3
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 5, 1913-
X!Vi1 P HO 1 THE. FAMOUS CHARGE OF -sr: '
fr y As -MM A j KVfEto:aXJCHPlDED5. ' S'm ,v ' 3 V
I ' ; j
Published by Special Arrangement with the
Outlook, of which Theodore Roosevelt
la the Contributing Editor.
(Copyright, 1913, by the Outlook Company.
All rights reserved. Including
rights of translation.)
I HAD not enjoyed the Guaalmas fight
at all, because I had been so uncer
tain as to what I ought to do. But
the San Juan fight was entirely differ
ent. The Spaniards had a hard posi
tion to attack, it Is true, but we could
see them and I knew exactly how to
proceed.
. I kept on horseback, merely because
. I found It difficult to convey orders
- along the line, as the men were lying
down; and it is always hard to get men
to start when they cannot see whether
:' their comrades are also going. So I
rode up and down the lines, keeping
them straightened out, and gradually
worked through line after line until I
found myself at the head of the regi
ment. By the time 1 had reached the
lines of the regulars of the First Bri
gade I had come to. the conclusion that
it was silly to stay in the valley firing
at the hills, because that was really
where we were most exposed, and that
the thing to do was to try to rush the
intrenchments.
Where I struck the regulars there
was no one of superior rank to mine.
and alter asking why they did not
charge and being- answered that they
had no orders, I said I would gTve the
order. There was naturally a little
Teluctance shown by the elderly officer
In command to accept my order, so
said, "Then let my men through, sir.
and I marched through, followed by
my grinning men. The younger oftT
cers and the enlisted men of the regu
; lars Jumped up and Joined us. I waved
. my hat and we went up the hill with
a rush. Having taken It, we looked
across at the Spaniards in the trenches
under the San Juan blockhouse to our
left, which Hawkins' brigade was as
saulting. I ordered our men to open
nre on the bpanlards in the trenches.
Memory plays funny tricks In such
a fight, where things happen quickly,
and all kinds of mental Images succeed
one another in a detached kind of way,
wnne tne work goes on. As I gave
ttie order in question there slipped
through my mind Mahan's account of
Nelson's orders that each ship as it
sailed forward, if it saw another ship
engaged with an enemy's ship, should
rake the latter as it passed. When
Hawkins' soldiers captured the block
house I. very much elated, ordered a
charge on my own hook to a line of
hills still farther on. Hardly anybody
heard this order, however; only four
men started with me, three of whom
were shot. I gave one of them, who
was only wounded, my canteen of
water and ran back, much irritated
that I had not been followed which
was quite unjustifiable, because I found
that nobody had heard my orders.
General Sumner had come up by this
time and 1 asked his permission to lead
the charge. He ordered me W do so
and this time away we went, and
stormed the Spanish intrenchments.
There was some close fighting and we
took a few prisoners. We also can
tured the Spanish provisions and ate
them that night with great relish. One
of the items was salted flying fish, by
the way. There were also bottles of
wine and Jugs of fiery spirit, and as
soon as possible I bad these broken,
although not before one or two of my
men had taken too much liquor. Lieu
tenant" Howze, of the regulars, an
aide of General Sumner's, brought me
an order to halt where I was; he could
not make up his mind to return until
he had spent an hour or two with us
under fire. The Spaniards attempted
a counter attack in the middle of the
afternoon, but were driven back with
out effort, our men laughing and
cheering as they rose to fire, because
hitherto they had been assaulting
breastworks or lying still under artil
lery fire, and they were glad to get a
chance to shoot at the Spaniards in the
open. We lay on our arms that night
and, as we were drenched with sweat
and had no blankets save a few we
took from the dead Spaniards, we
found even the tropic night chilly be
fore morning came.
