington. d. c.. July 10, 1898.
major General Miles:
You may accept surrender by grant
ing parole to officers and men, the ofh
GERS retaining their side arms. he Oh
ficers and men after parole will be PEE
United to return to Spain. the United
States assisting. If not accepted. then
assault, unless in your judgment an as
sault would fail. Consult with Sampson
and pursue such course as to the assault
as you jointly agree upon. Matters
should be settled promptly.
"'R. A. ALGER.
"Secretary Of War
"This dispatch recognized Miles as
Commander and gave him authority to
act. Shafter was entirely ignored. In
tie face of this situation. Secretary Al
ger. through General Corbln, sent Il DIS
patch to General Shafter, assuring hin
that General Miles did not come to Cuba
to supersede Shafter in any way. This
dispatch General Miles refers to as
secret for he says he did not know II
had been sent. not being notified from
Washington and General Shafter say
ing nothing about it. After the surrel-
der General Miles still retained control
| He authorized Shafter to appoint peace
commissioners, and, judging from Sh If
ter's report that all was over, he instruct
ed him as to the disposition Of the troops.
July 10Th General Shafter wired Cen
eral Miles that the surrender was not as
complete as was thought and said:
"'Piease do not go away with the
reinforcements as | may yet need them.
Miles promtly replied by wire from
! Baiquiri that the surrender Is complete,'
and the SDaniards must surrender
O July 10th Shafter wired Miles
that the surrender was finally complete
and General Miles replied through Ad
iutant General Gilmore as follows:
THE commanding general is very
much g~ratified to hear that the surrender
is complete. He directs that YOU tele-
graph anything of Importance and the
condition of your command daily
General Miles then reported the con
dition Of affairs to the Secretary Of War
with whom he had been in conference
In one Of his kilograms to Miles, Secre
tary -Alger says:
AS soon as Santiago falls the troops
must all be put IN camp as comfortable
as they can be made and remain, | sup
pose, until the fever has had its run.
Miles did not agree with Secretary
.Alger. for July DIST, in Il letter the
General commanding urged the return
OF the army to the United States as
soon as possible. July 18th, after the
surrender was complete. General Shaft
er wired as follows to General Miles:
'Siboney. July 18th ~1S9S.S:4S p. m.
Received July 18th. 1898. General
Miles OH board Yale:
"IcttorS and orders i'll reference to
movement Of camp received and will be
carried out. None is more anxious to
get away from here than myself. 1t
seems from your orders given me that
YOU regard my forces rs part Of your
command. Nothing will give me great
CT pleasure than serving YOU. General
and | shall comply with al your re
quests and directions, but | was told 10y
the Secretary that You We're not to
sUperSede me in command here. ! will
furnish the information called for as to
condition OF command to Gilmore, Ad-
jutant General, \. II. Q.
"'SHAFTER.
Major General.'
General Miles very promptly replied
rs follows:
"'Playa del Este. July Is. 1898
UGuanantanamol-11:3O Il. III.
"'General Shafter:
"'Eeiegram received: have no desire
and have carefully avoided any appear
ance Of superseding YOU. Your com
mand is Il part Of the United States
army, which | have the honor to com
mand. having been duly assigned there
to and directed by the President to go
wherever | thought my presence re-
CURED and give such general directions
as | thought best concerning military
matters. and especially directed to go
to Santiago for 4 specific purpose. You
will also notice that the orders Of the
Secretary Of War of July 18th. left the
matter to my discretion. | should re-
gret that any event should cause either
yourself or any part Of our command to
cease to be Il part of mine
VERY truly yours,
"'NELSON \. MILES.
"'Major General Commanding U. S
/ Army
General Miles then gave General
Shafter final instructions and left hur-
riedly for Porto Rico. In view of the
situation rs revealed by the above teIe-
. grams the following statement contain
tu Ill TIE NeN 1Ofk Herald OF recent
date. is quoted:
: IF my cablegram to Major General
Shafter. informing him that Major Gen
p eral Miles Was not sent to SupcrSede him
III supreme command in the field at San
:. tlago de Cuba, prevented the stormine
of the city OH the day of its surrender
1 and this resulted in the saving of lives
! which otherwise would nave been lost
f in the attack. then I am repaid fo1
Q sending it Il thousand fold.
t My cablegram to General Shaftel
G was simply due to my desire to assure
S him that | intended to be absolutely
fair. Before his departure from Wash
ington. General Miles and | had talkel
I the matter over and he started for Gu
q ba, knowing that he was not in any
= way to Interfere with the operations
which were under the control Of Gen
eral Shafter. That there could be NJ
doubt whatever | cabicd to Genera
Il -