Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1899-10-21
New York Post.

Idea of what was Best to Do-The
Generals Assertions Corrected.
New York Post
When shown the statement made
by Rear Admiral Sampson recently at
the Boston navy yard concerning his
participation in the negotiations with
Gen. Toral, which led to the surrender
of Santiago to Gen. Shafter; Capt
Chadwick. commander of the cruiser
New York, now in this port, to-day
made the following statement TO re-
porter Of the Evening Post:
Il regret to be involved in any dis
cussion or alteration with Gen. Shat
ter, for whom | have high regard
and strong liking. And / would say
nothing whatever had not our com
mander-in-chief been attacked in some
papers on the ground of inaccuracy
of statement.
"Under such circumstances / am
obliged to say, simply in the interest
of fact that what he says is correct:
and what | have seen in one news
paper as coming from the General
shows d want Of clear recollection In
the matter on his part. The letter
was drafted ION July 6, and not as re-
ported, on July 12) on my own motion
after asking the General if he was
open to suggestions. After reading
it over he said he would sign it with
cut making any change.
stBefore this, however, / called up
Lieut.. Commander Staunton, assist
ant chief of staff, who had accom-
panied me- and had him read the
draft, asking him if he had any sug-
gestions to make. A slight change
was made in one paragraph at his sug-
gestion. The address was put at the
head of the draft by the clerk who
was called up to copy it. The origi-
nal draft was given to ne as the copy
which | should retain. 1t was rough
ly done in pencil, and [ sent it TO my
wife as a memento of the campaign.
II would repeat that | regard all this
as rather trivial and of no special ~.
portance, except from the standpoint
of verifying the accuracy of Admiral
SIMPSONS statement. He is strictly
accurate regarding the letter. The
Admiral merely mentioned it, under
circumstances when he desired to say
something which he thought might
be pleasing to large number of my
friends. then gathered together. He
certainly never designed it as an at
tack upon Gen. Shafter in any sense.
To suppose otherwise would be to do
him great injustice"
ipo Ghnft ar.o of
that the letter written by Capt.
Chadwick was only'a copy of the de-
mand made by himself, Capt. Chad
wick said:
ssAs / have said, it was at my sug-
gestion that the letter was written,
and the composition Of it was mine,
except for the slight change suggest
ed by Staunton. | know of no previ-
Gus letter having been formulated.
Regarding the circumstances at
tending the writing of the letter,
Capt. Chadwick explained:
'sGen. Shafter was not feeling at all
we'll that day. / found him, in his
hirt-sleeves, evidently suffering, sit
ting outside his tent with pair OF
slippers on his feet. He was feeling
much depressed, largely on account of
bodily illness, and the loss of men he
had sustained in the assault upon the
city affected him, too. He did not
seem to have any idea as to the best
course to pursue, and, after / had
talked to him for some time, / said:
g General are you open to sugges-
tions?' and he answered. i am.
Then / said:
''sWhy not allow me to write let
ter to Gen. Toral demanding his sur
render, and giving him plain state
ment of the case?' He replied yes,
do So. When ] gave the letter to
him, he read 1t over, and declared that
he was satisfied with it, and called
Lieut.. Col. Miley over and asked him
to have it typewriter. But object
ed to that because the Spaniards, az
I pointed out, are very punctilious
about matters of this kind, and would
not look as favorably upon a type
written letter as upon one In script.
At my suggestion, Gen. Shafter call
ed a man, who, he said could write a
clear hand, and had him copy the
rough draft which had made. The
address, at the top OF the letter, was
not on my draft, and was added by
the copying clerk.
LAS a matter Of accuracy, a slight
correction in Admiral SIMPSONS re.
ported statement ought to be made,
The first bombardment was begun on