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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/13000-0.txt b/13000-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..de6f709 --- /dev/null +++ b/13000-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5982 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13000 *** + + THE ROUGH RIDERS + + BY + + THEODORE ROOSEVELT + + 1899 + + + ON BEHALF OF THE ROUGH RIDERS + I DEDICATE THIS BOOK + TO THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE FIVE REGULAR REGIMENTS + WHICH TOGETHER WITH MINE MADE UP THE CAVALRY DIVISION AT SANTIAGO + + + + I + + RAISING THE REGIMENT + +During the year preceding the outbreak of the Spanish War I was +Assistant Secretary of the Navy. While my party was in opposition, I +had preached, with all the fervor and zeal I possessed, our duty to +intervene in Cuba, and to take this opportunity of driving the +Spaniard from the Western World. Now that my party had come to power, +I felt it incumbent on me, by word and deed, to do all I could to +secure the carrying out of the policy in which I so heartily believed; +and from the beginning I had determined that, if a war came, somehow +or other, I was going to the front. + +Meanwhile, there was any amount of work at hand in getting ready the +navy, and to this I devoted myself. + +Naturally, when one is intensely interested in a certain cause, the +tendency is to associate particularly with those who take the same +view. A large number of my friends felt very differently from the way +I felt, and looked upon the possibility of war with sincere horror. +But I found plenty of sympathizers, especially in the navy, the army, +and the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Commodore Dewey, Captain +Evans, Captain Brownson, Captain Davis--with these and the various +other naval officers on duty at Washington I used to hold long +consultations, during which we went over and over, not only every +question of naval administration, but specifically everything +necessary to do in order to put the navy in trim to strike quick and +hard if, as we believed would be the case, we went to war with Spain. +Sending an ample quantity of ammunition to the Asiatic squadron and +providing it with coal; getting the battle-ships and the armored +cruisers on the Atlantic into one squadron, both to train them in +manoeuvring together, and to have them ready to sail against either +the Cuban or the Spanish coasts; gathering the torpedo-boats into a +flotilla for practice; securing ample target exercise, so conducted as +to raise the standard of our marksmanship; gathering in the small +ships from European and South American waters; settling on the number +and kind of craft needed as auxiliary cruisers--every one of these +points was threshed over in conversations with officers who were +present in Washington, or in correspondence with officers who, like +Captain Mahan, were absent. + +As for the Senators, of course Senator Lodge and I felt precisely +alike; for to fight in such a cause and with such an enemy was merely +to carry out the doctrines we had both of us preached for many years. +Senator Davis, Senator Proctor, Senator Foraker, Senator Chandler, +Senator Morgan, Senator Frye, and a number of others also took just +the right ground; and I saw a great deal of them, as well as of many +members of the House, particularly those from the West, where the +feeling for war was strongest. + +Naval officers came and went, and Senators were only in the city while +the Senate was in session; but there was one friend who was steadily +in Washington. This was an army surgeon, Dr. Leonard Wood. I only met +him after I entered the navy department, but we soon found that we had +kindred tastes and kindred principles. He had served in General +Miles's inconceivably harassing campaigns against the Apaches, where +he had displayed such courage that he won that most coveted of +distinctions--the Medal of Honor; such extraordinary physical strength +and endurance that he grew to be recognized as one of the two or three +white men who could stand fatigue and hardship as well as an Apache; +and such judgment that toward the close of the campaigns he was given, +though a surgeon, the actual command of more than one expedition +against the bands of renegade Indians. Like so many of the gallant +fighters with whom it was later my good fortune to serve, he combined, +in a very high degree, the qualities of entire manliness with entire +uprightness and cleanliness of character. It was a pleasure to deal +with a man of high ideals, who scorned everything mean and base, and +who also possessed those robust and hardy qualities of body and mind, +for the lack of which no merely negative virtue can ever atone. He was +by nature a soldier of the highest type, and, like most natural +soldiers, he was, of course, born with a keen longing for adventure; +and, though an excellent doctor, what he really desired was the chance +to lead men in some kind of hazard. To every possibility of such +adventure he paid quick attention. For instance, he had a great desire +to get me to go with him on an expedition into the Klondike in +mid-winter, at the time when it was thought that a relief party would +have to be sent there to help the starving miners. + +In the summer he and I took long walks together through the beautiful +broken country surrounding Washington. In winter we sometimes varied +these walks by kicking a foot-ball in an empty lot, or, on the rare +occasions when there was enough snow, by trying a couple of sets of +skis or snow-skates, which had been sent me from Canada. + +But always on our way out to and back from these walks and sport, +there was one topic to which, in our talking, we returned, and that +was the possible war with Spain. We both felt very strongly that such +a war would be as righteous as it would be advantageous to the honor +and the interests of the nation; and after the blowing up of the +Maine, we felt that it was inevitable. We then at once began to try to +see that we had our share in it. The President and my own chief, +Secretary Long, were very firm against my going, but they said that if +I was bent upon going they would help me. Wood was the medical adviser +of both the President and the Secretary of War, and could count upon +their friendship. So we started with the odds in our favor. + +At first we had great difficulty in knowing exactly what to try for. +We could go on the staff of any one of several Generals, but we much +preferred to go in the line. Wood hoped he might get a commission in +his native State of Massachusetts; but in Massachusetts, as in every +other State, it proved there were ten men who wanted to go to the war +for every chance to go. Then we thought we might get positions as +field-officers under an old friend of mine, Colonel--now General +--Francis V. Greene, of New York, the Colonel of the Seventy-first; +but again there were no vacancies. + +Our doubts were resolved when Congress authorized the raising of three +cavalry regiments from among the wild riders and riflemen of the +Rockies and the Great Plains. During Wood's service in the Southwest +he had commanded not only regulars and Indian scouts, but also white +frontiersmen. In the Northwest I had spent much of my time, for many +years, either on my ranch or in long hunting trips, and had lived and +worked for months together with the cowboy and the mountain hunter, +faring in every way precisely as they did. + +Secretary Alger offered me the command of one of these regiments. If I +had taken it, being entirely inexperienced in military work, I should +not have known how to get it equipped most rapidly, for I should have +spent valuable weeks in learning its needs, with the result that I +should have missed the Santiago campaign, and might not even have had +the consolation prize of going to Porto Rico. Fortunately, I was wise +enough to tell the Secretary that while I believed I could learn to +command the regiment in a month, that it was just this very month +which I could not afford to spare, and that therefore I would be quite +content to go as Lieutenant-Colonel, if he would make Wood Colonel. + +This was entirely satisfactory to both the President and Secretary, +and, accordingly, Wood and I were speedily commissioned as Colonel and +Lieutenant-Colonel of the First United States Volunteer Cavalry. This +was the official title of the regiment, but for some reason or other +the public promptly christened us the "Rough Riders." At first we +fought against the use of the term, but to no purpose; and when +finally the Generals of Division and Brigade began to write in formal +communications about our regiment as the "Rough Riders," we adopted +the term ourselves. + +The mustering-places for the regiment were appointed in New Mexico, +Arizona, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory. The difficulty in organizing +was not in selecting, but in rejecting men. Within a day or two after +it was announced that we were to raise the regiment, we were literally +deluged with applications from every quarter of the Union. Without the +slightest trouble, so far as men went, we could have raised a brigade +or even a division. The difficulty lay in arming, equipping, mounting, +and disciplining the men we selected. Hundreds of regiments were being +called into existence by the National Government, and each regiment +was sure to have innumerable wants to be satisfied. To a man who knew +the ground as Wood did, and who was entirely aware of our national +unpreparedness, it was evident that the ordnance and quartermaster's +bureaus could not meet, for some time to come, one-tenth of the +demands that would be made upon them; and it was all-important to get +in first with our demands. Thanks to his knowledge of the situation +and promptness, we immediately put in our requisitions for the +articles indispensable for the equipment of the regiment; and then, by +ceaseless worrying of excellent bureaucrats, who had no idea how to do +things quickly or how to meet an emergency, we succeeded in getting +our rifles, cartridges, revolvers, clothing, shelter-tents, and horse +gear just in time to enable us to go on the Santiago expedition. Some +of the State troops, who were already organized as National Guards, +were, of course, ready, after a fashion, when the war broke out; but +no other regiment which had our work to do was able to do it in +anything like as quick time, and therefore no other volunteer regiment +saw anything like the fighting which we did. + +Wood thoroughly realized what the Ordnance Department failed to +realize, namely, the inestimable advantage of smokeless powder; and, +moreover, he was bent upon our having the weapons of the regulars, for +this meant that we would be brigaded with them, and it was evident +that they would do the bulk of the fighting if the war were short. +Accordingly, by acting with the utmost vigor and promptness, he +succeeded in getting our regiment armed with the Krag-Jorgensen +carbine used by the regular cavalry. + +It was impossible to take any of the numerous companies which were +proffered to us from the various States. The only organized bodies we +were at liberty to accept were those from the four Territories. But +owing to the fact that the number of men originally allotted to us, +780, was speedily raised to 1,000, we were given a chance to accept +quite a number of eager volunteers who did not come from the +Territories, but who possessed precisely the same temper that +distinguished our Southwestern recruits, and whose presence materially +benefited the regiment. + +We drew recruits from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and many another +college; from clubs like the Somerset, of Boston, and Knickerbocker, +of New York; and from among the men who belonged neither to club nor +to college, but in whose veins the blood stirred with the same impulse +which once sent the Vikings over sea. Four of the policemen who had +served under me, while I was President of the New York Police Board, +insisted on coming--two of them to die, the other two to return unhurt +after honorable and dangerous service. It seemed to me that almost +every friend I had in every State had some one acquaintance who was +bound to go with the Rough Riders, and for whom I had to make a place. +Thomas Nelson Page, General Fitzhugh Lee, Congressman Odell, of New +York, Senator Morgan; for each of these, and for many others, I +eventually consented to accept some one or two recruits, of course +only after a most rigid examination into their physical capacity, and +after they had shown that they knew how to ride and shoot. I may add +that in no case was I disappointed in the men thus taken. + +Harvard being my own college, I had such a swarm of applications from +it that I could not take one in ten. What particularly pleased me, not +only in the Harvard but the Yale and Princeton men, and, indeed, in +these recruits from the older States generally, was that they did not +ask for commissions. With hardly an exception they entered upon their +duties as troopers in the spirit which they held to the end, merely +endeavoring to show that no work could be too hard, too disagreeable, +or too dangerous for them to perform, and neither asking nor receiving +any reward in the way of promotion or consideration. The Harvard +contingent was practically raised by Guy Murchie, of Maine. He saw all +the fighting and did his duty with the utmost gallantry, and then left +the service as he had entered it, a trooper, entirely satisfied to +have done his duty--and no man did it better. So it was with Dudley +Dean, perhaps the best quarterback who ever played on a Harvard +Eleven; and so with Bob Wrenn, a quarterback whose feats rivalled +those of Dean's, and who, in addition, was the champion tennis player +of America, and had, on two different years, saved this championship +from going to an Englishman. So it was with Yale men like Waller, the +high jumper, and Garrison and Girard; and with Princeton men like +Devereux and Channing, the foot-ball players; with Larned, the tennis +player; with Craig Wadsworth, the steeple-chase rider; with Joe +Stevens, the crack polo player; with Hamilton Fish, the ex-captain of +the Columbia crew, and with scores of others whose names are quite as +worthy of mention as any of those I have given. Indeed, they all +sought entry into the ranks of the Rough Riders as eagerly as if it +meant something widely different from hard work, rough fare, and the +possibility of death; and the reason why they turned out to be such +good soldiers lay largely in the fact that they were men who had +thoroughly counted the cost before entering, and who went into the +regiment because they believed that this offered their best chance for +seeing hard and dangerous service. Mason Mitchell, of New York, who +had been a chief of scouts in the Riel Rebellion, travelled all the +way to San Antonio to enlist; and others came there from distances as +great. + +Some of them made appeals to me which I could not possibly resist. +Woodbury Kane had been a close friend of mine at Harvard. During the +eighteen years that had passed since my graduation I had seen very +little of him, though, being always interested in sport, I +occasionally met him on the hunting field, had seen him on the deck of +the Defender when she vanquished the Valkyrie, and knew the part he +had played on the Navajoe, when, in her most important race, that +otherwise unlucky yacht vanquished her opponent, the Prince of Wales's +Britannia. When the war was on, Kane felt it his duty to fight for his +country. He did not seek any position of distinction. All he desired +was the chance to do whatever work he was put to do well, and to get +to the front; and he enlisted as a trooper. When I went down to the +camp at San Antonio he was on kitchen duty, and was cooking and +washing dishes for one of the New Mexican troops; and he was doing it +so well that I had no further doubt as to how he would get on. + +My friend of many hunts and ranch partner, Robert Munro Ferguson, of +Scotland, who had been on Lord Aberdeen's staff as a Lieutenant but a +year before, likewise could not keep out of the regiment. He, too, +appealed to me in terms which I could not withstand, and came in like +Kane to do his full duty as a trooper, and like Kane to win his +commission by the way he thus did his duty. + +I felt many qualms at first in allowing men of this stamp to come in, +for I could not be certain that they had counted the cost, and was +afraid they would find it very hard to serve--not for a few days, but +for months--in the ranks, while I, their former intimate associate, +was a field-officer; but they insisted that they knew their minds, and +the events showed that they did. We enlisted about fifty of them from +Virginia, Maryland, and the Northeastern States, at Washington. Before +allowing them to be sworn in, I gathered them together and explained +that if they went in they must be prepared not merely to fight, but to +perform the weary, monotonous labor incident to the ordinary routine +of a soldier's life; that they must be ready to face fever exactly as +they were to face bullets; that they were to obey unquestioningly, and +to do their duty as readily if called upon to garrison a fort as if +sent to the front. I warned them that work that was merely irksome and +disagreeable must be faced as readily as work that was dangerous, and +that no complaint of any kind must be made; and I told them that they +were entirely at liberty not to go, but that after they had once +signed there could then be no backing out. + +Not a man of them backed out; not one of them failed to do his whole +duty. + +These men formed but a small fraction of the whole. They went down to +San Antonio, where the regiment was to gather and where Wood preceded +me, while I spent a week in Washington hurrying up the different +bureaus and telegraphing my various railroad friends, so as to insure +our getting the carbines, saddles, and uniforms that we needed from +the various armories and storehouses. Then I went down to San Antonio +myself, where I found the men from New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma +already gathered, while those from Indian Territory came in soon after +my arrival. + +These were the men who made up the bulk of the regiment, and gave it +its peculiar character. They came from the Four Territories which yet +remained within the boundaries of the United States; that is, from the +lands that have been most recently won over to white civilization, and +in which the conditions of life are nearest those that obtained on the +frontier when there still was a frontier. They were a splendid set of +men, these Southwesterners--tall and sinewy, with resolute, +weather-beaten faces, and eyes that looked a man straight in the face +without flinching. They included in their ranks men of every +occupation; but the three types were those of the cowboy, the hunter, +and the mining prospector--the man who wandered hither and thither, +killing game for a living, and spending his life in the quest for +metal wealth. + +In all the world there could be no better material for soldiers than +that afforded by these grim hunters of the mountains, these wild rough +riders of the plains. They were accustomed to handling wild and savage +horses; they were accustomed to following the chase with the rifle, +both for sport and as a means of livelihood. Varied though their +occupations had been, almost all had, at one time or another, herded +cattle and hunted big game. They were hardened to life in the open, +and to shifting for themselves under adverse circumstances. They were +used, for all their lawless freedom, to the rough discipline of the +round-up and the mining company. Some of them came from the small +frontier towns; but most were from the wilderness, having left their +lonely hunters' cabins and shifting cow-camps to seek new and more +stirring adventures beyond the sea. + +They had their natural leaders--the men who had shown they could +master other men, and could more than hold their own in the eager +driving life of the new settlements. + +The Captains and Lieutenants were sometimes men who had campaigned in +the regular army against Apache, Ute, and Cheyenne, and who, on +completing their term of service, had shown their energy by settling +in the new communities and growing up to be men of mark. In other +cases they were sheriffs, marshals, deputy-sheriffs, and +deputy-marshals--men who had fought Indians, and still more often had +waged relentless war upon the bands of white desperadoes. There was +Bucky O'Neill, of Arizona, Captain of Troop A, the Mayor of Prescott, +a famous sheriff throughout the West for his feats of victorious +warfare against the Apache, no less than against the white road-agents +and man-killers. His father had fought in Meagher's Brigade in the +Civil War; and he was himself a born soldier, a born leader of men. He +was a wild, reckless fellow, soft spoken, and of dauntless courage and +boundless ambition; he was staunchly loyal to his friends, and cared +for his men in every way. There was Captain Llewellen, of New Mexico, +a good citizen, a political leader, and one of the most noted +peace-officers of the country; he had been shot four times in pitched +fights with red marauders and white outlaws. There was Lieutenant +Ballard, who had broken up the Black Jack gang of ill-omened +notoriety, and his Captain, Curry, another New Mexican sheriff of +fame. The officers from the Indian Territory had almost all served as +marshals and deputy-marshals; and in the Indian Territory, service as +a deputy-marshal meant capacity to fight stand-up battles with the +gangs of outlaws. + +Three of our higher officers had been in the regular army. One was +Major Alexander Brodie, from Arizona, afterward Lieutenant-Colonel, +who had lived for twenty years in the Territory, and had become a +thorough Westerner without sinking the West Pointer--a soldier by +taste as well as training, whose men worshipped him and would follow +him anywhere, as they would Bucky O'Neill or any other of their +favorites. Brodie was running a big mining business; but when the +Maine was blown up, he abandoned everything and telegraphed right +and left to bid his friends get ready for the fight he saw impending. + +Then there was Micah Jenkins, the captain of Troop K, a gentle and +courteous South Carolinian, on whom danger acted like wine. In action +he was a perfect game-cock, and he won his majority for gallantry in +battle. + +Finally, there was Allyn Capron, who was, on the whole, the best +soldier in the regiment. In fact, I think he was the ideal of what an +American regular army officer should be. He was the fifth in descent +from father to son who had served in the army of the United States, +and in body and mind alike he was fitted to play his part to +perfection. Tall and lithe, a remarkable boxer and walker, a +first-class rider and shot, with yellow hair and piercing blue eyes, +he looked what he was, the archetype of the fighting man. He had under +him one of the two companies from the Indian Territory; and he so soon +impressed himself upon the wild spirit of his followers, that he got +them ahead in discipline faster than any other troop in the regiment, +while at the same time taking care of their bodily wants. His +ceaseless effort was so to train them, care for them, and inspire them +as to bring their fighting efficiency to the highest possible pitch. +He required instant obedience, and tolerated not the slightest evasion +of duty; but his mastery of his art was so thorough and his +performance of his own duty so rigid that he won at once not merely +their admiration, but that soldierly affection so readily given by the +man in the ranks to the superior who cares for his men and leads them +fearlessly in battle. + +All--Easterners and Westerners, Northerners and Southerners, officers +and men, cowboys and college graduates, wherever they came from, and +whatever their social position--possessed in common the traits of +hardihood and a thirst for adventure. They were to a man born +adventurers, in the old sense of the word. + +The men in the ranks were mostly young; yet some were past their first +youth. These had taken part in the killing of the great buffalo herds, +and had fought Indians when the tribes were still on the war-path. The +younger ones, too, had led rough lives; and the lines in their faces +told of many a hardship endured, and many a danger silently faced with +grim, unconscious philosophy. Some were originally from the East, and +had seen strange adventures in different kinds of life, from sailing +round the Horn to mining in Alaska. Others had been born and bred in +the West, and had never seen a larger town than Santa Fe or a bigger +body of water than the Pecos in flood. Some of them went by their own +name; some had changed their names; and yet others possessed but half +a name, colored by some adjective, like Cherokee Bill, Happy Jack of +Arizona, Smoky Moore, the bronco-buster, so named because cowboys +often call vicious horses "smoky" horses, and Rattlesnake Pete, who +had lived among the Moquis and taken part in the snake-dances. Some +were professional gamblers, and, on the other hand, no less than four +were or had been Baptist or Methodist clergymen--and proved +first-class fighters, too, by the way. Some were men whose lives in +the past had not been free from the taint of those fierce kinds of +crime into which the lawless spirits who dwell on the border-land +between civilization and savagery so readily drift. A far larger +number had served at different times in those bodies of armed men with +which the growing civilization of the border finally puts down its +savagery. + +There was one characteristic and distinctive contingent which could +have appeared only in such a regiment as ours. From the Indian +Territory there came a number of Indians--Cherokees, Chickasaws, +Choctaws, and Creeks. Only a few were of pure blood. The others shaded +off until they were absolutely indistinguishable from their white +comrades; with whom, it may be mentioned, they all lived on terms of +complete equality. + +Not all of the Indians were from the Indian Territory. One of the +gamest fighters and best soldiers in the regiment was Pollock, a +full-blooded Pawnee. He had been educated, like most of the other +Indians, at one of those admirable Indian schools which have added so +much to the total of the small credit account with which the White +race balances the very unpleasant debit account of its dealings with +the Red. Pollock was a silent, solitary fellow--an excellent penman, +much given to drawing pictures. When we got down to Santiago he +developed into the regimental clerk. I never suspected him of having a +sense of humor until one day, at the end of our stay in Cuba, as he +was sitting in the Adjutant's tent working over the returns, there +turned up a trooper of the First who had been acting as barber. Eyeing +him with immovable face Pollock asked, in a guttural voice: "Do you +cut hair?" The man answered "Yes"; and Pollock continued, "Then you'd +better cut mine," muttering, in an explanatory soliloquy: "Don't want +to wear my hair long like a wild Indian when I'm in civilized +warfare." + +Another Indian came from Texas. He was a brakeman on the Southern +Pacific, and wrote telling me he was an American Indian, and that he +wanted to enlist. His name was Colbert, which at once attracted my +attention; for I was familiar with the history of the Cherokees and +Chickasaws during the eighteenth century, when they lived east of the +Mississippi. Early in that century various traders, chiefly Scotchmen, +settled among them, and the half-breed descendants of one named +Colbert became the most noted chiefs of the Chickasaws. I summoned the +applicant before me, and found that he was an excellent man, and, as I +had supposed, a descendant of the old Chickasaw chiefs. + +He brought into the regiment, by the way, his "partner," a white man. +The two had been inseparable companions for some years, and continued +so in the regiment. Every man who has lived in the West knows that, +vindictive though the hatred between the white man and the Indian is +when they stand against one another in what may be called their tribal +relations, yet that men of Indian blood, when adopted into white +communities, are usually treated precisely like anyone else. + +Colbert was not the only Indian whose name I recognized. There was a +Cherokee named Adair, who, upon inquiry, I found to be descended from +the man who, a century and a half ago, wrote a ponderous folio, to +this day of great interest, about the Cherokees, with whom he had +spent the best years of his life as a trader and agent. + +I don't know that I ever came across a man with a really sweeter +nature than another Cherokee named Holderman. He was an excellent +soldier, and for a long time acted as cook for the head-quarters mess. +He was a half-breed, and came of a soldier stock on both sides and +through both races. He explained to me once why he had come to the +war; that it was because his people always had fought when there was a +war, and he could not feel happy to stay at home when the flag was +going into battle. + +Two of the young Cherokee recruits came to me with a most kindly +letter from one of the ladies who had been teaching in the academy +from which they were about to graduate. She and I had known one +another in connection with Governmental and philanthropic work on the +reservations, and she wrote to commend the two boys to my attention. +One was on the Academy foot-ball team and the other in the glee-club. +Both were fine young fellows. The foot-ball player now lies buried +with the other dead who fell in the fight at San Juan. The singer was +brought to death's door by fever, but recovered and came back to his +home. + +There were other Indians of much wilder type, but their wildness was +precisely like that of the cowboys with whom they were associated. +One or two of them needed rough discipline; and they got it, too. Like +the rest of the regiment, they were splendid riders. I remember one +man, whose character left much to be desired in some respects, but +whose horsemanship was unexceptionable. He was mounted on an +exceedingly bad bronco, which would bolt out of the ranks at drill. He +broke it of this habit by the simple expedient of giving it two +tremendous twists, first to one side and then to the other, as it +bolted, with the result that, invariably, at the second bound its legs +crossed and over it went with a smash, the rider taking the somersault +with unmoved equanimity. + +The life histories of some of the men who joined our regiment would +make many volumes of thrilling adventure. + +We drew a great many recruits from Texas; and from nowhere did we get +a higher average, for many of them had served in that famous body of +frontier fighters, the Texas Rangers. Of course, these rangers needed +no teaching. They were already trained to obey and to take +responsibility. They were splendid shots, horsemen, and trailers. They +were accustomed to living in the open, to enduring great fatigue and +hardship, and to encountering all kinds of danger. + +Many of the Arizona and New Mexico men had taken part in warfare with +the Apaches, those terrible Indians of the waterless Southwestern +mountains--the most bloodthirsty and the wildest of all the red men of +America, and the most formidable in their own dreadful style of +warfare. Of course, a man who had kept his nerve and held his own, +year after year, while living where each day and night contained the +threat of hidden death from a foe whose goings and comings were +unseen, was not apt to lose courage when confronted with any other +enemy. An experience in following in the trail of an enemy who might +flee at one stretch through fifty miles of death-like desert was a +good school out of which to come with profound indifference for the +ordinary hardships of campaigning. + +As a rule, the men were more apt, however, to have had experience in +warring against white desperadoes and law-breakers than against +Indians. Some of our best recruits came from Colorado. One, a very +large, hawk-eyed man, Benjamin Franklin Daniels, had been Marshal of +Dodge City when that pleasing town was probably the toughest abode of +civilized man to be found anywhere on the continent. In the course of +the exercise of his rather lurid functions as peace-officer he had +lost half of one ear--"bitten off," it was explained to me. Naturally, +he viewed the dangers of battle with philosophic calm. Such a man was, +in reality, a veteran even in his first fight, and was a tower of +strength to the recruits in his part of the line. With him there came +into the regiment a deputy-marshal from Cripple Creek named Sherman +Bell. Bell had a hernia, but he was so excellent a man that we decided +to take him. I do not think I ever saw greater resolution than Bell +displayed throughout the campaign. In Cuba the great exertions which +he was forced to make, again and again opened the hernia, and the +surgeons insisted that he must return to the United States; but he +simply would not go. + +Then there was little McGinty, the bronco-buster from Oklahoma, who +never had walked a hundred yards if by any possibility he could ride. +When McGinty was reproved for his absolute inability to keep step on +the drill-ground, he responded that he was pretty sure he could keep +step on horseback. McGinty's short legs caused him much trouble on the +marches, but we had no braver or better man in the fights. + +One old friend of mine had come from far northern Idaho to join the +regiment at San Antonio. He was a hunter, named Fred Herrig, an +Alsatian by birth. A dozen years before he and I had hunted mountain +sheep and deer when laying in the winter stock of meat for my ranch on +the Little Missouri, sometimes in the bright fall weather, sometimes +in the Arctic bitterness of the early Northern winter. He was the most +loyal and simple-hearted of men, and he had come to join his old +"boss" and comrade in the bigger hunting which we were to carry on +through the tropic midsummer. + +The temptation is great to go on enumerating man after man who stood +pre-eminent, whether as a killer of game, a tamer of horses, or a +queller of disorder among his people, or who, mayhap, stood out with a +more evil prominence as himself a dangerous man--one given to the +taking of life on small provocation, or one who was ready to earn his +living outside the law if the occasion demanded it. There was tall +Proffit, the sharp-shooter, from North Carolina--sinewy, saturnine, +fearless; Smith, the bear-hunter from Wyoming, and McCann, the Arizona +book-keeper, who had begun life as a buffalo-hunter. There was +Crockett, the Georgian, who had been an Internal Revenue officer, and +had waged perilous war on the rifle-bearing "moonshiners." There were +Darnell and Wood, of New Mexico, who could literally ride any horses +alive. There were Goodwin, and Buck Taylor, and Armstrong the ranger, +crack shots with rifle or revolver. There was many a skilled packer +who had led and guarded his trains of laden mules through the +Indian-haunted country surrounding some out-post of civilization. +There were men who had won fame as Rocky Mountain stage-drivers, or +who had spent endless days in guiding the slow wagon-trains across the +grassy plains. There were miners who knew every camp from the Yukon to +Leadville, and cow-punchers in whose memories were stored the brands +carried by the herds from Chihuahua to Assiniboia. There were men who +had roped wild steers in the mesquite brush of the Nueces, and who, +year in and year out, had driven the trail herds northward over +desolate wastes and across the fords of shrunken rivers to the +fattening grounds of the Powder and the Yellowstone. They were +hardened to the scorching heat and bitter cold of the dry plains and +pine-clad mountains. They were accustomed to sleep in the open, while +the picketed horses grazed beside them near some shallow, reedy pool. +They had wandered hither and thither across the vast desolation of the +wilderness, alone or with comrades. They had cowered in the shelter of +cut banks from the icy blast of the norther, and far out on the +midsummer prairies they had known the luxury of lying in the shade of +the wagon during the noonday rest. They had lived in brush lean-tos +for weeks at a time, or with only the wagon-sheet as an occasional +house. They had fared hard when exploring the unknown; they had fared +well on the round-up; and they had known the plenty of the log +ranch-houses, where the tables were spread with smoked venison and +calf-ribs and milk and bread, and vegetables from the garden-patch. + +Such were the men we had as recruits: soldiers ready made, as far as +concerned their capacity as individual fighters. What was necessary +was to teach them to act together, and to obey orders. Our special +task was to make them ready for action in the shortest possible time. +We were bound to see fighting, and therefore to be with the first +expedition that left the United States; for we could not tell how long +the war would last. + +I had been quite prepared for trouble when it came to enforcing +discipline, but I was agreeably disappointed. There were plenty of +hard characters who might by themselves have given trouble, and with +one or two of whom we did have to take rough measures; but the bulk of +the men thoroughly understood that without discipline they would be +merely a valueless mob, and they set themselves hard at work to learn +the new duties. Of course, such a regiment, in spite of, or indeed I +might almost say because of, the characteristics which made the +individual men so exceptionally formidable as soldiers, could very +readily have been spoiled. Any weakness in the commander would have +ruined it. On the other hand, to treat it from the stand-point of the +martinet and military pedant would have been almost equally fatal. +From the beginning we started out to secure the essentials of +discipline, while laying just as little stress as possible on the +non-essentials. The men were singularly quick to respond to any appeal +to their intelligence and patriotism. The faults they committed were +those of ignorance merely. When Holderman, in announcing dinner to the +Colonel and the three Majors, genially remarked, "If you fellars don't +come soon, everything'll get cold," he had no thought of other than a +kindly and respectful regard for their welfare, and was glad to modify +his form of address on being told that it was not what could be +described as conventionally military. When one of our sentinels, who +had with much labor learned the manual of arms, saluted with great +pride as I passed, and added, with a friendly nod, "Good-evening, +Colonel," this variation in the accepted formula on such occasions was +meant, and was accepted, as mere friendly interest. In both cases the +needed instruction was given and received in the same kindly spirit. + +One of the new Indian Territory recruits, after twenty-four hours' +stay in camp, during which he had held himself distinctly aloof from +the general interests, called on the Colonel in his tent, and +remarked, "Well, Colonel, I want to shake hands and say we're with +you. We didn't know how we would like you fellars at first; but you're +all right, and you know your business, and you mean business, and you +can count on us every time!" + +That same night, which was hot, mosquitoes were very annoying; and +shortly after midnight both the Colonel and I came to the doors of our +respective tents, which adjoined one another. The sentinel in front +was also fighting mosquitoes. As we came out we saw him pitch his gun +about ten feet off, and sit down to attack some of the pests that had +swarmed up his trousers' legs. Happening to glance in our direction, +he nodded pleasantly and, with unabashed and friendly feeling, +remarked, "Ain't they bad?" + +It was astonishing how soon the men got over these little +peculiarities. They speedily grew to recognize the fact that the +observance of certain forms was essential to the maintenance of proper +discipline. They became scrupulously careful in touching their hats, +and always came to attention when spoken to. They saw that we did not +insist upon the observance of these forms to humiliate them; that we +were as anxious to learn our own duties as we were to have them learn +theirs, and as scrupulous in paying respect to our superiors as we +were in exacting the acknowledgment due our rank from those below us; +moreover, what was very important, they saw that we were careful to +look after their interests in every way, and were doing all that was +possible to hurry up the equipment and drill of the regiment, so as to +get into the war. + +Rigid guard duty was established at once, and everyone was impressed +with the necessity for vigilance and watchfulness. The policing of the +camp was likewise attended to with the utmost rigor. As always with +new troops, they were at first indifferent to the necessity for +cleanliness in camp arrangements; but on this point Colonel Wood +brooked no laxity, and in a very little while the hygienic conditions +of the camp were as good as those of any regular regiment. Meanwhile +the men were being drilled, on foot at first, with the utmost +assiduity. Every night we had officers' school, the non-commissioned +officers of each troop being given similar schooling by the Captain or +one of the Lieutenants of the troop; and every day we practised hard, +by squad, by troop, by squadron and battalion. The earnestness and +intelligence with which the men went to work rendered the task of +instruction much less difficult than would be supposed. It soon grew +easy to handle the regiment in all the simpler forms of close and open +order. When they had grown so that they could be handled with ease in +marching, and in the ordinary manoeuvres of the drill-ground, we began +to train them in open-order work, skirmishing and firing. Here their +woodcraft and plainscraft, their knowledge of the rifle, helped us +very much. Skirmishing they took to naturally, which was fortunate, as +practically all our fighting was done in open order. + +Meanwhile we were purchasing horses. Judging from what I saw I do not +think that we got heavy enough animals, and of those purchased +certainly a half were nearly unbroken. It was no easy matter to handle +them on the picket-lines, and to provide for feeding and watering; and +the efforts to shoe and ride them were at first productive of much +vigorous excitement. Of course, those that were wild from the range +had to be thrown and tied down before they could be shod. Half the +horses of the regiment bucked, or possessed some other of the amiable +weaknesses incident to horse life on the great ranches; but we had +abundance of men who were utterly unmoved by any antic a horse might +commit. Every animal was speedily mastered, though a large number +remained to the end mounts upon which an ordinary rider would have +felt very uncomfortable. + +My own horses were purchased for me by a Texas friend, John Moore, +with whom I had once hunted peccaries on the Nueces. I only paid fifty +dollars apiece, and the animals were not showy; but they were tough +and hardy, and answered my purpose well. + +Mounted drill with such horses and men bade fair to offer +opportunities for excitement; yet it usually went off smoothly enough. +Before drilling the men on horseback they had all been drilled on +foot, and having gone at their work with hearty zest, they knew well +the simple movements to form any kind of line or column. Wood was busy +from morning till night in hurrying the final details of the +equipment, and he turned the drill of the men over to me. To drill +perfectly needs long practice, but to drill roughly is a thing very +easy to learn indeed. We were not always right about our intervals, +our lines were somewhat irregular, and our more difficult movements +were executed at times in rather a haphazard way; but the essential +commands and the essential movements we learned without any +difficulty, and the men performed them with great dash. When we put +them on horseback, there was, of course, trouble with the horses; but +the horsemanship of the riders was consummate. In fact, the men were +immensely interested in making their horses perform each evolution +with the utmost speed and accuracy, and in forcing each unquiet, +vicious brute to get into line and stay in line, whether he would or +not. The guidon-bearers held their plunging steeds true to the line, +no matter what they tried to do; and each wild rider brought his wild +horse into his proper place with a dash and ease which showed the +natural cavalryman. + +In short, from the very beginning the horseback drills were good fun, +and everyone enjoyed them. We marched out through the adjoining +country to drill wherever we found open ground, practising all the +different column formations as we went. On the open ground we threw +out the line to one side or the other, and in one position and the +other, sometimes at the trot, sometimes at the gallop. As the men grew +accustomed to the simple evolutions, we tried them more and more in +skirmish drills, practising them so that they might get accustomed to +advance in open order and to skirmish in any country, while the horses +were held in the rear. + +Our arms were the regular cavalry carbine, the "Krag," a splendid +weapon, and the revolver. A few carried their favorite Winchesters, +using, of course, the new model, which took the Government cartridge. +We felt very strongly that it would be worse than a waste of time to +try to train our men to use the sabre--a weapon utterly alien to them; +but with the rifle and revolver they were already thoroughly familiar. +Many of my cavalry friends in the past had insisted to me that the +revolver was a better weapon than the sword--among them Basil Duke, the +noted Confederate cavalry leader, and Captain Frank Edwards, whom I +had met when elk-hunting on the head-waters of the Yellowstone and the +Snake. Personally, I knew too little to decide as to the comparative +merits of the two arms; but I did know that it was a great deal better +to use the arm with which our men were already proficient. They were +therefore armed with what might be called their natural weapon, the +revolver. + +As it turned out, we were not used mounted at all, so that our +preparations on this point came to nothing. In a way, I have always +regretted this. We thought we should at least be employed as cavalry +in the great campaign against Havana in the fall; and from the +beginning I began to train my men in shock tactics for use against +hostile cavalry. My belief was that the horse was really the weapon +with which to strike the first blow. I felt that if my men could be +trained to hit their adversaries with their horses, it was a matter of +small amount whether, at the moment when the onset occurred, sabres, +lances, or revolvers were used; while in the subsequent melee I +believed the revolver would outclass cold steel as a weapon. But this +is all guesswork, for we never had occasion to try the experiment. + +It was astonishing what a difference was made by two or three weeks' +training. The mere thorough performance of guard and police duties +helped the men very rapidly to become soldiers. The officers studied +hard, and both officers and men worked hard in the drill-field. It +was, of course, rough and ready drill; but it was very efficient, and +it was suited to the men who made up the regiment. Their uniform also +suited them. In their slouch hats, blue flannel shirts, brown +trousers, leggings and boots, with handkerchiefs knotted loosely +around their necks, they looked exactly as a body of cowboy cavalry +should look. The officers speedily grew to realize that they must not +be over-familiar with their men, and yet that they must care for them +in every way. The men, in return, began to acquire those habits of +attention to soldierly detail which mean so much in making a regiment. +Above all, every man felt, and had constantly instilled into him, a +keen pride of the regiment, and a resolute purpose to do his whole +duty uncomplainingly, and, above all, to win glory by the way he +handled himself in battle. + + + + II + + TO CUBA + +Up to the last moment we were spending every ounce of energy we had in +getting the regiment into shape. Fortunately, there were a good many +vacancies among the officers, as the original number of 780 men was +increased to 1,000; so that two companies were organized entirely +anew. This gave the chance to promote some first-rate men. + +One of the most useful members of the regiment was Dr. Robb Church, +formerly a Princeton foot-ball player. He was appointed as Assistant +Surgeon, but acted throughout almost all the Cuban campaign as the +Regimental Surgeon. It was Dr. Church who first gave me an idea of +Bucky O'Neill's versatility, for I happened to overhear them +discussing Aryan word-roots together, and then sliding off into a +review of the novels of Balzac, and a discussion as to how far Balzac +could be said to be the founder of the modern realistic school of +fiction. Church had led almost as varied a life as Bucky himself, his +career including incidents as far apart as exploring and elk-hunting +in the Olympic Mountains, cooking in a lumber-camp, and serving as +doctor on an emigrant ship. + +Woodbury Kane was given a commission, and also Horace Devereux, of +Princeton. Kane was older than the other college men who entered in +the ranks; and as he had the same good qualities to start with, this +resulted in his ultimately becoming perhaps the most useful soldier in +the regiment. He escaped wounds and serious sickness, and was able to +serve through every day of the regiment's existence. + +Two of the men made Second Lieutenants by promotion from the ranks +while in San Antonio were John Greenway, a noted Yale foot-ball player +and catcher on her base-ball nine, and David Goodrich, for two years +captain of the Harvard crew. They were young men, Goodrich having only +just graduated; while Greenway, whose father had served with honor in +the Confederate Army, had been out of Yale three or four years. They +were natural soldiers, and it would be well-nigh impossible to +overestimate the amount of good they did the regiment. They were +strapping fellows, entirely fearless, modest, and quiet. Their only +thought was how to perfect themselves in their own duties, and how to +take care of the men under them, so as to bring them to the highest +point of soldierly perfection. I grew steadily to rely upon them, as +men who could be counted upon with absolute certainty, not only in +every emergency, but in all routine work. They were never so tired as +not to respond with eagerness to the slightest suggestion of doing +something new, whether it was dangerous or merely difficult and +laborious. They not merely did their duty, but were always on the +watch to find out some new duty which they could construe to be +theirs. Whether it was policing camp, or keeping guard, or preventing +straggling on the march, or procuring food for the men, or seeing that +they took care of themselves in camp, or performing some feat of +unusual hazard in the fight--no call was ever made upon them to which +they did not respond with eager thankfulness for being given the +chance to answer it. Later on I worked them as hard as I knew how, and +the regiment will always be their debtor. + +Greenway was from Arkansas. We could have filled up the whole regiment +many times over from the South Atlantic and Gulf States alone, but +were only able to accept a very few applicants. One of them was John +McIlhenny, of Louisiana; a planter and manufacturer, a big-game +hunter and book-lover, who could have had a commission in the +Louisiana troops, but who preferred to go as a trooper in the Rough +Riders because he believed we would surely see fighting. He could have +commanded any influence, social or political, he wished; but he never +asked a favor of any kind. He went into one of the New Mexican troops, +and by his high qualities and zealous attention to duty speedily rose +to a sergeantcy, and finally won his lieutenancy for gallantry in +action. + +The tone of the officers' mess was very high. Everyone seemed to +realize that he had undertaken most serious work. They all earnestly +wished for a chance to distinguish themselves, and fully appreciated +that they ran the risk not merely of death, but of what was infinitely +worse--namely, failure at the crisis to perform duty well; and they +strove earnestly so to train themselves, and the men under them, as to +minimize the possibility of such disgrace. Every officer and every man +was taught continually to look forward to the day of battle eagerly, +but with an entire sense of the drain that would then be made upon his +endurance and resolution. They were also taught that, before the +battle came, the rigorous performance of the countless irksome duties +of the camp and the march was demanded from all alike, and that no +excuse would be tolerated for failure to perform duty. Very few of the +men had gone into the regiment lightly, and the fact that they did +their duty so well may be largely attributed to the seriousness with +which these eager, adventurous young fellows approached their work. +This seriousness, and a certain simple manliness which accompanied it, +had one very pleasant side. During our entire time of service, I never +heard in the officers' mess a foul story or a foul word; and though +there was occasional hard swearing in moments of emergency, yet even +this was the exception. + +The regiment attracted adventurous spirits from everywhere. Our chief +trumpeter was a native American, our second trumpeter was from the +Mediterranean--I think an Italian--who had been a soldier of fortune +not only in Egypt, but in the French Army in Southern China. Two +excellent men were Osborne, a tall Australian, who had been an officer +in the New South Wales Mounted Rifles; and Cook, an Englishman, who +had served in South Africa. Both, when the regiment disbanded, were +plaintive in expressing their fond regret that it could not be used +against the Transvaal Boers! + +One of our best soldiers was a man whose real and assumed names I, for +obvious reasons conceal. He usually went by a nickname which I will +call Tennessee. He was a tall, gaunt fellow, with a quiet and +distinctly sinister eye, who did his duty excellently, especially when +a fight was on, and who, being an expert gambler, always contrived to +reap a rich harvest after pay-day. When the regiment was mustered out, +he asked me to put a brief memorandum of his services on his discharge +certificate, which I gladly did. He much appreciated this, and added, +in explanation, "You see, Colonel, my real name isn't Smith, it's +Yancy. I had to change