to force the entrance. These latter mines contained a charge of 200 pounds of guncotton each. All the mines in Guantanamo as well as Santiago Bay were thickly overgrown with barnacles and seaweeds.'

This covers a point of some delicacy, owing to the controversy over the management of the fleet off Santiago in confining the assaults at the mouth of the harbor to cannonading. A study of the whole matter of the reports from both sides leads to the conclusion that Admiral Sampson was right in his objection to Shafter's change of plans after arrival, the weak point of the defense being at the mouth of the harbor, which could have been forced easily if troops had been landed to drive the Spaniards from their lower batteries, those of the old guns on the castle not being serious in modern warfare. It appears, however, that the dangers of driving into the mouth of the harbor were not as great as imagined. All experiences with Spanish torpedoes and mines discredit them, and plainly, if after Cervera's fleet had disappeared during the hours the harbor was open, the only grave peril was in the navigation of the difficult channel. However, it was Secretary Long's order that a battleship should not be "risked," but he evidently did not mean a literal interpretation of the caution.

It is ungracious to find fault systematically, and to award praise in stinted measure of either Sampson or Shafter, when the closing scenes were the annihilation of the fleet of Spain and the surrender of her army and of the ancient capital of Cuba; however, the distinguished Admiral and General are responsible for the rather fierce exchange of letters that so grounded and inflamed controversy that the grounds upon which it was established and the temper with which it was conducted cannot be neglected. The abundance of glory is insufficient to establish harmony.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Its Organization and Numbers Before and During the War-The Strength and Location of the Several Army Corps-The Distribution of the Military Forces and their Numbers-Casualties During the War, in Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines-Deaths in the Camps-The Incidents of Hardship and the Yellow Scandals-Spanish Account of the Valor of their Troops and Story of the Conflict-Scarcity of Provisions-Cruel Battles at El Caney and San Juan-Suffering in Santiago.

The regular army of the United States at the beginning of the war with Spain was composed of 2,143 officers and 26,040 enlisted men. Of general officers and staff corps there were 532, with 2,026 enlisted men; cavalry, 437 officers, 6,047 enlisted men; artillery, 288 officers, 4,486 enlisted men; infantry, 886 officers, enlisted men 12,828.

The army was increased in March and April, 1898. In the four months following the declaration of war with Spain, the enlisted men in the regular army numbered, in May, 41,934; June, 49,513; July, 53,931; August, 56,365. These figures include 5,365 men of the hospital corps. The regular officers were 2,191 in May, and 2,323 in August. The enlistments in the regular army were, in May, 9,569; June, 9,311; July, 6,586; August, 3,400. There were 387 regular officers appointed in the volunteer army. There were 15 major-generals, 45 brigadier-generals, 86 officers of volunteer regiments. The enlisted men in the infantry of the volunteer army were, in May, 118,580; June, 153, 355; July, 203,461; August, 188,947.

The searching care taken in filling the ranks of the regular army appears in a strong light in the remarkable figures of this paragraph from the Adjutant-General's report:

Of the 29,521 accepted applicants, 24, 490 were native born and 5,031 of foreign birth; 27, 140 were white, 2,345 colored, and 36 Indians (scouts). The enlistments numbered 24,248, and the reënlistments, 5,273. Excluding reënlistments, the percentage of native-born applicants for original enlistment was 87, the balance being naturalized citizens. The reports show that the

recruiting officers making the 29, 207 enlistments embraced in the first two items of the foregoing list rejected 98,277 applicants a little over 77 per cent of the number seeking enlistment-as lacking in legal, mental, and moral or physical qualifications; 5, 209 of these were rejected as aliens, and 4,788 for illiteracy.

The aggregate strength of the regular and of the volunteer armies for each of the months of May, June, July and August was as follows:

The Adjutant-General's report states that May 31, a month and ten days after the declaration of war, nearly 125,000 volunteers were mustered into service, and "the suspension of hostilities, resulting from the short but brilliant operations of the army against Santiago, Cuba, leading to its capture and of that of the Spanish forces defending the city, the surrender of Spanish troops in Porto Rico, no less than the successful operations of our troops in the Philippines, led to the determination to muster out 100,000 men, nearly one-half of the entire volunteer force, and the first order looking to that end was issued on the 18th of August."

