The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-03-21
THE LATEST REVELATION.

For a very short war and a very small
army, the Santiago campaign is turning out
a great deal of literature. The papers were
full of it as long as the campaign afforded
any news. The magazines have taken it up
and kept it up as history and biography I'M
til their readers are weary of it. Half
dozen volumes have been printed with SAINT
iago as the subject, the latest being a vol
ume of over 500 pages. In passing it may be
added that the chief aim of most of the
writers has been to disparage General Shat
ter. Now General Wheeler has issued a book
in which it is said he claims to have been
''the whole thing" with a surplus of fighting
energy for similar events. A little interest
has been added to events at Santiago by the
discovery OF the statement of General Miles
in his testimony before the committee on
the conduct of the war to the effect that the
operations of General Shafter were greatly
embarrassed because General Wheeler,
Colonel Wood and Lieutenant Colonel
Roosevelt disobeyed Skaters orders and
brought on an engagement which precipi
tated the campaign before preparations had
been made for Ii.
But the thing which will bring back more
interest to the history of the Santiago cam
paign than anything else that could be
found is the publication of the official let
ters of General Miles to the President and
secretary of war recommending them to
withdraw the army about Santiago, dated
July 8. These letters, both written the same
day, were based upon the message of Cen
eral Shafter in which he called for rein
forcements, as no dependence. could be
placed upon the insurgents. In that mes
sage General Shafter does not openly adj
wise withdrawal: he intimates that the chief
purpose of the expedition was the destruc-
ton Of the Spanish fleet, but if the town is
once. A conference was held by the Pres
ident to consider the Shafter message, which
was participated in by General Miles and
others. After the conference, General Miles
wrote the secretary of war a letter which
begins as follows:
AS the object for which the army was sent
to Santiago de Cuba has been accomplished,
viz, the forcing Of the Spanish fleet out of
the harbor and its destruction by the navy,
L deem the present time most favorable for
pp0ceSednng l IN 1ts to Porto Rico,
We should take and keep that island which
Is the gateway to the Spanish possessions on
the western hemisphere. and IL is also i'm
portant that our troops should be landed
there as early as possible during this month.
Later III the day General Miles wrote an
other letter in which he quoted from the
message of General Shafter and further sug-
gested that If it is not deemed advisable
to continue the operations against Santiago,
sit would be good time to move on to
Porto Rico
1t seems that the President was not in
fluenced by the suggestion of General Miles
nor by the discouraging representations of
General Shafter, but ordered reinforcements
TO Santiago, deeming the capture of the city
a matter of vital Importance, after a move
had been made in that direction. The result
shows that the President was right With
the fall of Santiago, Spain with 1890 or
10000 troops in Cuba, gave up the contest
The effect of the surrender of city which
could have mustered twice as many defend
ers as assailants disheartened the Spanish
government, and ended the war in Cuba,
which would have been attended with an i'm
mense loss of life