it, because three or four years ago I had a +little trouble with a gentleman, and--er--well, in fact, I had to kill +him; and the District Attorney, he had it in for me, and so I just +skipped the country; and now, if it ever should be brought up against +me, I should like to show your certificate as to my character!" The +course of frontier justice sometimes moves in unexpected zigzags; so I +did not express the doubt I felt as to whether my certificate that he +had been a good soldier would help him much if he was tried for a +murder committed three or four years previously. + +The men worked hard and faithfully. As a rule, in spite of the number +of rough characters among them, they behaved very well. One night a +few of them went on a spree, and proceeded "to paint San Antonio red." +One was captured by the city authorities, and we had to leave him +behind us in jail. The others we dealt with ourselves, in a way that +prevented a repetition of the occurrence. + +The men speedily gave one another nicknames, largely conferred in a +spirit of derision, their basis lying in contrast. A brave but +fastidious member of a well-known Eastern club, who was serving in the +ranks, was christened "Tough Ike"; and his bunkie, the man who shared +his shelter-tent, who was a decidedly rough cow-puncher, gradually +acquired the name of "The Dude." One unlucky and simple-minded +cow-puncher, who had never been east of the great plains in his life, +unwarily boasted that he had an aunt in New York, and ever afterward +went by the name of "Metropolitan Bill." A huge red-headed Irishman +was named "Sheeny Solomon." A young Jew who developed into one of the +best fighters in the regiment accepted, with entire equanimity, the +name of "Pork-chop." We had quite a number of professional gamblers, +who, I am bound to say, usually made good soldiers. One, who was +almost abnormally quiet and gentle, was called "Hell Roarer"; while +another, who in point of language and deportment was his exact +antithesis, was christened "Prayerful James." + +While the officers and men were learning their duties, and learning +to know one another, Colonel Wood was straining every nerve to get our +equipments--an effort which was complicated by the tendency of the +Ordnance Bureau to send whatever we really needed by freight instead +of express. Finally, just as the last rifles, revolvers, and saddles +came, we were ordered by wire at once to proceed by train to Tampa. + +Instantly, all was joyful excitement. We had enjoyed San Antonio, and +were glad that our regiment had been organized in the city where the +Alamo commemorates the death fight of Crockett, Bowie, and their +famous band of frontier heroes. All of us had worked hard, so that we +had had no time to be homesick or downcast; but we were glad to leave +the hot camp, where every day the strong wind sifted the dust through +everything, and to start for the gathering-place of the army which was +to invade Cuba. Our horses and men were getting into good shape. We +were well enough equipped to warrant our starting on the campaign, and +every man was filled with dread of being out of the fighting. We had a +pack-train of 150 mules, so we had close on to 1,200 animals to carry. + +Of course, our train was split up into sections, seven, all told; +Colonel Wood commanding the first three, and I the last four. The +journey by rail from San Antonio to Tampa took just four days, and I +doubt if anybody who was on the trip will soon forget it. To occupy my +few spare moments, I was reading M. Demolins's "Superiorite des +Anglo-Saxons." M. Demolins, in giving the reasons why the +English-speaking peoples are superior to those of Continental Europe, +lays much stress upon the way in which "militarism" deadens the power +of individual initiative, the soldier being trained to complete +suppression of individual will, while his faculties become atrophied +in consequence of his being merely a cog in a vast and perfectly +ordered machine. I can assure the excellent French publicist that +American "militarism," at least of the volunteer sort, has points of +difference from the militarism of Continental Europe. The battalion +chief of a newly raised American regiment, when striving to get into a +war which the American people have undertaken with buoyant and +light-hearted indifference to detail, has positively unlimited +opportunity for the display of "individual initiative," and is in no +danger whatever either of suffering from unhealthy suppression of +personal will, or of finding his faculties of self-help numbed by +becoming a cog in a gigantic and smooth-running machine. If such a +battalion chief wants to get anything or go anywhere he must do it by +exercising every pound of resource, inventiveness, and audacity he +possesses. The help, advice, and superintendence he gets from outside +will be of the most general, not to say superficial, character. If he +is a cavalry officer, he has got to hurry and push the purchase of his +horses, plunging into and out of the meshes of red-tape as best he +can. He will have to fight for his rifles and his tents and his +clothes. He will have to keep his men healthy largely by the light +that nature has given him. When he wishes to embark his regiment, he +will have to fight for his railway-cars exactly as he fights for his +transport when it comes to going across the sea; and on his journey +his men will or will not have food, and his horses will or will not +have water and hay, and the trains will or will not make connections, +in exact correspondence to the energy and success of his own efforts +to keep things moving straight. + +It was on Sunday, May 29th, that we marched out of our hot, windy, +dusty camp to take the cars for Tampa. Colonel Wood went first, with +the three sections under his special care. I followed with the other +four. The railway had promised us a forty-eight hours' trip, but our +experience in loading was enough to show that the promise would not be +made good. There were no proper facilities for getting the horses on +or off the cars, or for feeding or watering them; and there was +endless confusion and delay among the railway officials. I marched my +four sections over in the afternoon, the first three having taken the +entire day to get off. We occupied the night. As far as the regiment +itself was concerned, we worked an excellent system, Wood instructing +me exactly how to proceed so as to avoid confusion. Being a veteran +campaigner, he had all along insisted that for such work as we had +before us we must travel with the minimum possible luggage. The men +had merely what they could carry on their own backs, and the officers +very little more. My own roll of clothes and bedding could be put on +my spare horse. The mule-train was to be used simply for food, forage, +and spare ammunition. As it turned out, we were not allowed to take +either it or the horses. + +It was dusk when I marched my long files of dusty troopers into the +station-yard. I then made all dismount, excepting the troop which I +first intended to load. This was brought up to the first freight-car. +Here every man unsaddled, and left his saddle, bridle, and all that he +did not himself need in the car, each individual's property being +corded together. A guard was left in the car, and the rest of the men +took the naked horses into the pens to be fed and watered. The other +troops were loaded in the same way in succession. With each section +there were thus a couple of baggage-cars in which the horse-gear, the +superfluous baggage, and the travel rations were carried; and I also +put aboard, not only at starting, but at every other opportunity, what +oats and hay I could get, so as to provide against accidents for the +horses. By the time the baggage-cars were loaded the horses of the +first section had eaten and drunk their fill, and we loaded them on +cattle-cars. The officers of each troop saw to the loading, taking a +dozen picked men to help them; for some of the wild creatures, half +broken and fresh from the ranges, were with difficulty driven up the +chutes. Meanwhile I superintended not merely my own men, but the +railroad men; and when the delays of the latter, and their inability +to understand what was necessary, grew past bearing, I took charge of +the trains myself, so as to insure the horse-cars of each section +being coupled with the baggage-cars of that section. + +We worked until long past midnight before we got the horses and +baggage aboard, and then found that for some reason the passenger-cars +were delayed and would not be out for some hours. In the confusion and +darkness men of the different troops had become scattered, and some +had drifted off to the vile drinking-booths around the stock-yards; so +I sent details to search the latter, while the trumpeters blew the +assembly until the First Sergeants could account for all the men. Then +the troops were arranged in order, and the men of each lay down where +they were, by the tracks and in the brush, to sleep until morning. + +At dawn the passenger-trains arrived. The senior Captain of each +section saw to it that his own horses, troopers, and baggage were +together; and one by one they started off, I taking the last in +person. Captain Capron had at the very beginning shown himself to be +simply invaluable, from his extraordinary energy, executive capacity, +and mastery over men; and I kept his section next mine, so that we +generally came together at the different yards. + +The next four days were very hot and very dusty. I tried to arrange so +the sections would be far enough apart to allow each ample time to +unload, feed, water, and load the horses at any stopping-place before +the next section could arrive. There was enough delay and failure to +make connections on the part of the railroad people to keep me +entirely busy, not to speak of seeing at the stopping-places that the +inexperienced officers got enough hay for their horses, and that the +water given to them was both ample in quantity and drinkable. It +happened that we usually made our longest stops at night, and this +meant that we were up all night long. + +Two or three times a day I got the men buckets of hot coffee, and +when we made a long enough stop they were allowed liberty under the +supervision of the non-commissioned officers. Some of them abused the +privilege, and started to get drunk. These were promptly handled with +the necessary severity, in the interest of the others; for it was only +by putting an immediate check to every form of lawlessness or +disobedience among the few men who were inclined to be bad that we +were enabled to give full liberty to those who would not abuse it. + +Everywhere the people came out to greet us and cheer us. They +brought us flowers; they brought us watermelons and other fruits, and +sometimes jugs and pails of milk--all of which we greatly appreciated. +We were travelling through a region where practically all the older +men had served in the Confederate Army, and where the younger men had +all their lives long drunk in the endless tales told by their elders, +at home, and at the cross-roads taverns, and in the court-house +squares, about the cavalry of Forrest and Morgan and the infantry of +Jackson and Hood. The blood of the old men stirred to the distant +breath of battle; the blood of the young men leaped hot with eager +desire to accompany us. The older women, who remembered the dreadful +misery of war--the misery that presses its iron weight most heavily on +the wives and the little ones--looked sadly at us; but the young girls +drove down in bevies, arrayed in their finery, to wave flags in +farewell to the troopers and to beg cartridges and buttons as +mementos. Everywhere we saw the Stars and Stripes, and everywhere we +were told, half-laughing, by grizzled ex-Confederates that they had +never dreamed in the bygone days of bitterness to greet the old flag +as they now were greeting it, and to send their sons, as now they were +sending them, to fight and die under it. + +It was four days later that we disembarked, in a perfect welter of +confusion. Tampa lay in the pine-covered sand-flats at the end of a +one-track railroad, and everything connected with both military and +railroad matters was in an almost inextricable tangle. There was no +one to meet us or to tell us where we were to camp, and no one to +issue us food for the first twenty-four hours; while the railroad +people unloaded us wherever they pleased, or rather wherever the jam +of all kinds of trains rendered it possible. We had to buy the men +food out of our own pockets, and to seize wagons in order to get our +spare baggage taken to the camping ground which we at last found had +been allotted to us. + +Once on the ground, we speedily got order out of confusion. Under +Wood's eye the tents were put up in long streets, the picket-line of +each troop stretching down its side of each street. The officers' +quarters were at the upper ends of the streets, the company kitchens +and sinks at the opposite ends. The camp was strictly policed, and +drill promptly begun. For thirty-six hours we let the horses rest, +drilling on foot, and then began the mounted drill again. The +regiments with which we were afterward to serve were camped near us, +and the sandy streets of the little town were thronged with soldiers, +almost all of them regulars; for there were but one or two volunteer +organizations besides ourselves. The regulars wore the canonical dark +blue of Uncle Sam. Our own men were clad in dusty brown blouses, +trousers and leggings being of the same hue, while the broad-brimmed +soft hat was of dark gray; and very workmanlike they looked as, in +column of fours, each troop trotted down its company street to form by +squadron or battalion, the troopers sitting steadily in the saddles as +they made their half-trained horses conform to the movement of the +guidons. + +Over in Tampa town the huge winter hotel was gay with general officers +and their staffs, with women in pretty dresses, with newspaper +correspondents by the score, with military attaches of foreign powers, +and with onlookers of all sorts; but we spent very little time there. + +We worked with the utmost industry, special attention being given by +each troop-commander to skirmish-drill in the woods. Once or twice we +had mounted drill of the regiment as a whole. The military attaches +came out to look on--English, German, Russian, French, and Japanese. +With the Englishman, Captain Arthur Lee, a capital fellow, we soon +struck up an especially close friendship; and we saw much of him +throughout the campaign. So we did of several of the newspaper +correspondents--Richard Harding Davis, John Fox, Jr., Caspar Whitney, +and Frederic Remington. On Sunday Chaplain Brown, of Arizona, held +service, as he did almost every Sunday during the campaign. + +There were but four or five days at Tampa, however. We were notified +that the expedition would start for destination unknown at once, and +that we were to go with it; but that our horses were to be left +behind, and only eight troops of seventy men each taken. Our sorrow at +leaving the horses was entirely outweighed by our joy at going; but it +was very hard indeed to select the four troops that were to stay, and +the men who had to be left behind from each of the troops that went. +Colonel Wood took Major Brodie and myself to command the two +squadrons, being allowed only two squadron commanders. The men who +were left behind felt the most bitter heartburn. To the great bulk of +them I think it will be a life-long sorrow. I saw more than one, both +among the officers and privates, burst into tears when he found he +could not go. No outsider can appreciate the bitterness of the +disappointment. Of course, really, those that stayed were entitled to +precisely as much honor as those that went. Each man was doing his +duty, and much the hardest and most disagreeable duty was to stay. +Credit should go with the performance of duty, and not with what is +very often the accident of glory. All this and much more we explained, +but our explanations could not alter the fact that some had to be +chosen and some had to be left. One of the Captains chosen was Captain +Maximilian Luna, who commanded Troop F, from New Mexico. The Captain's +people had been on the banks of the Rio Grande before my forefathers +came to the mouth of the Hudson or Wood's landed at Plymouth; and he +made the plea that it was his right to go as a representative of his +race, for he was the only man of pure Spanish blood who bore a +commission in the army, and he demanded the privilege of proving that +his people were precisely as loyal Americans as any others. I was glad +when it was decided to take him. + +It was the evening of June 7th when we suddenly received orders that +the expedition was to start from Port Tampa, nine miles distant by +rail, at daybreak the following morning; and that if we were not +aboard our transport by that time we could not go. We had no intention +of getting left, and prepared at once for the scramble which was +evidently about to take place. As the number and capacity of the +transports were known, or ought to have been known, and as the number +and size of the regiments to go were also known, the task of allotting +each regiment or fraction of a regiment to its proper transport, and +arranging that the regiments and the transports should meet in due +order on the dock, ought not to have been difficult. However, no +arrangements were made in advance; and we were allowed to shove and +hustle for ourselves as best we could, on much the same principles +that had governed our preparations hitherto. + +We were ordered to be at a certain track with all our baggage at +midnight, there to take a train for Port Tampa. At the appointed time +we turned up, but the train did not. The men slept heavily, while Wood +and I and various other officers wandered about in search of +information which no one could give. We now and then came across a +Brigadier-General, or even a Major-General; but nobody knew anything. +Some regiments got aboard the trains and some did not, but as none of +the trains started this made little difference. At three o'clock we +received orders to march over to an entirely different track, and away +we went. No train appeared on this track either; but at six o'clock +some coal-cars came by, and these we seized. By various arguments we +persuaded the engineer in charge of the train to back us down the nine +miles to Port Tampa, where we arrived covered with coal-dust, but with +all our belongings. + +The railway tracks ran out on the quay, and the transports, which had +been anchored in midstream, were gradually being brought up alongside +the quay and loaded. The trains were unloading wherever they happened +to be, no attention whatever being paid to the possible position of +the transport on which the soldiers were to go. Colonel Wood and I +jumped off and started on a hunt, which soon convinced us that we had +our work cut out if we were to get a transport at all. From the +highest General down, nobody could tell us where to go to find out +what transport we were to have. At last we were informed that we were +to hunt up the depot quartermaster, Colonel Humphrey. We found his +office, where his assistant informed us that he didn't know where the +Colonel was, but believed him to be asleep upon one of the transports. +This seemed odd at such a time; but so many of the methods in vogue +were odd, that we were quite prepared to accept it as a fact. However, +it proved not to be such; but for an hour Colonel Humphrey might just +as well have been asleep, as nobody knew where he was and nobody could +find him, and the quay was crammed with some ten thousand men, most of +whom were working at cross purposes. + +At last, however, after over an hour's industrious and rapid search +through this swarming ant-heap of humanity, Wood and I, who had +separated, found Colonel Humphrey at nearly the same time and were +allotted a transport--the Yucatan. She was out in midstream, so Wood +seized a stray launch and boarded her. At the same time I happened to +find out that she had previously been allotted to two other regiments +--the Second Regular Infantry and the Seventy-first New York +Volunteers, which latter regiment alone contained more men than could +be put aboard her. Accordingly, I ran at full speed to our train; and +leaving a strong guard with the baggage, I double-quicked the rest of +the regiment up to the boat, just in time to board her as she came +into the quay, and then to hold her against the Second Regulars and +the Seventy-first, who had arrived a little too late, being a shade +less ready than we were in the matter of individual initiative. There +was a good deal of expostulation, but we had possession; and as the +ship could not contain half of the men who had been told to go aboard +her, the Seventy-first went away, as did all but four companies of the +Second. These latter we took aboard. Meanwhile a General had caused +our train to be unloaded at the end of the quay farthest from where +the ship was; and the hungry, tired men spent most of the day in the +labor of bringing down their baggage and the food and ammunition. + +The officers' horses were on another boat, my own being accompanied +by my colored body-servant, Marshall, the most faithful and loyal +of men, himself an old soldier of the Ninth Cavalry. Marshall had +been in Indian campaigns, and he christened my larger horse +"Rain-in-the-Face," while the other, a pony, went by the name of +"Texas." + +By the time that night fell, and our transport pulled off and +anchored in midstream, we felt we had spent thirty-six tolerably +active hours. The transport was overloaded, the men being packed like +sardines, not only below but upon the decks; so that at night it was +only possible to walk about by continually stepping over the bodies of +the sleepers. The travel rations which had been issued to the men for +the voyage were not sufficient, because the meat was very bad indeed; +and when a ration consists of only four or five items, which taken +together just meet the requirements of a strong and healthy man, the +loss of one item is a serious thing. If we had been given canned +corned beef we would have been all right, but instead of this the +soldiers were issued horrible stuff called "canned fresh beef." There +was no salt in it. At the best it was stringy and tasteless; at the +worst it was nauseating. Not one-fourth of it was ever eaten at all, +even when the men became very hungry. There were no facilities for the +men to cook anything. There was no ice for them; the water was not +good; and they had no fresh meat or fresh vegetables. + +However, all these things seemed of small importance compared with +the fact that we were really embarked, and were with the first +expedition to leave our shores. But by next morning came the news that +the order to sail had been countermanded, and that we were to stay +where we were for the time being. What this meant none of us could +understand. It turned out later to be due to the blunder of a naval +officer who mistook some of our vessels for Spaniards, and by his +report caused consternation in Washington, until by vigorous scouting +on the part of our other ships the illusion was dispelled. + +Meanwhile the troop-ships, packed tight with their living freight, +sweltered in the burning heat of Tampa Harbor. There was nothing +whatever for the men to do, space being too cramped for amusement or +for more drill than was implied in the manual of arms. In this we +drilled them assiduously, and we also continued to hold school for +both the officers and the non-commissioned officers. Each troop +commander was regarded as responsible for his own non-commissioned +officers, and Wood or myself simply dropped in to superintend, just as +we did with the manual of arms. In the officers' school Captain Capron +was the special instructor, and a most admirable one he was. + +The heat, the steaming discomfort, and the confinement, together +with the forced inaction, were very irksome; but everyone made the +best of it, and there was little or no grumbling even among the men. +All, from the highest to the lowest, were bent upon perfecting +themselves according to their slender opportunities. Every book of +tactics in the regiment was in use from morning until night, and the +officers and non-commissioned officers were always studying the +problems presented at the schools. About the only amusement was +bathing over the side, in which we indulged both in the morning and +evening. Many of the men from the Far West had never seen the ocean. +One of them who knew how to swim was much interested in finding that +the ocean water was not drinkable. Another, who had never in his life +before seen any water more extensive than the headstream of the Rio +Grande, met with an accident later in the voyage; that is, his hat +blew away while we were in mid-ocean, and I heard him explaining the +accident to a friend in the following words: "Oh-o-h, Jim! Ma hat blew +into the creek!" So we lay for nearly a week, the vessels swinging +around on their anchor chains, while the hot water of the bay flowed +to and fro around them and the sun burned overhead. + +At last, on the evening of June 13th, we received the welcome order +to start. Ship after ship weighed anchor and went slowly ahead under +half-steam for the distant mouth of the harbor, the bands playing, the +flags flying, the rigging black with the clustered soldiers, cheering +and shouting to those left behind on the quay and to their fellows on +the other ships. The channel was very tortuous; and we anchored before +we had gone far down it, after coming within an ace of a bad collision +with another transport. The next morning we were all again under way, +and in the afternoon the great fleet steamed southeast until Tampa +Light sank in the distance. + +For the next six days we sailed steadily southward and eastward +through the wonderful sapphire seas of the West Indies. The thirty odd +transports moved in long parallel lines, while ahead and behind and on +their flanks the gray hulls of the war-ships surged through the blue +water. We had every variety of craft to guard us, from the mighty +battle-ship and swift cruiser to the converted yachts and the frail, +venomous-looking torpedo-boats. The war-ships watched with ceaseless +vigilance by day and night. When a sail of any kind appeared, +instantly one of our guardians steamed toward it. Ordinarily, the +torpedo-boats were towed. Once a strange ship steamed up too close, +and instantly the nearest torpedo-boat was slipped like a greyhound +from the leash, and sped across the water toward it; but the stranger +proved harmless, and the swift, delicate, death-fraught craft returned +again. + +It was very pleasant, sailing southward through the tropic seas +toward the unknown. We knew not whither we were bound, nor what we +were to do; but we believed that the nearing future held for us many +chances of death and hardship, of honor and renown. If we failed, we +would share the fate of all who fail; but we were sure that we would +win, that we should score the first great triumph in a mighty +world movement. At night we looked at the new stars, and hailed the +Southern Cross when at last we raised it above the horizon. In the +daytime we drilled, and in the evening we held officers' school; but +there was much time when we had little to do, save to scan the +wonderful blue sea and watch the flying-fish. Toward evening, when the +officers clustered together on the forward bridge, the band of the +Second Infantry played tune after tune, until on our quarter the +glorious sun sunk in the red west, and, one by one, the lights blazed +out on troop-ship and war-ship for miles ahead and astern, as they +steamed onward through the brilliant tropic night. + +The men on the ship were young and strong, eager to face what lay +hidden before them, eager for adventure where risk was the price of +gain. Sometimes they talked of what they might do in the future, and +wondered whether we were to attack Santiago or Porto Rico. At other +times, as they lounged in groups, they told stories of their past +--stories of the mining camps and the cattle ranges, of hunting bear +and deer, of war-trails against the Indians, of lawless deeds of +violence and the lawful violence by which they were avenged, of brawls +in saloons, of shrewd deals in cattle and sheep, of successful quests +for the precious metals; stories of brutal wrong and brutal appetite, +melancholy love-tales, and memories of nameless heroes--masters of men +and tamers of horses. + +The officers, too, had many strange experiences to relate; none, not +even Llewellen or O'Neill, had been through what was better worth +telling, or could tell it better, than Capron. He had spent years +among the Apaches, the wildest and fiercest of tribes, and again and +again had owed his life to his own cool judgment and extraordinary +personal prowess. He knew the sign language, familiar to all the +Indians of the mountains and the plains; and it was curious to find +that the signs for different animals, for water, for sleep and death, +which he knew from holding intercourse with the tribes of the +Southeast, were exactly like those which I had picked up on my +occasional hunting or trading trips among the Sioux and Mandans of the +North. He was a great rifle shot and wolf hunter, and had many tales +to tell of the deeds of gallant hounds and the feats of famous horses. +He had handled his Indian scouts and dealt with the "bronco" Indians, +the renegades from the tribes, in circumstances of extreme peril; for +he had seen the sullen, moody Apaches when they suddenly went crazy +with wolfish blood-lust, and in their madness wished to kill whomever +was nearest. He knew, so far as white man could know, their ways of +thought, and how to humor and divert them when on the brink of some +dangerous outbreak. Capron's training and temper fitted him to do +great work in war; and he looked forward with eager confidence to what +the future held, for he was sure that for him it held either triumph +or death. Death was the prize he drew. + +Most of the men had simple souls. They could relate facts, but they +said very little about what they dimly felt. Bucky O'Neill, however, +the iron-nerved, iron-willed fighter from Arizona, the Sheriff whose +name was a by-word of terror to every wrong-doer, white or red, the +gambler who with unmoved face would stake and lose every dollar he had +in the world--he, alone among his comrades, was a visionary, an +articulate emotionalist. He was very quiet about it, never talking +unless he was sure of his listener; but at night, when we leaned on +the railing to look at the Southern Cross, he was less apt to tell +tales of his hard and stormy past than he was to speak of the +mysteries which lie behind courage, and fear, and love, behind animal +hatred, and animal lust for the pleasures that have tangible shape. He +had keenly enjoyed life, and he could breast its turbulent torrent as +few men could; he was a practical man, who knew how to wrest personal +success from adverse forces, among money-makers, politicians, and +desperadoes alike; yet, down at bottom, what seemed to interest him +most was the philosophy of life itself, of our understanding of it, +and of the limitations set to that understanding. But he was as far as +possible from being a mere dreamer of dreams. A staunchly loyal and +generous friend, he was also exceedingly ambitious on his own account. +If, by risking his life, no matter how great the risk, he could gain +high military distinction, he was bent on gaining it. He had taken so +many chances when death lay on the hazard, that he felt the odds were +now against him; but, said he, "Who would not risk his life for a +star?" Had he lived, and had the war lasted, he would surely have won +the eagle, if not the star. + +We had a good deal of trouble with the transports, chiefly because +they were not under the control of the navy. One of them was towing a +schooner, and another a scow; both, of course, kept lagging behind. +Finally, when we had gone nearly the length of Cuba, the transport +with the schooner sagged very far behind, and then our wretched +transport was directed by General Shafter to fall out of line and keep +her company. Of course, we executed the order, greatly to the wrath of +Captain Clover, who, in the gunboat Bancroft, had charge of the rear +of the column--for we could be of no earthly use to the other +transport, and by our presence simply added just so much to Captain +Clover's anxiety, as he had two transports to protect instead of one. +Next morning the rest of the convoy were out of sight, but we reached +them just as they finally turned. + +Until this we had steamed with the trade-wind blowing steadily in +our faces; but once we were well to eastward of Cuba, we ran southwest +with the wind behind on our quarter, and we all knew that our +destination was Santiago. On the morning of the 20th we were close to +the Cuban coast. High mountains rose almost from the water's edge, +looking huge and barren across the sea. We sped onward past Guantanamo +Bay, where we saw the little picket-ships of the fleet; and in the +afternoon we sighted Santiago Harbor, with the great war-ships +standing off and on in front of it, gray and sullen in their +war-paint. + +All next day we rolled and wallowed in the seaway, waiting until a +decision was reached as to where we should land. On the morning of +June 22nd the welcome order for landing came. + +We did the landing as we had done everything else--that is, in a +scramble, each commander shifting for himself. The port at which we +landed was called Daiquiri, a squalid little village where there had +been a railway and iron-works. There were no facilities for landing, +and the fleet did not have a quarter the number of boats it should +have had for the purpose. All we could do was to stand in with the +transports as close as possible, and then row ashore in our own few +boats and the boats of the war-ships. Luck favored our regiment. My +former naval aide, while I was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, +Lieutenant Sharp, was in command of the Vixen, a converted yacht; and +everything being managed on the go-as-you-please principle, he steamed +by us and offered to help put us ashore. Of course, we jumped at the +chance. Wood and I boarded the Vixen, and there we got Lieutenant +Sharp's black Cuban pilot, who told us he could take our transport +right in to within a few hundred yards of the land. Accordingly, we +put him aboard; and in he brought her, gaining at least a mile and a +half by the manoeuvre. The other transports followed; but we had our +berth, and were all right. + +There was plenty of excitement to the landing. In the first place, +the smaller war-vessels shelled Daiquiri, so as to dislodge any +Spaniards who might be lurking in the neighborhood, and also shelled +other places along the coast, to keep the enemy puzzled as to our +intentions. Then the surf was high, and the landing difficult; so that +the task of getting the men, the ammunition, and provisions ashore was +not easy. Each man carried three days' field rations and a hundred +rounds of ammunition. Our regiment had accumulated two rapid-fire Colt +automatic guns, the gift of Stevens, Kane, Tiffany, and one or two +others of the New York men, and also a dynamite gun, under the +immediate charge of Sergeant Borrowe. To get these, and especially the +last, ashore, involved no little work and hazard. Meanwhile, from +another transport, our horses were being landed, together with the +mules, by the simple process of throwing them overboard and letting +them swim ashore, if they could. Both of Wood's got safely through. +One of mine was drowned. The other, little Texas, got ashore all +right. While I was superintending the landing at the ruined dock, with +Bucky O'Neill, a boatful of colored infantry soldiers capsized, and +two of the men went to the bottom; Bucky O'Neill plunging in, in full +uniform, to save them, but in vain. + +However, by the late afternoon we had all our men, with what +ammunition and provisions they could themselves carry, landed, and +were ready for anything that might turn up. + + + + III + + GENERAL YOUNG'S FIGHT AT LAS GUASIMAS + +Just before leaving Tampa we had been brigaded with the First (white) +and Tenth (colored) Regular Cavalry under Brigadier-General S. B. M. +Young. We were the Second Brigade, the First Brigade consisting of the +Third and Sixth (white), and the Ninth (colored) Regular Cavalry under +Brigadier-General Sumner. The two brigades of the cavalry division +were under Major-General Joseph Wheeler, the gallant old Confederate +cavalry commander. + +General Young was--and is--as fine a type of the American fighting +soldier as a man can hope to see. He had been in command, as Colonel, +of the Yellowstone National Park, and I had seen a good deal of him in +connection therewith, as I was President of the Boone and Crockett +Club, an organization devoted to hunting big game, to its +preservation, and to forest preservation. During the preceding winter, +while he was in Washington, he had lunched with me at the Metropolitan +Club, Wood being one of the other guests. Of course, we talked of the +war, which all of us present believed to be impending, and Wood and I +told him we were going to make every effort to get in, somehow; and he +answered that we must be sure to get into his brigade, if he had one, +and he would guarantee to show us fighting. None of us forgot the +conversation. As soon as our regiment was raised General Young applied +for it to be put in his brigade. We were put in; and he made his word +good; for he fought and won the first fight on Cuban soil. + +Yet, even though under him, we should not have been in this fight at +all if we had not taken advantage of the chance to disembark among the +first troops, and if it had not been for Wood's energy in pushing our +regiment to the front. + +On landing we spent some active hours in marching our men a quarter +of a mile or so inland, as boat-load by boat-load they disembarked. +Meanwhile one of the men, Knoblauch, a New Yorker, who was a great +athlete and a champion swimmer, by diving in the surf off the dock, +recovered most of the rifles which had been lost when the boat-load of +colored cavalry capsized. The country would have offered very great +difficulties to an attacking force had there been resistance. It was +little but a mass of rugged and precipitous hills, covered for the +most part by dense jungle. Five hundred resolute men could have +prevented the disembarkation at very little cost to themselves. There +had been about that number of Spaniards at Daiquiri that morning, but +they had fled even before the ships began shelling. In their place we +found hundreds of Cuban insurgents, a crew of as utter tatterdemalions +as human eyes ever looked on, armed with every kind of rifle in all +stages of dilapidation. It was evident, at a glance, that they would +be no use in serious fighting, but it was hoped that they might be of +service in scouting. From a variety of causes, however, they turned +out to be nearly useless, even for this purpose, so far as the +Santiago campaign was concerned. + +We were camped on a dusty, brush-covered flat, with jungle on one +side, and on the other a shallow, fetid pool fringed with palm-trees. +Huge land-crabs scuttled noisily through the underbrush, exciting much +interest among the men. Camping was a simple matter, as each man +carried all he had, and the officers had nothing. I took a light +mackintosh and a tooth-brush. Fortunately, that night it did not rain; +and from the palm-leaves we built shelters from the sun. + +General Lawton, a tall, fine-looking man, had taken the advance. A +thorough soldier, he at once established outposts and pushed +reconnoitring parties ahead on the trails. He had as little baggage as +the rest of us. Our own Brigade-Commander, General Young, had exactly +the same impedimenta that I had, namely, a mackintosh and a +tooth-brush. + +Next morning we were hard at work trying to get the stuff unloaded +from the ship, and succeeded in getting most of it ashore, but were +utterly unable to get transportation for anything but a very small +quantity. The great shortcoming throughout the campaign was the +utterly inadequate transportation. If we had been allowed to take our +mule-train, we could have kept the whole cavalry division supplied. + +In the afternoon word came to us to march. General Wheeler, a regular +game-cock, was as anxious as Lawton to get first blood, and he was +bent upon putting the cavalry division to the front as quickly as +possible. Lawton's advance-guard was in touch with the Spaniards, and +there had been a skirmish between the latter and some Cubans, who were +repulsed. General Wheeler made a reconnaissance in person, found out +where the enemy was, and directed General Young to take our brigade +and move forward so as to strike him next morning. He had the power to +do this, as when General Shafter was afloat he had command ashore. + +I had succeeded in finding Texas, my surviving horse, much the worse +for his fortnight on the transport and his experience in getting off, +but still able to carry me. + +It was mid-afternoon and the tropic sun was beating fiercely down when +Colonel Wood started our regiment--the First and Tenth Cavalry and +some of the infantry regiments having already marched. Colonel Wood +himself rode in advance, while I led my squadron, and Major Brodie +followed with his. It was a hard march, the hilly jungle trail being +so narrow that often we had to go in single file. We marched fast, for +Wood was bound to get us ahead of the other regiments, so as to be +sure of our place in the body that struck the enemy next morning. If +it had not been for his energy in pushing forward, we should certainly +have missed the fight. As it was, we did not halt until we were at the +extreme front. + +The men were not in very good shape for marching, and moreover they +were really horsemen, the majority being cowboys who had never done +much walking. The heat was intense and their burdens very heavy. Yet +there was very little straggling. Whenever we halted they instantly +took off their packs and threw themselves on their backs. Then at the +word to start they would spring into place again. The captains and +lieutenants tramped along, encouraging the men by example and word. A +good part of the time I was by Captain Llewellen, and was greatly +pleased to see the way in which he kept his men up to their work. He +never pitied or coddled his troopers, but he always looked after them. +He helped them whenever he could, and took rather more than his full +share of hardship and danger, so that his men naturally followed him +with entire devotion. Jack Greenway was under him as lieutenant, and +to him the entire march was nothing but an enjoyable outing, the +chance of fight on the morrow simply adding the needed spice of +excitement. + +It was long after nightfall when we tramped through the darkness +into the squalid coast hamlet of Siboney. As usual when we made a +night camp, we simply drew the men up in column of troops, and then +let each man lie down where he was. Black thunder-clouds were +gathering. Before they broke the fires were made and the men cooked +their coffee and pork, some frying the hard-tack with the pork. The +officers, of course, fared just as the men did. Hardly had we finished +eating when the rain came, a regular tropic downpour. We sat about, +sheltering ourselves as best we could, for the hour or two it lasted; +then the fires were relighted and we closed around them, the men +taking off their wet things to dry them, so far as possible, by the +blaze. + +Wood had gone off to see General Young, as General Wheeler had +instructed General Young to hit the Spaniards, who were about four +miles away, as soon after daybreak as possible. Meanwhile I strolled +over to Captain Capron's troop. He and I, with his two lieutenants, +Day and Thomas, stood around the fire, together with two or three +non-commissioned officers and privates; among the latter were Sergeant +Hamilton Fish and Trooper Elliot Cowdin, both of New York. Cowdin, +together with two other troopers, Harry Thorpe and Munro Ferguson, had +been on my Oyster Bay Polo Team some years before. Hamilton Fish had +already shown himself one of the best non-commissioned officers we +had. A huge fellow, of enormous strength and endurance and dauntless +courage, he took naturally to a soldier's life. He never complained +and never shirked any duty of any kind, while his power over his men +was great. So good a sergeant had he made that Captain Capron, keen to +get the best men under him, took him when he left Tampa--for Fish's +troop remained behind. As we stood around the flickering blaze that +night I caught myself admiring the splendid bodily vigor of Capron and +Fish--the captain and the sergeant. Their frames seemed of steel, to +withstand all fatigue; they were flushed with health; in their eyes +shone high resolve and fiery desire. Two finer types of the fighting +man, two better representatives of the American soldier, there were +not in the whole army. Capron was going over his plans for the fight +when we should meet the Spaniards on the morrow, Fish occasionally +asking a question. They were both filled with eager longing to show +their mettle, and both were rightly confident that if they lived they +would win honorable renown and would rise high in their chosen +profession. Within twelve hours they both were dead. + +I had lain down when toward midnight Wood returned. He had gone over +the whole plan with General Young. We were to start by sunrise toward +Santiago, General Young taking four troops of the Tenth and four +troops of the First up the road which led through the valley; while +Colonel Wood was to lead our eight troops along a hill-trail to the +left, which joined the valley road about four miles on, at a point +where the road went over a spur of the mountain chain and from thence +went down hill toward Santiago. The Spaniards had their lines at the +junction of the road and the trail. + +Before describing our part in the fight, it is necessary to say a +word about General Young's share, for, of course, the whole fight was +under his direction, and the fight on the right wing under his +immediate supervision. General Young had obtained from General +Castillo, the commander of the Cuban forces, a full description of the +country in front. General Castillo promised Young the aid of eight +hundred Cubans, if he made a reconnaissance in force to find out +exactly what the Spanish strength was. This promised Cuban aid did +not, however, materialize, the Cubans, who had been beaten back by the +Spaniards the day before, not appearing on the firing-line until the +fight was over. + +General Young had in his immediate command a squadron of the First +Regular Cavalry, two hundred and forty-four strong, under the command +of Major Bell, and a squadron of the Tenth Regular Cavalry, two +hundred and twenty strong, under the command of Major Norvell. He also +had two Hotchkiss mountain guns, under Captain Watson of the Tenth. He +started at a quarter before six in the morning, accompanied by Captain +A. L. Mills, as aide. It was at half-past seven that Captain Mills, +with a patrol of two men in advance, discovered the Spaniards as they +lay across where the two roads came together, some of them in pits, +others simply lying in the heavy jungle, while on their extreme right +they occupied a big ranch. Where General Young struck them they held a +high ridge a little to the left of his front, this ridge being +separated by a deep ravine from the hill-trail still farther to the +left, down which the Rough Riders were advancing. That is, their +forces occupied a range of high hills in the form of an obtuse angle, +the salient being toward the space between the American forces, while +there were advance parties along both roads. There were stone +breastworks flanked by block-houses on that part of the ridge where +the two trails came together. The place was called Las Guasimas, from +trees of that name in the neighborhood. + +General Young, who was riding a mule, carefully examined the Spanish +position in person. He ordered the canteens of the troops to be +filled, placed the Hotchkiss battery in concealment about nine hundred +yards from the Spanish lines, and then deployed the white regulars, +with the colored regulars in support, having sent a Cuban guide to try +to find Colonel Wood and warn him. He did not attack immediately, +because he knew that Colonel Wood, having a more difficult route, +would require a longer time to reach the position. During the delay +General Wheeler arrived; he had been up since long before dawn, to see +that everything went well. Young informed him of the dispositions and +plan of attack he made. General Wheeler approved of them, and with +excellent judgment left General Young a free hand to fight his battle. + +So, about eight o'clock Young began the fight with his Hotchkiss +guns, he himself being up on the firing-line. No sooner had the +Hotchkiss one-pounders opened than the Spaniards opened fire in +return, most of the time firing by volleys executed in perfect time, +almost as on parade. They had a couple of light guns, which our people +thought were quick firers. The denseness of the jungle and the fact +that they used absolutely smokeless powder, made it exceedingly +difficult to place exactly where they were, and almost immediately +Young, who always liked to get as close as possible to his enemy, +began to push his troops forward. They were deployed on both sides of +the road in such thick jungle that it was only here and there that +they could possibly see ahead, and some confusion, of course, ensued, +the support gradually getting mixed with the advance. Captain Beck +took A Troop of the Tenth in on the left, next Captain Galbraith's +troop of the First; two other troops of the Tenth were on the extreme +right. Through the jungle ran wire fences here and there, and as the +troops got to the ridge they encountered precipitous heights. They +were led most gallantly, as American regular officers always lead +their men; and the men followed their leaders with the splendid +courage always shown by the American regular soldier. There was not a +single straggler among them, and in not one instance was an attempt +made by any trooper to fall out in order to assist the wounded or +carry back the dead, while so cool were they and so perfect their fire +discipline, that in the entire engagement the expenditure of +ammunition was not over ten rounds per man. Major Bell, who commanded +the squadron, had his leg broken by a shot as he was leading his men. +Captain Wainwright succeeded to the command of the squadron. Captain +Knox was shot in the abdomen. He continued for some time giving orders +to his troops, and refused to allow a man in the firing-line to assist +him to the rear. His First Lieutenant, Byram, was himself shot, but +continued to lead his men until the wound and the heat overcame him +and he fell in a faint. The advance was pushed forward under General +Young's eye with the utmost energy, until the enemy's voices could be +heard in the entrenchments. The Spaniards kept up a very heavy firing, +but the regulars would not be denied, and as they climbed the ridges +the Spaniards broke and fled. + +Meanwhile, at six o'clock, the Rough Riders began their advance. We +first had to climb a very steep hill. Many of the men, foot-sore and +weary from their march of the preceding day, found the pace up this +hill too hard, and either dropped their bundles or fell out of line, +with the result that we went into action with less than five hundred +men--as, in addition to the stragglers, a detachment had been left to +guard the baggage on shore. At the time I was rather inclined to +grumble to myself about Wood setting so fast a pace, but when the +fight began I realized that it had been absolutely necessary, as +otherwise we should have arrived late and the regulars would have had +very hard work indeed. + +Tiffany, by great exertions, had corralled a couple of mules and was +using them to transport the Colt automatic guns in the rear of the +regiment. The dynamite gun was not with us, as mules for it could not +be obtained in time. + +Captain Capron's troop was in the lead, it being chosen for the most +responsible and dangerous position because of Capron's capacity. Four +men, headed by Sergeant Hamilton Fish, went first; a support of twenty +men followed some distance behind; and then came Capron and the rest +of his troop, followed by Wood, with whom General Young had sent +Lieutenants Smedburg and Rivers as aides. I rode close behind, at the +head of the other three troops of my squadron, and then came Brodie at +the head of his squadron. The trail was so narrow that for the most +part the men marched in single file, and it was bordered by dense, +tangled jungle, through which a man could with difficulty force his +way; so that to put out flankers was impossible, for they could not +possibly have kept up with the march of the column. Every man had his +canteen full. There was a Cuban guide at the head of the column, but +he ran away as soon as the fighting began. There were also with us, at +the head of the column, two men who did not run away, who, though +non-combatants--newspaper correspondents--showed as much gallantry as +any soldier in the field. They were Edward Marshall and Richard +Harding Davis. + +After reaching the top of the hill the walk was very pleasant. Now +and then we came to glades or rounded hill-shoulders, whence we could +look off for some distance. The tropical forest was very beautiful, +and it was a delight to see the strange trees, the splendid royal +palms and a tree which looked like a flat-topped acacia, and which was +covered with a mass of brilliant scarlet flowers. We heard many +bird-notes, too, the cooing of doves and the call of a great brush +cuckoo. Afterward we found that the Spanish guerillas imitated these +bird-calls, but the sounds we heard that morning, as we advanced +through the tropic forest, were from birds, not guerillas, until we +came right up to the Spanish lines. It was very beautiful and very +peaceful, and it seemed more as if we were off on some hunting +excursion than as if were about to go into a sharp and bloody little +fight. + +Of course, we accommodated our movements to those of the men in +front. After marching for somewhat over an hour, we suddenly came to a +halt, and immediately afterward Colonel Wood sent word down the line +that the advance guard had come upon a Spanish outpost. Then the order +was passed to fill the magazines, which was done. + +The men were totally unconcerned, and I do not think they realized +that any fighting was at hand; at any rate, I could hear the group +nearest me discussing