Evening star., 1901-05-13
Statements in a Magazine Article on
the Forces of the Allies.
REFLECTIONS ON AMERICAN METHODS
Published Assertions Shown to Be
Wholly Wrong.
INJURY OF MEASUREMENTS

| Adjutant General Corbin today made pub
lie an interesting report made by General
| A. r. Chaffee, commanding the United
| States army in China, in reference to Mr..
Miilard's article, entitled, "A Comparison
of the Armies in China published in
Scribner's Magazine of January, 1901. The
report is written in General Chaffee's
frank, clear and characteristic style, and
is accepted at the War Department as a
complete refutation of all the material
statements made by Mr.. Milard rejecting
upon the American troops who participated
in the historic march to Pekin.
Reported LoOting.
| General Chaffee says that Mr.. Millard' $
article is an exaggerated statement in
many instances and extraordinary as a
whole The high coloring,'' he goes on.
would be without interest to the depart
ment or to me if several misstatements
regarding matters which affect the inter-
! eStS of the government Were not made
part of his story. Mr.. Mlard must surely
| base his statements on hearsay supple
mented by his imagination regarding the
| march of the relief column to Pekin. He
was not with that column, although his
readers when perusng his article are LED
to infer that he was. He did not arrive
| in Pekin until about the middle of October.
| or two months after the arrival of the
relief column. He undoubtedly saw much
devastation 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 mas no
right to say that our armies are not free
from these wanton sacrifices, for the
American force was absolutely free from
them.
Mr.. Millard makes a very important
misstatement when he says every town,
every village, every peasants hut in the
Of rSf
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 larger proportion
were standing when Mr. Millard passed
over the road. Many are now shorn Of
doors. windows and all woodwork, which
! has been used for fuel by passing troops
| this winter During the march Of the
| column from Yangtsun to Pekin part of
| but town, Chang-chia- wan. was burned: 1t
! having been agreed in conference on Au-
gust at Yangtsun to suppress burning
| This agreement was adhered to except III
| the instance stated. Later on, some build
! ings. particularly at Tung-Chew, half de-
| stroyed were burned by detachments fol-
! lowing the relieving army.
''The best of millet does not grow higher
| than four feet but a tride of six or eight
| feet seems small matter to Mr. Millard,
| and may be taken as a measure of the IN
accuracy. due to either lack of knowledge
| or desire to perVert the facts, which char-
| act erizes many of his statements. But 1t
| is unfortunate he should mislead our farm
| ers with the statement that this grain
| stands ten or twelve feet high. 1t IS pos
| sibie Mr. Miltard refers to kaeIia,' or
| broom corn, which grows to the height
| he states.
sickness of Our Troops.
"Mr. Miliard states that within a week
after their arrival in Pekin over one-thfrd
of the American force was In the hospital
This statement is in effect made twice by
Mr. Milard in his article. From the official
| records can be obtained the following
! facts: On August 1 Tien TsiR there
were 221 on sick report. principally from
! the 9th Infantry. On August +. when the
| command left Tien Tsin for Pekin. the
number of sick dropped TO 13s, 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 Pekin. On August 8. after
the capture of Yangtsun. the report showed
1919 sick, or 90 per cent. This included
! fifty eight wounded at 4angtsun and thir-
ty-three men more or less debilitated, who.
although not actually i'll, We're considered
| in unfit condition to endure the rigorous
campaign which was expected. These men,
while technically sick report, Were sent
to Tien Tsin and performed guard and
other duty. On August II, when the COM
| mand left Matow, only thirty-tive miles dis
| tant from Pekin, ninety-six sick were left
there under the same conditions the
| thirty-three above 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 re-
port, they performed full duty. Exclusive
of these the total sick in the command was
! 26S. or IA per cent. On August Il, two
days after the fall of Pekin, the report
showed a total of 3Jl sick including ~ of
the above 40 referred to as being at Tien
! Tsin and Matow. Exclusive Of the 81 there
remained 254. including 50 wounded. To
these might be added 81. who We're trans
ferred from the general hospital at Tien
| Tsn to the United States hospital ship Re
| lief In Taku bay on August 10, thus max
ing total Of 81 SICK or SO per cent, a
sick at Matow. On August % there were
360 on sick report, including 65 at Matow
| and Tien Tsin Of the original 129 The
number actually sick was 295 or So per
and A per cent from the day the march
| to Pekin began. Between August 20 and 81
there was very gradual rise in the sick
report to Alb. or 1l6 per cent, gain of 3
per cent since entering Pekin and 55 per
cent since the 1st of the month This was
| the high water mark. as since that time
| there has been gradual decrease in the
percentage of sick In this command: II
| per cent is far from being more than 33
! per cent or over one-third of the American
forces.
Signal Service.
"No one objects to the high admiration
| expressed by Mr.. MilIard for the Janan-
| ese army, its equipment, &C. However
when he says: "On the march to Pekin
| their field telegraph line prevented the
| allied army from losing connection with
| its base. The American signal corps, a
| branch our service, is wont to boast Of
| did manage to string a wire and keep it
open at least part Of the time Being on
| all sorts of improvised poles, in a treeless
! country, IT naturally fell by the wayside
with annoying frequency. Not so with the
Japanese telegraph. 1t was provided with
| telescope metal poles and braces, and
| when once set stood. An hour after the
| camp was pitched after a days march the
| Japanese field telegraph would open up
| communication with the next station in the
| rear. he Is dallying with error. The fact
| ts, the British and American telegraph line
| Jointly constructed and operated, was the
only line brought forward with the troops
! The worst annoyances were caused by
malicious cuts and removal Of a portion of
| the wire. The polling was temporary, of
| course, and not as substantial as it would
| have been had better material been avail
! able. The Japanese did not have tele-
! scopic metal poles, but the British did
! have some, and these were used In the
| combined British line The
! Japanese line was strung on very light
| bamboo poles a week after the troops ar
| rived in Pekfn.