The Eighth Massachusetts was especially fortunate in gaining the good will of the Cubans, and when it left Matanzas was the recipient of a letter of enthusiastic commendation from the mayor of the city. A copy of the letter was sent to me, and the very complimentary expressions of the mayor were neither exaggerated nor unmerited. The regiment deserved a great deal from the people of Matanzas, and it was very gratifying to me to know that they appreciated your services.
I regret that in this brief sketch I have not been able to go more into detail concerning the duties, the trials and successful achievements of the Eighth Massachusetts during the Spanish War. It is sufficient for me to say as your brigade and division commander, that while we were together, a day rarely passed that I did not ride through your camp, turn out the guard and take a general look around, and on every Sunday make a careful inspection, and it gives me the greatest pleasure to say that in point of efficiency the regiment had few equals, and no superiors, among the volunteer regiments which came under my observation.
Proper esprit de corps and a high sense of duty pervaded the regiment, due in great measure to the excellent example of Colonel Pew and his field officers, Lieutenant-Colonels Bailey and Stopford and Majors Eldredge and Graves. During the summer of 1907 I visited the regiment in camp at South Framingham and was glad to note that the instruction and the experience of the war had not been forgotten.
In conclusion I beg to remind you that while all military efforts should be directed towards the preparation of soldiers for the great tests of the battlefield, because so much may depend on the result, there are other tests which if successfully borne, entitle soldiers to as much credit as good conduct under fire, although they may not bring them as much renown.
Among disciplined soldiers it is the exception to find one who does not behave well under fire, but it by no means follows that the bravest will not falter in their duty if beset in a sedentary camp with plague, pestilence or famine. It is not as much of a strain on the nerves to see a soldier killed in battle as to see him die of an epidemic disease, nor do I believe it is as hard for the soldier. When a soldier goes under fire, he is facing the very contingency for which he enlisted and for which he has been trained. He knows he may be shot and wounded or killed, but his duty lies unequivocally before him and appeals directly to his pride and to his manhood in a way disease can never do. Who will say then that the men who fought the battle of San Juan deserved more credit than those who died from typhoid fever while acting as volunteer nurses to their comrades or in the discharge of other duties, when by getting a furlough or running away they could have avoided all risk. The excitement of battle and the example of brave men have made a hero of many a man who but for that would have run away.
But in a typhoid fever camp death lurks everywhere and there is no stimulating excitement to strengthen those who have to face it.
Therefore the highest honors should not be given solely to those soldiers who are so fortunate as to do their duty under fire, but to those as well who do their duty where-ever they may be, regardless of consequences, and in all the circumstances which may attend them.
Do not therefore complain, as I have heard some of you do, or tinge your recollections of the war with regret, because you did not take part in the only battle that was fought, but, hoping for better luck next time, find supreme satisfaction in the reflection that you did your whole duty in places where death was quite as imminent as on San Juan Hill, and that no other regiment, regular or volunteer, could have done more.
J. P. Sanger,
Major General, U. S. A., Retired.