in low murmurs, not the Spaniards, but the +conduct of a certain cow-puncher in quitting work on a ranch and +starting a saloon in some New Mexican town. In another minute, +however, Wood sent me orders to deploy three troops to the right of +the trail, and to advance when we became engaged; while, at the same +time, the other troops, under Major Brodie, were deployed to the left +of the trail where the ground was more open than elsewhere--one troop +being held in reserve in the centre, besides the reserves on each +wing. Later all the reserves were put into the firing-line. + +To the right the jungle was quite thick, and we had barely begun to +deploy when a crash in front announced that the fight was on. It was +evidently very hot, and L Troop had its hands full; so I hurried my +men up abreast of them. So thick was the jungle that it was very +difficult to keep together, especially when there was no time for +delay, and while I got up Llewellen's troops and Kane's platoon of K +Troop, the rest of K Troop under Captain Jenkins which, with Bucky +O'Neill's troop, made up the right wing, were behind, and it was some +time before they got into the fight at all. + +Meanwhile I had gone forward with Llewellen, Greenway, Kane and +their troopers until we came out on a kind of shoulder, jutting over a +ravine, which separated us from a great ridge on our right. It was on +this ridge that the Spaniards had some of their intrenchments, and it +was just beyond this ridge that the Valley Road led, up which the +regulars were at that very time pushing their attack; but, of course, +at the moment we knew nothing of this. The effect of the smokeless +powder was remarkable. The air seemed full of the rustling sound of +the Mauser bullets, for the Spaniards knew the trails by which we were +advancing, and opened heavily on our position. Moreover, as we +advanced we were, of course, exposed, and they could see us and fire. +But they themselves were entirely invisible. The jungle covered +everything, and not the faintest trace of smoke was to be seen in any +direction to indicate from whence the bullets came. It was some time +before the men fired; Llewellen, Kane, and I anxiously studying the +ground to see where our opponents were, and utterly unable to find +out. + +We could hear the faint reports of the Hotchkiss guns and the reply +of two Spanish guns, and the Mauser bullets were singing through the +trees over our heads, making a noise like the humming of telephone +wires; but exactly where they came from we could not tell. The +Spaniards were firing high and for the most part by volleys, and their +shooting was not very good, which perhaps was not to be wondered at, +as they were a long way off. Gradually, however, they began to get the +range and occasionally one of our men would crumple up. In no case did +the man make any outcry when hit, seeming to take it as a matter of +course; at the outside, making only such a remark as: "Well, I got it +that time." With hardly an exception, there was no sign of flinching. +I say with hardly an exception, for though I personally did not see an +instance, and though all the men at the front behaved excellently, yet +there were a very few men who lagged behind and drifted back to the +trail over which we had come. The character of the fight put a premium +upon such conduct, and afforded a very severe test for raw troops; +because the jungle was so dense that as we advanced in open order, +every man was, from time to time, left almost alone and away from the +eyes of his officers. There was unlimited opportunity for dropping out +without attracting notice, while it was peculiarly hard to be exposed +to the fire of an unseen foe, and to see men dropping under it, and +yet to be, for some time, unable to return it, and also to be entirely +ignorant of what was going on in any other part of the field. + +It was Richard Harding Davis who gave us our first opportunity to +shoot back with effect. He was behaving precisely like my officers, +being on the extreme front of the line, and taking every opportunity +to study with his glasses the ground where we thought the Spaniards +were. I had tried some volley firing at points where I rather +doubtfully believed the Spaniards to be, but had stopped firing and +was myself studying the jungle-covered mountain ahead with my glasses, +when Davis suddenly said: "There they are, Colonel; look over there; I +can see their hats near that glade," pointing across the valley to our +right. In a minute I, too, made out the hats, and then pointed them +out to three or four of our best shots, giving them my estimate of the +range. For a minute or two no result followed, and I kept raising the +range, at the same time getting more men on the firing-line. Then, +evidently, the shots told, for the Spaniards suddenly sprang out of +the cover through which we had seen their hats, and ran to another +spot; and we could now make out a large number of them. + +I accordingly got all of my men up in line and began quick firing. +In a very few minutes our bullets began to do damage, for the +Spaniards retreated to the left into the jungle, and we lost sight of +them. At the same moment a big body of men who, it afterward turned +out, were Spaniards, came in sight along the glade, following the +retreat of those whom we had just driven from the trenches. We +supposed that there was a large force of Cubans with General Young, +not being aware that these Cubans had failed to make their appearance, +and as it was impossible to tell the Cubans from the Spaniards, and as +we could not decide whether these were Cubans following the Spaniards +we had put to flight, or merely another troop of Spaniards retreating +after the first (which was really the case) we dared not fire, and in +a minute they had passed the glade and were out of sight. + +At every halt we took advantage of the cover, sinking down behind +any mound, bush, or tree trunk in the neighborhood. The trees, of +course, furnished no protection from the Mauser bullets. Once I was +standing behind a large palm with my head out to one side, very +fortunately; for a bullet passed through the palm, filling my left eye +and ear with the dust and splinters. + +No man was allowed to drop out to help the wounded. It was hard to +leave them there in the jungle, where they might not be found again +until the vultures and the land-crabs came, but war is a grim game and +there was no choice. One of the men shot was Harry Heffner of G Troop, +who was mortally wounded through the hips. He fell without uttering a +sound, and two of his companions dragged him behind a tree. Here he +propped himself up and asked to be given his canteen and his rifle, +which I handed to him. He then again began shooting, and continued +loading and firing until the line moved forward and we left him alone, +dying in the gloomy shade. When we found him again, after the fight, +he was dead. + +At one time, as I was out of touch with that part of my wing +commanded by Jenkins and O'Neill, I sent Greenway, with Sergeant +Russell, a New Yorker, and trooper Rowland, a New Mexican cow-puncher, +down in the valley to find out where they were. To do this the three +had to expose themselves to a very severe fire, but they were not men +to whom this mattered. Russell was killed; the other two returned and +reported to me the position of Jenkins and O'Neill. They then resumed +their places on the firing-line. After awhile I noticed blood coming +out of Rowland's side and discovered that he had been shot, although +he did not seem to be taking any notice of it. He said the wound was +only slight, but as I saw he had broken a rib, I told him to go to the +rear to the hospital. After some grumbling he went, but fifteen +minutes later he was back on the firing-line again and said he could +not find the hospital--which I doubted. However, I then let him stay +until the end of the fight. + +After we had driven the Spaniards off from their position to our +right, the firing seemed to die away so far as we were concerned, for +the bullets no longer struck around us in such a storm as before, +though along the rest of the line the battle was as brisk as ever. +Soon we saw troops appearing across the ravine, not very far from +where we had seen the Spaniards whom we had thought might be Cubans. +Again we dared not fire, and carefully studied the new-comers with our +glasses; and this time we were right, for we recognized our own +cavalry-men. We were by no means sure that they recognized us, +however, and were anxious that they should, but it was very difficult +to find a clear spot in the jungle from which to signal; so Sergeant +Lee of Troop K climbed a tree and from its summit waved the troop +guidon. They waved their guidon back, and as our right wing was now in +touch with the regulars, I left Jenkins and O'Neill to keep the +connection, and led Llewellen's troop back to the path to join the +rest of the regiment, which was evidently still in the thick of the +fight. I was still very much in the dark as to where the main body of +the Spanish forces were, or exactly what lines the battle was +following, and was very uncertain what I ought to do; but I knew it +could not be wrong to go forward, and I thought I would find Wood and +then see what he wished me to do. I was in a mood to cordially welcome +guidance, for it was most bewildering to fight an enemy whom one so +rarely saw. + +I had not seen Wood since the beginning of the skirmish, when he +hurried forward. When the firing opened some of the men began to +curse. "Don't swear--shoot!" growled Wood, as he strode along the path +leading his horse, and everyone laughed and became cool again. The +Spanish outposts were very near our advance guard, and some minutes of +the hottest kind of firing followed before they were driven back and +slipped off through the jungle to their main lines in the rear. + +Here, at the very outset of our active service, we suffered the loss +of two as gallant men as ever wore uniform. Sergeant Hamilton Fish at +the extreme front, while holding the point up to its work and firing +back where the Spanish advance guards lay, was shot and instantly +killed; three of the men with him were likewise hit. Captain Capron, +leading the advance guard in person, and displaying equal courage and +coolness in the way that he handled them, was also struck, and died a +few minutes afterward. The command of the troop then devolved upon the +First Lieutenant, young Thomas. Like Capron, Thomas was the fifth in +line from father to son who had served in the American army, though in +his case it was in the volunteer and not the regular service; the four +preceding generations had furnished soldiers respectively to the +Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Civil +War. In a few minutes Thomas was shot through the leg, and the command +devolved upon the Second Lieutenant, Day (a nephew of "Albemarle" +Cushing, he who sunk the great Confederate ram). Day, who proved +himself to be one of our most efficient officers, continued to handle +the men to the best possible advantage, and brought them steadily +forward. L Troop was from the Indian Territory. The whites, Indians, +and half-breeds in it, all fought with equal courage. Captain +McClintock was hurried forward to its relief with his Troop B of +Arizona men. In a few minutes he was shot through the leg and his +place was taken by his First Lieutenant, Wilcox, who handled his men +in the same soldierly manner that Day did. + +Among the men who showed marked courage and coolness was the tall +color-sergeant, Wright; the colors were shot through three times. + +When I had led G Troop back to the trail I ran ahead of them, +passing the dead and wounded men of L Troop, passing young Fish as he +lay with glazed eyes under the rank tropic growth to one side of the +trail. When I came to the front I found the men spread out in a very +thin skirmish line, advancing through comparatively open ground, each +man taking advantage of what cover he could, while Wood strolled about +leading his horse, Brodie being close at hand. How Wood escaped being +hit, I do not see, and still less how his horse escaped. I had left +mine at the beginning of the action, and was only regretting that I +had not left my sword with it, as it kept getting between my legs when +I was tearing my way through the jungle. I never wore it again in +action. Lieutenant Rivers was with Wood, also leading his horse. +Smedburg had been sent off on the by no means pleasant task of +establishing communications with Young. + +Very soon after I reached the front, Brodie was hit, the bullet +shattering one arm and whirling him around as he stood. He had kept on +the extreme front all through, his presence and example keeping his +men entirely steady, and he at first refused to go to the rear; but +the wound was very painful, and he became so faint that he had to be +sent. Thereupon, Wood directed me to take charge of the left wing in +Brodie's place, and to bring it forward; so over I went. + +I now had under me Captains Luna, Muller, and Houston, and I began +to take them forward, well spread out, through the high grass of a +rather open forest. I noticed Goodrich, of Houston's troop, tramping +along behind his men, absorbed in making them keep at good intervals +from one another and fire slowly with careful aim. As I came close up +to the edge of the troop, he caught a glimpse of me, mistook me for +one of his own skirmishers who was crowding in too closely, and called +out, "Keep your interval, sir; keep your interval, and go forward." + +A perfect hail of bullets was sweeping over us as we advanced. Once +I got a glimpse of some Spaniards, apparently retreating, far in the +front, and to our right, and we fired a couple of rounds after them. +Then I became convinced, after much anxious study, that we were being +fired at from some large red-tiled buildings, part of a ranch on our +front. Smokeless powder, and the thick cover in our front, continued +to puzzle us, and I more than once consulted anxiously the officers as +to the exact whereabouts of our opponents. I took a rifle from a +wounded man and began to try shots with it myself. It was very hot and +the men were getting exhausted, though at this particular time we were +not suffering heavily from bullets, the Spanish fire going high. As we +advanced, the cover became a little thicker and I lost touch of the +main body under Wood; so I halted and we fired industriously at the +ranch buildings ahead of us, some five hundred yards off. Then we +heard cheering on the right, and I supposed that this meant a charge +on the part of Wood's men, so I sprang up and ordered the men to rush +the buildings ahead of us. They came forward with a will. There was a +moment's heavy firing from the Spaniards, which all went over our +heads, and then it ceased entirely. When we arrived at the buildings, +panting and out of breath, they contained nothing but heaps of empty +cartridge-shells and two dead Spaniards, shot through the head. + +The country all around us was thickly forested, so that it was very +difficult to see any distance in any direction. The firing had now +died out, but I was still entirely uncertain as to exactly what had +happened. I did not know whether the enemy had been driven back or +whether it was merely a lull in the fight, and we might be attacked +again; nor did I know what had happened in any other part of the line, +while as I occupied the extreme left, I was not sure whether or not my +flank was in danger. At this moment one of our men who had dropped +out, arrived with the information (fortunately false) that Wood was +dead. Of course, this meant that the command devolved upon me, and I +hastily set about taking charge of the regiment. I had been +particularly struck by the coolness and courage shown by Sergeants +Dame and McIlhenny, and sent them out with small pickets to keep watch +in front and to the left of the left wing. I sent other men to fill +the canteens with water, and threw the rest out in a long line in a +disused sunken road, which gave them cover, putting two or three +wounded men, who had hitherto kept up with the fighting-line, and a +dozen men who were suffering from heat exhaustion--for the fighting and +running under that blazing sun through the thick dry jungle was +heart-breaking--into the ranch buildings. Then I started over toward +the main body, but to my delight encountered Wood himself, who told me +the fight was over and the Spaniards had retreated. He also informed +me that other troops were just coming up. The first to appear was a +squadron of the Ninth Cavalry, under Major Dimick, which had hurried +up to get into the fight, and was greatly disappointed to find it +over. They took post in front of our lines, so that our tired men were +able to get a rest, Captain McBlain, of the Ninth, good-naturedly +giving us some points as to the best way to station our outposts. Then +General Chaffee, rather glum at not having been in the fight himself, +rode up at the head of some of his infantry, and I marched my squadron +back to where the rest of the regiment was going into camp, just where +the two trails came together, and beyond--that is, on the Santiago side +of--the original Spanish lines. + +The Rough Riders had lost eight men killed and thirty-four wounded, +aside from two or three who were merely scratched and whose wounds +were not reported. The First Cavalry, white, lost seven men killed and +eight wounded; the Tenth Cavalry, colored, one man killed and ten +wounded; so, out of 964 men engaged on our side, 16 were killed and 52 +wounded. The Spaniards were under General Rubin, with, as second in +command, Colonel Alcarez. They had two guns, and eleven companies of +about a hundred men each: three belonging to the Porto Rico regiment, +three to the San Fernandino, two to the Talavero, two being so-called +mobilized companies from the mineral districts, and one a company of +engineers; over twelve hundred men in all, together with two guns.* + + * Note: See Lieutenant Muller y Tejeiro, "Combates y Capitulacion + de Santiago de Cuba," page 136. The Lieutenant speaks as if only one + echelon, of seven companies and two guns, was engaged on the 24th. + The official report says distinctly, "General Rubin's column," which + consisted of the companies detailed. By turning to page 146, where + Lieutenant Tejeiro enumerates the strength of the various companies, + it will be seen that they averaged over 110 men apiece; this + probably does not include officers, and is probably an + under-statement anyhow. On page 261 he makes the Spanish loss at Las + Guasimas, which he calls Sevilla, 9 killed and 27 wounded. Very + possibly he includes only the Spanish regulars; two of the Spaniards + we slew, over on the left, were in brown, instead of the light blue + of the regulars, and were doubtless guerillas. + +General Rubin reported that he had repulsed the American attack, and +Lieutenant Tejeiro states in his book that General Rubin forced the +Americans to retreat, and enumerates the attacking force as consisting +of three regular regiments of infantry, the Second Massachusetts and +the Seventy-first New York (not one of which fired a gun or were +anywhere near the battle), in addition to the sixteen dismounted +troops of cavalry. In other words, as the five infantry regiments each +included twelve companies, he makes the attacking force consist of +just five times the actual amount. As for the "repulse," our line +never went back ten yards in any place, and the advance was +practically steady; while an hour and a half after the fight began we +were in complete possession of the entire Spanish position, and their +troops were fleeing in masses down the road, our men being too +exhausted to follow them. + +General Rubin also reports that he lost but seven men killed. This +is certainly incorrect, for Captain O'Neill and I went over the ground +very carefully and counted eleven dead Spaniards, all of whom were +actually buried by our burying squads. There were probably two or +three men whom we missed, but I think that our official reports are +incorrect in stating that forty-two dead Spaniards were found; this +being based upon reports in which I think some of the Spanish dead +were counted two or three times. Indeed, I should doubt whether their +loss was as heavy as ours, for they were under cover, while we +advanced, often in the open, and their main lines fled long before we +could get to close quarters. It was a very difficult country, and a +force of good soldiers resolutely handled could have held the pass +with ease against two or three times their number. As it was, with a +force half of regulars and half of volunteers, we drove out a superior +number of Spanish regular troops, strongly posted, without suffering a +very heavy loss. Although the Spanish fire was very heavy, it does not +seem to me it was very well directed; and though they fired with great +spirit while we merely stood at a distance and fired at them, they did +not show much resolution, and when we advanced, always went back long +before there was any chance of our coming into contact with them. Our +men behaved very well indeed--white regulars, colored regulars, and +Rough Riders alike. The newspaper press failed to do full justice to +the white regulars, in my opinion, from the simple reason that +everybody knew that they would fight, whereas there had been a good +deal of question as to how the Rough Riders, who were volunteer +troops, and the Tenth Cavalry, who were colored, would behave; so +there was a tendency to exalt our deeds at the expense of those of the +First Regulars, whose courage and good conduct were taken for granted. +It was a trying fight beyond what the losses show, for it is hard upon +raw soldiers to be pitted against an unseen foe, and to advance +steadily when their comrades are falling around them, and when they +can only occasionally see a chance to retaliate. Wood's experience in +fighting Apaches stood him in good stead. An entirely raw man at the +head of the regiment, conducting, as Wood was, what was practically an +independent fight, would have been in a very trying position. The +fight cleared the way toward Santiago, and we experienced no further +resistance. + +That afternoon we made camp and dined, subsisting chiefly on a load +of beans which we found on one of the Spanish mules which had been +shot. We also looked after the wounded. Dr. Church had himself gone +out to the firing-line during the fight, and carried to the rear some +of the worst wounded on his back or in his arms. Those who could walk +had walked in to where the little field-hospital of the regiment was +established on the trail. We found all our dead and all the badly +wounded. Around one of the latter the big, hideous land-crabs had +gathered in a gruesome ring, waiting for life to be extinct. One of +our own men and most of the Spanish dead had been found by the +vultures before we got to them; and their bodies were mangled, the +eyes and wounds being torn. + +The Rough Rider who had been thus treated was in Bucky O'Neill's +troop; and as we looked at the body, O'Neill turned to me and asked, +"Colonel, isn't it Whitman who says of the vultures that 'they pluck +the eyes of princes and tear the flesh of kings'?" I answered that I +could not place the quotation. Just a week afterward we were shielding +his own body from the birds of prey. + +One of the men who fired first, and who displayed conspicuous +gallantry was a Cherokee half-breed, who was hit seven times, and of +course had to go back to the States. Before he rejoined us at Montauk +Point he had gone through a little private war of his own; for on his +return he found that a cowboy had gone off with his sweetheart, and +in the fight that ensued he shot his rival. Another man of L Troop who +also showed marked gallantry was Elliot Cowdin. The men of the plains +and mountains were trained by life-long habit to look on life and +death with iron philosophy. As I passed by a couple of tall, lank, +Oklahoma cow-punchers, I heard one say, "Well, some of the boys got it +in the neck!" to which the other answered with the grim plains proverb +of the South: "Many a good horse dies." + +Thomas Isbell, a half-breed Cherokee in the squad under Hamilton +Fish, was among the first to shoot and be shot at. He was wounded no +less than seven times. The first wound was received by him two minutes +after he had fired his first shot, the bullet going through his neck. +The second hit him in the left thumb. The third struck near his right +hip, passing entirely through the body. The fourth bullet (which was +apparently from a Remington and not from a Mauser) went into his neck +and lodged against the bone, being afterward cut out. The fifth bullet +again hit his left hand. The sixth scraped his head and the seventh +his neck. He did not receive all of the wounds at the same time, over +half an hour elapsing between the first and the last. Up to receiving +the last wound he had declined to leave the firing-line, but by that +time he had lost so much blood that he had to be sent to the rear. The +man's wiry toughness was as notable as his courage. + +We improvised litters, and carried the more sorely wounded back to +Siboney that afternoon and the next morning; the others walked. One of +the men who had been most severely wounded was Edward Marshall, the +correspondent, and he showed as much heroism as any soldier in the +whole army. He was shot through the spine, a terrible and very painful +wound, which we supposed meant that he would surely die; but he made +no complaint of any kind, and while he retained consciousness +persisted in dictating the story of the fight. A very touching +incident happened in the improvised open-air hospital after the fight, +where the wounded were lying. They did not groan, and made no +complaint, trying to help one another. One of them suddenly began to +hum, "My Country 'tis of Thee," and one by one the others joined in +the chorus, which swelled out through the tropic woods, where the +victors lay in camp beside their dead. I did not see any sign among +the fighting men, whether wounded or unwounded, of the very +complicated emotions assigned to their kind by some of the realistic +modern novelists who have written about battles. At the front everyone +behaved quite simply and took things as they came, in a +matter-of-course way; but there was doubtless, as is always the case, +a good deal of panic and confusion in the rear where the wounded, the +stragglers, a few of the packers, and two or three newspaper +correspondents were, and in consequence the first reports sent back to +the coast were of a most alarming character, describing, with minute +inaccuracy, how we had run into ambush, etc. The packers with the +mules which carried the rapid-fire guns were among those who ran, and +they let the mules go in the jungle; in consequence the guns were +never even brought to the firing-line, and only Fred Herrig's skill as +a trailer enabled us to recover them. By patient work he followed up +the mules' tracks in the forest until he found the animals. + +Among the wounded who walked to the temporary hospital at Siboney +was the trooper, Rowland, of whom I spoke before. There the doctors +examined him, and decreed that his wound was so serious that he must +go back to the States. This was enough for Rowland, who waited until +nightfall and then escaped, slipping out of the window and making his +way back to camp with his rifle and pack, though his wound must have +made all movement very painful to him. After this, we felt that he was +entitled to stay, and he never left us for a day, distinguishing +himself again in the fight at San Juan. + +Next morning we buried seven dead Rough Riders in a grave on the +summit of the trail, Chaplain Brown reading the solemn burial service +of the Episcopalians, while the men stood around with bared heads and +joined in singing, "Rock of Ages." Vast numbers of vultures were +wheeling round and round in great circles through the blue sky +overhead. There could be no more honorable burial than that of these +men in a common grave--Indian and cowboy, miner, packer, and college +athlete--the man of unknown ancestry from the lonely Western plains, +and the man who carried on his watch the crests of the Stuyvesants and +the Fishes, one in the way they had met death, just as during life +they had been one in their daring and their loyalty. + +On the afternoon of the 25th we moved on a couple of miles, and +camped in a marshy open spot close to a beautiful stream. Here we lay +for several days. Captain Lee, the British attache, spent some time +with us; we had begun to regard him as almost a member of the +regiment. Count von Gotzen, the German attache, another good fellow, +also visited us. General Young was struck down with the fever, and +Wood took charge of the brigade. This left me in command of the +regiment, of which I was very glad, for such experience as we had had +is a quick teacher. By this time the men and I knew one another, and I +felt able to make them do themselves justice in march or battle. They +understood that I paid no heed to where they came from; no heed to +their creed, politics, or social standing; that I would care for them +to the utmost of my power, but that I demanded the highest performance +of duty; while in return I had seen them tested, and knew I could +depend absolutely on their courage, hardihood, obedience, and +individual initiative. + +There was nothing like enough transportation with the army, whether +in the way of wagons or mule-trains; exactly as there had been no +sufficient number of landing-boats with the transports. The officers' +baggage had come up, but none of us had much, and the shelter-tents +proved only a partial protection against the terrific downpours of +rain. These occurred almost every afternoon, and turned the camp into +a tarn, and the trails into torrents and quagmires. We were not given +quite the proper amount of food, and what we did get, like most of the +clothing issued us, was fitter for the Klondyke than for Cuba. We got +enough salt pork and hardtack for the men, but not the full ration of +coffee and sugar, and nothing else. I organized a couple of +expeditions back to the seacoast, taking the strongest and best +walkers and also some of the officers' horses and a stray mule or two, +and brought back beans and canned tomatoes. These I got partly by +great exertions on my part, and partly by the aid of Colonel Weston of +the Commissary Department, a particularly energetic man whose services +were of great value. A silly regulation forbade my purchasing canned +vegetables, etc., except for the officers; and I had no little +difficulty in getting round this regulation, and purchasing (with my +own money, of course) what I needed for the men. + +One of the men I took with me on one of these trips was Sherman +Bell, the former Deputy Marshal of Cripple Creek, and Wells-Fargo +Express rider. In coming home with his load, through a blinding storm, +he slipped and opened the old rupture. The agony was very great and +one of his comrades took his load. He himself, sometimes walking, and +sometimes crawling, got back to camp, where Dr. Church fixed him up +with a spike bandage, but informed him that he would have to be sent +back to the States when an ambulance came along. The ambulance did not +come until the next day, which was the day before we marched to San +Juan. It arrived after nightfall, and as soon as Bell heard it coming, +he crawled out of the hospital tent into the jungle, where he lay all +night; and the ambulance went off without him. The men shielded him +just as school-boys would shield a companion, carrying his gun, belt, +and bedding; while Bell kept out of sight until the column started, +and then staggered along behind it. I found him the morning of the San +Juan fight. He told me that he wanted to die fighting, if die he must, +and I hadn't the heart to send him back. He did splendid service that +day, and afterward in the trenches, and though the rupture opened +twice again, and on each occasion he was within a hair's breadth of +death, he escaped, and came back with us to the United States. + +The army was camped along the valley, ahead of and behind us, our +outposts being established on either side. From the generals to the +privates all were eager to march against Santiago. At daybreak, when +the tall palms began to show dimly through the rising mist, the scream +of the cavalry trumpets tore the tropic dawn; and in the evening, as +the bands of regiment after regiment played the "Star-Spangled +Banner," all, officers and men alike, stood with heads uncovered, +wherever they were, until the last strains of the anthem died away in +the hot sunset air. + + + + IV + + THE CAVALRY AT SANTIAGO + +On June 30th we received orders to hold ourselves in readiness to +march against Santiago, and all the men were greatly overjoyed, for +the inaction was trying. The one narrow road, a mere muddy track along +which the army was encamped, was choked with the marching columns. As +always happened when we had to change camp, everything that the men +could not carry, including, of course, the officers' baggage, was left +behind. + +About noon the Rough Riders struck camp and drew up in column beside +the road in the rear of the First Cavalry. Then we sat down and waited +for hours before the order came to march, while regiment after +regiment passed by, varied by bands of tatterdemalion Cuban +insurgents, and by mule-trains with ammunition. Every man carried +three days' provisions. We had succeeded in borrowing mules sufficient +to carry along the dynamite gun and the automatic Colts. + +At last, toward mid-afternoon, the First and Tenth Cavalry, ahead of +us, marched, and we followed. The First was under the command of +Lieutenant-Colonel Veile, the Tenth under Lieutenant-Colonel Baldwin. +Every few minutes there would be a stoppage in front, and at the halt +I would make the men sit or lie down beside the track, loosening their +packs. The heat was intense as we passed through the still, close +jungle, which formed a wall on either hand. Occasionally we came to +gaps or open spaces, where some regiment was camped, and now and then +one of these regiments, which apparently had been left out of its +proper place, would file into the road, breaking up our line of march. +As a result, we finally found ourselves following merely the tail of +the regiment ahead of us, an infantry regiment being thrust into the +interval. Once or twice we had to wade streams. Darkness came on, but +we still continued to march. It was about eight o'clock when we turned +to the left and climbed El Poso hill, on whose summit there was a +ruined ranch and sugar factory, now, of course, deserted. Here I found +General Wood, who was arranging for the camping of the brigade. Our +own arrangements for the night were simple. I extended each troop +across the road into the jungle, and then the men threw down their +belongings where they stood and slept on their arms. Fortunately, +there was no rain. Wood and I curled up under our rain-coats on the +saddle-blankets, while his two aides, Captain A. L. Mills and +Lieutenant W. N. Ship, slept near us. We were up before dawn and +getting breakfast. Mills and Ship had nothing to eat, and they +breakfasted with Wood and myself, as we had been able to get some +handfuls of beans, and some coffee and sugar, as well as the ordinary +bacon and hardtack. + +We did not talk much, for though we were in ignorance as to +precisely what the day would bring forth, we knew that we should see +fighting. We had slept soundly enough, although, of course, both Wood +and I during the night had made a round of the sentries, he of the +brigade, and I of the regiment; and I suppose that, excepting among +hardened veterans, there is always a certain feeling of uneasy +excitement the night before the battle. + +Mills and Ship were both tall, fine-looking men, of tried courage, +and thoroughly trained in every detail of their profession; I remember +being struck by the quiet, soldierly way they were going about their +work early that morning. Before noon one was killed and the other +dangerously wounded. + +General Wheeler was sick, but with his usual indomitable pluck and +entire indifference to his own personal comfort, he kept to the front. +He was unable to retain command of the cavalry division, which +accordingly devolved upon General Samuel Sumner, who commanded it +until mid-afternoon, when the bulk of the fighting was over. General +Sumner's own brigade fell to Colonel Henry Carroll. General Sumner led +the advance with the cavalry, and the battle was fought by him and by +General Kent, who commanded the infantry division, and whose foremost +brigade was led by General Hawkins. + +As the sun rose the men fell in, and at the same time a battery of +field-guns was brought up on the hill-crest just beyond, between us +and toward Santiago. It was a fine sight to see the great horses +straining under the lash as they whirled the guns up the hill and into +position. + +Our brigade was drawn up on the hither side of a kind of half basin, +a big band of Cubans being off to the left. As yet we had received no +orders, except that we were told that the main fighting was to be done +by Lawton's infantry division, which was to take El Caney, several +miles to our right, while we were simply to make a diversion. This +diversion was to be made mainly with the artillery, and the battery +which had taken position immediately in front of us was to begin when +Lawton began. + +It was about six o'clock that the first report of the cannon from El +Caney came booming to us across the miles of still jungle. It was a +very lovely morning, the sky of cloudless blue, while the level, +shimmering rays from the just-risen sun brought into fine relief the +splendid palms which here and there towered above the lower growth. +The lofty and beautiful mountains hemmed in the Santiago plain, making +it an amphitheatre for the battle. + +Immediately our guns opened, and at the report great clouds of white +smoke hung on the ridge crest. For a minute or two there was no +response. Wood and I were sitting together, and Wood remarked to me +that he wished our brigade could be moved somewhere else, for we were +directly in line of any return fire aimed by the Spaniards at the +battery. Hardly had he spoken when there was a peculiar whistling, +singing sound in the air, and immediately afterward the noise of +something exploding over our heads. It was shrapnel from the Spanish +batteries. We sprung to our feet and leaped on our horses. Immediately +afterward a second shot came which burst directly above us; and then a +third. From the second shell one of the shrapnel bullets dropped on my +wrist, hardly breaking the skin, but raising a bump about as big as a +hickory-nut. The same shell wounded four of my regiment, one of them +being Mason Mitchell, and two or three of the regulars were also hit, +one losing his leg by a great fragment of shell. Another shell +exploded right in the middle of the Cubans, killing and wounding a +good many, while the remainder scattered like guinea-hens. Wood's lead +horse was also shot through the lungs. I at once hustled my regiment +over the crest of the hill into the thick underbrush, where I had no +little difficulty in getting them together again into column. + +Meanwhile the firing continued for fifteen or twenty minutes, until +it gradually died away. As the Spaniards used smokeless powder, their +artillery had an enormous advantage over ours, and, moreover, we did +not have the best type of modern guns, our fire being slow. + +As soon as the firing ceased, Wood formed his brigade, with my +regiment in front, and gave me orders to follow behind the First +Brigade, which was just moving off the ground. In column of fours we +marched down the trail toward the ford of the San Juan River. We +passed two or three regiments of infantry, and were several times +halted before we came to the ford. The First Brigade, which was under +Colonel Carroll--Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton commanding the Ninth +Regiment, Major Wessels the Third, and Captain Kerr the Sixth--had +already crossed and was marching to the right, parallel to, but a +little distance from, the river. The Spaniards in the trenches and +block-houses on top of the hills in front were already firing at the +brigade in desultory fashion. The extreme advance of the Ninth Cavalry +was under Lieutenants McNamee and Hartwick. They were joined by +General Hawkins, with his staff, who was looking over the ground and +deciding on the route he should take his infantry brigade. + +Our orders had been of the vaguest kind, being simply to march to +the right and connect with Lawton--with whom, of course, there was no +chance of our connecting. No reconnaissance had been made, and the +exact position and strength of the Spaniards was not known. A captive +balloon was up in the air at this moment, but it was worse than +useless. A previous proper reconnaissance and proper look-out from the +hills would have given us exact information. As it was, Generals Kent, +Sumner, and Hawkins had to be their own reconnaissance, and they +fought their troops so well that we won anyhow. + +I was now ordered to cross the ford, march half a mile or so to the +right, and then halt and await further orders; and I promptly hurried +my men across, for the fire was getting hot, and the captive balloon, +to the horror of everybody, was coming down to the ford. Of course, it +was a special target for the enemy's fire. I got my men across before +it reached the ford. There it partly collapsed and remained, causing +severe loss of life, as it indicated the exact position where the +Tenth and the First Cavalry, and the infantry, were crossing. + +As I led my column slowly along, under the intense heat, through the +high grass of the open jungle, the First Brigade was to our left, and +the firing between it and the Spaniards on the hills grew steadily +hotter and hotter. After awhile I came to a sunken lane, and as by +this time the First Brigade had stopped and was engaged in a stand-up +fight, I halted my men and sent back word for orders. As we faced +toward the Spanish hills my regiment was on the right with next to it +and a little in advance the First Cavalry, and behind them the Tenth. +In our front the Ninth held the right, the Sixth the centre, and the +Third the left; but in the jungle the lines were already overlapping +in places. Kent's infantry were coming up, farther to the left. + +Captain Mills was with me. The sunken lane, which had a wire fence +on either side, led straight up toward, and between, the two hills in +our front, the hill on the left, which contained heavy block-houses, +being farther away from us than the hill on our right, which we +afterward grew to call Kettle Hill, and which was surmounted merely by +some large ranch buildings or haciendas, with sunken brick-lined walls +and cellars. I got the men as well-sheltered as I could. Many of them +lay close under the bank of the lane, others slipped into the San Juan +River and crouched under its hither bank, while the rest lay down +behind the patches of bushy jungle in the tall grass. The heat was +intense, and many of the men were already showing signs of exhaustion. +The sides of the hills in front were bare; but the country up to them +was, for the most part, covered with such dense jungle that in +charging through it no accuracy of formation could possibly be +preserved. + +The fight was now on in good earnest, and the Spaniards on the hills +were engaged in heavy volley firing. The Mauser bullets drove in +sheets through the trees and the tall jungle grass, making a peculiar +whirring or rustling sound; some of the bullets seemed to pop in the +air, so that we thought they were explosive; and, indeed, many of +those which were coated with brass did explode, in the sense that the +brass coat was ripped off, making a thin plate of hard metal with a +jagged edge, which inflicted a ghastly wound. These bullets were shot +from a .45-calibre rifle carrying smokeless powder, which was much +used by the guerillas and irregular Spanish troops. The Mauser bullets +themselves made a small clean hole, with the result that the wound +healed in a most astonishing manner. One or two of our men who were +shot in the head had the skull blown open, but elsewhere the wounds +from the minute steel-coated bullet, with its very high velocity, were +certainly nothing like as serious as those made by the old +large-calibre, low-power rifle. If a man was shot through the heart, +spine, or brain he was, of course, killed instantly; but very few of +the wounded died--even under the appalling conditions which prevailed, +owing to the lack of attendance and supplies in the field-hospitals +with the army. + +While we were lying in reserve we were suffering nearly as much as +afterward when we charged. I think that the bulk of the Spanish fire +was practically unaimed, or at least not aimed at any particular man, +and only occasionally at a particular body of men; but they swept the +whole field of battle up to the edge of the river, and man after man +in our ranks fell dead or wounded, although I had the troopers +scattered out far apart, taking advantage of every scrap of cover. + +Devereux was dangerously shot while he lay with his men on the edge +of the river. A young West Point cadet, Ernest Haskell, who had taken +his holiday with us as an acting second lieutenant, was shot through +the stomach. He had shown great coolness and gallantry, which he +displayed to an even more marked degree after being wounded, shaking +my hand and saying: "All right, Colonel, I'm going to get well. Don't +bother about me, and don't let any man come away with me." When I +shook hands with him, I thought he would surely die; yet he recovered. + +The most serious loss that I and the regiment could have suffered +befell just before we charged. Bucky O'Neill was strolling up and down +in front of his men, smoking his cigarette, for he was inveterately +addicted to the habit. He had a theory that an officer ought never to +take cover--a theory which was, of course, wrong, though in a volunteer +organization the officers should certainly expose themselves very +fully, simply for the effect on the men; our regimental toast on the +transport running, "The officers; may the war last until each is +killed, wounded, or promoted." As O'Neill moved to and fro, his men +begged him to lie down, and one of the sergeants said, "Captain, a +bullet is sure to hit you." O'Neill took his cigarette out of his +mouth, and blowing out a cloud of smoke laughed and said, "Sergeant, +the Spanish bullet isn't made that will kill me." A little later he +discussed for a moment with one of the regular officers the direction +from which the Spanish fire was coming. As he turned on his heel a +bullet struck him in the mouth and came out at the back of his head; +so that even before he fell his wild and gallant soul had gone out +into the darkness. + +My orderly was a brave young Harvard boy, Sanders, from the quaint +old Massachusetts town of Salem. The work of an orderly on foot, under +the blazing sun, through the hot and matted jungle, was very severe, +and finally the heat overcame him. He dropped; nor did he ever recover +fully, and later he died from fever. In his place I summoned a trooper +whose name I did not know. Shortly afterward, while sitting beside the +bank, I directed him to go back and ask whatever general he came +across if I could not advance, as my men were being much cut up. He +stood up to salute and then pitched forward across my knees, a bullet +having gone through his throat, cutting the carotid. + +When O'Neill was shot, his troop, who were devoted to him, were for +the moment at a loss whom to follow. One of their number, Henry +Bardshar, a huge Arizona miner, immediately attached himself to me as +my orderly, and from that moment he was closer to me, not only in the +fight, but throughout the rest of the campaign, than any other man, +not even excepting the color-sergeant, Wright. + +Captain Mills was with me; gallant Ship had already been killed. +Mills was an invaluable aide, absolutely cool, absolutely unmoved or +flurried in any way. + +I sent messenger after messenger to try to find General Sumner or +General Wood and get permission to advance, and was just about making +up my mind that in the absence of orders I had better "march toward +the guns," when Lieutenant-Colonel Dorst came riding up through the +storm of bullets with the welcome command "to move forward and support +the regulars in the assault on the hills in front." General Sumner had +obtained authority to advance from Lieutenant Miley, who was +representing General Shafter at the front, and was in the thick of the +fire. The General at once ordered the first brigade to advance on the +hills, and the second to support it. He himself was riding his horse +along the lines, superintending the fight. Later I overheard a couple +of my men talking together about him. What they said illustrates the +value of a display of courage among the officers in hardening their +soldiers; for their theme was how, as they were lying down under a +fire which they could not return, and were in consequence feeling +rather nervous, General Sumner suddenly appeared on horseback, +sauntering by quite unmoved; and, said one of the men, "That made us +feel all right. If the General could stand it, we could." + +The instant I received the order I sprang on my horse and then my +"crowded hour" began. The guerillas had been shooting at us from the +edges of the jungle and from their perches in the leafy trees, and as +they used smokeless powder, it was almost impossible to see them, +though a few of my men had from time to time responded. We had also +suffered from the hill on our right front, which was held chiefly by +guerillas, although there were also some Spanish regulars with them, +for we found their dead. I formed my men in column of troops, each +troop extended in open skirmishing order, the right resting on the +wire fences which bordered the sunken lane. Captain Jenkins led the +first squadron, his eyes literally dancing with joyous excitement. + +I started in the rear of the regiment, the position in which the +colonel should theoretically stay. Captain Mills and Captain McCormick +were both with me as aides; but I speedily had to send them off on +special duty in getting the different bodies of men forward. I had +intended to go into action on foot as at Las Guasimas, but the heat +was so oppressive that I found I should be quite unable to run up and +down the line and superintend matters unless I was mounted; and, +moreover, when on horseback, I could see the men better and they could +see me better. + +A curious incident happened as I was getting the men started forward. +Always when men have been lying down under cover for some time, and +are required to advance, there is a little hesitation, each looking +to see whether the others are going forward. As I rode down the line, +calling to the troopers to go forward, and rasping brief directions +to the captains and lieutenants, I came upon a man lying behind a +little bush, and I ordered him to jump up. I do not think he +understood that we were making a forward move, and he looked up at me +for a moment with hesitation, and I again bade him rise, jeering him +and saying: "Are you afraid to stand up when I am on horseback?" As I +spoke, he suddenly fell forward on his face, a bullet having struck +him and gone through him lengthwise. I suppose the bullet had been +aimed at me; at any rate, I, who was on horseback in the open, was +unhurt, and the man lying flat on the ground in the cover beside me +was killed. There were several pairs of brothers with us; of the two +Nortons one was killed; of the two McCurdys one was wounded. + +I soon found that I could get that line, behind which I personally +was, faster forward than the one immediately in front of it, with the +result that the two rearmost lines of the regiment began to crowd +together; so I rode through them both, the better to move on the one +in front. This happened with every line in succession, until I found +myself at the head of the regiment. + +Both lieutenants of B Troop from Arizona had been exerting +themselves greatly, and both were overcome by the heat; but Sergeants +Campbell and Davidson took it forward in splendid shape. Some of the +men from this troop and from the other Arizona troop (Bucky O'Neill's) +joined me as a kind of fighting tail. + +The Ninth Regiment was immediately in front of me, and the First on +my left, and these went up Kettle Hill with my regiment. The Third, +Sixth, and Tenth went partly up Kettle Hill (following the Rough +Riders and the Ninth and First), and partly between that and the +block-house hill, which the infantry were assailing. General Sumner in +person gave the Tenth the order to charge the hills; and it went +forward at a rapid gait. The three regiments went forward more or less +intermingled, advancing steadily and keeping up a heavy fire. Up +Kettle Hill Sergeant George Berry, of the Tenth, bore not only his own +regimental colors but those of the Third, the color-sergeant of the +Third having been shot down; he kept shouting, "Dress on the colors, +boys, dress on the colors!" as he followed Captain Ayres, who was +running in advance of his men, shouting and waving his hat. The Tenth +Cavalry lost a greater proportion of its officers than any other +regiment in the battle--eleven out of twenty-two. + +By the time I had come to the head of the regiment we ran into the +left wing of the Ninth Regulars, and some of the First Regulars, who +were lying down; that is, the troopers were lying down, while the +officers were walking to and fro. The officers of the white and +colored regiments alike took the greatest pride in seeing that the men +more than did their duty; and the mortality among them was great. + +I spoke to the captain in command of the rear platoons, saying that +I had been ordered to support the regulars in the attack upon the +hills, and that in my judgment we could not take these hills by firing +at them, and that we must rush them. He answered that his orders were +to keep his men lying where they were, and that he could not charge +without orders. I asked where the Colonel was, and as he was not in +sight, said, "Then I am the ranking officer here and I give the order +to charge"--for I did not want to keep the men longer in the open +suffering under a fire which they could not effectively return. +Naturally the captain hesitated to obey this order when no word had +been received from his own Colonel. So I said, "Then let my men +through, sir," and rode on through the lines, followed by the grinning +Rough Riders, whose attention had been completely taken off the +Spanish bullets, partly by my dialogue with the regulars, and partly +by the language I had been using to themselves as I got the lines +forward, for I had been joking with some and swearing at others, as +the exigencies of the case seemed to demand. When we started to go +through, however, it proved too much for the regulars, and they jumped +up and came along, their officers and troops mingling with mine, all +being delighted at the chance. When I got to where the head of the +left wing of the Ninth was lying, through the courtesy of Lieutenant +Hartwick, two of whose colored troopers threw down the fence, I was +enabled to get back into the lane, at the same time waving my hat, and +giving the order to charge the hill on our right front. Out of my +sight, over on the right, Captains McBlain and Taylor, of the Ninth, +made up their minds independently to charge at just about this time; +and at almost the same moment Colonels Carroll and Hamilton, who were +off, I believe, to my left, where we could see neither them nor their +men, gave the order to advance. But of all this I knew nothing at the +time. The whole line, tired of waiting, and eager to close with the +enemy, was straining to go forward; and it seems that different parts +slipped the leash at almost the same moment. The First Cavalry came up +the hill just behind, and partly mixed with my regiment and the Ninth. +As already said, portions of the Third, Sixth, and Tenth followed, +while the rest of the members of these three regiments kept more in +touch with the infantry on our left. + +By this time we were all in the spirit of the thing and greatly +excited by the charge, the men cheering and running forward between +shots, while the delighted faces of the foremost officers, like +Captain C. J. Stevens, of the Ninth, as they ran at the head of their +troops, will always stay in my mind. As soon as I was in the line I +galloped forward a few yards until I saw that the men were well +started, and then galloped back to help Goodrich, who was in command +of his troop, get his men across the road so as to attack the hill +from that side. Captain Mills had already thrown three of the other +troops of the regiment across this road for the same purpose. Wheeling +around, I then again galloped toward the hill, passing the shouting, +cheering, firing men, and went up the lane, splashing through a small +stream; when I got abreast of the ranch buildings on the top of Kettle +Hill, I turned and went up the slope. Being on horseback I was, of +course, able to get ahead of the men on foot, excepting my orderly, +Henry Bardshar, who had run ahead very fast in order to get better +shots at the Spaniards, who were now running out of the ranch +buildings. Sergeant Campbell and a number of the Arizona men, and +Dudley Dean, among others, were very close behind. Stevens, with his +platoon of the Ninth, was abreast of us; so were McNamee and Hartwick. +Some forty yards from the top I ran into a wire fence and jumped off +Little Texas, turning him loose. He had been scraped by a couple of +bullets, one of which nicked my elbow, and I never expected to see him +again. As I ran up to the hill, Bardshar stopped to shoot, and two +Spaniards fell as he emptied his magazine. These were the only +Spaniards I actually saw fall to aimed shots by any one of my men, +with the exception of two guerillas in trees. + +Almost immediately afterward the hill was covered by the troops, +both Rough Riders and the colored troopers of the Ninth, and some men +of the First. There was the usual confusion, and afterward there was +much discussion as to exactly who had been on the hill first. The +first guidons planted there were those of the three New Mexican +troops, G, E, and F, of my regiment, under their Captains, Llewellen, +Luna, and Muller, but on the extreme right of the hill, at the +opposite end from where we struck it, Captains Taylor and McBlain and +their men of the Ninth were first up. Each of the five captains was +firm in the belief that his troop was first up. As for the individual +men, each of whom honestly thought he was first on the summit, their +name was legion. One Spaniard was captured in the buildings, another +was shot as he tried to hide himself, and a few others were killed as +they ran. + +Among the many deeds of conspicuous gallantry here performed, two, +both to the credit of the First Cavalry, may be mentioned as examples +of the others, not as exceptions. Sergeant Charles Karsten, while +close beside Captain Tutherly, the squadron commander, was hit by a +shrapnel bullet. He continued on the line, firing until his arm grew +numb; and he then refused to go to the rear, and devoted himself to +taking care of the wounded, utterly unmoved by the heavy fire. Trooper +Hugo Brittain, when wounded, brought the regimental standard forward, +waving it to and fro, to cheer the men. + +No sooner were we on the crest than the Spaniards from the line of +hills in our front, where they were strongly intrenched, opened a very +heavy fire upon us with their rifles. They also opened upon us with +one or two pieces of artillery, using time fuses which burned very +accurately, the shells exploding right over our heads. + +On the top of the hill was a huge iron kettle, or something of the +kind, probably used for sugar refining. Several of our men took +shelter behind this. We had a splendid view of the charge on the San +Juan block-house to our left, where the infantry of Kent, led by +Hawkins, were climbing the hill. Obviously the proper thing to do was +to help them, and I got the men together and started them +volley-firing against the Spaniards in the San Juan block-house and in +the trenches around it. We could only see their heads; of course this +was all we ever could see when we were firing at them in their +trenches. Stevens was directing not only his own colored troopers, but +a number of Rough Riders; for in a melee good soldiers are always +prompt to recognize a good officer, and are eager to follow him. + +We kept up a brisk fire for some five or ten minutes; meanwhile we +were much cut up ourselves. Gallant Colonel Hamilton, than whom there +was never a braver man, was killed, and equally gallant Colonel +Carroll wounded. When near the summit Captain Mills had been shot +through the head, the bullet destroying the sight of one eye +permanently and of the other temporarily. He would not go back or let +any man assist him, sitting down where he was and waiting until one of +the men brought him word that the hill was stormed. Colonel Veile +planted the standard of the First Cavalry on the hill, and General +Sumner rode up. He was fighting his division in great form, and was +always himself in the thick of the fire. As the men were much excited +by the firing, they seemed to pay very little heed to their own +losses. + +Suddenly, above the cracking of the carbines, rose a peculiar +drumming sound, and some of the men cried, "The Spanish machine-guns!" +Listening, I made out that it came from the flat ground to the left, +and jumped to my feet, smiting my hand on my thigh, and shouting aloud +with exultation, "It's the Gatlings, men, our Gatlings!" Lieutenant +Parker was bringing his four gatlings into action, and shoving them +nearer and nearer the front. Now and then the drumming ceased for a +moment; then it would resound again, always closer to San Juan hill, +which Parker, like ourselves, was hammering to assist the infantry +attack. Our men cheered lustily. We saw much of Parker after that, and +there was never a more welcome sound than his Gatlings as they opened. +It was the only sound which I ever heard my men cheer in battle. + +The infantry got nearer and nearer the crest of the hill. At last we +could see the Spaniards running from the rifle-pits as the Americans +came on in their final rush. Then I stopped my men for fear they +should injure their comrades, and called to them to charge the next +line of trenches, on the hills in our front, from which we had been +undergoing a good deal of punishment. Thinking that the men would all +come, I jumped over the wire fence in front of us and started at the +double; but, as a matter of fact, the troopers were so excited, what +with shooting and being shot, and shouting and cheering, that they did +not hear, or did not heed me; and after running about a hundred yards +I found I had only five men along with me. Bullets were ripping the +grass all around us, and one of the men, Clay Green, was mortally +wounded; another, Winslow Clark, a Harvard man, was shot first in the +leg and then through the body. He made not the slightest murmur, only +asking me to put his water canteen where he could get at it, which I +did; he ultimately recovered. There was no use going on with the +remaining three men, and I bade them stay where they were while I went +back and brought up the rest of the brigade. This was a decidedly cool +request, for there was really no possible point in letting them stay +there while I went back; but at the moment it seemed perfectly natural +to me, and apparently so to them, for they cheerfully nodded, and sat +down in the grass, firing back at the line of trenches from which the +Spaniards were shooting at them. Meanwhile, I ran back, jumped over +the wire fence, and went over the crest of the hill, filled with anger +against the troopers, and especially those of my own regiment, for not +having accompanied me. They, of course, were quite innocent of +wrong-doing; and even while I taunted them bitterly for not having +followed me, it was all I could do not to smile at the look of injury +and surprise that came over their faces, while they cried out, "We +didn't hear you, we didn't see you go, Colonel; lead on now, we'll +sure follow you." I wanted the other regiments to come too, so I ran +down to where General Sumner was and asked him if I might make the +charge; and he told me to go and that he would see that the men +followed. By this time everybody had his attention attracted, and when +I leaped over the fence again, with Major Jenkins beside me, the men +of the various regiments which were already on the hill came with a +rush, and we started across the wide valley which lay between us and +the Spanish intrenchments. Captain Dimmick, now in command of the +Ninth, was bringing it forward; Captain McBlain had a number of Rough +Riders mixed in with his troop, and led them all together; Captain +Taylor had been severely wounded. The long-legged men like Greenway, +Goodrich, sharp-shooter Proffit, and others, outstripped the rest of +us, as we had a considerable distance to go. Long before we got near +them the Spaniards ran, save a few here and there, who either +surrendered or were shot down. When we reached the trenches we found +them filled with dead bodies in the light blue and white uniform of +the Spanish regular army. There were very few wounded. Most of the +fallen had little holes in their heads from which their brains were +oozing; for they were covered from the neck down by the trenches. + +It was at this place that Major Wessels, of the Third Cavalry, was +shot in the back of the head. It was a severe wound, but after having +it bound up he again came to the front in command of his regiment. +Among the men who were foremost was Lieutenant Milton F. Davis, of the +First Cavalry. He had been joined by three men of the Seventy-first +New York, who ran up, and, saluting, said, "Lieutenant, we want to go +with you, our officers won't lead us." One of the brave fellows was +soon afterward shot in the face. Lieutenant Davis's first sergeant, +Clarence Gould, killed a Spanish soldier with his revolver, just as +the Spaniard was aiming at one of my Rough Riders. At about the same +time I also shot one. I was with Henry Bardshar, running up at the +double, and two Spaniards leaped from the trenches and fired at us, +not ten yards away. As they turned to run I closed in and fired twice, +missing the first and killing the second. My revolver was from the +sunken battle-ship Maine, and had been given me by my brother-in-law, +Captain W. S. Cowles, of the Navy. At the time I did not know of +Gould's exploit, and supposed my feat to be unique; and although Gould +had killed his Spaniard in the trenches, not very far from me, I never +learned of it until weeks after. It is astonishing what a limited area +of vision and experience one has in the hurly-burly of a battle. + +There was very great confusion at this time, the different regiments +being completely intermingled--white regulars, colored regulars, and +Rough Riders. General Sumner had kept a considerable force in reserve +on Kettle Hill, under Major Jackson, of the Third Cavalry. We were +still under a heavy fire and I got together a mixed lot of men and +pushed on from the trenches and ranch-houses which we had just taken, +driving the Spaniards through a line of palm-trees, and over the crest +of a chain of hills. When we reached these crests we found ourselves +overlooking Santiago. Some of the men, including Jenkins, Greenway, +and Goodrich, pushed on almost by themselves far ahead. Lieutenant +Hugh Berkely, of the First, with a sergeant and two troopers, reached +the extreme front. He was, at the time, ahead of everyone; the +sergeant was killed and one trooper wounded; but the lieutenant and +the remaining trooper stuck to their post for the rest of the +afternoon until our line was gradually extended to include them. + +While I was re-forming the troops on the chain of hills, one of +General Sumner's aides, Captain Robert Howze--as dashing and gallant +an officer as there was in the whole gallant cavalry division, by the +way--came up with orders to me to halt where I was, not advancing +farther, but to hold the hill at all hazards. Howze had his horse, and +I had some difficulty in making him take proper shelter; he stayed +with us for quite a time, unable to make up his mind to leave the +extreme front, and meanwhile jumping at the chance to render any +service, of risk or otherwise, which the moment developed. + +I now had under me all the fragments of the six cavalry regiments +which were at the extreme front, being the highest officer left there, +and I was in immediate command of them for the remainder of the +afternoon and that night. The Ninth was over to the right, and the +Thirteenth Infantry afterward came up beside it. The rest of Kent's +infantry was to our left. Of the Tenth, Lieutenants Anderson, Muller, +and Fleming reported to me; Anderson was slightly wounded, but he paid +no heed to this. All three, like every other officer, had troopers of +various regiments under them; such mixing was inevitable in making +repeated charges through thick jungle; it was essentially a troop +commanders', indeed, almost a squad leaders', fight. The Spaniards who +had been holding the trenches and the line of hills, had fallen back +upon their supports and we were under a very heavy fire both from +rifles and great guns. At the point where we were, the grass-covered +hill-crest was gently rounded, giving poor cover, and I made my men +lie down on the hither slope. + +On the extreme left Captain Beck, of the Tenth, with his own troop, +and small bodies of the men of other regiments, was exercising a +practically independent command, driving back the Spaniards whenever +they showed any symptoms of advancing. He had received his orders to +hold the line at all hazards from Lieutenant Andrews, one of General +Sumner's aides, just as I had received mine from Captain Howze. +Finally, he was relieved by some infantry, and then rejoined the rest +of the Tenth, which was engaged heavily until dark, Major Wint being +among the severely wounded. Lieutenant W. N. Smith was killed. Captain +Bigelow had been wounded three times. + +Our artillery made one or two efforts to come into action on the +firing-line of the infantry, but the black powder rendered each +attempt fruitless. The Spanish guns used smokeless powder, so that it +was difficult to place them. In this respect they were on a par with +their own infantry and with our regular infantry and dismounted +cavalry; but our only two volunteer infantry regiments, the Second +Massachusetts and the Seventy-first New York, and our artillery, all +had black powder. This rendered the two volunteer regiments, which +were armed with the antiquated Springfield, almost useless in the +battle, and did practically the same thing for the artillery wherever +it was formed within rifle range. When one of the guns was discharged +a thick cloud of smoke shot out and hung over the place, making an +ideal target, and in a half minute every Spanish gun and rifle within +range was directed at the particular spot thus indicated; the +consequence was that after a more or less lengthy stand the gun was +silenced or driven off. We got no appreciable help from our guns on +July 1st. Our men were quick to realize the defects of our artillery, +but they were entirely philosophic about it, not showing the least +concern at its failure. On the contrary, whenever they heard our +artillery open they would grin as they looked at one another and +remark, "There go the guns again; wonder how soon they'll be shut up," +and shut up they were sure to be. The light battery of Hotchkiss +one-pounders, under Lieutenant J. B. Hughes, of the Tenth Cavalry, was +handled with conspicuous gallantry. + +On the hill-slope immediately around me I had a mixed force composed +of members of most of the cavalry regiments, and a few infantrymen. +There were about fifty of my Rough Riders with Lieutenants Goodrich +and Carr. Among the rest were perhaps a score of colored infantrymen, +but, as it happened, at this particular point without any of their +officers. No troops could have behaved better than the colored +soldiers had behaved so far; but they are, of course, peculiarly +dependent upon their white officers. Occasionally they produce +non-commissioned officers who can take the initiative and accept +responsibility precisely like the best class of whites; but this +cannot be expected normally, nor is it fair to expect it. With the +colored troops there should always be some of their own officers; +whereas, with the white regulars, as with my own Rough Riders, +experience showed that the non-commissioned officers could usually +carry on the fight by themselves if they were once started, no matter +whether their officers were killed or not. + +At this particular time it was trying for the men, as they were +lying flat on their faces, very rarely responding to the bullets, +shells, and shrapnel which swept over the hill-top, and which +occasionally killed or wounded one of their number. Major Albert G. +Forse, of the First Cavalry, a noted Indian fighter, was killed about +this time. One of my best men, Sergeant Greenly, of Arizona, who was +lying beside me, suddenly said, "Beg pardon, Colonel; but I've been +hit in the leg." I asked, "Badly?" He said, "Yes, Colonel; quite +badly." After one of his comrades had helped him fix up his leg with a +first-aid-to-the-injured bandage, he limped off to the rear. + +None of the white regulars or Rough Riders showed the slightest sign +of weakening; but under the strain the colored infantrymen (who had +none of their officers) began to get a little uneasy and to drift to +the rear, either helping wounded men, or saying that they wished to +find their own regiments. This I could not allow, as it was depleting +my line, so I jumped up, and walking a few yards to the rear, drew my +revolver, halted the retreating soldiers, and called out to them that +I appreciated the gallantry with which they had fought and would be +sorry to hurt them, but that I should shoot the first man who, on any +pretence whatever, went to the rear. My own men had all sat up and +were watching my movements with utmost interest; so was Captain Howze. +I ended my statement to the colored soldiers by saying: "Now, I shall +be very sorry to hurt you, and you don't know whether or not I will +keep my word, but my men can tell you that I always do;" whereupon my +cow-punchers, hunters, and miners solemnly nodded their heads and +commented in chorus, exactly as if in a comic opera, "He always does; +he always does!" + +This was the end of the trouble, for the "smoked Yankees"--as the +Spaniards called the colored soldiers--flashed their white teeth at +one another, as they broke into broad grins, and I had no more +trouble with them, they seeming to accept me as one of their own +officers. The colored cavalry-men had already so accepted me; in +return, the Rough Riders, although for the most part Southwesterners, +who have a strong color prejudice, grew to accept them with hearty +good-will as comrades, and were entirely willing, in their own +phrase, "to drink out of the same canteen." Where all the regular +officers did so well, it is hard to draw any distinction; but in the +cavalry division a peculiar meed of praise should be given to the +officers of the Ninth and Tenth for their work, and under their +leadership the colored troops did as well as any soldiers could +possibly do. + +In the course of the afternoon the Spaniards in our front made the +only offensive movement which I saw them make during the entire +campaign; for what were ordinarily called "attacks" upon our lines +consisted merely of heavy firing from their trenches and from their +skirmishers. In this case they did actually begin to make a forward +movement, their cavalry coming up as well as the marines and reserve +infantry,* while their skirmishers, who were always bold, redoubled +their activity. It could not be called a charge, and not only was it +not pushed home, but it was stopped almost as soon as it began, our +men immediately running forward to the crest of the hill with shouts +of delight at seeing their enemies at last come into the open. A few +seconds' firing stopped their advance and drove them into the cover of +the trenches. + + * Note: Lieutenant Tejeiro, p. 154, speaks of this attempt to + retake San Juan and its failure. + +They kept up a very heavy fire for some time longer, and our men +again lay down, only replying occasionally. Suddenly we heard on our +right the peculiar drumming sound which had been so welcome in the +morning, when the infantry were assailing the San Juan block-house. +The Gatlings were up again! I started over to inquire, and found that +Lieutenant Parker, not content with using his guns in support of the +attacking forces, had thrust them forward to the extreme front of the +fighting-line, where he was handling them with great effect. From this +time on, throughout the fighting, Parker's Gatlings were on the right +of my regiment, and his men and mine fraternized in every way. He kept +his pieces at the extreme front, using them on every occasion until +the last Spanish shot was fired. Indeed, the dash and efficiency with +which the Gatlings were handled by Parker was one of the most striking +features of the campaign; he showed that a first-rate officer could +use machine-guns, on wheels, in battle and skirmish, in attacking and +defending trenches, alongside of the best troops, and to their great +advantage. + +As night came on, the firing gradually died away. Before this +happened, however, Captains Morton and Boughton, of the Third Cavalry, +came over to tell me that a rumor had reached them to the effect that +there had been some talk of retiring and that they wished to protest +in the strongest manner. I had been watching them both, as they +handled their troops with the cool confidence of the veteran regular +officer, and had been congratulating myself that they were off toward +the right flank, for as long as they were there, I knew I was +perfectly safe in that direction. I had heard no rumor about retiring, +and I cordially agreed with them that it would be far worse than a +blunder to abandon our position. + +To attack the Spaniards by rushing across open ground, or through +wire entanglements and low, almost impassable jungle, without the help +of artillery, and to force unbroken infantry, fighting behind +earthworks and armed with the best repeating weapons, supported by +cannon, was one thing; to repel such an attack ourselves, or to fight +our foes on anything like even terms in the open, was quite another +thing. No possible number of Spaniards coming at us from in front +could have driven us from our position, and there was not a man on the +crest who did not eagerly and devoutly hope that our opponents would +make the attempt, for it would surely have been followed, not merely +by a repulse, but by our immediately taking the city. There was not an +officer or a man on the firing-line, so far as I saw them, who did not +feel this way. + +As night fell, some of my men went back to the buildings in our rear +and foraged through them, for we had now been fourteen hours charging +and fighting without food. They came across what was evidently the +Spanish officers' mess, where their dinner was still cooking, and they +brought it to the front in high glee. It was evident that the Spanish +officers were living well, however the Spanish rank and file were +faring. There were three big iron pots, one filled with beef-stew, one +with boiled rice, and one with boiled peas; there was a big demijohn +of rum (all along the trenches which the Spaniards held were empty +wine and liquor bottles); there were a number of loaves of rice-bread; +and there were even some small cans of preserves and a few salt fish. +Of course, among so many men, the food, which was equally divided, did +not give very much to each, but it freshened us all. + +Soon after dark, General Wheeler, who in the afternoon had resumed +command of the cavalry division, came to the front. A very few words +with General Wheeler reassured us about retiring. He had been through +too much heavy fighting in the Civil War to regard the present fight +as very serious, and he told us not to be under any apprehension, for +he had sent word that there was no need whatever of retiring, and was +sure we would stay where we were until the chance came to advance. He +was second in command; and to him more than to any other one man was +due the prompt abandonment of the proposal to fall back--a proposal +which, if adopted, would have meant shame and disaster. + +Shortly afterward General Wheeler sent us orders to intrench. The +men of the different regiments were now getting in place again and +sifting themselves out. All of our troops who had been kept at Kettle +Hill came forward and rejoined us after nightfall. During the +afternoon Greenway, apparently not having enough to do in the +fighting, had taken advantage of a lull to explore the buildings +himself, and had found a number of Spanish intrenching tools, picks, +and shovels, and these we used in digging trenches along our line. The +men were very tired indeed, but they went cheerfully to work, all the +officers doing their part. + +Crockett, the ex-Revenue officer from Georgia, was a slight man, not +physically very strong. He came to me and told me he didn't think he +would be much use in digging, but that he had found a lot of Spanish +coffee and would spend his time making coffee for the men, if I +approved. I did approve very heartily, and Crockett officiated as cook +for the next three or four hours until the trench was dug, his coffee +being much appreciated by all of us. + +So many acts of gallantry were performed during the day that it is +quite impossible to notice them all, and it seems unjust to single out +any; yet I shall mention a few, which it must always be remembered are +to stand, not as exceptions, but as instances of what very many men +did. It happened that I saw these myself. There were innumerable +others, which either were not seen at all, or were seen only by +officers who happened not to mention them; and, of course, I know +chiefly those that happened in my own regiment. + +Captain Llewellen was a large, heavy man, who had a grown-up son in +the ranks. On the march he had frequently carried the load of some man +who weakened, and he was not feeling well on the morning of the fight. +Nevertheless, he kept at the head of his troop all day. In the +charging and rushing, he not only became very much exhausted, but +finally fell, wrenching himself terribly, and though he remained with +us all night, he was so sick by morning that we had to take him behind +the hill into an improvised hospital. Lieutenant Day, after handling +his troop with equal gallantry and efficiency, was shot, on the summit +of Kettle Hill. He was hit in the arm and was forced to go to the +rear, but he would not return to the States, and rejoined us at the +front long before his wound was healed. Lieutenant Leahy was also +wounded, not far from him. Thirteen of the men were wounded and yet +kept on fighting until the end of the day, and in some cases never +went to the rear at all, even to have their wounds dressed. They were +Corporals Waller and Fortescue and Trooper McKinley of Troop E; +Corporal Roades of Troop D; Troopers Albertson, Winter, McGregor, and +Ray Clark of Troop F; Troopers Bugbee, Jackson, and Waller of Troop A; +Trumpeter McDonald of Troop L; Sergeant Hughes of Troop B; and Trooper +Gievers of Troop G. One of the Wallers was a cow-puncher from New +Mexico, the other the champion Yale high-jumper. The first was shot +through the left arm so as to paralyze the fingers, but he continued +in battle, pointing his rifle over the wounded arm as though it had +been a rest. The other Waller, and Bugbee, were hit in the head, the +bullets merely inflicting scalp wounds. Neither of them paid any heed +to the wounds except that after nightfall each had his head done up in +a bandage. Fortescue I was at times using as an extra orderly. I +noticed he limped, but supposed that his foot was skinned. It proved, +however, that he had been struck in the foot, though not very +seriously, by a bullet, and I never knew what was the matter until the +next day I saw him making wry faces as he drew off his bloody boot, +which was stuck fast to the foot. Trooper Rowland again distinguished +himself by his fearlessness. + +For gallantry on the field of action Sergeants Dame, Ferguson, +Tiffany, Greenwald, and, later on, McIlhenny, were promoted to second +lieutenancies, as Sergeant Hayes had already been. Lieutenant Carr, +who commanded his troop, and behaved with great gallantry throughout +the day, was shot and severely wounded at nightfall. He was the son of +a Confederate officer; his was the fifth generation which, from father +to son, had fought in every war of the United States. Among the men +whom I noticed as leading in the charges and always being nearest the +enemy, were the Pawnee, Pollock, Simpson of Texas, and Dudley Dean. +Jenkins was made major, Woodbury Kane, Day, and Frantz captains, and +Greenway and Goodrich first lieutenants, for gallantry in action, and +for the efficiency with which the first had handled his squadron, and +the other five their troops--for each of them, owing to some accident +to his superior, found himself in command of his troop. + +Dr. Church had worked quite as hard as any man at the front in +caring for the wounded; as had Chaplain Brown. Lieutenant Keyes, who +acted as adjutant, did so well that he was given the position +permanently. Lieutenant Coleman similarly won the position of +quartermaster. + +We finished digging the trench soon after midnight, and then the +worn-out men laid down in rows on their rifles and dropped heavily to +sleep. About one in ten of them had blankets taken from the Spaniards. +Henry Bardshar, my orderly, had procured one for me. He, Goodrich, and +I slept together. If the men without blankets had not been so tired +that they fell asleep anyhow, they would have been very cold, for, of +course, we were all drenched with sweat, and above the waist had on +nothing but our flannel shirts, while the night was cool, with a heavy +dew. Before anyone had time to wake from the cold, however, we were +all awakened by the Spaniards, whose skirmishers suddenly opened fire +on us. Of course, we could not tell whether or not this was the +forerunner of a heavy attack, for our Cossack posts were responding +briskly. It was about three o'clock in the morning, at which time +men's courage is said to be at the lowest ebb; but the cavalry +division was certainly free from any weakness in that direction. At +the alarm everybody jumped to his feet and the stiff, shivering, +haggard men, their eyes only half-opened, all clutched their rifles +and ran forward to the trench on the crest of the hill. + +The sputtering shots died away and we went to sleep again. But in +another hour dawn broke and the Spaniards opened fire in good earnest. +There was a little tree only a few feet away, under which I made my +head-quarters, and while I was lying there, with Goodrich and Keyes, a +shrapnel burst among us, not hurting us in the least, but with the +sweep of its bullets killing or wounding five men in our rear, one of +whom was a singularly gallant young Harvard fellow, Stanley Hollister. +An equally gallant young fellow from Yale, Theodore Miller, had +already been mortally wounded. Hollister also died. + +The Second Brigade lost more heavily than the First; but neither its +brigade commander nor any of its regimental commanders were touched, +while the commander of the First Brigade and two of its three +regimental commanders had been killed or wounded. + +In this fight our regiment had numbered 490 men, as, in addition to +the killed and wounded of the first fight, some had had to go to the +hospital for sickness and some had been left behind with the baggage, +or were detailed on other duty. Eighty-nine were killed and wounded: +the heaviest loss suffered by any regiment in the cavalry division. +The Spaniards made a stiff fight, standing firm until we charged home. +They fought much more stubbornly than at Las Guasimas. We ought to +have expected this, for they have always done well in holding +intrenchments. On this day they showed themselves to be brave foes, +worthy of honor for their gallantry. + +In the attack on the San Juan hills our forces numbered about 6,600.* +There were about 4,500 Spaniards against us.** Our total loss in +killed and wounded was 1,071. Of the cavalry division there were, all +told, some 2,300 officers and men, of whom 375 were killed and +wounded. In the division over a fourth of the officers were killed or +wounded, their loss being relatively half as great again as that of +the enlisted men--which was as it should be. + + * Note: According to the official reports, 5,104 officers and men + of Kent's infantry, and 2,649 of the cavalry had been landed. My + regiment is put down as 542 strong, instead of the real figure, 490, + the difference being due to men who were in hospital and on guard at + the seashore, etc. In other words, the total represents the total + landed; the details, etc., are included. General Wheeler, in his + report of July 7th, puts these details as about fifteen per cent of + the whole of the force which was on the transports; about + eighty-five per cent got forward and was in the fight. + + ** Note: The total Spanish force in Santiago under General Linares + was 6,000: 4,000 regulars, 1,000 volunteers, and 1,000 marines and + sailors from the ships. (Diary of the British Consul, Frederick W. + Ramsden, entry of July 1st.) Four thousand more troops entered next + day. Of the 6,000 troops, 600 or thereabouts were at El Caney, and + 900 in the forts at the mouth of the harbor. Lieutenant Tejeiro + states that there were 520 men at El Caney, 970 in the forts at the + mouth of the harbor, and 3,000 in the lines, not counting the + cavalry and civil guard which were in reserve. He certainly very + much understates the Spanish force; thus he nowhere accounts for the + engineers mentioned on p. 135; and his figures would make the total + number of Spanish artillerymen but 32. He excludes the cavalry, the + civil guard, and the marines which had been stationed at the Plaza + del Toros; yet he later mentions that these marines were brought up, + and their commander, Bustamente, severely wounded; he states that + the cavalry advanced to cover the retreat of the infantry, and I + myself saw the cavalry come forward, for the most part dismounted, + when the Spaniards attempted a forward movement late in the + afternoon, and we shot many of their horses; while later I saw and + conversed with officers and men of the civil guard who had been + wounded at the same time--this in connection with returning them + their wives and children, after the latter had fled from the city. + Although the engineers are excluded, Lieutenant Tejeiro mentions + that their colonel, as well as the colonel of the artillery, was + wounded. Four thousand five hundred is surely an understatement of + the forces which resisted the attack of the forces under Wheeler. + Lieutenant Tejeiro is very careless in his figures. Thus in one + place he states that the position of San Juan was held by two + companies comprising 250 soldiers. Later he says it was held by + three companies, whose strength he puts at 300--thus making them + average 100 instead of 125 men apiece. He then mentions another + echelon of two companies, so situated as to cross their fire with + the others. Doubtless the block-house and trenches at Fort San Juan + proper were only held by three or four hundred men; they were taken + by the Sixth and Sixteenth Infantry under Hawkins's immediate + command; and they formed but one point in the line of hills, + trenches, ranch-houses, and block-houses which the Spaniards held, + and from which we drove them. When the city capitulated later, over + 8,000 unwounded troops and over 16,000 rifles and carbines were + surrendered; by that time the marines and sailors had of course + gone, and the volunteers had disbanded. + + In all these figures I have taken merely the statements from the + Spanish side. I am inclined to think the actual numbers were much + greater than those here given. Lieutenant Wiley, in his book _In Cuba + with Shafter_, which is practically an official statement, states + that nearly 11,000 Spanish troops were surrendered; and this is the + number given by the Spaniards themselves in the remarkable letter + the captured soldiers addressed to General Shafter, which Wiley + quotes in full. Lieutenant Tejeiro, in his chap. xiv., explains that + the volunteers had disbanded before the end came, and the marines + and sailors had of course gone, while nearly a thousand men had been + killed or captured or had died of wounds and disease, so that there + must have been at least 14,000 all told. Subtracting the + reinforcements who arrived on the 2nd, this would mean about 10,000 + Spaniards present on the 1st; in which case Kent and Wheeler were + opposed by at least equal numbers. + + In dealing with the Spanish losses, Lieutenant Tejeiro contradicts + himself. He puts their total loss on this day at 593, including 94 + killed, 121 missing, and 2 prisoners--217 in all. Yet he states that + of the 520 men at Caney but 80 got back, the remaining 440 being + killed, captured, or missing. When we captured the city we found in + the hospitals over 2,000 seriously wounded and sick Spaniards; on + making inquiries, I found that over a third were wounded. From these + facts I feel that it is safe to put down the total Spanish loss in + battle as at least 1,200, of whom over a thousand were killed and + wounded. + + Lieutenant Tejeiro, while rightly claiming credit for the courage + shown by the Spaniards, also praises the courage and resolution of + the Americans, saying that they fought, "con un arrojo y una + decision verdaderamente admirables." He dwells repeatedly upon the + determination with which our troops kept charging though themselves + unprotected by cover. As for the Spanish troops, all who fought them + that day will most freely admit the courage they showed. At El + Caney, where they were nearly hemmed in, they made a most desperate + defence; at San Juan the way to retreat was open, and so, though + they were seven times as numerous, they fought with less + desperation, but still very gallantly. + +I think we suffered more heavily than the Spaniards did in killed +and wounded (though we also captured some scores of prisoners). It +would have been very extraordinary if the reverse was the case, for we +did the charging; and to carry earthworks on foot with dismounted +cavalry, when these earthworks are held by unbroken infantry armed +with the best modern rifles, is a serious task. + + + + V + + IN THE TRENCHES + +When the shrapnel burst among us on the hill-side we made up our minds +that we had better settle down to solid siege work. All of the men who +were not in the trenches I took off to the right, back of the Gatling +guns, where there was a valley, and dispersed them by troops in +sheltered parts. It took us an hour or two's experimenting to find out +exactly what spots were free from danger, because some of the Spanish +sharp-shooters were in trees in our front, where we could not possibly +place them from the trenches; and these were able to reach little +hollows and depressions where the men were entirely safe from the +Spanish artillery and from their trench-fire. Moreover, in one hollow, +which we thought safe, the Spaniards succeeded in dropping a shell, a +fragment of which went through the head of one of my men, who, +astonishing to say, lived, although unconscious, for two hours +afterward. Finally, I got all eight troops settled, and the men +promptly proceeded to make themselves as much at home as possible. For +the next twenty-four hours, however, the amount of comfort was small, +as in the way of protection and covering we only had what blankets, +rain-coats, and hammocks we took from the dead Spaniards. Ammunition, +which was, of course, the most vital need, was brought up in +abundance; but very little food reached us. That afternoon we had just +enough to allow each man for his supper two hardtacks, and one +hardtack extra for every four men. + +During the first night we had dug trenches sufficient in length and +depth to shelter our men and insure safety against attack, but we had +not put in any traverses or approaches, nor had we arranged the +trenches at all points in the best places for offensive work; for we +were working at night on ground which we had but partially explored. +Later on an engineer officer stated that he did not think our work had +been scientific; and I assured him that I did not doubt that he was +right, for I had never before seen a trench, excepting those we +captured from the Spaniards, or heard of a traverse, save as I vaguely +remembered reading about them in books. For such work as we were +engaged in, however, the problem of intrenchment was comparatively +simple, and the work we did proved entirely adequate. No man in my +regiment was ever hit in the trenches or going in or out of them. + +But on the first day there was plenty of excitement connected with +relieving the firing line. Under the intense heat, crowded down in +cramped attitudes in the rank, newly dug, poisonous soil of the +trenches, the men needed to be relieved every six hours or so. +Accordingly, in the late morning, and again in the afternoon, I +arranged for their release. On each occasion I waited until there was +a lull in the firing and then started a sudden rush by the relieving +party, who tumbled into the trenches every which way. The movement +resulted on each occasion in a terrific outburst of fire from the +Spanish lines, which proved quite harmless; and as it gradually died +away the men who had been relieved got out as best they could. +Fortunately, by the next day I was able to abandon this primitive, +though thrilling and wholly novel, military method of relief. + +When the hardtack came up that afternoon I felt much sympathy for +the hungry unfortunates in the trenches and hated to condemn them to +six hours more without food; but I did not know how to get food into +them. Little McGinty, the bronco buster, volunteered to make the +attempt, and I gave him permission. He simply took a case of hardtack +in his arms and darted toward the trenches. The distance was but +short, and though there was an outburst of fire, he was actually +missed. One bullet, however, passed through the case of hardtack just +before he disappeared with it into the trench. A trooper named +Shanafelt repeated the feat, later, with a pail of coffee. Another +trooper, George King, spent a leisure hour in the rear making soup out +of some rice and other stuff he found in a Spanish house; he brought +some of it to General Wood, Jack Greenway, and myself, and nothing +could have tasted more delicious. + +At this time our army in the trenches numbered about 11,000 men; and +the Spaniards in Santiago about 9,000,* their reinforcements having +just arrived. Nobody on the firing line, whatever was the case in the +rear, felt the slightest uneasiness as to the Spaniards being able to +break out; but there were plenty who doubted the advisability of +trying to rush the heavy earthworks and wire defenses in our front. + + * Note: This is probably an understatement. Lieutenant Muller, in + chap. xxxviii. of his book, says that there were "eight or nine + thousand;" this is exclusive of the men from the fleet, and + apparently also of many of the volunteers (see chap. xiv.), all of + whom were present on July 2nd. I am inclined to think that on the + evening of that day there were more Spanish troops inside Santiago + than there were American troops outside. + +All day long the firing continued--musketry and cannon. Our artillery +gave up the attempt to fight on the firing line, and was withdrawn +well to the rear out of range of the Spanish rifles; so far as we +could see, it accomplished very little. The dynamite gun was brought +up to the right of the regimental line. It was more effective than the +regular artillery because it was fired with smokeless powder, and as +it was used like a mortar from behind the hill, it did not betray its +presence, and those firing it suffered no loss. Every few shots it got +out of order, and the Rough Rider machinists and those furnished by +Lieutenant Parker--whom we by this time began to consider as an +exceedingly valuable member of our own regiment--would spend an hour or +two in setting it right. Sergeant Borrowe had charge of it and handled +it well. With him was Sergeant Guitilias, a gallant old fellow, a +veteran of the Civil War, whose duties were properly those of +standard-bearer, he having charge of the yellow cavalry standard of +the regiment; but in the Cuban campaign he was given the more active +work of helping run the dynamite gun. The shots from the dynamite gun +made a terrific explosion, but they did not seem to go accurately. +Once one of them struck a Spanish trench and wrecked part of it. On +another occasion one struck a big building, from which there promptly +swarmed both Spanish cavalry and infantry, on whom the Colt automatic +guns played with good effect, during the minute that elapsed before +they could get other cover. + +These Colt automatic guns were not, on the whole, very successful. +The gun detail was under the charge of Sergeant (afterward Lieutenant) +Tiffany, assisted by some of our best men, like Stevens, +Crowninshield, Bradley, Smith, and Herrig. The guns were mounted on +tripods. They were too heavy for men to carry any distance and we +could not always get mules. They would have been more effective if +mounted on wheels, as the Gatlings were. Moreover, they proved more +delicate than the Gatlings, and very readily got out of order. A +further and serious disadvantage was that they did not use the Krag +ammunition, as the Gatlings did, but the Mauser ammunition. The +Spanish cartridges which we captured came in quite handily for this +reason. Parker took the same fatherly interest in these two Colts that +he did in the dynamite gun, and finally I put all three and their men +under his immediate care, so that he had a battery of seven guns. + +In fact, I think Parker deserved rather more credit than any other +one man in the entire campaign. I do not allude especially to his +courage and energy, great though they were, for there were hundreds of +his fellow-officers of the cavalry and infantry who possessed as much +of the former quality, and scores who possessed as much of the latter; +but he had the rare good judgment and foresight to see the +possibilities of the machine-guns, and, thanks to the aid of General +Shafter, he was able to organize his battery. He then, by his own +exertions, got it to the front and proved that it could do invaluable +work on the field of battle, as much in attack as in defence. Parker's +Gatlings were our inseparable companions throughout the siege. After +our trenches were put in final shape, he took off the wheels of a +couple and placed them with our own two Colts in the trenches. His +gunners slept beside the Rough Riders in the bomb-proofs, and the men +shared with one another when either side got a supply of beans or of +coffee and sugar; for Parker was as wide-awake and energetic in +getting food for his men as we prided ourselves upon being in getting +food for ours. Besides, he got oil, and let our men have plenty for +their rifles. At no hour of the day or night was Parker anywhere but +where we wished him to be in the event of an attack. If I was ordered +to send a troop of Rough Riders to guard some road or some break in +the lines, we usually got Parker to send a Gatling along, and whether +the change was made by day or by night, the Gatling went, over any +ground and in any weather. He never exposed the Gatlings needlessly or +unless there was some object to be gained, but if serious fighting +broke out, he always took a hand. Sometimes this fighting would be the +result of an effort on our part to quell the fire from the Spanish +trenches; sometimes the Spaniards took the initiative; but at whatever +hour of the twenty-four serious fighting began, the drumming of the +Gatlings was soon heard through the cracking of our own carbines. + +I have spoken thus of Parker's Gatling detachment. How can I speak +highly enough of the regular cavalry with whom it was our good fortune +to serve? I do not believe that in any army of the world could be +found a more gallant and soldierly body of fighters than the officers +and men of the First, Third, Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth United States +Cavalry, beside whom we marched to blood-bought victory under the +tropic skies of Santiago. The American regular sets the standard of +excellence. When we wish to give the utmost possible praise to a +volunteer organization, we say that it is as good as the regulars. I +was exceedingly proud of the fact that the regulars treated my +regiment as on a complete equality with themselves, and were as ready +to see it in a post of danger and responsibility as to see any of +their own battalions. Lieutenant Colonel Dorst, a man from whom praise +meant a good deal, christened us "the Eleventh United States Horse," +and we endeavored, I think I may say successfully, to show that we +deserved the title by our conduct, not only in fighting and in +marching, but in guarding the trenches and in policing camp. In less +than sixty days the regiment had been raised, organized, armed, +equipped, drilled, mounted, dismounted, kept for a fortnight on +transports, and put through two victorious aggressive fights in very +difficult country, the loss in killed and wounded amounting to a +quarter of those engaged. This is a record which it is not easy to +match in the history of volunteer organizations. The loss was but +small compared to that which befell hundreds of regiments in some of +the great battles of the later years of the Civil War; but it may be +doubted whether there was any regiment which made such a record during +the first months of any of our wars. + +After the battle of San Juan my men had really become veterans; they +and I understood each other perfectly, and trusted each other +implicitly; they knew I would share every hardship and danger with +them, would do everything in my power to see that they were fed, and +so far as might be, sheltered and spared; and in return I knew that +they would endure every kind of hardship and fatigue without a murmur +and face every danger with entire fearlessness. I felt utter +confidence in them, and would have been more than willing to put them +to any task which any crack regiment of the world, at home or abroad, +could perform. They were natural fighters, men of great intelligence, +great courage, great hardihood, and physical prowess; and I could draw +on these qualities and upon their spirit of ready, soldierly obedience +to make up for any deficiencies in the technique of the trade which +they had temporarily adopted. It must be remembered that they were +already good individual fighters, skilled in the use of the horse and +the rifle, so that there was no need of putting them through the kind +of training in which the ordinary raw recruit must spend his first +year or two. + +On July 2nd, as the day wore on, the fight, though raging fitfully at +intervals, gradually died away. The Spanish guerillas were causing us +much trouble. They showed great courage, exactly as did their soldiers +who were defending the trenches. In fact, the Spaniards throughout +showed precisely the qualities they did early in the century, when, as +every student will remember, their fleets were a helpless prey to the +English war-ships, and their armies utterly unable to stand in the +open against those of Napoleon's marshals, while on the other hand +their guerillas performed marvellous feats, and their defence of +intrenchments and walled towns, as at Saragossa and Gerona, were the +wonder of the civilized world. + +In our front their sharp-shooters crept up before dawn and either +lay in the thick jungle or climbed into some tree with dense foliage. +In these places it proved almost impossible to place them, as they +kept cover very carefully, and their smokeless powder betrayed not the +slightest sign of their whereabouts. They caused us a great deal of +annoyance and some little loss, and though our own sharp-shooters were +continually taking shots at the places where they supposed them to be, +and though occasionally we would play a Gatling or a Colt all through +the top of a suspicious tree, I but twice saw Spaniards brought down +out of their perches from in front of our lines--on each occasion the +fall of the Spaniard being hailed with loud cheers by our men. + +These sharp-shooters in our front did perfectly legitimate work, and +were entitled to all credit for their courage and skill. It was +different with the guerillas in our rear. Quite a number of these had +been posted in trees at the time of the San Juan fight. They were +using, not Mausers, but Remingtons, which shot smokeless powder and a +brass-coated bullet. It was one of these bullets which had hit Winslow +Clark by my side on Kettle Hill; and though for long-range fighting +the Remingtons were, of course, nothing like as good as the Mausers, +they were equally serviceable for