During the afternoon's fighting,
while I was the highest officer at our
Immediate part of the front. Captains
Boughton and Morton, of the regular j
cavalry, two as fine officers as any man
could wish to have beside him in bat
tle, came along the firing line to tell
me that they had heard a rumor that
we might fall back and that they
wished to record their emphatic pro
test against any such course. I did not
believe there was any truth In the ru
mor, for the Spaniards were utterly in
capable of any effective counter-attack.
However, late in the evening, after the
fight. General Wheeler visited us at
the front and he told me to keep my
self In readiness, as at any moment It
might be decided to fall back.
Jack Greenway was beside me when
General wheeler was speaking. I an
swered: "Well. General, I really don'
know whether we would obey an order
to fall back. We can take that city
by a rush and if we have to move out
of here at all I should be inclined to
make the rush in the right direction.1
Greenway nodded an eager assent. Th
old General, after a moment s pause,
expressed his hearty agreement and
said that he would see that there was
no falling back. He had been very
sick for a couple of days, but, sick as
he was, be managed to get into th
fight. He was a gamecock if ever
there was one, but he was in very bad
physical shape on the day of the fight.
If there had been anyone in high com
mand to supervise and press the at
tack that afternoon we would have
gone right Into Santiago. In my part
of the line the advance was halted only
because we received orders not to
move forward, but to stay on the crest
of the captured hill and hold It,
Three-o'Clock-ln-the-Mornlng; Conrnge.
We are always told that three
o'clock-ln-the-mornlng courage Is the
most desirable kind. Well, my men and
the regulars of the cavalry had Jus
that brand of courage. At about S
o'clock on the morning after the first
fight, shooting began in our front, and
there was an alarm of a Spanish ad
vance. I was never more pleased than
to see tne way In which the hungry,
t'.red, shabby men all Jumped up and
ran forward to the hill-crest, so as to
be ready for the attack; which, how
ever, did not come.. As soon as the
sun Tose the Spaniards again opened
upon us with artillery. A shell burs
between Dave Goodrich and myself,
blacking us with powder, and killing
and wounding several of the men lm
mediately behind us.
Next day the fight turned Into t
siege; there were some stirring inci
dents, but for the most part it was
trench work. A fortnight later San
tiago surrendered. Wood won his
Brigadier-Generalship by the capital
way In which he handled his brigade
in the fight, and In the following siege.
He was put in command of the cap
tured city and In a few , days I suc
ceeded to the command of the brigade.
The Health of the Army.
The health of the troops was not
good, and speedily became very bad.
There was some dysentery and a little
yellow fever, but most of the trouble
was from a severe form of malarial
fever. The Washington authorities had
behaved better than those in actual
command on the expedition at one
crisis. Immediately after the first
day's fighting around Santiago the lat
ter had hinted by cable to Washington
that they might like to withdraw, and
Washington had emphatically vetoed
the proposal. I record this all the more
gladly because there were not too
many gleams of good sense shown in
the home management of the war, al
though I wish to repeat that the real
Dlame for this rested primarily with
us ourselves, the people of the United
States, who had for years pursued in
military matters a policy that rendered
t certain that there would be lnentl-
tude and failure in high places if ever
crisis came.
After the siege the people in Wash
ington showed no knowledge whatever
of the conditions around Santiago, and
proposed to keep the army there. 'This
would have meant that at least three-
fourths of the men would either have
died or have been permanently inva
lided, as a virulent form of malaria
was widespread, , and there was a
teady growth of dysentery and other
om plaints, jso object of any kind
was to be gained by keeping the army
n or near tne captured city. General
Shatter tried his best to get the Wash
ington authorities to order the army
home. As be failed to accomplish any
thing, he called a council of the divi
sion and brldage commanders and the
chief medical officers to consult over
the situation.
Although I had command of a bri
gade, I was only a Colonel, and so I
did not Intend to attend, but the Gen
eral Informed me that I was particu
larly wanted and accordingly I went.
