Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-06-05
SEVEN YEARS AFTER SANTIAGO.
Reflections Of Newspaper Man on the
Spot.

The proyerbial ingratitude of re-
nubI;cs and the vivid American tenn
n.rament sensitive alike to the valor
of our kind and the lidiculOusness or
begot strange results. II
the army. which makes fighting simply
. cold business could be said to have
selected from itself Hero Of Sanu-
ago. 1.-THE very sentin"ntality of that
name would make them grimacel. it
was Long John" Miley, of Shafter;
staff. who stood there that morning IN
the waters of the San Juan creek ana
slapped each man on tie back as ne
passed by, and directed the column into
position for the charge: who stood or
system amid seeming disorder and for
hope among the doubtful; who held the
lines in connection through the days
bloody work and Strengthened them
al,ny the ridge that right, and led up
guns and horses and ammunition to the
weak spots.
But that is the very professional side
of the work. The fact that it was done
amid glaring danger AMI the clamor OF
battle appeals to US. Trat 1t was wen
done appeals to III" regular soldier.
Most of them attribute the success OF
the San Juan charge lE"re to M'lev
tran to any other one person among .he
many who are entitled to credit. After
the campaign he was recommended by
Gen. Shafter for appointment as brlga-
dier-general of volunteers, but the
president decided that he was too
young and sent him to the Philippines
as lieutenant-colonel. where he was
shufflcd Oft into a corner and put In
charge of a custOm-house and died or
the fever. He did not die be fore he nad
put the Philippines customs service on
firm basis. and did not complain be-
cause he was not given a place on the
fighting line. The Philippines govern
mant has lately put his picture on IT'S
bank notes, with those of Mckinley.
Lawton and Rial, and the war depart
mcnt has named a coast battery for
him. He was remarkably tall and slim,
with the Indian chCek-bones and
solemn, broad mouth; was greatly loved
by his friends, and was Ole of the best
of born soldiers. III. believed in the
American soldier, and wrote book in
which he says that the American regu-
lar private was the real hero Of San
Juan.
To Gen. Shafter, Miley was intensely
loyal. and although many of the orders
and directions he gave must have come
from his own brain on TIE spur of the
heated moment, he gave all credit to mis-
chief. Indeed, l am not sure that
Shafter is a great name in our military
history. I do not intend to make
Leslie's Weekly the rev;ver of a happily
submerged controversy, hut / will say
this much: Shafter commanded. Had
his army failed. his would have been
the great blame. 1t won. and he was
the first man to ascr-bn the victory to
the individual skill of his officers and
the valor of his troops. 1t is certain
that they caught much of his own
obstinacy and bull-headed singlcnesS of
purpose. and that it was because of
those very qualities that he made him
self unpopular with many people. The
purpose was to take Santiago. In COM
mand of his army he landed at Siboney.
ard four weeks later sal in the palace
at Santiago.
The best foreign soldiers who went
with the army from Tampa to the end
reported that it was composed of the
best $4,000 fighting men who ever got
together. Its organization was print
tive. part of it's armament antiquated,
its transportation and its supplies in
adequate. and its clothing and equip
ment inappropriate. But it got there.
Humphrey and Weston, with American
ingenuity and enterprise. made up. by
their personal energy. for the def
cheney of their departments. The mas
ter leadership of Kent and Lawton and
Wheeler and Chaffcc. and the infusion
of their spirit into their men. killed
distances over bad roads and made M
fol the horses and wagons and fool
and tents which We're not. The rifle
skill Of the private and the care of the
officer did for the lack of seigc guns
and more light guns. They had to do.
and they did.
That vas the last of the old army Of
blue. the army of 1872. of COntreraS
and Resaca de la Palma. of the valley
of Virginia and the plains of the West.
We have a new one now. with the tr:.-
ditions of the old. Seven years ag"
IL, 900 mcr went into Cuba. Two years
later. when the same regiments went
to the Philippines. they recruited -
per cent. Not per cent. of the army
lie Of to-day had shorldered their
rifles in 1898. A thousand We're killed
there or died of fever. and many thou
sand more have died since. 1t is hard
to tell, but do not suppose the half OF
them are living today. Only seven
short years. Shafter is retired and
lives in San Francisco. Weston and
Humphrey, Of his staff. are the effec-
tive heads of their departments. Of
the division commanders. Kent and
Wheeler are retired. and Lawton died Of
d bullet shot in the valley OF San Ma
teo, in the Philippines, with final sue
cess just in sight. OF the brigade
commanders. Young became the lieu
tcnant-gcnoral Of the army before he
retired. when Chaffce succeeded him.
Sumner is retired and Bates a major
general. The gallant and brilliant
Ludlow died Of fever in the Philippines.
after he had cleaned Havana from the
dirt of centuries. Wikof was killed.
Worth. who succeeded him, WAS
wounded. and has since died. Mckib-
bon. Hawkins and Markley. who bore
the personal brunt of large part OF
the shock of the San Juan charge. still