The Adjutant-General speaks of the delicate duty of selecting the organizations to be mustered out, it being impossible "to preserve the absolutely correct arithmetical proportion, in the first instance, to the State quotas, and, in the second, to the actual number of troops from the several states," and he

adds: "Since the signing of the Protocol the officers and men of the volunteer regiments have remained at their posts of duty, in most cases at great persona! sacrifice. That they have done this cheerfully and without complaint makes it all the_more desirable that a speedy increase of the regular army be provided for in order that the volunteers may be released from further service and be allowed to return to their peaceful vocations."

Relating to staff organization, the Adjutant-General remarks: "If, as recommended, additional officers are given the line of the army, so as to give plenty of trained officers for staff duty in time of war, the main objection will have been met; and it is doubtful if, under all the conditions peculiar to this government, a general reorganization of the staff, or the adoption of new systems, will be found to be desirable; certainly nothing radical should be entered upon.

"Under the present system, Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan conducted. great and successful campaigns; it has worked well in our Indian wars, and it is confidently asserted that, when the work of the staff departments in this war is more fully understood, it will receive the approval of military men and of the people generally. That there can be improvements in many ways there is no doubt; that this should be done as the result of experience is also true."

The regiments of the regular army, with few exceptions, got their orders to proceed to southern points April 15th, and considering the situation of the army, the extent of territory over which the posts were scattered in small detachments, the movements of concentration were executed with remarkable swiftness, order and ease. It was an excellent lesson of mobilization, and the complete success of this initial step made practicable the stroke at Santiago which proved fatal to Spanish pretension, preventing a lingering schooling of volunteers in the several camps for a greater enterprise under the MajorGeneral Commanding, to resemble the important instruction imparted when for many months of "masterly inactivity" under McClelland all was "quiet on the Potomac." The infantry regiments' changes were made in the general shifting in this order:

First United States Infantry, California, to New Orleans.

Second United States Infantry, Montana and North Dakota, to Chickamauga Park, Ga.

Third United States Infantry, Minnesota, to Mobile, Ala.

Fourth United States Infantry, Illinois, to Tampa, Fla.
Fifth United States Infantry, Georgia, to Tampa, Fla.
Sixth United States Infantry, Kentucky, to Tampa, Fla.
Seventh United States Infantry, Colorado, to Chickamauga Park, Ga.
Eighth United States Infantry, Wyoming, to Chickamauga Park, Ga.
Ninth United States Infantry, New York, to Tampa, Fla.
Tenth United States Infantry, Oklahoma, to Tampa, Fla.
Eleventh United States Infantry, Missouri and Arkansas, Mobile, Ala.
Twelfth United States Infantry, Nebraska, to Chickamauga Park, Ga.
Thirteenth United States Infantry, New York, to Tampa, Fla.

Sixteenth United States Infantry, Idaho and Washington, to Chickamauga Park, Ga.

Seventeenth United States Infantry, Ohio, to Tampa, Fla.

Eighteenth United States Infantry, Texas, to New Orleans, La.
Nineteenth United States Infantry, Michigan, to Mobile, Ala.
Twentieth United States Infantry, Kansas, to Mobile, Ala.
Twenty-first United States Infantry, New York, to Tampa, Fla.
Twenty-second United States Infantry, Nebraska, to Tampa, Fla.
Twenty-third United States Infantry, Texas, to New Orleans, La.
Twenty-fourth United States Infantry, Utah, to Chickamauga Park, Ga.
Twenty-fifth United States Infantry, Montana, to Chickamauga Park, Ga.
Company E, Engineers, West Point, to Tampa, Fla.

Seven army corps were formed by order of the President, May 7th, combining both regulars and volunteers, and the Philippine expeditionary force was June 21st the Eighth Corps. The First and Third corps were organized at Camp Thomas, Ga., Major-General John R. Brooke commanding the First, and Major-General James F. Wade the Third. The combined strength of these corps, on the last day of the month of April, May, June, July and August, was: Officers. Enlisted men.

In July the First Division of the First Corps, under General Wilson, was detailed for duty in Porto Rico, and August 22 the Second and Third divisions of that corps were sent to Lexington, Ky., and Knoxville, Tenn., respectively.

The Third Army Corps was transferred early in September to the camp established at Anniston, Ala., and by the end of the month but a small detachment remained at Camp Thomas, Ga.