At the council General Shatter asked
the medical authorities as to conditions
and they united In informing him that
they were very bad and were certain
to grow much worse; and that In order
to avoid frightful ravages from disease,
chiefly due to malaria, the army should
be sent back at once to some part of
the Northern United States. The Gen
eral then explained that he could not
get the War Department to understand
the situation; that he could not get
the attention of the public, and that he
felt that there should bo some author
itative publication which would make
the War Department take action be
fore it was too late to avert the ruin
of the army. All who were In the room
expressed their agreement.
The "Round Robin."
Then the reason for my being present
came out. It was explained to me by
General Shatter, and by others, that as
I was a volunteer officer and Intended
Immediately to return to civil life. I
coui-a anora to take risks which the
regular Army men could not afford to
take and ought not to be expected to
take, and that therefore I ought
make the publication In Question; be
cause to incur the hostility of the War
Department would not make any dif
ference to me, whereas it would be
destructive to the men in the regular
Army, or to those who hoped to get
into the regular Army. I thought this
true, and said-1 would write a letter
or make a statement which could then
be published. Brigadier-General Ames,
who was in the same position that
was, also announced that he would
make a statement.
When I left the meeting It was
understood that I was to make my
statement as an interview in the press,
but Wood, who was by that time
Brigadier-General commanding the
City of Santiago, gave me a quiet hint
to put my statement In the form of
letter to General Shafter, and this
accordingly did.
When I had written my letter, .the
correspondent of the Associated Press,
who had been Informed by others of
what had occurred, accompanied me to
General Shafter. I presented the let
ter to General Shafter, who waved
away and said: "I don't want to take
it; do whatever you wish with it."
however, insisted on handing it to htm
whereupon he shoved it toward the cor
respondent of the Associated Press, who
took hold .of It. and I released my hold.
General Ames made a statement direct
to the correspondent, and also sent
cable to the Assistant Secretary of the
Navy at Washington, a copy of which
he gave to the correspondent. By this
time tne outer division ana brigade
commanders who were present felt that
they had better take action themselves.
They united In a round robin to Gen
eral Shafter, which General Wood dic
tated, and which was signed by Gen
erals Kent, Bates, Chaffee, Sumner,
Ludlow, Ames and Wood, and by my
self. General Wood handed this to
General Shafter, and It was made
public by General Shafter precisely as
mine was made public Later I was
1?
'General Wood writes me: "The representa
tive of the Associated Press was very anxious
to get a copy oi this aispatcn or see it,
end 1 told him It was Impossible for him to
have or see It. 1 then went In to General
Shafter and stated the cane to him. handlns:
him the dispatch, saying, 'The matter is
now In your hands. He, General Shatter,
then said, 'I don't care whether this gen
tleman has It or not,'- and I left then. When
went back the General told me he had
iven the. press representative a copy of the
lsoatch. "and that he had gone to the of
fice with It."
much amused when General Shafter
tated that he could not imagine how
my letter and the round robin got out!
When I saw this statement, I appre
ciated how wise Wood had been In
hinting to me not to act on the sug
gestion of the General that I should
make a statement to the newspapers,
but to put my statement In the form
of a letter to him as my superior
officer, a letter which I delivered to
him. Both the letter and the round
robin were written at General fitrafter's
t u : "i
r .
SZ W7 .car? . f3X3fno2r.
wish, and at the unanimous suggestion
of all the commanding and medical
officers of the Fifth Army Corps, and
both were published by General Shafter.
In a regiment the prime need is to
have fighting men; the prime virtue
is to be able and eager to fight with
the utmost effectiveness. I have never
believed that this was incompatlbl
with other virtues. On the contrary,
while there are of course exceptions,
I believe that on the average the best
fighting men are also the best citizens.
I do not believe that a finer set of
natural soldiers than the men of my
regiment could have been found any
where, and they were first-class citizens
in civil life also. One fact may per
haps be worthy of note. Whenever we
were In camp and so fixed that we
could have regular meals, we used to
have a general officers' mess, over
which I of course -presided.
