I can the series of military operations
known collectively as "the Santiago campaign," including, first, the
organization and equipment of the expedition of General Shafter at
Tampa; second, the disembarkation of troops and the landing of supplies
at Daiquiri and Siboney; third, the strategic plan of the campaign and
its execution; and, fourth, the wrecking of the army by disease after
the decisive battle of July 1-2. The point of view from which I shall
regard this campaign is not that of a trained military expert or critic,
but merely that of an attentive and fair-minded civilian observer. I do
not pretend to speak _ex cathedra_, nor do I claim for my judgments any
other value than that given to them by such inherent reasonableness and
fairness as they may seem to have. I went to Cuba without any prejudice
for or against any particular plan of operations; I had very little
acquaintance with or knowledge of the officers of the Fifth Army-Corps;
and the opinions and conclusions that I shall here set forth are based
on personal observations made in the field without conscious bias or
prepossession of any kind.

In reviewing a military campaign, an arctic expedition, a voyage of
discovery, or any other enterprise involving the employment of a
certain force for the accomplishment of a certain purpose, the first
question to be considered is the question of responsibility. Who is to
be held accountable for the management and the results of this
enterprise--the leader who directed and had charge of it, or the
superior power which gave him his orders, furnished him with his
equipment, and sent him into the field? When General Shafter was ordered
to "go and capture the garrison at Santiago and assist in capturing the
harbor and the fleet," did he become personally responsible for the
management and the results of the campaign, or did he share that
responsibility with the War Department? Unless there is some evidence to
the contrary, the presumption in such a case is that the general in
command of the army is told in due time where he is to go and what he is
expected to do, and is then allowed to make his own plan of campaign,
and to call upon the War Department for such supplies and means of
transportation as, in the exercise of his individual judgment, he may
think necessary for the successful execution of that plan. If he is
given time enough to acquaint himself thoroughly with the field in which
he is to operate, if his plan