short-range bush work, as they used +smokeless powder. When our troops advanced and the Spaniards in the +trenches and in reserve behind the hill fled, the guerillas in the +trees had no time to get away and in consequence were left in the rear +of our lines. As we found out from the prisoners we took, the Spanish +officers had been careful to instil into the minds of their soldiers +the belief that the Americans never granted quarter, and I suppose it +was in consequence of this that the guerillas did not surrender; for +we found that the Spaniards were anxious enough to surrender as soon +as they became convinced that we would treat them mercifully. At any +rate, these guerillas kept up in their trees and showed not only +courage but wanton cruelty and barbarity. At times they fired upon +armed men in bodies, but they much preferred for their victims the +unarmed attendants, the doctors, the chaplains, the hospital stewards. +They fired at the men who were bearing off the wounded in litters; +they fired at the doctors who came to the front, and at the chaplains +who started to hold burial service; the conspicuous Red Cross brassard +worn by all of these non-combatants, instead of serving as a +protection, seemed to make them the special objects of the guerilla +fire. So annoying did they become that I sent out that afternoon and +next morning a detail of picked sharp-shooters to hunt them out, +choosing, of course, first-class woodsmen and mountain men who were +also good shots. My sharp-shooters felt very vindictively toward these +guerillas and showed them no quarter. They started systematically to +hunt them, and showed themselves much superior at the guerillas' own +game, killing eleven, while not one of my men was scratched. Two of +the men who did conspicuously good service in this work were Troopers +Goodwin and Proffit, both of Arizona, but one by birth a Californian +and the other a North Carolinian. Goodwin was a natural shot, not only +with the rifle and revolver, but with the sling. Proffit might have +stood as a type of the mountaineers described by John Fox and Miss +Murfree. He was a tall, sinewy, handsome man of remarkable strength, +an excellent shot and a thoroughly good soldier. His father had been a +Confederate officer, rising from the ranks, and if the war had lasted +long enough the son would have risen in the same manner. As it was, I +should have been glad to have given him a commission, exactly as I +should have been glad to have given a number of others in the regiment +commissions, if I had only had them. Proffit was a saturnine, reserved +man, who afterward fell very sick with the fever, and who, as a reward +for his soldierly good conduct, was often granted unusual privileges; +but he took the fever and the privileges with the same iron +indifference, never grumbling, and never expressing satisfaction. + +The sharp-shooters returned by nightfall. Soon afterward I +established my pickets and outposts well to the front in the jungle, +so as to prevent all possibility of surprise. After dark, fires +suddenly shot up on the mountain passes far to our right. They all +rose together and we could make nothing of them. After a good deal of +consultation, we decided they must be some signals to the Spaniards in +Santiago, from the troops marching to reinforce them from without--for +we were ignorant that the reinforcements had already reached the city, +the Cubans being quite unable to prevent the Spanish regulars from +marching wherever they wished. While we were thus pondering over the +watch-fires and attributing them to Spanish machinations of some sort, +it appears that the Spaniards, equally puzzled, were setting them down +as an attempt at communication between the insurgents and our army. +Both sides were accordingly on the alert, and the Spaniards must have +strengthened their outlying parties in the jungle ahead of us, for +they suddenly attacked one of our pickets, wounding Crockett +seriously. He was brought in by the other troopers. Evidently the +Spanish lines felt a little nervous, for this sputter of shooting was +immediately followed by a tremendous fire of great guns and rifles +from their trenches and batteries. Our men in the trenches responded +heavily, and word was sent back, not only to me, but to the commanders +in the rear of the regiments along our line, that the Spaniards were +attacking. It was imperative to see what was really going on, so I ran +up to the trenches and looked out. At night it was far easier to place +the Spanish lines than by day, because the flame-spurts shone in the +darkness. I could soon tell that there were bodies of Spanish pickets +or skirmishers in the jungle-covered valley, between their lines and +ours, but that the bulk of the fire came from their trenches and +showed not the slightest symptom of advancing; moreover, as is +generally the case at night, the fire was almost all high, passing +well overhead, with an occasional bullet near by. + +I came to the conclusion that there was no use in our firing back +under such circumstances; and I could tell that the same conclusion +had been reached by Captain Ayres of the Tenth Cavalry on the right of +my line, for even above the cracking of the carbines rose the +Captain's voice as with varied and picturesque language he bade his +black troopers cease firing. The Captain was as absolutely fearless as +a man can be. He had command of his regimental trenches that night, +and, having run up at the first alarm, had speedily satisfied himself +that no particular purpose was served by blazing away in the dark, +when the enormous majority of the Spaniards were simply shooting at +random from their own trenches, and, if they ever had thought of +advancing, had certainly given up the idea. His troopers were devoted +to him, would follow him anywhere, and would do anything he said; but +when men get firing at night it is rather difficult to stop them, +especially when the fire of the enemy in front continues unabated. +When he first reached the trenches it was impossible to say whether or +not there was an actual night attack impending, and he had been +instructing his men, as I instructed mine, to fire low, cutting the +grass in front. As soon as he became convinced that there was no night +attack, he ran up and down the line adjuring and commanding the +troopers to cease shooting, with words and phrases which were +doubtless not wholly unlike those which the Old Guard really did use +at Waterloo. As I ran down my own line, I could see him coming up his, +and he saved me all trouble in stopping the fire at the right, where +the lines met, for my men there all dropped everything to listen to +him and cheer and laugh. Soon we got the troopers in hand, and made +them cease firing; then, after awhile, the Spanish fire died down. At +the time we spoke of this as a night attack by the Spaniards, but it +really was not an attack at all. Ever after my men had a great regard +for Ayres, and would have followed him anywhere. I shall never forget +the way in which he scolded his huge, devoted black troopers, +generally ending with "I'm ashamed of you, ashamed of you! I wouldn't +have believed it! Firing; when I told you to stop! I'm ashamed of +you!" + +That night we spent in perfecting the trenches and arranging +entrances to them, doing about as much work as we had the preceding +night. Greenway and Goodrich, from their energy, eagerness to do every +duty, and great physical strength, were peculiarly useful in this +work; as, indeed, they were in all work. They had been up practically +the entire preceding night, but they were too good men for me to spare +them, nor did they wish to be spared; and I kept them up all this +night too. Goodrich had also been on guard as officer of the day the +night we were at El Poso, so that it turned out that he spent nearly +four days and three nights with practically hardly any sleep at all. + +Next morning, at daybreak, the firing began again. This day, the 3rd, +we suffered nothing, save having one man wounded by a sharp-shooter, +and, thanks to the approaches to the trenches, we were able to relieve +the guards without any difficulty. The Spanish sharp-shooters in the +trees and jungle nearby, however, annoyed us very much, and I made +preparations to fix them next day. With this end in view I chose out +some twenty first-class men, in many instances the same that I had +sent after the guerillas, and arranged that each should take his +canteen and a little food. They were to slip into the jungle between +us and the Spanish lines before dawn next morning, and there to spend +the day, getting as close to the Spanish lines as possible, moving +about with great stealth, and picking off any hostile sharp-shooter, +as well as any soldier who exposed himself in the trenches. I had +plenty of men who possessed a training in woodcraft that fitted them +for this work; and as soon as the rumor got abroad what I was +planning, volunteers thronged to me. Daniels and Love were two of the +men always to the front in any enterprise of this nature; so were +Wadsworth, the two Bulls, Fortescue, and Cowdin. But I could not begin +to name all the troopers who so eagerly craved the chance to win honor +out of hazard and danger. + +Among them was good, solemn Fred Herrig, the Alsatian. I knew Fred's +patience and skill as a hunter from the trips we had taken together +after deer and mountain sheep through the Bad Lands of the Little +Missouri. He still spoke English with what might be called Alsatian +variations--he always spoke of the gun detail as the "gondetle," with +the accent on the first syllable--and he expressed a wish to be allowed +"a holiday from the gondetle to go after dem gorrillas." I told him he +could have the holiday, but to his great disappointment the truce came +first, and then Fred asked that, inasmuch as the "gorrillas" were now +forbidden game, he might be allowed to go after guinea-hens instead. + +Even after the truce, however, some of my sharp-shooters had +occupation, for two guerillas in our rear took occasional shots at the +men who were bathing in a pond, until one of our men spied them, when +they were both speedily brought down. One of my riflemen who did best +at this kind of work, by the way, got into trouble because of it. He +was much inflated by my commendation of him, and when he went back to +his troop he declined to obey the first Sergeant's orders on the +ground that he was "the Colonel's sharp-shooter." The Lieutenant in +command, being somewhat puzzled, brought him to me, and I had to +explain that if the offence, disobedience of orders in face of the +enemy, was repeated he might incur the death penalty; whereat he +looked very crestfallen. That afternoon he got permission, like Fred +Herrig, to go after guinea-hens, which were found wild in some numbers +round about; and he sent me the only one he got as a peace offering. +The few guinea-hens thus procured were all used for the sick. + +Dr. Church had established a little field hospital under the +shoulder of the hill in our rear. He was himself very sick and had +almost nothing in the way of medicine or supplies or apparatus of any +kind, but the condition of the wounded in the big field hospitals in +the rear was so horrible, from the lack of attendants as well as of +medicines, that we kept all the men we possibly could at the front. +Some of them had now begun to come down with fever. They were all very +patient, but it was pitiful to see the sick and wounded soldiers lying +on their blankets, if they had any, and if not then simply in the mud, +with nothing to eat but hardtack and pork, which of course they could +not touch when their fever got high, and with no chance to get more +than the rudest attention. Among the very sick here was gallant +Captain Llewellen. I feared he was going to die. We finally had to +send him to one of the big hospitals in the rear. Doctors Brewer and +Fuller of the Tenth had been unwearying in attending to the wounded, +including many of those of my regiment. + +At twelve o'clock we were notified to stop firing and a flag of +truce was sent in to demand the surrender of the city. The +negotiations gave us a breathing spell. + +That afternoon I arranged to get our baggage up, sending back strong +details of men to carry up their own goods, and, as usual, impressing +into the service a kind of improvised pack-train consisting of the +officers' horses, of two or three captured Spanish cavalry horses, two +or three mules which had been shot and abandoned and which our men had +taken and cured, and two or three Cuban ponies. Hitherto we had simply +been sleeping by the trenches or immediately in their rear, with +nothing in the way of shelter and only one blanket to every three or +four men. Fortunately there had been little rain. We now got up the +shelter tents of the men and some flies for the hospital and for the +officers; and my personal baggage appeared. I celebrated its advent by +a thorough wash and shave. + +Later, I twice snatched a few hours to go to the rear and visit such +of my men as I could find in the hospitals. Their patience was +extraordinary. Kenneth Robinson, a gallant young trooper, though +himself severely (I supposed at the time mortally) wounded, was +noteworthy for the way in which he tended those among the wounded who +were even more helpless, and the cheery courage with which he kept up +their spirits. Gievers, who was shot through the hips, rejoined us at +the front in a fortnight. Captain Day was hardly longer away. Jack +Hammer, who, with poor Race Smith, a gallant Texas lad who was +mortally hurt beside me on the summit of the hill, had been on kitchen +detail, was wounded and sent to the rear; he was ordered to go to the +United States, but he heard that we were to assault Santiago, so he +struggled out to rejoin us, and thereafter stayed at the front. Cosby, +badly wounded, made his way down to the sea-coast in three days, +unassisted. + +With all volunteer troops, and I am inclined to think with regulars, +too, in time of trial, the best work can be got out of the men only if +the officers endure the same hardships and face the same risks. In my +regiment, as in the whole cavalry division, the proportion of loss in +killed and wounded was considerably greater among the officers than +among the troopers, and this was exactly as it should be. Moreover, +when we got down to hard pan, we all, officers and men, fared exactly +alike as regards both shelter and food. This prevented any grumbling. +When the troopers saw that the officers had nothing but hardtack, +there was not a man in the regiment who would not have been ashamed to +grumble at faring no worse, and when all alike slept out in the open, +in the rear of the trenches, and when the men always saw the field +officers up at night, during the digging of the trenches, and going +the rounds of the outposts, they would not tolerate, in any of their +number, either complaint or shirking work. When things got easier I +put up my tent and lived a little apart, for it is a mistake for an +officer ever to grow too familiar with his men, no matter how good +they are; and it is of course the greatest possible mistake to seek +popularity either by showing weakness or by mollycoddling the men. +They will never respect a commander who does not enforce discipline, +who does not know his duty, and who is not willing both himself to +encounter and to make them encounter every species of danger and +hardship when necessary. The soldiers who do not feel this way are not +worthy of the name and should be handled with iron severity until they +become fighting men and not shams. In return the officer should +carefully look after his men, should see that they are well fed and +well sheltered, and that, no matter how much they may grumble, they +keep the camp thoroughly policed. + +After the cessation of the three days' fighting we began to get our +rations regularly and had plenty of hardtack and salt pork, and +usually about half the ordinary amount of sugar and coffee. It was not +a very good ration for the tropics, however, and was of very little +use indeed to the sick and half-sick. On two or three occasions during +the siege I got my improvised pack-train together and either took or +sent it down to the sea-coast for beans, canned tomatoes, and the +like. We got these either from the transports which were still landing +stores on the beach or from the Red Cross. If I did not go myself I +sent some man who had shown that he was a driving, energetic, tactful +fellow, who would somehow get what we wanted. Chaplain Brown developed +great capacity in this line, and so did one of the troopers named +Knoblauch, he who had dived after the rifles that had sunk off the +pier at Daiquiri. The supplies of food we got in this way had a very +beneficial effect, not only upon the men's health, but upon their +spirits. To the Red Cross and similar charitable organizations we owe +a great deal. We also owed much to Colonel Weston of the Commissary +Department, who always helped us and never let himself be hindered by +red tape; thus he always let me violate the absurd regulation which +forbade me, even in war time, to purchase food for my men from the +stores, although letting me purchase for the officers. I, of course, +paid no heed to the regulation when by violating it I could get beans, +canned tomatoes, or tobacco. Sometimes I used my own money, sometimes +what was given me by Woody Kane, or what was sent me by my +brother-in-law, Douglas Robinson, or by the other Red Cross people in +New York. My regiment did not fare very well; but I think it fared +better than any other. Of course no one would have minded in the least +such hardships as we endured had there been any need of enduring them; +but there was none. System and sufficiency of transportation were all +that were needed. + +On one occasion a foreign military attache visited my head-quarters +together with a foreign correspondent who had been through the +Turco-Greek war. They were both most friendly critics, and as they +knew I was aware of this, the correspondent finally ventured the +remark, that he thought our soldiers fought even better than the +Turks, but that on the whole our system of military administration +seemed rather worse than that of the Greeks. As a nation we had prided +ourselves on our business ability and adroitness in the arts of peace, +while outsiders, at any rate, did not credit us with any especial +warlike prowess; and it was curious that when war came we should have +broken down precisely on the business and administrative side, while +the fighting edge of the troops certainly left little to be desired. + +I was very much touched by the devotion my men showed to me. After +they had once become convinced that I would share their hardships, +they made it a point that I should not suffer any hardships at all; +and I really had an extremely easy time. Whether I had any food or not +myself made no difference, as there were sure to be certain troopers, +and, indeed, certain troop messes, on the lookout for me. If they had +any beans they would send me over a cupful, or I would suddenly +receive a present of doughnuts from some ex-roundup cook who had +succeeded in obtaining a little flour and sugar, and if a man shot a +guinea-hen it was all I could do to make him keep half of it for +himself. Wright, the color sergeant, and Henry Bardshar, my orderly, +always pitched and struck my tent and built me a bunk of bamboo poles, +whenever we changed camp. So I personally endured very little +discomfort; for, of course, no one minded the two or three days +preceding or following each fight, when we all had to get along as +best we could. Indeed, as long as we were under fire or in the +immediate presence of the enemy, and I had plenty to do, there was +nothing of which I could legitimately complain; and what I really did +regard as hardships, my men did not object to--for later on, when we +had some leisure, I would have given much for complete solitude and +some good books. + +Whether there was a truce, or whether, as sometimes happened, we +were notified that there was no truce but merely a further cessation +of hostilities by tacit agreement, or whether the fight was on, we +kept equally vigilant watch, especially at night. In the trenches +every fourth man kept awake, the others sleeping beside or behind him +on their rifles; and the Cossack posts and pickets were pushed out in +advance beyond the edge of the jungle. At least once a night at some +irregular hour I tried to visit every part of our line, especially if +it was dark and rainy, although sometimes, when the lines were in +charge of some officer like Wilcox or Kane, Greenway or Goodrich, I +became lazy, took off my boots, and slept all night through. Sometimes +at night I went not only along the lines of our own brigade, but of +the brigades adjoining. It was a matter of pride, not only with me, +but with all our men, that the lines occupied by the Rough Riders +should be at least as vigilantly guarded as the lines of any regular +regiment. + +Sometimes at night, when I met other officers inspecting their +lines, we would sit and talk over matters, and wonder what shape the +outcome of the siege would take. We knew we would capture Santiago, +but exactly how we would do it we could not tell. The failure to +establish any depot for provisions on the fighting-line, where there +was hardly ever more than twenty-four hours' food ahead, made the risk +very serious. If a hurricane had struck the transports, scattering +them to the four winds, or if three days of heavy rain had completely +broken up our communication, as they assuredly would have done, we +would have been at starvation point on the front; and while, of +course, we would have lived through it somehow and would have taken +the city, it would only have been after very disagreeable experiences. +As soon as I was able I accumulated for my own regiment about +forty-eight hours' hardtack and salt pork, which I kept so far as +possible intact to provide against any emergency. + +If the city could be taken without direct assault on the intrenchments +and wire entanglements, we earnestly hoped it would be, for such an +assault meant, as we knew by past experience, the loss of a quarter +of the attacking regiments (and we were bound that the Rough Riders +should be one of these attacking regiments, if the attack had to be +made). There was, of course, nobody who would not rather have +assaulted than have run the risk of failure; but we hoped the city +would fall without need arising for us to suffer the great loss of +life which a further assault would have entailed. + +Naturally, the colonels and captains had nothing to say in the peace +negotiations which dragged along for the week following the sending in +the flag of truce. Each day we expected either to see the city +surrender, or to be told to begin fighting again, and toward the end +it grew so irksome that we would have welcomed even an assault in +preference to further inaction. I used to discuss matters with the +officers of my own regiment now and then, and with a few of the +officers of the neighboring regiments with whom I had struck up a +friendship--Parker, Stevens, Beck, Ayres, Morton, and Boughton. I also +saw a good deal of the excellent officers on the staffs of Generals +Wheeler and Sumner, especially Colonel Dorst, Colonel Garlington, +Captain Howze, Captain Steele, Lieutenant Andrews, and Captain Astor +Chanler, who, like myself, was a volunteer. Chanler was an old friend +and a fellow big-game hunter, who had done some good exploring work in +Africa. I always wished I could have had him in my regiment. As for +Dorst, he was peculiarly fitted to command a regiment. Although Howze +and Andrews were not in my brigade, I saw a great deal of them, +especially of Howze, who would have made a nearly ideal regimental +commander. They were both natural cavalry-men and of most enterprising +natures, ever desirous of pushing to the front and of taking the +boldest course. The view Howze always took of every emergency (a view +which found prompt expression in his actions when the opportunity +offered) made me feel like an elderly conservative. + +The week of non-fighting was not all a period of truce; part of the +time was passed under a kind of nondescript arrangement, when we were +told not to attack ourselves, but to be ready at any moment to repulse +an attack and to make preparations for meeting it. During these times +I busied myself in putting our trenches into first-rate shape and in +building bomb-proofs and traverses. One night I got a detail of sixty +men from the First, Ninth, and Tenth, whose officers always helped us +in every way, and with these, and with sixty of my own men, I dug a +long, zigzag trench in advance of the salient of my line out to a +knoll well in front, from which we could command the Spanish trenches +and block-houses immediately ahead of us. On this knoll we made a kind +of bastion consisting of a deep, semi-circular trench with sand-bags +arranged along the edge so as to constitute a wall with loop-holes. Of +course, when I came to dig this trench, I kept both Greenway and +Goodrich supervising the work all night, and equally of course I got +Parker and Stevens to help me. By employing as many men as we did we +were able to get the work so far advanced as to provide against +interruption before the moon rose, which was about midnight. Our +pickets were thrown far out in the jungle, to keep back the Spanish +pickets and prevent any interference with the diggers. The men seemed +to think the work rather good fun than otherwise, the possibility of a +brush with the Spaniards lending a zest that prevented its growing +monotonous. + +Parker had taken two of his Gatlings, removed the wheels, and mounted +them in the trenches; also mounting the two automatic Colts where he +deemed they could do best service. With the completion of the +trenches, bomb-proofs, and traverses, and the mounting of these guns, +the fortifications of the hill assumed quite a respectable character, +and the Gatling men christened it Fort Roosevelt, by which name it +afterward went.* + + * Note: See Parker's "With the Gatlings at Santiago." + +During the truce various military attaches and foreign officers came +out to visit us. Two or three of the newspaper men, including Richard +Harding Davis, Caspar Whitney, and John Fox, had already been out to +see us, and had been in the trenches during the firing. Among the +others were Captains Lee and Paget of the British army and navy, fine +fellows, who really seemed to take as much pride in the feats of our +men as if we had been bound together by the ties of a common +nationality instead of the ties of race and speech kinship. Another +English visitor was Sir Bryan Leighton, a thrice-welcome guest, for he +most thoughtfully brought to me half a dozen little jars of devilled +ham and potted fruit, which enabled me to summon various officers down +to my tent and hold a feast. Count von Gotzen, and a Norwegian +attache, Gedde, very good fellows both, were also out. One day we were +visited by a travelling Russian, Prince X., a large, blond man, smooth +and impenetrable. I introduced him to one of the regular army +officers, a capital fighter and excellent fellow, who, however, viewed +foreign international politics from a strictly trans-Mississippi +stand-point. He hailed the Russian with frank kindness and took him +off to show him around the trenches, chatting volubly, and calling him +"Prince," much as Kentuckians call one another "Colonel." As I +returned I heard him remarking: "You see, Prince, the great result of +this war is that it has united the two branches of the Anglo-Saxon +people; and now that they are together they can whip the world, +Prince! they can whip the world!"--being evidently filled with the +pleasing belief that the Russian would cordially sympathize with this +view. + +The foreign attaches did not always get on well with our generals. +The two English representatives never had any trouble, were heartily +admired by everybody, and, indeed, were generally treated as if they +were of our own number; and seemingly so regarded themselves. But this +was not always true of the representatives from Continental Europe. +One of the latter--a very good fellow, by the way--had not altogether +approved of the way he was treated, and the climax came when he said +good-by to the General who had special charge of him. The General in +question was not accustomed to nice ethnic distinctions, and grouped +all of the representatives from Continental Europe under the +comprehensive title of "Dutchmen." When the attache in question came +to say farewell, the General responded with a bluff heartiness, in +which perhaps the note of sincerity was more conspicuous than that of +entire good breeding: "Well, good-by; sorry you're going; which are +you anyhow--the German or the Russian?" + +Shortly after midday on the 10th fighting began again, but it soon +became evident that the Spaniards did not have much heart in it. The +American field artillery was now under the command of General +Randolph, and he fought it effectively. A mortar battery had also been +established, though with an utterly inadequate supply of ammunition, +and this rendered some service. Almost the only Rough Riders who had a +chance to do much firing were the men with the Colt automatic guns, +and the twenty picked sharp-shooters, who were placed in the newly dug +little fort out at the extreme front. Parker had a splendid time with +the Gatlings and the Colts. With these machine guns he completely +silenced the battery in front of us. This battery had caused us a good +deal of trouble at first, as we could not place it. It was immediately +in front of the hospital, from which many Red Cross flags were flying, +one of them floating just above this battery, from where we looked at +it. In consequence, for some time, we did not know it was a hostile +battery at all, as, like all the other Spanish batteries, it was using +smokeless powder. It was only by the aid of powerful glasses that we +finally discovered its real nature. The Gatlings and Colts then +actually put it out of action, silencing the big guns and the two +field-pieces. Furthermore, the machine guns and our sharp-shooters +together did good work in supplementing the effects of the dynamite +gun; for when a shell from the latter struck near a Spanish trench, or +a building in which there were Spanish troops, the shock was seemingly +so great that the Spaniards almost always showed themselves, and gave +our men a chance to do some execution. + +As the evening of the 10th came on, the men began to make their coffee +in sheltered places. By this time they knew how to take care of +themselves so well that not a man was touched by the Spaniards during +the second bombardment. While I was lying with the officers just +outside one of the bomb-proofs I saw a New Mexican trooper named +Morrison making his coffee under the protection of a traverse high up +on the hill. Morrison was originally a Baptist preacher who had joined +the regiment purely from a sense of duty, leaving his wife and +children, and had shown himself to be an excellent soldier. He had +evidently exactly calculated the danger zone, and found that by +getting close to the traverse he could sit up erect and make ready his +supper without being cramped. I watched him solemnly pounding the +coffee with the butt end of his revolver, and then boiling the water +and frying his bacon, just as if he had been in the lee of the roundup +wagon somewhere out on the plains. + +By noon of next day, the 11th, my regiment with one of the Gatlings +was shifted over to the right to guard the Caney road. We did no +fighting in our new position, for the last straggling shot had been +fired by the time we got there. That evening there came up the worst +storm we had had, and by midnight my tent blew over. I had for the +first time in a fortnight undressed myself completely, and I felt +fully punished for my love of luxury when I jumped out into the +driving downpour of tropic rain, and groped blindly in the darkness +for my clothes as they lay in the liquid mud. It was Kane's night on +guard, and I knew the wretched Woody would be out along the line and +taking care of the pickets, no matter what the storm might be; and so +I basely made my way to the kitchen tent, where good Holderman, the +Cherokee, wrapped me in dry blankets, and put me to sleep on a table +which he had just procured from an abandoned Spanish house. + +On the 17th the city formally surrendered and our regiment, like the +rest of the army, was drawn up on the trenches. When the American flag +was hoisted the trumpets blared and the men cheered, and we knew that +the fighting part of our work was over. + +Shortly after we took our new position the First Illinois Volunteers +came up on our right. The next day, as a result of the storm and of +further rain, the rivers were up and the roads quagmires, so that +hardly any food reached the front. My regiment was all right, as we +had provided for just such an emergency; but the Illinois newcomers +had of course not done so, and they were literally without anything to +eat. They were fine fellows and we could not see them suffer. I +furnished them some beans and coffee for the elder officers and two or +three cases of hardtack for the men, and then mounted my horse and +rode down to head-quarters, half fording, half swimming the streams; +and late in the evening I succeeded in getting half a mule-train of +provisions for them. + +On the morning of the 3rd the Spaniards had sent out of Santiago many +thousands of women, children, and other non-combatants, most of them +belonging to the poorer classes, but among them not a few of the best +families. These wretched creatures took very little with them. They +came through our lines and for the most part went to El Caney in our +rear, where we had to feed them and protect them from the Cubans. As +we had barely enough food for our own men the rations of the refugees +were scanty indeed and their sufferings great. Long before the +surrender they had begun to come to our lines to ask for provisions, +and my men gave them a good deal out of their own scanty stores, until +I had positively to forbid it and to insist that the refugees should +go to head-quarters; as, however hard and merciless it seemed, I was +in duty bound to keep my own regiment at the highest pitch of fighting +efficiency. + +As soon as the surrender was assured the refugees came streaming back +in an endless squalid procession down the Caney road to Santiago. My +troopers, for all their roughness and their ferocity in fight, were +rather tender-hearted than otherwise, and they helped the poor +creatures, especially the women and children, in every way, giving +them food and even carrying the children and the burdens borne by the +women. I saw one man, Happy Jack, spend the entire day in walking to +and fro for about a quarter of a mile on both sides of our lines along +the road, carrying the bundles for a series of poor old women, or else +carrying young children. Finally the doctor warned us that we must not +touch the bundles of the refugees for fear of infection, as disease +had broken out and was rife among them. Accordingly I had to put a +stop to these acts of kindness on the part of my men; against which +action Happy Jack respectfully but strongly protested upon the +unexpected ground that "The Almighty would never let a man catch a +disease while he was doing a good action." I did not venture to take +so advanced a theological stand. + + + + VI + + THE RETURN HOME + +Two or three days after the surrender the cavalry division was marched +back to the foothills west of El Caney, and there went into camp, +together with the artillery. It was a most beautiful spot beside a +stream of clear water, but it was not healthy. In fact no ground in +the neighborhood was healthy. For the tropics the climate was not bad, +and I have no question but that a man who was able to take good care +of himself could live there all the year round with comparative +impunity; but the case was entirely different with an army which was +obliged to suffer great exposure, and to live under conditions which +almost insured being attacked by the severe malarial fever of the +country. My own men were already suffering badly from fever, and they +got worse rather than better in the new camp. The same was true of the +other regiments in the cavalry division. A curious feature was that +the colored troops seemed to suffer as heavily as the white. From week +to week there were slight relative changes, but on the average all the +six cavalry regiments, the Rough Riders, the white regulars, and the +colored regulars seemed to suffer about alike, and we were all very +much weakened; about as much as the regular infantry, although +naturally not as much as the volunteer infantry. + +Yet even under such circumstances adventurous spirits managed to make +their way out to us. In the fortnight following the last bombardment +of the city I enlisted no less than nine such recruits, six being +from Harvard, Yale, or Princeton; and Bull, the former Harvard oar, +who had been back to the States crippled after the first fight, +actually got back to us as a stowaway on one of the transports, +bound to share the luck of the regiment, even if it meant yellow +fever. + +There were but twelve ambulances with the army, and these were quite +inadequate for their work; but the conditions in the large field +hospitals were so bad, that as long as possible we kept all of our +sick men in the regimental hospital at the front. Dr. Church did +splendid work, although he himself was suffering much more than half +the time from fever. Several of the men from the ranks did equally +well, especially a young doctor from New York, Harry Thorpe, who had +enlisted as a trooper, but who was now made acting assistant-surgeon. +It was with the greatest difficulty that Church and Thorpe were able +to get proper medicine for the sick, and it was almost the last day of +our stay before we were able to get cots for them. Up to that time +they lay on the ground. No food was issued suitable for them, or for +the half-sick men who were not on the doctor's list; the two classes +by this time included the bulk of the command. Occasionally we got +hold of a wagon or of some Cuban carts, and at other times I used my +improvised pack-train (the animals of which, however, were continually +being taken away from us by our superiors) and went or sent back to +the sea-coast at Siboney or into Santiago itself to get rice, flour, +cornmeal, oatmeal, condensed milk, potatoes, and canned vegetables. +The rice I bought in Santiago; the best of the other stuff I got from +the Red Cross through Mr. George Kennan and Miss Clara Barton and Dr. +Lesser; but some of it I got from our own transports. Colonel Weston, +the Commissary-General, as always, rendered us every service in his +power. This additional and varied food was of the utmost service, not +merely to the sick but in preventing the well from becoming sick. +Throughout the campaign the Division Inspector-General, +Lieutenant-Colonel Garlington, and Lieutenants West and Dickman, the +acting division quartermaster and commissary, had done everything in +their power to keep us supplied with food; but where there were so few +mules and wagons even such able and zealous officers could not do the +impossible. + +We had the camp policed thoroughly, and I made the men build little +bunks of poles to sleep on. By July 23rd, when we had been ashore a +month, we were able to get fresh meat, and from that time on we fared +well; but the men were already sickening. The chief trouble was the +malarial fever, which was recurrent. For a few days the man would be +very sick indeed; then he would partially recover, and be able to go +back to work; but after a little time he would be again struck down. +Every officer other than myself except one was down with sickness at +one time or another. Even Greenway and Goodrich succumbed to the fever +and were knocked out for a few days. Very few of the men indeed +retained their strength and energy, and though the percentage actually +on the sick list never got over twenty, there were less than fifty per +cent who were fit for any kind of work. All the clothes were in rags; +even the officers had neither socks nor underwear. The lithe college +athletes had lost their spring; the tall, gaunt hunters and +cow-punchers lounged listlessly in their dog-tents, which were +steaming morasses during the torrential rains, and then ovens when the +sun blazed down; but there were no complaints. + +Through some blunder our march from the intrenchments to the camp on +the foothills, after the surrender, was made during the heat of the +day; and though it was only some five miles or thereabouts, very +nearly half the men of the cavalry division dropped out. Captain +Llewellen had come back, and led his troop on the march. He carried a +pick and shovel for one of his sick men, and after we reached camp +walked back with a mule to get another trooper who had fallen out from +heat exhaustion. The result was that the captain himself went down and +became exceedingly sick. We at last succeeded in sending him to the +States. I never thought he would live, but he did, and when I met him +again at Montauk Point he had practically entirely recovered. My +orderly, Henry Bardshar, was struck down, and though he ultimately +recovered, he was a mere skeleton, having lost over eighty pounds. + +Yellow fever also broke out in the rear, chiefly among the Cubans. It +never became epidemic, but it caused a perfect panic among some of +our own doctors, and especially in the minds of one or two generals +and of the home authorities. We found that whenever we sent a man to +the rear he was decreed to have yellow fever, whereas, if we kept him +at the front, it always turned out that he had malarial fever, and +after a few days he was back at work again. I doubt if there were ever +more than a dozen genuine cases of yellow fever in the whole cavalry +division; but the authorities at Washington, misled by the reports +they received from one or two of their military and medical advisers +at the front, became panic-struck, and under the influence of their +fears hesitated to bring the army home, lest it might import yellow +fever into the United States. Their panic was absolutely groundless, +as shown by the fact that when brought home not a single case of +yellow fever developed upon American soil. Our real foe was not the +yellow fever at all, but malarial fever, which was not infectious, but +which was certain, if the troops were left throughout the summer in +Cuba, to destroy them, either killing them outright, or weakening them +so that they would have fallen victims to any disease that attacked +them. + +However, for a time our prospects were gloomy, as the Washington +authorities seemed determined that we should stay in Cuba. They +unfortunately knew nothing of the country nor of the circumstances of +the army, and the plans that were from time to time formulated in the +Department (and even by an occasional general or surgeon at the front) +for the management of the army would have been comic if they had not +possessed such tragic possibilities. Thus, at one period it was +proposed that we should shift camp every two or three days. Now, our +transportation, as I have pointed out before, was utterly inadequate. +In theory, under the regulations of the War Department, each regiment +should have had at least twenty-five wagons. As a matter of fact our +regiment often had none, sometimes one, rarely two, and never three; +yet it was better off than any other in the cavalry division. In +consequence it was impossible to carry much of anything save what the +men had on their backs, and half of the men were too weak to walk +three miles with their packs. Whenever we shifted camp the exertion +among the half-sick caused our sick-roll to double next morning, and +it took at least three days, even when the shift was for but a short +distance, before we were able to bring up the officers' luggage, the +hospital spare food, the ammunition, etc. Meanwhile the officers slept +wherever they could, and those men who had not been able to carry +their own bedding, slept as the officers did. In the weak condition of +the men the labor of pitching camp was severe and told heavily upon +them. In short, the scheme of continually shifting camp was impossible +of fulfilment. It would merely have resulted in the early destruction +of the army. + +Again, it was proposed that we should go up the mountains and make our +camps there. The palm and the bamboo grew to the summits of the +mountains, and the soil along their sides was deep and soft, while the +rains were very heavy, much more so than immediately on the coast +--every mile or two inland bringing with it a great increase in the +rainfall. We could, with much difficulty, have got our regiments up +the mountains, but not half the men could have got up with their +belongings; and once there it would have been an impossibility to feed +them. It was all that could be done, with the limited number of wagons +and mule-trains on hand, to feed the men in the existing camps, for +the travel and the rain gradually rendered each road in succession +wholly impassable. To have gone up the mountains would have meant +early starvation. + +The third plan of the Department was even more objectionable than +either of the others. There was, some twenty-five miles in the +interior, what was called a high interior plateau, and at one period +we were informed that we were to be marched thither. As a matter of +fact, this so-called high plateau was the sugar-cane country, where, +during the summer, the rainfall was prodigious. It was a rich, deep +soil, covered with a rank tropic growth, the guinea-grass being higher +than the head of a man on horseback. It was a perfect hotbed of +malaria, and there was no dry ground whatever in which to camp. To +have sent the troops there would have been simple butchery. + +Under these circumstances the alternative to leaving the country +altogether was to stay where we were, with the hope that half the men +would live through to the cool season. We did everything possible to +keep up the spirits of the men, but it was exceedingly difficult +because there was nothing for them to do. They were weak and languid, +and in the wet heat they had lost energy, so that it was not possible +for them to indulge in sports or pastimes. There were exceptions; but +the average man who went off to shoot guinea-hens or tried some +vigorous game always felt much the worse for his exertions. Once or +twice I took some of my comrades with me, and climbed up one or +another of the surrounding mountains, but the result generally was +that half of the party were down with some kind of sickness next day. +It was impossible to take heavy exercise in the heat of the day; the +evening usually saw a rain-storm which made the country a quagmire; +and in the early morning the drenching dew and wet, slimy soil made +walking but little pleasure. Chaplain Brown held service every Sunday +under a low tree outside my tent; and we always had a congregation of +a few score troopers, lying or sitting round, their strong hard faces +turned toward the preacher. I let a few of the men visit Santiago, but +the long walk in and out was very tiring, and, moreover, wise +restrictions had been put as to either officers or men coming in. + +In any event there was very little to do in the quaint, dirty old +Spanish city, though it was interesting to go in once or twice, and +wander through the narrow streets with their curious little shops and +low houses of stained stucco, with elaborately wrought iron trellises +to the windows, and curiously carved balconies; or to sit in the +central plaza where the cathedral was, and the clubs, and the Cafe +Venus, and the low, bare, rambling building which was called the +Governor's Palace. In this palace Wood had now been established as +military governor, and Luna, and two or three of my other officers +from the Mexican border, who knew Spanish, were sent in to do duty +under him. A great many of my men knew Spanish, and some of the New +Mexicans were of Spanish origin, although they behaved precisely like +the other members of the regiment. + +We should probably have spent the summer in our sick camps, losing +half the men and hopelessly shattering the health of the remainder, if +General Shafter had not summoned a council of officers, hoping by +united action of a more or less public character to wake up the +Washington authorities to the actual condition of things. As all the +Spanish forces in the province of Santiago had surrendered, and as +so-called immune regiments were coming to garrison the conquered +territory, there was literally not one thing of any kind whatsoever +for the army to do, and no purpose to serve by keeping it at Santiago. +We did not suppose that peace was at hand, being ignorant of the +negotiations. We were anxious to take part in the Porto Rico campaign, +and would have been more than willing to suffer any amount of +sickness, if by so doing we could get into action. But if we were not +to take part in the Porto Rico campaign, then we knew it was +absolutely indispensable to get our commands north immediately, if +they were to be in trim for the great campaign against Havana, which +would surely be the main event of the winter if peace were not +declared in advance. + +Our army included the great majority of the regulars, and was, +therefore, the flower of the American force. It was on every account +imperative to keep it in good trim; and to keep it in Santiago meant +its entirely purposeless destruction. As soon as the surrender was an +accomplished fact, the taking away of the army to the north should +have begun. + +Every officer, from the highest to the lowest, especially among the +regulars, realized all of this, and about the last day of July, +General Shafter called a conference, in the palace, of all the +division and brigade commanders. By this time, owing to Wood's having +been made Governor-General, I was in command of my brigade, so I went +to the conference too, riding in with Generals Sumner and Wheeler, who +were the other representatives of the cavalry division. Besides the +line officers all the chief medical officers were present at the +conference. The telegrams from the Secretary stating the position of +himself and the Surgeon-General were read, and then almost every line +and medical officer present expressed his views in turn. They were +almost all regulars and had been brought up to life-long habits of +obedience without protest. They were ready to obey still, but they +felt, quite rightly, that it was their duty to protest rather than to +see the flower of the United States forces destroyed as the +culminating act of a campaign in which the blunders that had been +committed had been retrieved only by the valor and splendid soldierly +qualities of the officers and enlisted men of the infantry and +dismounted cavalry. There was not a dissenting voice; for there could +not be. There was but one side to the question. To talk of continually +shifting camp or of moving up the mountains or of moving into the +interior was idle, for not one of the plans could be carried out with +our utterly insufficient transportation, and at that season and in +that climate they would merely have resulted in aggravating the +sickliness of the soldiers. It was deemed best to make some record of +our opinion, in the shape of a letter or report, which would show that +to keep the army in Santiago meant its absolute and objectless ruin, +and that it should at once be recalled. At first there was naturally +some hesitation on the part of the regular officers to take the +initiative, for their entire future career might be sacrificed. So I +wrote a letter to General Shafter, reading over the rough draft to the +various Generals and adopting their corrections. Before I had finished +making these corrections it was determined that we should send a +circular letter on behalf of all of us to General Shafter, and when I +returned from presenting him mine, I found this circular letter +already prepared and we all of us signed it. Both letters were made +public. The result was immediate. Within three days the army was +ordered to be ready to sail for home. + +As soon as it was known that we were to sail for home the spirits of +the men changed for the better. In my regiment the officers began to +plan methods of drilling the men on horseback, so as to fit them for +use against the Spanish cavalry, if we should go against Havana in +December. We had, all of us, eyed the captured Spanish cavalry with +particular interest. The men were small, and the horses, though well +trained and well built, were diminutive ponies, very much smaller than +cow ponies. We were certain that if we ever got a chance to try shock +tactics against them they would go down like nine-pins, provided only +that our men could be trained to charge in any kind of line, and we +made up our minds to devote our time to this. Dismounted work with the +rifle we already felt thoroughly competent to perform. + +My time was still much occupied with looking after the health of my +brigade, but the fact that we were going home, where I knew that their +health would improve, lightened my mind, and I was able thoroughly to +enjoy the beauty of the country, and even of the storms, which +hitherto I had regarded purely as enemies. + +The surroundings of the city of Santiago are very grand. The +circling mountains rise sheer and high. The plains are threaded by +rapid winding brooks and are dotted here and there with quaint +villages, curiously picturesque from their combining traces of an +outworn old-world civilization with new and raw barbarism. The tall, +graceful, feathery bamboos rise by the water's edge, and elsewhere, +even on the mountain-crests, where the soil is wet and rank enough; +and the splendid royal palms and cocoanut palms tower high above the +matted green jungle. + +Generally the thunder-storms came in the afternoon, but once I saw +one at sunrise, driving down the high mountain valleys toward us. It +was a very beautiful and almost terrible sight; for the sun rose +behind the storm, and shone through the gusty rifts, lighting the +mountain-crests here and there, while the plain below lay shrouded in +the lingering night. The angry, level rays edged the dark clouds with +crimson, and turned the downpour into sheets of golden rain; in the +valleys the glimmering mists were tinted every wild hue; and the +remotest heavens were lit with flaming glory. + +One day General Lawton, General Wood and I, with Ferguson and poor +Tiffany, went down the bay to visit Morro Castle. The shores were +beautiful, especially where there were groves of palms and of the +scarlet-flower tree, and the castle itself, on a