During our entire service there was
never a foul or indecent word uttered
at the officers' mess I mean this
literally, and there was very little
swearing although now and then In
the fighting, if there was a moment
when swearing seemed to be the best
method of reaching the heart of th
matter. It was resorted to.
The Nation's Debt of Gratitude.
The men I cared for most in the regi
ment were the men who did the best
work; and therefore my liking for them
was obliged to take the shape of ex
posing them to most fatigue and hard-
hip, of demanding irom tnem the
greatest service, and of making them
Incur the greatest risk. Once I kept
Greenway and Goodrich at work for 48
hours, without sleeping, and with very
little food. fighting and digging
trenches. I freely sent the men for
whom I cared most to where death
might smite them; and death often
smote them as It did the two best offi
cers in my regiment, Allyn capron and
Bucky O'Nell. My men would not have
respected me had I acted otherwise.
Their creed was my creed. The life
even of the most useful man, of the best
citizen, is not to be hoarded If there be
need to spend It. I felt, and feel, this
about others; and of course also about
myself. This is one reason why I have
always felt impatient contempt for the
effort to abolish the death penalty on
account of sympathy with criminals. I
am willing to listen to arguments In
favor of abolishing the death penalty!
so far as they are based purely on
grounds of public expediency, although
these arguments have never convinced
me. But inasmuch as, without hesita
tion. In the performance of duty, I have
again and again sent good and gaMant
and upright men to die, it seems to me
the height of a folly both mischievous
and mawkish to contend that criminals
who have deserved death should never
theless be allowed to shirk It. No
brave and good man can properly shirk
death; and no criminal who has earned
death should be allowed to shirk it.
One of the best men with our reel
ment was the British military attache.
Captain Arthur Lee, an old friend. The
other military attaches were herded
together at headquarters and saw lit
tie. Captain Lee, who had known me
in Washington, escaped and stayed with
the regiment We grew to feel that he
was one of us, and made him an honor
ary member. There were two other
honorary members. One Was Richard
Harding Davis, who was with us con
tlnually and who performed valuable
service on the fighting line. The other
was a regular officer. Lieutenant Par
ker, who had a battery of gatllngs. We
were with this battery throughout th
San Juan fighting, and we grew to
have the strongest admiration for Par
ker as a, soldier and the strongest Ilk
lng for him as a man. During our
brier campaign we were closely and
intimately thrown with various regular
officers of the type of Mills, Howze and
Parker. We felt not merely fondness
for them as officers and gentlemen, but
pride In them as Americans. It Is
fine thing to feel that we have in the
Army and in the Navy modest, efficient,
gallant gentlemen of this type, doing
such disinterested work for the honor
of the flag and of the Nation. No
American can overpay the debt of rratl
tude we all of us owe to the officers
and enlisted men of the Army and of
the Navy.
Discipline and Control.
uc course witn a regiment of our
type there was much to learn both
among the officers and the men. There
were all kinds of funny Incidents. One
of my men, an ex-cowpuncher and for
mer roundup cook, a very good Bhot
and rider, got into trouble on the way
down on the transport. He understood
entirely that he had to obey the offl
cers of his own regirrient, but, like so
many volunteers, or at least like so
many volunteers of my regiment, he did
not understand that this obligation ex
tended to officers of other regiments.
One of the regular officers on the
transport ordered him to do something
which be declined to do. When the
officer told him to consider himself
under arrest, he responded by offering
to fight him tor a trifling considera
tion. He was brought before a court-
martial which sentenced him to a year's
imprisonment at hard labor with dis
honorable discharge, and the Major-
General commanding the division ap
proved the sentence.
We were on the transport. There
was no hard laDor to do: and the
prison consisted of another cow
puncher who kept guard over him
with his carbine, evidently divided In
his feelings as to whether he would
like most to shoot him or to let him
go. When we landed, somebody told
the prisoner that I Intended to punish
him by keeping him with the baggage.
