occur a second time. To take another
example:

When our army embarked at Port Tampa it was the business of some officer
somewhere to know the exact capacity of every transport and the
numerical strength of every regiment. Then it was some one's business to
prearrange the distribution of troops by assigning one or more
designated regiments to one or more designated steamers and giving
necessary orders to the colonels. As it was, however, according to the
testimony of every witness, a train-load of troops would come to the
docks at Port Tampa, apparently without orders or assignment to any
particular steamer, and while they were waiting to learn what they
should do, and while their train was still blocking the way, another
train-load of soldiers would arrive in a similar state of ignorance and
add to the disorder and confusion. As a natural consequence, men got on
wrong steamers and had to be unloaded, and often, after transports had
moved out into the bay, parts of companies and regiments had to be
transferred in small boats from one vessel to another. These are
examples of what seems to have been bad management. In another class of
cases the trouble was apparently due to mistaken judgment. To the latter
class belongs the loading and treatment of horses and mules. It would
have been much better and safer, I think, to load these animals on
vessels especially prepared for and exclusively devoted to them than to
put them into stifling and unventilated holds of steamers that also
carried troops. If, however, this was impracticable, it was manifestly
best to load the animals last, so as to expose them for as short a time
as possible to such murderous conditions. The mules, however, were
loaded first, and held in the holds of the transports while troops were
embarking. They began to die from heat and suffocation, and then they
were unloaded and reshipped after the troops were on board. This caused
unnecessary delay, as well as the loss of many valuable animals.
Eighteen perished, I am told, on one transport while the troops were
embarking.

These cases of disorder and bad judgment are only a few out of many
which were the subject of common talk among officers and civilians in
Tampa. I could specify many others, but criticism is at best unpleasant
duty, and the only justification for it is the hope that, if mistakes
and disorders are pointed out and frankly recognized, they may be
guarded against in future.

The army of in