jutting headland, +overlooking the sea and guarding the deep, narrow entrance to the bay, +showed just what it was, the splendid relic of a vanished power and a +vanished age. We wandered all through it, among the castellated +battlements, and in the dungeons, where we found hideous rusty +implements of torture; and looked at the guns, some modern and some +very old. It had been little hurt by the bombardment of the ships. +Afterward I had a swim, not trusting much to the shark stories. We +passed by the sunken hulks of the Merrimac and the Reina Mercedes, +lying just outside the main channel. Our own people had tried to sink +the first and the Spaniards had tried to sink the second, so as to +block the entrance. Neither attempt was successful. + +On August 6th we were ordered to embark, and next morning we sailed +on the transport Miami. General Wheeler was with us and a squadron of +the Third Cavalry under Major Jackson. The General put the policing +and management of the ship into my hands, and I had great aid from +Captain McCormick, who had been acting with me as adjutant-general of +the brigade. I had profited by my experience coming down, and as Dr. +Church knew his work well, although he was very sick, we kept the ship +in such good sanitary condition, that we were one of the very few +organizations allowed to land at Montauk immediately upon our arrival. + +Soon after leaving port the captain of the ship notified me that his +stokers and engineers were insubordinate and drunken, due, he thought, +to liquor which my men had given them. I at once started a search of +the ship, explaining to the men that they could not keep the liquor; +that if they surrendered whatever they had to me I should return it to +them when we went ashore; and that meanwhile I would allow the sick to +drink when they really needed it; but that if they did not give the +liquor to me of their own accord I would throw it overboard. About +seventy flasks and bottles were handed to me, and I found and threw +overboard about twenty. This at once put a stop to all drunkenness. +The stokers and engineers were sullen and half mutinous, so I sent a +detail of my men down to watch them and see that they did their work +under the orders of the chief engineer; and we reduced them to +obedience in short order. I could easily have drawn from the regiment +sufficient skilled men to fill every position in the entire ship's +crew, from captain to stoker. + +We were very much crowded on board the ship, but rather better off +than on the Yucatan, so far as the men were concerned, which was the +important point. All the officers except General Wheeler slept in a +kind of improvised shed, not unlike a chicken coop with bunks, on the +aftermost part of the upper deck. The water was bad--some of it very +bad. There was no ice. The canned beef proved practically uneatable, +as we knew would be the case. There were not enough vegetables. We did +not have enough disinfectants, and there was no provision whatever for +a hospital or for isolating the sick; we simply put them on one +portion of one deck. If, as so many of the high authorities had +insisted, there had really been a yellow-fever epidemic, and if it had +broken out on shipboard, the condition would have been frightful; but +there was no yellow-fever epidemic. Three of our men had been kept +behind as suspects, all three suffering simply from malarial fever. +One of them, Lutz, a particularly good soldier, died; another, who was +simply a malingerer and had nothing the matter with him whatever, of +course recovered; the third was Tiffany, who, I believe, would have +lived had we been allowed to take him with us, but who was sent home +later and died soon after landing. + +I was very anxious to keep the men amused, and as the quarters were +so crowded that it was out of the question for them to have any +physical exercise, I did not interfere with their playing games of +chance so long as no disorder followed. On shore this was not allowed; +but in the particular emergency which we were meeting, the loss of a +month's salary was as nothing compared to keeping the men thoroughly +interested and diverted. + +By care and diligence we succeeded in preventing any serious +sickness. One man died, however. He had been suffering from dysentery +ever since we landed, owing purely to his own fault, for on the very +first night ashore he obtained a lot of fiery liquor from some of the +Cubans, got very drunk, and had to march next day through the hot sun +before he was entirely sober. He never recovered, and was useless from +that time on. On board ship he died, and we gave him sea burial. +Wrapped in a hammock, he was placed opposite a port, and the American +flag thrown over him. The engine was stilled, and the great ship +rocked on the waves unshaken by the screw, while the war-worn troopers +clustered around with bare heads, to listen to Chaplain Brown read the +funeral service, and to the band of the Third Cavalry as it played the +funeral dirge. Then the port was knocked free, the flag withdrawn, and +the shotted hammock plunged heavily over the side, rushing down +through the dark water to lie, till the Judgment Day, in the ooze that +holds the timbers of so many gallant ships, and the bones of so many +fearless adventurers. + +We were favored by good weather during our nine days' voyage, and +much of the time when there was little to do we simply sat together +and talked, each man contributing from the fund of his own +experiences. Voyages around Cape Horn, yacht races for the America's +cup, experiences on foot-ball teams which are famous in the annals of +college sport; more serious feats of desperate prowess in Indian +fighting and in breaking up gangs of white outlaws; adventures in +hunting big game, in breaking wild horses, in tending great herds of +cattle, and in wandering winter and summer among the mountains and +across the lonely plains--the men who told the tales could draw upon +countless memories such as these of the things they had done and the +things they had seen others do. Sometimes General Wheeler joined us +and told us about the great war, compared with which ours was such a +small war--far-reaching in their importance though its effects were +destined to be. When we had become convinced that we would escape an +epidemic of sickness the homeward voyage became very pleasant. + +On the eve of leaving Santiago I had received from Mr. Laffan of the +Sun, a cable with the single word "Peace," and we speculated much on +this, as the clumsy transport steamed slowly northward across the +trade wind and then into the Gulf Stream. At last we sighted the low, +sandy bluffs of the Long Island coast, and late on the afternoon of +the 14th we steamed through the still waters of the Sound and cast +anchor off Montauk. A gun-boat of the Mosquito fleet came out to greet +us and to inform us that peace negotiations had begun. + +Next morning we were marched on shore. Many of the men were very sick +indeed. Of the three or four who had been closest to me among the +enlisted men, Color-Sergeant Wright was the only one in good health. +Henry Bardshar was a wreck, literally at death's door. I was myself in +first-class health, all the better for having lost twenty pounds. +Faithful Marshall, my colored body-servant, was so sick as to be +nearly helpless. + +Bob Wrenn nearly died. He had joined us very late and we could not +get him a Krag carbine; so I had given him my Winchester, which +carried the government cartridge; and when he was mustered out he +carried it home in triumph, to the envy of his fellows, who themselves +had to surrender their beloved rifles. + +For the first few days there was great confusion and some want even +after we got to Montauk. The men in hospitals suffered from lack of +almost everything, even cots. But after these few days we were very +well cared for and had abundance of all we needed, except that on +several occasions there was a shortage of food for the horses, which I +should have regarded as even more serious than a shortage for the men, +had it not been that we were about to be disbanded. The men lived +high, with milk, eggs, oranges, and any amount of tobacco, the lack of +which during portions of the Cuban campaign had been felt as seriously +as any lack of food. One of the distressing features of the malarial +fever which had been ravaging the troops was that it was recurrent and +persistent. Some of my men died after reaching home, and many were +very sick. We owed much to the kindness not only of the New York +hospitals and the Red Cross and kindred societies, but of individuals, +notably Mr. Bayard Cutting and Mrs. Armitage, who took many of our men +to their beautiful Long Island homes. + +On the whole, however, the month we spent at Montauk before we +disbanded was very pleasant. It was good to meet the rest of the +regiment. They all felt dreadfully at not having been in Cuba. It was +a sore trial to men who had given up much to go to the war, and who +rebelled at nothing in the way of hardship or suffering, but who did +bitterly feel the fact that their sacrifices seemed to have been +useless. Of course those who stayed had done their duty precisely as +did those who went, for the question of glory was not to be considered +in comparison to the faithful performance of whatever was ordered; and +no distinction of any kind was allowed in the regiment between those +whose good fortune it had been to go and those whose harder fate it +had been to remain. Nevertheless the latter could not be entirely +comforted. + +The regiment had three mascots; the two most characteristic--a young +mountain lion brought by the Arizona troops, and a war eagle brought +by the New Mexicans--we had been forced to leave behind in Tampa. The +third, a rather disreputable but exceedingly knowing little dog named +Cuba, had accompanied us through all the vicissitudes of the campaign. +The mountain lion, Josephine, possessed an infernal temper; whereas +both Cuba and the eagle, which have been named in my honor, were +extremely good-humored. Josephine was kept tied up. She sometimes +escaped. One cool night in early September she wandered off and, +entering the tent of a Third Cavalry man, got into bed with him; +whereupon he fled into the darkness with yells, much more unnerved +than he would have been by the arrival of any number of Spaniards. The +eagle was let loose and not only walked at will up and down the +company streets, but also at times flew wherever he wished. He was a +young bird, having been taken out of his nest when a fledgling. +Josephine hated him and was always trying to make a meal of him, +especially when we endeavored to take their photographs together. The +eagle, though good-natured, was an entirely competent individual and +ready at any moment to beat Josephine off. Cuba was also oppressed at +times by Josephine, and was of course no match for her, but was +frequently able to overawe by simple decision of character. + +In addition to the animal mascots, we had two or three small boys who +had also been adopted by the regiment. One, from Tennessee, was named +Dabney Royster. When we embarked at Tampa he smuggled himself on +board the transport with a 22-calibre rifle and three boxes of +cartridges, and wept bitterly when sent ashore. The squadron which +remained behind adopted him, got him a little Rough Rider's uniform, +and made him practically one of the regiment. + +The men who had remained at Tampa, like ourselves, had suffered much +from fever, and the horses were in bad shape. So many of the men were +sick that none of the regiments began to drill for some time after +reaching Montauk. There was a great deal of paper-work to be done; but +as I still had charge of the brigade only a little of it fell on my +shoulders. Of this I was sincerely glad, for I knew as little of the +paper-work as my men had originally known of drill. We had all of us +learned how to fight and march; but the exact limits of our rights and +duties in other respects were not very clearly defined in our minds; +and as for myself, as I had not had the time to learn exactly what +they were, I had assumed a large authority in giving rewards and +punishments. In particular I had looked on court-martials much as +Peter Bell looked on primroses--they were court-martials and nothing +more, whether resting on the authority of a lieutenant-colonel or of a +major-general. The mustering-out officer, a thorough soldier, found to +his horror that I had used the widest discretion both in imposing +heavy sentences which I had no power to impose on men who shirked +their duties, and, where men atoned for misconduct by marked +gallantry, in blandly remitting sentences approved by my chief of +division. However, I had done substantial, even though somewhat rude +and irregular, justice--and no harm could result, as we were just about +to be mustered out. + +My chief duties were to see that the camps of the three regiments +were thoroughly policed and kept in first-class sanitary condition. +This took up some time, of course, and there were other matters in +connection with the mustering out which had to be attended to; but I +could always get two or three hours a day free from work. Then I would +summon a number of the officers, Kane, Greenway, Goodrich, Church, +Ferguson, McIlhenny, Frantz, Ballard and others, and we would gallop +down to the beach and bathe in the surf, or else go for long rides +over the beautiful rolling plains, thickly studded with pools which +were white with water-lilies. Sometimes I went off alone with my +orderly, young Gordon Johnston, one of the best men in the regiment; +he was a nephew of the Governor of Alabama, and when at Princeton had +played on the eleven. We had plenty of horses, and these rides were +most enjoyable. Galloping over the open, rolling country, through the +cool fall evenings, made us feel as if we were out on the great +Western plains and might at any moment start deer from the brush, or +see antelope stand and gaze, far away, or rouse a band of mighty elk +and hear their horns clatter as they fled. + +An old friend, Baron von Sternberg, of the German Embassy, spent a +week in camp with me. He had served, when only seventeen, in the +Franco-Prussian War as a hussar, and was a noted sharp-shooter--being +"the little baron" who is the hero of Archibald Forbes's true story of +"The Pig-dog." He and I had for years talked over the possibilities of +just such a regiment as the one I was commanding, and he was greatly +interested in it. Indeed I had vainly sought permission from the +German ambassador to take him with the regiment to Santiago. + +One Sunday before the regiment disbanded I supplemented Chaplain +Brown's address to the men by a short sermon of a rather hortatory +character. I told them how proud I was of them, but warned them not to +think that they could now go back and rest on their laurels, bidding +them remember that though for ten days or so the world would be +willing to treat them as heroes, yet after that time they would find +they had to get down to hard work just like everyone else, unless they +were willing to be regarded as worthless do-nothings. They took the +sermon in good part, and I hope that some of them profited by it. At +any rate, they repaid me by a very much more tangible expression of +affection. One afternoon, to my genuine surprise, I was asked out of +my tent by Lieutenant-Colonel Brodie (the gallant old boy had rejoined +us), and found the whole regiment formed in hollow square, with the +officers and color-sergeant in the middle. When I went in, one of the +troopers came forward and on behalf of the regiment presented me with +Remington's fine bronze, "The Bronco-buster." There could have been no +more appropriate gift from such a regiment, and I was not only pleased +with it, but very deeply touched with the feeling which made them join +in giving it. Afterward they all filed past and I shook the hands of +each to say good-by. + +Most of them looked upon the bronze with the critical eyes of +professionals. I doubt if there was any regiment in the world which +contained so large a number of men able to ride the wildest and most +dangerous horses. One day while at Montauk Point some of the troopers +of the Third Cavalry were getting ready for mounted drill when one of +their horses escaped, having thrown his rider. This attracted the +attention of some of our men and they strolled around to see the +trooper remount. He was instantly thrown again, the horse, a huge, +vicious sorrel, being one of the worst buckers I ever saw; and none of +his comrades were willing to ride the animal. Our men, of course, +jeered and mocked at them, and in response were dared to ride the +horse themselves. The challenge was instantly accepted, the only +question being as to which of a dozen noted bronco-busters who were in +the ranks should undertake the task. They finally settled on a man +named Darnell. It was agreed that the experiment should take place +next day when the horse would be fresh, and accordingly next day the +majority of both regiments turned out on a big open flat in front of +my tent--brigade head-quarters. The result was that, after as fine a +bit of rough riding as one would care to see, in which one scarcely +knew whether most to wonder at the extraordinary viciousness and agile +strength of the horse or at the horsemanship and courage of the rider, +Darnell came off victorious, his seat never having been shaken. After +this almost every day we had exhibitions of bronco-busting, in which +all the crack riders of the regiment vied with one another, riding not +only all of our own bad horses but any horse which was deemed bad in +any of the other regiments. + +Darnell, McGinty, Wood, Smoky Moore, and a score of others took part +in these exhibitions, which included not merely feats in mastering +vicious horses, but also feats of broken horses which the riders had +trained to lie down at command, and upon which they could mount while +at full speed. + +Toward the end of the time we also had mounted drill on two or three +occasions; and when the President visited the camp we turned out +mounted to receive him as did the rest of the cavalry. The last night +before we were mustered out was spent in noisy, but entirely harmless +hilarity, which I ignored. Every form of celebration took place in the +ranks. A former Populist candidate for Attorney-General in Colorado +delivered a fervent oration in favor of free silver; a number of the +college boys sang; but most of the men gave vent to their feelings by +improvised dances. In these the Indians took the lead, pure bloods and +half-breeds alike, the cowboys and miners cheerfully joining in and +forming part of the howling, grunting rings, that went bounding around +the great fires they had kindled. + +Next morning Sergeant Wright took down the colors, and Sergeant +Guitilias the standard, for the last time; the horses, the rifles, and +the rest of the regimental property had been turned in; officers and +men shook hands and said good-by to one another, and then they +scattered to their homes in the North and the South, the few going +back to the great cities of the East, the many turning again toward +the plains, the mountains, and the deserts of the West and the strange +Southwest. This was on September 15th, the day which marked the close +of the four months' life of a regiment of as gallant fighters as ever +wore the United States uniform. + +The regiment was a wholly exceptional volunteer organization, and its +career cannot be taken as in any way a justification for the belief +that the average volunteer regiment approaches the average regular +regiment in point of efficiency until it has had many months of +active service. In the first place, though the regular regiments may +differ markedly among themselves, yet the range of variation among +them is nothing like so wide as that among volunteer regiments, where +at first there is no common standard at all; the very best being, +perhaps, up to the level of the regulars (as has recently been shown +at Manila), while the very worst are no better than mobs, and the +great bulk come in between.* The average regular regiment is superior +to the average volunteer regiment in the physique of the enlisted men, +who have been very carefully selected, who have been trained to life +in the open, and who know how to cook and take care of themselves +generally. + + * Note: For sound common-sense about the volunteers see Parker's + excellent little book, "The Gatlings at Santiago." + +Now, in all these respects, and in others like them, the Rough Riders +were the equals of the regulars. They were hardy, self-reliant, +accustomed to shift for themselves in the open under very adverse +circumstances. The two all-important qualifications for a cavalryman, +are riding and shooting--the modern cavalryman being so often used +dismounted, as an infantryman. The average recruit requires a couple +of years before he becomes proficient in horsemanship and +marksmanship; but my men were already good shots and first-class +riders when they came into the regiment. The difference as regards +officers and non-commissioned officers, between regulars and +volunteers, is usually very great; but in my regiment (keeping in view +the material we had to handle), it was easy to develop +non-commissioned officers out of men who had been round-up foremen, +ranch foremen, mining bosses, and the like. These men were intelligent +and resolute; they knew they had a great deal to learn, and they set +to work to learn it; while they were already accustomed to managing +considerable interests, to obeying orders, and to taking care of +others as well as themselves. + +As for the officers, the great point in our favor was the anxiety +they showed to learn from those among their number who, like Capron, +had already served in the regular army; and the fact that we had +chosen a regular army man as Colonel. If a volunteer organization +consists of good material, and is eager to learn, it can readily do so +if it has one or two first-class regular officers to teach it. +Moreover, most of our captains and lieutenants were men who had seen +much of wild life, who were accustomed to handling and commanding +other men, and who had usually already been under fire as sheriffs, +marshals, and the like. As for the second in command, myself, I had +served three years as captain in the National Guard; I had been deputy +sheriff in the cow country, where the position was not a sinecure; I +was accustomed to big game hunting and to work on a cow ranch, so that +I was thoroughly familiar with the use both of horse and rifle, and +knew how to handle cowboys, hunters, and miners; finally, I had +studied much in the literature of war, and especially the literature +of the great modern wars, like our own Civil War, the Franco-German +War, the Turco-Russian War; and I was especially familiar with the +deeds, the successes and failures alike, of the frontier horse +riflemen who had fought at King's Mountain and the Thames, and on the +Mexican border. Finally, and most important of all, officers and men +alike were eager for fighting, and resolute to do well and behave +properly, to encounter hardship and privation, and the irksome +monotony of camp routine, without grumbling or complaining; they had +counted the cost before they went in, and were delighted to pay the +penalties inevitably attendant upon the career of a fighting regiment; +and from the moment when the regiment began to gather, the higher +officers kept instilling into those under them the spirit of eagerness +for action and of stern determination to grasp at death rather than +forfeit honor. + +The self-reliant spirit of the men was well shown after they left +the regiment. Of course, there were a few weaklings among them; and +there were others, entirely brave and normally self-sufficient, who, +from wounds or fevers, were so reduced that they had to apply for +aid--or at least, who deserved aid, even though they often could only +be persuaded with the greatest difficulty to accept it. The widows and +orphans had to be taken care of. There were a few light-hearted +individuals, who were entirely ready to fight in time of war, but in +time of peace felt that somebody ought to take care of them; and there +were others who, never having seen any aggregation of buildings larger +than an ordinary cow-town, fell a victim to the fascinations of New +York. But, as a whole, they scattered out to their homes on the +disbandment of the regiment; gaunter than when they had enlisted, +sometimes weakened by fever or wounds, but just as full as ever of +sullen, sturdy capacity for self-help; scorning to ask for aid, save +what was entirely legitimate in the way of one comrade giving help to +another. A number of the examining surgeons, at the muster-out, spoke +to me with admiration of the contrast offered by our regiment to so +many others, in the fact that our men always belittled their own +bodily injuries and sufferings; so that whereas the surgeons +ordinarily had to be on the look-out lest a man who was not really +disabled should claim to be so, in our case they had to adopt exactly +the opposite attitude and guard the future interests of the men, by +insisting upon putting upon their certificates of discharge whatever +disease they had contracted or wound they had received in line of +duty. Major J. H. Calef, who had more than any other one man to do +with seeing to the proper discharge papers of our men, and who took a +most generous interest in them, wrote me as follows: "I also wish to +bring to your notice the fortitude displayed by the men of your +regiment, who have come before me to be mustered out of service, in +making their personal declarations as to their physical conditions. +Men who bore on their faces and in their forms the traces of long days +of illness, indicating wrecked constitutions, declared that nothing +was the matter with them, at the same time disclaiming any intention +of applying for a pension. It was exceptionally heroic." + +When we were mustered out, many of the men had lost their jobs, and +were too weak to go to work at once, while there were helpless +dependents of the dead to care for. Certain of my friends, August +Belmont, Stanley and Richard Mortimer, Major Austin Wadsworth--himself +fresh from the Manila campaign--Belmont Tiffany, and others, gave me +sums of money to be used for helping these men. In some instances, by +the exercise of a good deal of tact and by treating the gift as a +memorial of poor young Lieutenant Tiffany, we got the men to accept +something; and, of course, there were a number who, quite rightly, +made no difficulty about accepting. But most of the men would accept +no help whatever. In the first chapter, I spoke of a lady, a teacher +in an academy in the Indian Territory, three or four of whose pupils +had come into my regiment, and who had sent with them a letter of +introduction to me. When the regiment disbanded, I wrote to her to ask +if she could not use a little money among the Rough Riders, white, +Indian, and half-breed, that she might personally know. I did not hear +from her for some time, and then she wrote as follows: + + + "MUSCOGEE, IND. TER., + "December 19, 1898. + + "MY DEAR COLONEL ROOSEVELT: I did not at once reply to your letter + of September 23rd, because I waited for a time to see if there should + be need among any of our Rough Riders of the money you so kindly + offered. Some of the boys are poor, and in one or two cases they + seemed to me really needy, but they all said no. More than once I saw + the tears come to their eyes, at thought of your care for them, as I + told them of your letter. Did you hear any echoes of our Indian + war-whoops over your election? They were pretty loud. I was + particularly exultant, because my father was a New Yorker and I was + educated in New York, even if I was born here. So far as I can learn, + the boys are taking up the dropped threads of their lives, as though + they had never been away. Our two Rough Rider students, Meagher and + Gilmore, are doing well in their college work. + + "I am sorry to tell you of the death of one of your most devoted + troopers, Bert Holderman, who was here serving on the Grand Jury. He + was stricken with meningitis in the jury-room, and died after three + days of delirium. His father, who was twice wounded, four times + taken prisoner, and fought in thirty-two battles of the civil war, + now old and feeble, survives him, and it was indeed pathetic to see + his grief. Bert's mother, who is a Cherokee, was raised in my + grandfather's family. The words of commendation which you wrote upon + Bert's discharge are the greatest comfort to his friends. They wanted + you to know of his death, because he loved you so. + + "I am planning to entertain all the Rough Riders in this vicinity + some evening during my holiday vacation. I mean to have no other + guests, but only give them an opportunity for reminiscences. I regret + that Bert's death makes one less. I had hoped to have them sooner, + but our struggling young college salaries are necessarily small and + duties arduous. I make a home for my widowed mother and an adopted + Indian daughter, who is in school; and as I do the cooking for a + family of five, I have found it impossible to do many things I would + like to. + + "Pardon me for burdening you with these details, but I suppose I am + like your boys, who say, 'The Colonel was always as ready to listen + to a private as to a major-general.' + + "Wishing you and yours the very best gifts the season can bring, I am, + + "Very truly yours, + "ALICE M. ROBERTSON." + + +Is it any wonder that I loved my regiment? + + + + APPENDIX A + + MUSTER-OUT ROLL + +[Owing to the circumstances of the regiment's service, the paperwork +was very difficult to perform. This muster-out roll is very defective +in certain points, notably in the enumeration of the wounded who had +been able to return to duty. Some of the dead are also undoubtedly +passed over. Thus I have put in Race Smith, Sanders, and Tiffany as +dead, correcting the rolls; but there are doubtless a number of +similar corrections which should be made but have not been, as the +regiment is now scattered far and wide. I have also corrected the +record for the wounded men in one or two places where I happen to +remember it; but there are a number of the wounded, especially the +slightly wounded, who are not down at all.] + + FIELD, STAFF, AND BAND COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT + TROOP A CAPTAIN FRANK FRANTZ + TROOP B CAPTAIN JAMES H. MCCLINTOCK + TROOP C CAPTAIN JOSEPH L. B. ALEXANDER + TROOP D CAPTAIN R. B. HUSTON + TROOP E CAPTAIN FREDERICK MULLER + TROOP F CAPTAIN MAXIMILIAN LUNA + TROOP G CAPTAIN WILLIAM H. H. LLEWELLEN + TROOP H CAPTAIN GEORGE CURRY + TROOP I CAPTAIN SCHUYLER A. MCGINNIS + TROOP K CAPTAIN WOODBURY KANE + TROOP L CAPTAIN RICHARD C. DAY + TROOP M CAPTAIN ROBERT H. BRUCE + +As said above, this is not a complete list of the wounded, or even of +the dead, among the troopers. Moreover, a number of officers and men +died from fever soon after the regiment was mustered out. Twenty-eight +field and line officers landed in Cuba on June 22nd; ten of them were +killed or wounded during the nine days following. Of the five +regiments of regular cavalry in the division, one, the Tenth, lost +eleven officers; none of the others lost more than six. The loss of +the Rough Riders in enlisted men was heavier than that of any other +regiment in the cavalry division. Of the nine infantry regiments in +Kent's division, one, the Sixth, lost eleven officers; none of the +others as many as we did. None of the nine suffered as heavy a loss in +enlisted men, as they were not engaged at Las Guasimas. + +No other regiment in the Spanish-American War suffered as heavy a loss +As the First United States Volunteer Cavalry. + + + + APPENDIX B + + COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S REPORT TO THE + SECRETARY OF WAR OF SEPTEMBER 10th + +[Before it was sent, this letter was read to and approved by every +officer of the regiment who had served through the Santiago campaign.] + +[Copy.] + + +CAMP WIKOFF, September 10, 1898. + +TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR. + +SIR: In answer to the circular issued by command of Major-General +Shafter under date of September 8, 1898, containing a request for +information by the Adjutant-General of September 7th, I have the +honor to report as follows: + +I am a little in doubt whether the fact that on certain occasions my +regiment suffered for food, etc., should be put down to an actual +shortage of supplies or to general defects in the system of +administration. Thus, when the regiment arrived in Tampa after a four +days' journey by cars from its camp at San Antonio, it received no +food whatever for twenty-four hours, and as the travel rations had +been completely exhausted, food for several of the troops was +purchased by their officers, who, of course, have not been reimbursed +by the Government. In the same way we were short one or two meals at +the time of embarking at Port Tampa on the transport; but this I think +was due, not to a failure in the quantity of supplies, but to the lack +of system in embarkation. + +As with the other regiments, no information was given in advance what +transports we should take, or how we should proceed to get aboard, nor +did anyone exercise any supervision over the embarkation. Each +regimental commander, so far as I know, was left to find out as best +he could, after he was down at the dock, what transport had not been +taken, and then to get his regiment aboard it, if he was able, before +some other regiment got it. Our regiment was told to go to a certain +switch, and take a train for Port Tampa at twelve o'clock, midnight. +The train never came. After three hours of waiting we were sent to +another switch, and finally at six o'clock in the morning got +possession of some coal-cars and came down in them. When we reached +the quay where the embarkation was proceeding, everything was in utter +confusion. The quay was piled with stores and swarming with thousands +of men of different regiments, besides onlookers, etc. The commanding +General, when we at last found him, told Colonel Wood and myself that +he did not know what ship we were to embark on, and that we must find +Colonel Humphrey, the Quartermaster-General. Colonel Humphrey was not +in his office, and nobody knew where he was. The commanders of the +different regiments were busy trying to find him, while their troops +waited in the trains, so as to discover the ships to which they were +allotted--some of these ships being at the dock and some in mid-stream. +After a couple of hours' search, Colonel Wood found Colonel Humphrey +and was allotted a ship. Immediately afterward I found that it had +already been allotted to two other regiments. It was then coming to +the dock. Colonel Wood boarded it in mid-stream to keep possession, +while I double-quicked the men down from the cars and got there just +ahead of the other two regiments. One of these regiments, I was +afterward informed, spent the next thirty-six hours in cars in +consequence. We suffered nothing beyond the loss of a couple of meals, +which, it seems to me, can hardly be put down to any failure in the +quantity of supplies furnished to the troops. + +We were two weeks on the troop-ship Yucatan, and as we were given +twelve days' travel rations, we of course fell short toward the end of +the trip, but eked things out with some of our field rations and troop +stuff. The quality of the travel rations given to us was good, except +in the important item of meat. The canned roast beef is worse than a +failure as part of the rations, for in effect it amounts to reducing +the rations by just so much, as a great majority of the men find it +uneatable. It was coarse, stringy, tasteless, and very disagreeable in +appearance, and so unpalatable that the effort to eat it made some of +the men sick. Most of the men preferred to be hungry rather than eat +it. If cooked in a stew with plenty of onions and potatoes--i.e., if +only one ingredient in a dish with other more savory ingredients--it +could be eaten, especially if well salted and peppered; but, as usual +(what I regard as a great mistake), no salt was issued with the travel +rations, and of course no potatoes and onions. There were no cooking +facilities on the transport. When the men obtained any, it was by +bribing the cook. Toward the last, when they began to draw on the +field rations, they had to eat the bacon raw. On the return trip the +same difficulty in rations obtained.--i.e., the rations were short +because the men could not eat the canned roast beef, and had no salt. +We purchased of the ship's supplies some flour and pork and a little +rice for the men, so as to relieve the shortage as much as possible, +and individual sick men were helped from private sources by officers, +who themselves ate what they had purchased in Santiago. As nine-tenths +of the men were more or less sick, the unattractiveness of the travel +rations was doubly unfortunate. It would have been an excellent thing +for their health if we could have had onions and potatoes, and means +for cooking them. Moreover, the water was very bad, and sometimes a +cask was struck that was positively undrinkable. The lack of ice for +the weak and sickly men was very much felt. Fortunately there was no +epidemic, for there was not a place on the ship where patients could +have been isolated. + +During the month following the landing of the army in Cuba the +food-supplies were generally short in quantity, and in quality were +never such as were best suited to men undergoing severe hardships and +great exposure in an unhealthy tropical climate. The rations were, I +understand, the same as those used in the Klondike. In this +connection, I call especial attention to the report of Captain Brown, +made by my orders when I was Brigade-Commander, and herewith appended. +I also call attention to the report of my own Quartermaster. Usually +we received full rations of bacon and hardtack. The hardtack, however, +was often mouldy, so that parts of cases, and even whole cases, could +not be used. The bacon was usually good. But bacon and hardtack make +poor food for men toiling and fighting in trenches under the midsummer +sun of the tropics. The ration of coffee was often short, and that of +sugar generally so; we rarely got any vegetables. Under these +circumstances the men lost strength steadily, and as the fever +speedily attacked them, they suffered from being reduced to a bacon +and hardtack diet. So much did the shortage of proper food tell upon +their health that again and again officers were compelled to draw upon +their private purses, or upon the Red Cross Society, to make good the +deficiency of the Government supply. Again and again we sent down +improvised pack-trains composed of officers' horses, of captured +Spanish cavalry ponies, or of mules which had been shot or abandoned +but were cured by our men. These expeditions--sometimes under the +Chaplain, sometimes under the Quartermaster, sometimes under myself, +and occasionally under a trooper--would go to the sea-coast or to the +Red Cross head-quarters, or, after the surrender, into the city of +Santiago, to get food both for the well and the sick. The Red Cross +Society rendered invaluable aid. For example, on one of these +expeditions I personally brought up 600 pounds of beans; on another +occasion I personally brought up 500 pounds of rice, 800 pounds of +cornmeal, 200 pounds of sugar, 100 pounds of tea, 100 pounds of +oatmeal, 5 barrels of potatoes, and two of onions, with cases of +canned soup and condensed milk for the sick in hospitals. Every scrap +of the food thus brought up was eaten with avidity by the soldiers, +and put new heart and strength into them. It was only our constant +care of the men in this way that enabled us to keep them in any trim +at all. As for the sick in the hospital, unless we were able from +outside sources to get them such simple delicacies as rice and +condensed milk, they usually had the alternative of eating salt pork +and hardtack or going without. After each fight we got a good deal of +food from the Spanish camps in the way of beans, peas, and rice, +together with green coffee, all of which the men used and relished +greatly. In some respects the Spanish rations were preferable to ours, +notably in the use of rice. After we had been ashore a month the +supplies began to come in in abundance, and we then fared very well. +Up to that time the men were under-fed, during the very weeks when the +heaviest drain was being made upon their vitality, and the deficiency +was only partially supplied through the aid of the Red Cross, and out +of the officers' pockets and the pockets of various New York friends +who sent us money. Before, during, and immediately after the fights of +June 24th and July 1st, we were very short of even the bacon and +hardtack. About July 14th, when the heavy rains interrupted +communication, we were threatened with famine, as we were informed +that there was not a day's supply of provisions in advance nearer than +the sea-coast; and another twenty-four hours' rain would have resulted +in a complete break-down of communications, so that for several days +we should have been reduced to a diet of mule-meat and mangos. At this +time, in anticipation of such a contingency, by foraging and hoarding +we got a little ahead, so that when our supplies were cut down for a +day or two we did not suffer much, and were even able to furnish a +little aid to the less fortunate First Illinois Regiment, which was +camped next to us. Members of the Illinois Regiment were offering our +men $1 apiece for hardtacks. + +I wish to bear testimony to the energy and capacity of Colonel +Weston, the Commissary-General with the expedition. If it had not been +for his active aid, we should have fared worse than we did. All that +he could do for us, he most cheerfully did. + +As regards the clothing, I have to say: As to the first issue, the +blue shirts were excellent of their kind, but altogether too hot for +Cuba. They are just what I used to wear in Montana. The leggings were +good; the shoes were very good; the undershirts not very good, and the +drawers bad--being of heavy, thick canton flannel, difficult to wash, +and entirely unfit for a tropical climate. The trousers were poor, +wearing badly. We did not get any other clothing until we were just +about to leave Cuba, by which time most of the men were in tatters; +some being actually barefooted, while others were in rags, or dressed +partly in clothes captured from the Spaniards, who were much more +suitably clothed for the climate and place than we were. The ponchos +were poor, being inferior to the Spanish rain-coats which we captured. + +As to the medical matters, I invite your attention, not only to the +report of Dr. Church accompanying this letter, but to the letters of +Captain Llewellen, Captain Day, and Lieutenant McIlhenny. I could +readily produce a hundred letters on the lines of the last three. In +actual medical supplies, we had plenty of quinine and cathartics. We +were apt to be short on other medicines, and we had nothing whatever +in the way of proper nourishing food for our sick and wounded men +during most of the time, except what we were able to get from the Red +Cross or purchase with our own money. We had no hospital tent at all +until I was able to get a couple of tarpaulins. During much of the +time my own fly was used for the purpose. We had no cots until by +individual effort we obtained a few, only three or four days before we +left Cuba. During most of the time the sick men lay on the muddy +ground in blankets, if they had any; if not, they lay without them +until some of the well men cut their own blankets in half. Our +regimental surgeon very soon left us, and Dr. Church, who was +repeatedly taken down with the fever, was left alone--save as he was +helped by men detailed from among the troopers. Both he and the men +thus detailed, together with the regular hospital attendants, did work +of incalculable service. We had no ambulance with the regiment. On the +battle-field our wounded were generally sent to the rear in +mule-wagons, or on litters which were improvised. At other times we +would hire the little springless Cuban carts. But of course the +wounded suffered greatly in such conveyances, and moreover, often we +could not get a wheeled vehicle of any kind to transport even the most +serious cases. On the day of the big fight, July 1st, as far as we +could find out, there were but two ambulances with the army in +condition to work--neither of which did we ever see. Later there were, +as we were informed, thirteen all told; and occasionally after the +surrender, by vigorous representations and requests, we would get one +assigned to take some peculiarly bad cases to the hospital. +Ordinarily, however, we had to do with one of the makeshifts +enumerated above. On several occasions I visited the big hospitals in +the rear. Their condition was frightful beyond description from lack +of supplies, lack of medicine, lack of doctors, nurses, and +attendants, and especially from lack of transportation. The wounded +and sick who were sent back suffered so much that, whenever possible, +they returned to the front. Finally my brigade commander, General +Wood, ordered, with my hearty acquiescence, that only in the direst +need should any men be sent to the rear--no matter what our hospital +accommodations at the front might be. The men themselves preferred to +suffer almost anything lying alone in their little shelter-tents, +rather than go back to the hospitals in the rear. I invite attention +to the accompanying letter of Captain Llewellen in relation to the +dreadful condition of the wounded on some of the transports taking +them North. + +The greatest trouble we had was with the lack of transportation. +Under the order issued by direction of General Miles through the +Adjutant-General on or about May 8th, a regiment serving as infantry +in the field was entitled to twenty-five wagons. We often had one, +often none, sometimes two, and never as many as three. We had a +regimental pack-train, but it was left behind at Tampa. During most of +the time our means of transportation were chiefly the improvised +pack-trains spoken of above; but as the mules got well they were taken +away from us, and so were the captured Spanish cavalry horses. +Whenever we shifted camp, we had to leave most of our things behind, +so that the night before each fight was marked by our sleeping without +tentage and with very little food, so far as officers were concerned, +as everything had to be sacrificed to getting up what ammunition and +medical supplies we had. Colonel Wood seized some mules, and in this +manner got up the medical supplies before the fight of June 24th, when +for three days the officers had nothing but what they wore. There was +a repetition of this, only in worse form, before and after the fight +of July 1st. Of course much of this was simply a natural incident of +war, but a great deal could readily have been avoided if we had had +enough transportation; and I was sorry not to let my men be as +comfortable as possible and rest as much as possible just before going +into a fight when, as on July 1st and 2nd, they might have to be +forty-eight hours with the minimum quantity of food and sleep. The +fever began to make heavy ravages among our men just before the +surrender, and from that time on it became a most serious matter to +shift camp, with sick and ailing soldiers, hardly able to walk--not to +speak of carrying heavy burdens--when we had no transportation. Not +more than half of the men could carry their rolls, and yet these, with +the officers' baggage and provisions, the entire hospital and its +appurtenances, etc., had to be transported somehow. It was usually +about three days after we reached a new camp before the necessaries +which had been left behind could be brought up, and during these three +days we had to get along as best we could. The entire lack of +transportation at first resulted in leaving most of the troop +mess-kits on the beach, and we were never able to get them. The men +cooked in the few utensils they could themselves carry. This rendered +it impossible to boil the drinking-water. Closely allied to the lack +of transportation was the lack of means to land supplies from the +transports. + +In my opinion, the deficiency in transportation was the worst evil +with which we had to contend, serious though some of the others were. +I have never served before, so have no means of comparing this with +previous campaigns. I was often told by officers who had seen service +against the Indians that, relatively to the size of the army, and the +character of the country, we had only a small fraction of the +transportation always used in the Indian campaigns. As far as my +regiment was concerned, we certainly did not have one-third of the +amount absolutely necessary, if it was to be kept in fair condition, +and we had to partially make good the deficiency by the most energetic +resort to all kinds of makeshifts and expedients. + +Yours respectfully, + +(Signed) + +THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Colonel +First United States Cavalry. + +Forwarded through military channels. + +(5 enclosures.) + +First Endorsement. +HEAD-QUARTERS FIFTH ARMY CORPS. +CAMP WIKOFF, +September 18, 1898. + +Respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army. + +(Signed) + +WILLIAM R. SHAFTER, Major-General Commanding. + + + + APPENDIX C + + THE "ROUND ROBIN" LETTER + +[The following is the report of the Associated Press correspondent of +the "round-robin" incident. It is literally true in every detail. I +was present when he was handed both letters; he was present while they +were being written.] + +SANTIAGO DE CUBA, August 3rd (delayed in transmission).--Summoned by +Major-General Shafter, a meeting was held here this morning at +head-quarters, and in the presence of every commanding and medical +officer of the Fifth Army Corps, General Shafter read a cable message +from Secretary Alger, ordering him, on the recommendation of +Surgeon-General Sternberg, to move the army into the interior, to San +Luis, where it is healthier. + +As a result of the conference General Shafter will insist upon the +immediate withdrawal of the army North. + +As an explanation of the situation the following letter from Colonel +Theodore Roosevelt, commanding the First Cavalry, to General Shafter, +was handed by the latter to the correspondent of the Associated Press +for publication: + + + MAJOR-GENERAL SHAFTER. + + SIR: In a meeting of the general and medical officers called + by you at the Palace this morning we were all, as you know, + unanimous in our views of what should be done with the army. + To keep us here, in the opinion of every officer commanding + a division or a brigade, will simply involve the destruction + of thousands. There is no possible reason for not shipping + practically the entire command North at once. Yellow-fever + cases are very few in the cavalry division, where I command + one of the two brigades, and not one true case of yellow + fever has occurred in this division, except among the men + sent to the hospital at Siboney, where they have, I believe, + contracted it. + + But in this division there have been 1,500 cases of malarial + fever. Hardly a man has yet died from it, but the whole + command is so weakened and shattered as to be ripe for dying + like rotten sheep, when a real yellow-fever epidemic instead + of a fake epidemic, like the present one, strikes us, as it + is bound to do if we stay here at the height of the sickness + season, August and the beginning of September. Quarantine + against malarial fever is much like quarantining against the + toothache. + + All of us are certain that as soon as the authorities at + Washington fully appreciate the condition of the army, we + shall be sent home. If we are kept here it will in all human + possibility mean an appalling disaster, for the surgeons here + estimate that over half the army, if kept here during the + sickly season, will die. + + This is not only terrible from the stand-point of the + individual lives lost, but it means ruin from the stand-point + of military efficiency of the flower of the American army, + for the great bulk of the regulars are here with you. The + sick list, large though it is, exceeding four thousand, + affords but a faint index of the debilitation of the army. + Not twenty per cent are fit for active work. + + Six weeks on the North Maine coast, for instance, or + elsewhere where the yellow-fever germ cannot possibly + propagate, would make us all as fit as fighting-cocks, as + able as we are eager to take a leading part in the great + campaign against Havana in the fall, even if we are not + allowed to try Porto Rico. + + We can be moved North, if moved at once, with absolute + safety to the country, although, of course, it would have + been infinitely better if we had been moved North or to + Porto Rico two weeks ago. If there were any object in + keeping us here, we would face yellow fever with as much + indifference as we faced bullets. But there is no object. + + The four immune regiments ordered here are sufficient to + garrison the city and surrounding towns, and there is + absolutely nothing for us to do here, and there has not + been since the city surrendered. It is impossible to move + into the interior. Every shifting of camp doubles the + sick-rate in our present weakened condition, and, anyhow, + the interior is rather worse than the coast, as I have + found by actual reconnaissance. Our present camps are as + healthy as any camps at this end of the island can be. + + I write only because I cannot see our men, who have fought + so bravely and who have endured extreme hardship and danger + so uncomplainingly, go to destruction without striving so + far as lies in me to avert a doom as fearful as it is + unnecessary and undeserved. + + Yours respectfully, + + THEODORE ROOSEVELT, + Colonel Commanding Second Cavalry Brigade. + + +After Colonel Roosevelt had taken the initiative, all the American +general officers united in a "round robin" addressed to General +Shafter. It reads: + + + We, the undersigned officers commanding the various + brigades, divisions, etc., of the Army of Occupation in + Cuba, are of the unanimous opinion that this army should be + at once taken out of the island of Cuba and sent to some + point on the Northern sea-coast of the United States; that + can be done without danger to the people of the United + States; that yellow fever in the army at present is not + epidemic; that there are only a few sporadic cases; but that + the army is disabled by malarial fever to the extent that + its efficiency is destroyed, and that it is in a condition + to be practically entirely destroyed by an epidemic of + yellow fever, which is sure to come in the near future. + + We know from the reports of competent officers and from + personal observations that the army is unable to move into + the interior, and that there are no facilities for such a + move if attempted, and that it could not be attempted until + too late. Moreover, the best medical authorities of the + island say that with our present equipment we could not live + in the interior during the rainy season without losses from + malarial fever, which is almost as deadly as yellow fever. + + This army must be moved at once, or perish. As the army + can be safely moved now, the persons responsible for + preventing such a move will be responsible for the + unnecessary loss of many thousands of lives. + + Our opinions are the result of careful personal observation, + and they are also based on the unanimous opinion of our + medical officers with the army, who understand the situation + absolutely. + + J. FORD KENT, + Major-General Volunteers Commanding First Division, Fifth Corps. + + J. C. BATES, + Major-General Volunteers Commanding Provisional Division. + + ADNAH R. CHAFFEE, + Major-General Commanding Third Brigade, Second Division. + + SAMUEL S. SUMNER, + Brigadier-General Volunteers Commanding First Brigade, Cavalry. + + WILL LUDLOW, + Brigadier-General Volunteers Commanding First Brigade, Second + Division. + + ADELBERT AMES, + Brigadier-General Volunteers Commanding Third Brigade, First + Division. + + LEONARD WOOD, + Brigadier-General Volunteers Commanding the City of Santiago. + + THEODORE ROOSEVELT, + Colonel Commanding Second Cavalry Brigade. + + +Major M. W. Wood, the chief Surgeon of the First Division, said: +"The army must be moved North," adding, with emphasis, "or it will be +unable to move itself." + +General Ames has sent the following cable message to Washington: + + + CHARLES H. ALLEN, + Assistant Secretary of the Navy: + + This army is incapable, because of sickness, of marching + anywhere except to the transports. If it is ever to return + to the United States it must do so at once. + + + + APPENDIX D + + CORRECTIONS + +It has been suggested to me that when Bucky O'Neill spoke of the +vultures tearing our dead, he was thinking of no modern poet, but of +the words of the prophet Ezekiel: "Speak unto every feathered fowl +. . . . . ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood +of the princes of the earth." + +At San Juan the Sixth Cavalry was under Major Lebo, a tried and +gallant officer. I learn from a letter of Lieutenant McNamee that it +was he, and not Lieutenant Hartwick, by whose orders the troopers of +the Ninth cast down the fence to enable me to ride my horse into the +lane. But one of the two lieutenants of B troop was overcome by the +heat that day; Lieutenant Rynning was with his troop until dark. + +One night during the siege, when we were digging trenches, a curious +stampede occurred (not in my own regiment) which it may be necessary +some time to relate. + +Lieutenants W. E. Shipp and W. H. Smith were killed, not far from +each other, while gallantly leading their troops on the slope of +Kettle Hill. Each left a widow and young children. + +Captain (now Colonel) A. L. Mills, the Brigade Adjutant-General, has +written me some comments on my account of the fight on July 1st. It +was he himself who first brought me word to advance. I then met +Colonel Dorst--who bore the same message--as I was getting the +regiment forward. Captain Mills was one of the officers I had sent +back to get orders that would permit me to advance; he met General +Sumner, who gave him the orders, and he then returned to me. In a +letter to me Colonel Mills says in part: + + + I reached the head of the regiment as you came out of the + lane and gave you the orders to enter the action. These were + that you were to move, with your right resting along the + wire fence of the lane, to the support of the regular + cavalry then attacking the hill we were facing. "The + red-roofed house yonder is your objective," I said to you. + You moved out at once and quickly forged to the front of + your regiment. I rode in rear, keeping the soldiers and + troops closed and in line as well as the circumstances and + conditions permitted. We had covered, I judge, from one-half + to two-thirds the distance to Kettle Hill when + Lieutenant-Colonel Garlington, from our left flank called + to me that troops were needed in the meadow across the lane. + I put one troop (not three, as stated in your account*) + across the lane and went with it. Advancing with the troop, + I began immediately to pick up troopers of the Ninth Cavalry + who had drifted from their commands, and soon had so many + they demanded nearly all my attention. With a line thus made + up, the colored troopers on the left and yours on the right, + the portion of Kettle Hill on the right of the red-roofed + house was first carried. I very shortly thereafter had a + strong firing-line established on the crest nearest the + enemy, from the corner of the fence around the house to the + low ground on the right of the hill, which fired into the + strong line of conical straw hats, whose brims showed just + above the edge of the Spanish trench directly west of that + part of the hill.** These hats made a fine target! I had + placed a young officer of your regiment in charge of the + portion of the line on top of the hill, and was about to go + to the left to keep the connection of the brigade--Captain + McBlain, Ninth Cavalry, just then came up on the hill from + the left and rear--when the shot struck that put me out of + the fight. + + + * Note: The other two must have followed on their own initiative. + + ** Note: These were the Spaniards in the trenches we carried when + we charged from Kettle Hill, after the infantry had taken the San + Juan block-house. + +There were many wholly erroneous accounts of the Guasimas fight +published at the time, for the most part written by newspaper-men who +were in the rear and utterly ignorant of what really occurred. Most of +these accounts possess a value so purely ephemeral as to need no +notice. Mr. Stephen Bonsal, however, in his book, "The Fight for +Santiago," has cast one of them in a more permanent form; and I shall +discuss one or two of his statements. + +Mr. Bonsal was not present at the fight, and, indeed, so far as I +know, he never at any time was with the cavalry in action. He puts in +his book a map of the supposed skirmish ground; but it bears to the +actual scene of the fight only the well-known likeness borne by +Monmouth to Macedon. There was a brook on the battle-ground, and there +is a brook in Mr. Bonsal's map. The real brook, flowing down from the +mountains, crossed the valley road and ran down between it and the +hill-trail, going nowhere near the latter. The Bonsal brook flows at +right angles to the course of the real brook and crosses both +trails--that is, it runs up hill. It is difficult to believe that the +Bonsal map could have been made by any man who had gone over the +hill-trail followed by the Rough Riders and who knew where the +fighting had taken place. The position of the Spanish line on the +Bonsal map is inverted compared to what it really was. + +On page 90 Mr. Bonsal says that in making the "precipitate advance" +there was a rivalry between the regulars and Rough Riders, which +resulted in each hurrying recklessly forward to strike the Spaniards +first. On the contrary. The official reports show that General Young's +column waited for some time after it got to the Spanish position, so +as to allow the Rough Riders (who had the more difficult trail) to +come up. Colonel Wood kept his column walking at a smart pace, merely +so that the regulars might not be left unsupported when the fight +began; and as a matter of fact, it began almost simultaneously on both +wings. + +On page 91 Mr. Bonsal speaks of "The foolhardy formation of a solid +column along a narrow trail, which brought them (the Rough Riders) +within point-blank range of the Spanish rifles and within the +unobstructed sweep of their machine-guns." He also speaks as if the +advance should have been made with the regiment deployed through the +jungle. Of course, the only possible way by which the Rough Riders +could have been brought into action in time to support the regulars +was by advancing in column along the trail at a good smart gait. As +soon as our advance-guard came into contact with the enemy's outpost +we deployed. No firing began for at least five minutes after Captain +Capron sent back word that he had come upon the Spanish outpost. At +the particular point where this occurred there was a dip in the road, +which probably rendered it, in Capron's opinion, better to keep part +of his men in it. In any event, Captain Capron, who was as skilful as +he was gallant, had ample time between discovering the Spanish outpost +and the outbreak of the firing to arrange his troop in the formation +he deemed best. His troop was not in solid formation; his men were +about ten yards apart. Of course, to have walked forward deployed +through the jungle, prior to reaching the ground where we were to +fight, would have been a course of procedure so foolish as to warrant +the summary court-martial of any man directing it. We could not have +made half a mile an hour in such a formation, and would have been at +least four hours too late for the fighting. + +On page 92 Mr. Bonsal says that Captain Capron's troop was ambushed, +and that it received the enemy's fire a quarter of an hour before it +was expected. This is simply not so. Before the column stopped we had +passed a dead Cuban, killed in the preceding day's skirmish, and +General Wood had notified me on information he had received from +Capron that we might come into contact with the Spaniards at any +moment, and, as I have already said, Captain Capron discovered the +Spanish outpost, and we halted and partially deployed the column +before the firing began. We were at the time exactly where we had +expected to come across the Spaniards. Mr. Bonsal, after speaking of L +Troop, adds: "The remaining troops of the regiment had travelled more +leisurely, and more than half an hour elapsed before they came up to +Capron's support." As a matter of fact, all the troops travelled at +exactly the same rate of speed, although there were stragglers from +each, and when Capron halted and sent back word that he had come upon +the Spanish outpost, the entire regiment closed up, halted, and most +of the men sat down. We then, some minutes after the first word had +been received, and before any firing had begun, received instructions +to deploy. I had my right wing partially deployed before the first +shots between the outposts took place. Within less than three minutes +I had G Troop, with Llewellen, Greenway, and Leahy, and one platoon of +K Troop under Kane, on the firing-line, and it was not until after we +reached the firing-line that the heavy volley-firing from the +Spaniards began. + +On page 94 Mr. Bonsal says: "A vexatious delay occurred before the two +independent columns could communicate and advance with concerted action. +. . . When the two columns were brought into communication it was +immediately decided to make a general attack upon the Spanish +position. . . . With this purpose in view, the following disposition of +the troops was made before the advance of the brigade all along the +line was ordered." There was no communication between the two columns +prior to the general attack, nor was any order issued for the advance +of the brigade all along the line. The attacks were made wholly +independently, and the first communication between the columns was +when the right wing of the Rough Riders in the course of their advance +by their firing dislodged the Spaniards from the hill across the +ravine to the right, and then saw the regulars come up that hill. + +Mr. Bonsal's account of what occurred among the regulars parallels +his account of what occurred among the Rough Riders. He states that +the squadron of the Tenth Cavalry delivered the main attack upon the +hill, which was the strongest point of the Spanish position; and he +says of the troopers of the Tenth Cavalry that "their better training +enabled them to render more valuable service than the other troops +engaged." In reality, the Tenth Cavalrymen were deployed in support of +the First, though they mingled with them in the assault proper; and so +far as there was any difference at all in the amount of work done, it +was in favor of the First. The statement that the Tenth Cavalry was +better trained than the First, and rendered more valuable service, has +not the slightest basis whatsoever of any kind, sort, or description, +in fact. The Tenth Cavalry did well what it was required to do; as an +organization, in this fight, it was rather less heavily engaged, and +suffered less loss, actually and relatively, than either the First +Cavalry or the Rough Riders. It took about the same part that was +taken by the left wing of the Rough Riders, which wing was similarly +rather less heavily engaged than the right and centre of the regiment. +Of course, this is a reflection neither on the Tenth Cavalry nor on +the left wing of the Rough Riders. Each body simply did what it was +ordered to do, and did it well. But to claim that the Tenth Cavalry +did better than the First, or bore the most prominent part in the +fight, is like making the same claim for the left wing of the Rough +Riders. All the troops engaged did well, and all alike are entitled to +share in the honor of the day. + +Mr. Bonsal out-Spaniards the Spaniards themselves as regards both +their numbers and their loss. These points are discussed elsewhere. He +develops for the Spanish side, to account for their retreat, a wholly +new explanation--viz., that they retreated because they saw +reinforcements arriving for the Americans. The Spaniards themselves +make no such claim. Lieutenant Tejeiro asserts that they retreated +because news had come of a (wholly mythical) American advance on Morro +Castle. The Spanish official report simply says that the Americans +were repulsed; which is about as accurate a statement as the other +two. All three explanations, those by General Rubin, by Lieutenant +Tejeiro, and by Mr. Bonsal alike, are precisely on a par with the +first Spanish official report of the battle of Manila Bay, in which +Admiral Dewey was described as having been repulsed and forced to +retire. + +There are one or two minor mistakes made by Mr. Bonsal. He states +that on the roster of the officers of the Rough Riders there were ten +West Pointers. There were three, one of whom resigned. Only two were +in the fighting. He also states that after Las Guasimas +Brigadier-General Young was made a Major-General and Colonel Wood a +Brigadier-General, while the commanding officers of the First and +Tenth Cavalry were ignored in this "shower of promotions." In the +first place, the commanding officers of the First and Tenth Cavalry +were not in the fight--only one squadron of each having been present. +In the next place, there was no "shower of promotions" at all. Nobody +was promoted except General Young, save to fill the vacancies caused +by death or by the promotion of General Young. Wood was not promoted +because of this fight. General Young most deservedly was promoted. +Soon after the fight he fell sick. The command of the brigade then +fell upon Wood, simply because he had higher rank than the other two +regimental commanders of the brigade; and I then took command of the +regiment exactly as Lieutenant-Colonels Veile and Baldwin had already +taken command of the First and Tenth Cavalry when their superior +officers were put in charge of brigades. After the San Juan fighting, +in which Wood commanded a brigade, he was made a Brigadier-General and +I was then promoted to the nominal command of the regiment, which I +was already commanding in reality. + +Mr. Bonsal's claim of superior efficiency for the colored regular +regiments as compared with the white regular regiments does not merit +discussion. He asserts that General Wheeler brought on the Guasimas +fight in defiance of orders. Lieutenant Miley, in his book, "In Cuba +with Shafter," on page 83, shows that General Wheeler made his fight +before receiving the order which it is claimed he disobeyed. General +Wheeler was in command ashore; he was told to get in touch with the +enemy, and, being a man with the "fighting edge," this meant that he +was certain to fight. No general who was worth his salt would have +failed to fight under such conditions; the only question would be as +to how the fight was to be made. War means fighting; and the soldier's +cardinal sin is timidity. + +General Wheeler remained throughout steadfast against any retreat +from before Santiago. But the merit of keeping the army before +Santiago, without withdrawal, until the city fell, belongs to the +authorities at Washington, who at this all-important stage of the +operations showed to marked advantage in overruling the proposals made +by the highest generals in the field looking toward partial retreat or +toward the abandonment of the effort to take the city. + +The following note, written by Sergeant E. G. Norton, of B Troop, +refers to the death of his brother, Oliver B. Norton, one of the most +gallant and soldierly men in the regiment: + + + On July 1st I, together with Sergeant Campbell and Troopers + Bardshar and Dudley Dean and my brother who was killed and + some others, was at the front of the column right behind + you. We moved forward, following you as you rode, to where + we came upon the troopers of the Ninth Cavalry and a part + of the First lying down. I heard the conversation between + you and one or two of the officers of the Ninth Cavalry. + You ordered a charge, and the regular officers answered that + they had no orders to move ahead; whereupon you said: "Then + let us through," and marched forward through the lines, our + regiment following. The men of the Ninth and First Cavalry + then jumped up and came forward with us. Then you waved your + hat and gave the command to charge and we went up the hill. + On the top of Kettle Hill my brother, Oliver B. Norton, was + shot through the head and in the right wrist. It was just + as you started to lead the charge on the San Juan hills + ahead of us; we saw that the regiment did not know you had + gone and were not following, and my brother said, "For + God's sake follow the Colonel," and as he rose the bullet + went through his head. + + +In reference to Mr. Bonsal's account of the Guasimas fight, Mr. +Richard Harding Davis writes me as follows: + + + We had already halted several times to give the men a + chance to rest, and when we halted for the last time I + thought it was for this same purpose, and began taking + photographs of the men of L Troop, who were so near that + they asked me to be sure and save them a photograph. Wood + had twice disappeared down the trail beyond them and + returned. As he came back for the second time I remember + that you walked up to him (we were all dismounted then), and + saluted and said: "Colonel, Doctor La Motte reports that the + pace is too fast for the men, and that over fifty have + fallen out from exhaustion." Wood replied sharply: "I have + no time to bother with sick men now." You replied, more in + answer, I suppose, to his tone than to his words: "I merely + repeated what the Surgeon reported to me." Wood then turned + and said in explanation: "I have no time for them now; I + mean that we are in sight of the enemy." + + This was the only information we received that the men of L + Troop had been ambushed by the Spaniards, and, if they were, + they were very calm about it, and I certainly was taking + photographs of them at the time, and the rest of the + regiment, instead of being half an hour's march away, was + seated comfortably along the trail not twenty feet distant + from the men of L Troop. You deployed G Troop under Captain + Llewellen into the jungle at the right and sent K Troop + after it, and Wood ordered Troops E and F into the field on + our left. It must have been from ten to fifteen minutes + after Capron and Wood had located the Spaniards before + either side fired a shot. When the firing did come I went + over to you and joined G Troop and a detachment of K Troop + under Woodbury Kane, and we located more of the enemy on a + ridge. + + If it is to be ambushed when you find the enemy exactly + where you went to find him, and your scouts see him soon + enough to give you sufficient time to spread five troops + in skirmish order to attack him, and you then drive him + back out of three positions for a mile and a half, then + most certainly, as Bonsal says, "L Troop of the Rough + Riders was ambushed by the Spaniards on the morning of + June 24th." + + +General Wood also writes me at length about Mr. Bonsal's book, +stating that his account of the Guasimas fight is without foundation +in fact. He says: "We had five troops completely deployed before the +first shot was fired. Captain Capron was not wounded until the fight +had been going on fully thirty-five minutes. The statement that +Captain Capron's troop was ambushed is absolutely untrue. We had been +informed, as you know, by Castillo's people that we should find the +dead guerilla a few hundred yards on the Siboney side of the Spanish +lines." + +He then alludes to the waving of the guidon by K Troop as "the only +means of communication with the regulars." He mentions that his orders +did not come from General Wheeler, and that he had no instructions +from General Wheeler directly or indirectly at any time previous to +the fight. + +General Wood does not think that I give quite enough credit to the +Rough Riders as compared to the regulars in this Guasimas fight, and +believes that I greatly underestimate the Spanish force and loss, and +that Lieutenant Tejeiro is not to be trusted at all on these points. +He states that we began the fight ten minutes before the regulars, and +that the main attack was made and decided by us. This was the view +that I and all the rest of us in the regiment took at the time; but as +I had found since that the members of the First and Tenth Regular +Regiments held with equal sincerity the view that the main part was +taken by their own commands, I have come to the conclusion that the +way I have described the action is substantially correct. Owing to the +fact that the Tenth Cavalry, which was originally in support, moved +forward until it got mixed with the First, it is very difficult to get +the exact relative position of the different troops of the First and +Tenth in making the advance. Beck and Galbraith were on the left; +apparently Wainwright was farthest over on the right. General Wood +states that Leonardo Ros, the Civil Governor of Santiago at the time +of the surrender, told him that the Spanish force at Guasimas +consisted of not less than 2,600 men, and that there were nearly 300 +of them killed and wounded. I do not myself see how it was possible +for us, as we were the attacking party and were advancing against +superior numbers well sheltered, to inflict five times as much damage +as we received; but as we buried eleven dead Spaniards, and as they +carried off some of their dead, I believe the loss to have been very +much heavier than Lieutenant Tejeiro reports. + +General Wood believes that in following Lieutenant Tejeiro I have +greatly underestimated the number of Spanish troops who were defending +Santiago on July 1st, and here I think he completely makes out his +case, he taking the view that Lieutenant Tejeiro's statements were +made for the purpose of saving Spanish honor. On this point his letter +runs as follows: + + + A word in regard to the number of troops in Santiago. I + have had, during my long association here, a good many + opportunities to get information which you have not got and + probably never will get; that is, information from parties + who were actually in the fight, who are now residents of the + city; also information which came to me as commanding + officer of the city directly after the surrender. + + To sum up briefly as follows: The Spanish surrendered in + Santiago 12,000 men. We shipped from Santiago something over + 14,000 men. The 2,000 additional were troops that came in + from San Luis, Songo, and small up-country posts. The 12,000 + in the city, minus the force of General Iscario, 3,300 + infantry and 680 cavalry, or in round numbers 4,000 men (who + entered the city just after the battles of San Juan and El + Caney), leaves 8,000 regulars, plus the dead, plus Cervera's + marines and blue-jackets, which he himself admits landing in + the neighborhood of 1,200 (and reports here are that he landed + 1,380), and plus the Spanish Volunteer Battalion, which was + between 800 and 900 men (this statement I have from the + lieutenant-colonel of this very battalion), gives us in + round numbers, present for duty on the morning of July 1st, + not less than 10,500 men. These men were distributed 890 at + Caney, two companies of artillery at Morro, one at Socapa, + and half a company at Puenta Gorda; in all, not over 500 or + 600 men, but for the sake of argument we can say a thousand. + In round numbers, then, we had immediately about the city + 8,500 troops. These were scattered from the cemetery around + to Aguadores. In front of us, actually in the trenches, + there could not by any possible method of figuring have been + less than 6,000 men. You can twist it any way you want to; + the figures I have given you are absolutely correct, at + least they are absolutely on the side of safety. + + +It is difficult for me to withstand the temptation to tell what has +befallen some of my men since the regiment disbanded; how McGinty, +after spending some weeks in Roosevelt Hospital in New York with an +attack of fever, determined to call upon his captain, Woodbury Kane, +when he got out, and procuring a horse rode until he found Kane's +house, when he hitched the horse to a lamp-post and strolled in; how +Cherokee Bill married a wife in Hoboken, and as that pleasant city +ultimately proved an uncongenial field for his activities, how I had +to send both himself and his wife out to the Territory; how Happy +Jack, haunted by visions of the social methods obtaining in the best +saloons of Arizona, applied for the position of "bouncer out" at the +Executive Chamber when I was elected Governor, and how I got him a job +at railroading instead, and finally had to ship him back to his own +Territory also; how a valued friend from a cow ranch in the remote +West accepted a pressing invitation to spend a few days at the home of +another ex-trooper, a New Yorker of fastidious instincts, and arrived +with an umbrella as his only baggage; how poor Holderman and Pollock +both died and were buried with military honors, all of Pollock's +tribesmen coming to the burial; how Tom Isbell joined Buffalo Bill's +Wild West Show, and how, on the other hand, George Rowland scornfully +refused to remain in the East at all, writing to a gallant young New +Yorker who had been his bunkie: "Well, old boy, I am glad I didn't go +home with you for them people to look at, because I ain't a Buffalo or +a rhinoceros or a giraffe, and I don't like to be stared at, and you +know we didn't do no hard fighting down there. I have been in closer +places than that right here in United States, that is better men to +fight than them dam Spaniards." In another letter Rowland tells of the +fate of Tom Darnell, the rider, he who rode the sorrel horse of the +Third Cavalry: "There ain't much news to write of except poor old Tom +Darnell got killed about a month ago. Tom and another fellow had a +fight and he shot Tom through the heart and Tom was dead when he hit +the floor. Tom was sure a good old boy, and I sure hated to hear of +him going, and he had plenty of grit too. No man ever called on him +for a fight that he didn't get it." + +My men were children of the dragon's blood, and if they had no +outland foe to fight and no outlet for their vigorous and daring +energy, there was always the chance of their fighting one another: but +the great majority, if given the chance to do hard or dangerous work, +availed themselves of it with the utmost eagerness, and though fever +sickened and weakened them so that many died from it during the few +months following their return, yet, as a whole, they are now doing +fairly well. A few have shot other men or been shot themselves; a few +ran for office and got elected, like Llewellen and Luna in New Mexico, +or defeated, like Brodie and Wilcox in Arizona; some have been trying +hard to get to the Philippines; some have returned to college, or to +the law, or the factory, or the counting-room; most of them have gone +back to the mine, the ranch, and the hunting camp; and the great +majority have taken up the threads of their lives where they dropped +them when the Maine was blown up and the country called to arms. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rough Riders, by Theodore Roosevelt + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13000 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..927f3b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #13000 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13000) diff --git a/old/13000.txt b/old/13000.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e57aae5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13000.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6367 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rough Riders, by Theodore Roosevelt + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Rough Riders + +Author: Theodore Roosevelt + +Release Date: July 23, 2004 [EBook #13000] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROUGH RIDERS *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny Wilson + + + + + + THE ROUGH RIDERS + + BY + + THEODORE ROOSEVELT + + 1899 + + + ON BEHALF OF THE ROUGH RIDERS + I DEDICATE THIS BOOK + TO THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE FIVE REGULAR REGIMENTS + WHICH TOGETHER WITH MINE MADE UP THE CAVALRY DIVISION AT SANTIAGO + + + + I + + RAISING THE REGIMENT + +During the year preceding the outbreak of the Spanish War I was +Assistant Secretary of the Navy. While my party was in opposition, I +had preached, with all the fervor and zeal I possessed, our duty to +intervene in Cuba, and to take this opportunity of driving the +Spaniard from the Western World. Now that my party had come to power, +I felt it incumbent on me, by word and deed, to do all I could to +secure the carrying out of the policy in which I so heartily believed; +and from the beginning I had determined that, if a war came, somehow +or other, I was going to the front. + +Meanwhile, there was any amount of work at hand in getting ready the +navy, and to this I devoted myself. + +Naturally, when one is intensely interested in a certain cause, the +tendency is to associate particularly with those who take the same +view. A large number of my friends felt very differently from the way +I felt, and looked upon the possibility of war with sincere horror. +But I found plenty of sympathizers, especially in the navy, the army, +and the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs. Commodore Dewey, Captain +Evans, Captain Brownson, Captain Davis--with these and the various +other naval officers on duty at Washington I used to hold long +consultations, during which we went over and over, not only every +question of naval administration, but specifically everything +necessary to do in order to put the navy in trim to strike quick and +hard if, as we believed would be the case, we went to war with Spain. +Sending an ample quantity of ammunition to the Asiatic squadron and +providing it with coal; getting the battle-ships and the armored +cruisers on the Atlantic into one squadron, both to train them in +manoeuvring together, and to have them ready to sail against either +the Cuban or the Spanish coasts; gathering the torpedo-boats into a +flotilla for practice; securing ample target exercise, so conducted as +to raise the standard of our marksmanship; gathering in the small +ships from European and South American waters; settling on the number +and kind of craft needed as auxiliary cruisers--every one of these +points was threshed over in conversations with officers who were +present in Washington, or in correspondence with officers who, like +Captain Mahan, were absent. + +As for the Senators, of course Senator Lodge and I felt precisely +alike; for to fight in such a cause and with such an enemy was merely +to carry out the doctrines we had both of us preached for many years. +Senator Davis, Senator Proctor, Senator Foraker, Senator Chandler, +Senator Morgan, Senator Frye, and a number of others also took just +the right ground; and I saw a great deal of them, as well as of many +members of the House, particularly those from the West, where the +feeling for war was strongest. + +Naval officers came and went, and Senators were only in the city while +the Senate was in session; but there was one friend who was steadily +in Washington. This was an army surgeon, Dr. Leonard Wood. I only met +him after I entered the navy department, but we soon found that we had +kindred tastes and kindred principles. He had served in General +Miles's inconceivably harassing campaigns against the Apaches, where +he had displayed such courage that he won that most coveted of +distinctions--the Medal of Honor; such extraordinary physical strength +and endurance that he grew to be recognized as one of the two or three +white men who could stand fatigue and hardship as well as an Apache; +and such judgment that toward the close of the campaigns he was given, +though a surgeon, the actual command of more than one expedition +against the bands of renegade Indians. Like so many of the gallant +fighters with whom it was later my good fortune to serve, he combined, +in a very high degree, the qualities of entire manliness with entire +uprightness and cleanliness of character. It was a pleasure to deal +with a man of high ideals, who scorned everything mean and base, and +who also possessed those robust and hardy qualities of body and mind, +for the lack of which no merely negative virtue can ever atone. He was +by nature a soldier of the highest type, and, like most natural +soldiers, he was, of course, born with a keen longing for adventure; +and, though an excellent doctor, what he really desired was the chance +to lead men in some kind of hazard. To every possibility of such +adventure he paid quick attention. For instance, he had a great desire +to get me to go with him on an expedition into the Klondike in +mid-winter, at the time when it was thought that a relief party would +have to be sent there to help the starving miners. + +In the summer he and I took long walks together through the beautiful +broken country surrounding Washington. In winter we sometimes varied +these walks by kicking a foot-ball in an empty lot, or, on the rare +occasions when there was enough snow, by trying a couple of sets of +skis or snow-skates, which had been sent me from Canada. + +But always on our way out to and back from these walks and sport, +there was one topic to which, in our talking, we returned, and that +was the possible war with Spain. We both felt very strongly that such +a war would be as righteous as it would be advantageous to the honor +and the interests of the nation; and after the blowing up of the +Maine, we felt that it was inevitable. We then at once began to try to +see that we had our share in it. The President and my own chief, +Secretary Long, were very firm against my going, but they said that if +I was bent upon going they would help me. Wood was the medical adviser +of both the President and the Secretary of War, and could count upon +their friendship. So we started with the odds in our favor. + +At first we had great difficulty in knowing exactly what to try for. +We could go on the staff of any one of several Generals, but we much +preferred to go in the line. Wood hoped he might get a commission in +his native State of Massachusetts; but in Massachusetts, as in every +other State, it proved there were ten men who wanted to go to the war +for every chance to go. Then we thought we might get positions as +field-officers under an old friend of mine, Colonel--now General +--Francis V. Greene, of New York, the Colonel of the Seventy-first; +but again there were no vacancies. + +Our doubts were resolved when Congress authorized the raising of three +cavalry regiments from among the wild riders and riflemen of the +Rockies and the Great Plains. During Wood's service in the Southwest +he had commanded not only regulars and Indian scouts, but also white +frontiersmen. In the Northwest I had spent much of my time, for many +years, either on my ranch or in long hunting trips, and had lived and +worked for months together with the cowboy and the mountain hunter, +faring in every way precisely as they did. + +Secretary Alger offered me the command of one of these regiments. If I +had taken it, being entirely inexperienced in military work, I should +not have known how to get it equipped most rapidly, for I should have +spent valuable weeks in learning its needs, with the result that I +should have missed the Santiago campaign, and might not even have had +the consolation prize of going to Porto Rico. Fortunately, I was wise +enough to tell the Secretary that while I believed I could learn to +command the regiment in a month, that it was just this very month +which I could not afford to spare, and that therefore I would be quite +content to go as Lieutenant-Colonel, if he would make Wood Colonel. + +This was entirely satisfactory to both the President and Secretary, +and, accordingly, Wood and I were speedily commissioned as Colonel and +Lieutenant-Colonel of the First United States Volunteer Cavalry. This +was the official title of the regiment, but for some reason or other +the public promptly christened us the "Rough Riders." At first we +fought against the use of the term, but to no purpose; and when +finally the Generals of Division and Brigade began to write in formal +communications about our regiment as the "Rough Riders," we adopted +the term ourselves. + +The mustering-places for the regiment were appointed in New Mexico, +Arizona, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory. The difficulty in organizing +was not in selecting, but in rejecting men. Within a day or two after +it was announced that we were to raise the regiment, we were literally +deluged with applications from every quarter of the Union. Without the +slightest trouble, so far as men went, we could have raised a brigade +or even a division. The difficulty lay in arming, equipping, mounting, +and disciplining the men we selected. Hundreds of regiments were being +called into existence by the National Government, and each regiment +was sure to have innumerable wants to be satisfied. To a man who knew +the ground as Wood did, and who was entirely aware of our national +unpreparedness, it was evident that the ordnance and quartermaster's +bureaus could not meet, for some time to come, one-tenth of the +demands that would be made upon them; and it was all-important to get +in first with our demands. Thanks to his knowledge of the situation +and promptness, we immediately put in our requisitions for the +articles indispensable for the equipment of the regiment; and then, by +ceaseless worrying of excellent bureaucrats, who had no idea how to do +things quickly or how to meet an emergency, we succeeded in getting +our rifles, cartridges, revolvers, clothing, shelter-tents, and horse +gear just in time to enable us to go on the Santiago expedition. Some +of the State troops, who were already organized as National Guards, +were, of course, ready, after a fashion, when the war broke out; but +no other regiment which had our work to do was able to do it in +anything like as quick time, and therefore no other volunteer regiment +saw anything like the fighting which we did. + +Wood thoroughly realized what the Ordnance Department failed to +realize, namely, the inestimable advantage of smokeless powder; and, +moreover, he was bent upon our having the weapons of the regulars, for +this meant that we would be brigaded with them, and it was evident +that they would do the bulk of the fighting if the war were short. +Accordingly, by acting with the utmost vigor and promptness, he +succeeded in getting our regiment armed with the Krag-Jorgensen +carbine used by the regular cavalry. + +It was impossible to take any of the numerous companies which were +proffered to us from the various States. The only organized bodies we +were at liberty to accept were those from the four Territories. But +owing to the fact that the number of men originally allotted to us, +780, was speedily raised to 1,000, we were given a chance to accept +quite a number of eager volunteers who did not come from the +Territories, but who possessed precisely the same temper that +distinguished our Southwestern recruits, and whose presence materially +benefited the regiment. + +We drew recruits from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and many another +college; from clubs like the Somerset, of Boston, and Knickerbocker, +of New York; and from among the men who belonged neither to club nor +to college, but in whose veins the blood stirred with the same impulse +which once sent the Vikings over sea. Four of the policemen who had +served under me, while I was President of the New York Police Board, +insisted on coming--two of them to die, the other two to return unhurt +after honorable and dangerous service. It seemed to me that almost +every friend I had in every State had some one acquaintance who was +bound to go with the Rough Riders, and for whom I had to make a place. +Thomas Nelson Page, General Fitzhugh Lee, Congressman Odell, of New +York, Senator Morgan; for each of these, and for many others, I +eventually consented to accept some one or two recruits, of course +only after a most rigid examination into their physical capacity, and +after they had shown that they knew how to ride and shoot. I may add +that in no case was I disappointed in the men thus taken. + +Harvard being my own college, I had such a swarm of applications from +it that I could not take one in ten. What particularly pleased me, not +only in the Harvard but the Yale and Princeton men, and, indeed, in +these recruits from the older States generally, was that they did not +ask for commissions. With hardly an exception they entered upon their +duties as troopers in the spirit which they held to the end, merely +endeavoring to show that no work could be too hard, too disagreeable, +or too dangerous for them to perform, and neither asking nor receiving +any reward in the way of promotion or consideration. The Harvard +contingent was practically raised by Guy Murchie, of Maine. He saw all +the fighting and did his duty with the utmost gallantry, and then left +the service as he had entered it, a trooper, entirely satisfied to +have done his duty--and no man did it better. So it was with Dudley +Dean, perhaps the best quarterback who ever played on a Harvard +Eleven; and so with Bob Wrenn, a quarterback whose feats rivalled +those of Dean's, and who, in addition, was the champion tennis player +of America, and had, on two different years, saved this championship +from going to an Englishman. So it was with Yale men like Waller, the +high jumper, and Garrison and Girard; and with Princeton men like +Devereux and Channing, the foot-ball players; with Larned, the tennis +player; with Craig Wadsworth, the steeple-chase rider; with Joe +Stevens, the crack polo player; with Hamilton Fish, the ex-captain of +the Columbia crew, and with scores of others whose names are quite as +worthy of mention as any of those I have given. Indeed, they all +sought entry into the ranks of the Rough Riders as eagerly as if it +meant something widely different from hard work, rough fare, and the +possibility of death; and the reason why they turned out to be such +good soldiers lay largely in the fact that they were men who had +thoroughly counted the cost before entering, and who went into the +regiment because they believed that this offered their best chance for +seeing hard and dangerous service. Mason Mitchell, of New York, who +had been a chief of scouts in the Riel Rebellion, travelled all the +way to San Antonio to enlist; and others came there from distances as +great. + +Some of them made appeals to me which I could not possibly resist. +Woodbury Kane had been a close friend of mine at Harvard. During the +eighteen years that had passed since my graduation I had seen very +little of him, though, being always interested in sport, I +occasionally met him on the hunting field, had seen him on the deck of +the Defender when she vanquished the Valkyrie, and knew the part he +had played on the Navajoe, when, in her most important race, that +otherwise unlucky yacht vanquished her opponent, the Prince of Wales's +Britannia. When the war was on, Kane felt it his duty to fight for his +country. He did not seek any position of distinction. All he desired +was the chance to do whatever work he was put to do well, and to get +to the front; and he enlisted as a trooper. When I went down to the +camp at San Antonio he was on kitchen duty, and was cooking and +washing dishes for one of the New Mexican troops; and he was doing it +so well that I had no further doubt as to how he would get on. + +My friend of many hunts and ranch partner, Robert Munro Ferguson, of +Scotland, who had been on Lord Aberdeen's staff as a Lieutenant but a +year before, likewise could not keep out of the regiment. He, too, +appealed to me in terms which I could not withstand, and came in like +Kane to do his full duty as a trooper, and like Kane to win his +commission by the way he thus did his duty. + +I felt many qualms at first in allowing men of this stamp to come in, +for I could not be certain that they had counted the cost, and was +afraid they would find it very hard to serve--not for a few days, but +for months--in the ranks, while I, their former intimate associate, +was a field-officer; but they insisted that they knew their minds, and +the events showed that they did. We enlisted about fifty of them from +Virginia, Maryland, and the Northeastern States, at Washington. Before +allowing them to be sworn in, I gathered them together and explained +that if they went in they must be prepared not merely to fight, but to +perform the weary, monotonous labor incident to the ordinary routine +of a soldier's life; that they must be ready to face fever exactly as +they were to face bullets; that they were to obey unquestioningly, and +to do their duty as readily if called upon to garrison a fort as if +sent to the front. I warned them that work that was merely irksome and +disagreeable must be faced as readily as work that was dangerous, and +that no complaint of any kind must be made; and I told them that they +were entirely at liberty not to go, but that after they had once +signed there could then be no backing out. + +Not a man of them backed out; not one of them failed to do his whole +duty. + +These men formed but a small fraction of the whole. They went down to +San Antonio, where the regiment was to gather and where Wood preceded +me, while I spent a week in Washington hurrying up the different +bureaus and telegraphing my various railroad friends, so as to insure +our getting the carbines, saddles, and uniforms that we needed from +the various armories and storehouses. Then I went down to San Antonio +myself, where I found the men from New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma +already gathered, while those from Indian Territory came in soon after +my arrival. + +These were the men who made up the bulk of the regiment, and gave it +its peculiar character. They came from the Four Territories which yet +remained within the boundaries of the United States; that is, from the +lands that have been most recently won over to white civilization, and +in which the conditions of life are nearest those that obtained on the +frontier when there still was a frontier. They were a splendid set of +men, these Southwesterners--tall and sinewy, with resolute, +weather-beaten faces, and eyes that looked a man straight in the face +without flinching. They included in their ranks men of every +occupation; but the three types were those of the cowboy, the hunter, +and the mining prospector--the man who wandered hither and thither, +killing game for a living, and spending his life in the quest for +metal wealth. + +In all the world there could be no better material for soldiers than +that afforded by these grim hunters of the mountains, these wild rough +riders of the plains. They were accustomed to handling wild and savage +horses; they were accustomed to following the chase with the rifle, +both for sport and as a means of livelihood. Varied though their +occupations had been, almost all had, at one time or another, herded +cattle and hunted big game. They were hardened to life in the open, +and to shifting for themselves under adverse circumstances. They were +used, for all their lawless freedom, to the rough discipline of the +round-up and the mining company. Some of them came from the small +frontier towns; but most were from the wilderness, having left their +lonely hunters' cabins and shifting cow-camps to seek new and more +stirring adventures beyond the sea. + +They had their natural leaders--the men who had shown they could +master other men, and could more than hold their own in the eager +driving life of the new settlements. + +The Captains and Lieutenants were sometimes men who had campaigned in +the regular army against Apache, Ute, and Cheyenne, and who, on +completing their term of service, had shown their energy by settling +in the new communities and growing up to be men of mark. In other +cases they were sheriffs, marshals, deputy-sheriffs, and +deputy-marshals--men who had fought Indians, and still more often had +waged relentless war upon the bands of white desperadoes. There was +Bucky O'Neill, of Arizona, Captain of Troop A, the Mayor of Prescott, +a famous sheriff throughout the West for his feats of victorious +warfare against the Apache, no less than against the white road-agents +and man-killers. His father had fought in Meagher's Brigade in the +Civil War; and he was himself a born soldier, a born leader of men. He +was a wild, reckless fellow, soft spoken, and of dauntless courage and +boundless ambition; he was staunchly loyal to his friends, and cared +for his men in every way. There was Captain Llewellen, of New Mexico, +a good citizen, a political leader, and one of the most noted +peace-officers of the country; he had been shot four times in pitched +fights with red marauders and white outlaws. There was Lieutenant +Ballard, who had broken up the Black Jack gang of ill-omened +notoriety, and his Captain, Curry, another New Mexican sheriff of +fame. The officers from the Indian Territory had almost all served as +marshals and deputy-marshals; and in the Indian Territory, service as +a deputy-marshal meant capacity to fight stand-up battles with the +gangs of outlaws. + +Three of our higher officers had been in the regular army. One was +Major Alexander Brodie, from Arizona, afterward Lieutenant-Colonel, +who had lived for twenty years in the Territory, and had become a +thorough Westerner without sinking the West Pointer--a soldier by +taste as well as training, whose men worshipped him and would follow +him anywhere, as they would Bucky O'Neill or any other of their +favorites. Brodie was running a big mining business; but when the +Maine was blown up, he abandoned everything and telegraphed right +and left to bid his friends get ready for the fight he saw impending. + +Then there was Micah Jenkins, the captain of Troop K, a gentle and +courteous South Carolinian, on whom danger acted like wine. In action +he was a perfect game-cock, and he won his majority for gallantry in +battle. + +Finally, there was Allyn Capron, who was, on the whole, the best +soldier in the regiment. In fact, I think he was the ideal of what an +American regular army officer should be. He was the fifth in descent +from father to son who had served in the army of the United States, +and in body and mind alike he was fitted to play his part to +perfection. Tall and lithe, a remarkable boxer and walker, a +first-class rider and shot, with yellow hair and piercing blue eyes, +he looked what he was, the archetype of the fighting man. He had under +him one of the two companies from the Indian Territory; and he so soon +impressed himself upon the wild spirit of his followers, that he got +them ahead in discipline faster than any other troop in the regiment, +while at the same time taking care of their bodily wants. His +ceaseless effort was so to train them, care for them, and inspire them +as to bring their fighting efficiency to the highest possible pitch. +He required instant obedience, and tolerated not the slightest evasion +of duty; but his mastery of his art was so thorough and his +performance of his own duty so rigid that he won at once not merely +their admiration, but that soldierly affection so readily given by the +man in the ranks to the superior who cares for his men and leads them +fearlessly in battle. + +All--Easterners and Westerners, Northerners and Southerners, officers +and men, cowboys and college graduates, wherever they came from, and +whatever their social position--possessed in common the traits of +hardihood and a thirst for adventure. They were to a man born +adventurers, in the old sense of the word. + +The men in the ranks were mostly young; yet some were past their first +youth. These had taken part in the killing of the great buffalo herds, +and had fought Indians when the tribes were still on the war-path. The +younger ones, too, had led rough lives; and the lines in their faces +told of many a hardship endured, and many a danger silently faced with +grim, unconscious philosophy. Some were originally from the East, and +had seen strange adventures in different kinds of life, from sailing +round the Horn to mining in Alaska. Others had been born and bred in +the West, and had never seen a larger town than Santa Fe or a bigger +body of water than the Pecos in flood. Some of them went by their own +name; some had changed their names; and yet others possessed but half +a name, colored by some adjective, like Cherokee Bill, Happy Jack of +Arizona, Smoky Moore, the bronco-buster, so named because cowboys +often call vicious horses "smoky" horses, and Rattlesnake Pete, who +had lived among the Moquis and taken part in the snake-dances. Some +were professional gamblers, and, on the other hand, no less than four +were or had been Baptist or Methodist clergymen--and proved +first-class fighters, too, by the way. Some were men whose lives in +the past had not been free from the taint of those fierce kinds of +crime into which the lawless spirits who