He at once came to me in great agita
tion, saying: "Colonel, they say you're
going to leave me with the baggage
when the fight Is on. Colonel, if you
do that, I will never show my face in
Arizona again. Colonel, if you will let
me go to the front, I promise I will
obey anyone you say; anyone you say.
Colonel," with the evident feeling that,
after this concession, I could not, as a
gentleman, refuse his request. Ac
cordingly, I answered: "Shields, there
is no one in this regiment more en
titled to be shot than you are, and
you shall go to the front." His grati
tude was great, and he kept repeat
ing, "I'll never forget this, Colonel,
never." Nor did he. When we got
very hard up, he would now and then
manage to get hold of some flour and
sugar, and would cook a doughnut and
bring it 'round to me and watch me
with a delighted smile as I ate it. He
behaved extremely well in both fights,
and after the second one I had him
formally before me and remitted his
sentence something which, of course,
I had not the slightest power to do,
although at the time it seemed natural
and proper to me.
When we came to be mustered out,
the regular officer who was doing the
mustering, after all the men had been
discharged, finally asked me where the
prisoner was. I said, "What prisoner?"
He said, "The prisoner, the man who
was sentenced t6 a year's Imprison
ment with hard labor and dishonorable
discharge." I said, "Oh! I pardoned
him," to which he responded, "I beg
your pardon, you did what?" This
made tne grasp the fact that I had
exceeded authority, and I could only
answer, "Well, I did pardon him, any
how, and he has gone with the rest";
whereupon the musterlng-out officer
sank back in his chair and remarked:
"He was sentenced by a courtmartial,
and the sentence was approved by the
major-general commanding the divi
sion. You were a lieutenant-colonel,
and you pardoned him. Well, it was
nervy; that's all I'll say."
The simple fact was that, under th
circumstances, it was necessary for me
to enforce discipline and control the
regiment, and, therefore, to reward
and punish Individuals In whatever
wav the exigencies demanded. I often
explained to the men what the reason
for an order were, the first time I
was Issued, if there was any troubl
on their part in understanding what
they were required to do. They were
very Intelligent and very eager to do
their duty, and I hardly ever naa any
difficulty the second time with them.
If, however, there was the slightest
willful shirking of duty or insubor
dination, I punished instantly and
mercilessly, and the whole regiment
cordially backed me up. To have pun
ished men for faults and shortcomings
which they had no opportunity to
know were such would have been as
unwise as to have permitted any of
the occasional bad characters to exer
cise the slightest license. It was
retriment which was sensitive about
Its dignity and very keenly alive to
Justice and to courtesy, but which cor
dially approved absence or mouycoa
dllng, insistence upon the performance
of duty and summary punishment of
wrongdoing.
What to Do With Captives.
In the final fighting at San Juan,
when we captured one of the trenches,
Jack Greenway had seized a Spaniard,
and shortly afterward I found Jack
leading his captive 'round with
string. I told him to turn him over
to a man who had two or three other
captives, so that they should all be
taken to the rear. It was the only
time I ever saw Jack look aggrieved.
"Why, Colonel, can't I keep him for
myself?" he asked, plaintively. I think
he had an Idea that as a trophy of his
bow and spear the Spaniard would
made a fine body-servant.
One reason that we never had the
slightest trouble In the regiment was
because, when we got down to nara-
pan, officers and men shared exactly
alike. It Is all right to have differ
ences In food and the like in times of
peace and plenty, when everybody is
comfortable. But In really hard times
officers and men must share alike if
the best work is to be done. As long
as I had nothing out two naratacxs,
which was the allowance to each man
on the morning after the San Juan
fight, no one could complain; but If I
had had any private little luxuries the
men would very naturally have real
ized keenly their own shortages.
Beans and Requisitions.
