New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-03-17
THE SANTIAGO CAMPAIGN.
GENERAL wHEELERs BOOK ON THE
WAR IN CUBA
sovr LIVELY CRITICISMS - COMPARISON OF
RrcoRps-1AwToN VERSUS wHEELER-"iTh
OTHER rrouANr AND PERSONAL De
TAILS OF THE MOVEMENT
To the Editor Of The Tribune.

OTHER PIoUANT AND PERSONAL DE-
TAILS OF THE MOVEMENT
To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Cir. .would that mine enemy would wT'e
hook. II General Joseph Wheeler has an eneInS
IN the world he will rejoice when ne reaoS '"'
Santiago Campaign" by that gentleman care
n,i nerusal OF the work will grieve any "e"-
risher % the Generals; 1t will force upon 'i'e
mos, casual reader the belief that he has dohe
-o,h,,c "a add "a his reputation by It's publica-
,,on hut rather has done great deal 10 oe-
So, ,borefror This is not in any sense
history Of the campaign; 1t would more h''ins'y
he entitled The Personal "reminiscences OF
General Joseph Wheeler" and Furthermore. no
one enjoying his acquaintance VIII eashy oeie>e
that he wrote H. 1t reads as though IL were
the work Of some overzealous clerk or secretary!
Aside from the inaccuracies that meet o"e
AT every page ;he book reads ike ue''"
crate effort on the part Of the author 10 oeii'''e
the work done by General Kent Genera na'eS
snd above all. General 1aw;on. IN order 'ia'
his own share in the campaign may s'ahu
out more wildly. Unfortunately Tor Genera
Wheeler the hour Of the so-caled magazinis' -
-. Tho records Of the Fifth Army Corps
have heon examined. line by line, by many per
sors interested in tho history and conouC' VI
She camDaicn. ard the NOrk uoHe "E Wv
orrarizators is fully understood.
General Wheeler says that on July Il Genera
eho,cr ard his staff had a meeting with General
Castillo This S an error The meeting loon p'"'e
~, ,be ooh a, Asscraderos. He goes on to say
thst the general Harding took place on july -
:, took Mace on the ODD viii General Wheeler
txrlain the following General Lawtoh o'N'-
,,o, was r;ven tho honor to be the first to dis
,roors went on shore personally and directed
Colonel Wood. Of my command. to send man
~ tho top of an cminonce. upon which span
.sh blocShouse and flagstaff had been erected
and 10 hoist his reeimcntal flag upon the nag
star" What has this to do with General Law
tor, division and how did the General prepare
ror ,re decentralization Of his troops by direct
,rc "a futile Climb &C 300-fOOt-high escarp-
r,er, I'm order TO pull down a flag which had
hoe, dc-rnod unworthy Of notice by those who
bad to ,eally serious business az the day IN
hand Then the General says that he rode
forward some three and a half miles 10 examine
tho cou7trv and when he returned it was late
NJ r.cht Now let us see what really happened
General Iawton was ordered 70 take the ad-
vance 10 land the greater part of his division,
and ~ occupy the read leading out Of Daiquiri
toward Siboney until his troops were in posi-
iioH arl then await orders; these came late
IN the afternoon. and were cOrroborative OF
other orders gwen. that the division should
move on 10 and capture Siboney. The head or
the division halted for the night three and
half miles from Daiquiri. and il was along this
line Of troops that General Wheeler rode never
for one moment out Of close contact with the
infantry which blocked the narrow trail
The General continues THE next morning Cen
eral Shafter sent for me and directed that go
70 Juragua to throw forward pickets to Jura-
guacito. more commonly called Siboney" This
aeein Is wrong General Shafter did not give
General Wheeler such an order, for at $40
o'clock the next morning General Lawton had
taken Juraeuacito. more commonly called Sibo-
nev and had occupied il with his division.
The General was ordered "to send Colonel
Woods regiment TO he added TO the force near
Juraguacito with orders to have two or three
companies patrol the road TO that place. from
the junction OF the main road from Daiquiri to
Santiago with the railroad" The General con-
tlnues: When | reached Juraguacito or Sibo-
new I found the enemy had taken their men out
OF the bockhouse in that vicinity the midnight
preceding and at daylight had started in the
direction OF Sevilla. followed by some two hun
dred Cubans ! rode rapidly to the front. and
position three miles from Siboney. the Cubans
having engaged their rear in which action nine
Of them were wounded" What the Genera
really found was this When he reached sbo-
ney he found the Second Division in full posses
zion awaiting the transports which were OF
their way up from Daiquiri. and the country
beyond Sboney strongly outpOsted; he founC
that the enemy upon the approach OF Genera
Lawton's column had retired hastily. leaving
their rations in the act OF being distributed. 81
sudden was the advance Of our troops ne founc
that General Lawton had ordered fifty Cuban'
who were In his command to follow up the re
treating column and to attack their rear with
view to ascertaining. IL possible. their number
and that two skirmishes had taken place. with 6
result OF one Killed and sixteen wounded on The
part OF the Cubans. and one Spaniard killed.
The General proceeds to state with the aid
Of General Castillo l learned the features o.
the country" The Army records show In the
most positive fashion that whatever information
our. troops had of the country more than two
miles beyond Siboney received from Cubar
outposts and scouts. and members OF the at
lacking par.y. and that this information came
20 General Wheeler through Lawtons men
Furthermore. / cannot believe that Genera
Wheeler really learned the features Of the coun
trv for had he done so. he would never hav,
permitted his men to walk into the made by
the two hills where the Spaniards lay so strong
" posted. It will be observed that in all this
description the General carefully avoids men
tioning either ;he name OF General Lawton o.
his division OF Regulars. beyond the clumsy ex
preston. General Laxton's division was gver
the honor 20 be the first to disembark.' Is this
an accident? | should like TO think SO, but. II
the light OF what comes after am unable L
adopt that view.
The General now proceeds TO give an accoun
OF the skrmish at Las Guasnas-whch III
country al large knows was the result OF
direct dsobcdience OF orders-and claims tina
there were between two thousand and fou
,bousand Snanish troops engaged in this action