The Spanish war revealed many serious defects in the American military system, some of which have been remedied by the reorganization of the army and the creation of a general staff.[292] It demonstrated the necessity of military evolutions on a large scale in time of peace, so as to give the general officers experience in handling and the Quartermaster and Commissary departments experience in equipping and supplying large bodies of troops; it showed the folly and danger of appointing men from civil life through political influence to positions of responsibility in any branch of the military or naval service; it showed the value of field-artillery, of smokeless powder, and of high-power rifles of the latest model; it also showed the necessity of having on hand a large supply of the best war material ready for use. While every American is proud of the magnificent record of the navy, it must not be imagined that the war with Spain was a conclusive test of its invincibility, for, however formidable the Spanish cruisers appeared at the time, later information revealed the fact that through the neglect of the Spanish government they were very far from being in a state of first-class efficiency. FOOTNOTES [1] Bourne, _Spain in America_ (_Am. Nation_, III), 31; Hart, _Contemporaries_, I, 40. [2] Andrews, _Colonial Self-Government_ (_Am. Nation_, V), chap. v. [3] Mahan, _Influence of Sea Power upon History_, chaps. iv–viii. [4] Cf. Howard, _Preliminaries of the Revolution_ (_Am. Nation_, VIII), chap. i. [5] _Ibid._, 229. [6] _Cf._ Hart, _Foundations of Am. Foreign Policy_, 18. [7] McLaughlin, _Confederation and Constitution_ (_Am. Nation_, X). chaps. vii, viii. [8] Texts in _Am. Hist. Leaflets_, No. 32. [9] _Federalist_ (Lodge ed.), No. 14. [10] Cf. Channing, _Jeffersonian System_ (_Am. Nation_, XII), chap. v. [11] Garrison, _Westward Extension_ (_Am. Nation_, XVII), chap. v. [12] _Ibid._, chap. xi. [13] _Ibid._, chap. vii. [14] Turner, _New West_ (_Am. Nation_, XIV), 114–122. [15] _See_ chap. iii, below. [16] Bourne, _Essays in Historical Criticism_, No. 9. [17] Dunning, _Reconstruction_ (_Am. Nation_, XXII), chap. x. [18] _Ibid._ [19] Dewey, _National Problems_ (_Am. Nation_, XXIV), chap. xviii. [20] Official order addressed to Spanish commanders authorizing the conversion, enslavement, or slaughter of the natives.