Soon after the Guasimas fight we
were put on short commons; and as I
knew that a good deal or food had
been landed and was on the beach at
Siboney, I marched 30 or 40 of the men
down to see if I eould not get some
and bring It up. I finally found a com
missary officer, and he asked me what
wanted, and I answered, anything he
had. So he told me to look about for
myself. I found a number of sacks of
beans, I think about 1100 pounds, on
the beach; and told the officer that I
wanted 1100 pounds of beans. He pro
duced a book of regulations, and
showed me the appropriate section and
subdivision which announced that
beans were issued only for officers
mess. This did me no good, and I told
him so. He said he was sorry, and I
answered that he was not as sorry as
I was. I then "studied on it," as Br'er
Rabbit would say, and came back with
a request for 1100 pounds of beans for
the officers' mess. He said, "Why,
Colonel, your officers can't eat 1100
pounds of beans,' to which I responded,
"You don't know what appetites my of
ficers have." He then said he would
send the requisition to Washington. I
told him I was willing, so long as he
gave me the beans. He was a good fel
low, so we finally effected a working
compromise he got the requisition and
I got the beans, although he warned
me the price would probably be de
ducted from my salary.
The Chaplain's Males.
Under some regulation or other only
the regular supply trains were allowed
to act, and we were supposed not to
have any horses or mules In the regi
ment itself. This was very pretty In
theory; but, as a matter of fact, the
supply trains were not numerous
enough. My men had a natural genius
for acquiring horseflesh In odd ways.
and I continually found that they hud
staked out in the brush various cap
tured Spanish cavalry horses and
Cuban ponies and abandoned commis
sary mules. Putting these together, I
would organize a small pack train and
work it industriously for a day or two,
until they learned about it at hear
quarters and confiscate it Then I
would have to wait for a week or so
until my men had accumulated some
more ponies, horses and mules, the reg
iment meanwhile living In plenty on
what he had got before the train was
confiscated.
All of our men were good at accumu
lating horses, but within our own
ranks I think we were inclined to
award the palm to our chaplain. There
was not a better man in the regiment
than the chaplain, and there could not
have been a better chaplain for our
men. He took care of the sick and the
wounded, he never spared himself, and
he did every duty. In addition, he had
a natural aptitude for acquiring mules,
which made some admirer, when the
regiment disbanded, propose that he
should have a special medal struck for
him, with, on the obverse, "A Mule
Passant and Chaplain Regardant."
After the surrender of Santiago, a
Philadelphia clergyman whom I knew
came down to General Wheeler's head-
Quarters, and after visiting him an
nounced that he Intended to call on
the Rough Riders, because he knew
their Colonel. One of General Wheel
er's aides. Lieutenant Steele, who liked
us both Individually and as a regiment.
and who appreciated some of our ways.
ked the clergyman, arter ne naa an
nounced that he knew Colonel Roose
velt "But do you know Colonel icoose
velt's regiment?" "No," said the clergy
man, very wen, men, iti me
vnn a niece of advice. When you go
down to see the Colonel, don't let your
horse out of your signt, ana it tne
chaplain Is there, don't get off the
horse!"
The Fighting; Edge.
Wa came back to Montauk Point
and soon after were disbanded. We
had been In the service only a little
over four months. There are no four
months of my life to which I look
back with more pride and satisfaction.
believe most earnestly and sincerely
in peace, but as things are yet In this
world the nation that cannot fight, the
people that have lost the fighting edge,
that have lost the virile virtues, oc
cupy a position as dangerous as it is
Ignoble. The future greatness of
America in no small degree depends
upon the possession by the average
American citizen of the qualities which
my men showed when they served un
der me at Santiago.
Moreover, there is one thing In con
nection with this war which it Is well
that our people should remember, our
people who genuinely love the peace
of righteousness, the peace of Justice
and I would be ashamed to be other
than a lover of the peace of righteous
ness and Justice. The true preachers
of peace, who strive earnestly to rlng
earer the day wnen peace snail ob
tain among all peoples, and who really
o help forward the cause, are men
who never hesitate to choose right
eous war when It Is the only alterna
tive to unrighteous peace. These are the
men who, like Dr. Lyman Abbott, have
backed every genuine movement for
peace in this country and who never-
(Concluded on Page 6.)