The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-11
CHAFFBB DIET lends HIS MBN
The General Writes a Caustic Re
ply to a Magazine Article.
He Declares Mr.. Willard Has Not Con-
fined Himself to Facts in Regard
to WLnt Took Place in China
Soldiers Must Endure Hardship

!
! General \ R. Chaffee, commanding the
| United States troops in China indjg-
! nantIy denies certain allegations contain
| Cd in an article published in "Scribners
| Magazine" for January last under the
| caption, y Comparison Of the Armies in
/ China written by a Mr. 0Iiuard- Gener-
/ al Chafee's caustic reply to Mr.. MiElaTd
| is found in an official communication for
| warded to the Adjutaat General from
; Fekia. March H. in which he declares
| that the Scribner article is an exaggerated
! statement in many instances and extraor-
! binary as a whole Says General Chaffee:
THE high coIoring (of the article would
! be without interest to the Department or
to me if several misstatements regarding
/ matters which affect the interests of the
I Government were not made a part Of the
story. Mr. Willard must surely base his
statements on hearsay. supplemented by
| his Imagination, regarding the march Of
| he relief column to Pekin. He was not
2 it'll that column, although his readers
y. hen perusing his article are led TO infer
| that he was. He did rot arrive in Pekin
until about the middle Of October o. two
| months after the arrival of the relief col
umu- He undoubtedly saw much Gcvas-
| taticn on his way up
{ He did not see the Russian and Japan
! ese troops Of the column shooting and
| bayoneting harmless and helpless people,
| as described by him. Particularly he has
| no right to say that our armies are not
free from these ~anton sacrifices, for the
American force was absolutely free from
them
Mr. Willard makes very important
| misstatement when he says, every town,
every village, every peasants hut in the
/ burned a stretch of country for ten
! miles in width was thus swept This is
/ not true Fully three quarters Of the
| houses are standing today, and a larger
proportion were standing when Mr.. Nil
lard passed over the road. Many are now
ShOru of doors, windows, and all wood
| work. which has been used for fuel by
| passing troops this winter. During the
I march of the column from YangtSuu 70
| Pekin, part of but one town, Chang-chfa-
| wan, was burned; it having been agreed
! IN conference on August at 1angtSUn to
| suppress burning This agreement was
| adhered to except in the instance stated
! Later on, some buildings, particularly at
| Tung-Chew, half destroyed, were burned
/ by detachments following the relieving
| army
The best of miIIet does not grow high
| er than four feet but tTifie of six or
! eight seems a small matter TO Mr.. Willard
and may be taken as a measure Of the
{ Inaccuracy due TO either lack Of knoWI-
{
/ chaF&cterIzeS many Of his state
! ments- But il is unfortunate he should
! mlSlead our farmers with the statement
! that this grain stands ten OF twelve feet
( high It Is possible Mr. 2IiiIlard refers TO
! 'kaeiIa, or broom corn, which grows TO
! the height he states.
! Mr.. Willard states. that within q
/ week after their arrival in Pekin over
/ one-third of the American force was in
{ the hospital This statement is in effect
made twice by Mr. Willard in his articl-
{ From the official record can be obtained
the following facts: On August / at
/ TIentsIn. there We're 221 on sick report
/ principally from the Ninth Infantry on
/ august i. when the command left Tien-
/ tsIn Tor Pekin, the number Of sick had
/ dropped to l5S, or 3-S per cent This drop
! was due TO the natural zeal Of the men
| to take part in the march to the relief Of
/ PeIlin-
ON August after the capture Of
1angtsun, the report showed 1G9 sick OF
/ % per cent; this included IS wounded at
/ Hangtsun, and SO men more or less de-
bltated- who, although not actually i'll
! were considered in unfit condition to en-
! duTe tie rigorous campaign which was
! expected. These men. while technicall-
/ on sick report. were sent to TientSin ana
| performed guard and other duty on Au-
/ gust IL when the command left Matow-
! only % miles distant from Pekin, 50 sick
/ were left there under the same conditions
/ as the % q bOye alluded to- These men
! constituted in a great measure the guard
: which was necessary to leave at that
place. and although technically carried on
{ SICK report they performed tGi duty. TX
/ c5uS'E1 OF these, the total sick IN the com
| -aard was 26S, or "A per cent On August
{ Il, IT TWO DAYS after the fan OF Pekin
/ the report showed a total of 551 sick. in
! Guiding 81 of the above 129 referred to as
! being at IientSiD and MatOw- Exclusive
! OF the g. there remained Z54- including D.
! wounded To these might be added 81.
( who were transferred from the General
! Hospital at TientSIn TO the United States
/ hospital ship Relief in Taku Bay on Au-
gust 10, thus making a total Of 81 sick. OF
: -ar ont -. g.F1 30. H.
number OF sick at Mat0W- On August %,
/ theTe~were 269 on sick report. Including
! 60 at MatOw and Tientsin Of
the original 129- The number actually sick
/ was 2g5. or 50 per cent a gain Of p Der
! cent since August I. and A per cent from
J the day the march to Pekin began. Be
! tween August % and g. there was q very
/ gradual rise IN the sick report to 4lS. or
! II.6 per cent. 9 gain of per cent since
{ entering Pekin, and 5.5 per cent since the
! first Of the month This was the high
/ water mark. as since that time there has
/ been q gradual decrease in the percent
/ age of sick in this comma nd: I1.G per cent
I is far from being more than % per cent or
| over oue-third Of the American forces.
/ NO one objects to the high admiration
! expressed by Mr. Willard for the japanese
| Army It's equipment, etc However, when
! he says; on the march 70 Pekin their
| field telegraph line prevented the allied
army from losing connection with its
base The American Signal Corps. 4
/ branch our Service is wont 10 boast Of.
| did manage to string wire and keep it
! open at least part OF the time Being on
/ all sorts Of improyised poles in trecIeSs
! country, II naturally fell by the wayside
with annoying frequency. Not 50 with the
Jap telegraph It was provided with teIe-
/ sC0piC metal poles and braces. and when
/ once set stood An hour after tle camp
! was pitched after days march The jap
auese field telegraph would open up com
munication with the next station in the
| rear. he is dallying with error The fact
Is. the British and American telegraph
! line, Jointly constructed and operated
line.
/ the troops The worst aDnoyances were
! caused by malicious cuts and removal Of
! a portion OF the wire. The polling was
! temporary, Of course, and not as sub
/ staHtial as it would hive been had better
! material been available The japanese
/ did not have telescope metal poles. but
! the British did have some. and these were
/ used IN the combined America n-British
/ line The japanese line was strung on
/ very light bamboo poles a week after the
/ troops arrived in Pekin.
| Mr.. Willard says: 1T was quite no
/ tiCcabIe that during engagements the ia
/ paneSc wounded received much pronuter
/ attention than those Of other nationali-
! ties, and triumph of triumphs the Japa-
DeSe field hospitals were pIentfuliv sup
I piled with ice Ia sweitering climate
where an incipfcnt ice famine had made
the cooling substance precious even in
! Tientsin. the Japanese field medical corps
| carried ice all the way to Pekin. It was
/ a miracle of foresight and efficiency
/ which amazed the ambulance sections Of
| the other divisions Of the bliStering army
! when on some days prOStTations from
4 heat were running up into the hundreds
| and men We're dying for want Of a hit of
| ice our wounded received prompt attcn-