Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-07-01

| E-&SSEaHNS- ~ eI Tue TeturI
from Cuba. Tim,
will right the wrong for the men who
were wronged, and the plaudits show
cred upon the marching ranks on Mem
orial day were not extravagant and moi
undeserved. While General Sbafter wa.
in command Of the department of tb,
east after his return from Cuba, mus
tered out Seventy-first man approached
his old commander one day in a public
place and qnite timidly asked the privi
! lege of shaking his hand. The matter
was put to Shafter in this form, "Gen
eral, here is Seventy-first man who
wishes to know if you'll shake hand:
with member of that regiment f''
with pleasure, said Shafter, TAX.
ing the blushing boys hand and laying
hold of his arm in fatherly way. 81
am always ready to greet soldier OF
the Seventy first Yours is a good regi
nlent and don't you ever be ashamed
of it. The only trouble in it all was
that the officers fell 70 quarreling when
they got home The regiment was all
right in the field. and did no worse than
hundreds of regiments have done in the
first campaign. Had the war lasted a
few months longer the Seventy first
would have been as good as the best
Snap judgments on the Seventy first
at San Juan are unfair and unjust to
say the least. Notwithstanding all the
heroes the Spanish war produced, not
one can be spared The Seventy-frst
has heroes on its rolls At one time it
seemed as though they had to be
brought out with a searchlight. Now
its the towards and failures who are to
be picked out singly. Said a veteran
regular officer at Camp Wikoff, "Give
the Seventy first Krag- g-Jorgensens and
smokeless powder in place of their
SpringfeIds and they are regulars.
There have been many good things
said of this volunteer militia regiment
by their regular comrades. In compari-
son with the showing of the New York
Seventh in the Spanish war crisis the
Seventy first should be entitled to an
ovation if it hadn't smelled powder at
ali But it did smell powder 1t lost 8
men killed outright or died of wounds
and is deaths by disease contracted in
the trenches in Cuba. This was over 10
per cent of its strength.
Aside from these honorable scars, tile
regiment made a good record in the
field and in the trenches. There is one
thing that every soldier knows which
counts in the favor of these militia
boys. Cowards cannot be drawn into
battle by chains, and if by any means
they are tricked into getting within
bullet range they may always find an
excuse to crawl out of the dilemma.
The mass Of the rank and file of the
Seventy first acted all right at the San
Juan ford and on the hill They didn' t
show cowardice, and to man would
have displayed heroism had they been
older hands or had proper leadership
1t is to be noted that not an officer
of the Seventy first was killed or strick-
en- mortally by fever. The two officers
who came out unmistakable heroes
were Frustrated with fever as soon as
they reached the north. These were
Major Keck and Captain Rafferty,. For
a time there were conflicting stories
about Major Keck, but 1 discovered
at Camp Wikoff that the men in the
ranks classed Keck and Rafferty, togeth
er rs the heroes of the day. shutting
out all other officers.
When the regiment came home, Keck
didn't pose as hero, but he talked like
one. When asked for his story. he said;
"My story is simply the story of the
Seventy first regiment. | never saw
skirmishers deploy as well as the Sew
enty-first men deployed on the field of
battle. The intervals were perfect. The
men were as calm as though they had
been drilling at state camp.
: But. major" said the interviewer,
1.-THE boys said that you led them, wav-
ing red bandanna handkerchief.
"Nonsensel The Seventy-first regi
ment in that fight led itself -
''But you were ont ahead. were you
not -
well, followed in front. an
swered the major, with a smile. But
We were all right there. Rafferty, was
right with us. and SO was his command,
Company F. 1 tell You Rafferty, and his
men were all right.
Major Keck's Third battalion COM
prised Companies B. L, K and E.
Like the true hero, the major would
not talk of his own deeds and expert
ences-only the regiment the regiment.
Rafferty, was also reluctant to talk of
himself, but at length did respond for
the credit. of his company. His story /
also obtained from the lips cf a regular
officer who, as aid to General Kent.
directed Rafferty, in action. The first
official praise of these two officers came
in the report of Major Phil Reade. in
spector general of Kent's division and
a fine specimen Of veteran soldier. Aft
er telling of the conduct of the First
and its imitation by the Sec
ond, the steadiness of the Third bat
TALON under Keck and the demand for
more troops beyond the river, Major
Reade said that hs shouted out TO the
sJinmand. "Is there an officer here who
,vill obey an order from General hentf
70 this Rafferty, promptly responded
that he would obey any and every order
from General Kent He was told what
TO do. Major keck also responded. and
his battalion was placed in line to fol
low or go beside the regulars then hnr-
rying to support the column attacking
Han Juan hill. Major Reade gives praise
to Keck for readiness 10 act and cool
ness. He didn't stand on ceremony and
demand that orders come through the
regular channels. but fought when ana
where he was told.
Since the investigation and govern
r,r,s ~o,,ork ~, {bo conduct IF tho reyi-