The age-herald., 1899-03-21
GENERAL WHEELER
 MAKES REPLY
Continued From First Page),


 was left to his discretion. He quotes Shaf- ter's testimony before the commission to the effect that the fight had good results; that it taught the Spaniards that they had | different men from the Cubans to fight. | Wheeler submits that this shows beyond | controversy that what he did was exactly | in accordance with General Shafters or l ders; that the La Quasima fight was made in strict obedience to the spirit and proper l interpretation of the orders received from l General Shafter. In addition, General l Wheeler insists that leaving this evidence l aside the facts stated by Lawton to Shafter 1 on June 23, and that Lawton's sworn evi- | dence before the war commission would show that he fought the La Quasima battle | in strict compliance with the express | wishes of General Shafter, his commanding l general.
 Quotes Lawton's Statement
 Wheeler quotes Lawton's statement that l he had been ordered by Shafter to proceed | against Siboney, and declares that prac- | tically his orders were the same as Law | tons. He insists that the Spaniards were l in position where it was advantageous for 1 the Americans to attack them rather than ! to allow them to fight in their block l houses. Says General Wheeler:
 1 'The least delay and this opportunity 1 would have been lost. knew that he l (Shafter) wanted the enemy to be impress ! ed with American bravery and determlna- l ton. knew that the American people and l the administration had sent us to Cuba7for l a special purpose, and that prompt attack | on the Spaniards would aid in attaining | that purpose. This (dread of yellow fever) l added to and emphasized the imperative ! necessity of prompt action upon my part. | The victory was due entirely to the chlVai- | lic courage of the 964 brave American sol l diers who fought the battle. The state l ment that they were ambushed was apso- l lutely untrue. The statement that they l were aided in any way, shape or form Dy l any other troops is also untrue. Ihe near | est American troops were about Tour Hlles | off when the fight commenced, and the VIC tory had been and the enemy in pre- | cipitate retreat fully two hours before they l reached the field" D.
 Victory One to Cavalry
 General Wheeler proceeds to point out the difficult position Of the troops at the l end of the battle, drenched with rain, huh- | gry and tired, he claims the victory was | due to the cavalry division entirely, and | quotes the Spanish reports to show that l inc Spaniards believed the American force | which whipped them and drove them from l the field was ten times as large as II ac- | tually was. He refers to statement by | Bonsal that Lawton had declared that 1 every man who had fale in the La Guasi- ! mas fight had been needlesSly sacrificed, | and he says: Tt is my duty to say that | this statement Is absolutely untrue"
 He tells how General Lawton, after the nl. | says the statement that the Guasima's | fight had the effect of drawing the troops five or six miles into the interior was also a mistake. The advance was only three | miles and would have been necessary in any case to find proper camping ground. | In this connection he again quotes Shafter in an order to him to advance Lawton's division, made because 1t would have been impossible to encamp the entire army within three miles of the coast at Siboney.
 ~tx... ~ ct, hafnr the war commission where that officer said Lawton had told him there was a scheme on foot to leave him Qawton) in the lurch and have fight, General Wheeler points out that General Miles was careful to say that he only repeated what Lawton told him.
 Was Not Relieved of Command
 Taking up the charge that Wheeler had been relieved of command on the night of the 30th and had no command during the battle on the following day, General Wheel | CT says all these statements are absolutely | false.
 Thereupon he shows he was assigned to l his command on June 24 and tells what he ] did day by day in the exercise of that com I mand. He says on the 18th, 29th and 3Oth he suffered from fever resulting from ex- l posture, but nevertheless continued his du- ! ties and was not put upon the sick report. He admits that he was ignorant of the con ference held by Shafter and his generals on the 3Oth but Shafter explained this by saying he understood Wheeler was sick and his physician had advised against let ting him know of the proposed meeting the next day. Wheeler tells of the weak ness of the line at San Juan and says that many officers insisted that the ridge could not be held and he learned the same state- ment had been made to Shafter. Says | Wheeler 'I did everything in my power to discourage this feeling and told those who came to me that the enemy had fled at La Guasima. and that we had driven them from their Notifications on San Juan ridge; that they would expect us to take Santiago the next day; that there was no possible danger of their making an attack on us that night, but if they did we could hold the ridge.
 "The fighting was more or less severe during the day and by night we were well intrenched and I regarded position as impregnable." Statement Absolutely False e General Wheeler says the statement that he had told General Kent of his des re to retreat was absolutely untrue, adding: 'I was emphatic and positive and earnest ] against retreating at the time we took San Juan Hill until July 16, when Santiago sur , rendered. He attached General Rents de- nial of this statement along with consider able other evidence of the same character.
 He says the publicity of the errors he seeks i to correct has brought to him many offers from army officers familiar with the facts 1 to write him on the subject in refutation, and he adds in the shape of an appendix 1 to his own report number of letters from such officers. He quotes General Lawton l in letter to himself as pronouncing his tWheelers) history of the campa gn "a very just and accurate description of what oc-i cured" and he quotes Governor Roosevelt as follows:
 "I have read Bonsars book, and it makes mo extremely indignant. He seems to have ! selected you especial object Of attack. Of the Guasimas fight he knows absolutely