dwell on the border-land +between civilization and savagery so readily drift. A far larger +number had served at different times in those bodies of armed men with +which the growing civilization of the border finally puts down its +savagery. + +There was one characteristic and distinctive contingent which could +have appeared only in such a regiment as ours. From the Indian +Territory there came a number of Indians--Cherokees, Chickasaws, +Choctaws, and Creeks. Only a few were of pure blood. The others shaded +off until they were absolutely indistinguishable from their white +comrades; with whom, it may be mentioned, they all lived on terms of +complete equality. + +Not all of the Indians were from the Indian Territory. One of the +gamest fighters and best soldiers in the regiment was Pollock, a +full-blooded Pawnee. He had been educated, like most of the other +Indians, at one of those admirable Indian schools which have added so +much to the total of the small credit account with which the White +race balances the very unpleasant debit account of its dealings with +the Red. Pollock was a silent, solitary fellow--an excellent penman, +much given to drawing pictures. When we got down to Santiago he +developed into the regimental clerk. I never suspected him of having a +sense of humor until one day, at the end of our stay in Cuba, as he +was sitting in the Adjutant's tent working over the returns, there +turned up a trooper of the First who had been acting as barber. Eyeing +him with immovable face Pollock asked, in a guttural voice: "Do you +cut hair?" The man answered "Yes"; and Pollock continued, "Then you'd +better cut mine," muttering, in an explanatory soliloquy: "Don't want +to wear my hair long like a wild Indian when I'm in civilized +warfare." + +Another Indian came from Texas. He was a brakeman on the Southern +Pacific, and wrote telling me he was an American Indian, and that he +wanted to enlist. His name was Colbert, which at once attracted my +attention; for I was familiar with the history of the Cherokees and +Chickasaws during the eighteenth century, when they lived east of the +Mississippi. Early in that century various traders, chiefly Scotchmen, +settled among them, and the half-breed descendants of one named +Colbert became the most noted chiefs of the Chickasaws. I summoned the +applicant before me, and found that he was an excellent man, and, as I +had supposed, a descendant of the old Chickasaw chiefs. + +He brought into the regiment, by the way, his "partner," a white man. +The two had been inseparable companions for some years, and continued +so in the regiment. Every man who has lived in the West knows that, +vindictive though the hatred between the white man and the Indian is +when they stand against one another in what may be called their tribal +relations, yet that men of Indian blood, when adopted into white +communities, are usually treated precisely like anyone else. + +Colbert was not the only Indian whose name I recognized. There was a +Cherokee named Adair, who, upon inquiry, I found to be descended from +the man who, a century and a half ago, wrote a ponderous folio, to +this day of great interest, about the Cherokees, with whom he had +spent the best years of his life as a trader and agent. + +I don't know that I ever came across a man with a really sweeter +nature than another Cherokee named Holderman. He was an excellent +soldier, and for a long time acted as cook for the head-quarters mess. +He was a half-breed, and came of a soldier stock on both sides and +through both races. He explained to me once why he had come to the +war; that it was because his people always had fought when there was a +war, and he could not feel happy to stay at home when the flag was +going into battle. + +Two of the young Cherokee recruits came to me with a most kindly +letter from one of the ladies who had been teaching in the academy +from which they were about to graduate. She and I had known one +another in connection with Governmental and philanthropic work on the +reservations, and she wrote to commend the two boys to my attention. +One was on the Academy foot-ball team and the other in the glee-club. +Both were fine young fellows. The foot-ball player now lies buried +with the other dead who fell in the fight at San Juan. The singer was +brought to death's door by fever, but recovered and came back to his +home. + +There were other Indians of much wilder type, but their wildness was +precisely like that of the cowboys with whom they were associated. +One or two of them needed rough discipline; and they got it, too. Like +the rest of the regiment, they were splendid riders. I remember one +man, whose character left much to be desired in some respects, but +whose horsemanship was unexceptionable. He was mounted on an +exceedingly bad bronco, which would bolt out of the ranks at drill. He +broke it of this habit by the simple expedient of giving it two +tremendous twists, first to one side and then to the other, as it +bolted, with the result that, invariably, at the second bound its legs +crossed and over it went with a smash, the rider taking the somersault +with unmoved equanimity. + +The life histories of some of the men who joined our regiment would +make many volumes of thrilling adventure. + +We drew a great many recruits from Texas; and from nowhere did we get +a higher average, for many of them had served in that famous body of +frontier fighters, the Texas Rangers. Of course, these rangers needed +no teaching. They were already trained to obey and to take +responsibility. They were splendid shots, horsemen, and trailers. They +were accustomed to living in the open, to enduring great fatigue and +hardship, and to encountering all kinds of danger. + +Many of the Arizona and New Mexico men had taken part in warfare with +the Apaches, those terrible Indians of the waterless Southwestern +mountains--the most bloodthirsty and the wildest of all the red men of +America, and the most formidable in their own dreadful style of +warfare. Of course, a man who had kept his nerve and held his own, +year after year, while living where each day and night contained the +threat of hidden death from a foe whose goings and comings were +unseen, was not apt to lose courage when confronted with any other +enemy. An experience in following in the trail of an enemy who might +flee at one stretch through fifty miles of death-like desert was a +good school out of which to come with profound indifference for the +ordinary hardships of campaigning. + +As a rule, the men were more apt, however, to have had experience in +warring against white desperadoes and law-breakers than against +Indians. Some of our best recruits came from Colorado. One, a very +large, hawk-eyed man, Benjamin Franklin Daniels, had been Marshal of +Dodge City when that pleasing town was probably the toughest abode of +civilized man to be found anywhere on the continent. In the course of +the exercise of his rather lurid functions as peace-officer he had +lost half of one ear--"bitten off," it was explained to me. Naturally, +he viewed the dangers of battle with philosophic calm. Such a man was, +in reality, a veteran even in his first fight, and was a tower of +strength to the recruits in his part of the line. With him there came +into the regiment a deputy-marshal from Cripple Creek named Sherman +Bell. Bell had a hernia, but he was so excellent a man that we decided +to take him. I do not think I ever saw greater resolution than Bell +displayed throughout the campaign. In Cuba the great exertions which +he was forced to make, again and again opened the hernia, and the +surgeons insisted that he must return to the United States; but he +simply would not go. + +Then there was little McGinty, the bronco-buster from Oklahoma, who +never had walked a hundred yards if by any possibility he could ride. +When McGinty was reproved for his absolute inability to keep step on +the drill-ground, he responded that he was pretty sure he could keep +step on horseback. McGinty's short legs caused him much trouble on the +marches, but we had no braver or better man in the fights. + +One old friend of mine had come from far northern Idaho to join the +regiment at San Antonio. He was a hunter, named Fred Herrig, an +Alsatian by birth. A dozen years before he and I had hunted mountain +sheep and deer when laying in the winter stock of meat for my ranch on +the Little Missouri, sometimes in the bright fall weather, sometimes +in the Arctic bitterness of the early Northern winter. He was the most +loyal and simple-hearted of men, and he had come to join his old +"boss" and comrade in the bigger hunting which we were to carry on +through the tropic midsummer. + +The temptation is great to go on enumerating man after man who stood +pre-eminent, whether as a killer of game, a tamer of horses, or a +queller of disorder among his people, or who, mayhap, stood out with a +more evil prominence as himself a dangerous man--one given to the +taking of life on small provocation, or one who was ready to earn his +living outside the law if the occasion demanded it. There was tall +Proffit, the sharp-shooter, from North Carolina--sinewy, saturnine, +fearless; Smith, the bear-hunter from Wyoming, and McCann, the Arizona +book-keeper, who had begun life as a buffalo-hunter. There was +Crockett, the Georgian, who had been an Internal Revenue officer, and +had waged perilous war on the rifle-bearing "moonshiners." There were +Darnell and Wood, of New Mexico, who could literally ride any horses +alive. There were Goodwin, and Buck Taylor, and Armstrong the ranger, +crack shots with rifle or revolver. There was many a skilled packer +who had led and guarded his trains of laden mules through the +Indian-haunted country surrounding some out-post of civilization. +There were men who had won fame as Rocky Mountain stage-drivers, or +who had spent endless days in guiding the slow wagon-trains across the +grassy plains. There were miners who knew every camp from the Yukon to +Leadville, and cow-punchers in whose memories were stored the brands +carried by the herds from Chihuahua to Assiniboia. There were men who +had roped wild steers in the mesquite brush of the Nueces, and who, +year in and year out, had driven the trail herds northward over +desolate wastes and across the fords of shrunken rivers to the +fattening grounds of the Powder and the Yellowstone. They were +hardened to the scorching heat and bitter cold of the dry plains and +pine-clad mountains. They were accustomed to sleep in the open, while +the picketed horses grazed beside them near some shallow, reedy pool. +They had wandered hither and thither across the vast desolation of the +wilderness, alone or with comrades. They had cowered in the shelter of +cut banks from the icy blast of the norther, and far out on the +midsummer prairies they had known the luxury of lying in the shade of +the wagon during the noonday rest. They had lived in brush lean-tos +for weeks at a time, or with only the wagon-sheet as an occasional +house. They had fared hard when exploring the unknown; they had fared +well on the round-up; and they had known the plenty of the log +ranch-houses, where the tables were spread with smoked venison and +calf-ribs and milk and bread, and vegetables from the garden-patch. + +Such were the men we had as recruits: soldiers ready made, as far as +concerned their capacity as individual fighters. What was necessary +was to teach them to act together, and to obey orders. Our special +task was to make them ready for action in the shortest possible time. +We were bound to see fighting, and therefore to be with the first +expedition that left the United States; for we could not tell how long +the war would last. + +I had been quite prepared for trouble when it came to enforcing +discipline, but I was agreeably disappointed. There were plenty of +hard characters who might by themselves have given trouble, and with +one or two of whom we did have to take rough measures; but the bulk of +the men thoroughly understood that without discipline they would be +merely a valueless mob, and they set themselves hard at work to learn +the new duties. Of course, such a regiment, in spite of, or indeed I +might almost say because of, the characteristics which made the +individual men so exceptionally formidable as soldiers, could very +readily have been spoiled. Any weakness in the commander would have +ruined it. On the other hand, to treat it from the stand-point of the +martinet and military pedant would have been almost equally fatal. +From the beginning we started out to secure the essentials of +discipline, while laying just as little stress as possible on the +non-essentials. The men were singularly quick to respond to any appeal +to their intelligence and patriotism. The faults they committed were +those of ignorance merely. When Holderman, in announcing dinner to the +Colonel and the three Majors, genially remarked, "If you fellars don't +come soon, everything'll get cold," he had no thought of other than a +kindly and respectful regard for their welfare, and was glad to modify +his form of address on being told that it was not what could be +described as conventionally military. When one of our sentinels, who +had with much labor learned the manual of arms, saluted with great +pride as I passed, and added, with a friendly nod, "Good-evening, +Colonel," this variation in the accepted formula on such occasions was +meant, and was accepted, as mere friendly interest. In both cases the +needed instruction was given and received in the same kindly spirit. + +One of the new Indian Territory recruits, after twenty-four hours' +stay in camp, during which he had held himself distinctly aloof from +the general interests, called on the Colonel in his tent, and +remarked, "Well, Colonel, I want to shake hands and say we're with +you. We didn't know how we would like you fellars at first; but you're +all right, and you know your business, and you mean business, and you +can count on us every time!" + +That same night, which was hot, mosquitoes were very annoying; and +shortly after midnight both the Colonel and I came to the doors of our +respective tents, which adjoined one another. The sentinel in front +was also fighting mosquitoes. As we came out we saw him pitch his gun +about ten feet off, and sit down to attack some of the pests that had +swarmed up his trousers' legs. Happening to glance in our direction, +he nodded pleasantly and, with unabashed and friendly feeling, +remarked, "Ain't they bad?" + +It was astonishing how soon the men got over these little +peculiarities. They speedily grew to recognize the fact that the +observance of certain forms was essential to the maintenance of proper +discipline. They became scrupulously careful in touching their hats, +and always came to attention when spoken to. They saw that we did not +insist upon the observance of these forms to humiliate them; that we +were as anxious to learn our own duties as we were to have them learn +theirs, and as scrupulous in paying respect to our superiors as we +were in exacting the acknowledgment due our rank from those below us; +moreover, what was very important, they saw that we were careful to +look after their interests in every way, and were doing all that was +possible to hurry up the equipment and drill of the regiment, so as to +get into the war. + +Rigid guard duty was established at once, and everyone was impressed +with the necessity for vigilance and watchfulness. The policing of the +camp was likewise attended to with the utmost rigor. As always with +new troops, they were at first indifferent to the necessity for +cleanliness in camp arrangements; but on this point Colonel Wood +brooked no laxity, and in a very little while the hygienic conditions +of the camp were as good as those of any regular regiment. Meanwhile +the men were being drilled, on foot at first, with the utmost +assiduity. Every night we had officers' school, the non-commissioned +officers of each troop being given similar schooling by the Captain or +one of the Lieutenants of the troop; and every day we practised hard, +by squad, by troop, by squadron and battalion. The earnestness and +intelligence with which the men went to work rendered the task of +instruction much less difficult than would be supposed. It soon grew +easy to handle the regiment in all the simpler forms of close and open +order. When they had grown so that they could be handled with ease in +marching, and in the ordinary manoeuvres of the drill-ground, we began +to train them in open-order work, skirmishing and firing. Here their +woodcraft and plainscraft, their knowledge of the rifle, helped us +very much. Skirmishing they took to naturally, which was fortunate, as +practically all our fighting was done in open order. + +Meanwhile we were purchasing horses. Judging from what I saw I do not +think that we got heavy enough animals, and of those purchased +certainly a half were nearly unbroken. It was no easy matter to handle +them on the picket-lines, and to provide for feeding and watering; and +the efforts to shoe and ride them were at first productive of much +vigorous excitement. Of course, those that were wild from the range +had to be thrown and tied down before they could be shod. Half the +horses of the regiment bucked, or possessed some other of the amiable +weaknesses incident to horse life on the great ranches; but we had +abundance of men who were utterly unmoved by any antic a horse might +commit. Every animal was speedily mastered, though a large number +remained to the end mounts upon which an ordinary rider would have +felt very uncomfortable. + +My own horses were purchased for me by a Texas friend, John Moore, +with whom I had once hunted peccaries on the Nueces. I only paid fifty +dollars apiece, and the animals were not showy; but they were tough +and hardy, and answered my purpose well. + +Mounted drill with such horses and men bade fair to offer +opportunities for excitement; yet it usually went off smoothly enough. +Before drilling the men on horseback they had all been drilled on +foot, and having gone at their work with hearty zest, they knew well +the simple movements to form any kind of line or column. Wood was busy +from morning till night in hurrying the final details of the +equipment, and he turned the drill of the men over to me. To drill +perfectly needs long practice, but to drill roughly is a thing very +easy to learn indeed. We were not always right about our intervals, +our lines were somewhat irregular, and our more difficult movements +were executed at times in rather a haphazard way; but the essential +commands and the essential movements we learned without any +difficulty, and the men performed them with great dash. When we put +them on horseback, there was, of course, trouble with the horses; but +the horsemanship of the riders was consummate. In fact, the men were +immensely interested in making their horses perform each evolution +with the utmost speed and accuracy, and in forcing each unquiet, +vicious brute to get into line and stay in line, whether he would or +not. The guidon-bearers held their plunging steeds true to the line, +no matter what they tried to do; and each wild rider brought his wild +horse into his proper place with a dash and ease which showed the +natural cavalryman. + +In short, from the very beginning the horseback drills were good fun, +and everyone enjoyed them. We marched out through the adjoining +country to drill wherever we found open ground, practising all the +different column formations as we went. On the open ground we threw +out the line to one side or the other, and in one position and the +other, sometimes at the trot, sometimes at the gallop. As the men grew +accustomed to the simple evolutions, we tried them more and more in +skirmish drills, practising them so that they might get accustomed to +advance in open order and to skirmish in any country, while the horses +were held in the rear. + +Our arms were the regular cavalry carbine, the "Krag," a splendid +weapon, and the revolver. A few carried their favorite Winchesters, +using, of course, the new model, which took the Government cartridge. +We felt very strongly that it would be worse than a waste of time to +try to train our men to use the sabre--a weapon utterly alien to them; +but with the rifle and revolver they were already thoroughly familiar. +Many of my cavalry friends in the past had insisted to me that the +revolver was a better weapon than the sword--among them Basil Duke, the +noted Confederate cavalry leader, and Captain Frank Edwards, whom I +had met when elk-hunting on the head-waters of the Yellowstone and the +Snake. Personally, I knew too little to decide as to the comparative +merits of the two arms; but I did know that it was a great deal better +to use the arm with which our men were already proficient. They were +therefore armed with what might be called their natural weapon, the +revolver. + +As it turned out, we were not used mounted at all, so that our +preparations on this point came to nothing. In a way, I have always +regretted this. We thought we should at least be employed as cavalry +in the great campaign against Havana in the fall; and from the +beginning I began to train my men in shock tactics for use against +hostile cavalry. My belief was that the horse was really the weapon +with which to strike the first blow. I felt that if my men could be +trained to hit their adversaries with their horses, it was a matter of +small amount whether, at the moment when the onset occurred, sabres, +lances, or revolvers were used; while in the subsequent melee I +believed the revolver would outclass cold steel as a weapon. But this +is all guesswork, for we never had occasion to try the experiment. + +It was astonishing what a difference was made by two or three weeks' +training. The mere thorough performance of guard and police duties +helped the men very rapidly to become soldiers. The officers studied +hard, and both officers and men worked hard in the drill-field. It +was, of course, rough and ready drill; but it was very efficient, and +it was suited to the men who made up the regiment. Their uniform also +suited them. In their slouch hats, blue flannel shirts, brown +trousers, leggings and boots, with handkerchiefs knotted loosely +around their necks, they looked exactly as a body of cowboy cavalry +should look. The officers speedily grew to realize that they must not +be over-familiar with their men, and yet that they must care for them +in every way. The men, in return, began to acquire those habits of +attention to soldierly detail which mean so much in making a regiment. +Above all, every man felt, and had constantly instilled into him, a +keen pride of the regiment, and a resolute purpose to do his whole +duty uncomplainingly, and, above all, to win glory by the way he +handled himself in battle. + + + + II + + TO CUBA + +Up to the last moment we were spending every ounce of energy we had in +getting the regiment into shape. Fortunately, there were a good many +vacancies among the officers, as the original number of 780 men was +increased to 1,000; so that two companies were organized entirely +anew. This gave the chance to promote some first-rate men. + +One of the most useful members of the regiment was Dr. Robb Church, +formerly a Princeton foot-ball player. He was appointed as Assistant +Surgeon, but acted throughout almost all the Cuban campaign as the +Regimental Surgeon. It was Dr. Church who first gave me an idea of +Bucky O'Neill's versatility, for I happened to overhear them +discussing Aryan word-roots together, and then sliding off into a +review of the novels of Balzac, and a discussion as to how far Balzac +could be said to be the founder of the modern realistic school of +fiction. Church had led almost as varied a life as Bucky himself, his +career including incidents as far apart as exploring and elk-hunting +in the Olympic Mountains, cooking in a lumber-camp, and serving as +doctor on an emigrant ship. + +Woodbury Kane was given a commission, and also Horace Devereux, of +Princeton. Kane was older than the other college men who entered in +the ranks; and as he had the same good qualities to start with, this +resulted in his ultimately becoming perhaps the most useful soldier in +the regiment. He escaped wounds and serious sickness, and was able to +serve through every day of the regiment's existence. + +Two of the men made Second Lieutenants by promotion from the ranks +while in San Antonio were John Greenway, a noted Yale foot-ball player +and catcher on her base-ball nine, and David Goodrich, for two years +captain of the Harvard crew. They were young men, Goodrich having only +just graduated; while Greenway, whose father had served with honor in +the Confederate Army, had been out of Yale three or four years. They +were natural soldiers, and it would be well-nigh impossible to +overestimate the amount of good they did the regiment. They were +strapping fellows, entirely fearless, modest, and quiet. Their only +thought was how to perfect themselves in their own duties, and how to +take care of the men under them, so as to bring them to the highest +point of soldierly perfection. I grew steadily to rely upon them, as +men who could be counted upon with absolute certainty, not only in +every emergency, but in all routine work. They were never so tired as +not to respond with eagerness to the slightest suggestion of doing +something new, whether it was dangerous or merely difficult and +laborious. They not merely did their duty, but were always on the +watch to find out some new duty which they could construe to be +theirs. Whether it was policing camp, or keeping guard, or preventing +straggling on the march, or procuring food for the men, or seeing that +they took care of themselves in camp, or performing some feat of +unusual hazard in the fight--no call was ever made upon them to which +they did not respond with eager thankfulness for being given the +chance to answer it. Later on I worked them as hard as I knew how, and +the regiment will always be their debtor. + +Greenway was from Arkansas. We could have filled up the whole regiment +many times over from the South Atlantic and Gulf States alone, but +were only able to accept a very few applicants. One of them was John +McIlhenny, of Louisiana; a planter and manufacturer, a big-game +hunter and book-lover, who could have had a commission in the +Louisiana troops, but who preferred to go as a trooper in the Rough +Riders because he believed we would surely see fighting. He could have +commanded any influence, social or political, he wished; but he never +asked a favor of any kind. He went into one of the New Mexican troops, +and by his high qualities and zealous attention to duty speedily rose +to a sergeantcy, and finally won his lieutenancy for gallantry in +action. + +The tone of the officers' mess was very high. Everyone seemed to +realize that he had undertaken most serious work. They all earnestly +wished for a chance to distinguish themselves, and fully appreciated +that they ran the risk not merely of death, but of what was infinitely +worse--namely, failure at the crisis to perform duty well; and they +strove earnestly so to train themselves, and the men under them, as to +minimize the possibility of such disgrace. Every officer and every man +was taught continually to look forward to the day of battle eagerly, +but with an entire sense of the drain that would then be made upon his +endurance and resolution. They were also taught that, before the +battle came, the rigorous performance of the countless irksome duties +of the camp and the march was demanded from all alike, and that no +excuse would be tolerated for failure to perform duty. Very few of the +men had gone into the regiment lightly, and the fact that they did +their duty so well may be largely attributed to the seriousness with +which these eager, adventurous young fellows approached their work. +This seriousness, and a certain simple manliness which accompanied it, +had one very pleasant side. During our entire time of service, I never +heard in the officers' mess a foul story or a foul word; and though +there was occasional hard swearing in moments of emergency, yet even +this was the exception. + +The regiment attracted adventurous spirits from everywhere. Our chief +trumpeter was a native American, our second trumpeter was from the +Mediterranean--I think an Italian--who had been a soldier of fortune +not only in Egypt, but in the French Army in Southern China. Two +excellent men were Osborne, a tall Australian, who had been an officer +in the New South Wales Mounted Rifles; and Cook, an Englishman, who +had served in South Africa. Both, when the regiment disbanded, were +plaintive in expressing their fond regret that it could not be used +against the Transvaal Boers! + +One of our best soldiers was a man whose real and assumed names I, for +obvious reasons conceal. He usually went by a nickname which I will +call Tennessee. He was a tall, gaunt fellow, with a quiet and +distinctly sinister eye, who did his duty excellently, especially when +a fight was on, and who, being an expert gambler, always contrived to +reap a rich harvest after pay-day. When the regiment was mustered out, +he asked me to put a brief memorandum of his services on his discharge +certificate, which I gladly did. He much appreciated this, and added, +in explanation, "You see, Colonel, my real name isn't Smith, it's +Yancy. I had to change it, because three or four years ago I had a +little trouble with a gentleman, and--er--well, in fact, I had to kill +him; and the District Attorney, he had it in for me, and so I just +skipped the country; and now, if it ever should be brought up against +me, I should like to show your certificate as to my character!" The +course of frontier justice sometimes moves in unexpected zigzags; so I +did not express the doubt I felt as to whether my certificate that he +had been a good soldier would help him much if he was tried for a +murder committed three or four years previously. + +The men worked hard and faithfully. As a rule, in spite of the number +of rough characters among them, they behaved very well. One night a +few of them went on a spree, and proceeded "to paint San Antonio red." +One was captured by the city authorities, and we had to leave him +behind us in jail. The others we dealt with ourselves, in a way that +prevented a repetition of the occurrence. + +The men speedily gave one another nicknames, largely conferred in a +spirit of derision, their basis lying in contrast. A brave but +fastidious member of a well-known Eastern club, who was serving in the +ranks, was christened "Tough Ike"; and his bunkie, the man who shared +his shelter-tent, who was a decidedly rough cow-puncher, gradually +acquired the name of "The Dude." One unlucky and simple-minded +cow-puncher, who had never been east of the great plains in his life, +unwarily boasted that he had an aunt in New York, and ever afterward +went by the name of "Metropolitan Bill." A huge red-headed Irishman +was named "Sheeny Solomon." A young Jew who developed into one of the +best fighters in the regiment accepted, with entire equanimity, the +name of "Pork-chop." We had quite a number of professional gamblers, +who, I am bound to say, usually made good soldiers. One, who was +almost abnormally quiet and gentle, was called "Hell Roarer"; while +another, who in point of language and deportment was his exact +antithesis, was christened "Prayerful James." + +While the officers and men were learning their duties, and learning +to know one another, Colonel Wood was straining every nerve to get our +equipments--an effort which was complicated by the tendency of the +Ordnance Bureau to send whatever we really needed by freight instead +of express. Finally, just as the last rifles, revolvers, and saddles +came, we were ordered by wire at once to proceed by train to Tampa. + +Instantly, all was joyful excitement. We had enjoyed San Antonio, and +were glad that our regiment had been organized in the city where the +Alamo commemorates the death fight of Crockett, Bowie, and their +famous band of frontier heroes. All of us had worked hard, so that we +had had no time to be homesick or downcast; but we were glad to leave +the hot camp, where every day the strong wind sifted the dust through +everything, and to start for the gathering-place of the army which was +to invade Cuba. Our horses and men were getting into good shape. We +were well enough equipped to warrant our starting on the campaign, and +every man was filled with dread of being out of the fighting. We had a +pack-train of 150 mules, so we had close on to 1,200 animals to carry. + +Of course, our train was split up into sections, seven, all told; +Colonel Wood commanding the first three, and I the last four. The +journey by rail from San Antonio to Tampa took just four days, and I +doubt if anybody who was on the trip will soon forget it. To occupy my +few spare moments, I was reading M. Demolins's "Superiorite des +Anglo-Saxons." M. Demolins, in giving the reasons why the +English-speaking peoples are superior to those of Continental Europe, +lays much stress upon the way in which "militarism" deadens the power +of individual initiative, the soldier being trained to complete +suppression of individual will, while his faculties become atrophied +in consequence of his being merely a cog in a vast and perfectly +ordered machine. I can assure the excellent French publicist that +American "militarism," at least of the volunteer sort, has points of +difference from the militarism of Continental Europe. The battalion +chief of a newly raised American regiment, when striving to get into a +war which the American people have undertaken with buoyant and +light-hearted indifference to detail, has positively unlimited +opportunity for the display of "individual initiative," and is in no +danger whatever either of suffering from unhealthy suppression of +personal will, or of finding his faculties of self-help numbed by +becoming a cog in a gigantic and smooth-running machine. If such a +battalion chief wants to get anything or go anywhere he must do it by +exercising every pound of resource, inventiveness, and audacity he +possesses. The help, advice, and superintendence he gets from outside +will be of the most general, not to say superficial, character. If he +is a cavalry officer, he has got to hurry and push the purchase of his +horses, plunging into and out of the meshes of red-tape as best he +can. He will have to fight for his rifles and his tents and his +clothes. He will have to keep his men healthy largely by the light +that nature has given him. When he wishes to embark his regiment, he +will have to fight for his railway-cars exactly as he fights for his +transport when it comes to going across the sea; and on his journey +his men will or will not have food, and his horses will or will not +have water and hay, and the trains will or will not make connections, +in exact correspondence to the energy and success of his own efforts +to keep things moving straight. + +It was on Sunday, May 29th, that we marched out of our hot, windy, +dusty camp to take the cars for Tampa. Colonel Wood went first, with +the three sections under his special care. I followed with the other +four. The railway had promised us a forty-eight hours' trip, but our +experience in loading was enough to show that the promise would not be +made good. There were no proper facilities for getting the horses on +or off the cars, or for feeding or watering them; and there was +endless confusion and delay among the railway officials. I marched my +four sections over in the afternoon, the first three having taken the +entire day to get off. We occupied the night. As far as the regiment +itself was concerned, we worked an excellent system, Wood instructing +me exactly how to proceed so as to avoid confusion. Being a veteran +campaigner, he had all along insisted that for such work as we had +before us we must travel with the minimum possible luggage. The men +had merely what they could carry on their own backs, and the officers +very little more. My own roll of clothes and bedding could be put on +my spare horse. The mule-train was to be used simply for food, forage, +and spare ammunition. As it turned out, we were not allowed to take +either it or the horses. + +It was dusk when I marched my long files of dusty troopers into the +station-yard. I then made all dismount, excepting the troop which I +first intended to load. This was brought up to the first freight-car. +Here every man unsaddled, and left his saddle, bridle, and all that he +did not himself need in the car, each individual's property being +corded together. A guard was left in the car, and the rest of the men +took the naked horses into the pens to be fed and watered. The other +troops were loaded in the same way in succession. With each section +there were thus a couple of baggage-cars in which the horse-gear, the +superfluous baggage, and the travel rations were carried; and I also +put aboard, not only at starting, but at every other opportunity, what +oats and hay I could get, so as to provide against accidents for the +horses. By the time the baggage-cars were loaded the horses of the +first section had eaten and drunk their fill, and we loaded them on +cattle-cars. The officers of each troop saw to the loading, taking a +dozen picked men to help them; for some of the wild creatures, half +broken and fresh from the ranges, were with difficulty driven up the +chutes. Meanwhile I superintended not merely my own men, but the +railroad men; and when the delays of the latter, and their inability +to understand what was necessary, grew past bearing, I took charge of +the trains myself, so as to insure the horse-cars of each section +being coupled with the baggage-cars of that section. + +We worked until long past midnight before we got the horses and +baggage aboard, and then found that for some reason the passenger-cars +were delayed and would not be out for some hours. In the confusion and +darkness men of the different troops had become scattered, and some +had drifted off to the vile drinking-booths around the stock-yards; so +I sent details to search the latter, while the trumpeters blew the +assembly until the First Sergeants could account for all the men. Then +the troops were arranged in order, and the men of each lay down where +they were, by the tracks and in the brush, to sleep until morning. + +At dawn the passenger-trains arrived. The senior Captain of each +section saw to it that his own horses, troopers, and baggage were +together; and one by one they started off, I taking the last in +person. Captain Capron had at the very beginning shown himself to be +simply invaluable, from his extraordinary energy, executive capacity, +and mastery over men; and I kept his section next mine, so that we +generally came together at the different yards. + +The next four days were very hot and very dusty. I tried to arrange so +the sections would be far enough apart to allow each ample time to +unload, feed, water, and load the horses at any stopping-place before +the next section could arrive. There was enough delay and failure to +make connections on the part of the railroad people to keep me +entirely busy, not to speak of seeing at the stopping-places that the +inexperienced officers got enough hay for their horses, and that the +water given to them was both ample in quantity and drinkable. It +happened that we usually made our longest stops at night, and this +meant that we were up all night long. + +Two or three times a day I got the men buckets of hot coffee, and +when we made a long enough stop they were allowed liberty under the +supervision of the non-commissioned officers. Some of them abused the +privilege, and started to get drunk. These were promptly handled with +the necessary severity, in the interest of the others; for it was only +by putting an immediate check to every form of lawlessness or +disobedience among the few men who were inclined to be bad that we +were enabled to give full liberty to those who would not abuse it. + +Everywhere the people came out to greet us and cheer us. They +brought us flowers; they brought us watermelons and other fruits, and +sometimes jugs and pails of milk--all of which we greatly appreciated. +We were travelling through a region where practically all the older +men had served in the Confederate Army, and where the younger men had +all their lives long drunk in the endless tales told by their elders, +at home, and at the cross-roads taverns, and in the court-house +squares, about the cavalry of Forrest and Morgan and the infantry of +Jackson and Hood. The blood of the old men stirred to the distant +breath of battle; the blood of the young men leaped hot with eager +desire to accompany us. The older women, who remembered the dreadful +misery of war--the misery that presses its iron weight most heavily on +the wives and the little ones--looked sadly at us; but the young girls +drove down in bevies, arrayed in their finery, to wave flags in +farewell to the troopers and to beg cartridges and buttons as +mementos. Everywhere we saw the Stars and Stripes, and everywhere we +were told, half-laughing, by grizzled ex-Confederates that they had +never dreamed in the bygone days of bitterness to greet the old flag +as they now were greeting it, and to send their sons, as now they were +sending them, to fight and die under it. + +It was four days later that we disembarked, in a perfect welter of +confusion. Tampa lay in the pine-covered sand-flats at the end of a +one-track railroad, and everything connected with both military and +railroad matters was in an almost inextricable tangle. There was no +one to meet us or to tell us where we were to camp, and no one to +issue us food for the first twenty-four hours; while the railroad +people unloaded us wherever they pleased, or rather wherever the jam +of all kinds of trains rendered it possible. We had to buy the men +food out of our own pockets, and to seize wagons in order to get our +spare baggage taken to the camping ground which we at last found had +been allotted to us. + +Once on the ground, we speedily got order out of confusion. Under +Wood's eye the tents were put up in long streets, the picket-line of +each troop stretching down its side of each street. The officers' +quarters were at the upper ends of the streets, the company kitchens +and sinks at the opposite ends. The camp was strictly policed, and +drill promptly begun. For thirty-six hours we let the horses rest, +drilling on foot, and then began the mounted drill again. The +regiments with which we were afterward to serve were camped near us, +and the sandy streets of the little town were thronged with soldiers, +almost all of them regulars; for there were but one or two volunteer +organizations besides ourselves. The regulars wore the canonical dark +blue of Uncle Sam. Our own men were clad in dusty brown blouses, +trousers and leggings being of the same hue, while the broad-brimmed +soft hat was of dark gray; and very workmanlike they looked as, in +column of fours, each troop trotted down its company street to form by +squadron or battalion, the troopers sitting steadily in the saddles as +they made their half-trained horses conform to the movement of the +guidons. + +Over in Tampa town the huge winter hotel was gay with general officers +and their staffs, with women in pretty dresses, with newspaper +correspondents by the score, with military attaches of foreign powers, +and with onlookers of all sorts; but we spent very little time there. + +We worked with the utmost industry, special attention being given by +each troop-commander to skirmish-drill in the woods. Once or twice we +had mounted drill of the regiment as a whole. The military attaches +came out to look on--English, German, Russian, French, and Japanese. +With the Englishman, Captain Arthur Lee, a capital fellow, we soon +struck up an especially close friendship; and we saw much of him +throughout the campaign. So we did of several of the newspaper +correspondents--Richard Harding Davis, John Fox, Jr., Caspar Whitney, +and Frederic Remington. On Sunday Chaplain Brown, of Arizona, held +service, as he did almost every Sunday during the campaign. + +There were but four or five days at Tampa, however. We were notified +that the expedition would start for destination unknown at once, and +that we were to go with it; but that our horses were to be left +behind, and only eight troops of seventy men each taken. Our sorrow at +leaving the horses was entirely outweighed by our joy at going; but it +was very hard indeed to select the four troops that were to stay, and +the men who had to be left behind from each of the troops that went. +Colonel Wood took Major Brodie and myself to command the two +squadrons, being allowed only two squadron commanders. The men who +were left behind felt the most bitter heartburn. To the great bulk of +them I think it will be a life-long sorrow. I saw more than one, both +among the officers and privates, burst into tears when he found he +could not go. No outsider can appreciate the bitterness of the +disappointment. Of course, really, those that stayed were entitled to +precisely as much honor as those that went. Each man was doing his +duty, and much the hardest and most disagreeable duty was to stay. +Credit should go with the performance of duty, and not with what is +very often the accident of glory. All this and much more we explained, +but our explanations could not alter the fact that some had to be +chosen and some had to be left. One of the Captains chosen was Captain +Maximilian Luna, who commanded Troop F, from New Mexico. The Captain's +people had been on the banks of the Rio Grande before my forefathers +came to the mouth of the Hudson or Wood's landed at Plymouth; and he +made the plea that it was his right to go as a representative of his +race, for he was the only man of pure Spanish blood who bore a +commission in the army, and he demanded the privilege of proving that +his people were precisely as loyal Americans as any others. I was glad +when it was decided to take him. + +It was the evening of June 7th when we suddenly received orders that +the expedition was to start from Port Tampa, nine miles distant by +rail, at daybreak the following morning; and that if we were not +aboard our transport by that time we could not go. We had no intention +of getting left, and prepared at once for the scramble which was +evidently about to take place. As the number and capacity of the +transports were known, or ought to have been known, and as the number +and size of the regiments to go were also known, the task of allotting +each regiment or fraction of a regiment to its proper transport, and +arranging that the regiments and the transports should meet in due +order on the dock, ought not to have been difficult. However, no +arrangements were made in advance; and we were allowed to shove and +hustle for ourselves as best we could, on much the same principles +that had governed our preparations hitherto. + +We were ordered to be at a certain track with all our baggage at +midnight, there to take a train for Port Tampa. At the appointed time +we turned up, but the train did not. The men slept heavily, while Wood +and I and various other officers wandered about in search of +information which no one could give. We now and then came across a +Brigadier-General, or even a Major-General; but nobody knew anything. +Some regiments got aboard the trains and some did not, but as none of +the trains started this made little difference. At three o'clock we +received orders to march over to an entirely different track, and away +we went. No train appeared on this track either; but at six o'clock +some coal-cars came by, and these we seized. By various arguments we +persuaded the engineer in charge of the train to back us down the nine +miles to Port Tampa, where we arrived covered with coal-dust, but with +all our belongings. + +The railway tracks ran out on the quay, and the transports, which had +been anchored in midstream, were gradually being brought up alongside +the quay and loaded. The trains were unloading wherever they happened +to be, no attention whatever being paid to the possible position of +the transport on which the soldiers were to go. Colonel Wood and I +jumped off and started on a hunt, which soon convinced us that we had +our work cut out if we were to get a transport at all. From the +highest General down, nobody could tell us where to go to find out +what transport we were to have. At last we were informed that we were +to hunt up the depot quartermaster, Colonel Humphrey. We found his +office, where his assistant informed us that he didn't know where the +Colonel was, but believed him to be asleep upon one of the transports. +This seemed odd at such a time; but so many of the methods in vogue +were odd, that we were quite prepared to accept it as a fact. However, +it proved not to be such; but for an hour Colonel Humphrey might just +as well have been asleep, as nobody knew where he was and nobody could +find him, and the quay was crammed with some ten thousand men, most of +whom were working at cross purposes. + +At last, however, after over an hour's industrious and rapid search +through this swarming ant-heap of humanity, Wood and I, who had +separated, found Colonel Humphrey at nearly the same time and were +allotted a transport--the Yucatan. She was out in midstream, so Wood +seized a stray launch and boarded her. At the same time I happened to +find out that she had previously been allotted to two other regiments +--the Second Regular Infantry and the Seventy-first New York +Volunteers, which latter regiment alone contained more men than could +be put aboard her. Accordingly, I ran at full speed to our train; and +leaving a strong guard with the baggage, I double-quicked the rest of +the regiment up to the boat, just in time to board her as she came +into the quay, and then to hold her against the Second Regulars and +the Seventy-first, who had arrived a little too late, being a shade +less ready than we were in the matter of individual initiative. There +was a good deal of expostulation, but we had possession; and as the +ship could not contain half of the men who had been told to go aboard +her, the Seventy-first went away, as did all but four companies of the +Second. These latter we took aboard. Meanwhile a General had caused +our train to be unloaded at the end of the quay farthest from where +the ship was; and the hungry, tired men spent most of the day in the +labor of bringing down their baggage and the food and ammunition. + +The officers' horses were on another boat, my own being accompanied +by my colored body-servant, Marshall, the most faithful and loyal +of men, himself an old soldier of the Ninth Cavalry. Marshall had +been in Indian campaigns, and he christened my larger horse +"Rain-in-the-Face," while the other, a pony, went by the name of +"Texas." + +By the time that night fell, and our transport pulled off and +anchored in midstream, we felt we had spent thirty-six tolerably +active hours. The transport was overloaded, the men being packed like +sardines, not only below but upon the decks; so that at night it was +only possible to walk about by continually stepping over the bodies of +the sleepers. The travel rations which had been issued to the men for +the voyage were not sufficient, because the meat was very bad indeed; +and when a ration consists of only four or five items, which taken +together just meet the requirements of a strong and healthy man, the +loss of one item is a serious thing. If we had been given canned +corned beef we would have been all right, but instead of this the +soldiers were issued horrible stuff called "canned fresh beef." There +was no salt in it. At the best it was stringy and tasteless; at the +worst it was nauseating. Not one-fourth of it was ever eaten at all, +even when the men became very hungry. There were no facilities for the +men to cook anything. There was no ice for them; the water was not +good; and they had no fresh meat or fresh vegetables. + +However, all these things seemed of small importance compared with +the fact that we were really embarked, and were with the first +expedition to leave our shores. But by next morning came the news that +the order to sail had been countermanded, and that we were to stay +where we were for the time being. What this meant none of us could +understand. It turned out later to be due to the blunder of a naval +officer who mistook some of our vessels for Spaniards, and by his +report caused consternation in Washington, until by vigorous scouting +on the part of our other ships the illusion was dispelled. + +Meanwhile the troop-ships, packed tight with their living freight, +sweltered in the burning heat of Tampa Harbor. There was nothing +whatever for the men to do, space being too cramped for amusement or +for more drill than was implied in the manual of arms. In this we +drilled them assiduously, and we also continued to hold school for +both the officers and the non-commissioned officers. Each troop +commander was regarded as responsible for his own non-commissioned +officers, and Wood or myself simply dropped in to superintend, just as +we did with the manual of arms. In the officers' school Captain Capron +was the special instructor, and a most admirable one he was. + +The heat, the steaming discomfort, and the confinement, together +with the forced inaction, were very irksome; but everyone made the +best of it, and there was little or no grumbling even among the men. +All, from the highest to the lowest, were bent upon perfecting +themselves according to their slender opportunities. Every book of +tactics in the regiment was in use from morning until night, and the +officers and non-commissioned officers were always studying the +problems presented at the schools. About the only amusement was +bathing over the side, in which we indulged both in the morning and +evening. Many of the men from the Far West had never seen the ocean. +One of them who knew how to swim was much interested in finding that +the ocean water was not drinkable. Another, who had never in his life +before seen any water more extensive than the headstream of the Rio +Grande, met with an accident later in the voyage; that is, his hat +blew away while we were in mid-ocean, and I heard him explaining the +accident to a friend in the following words: "Oh-o-h, Jim! Ma hat blew +into the creek!" So we lay for nearly a week, the vessels swinging +around on their anchor chains, while the hot water of the bay flowed +to and fro around them and the sun burned overhead. + +At last, on the evening of June 13th, we received the welcome order +to start. Ship after ship weighed anchor and went slowly ahead under +half-steam for the distant mouth of the harbor, the bands playing, the +flags flying, the rigging black with the clustered soldiers, cheering +and shouting to those left behind on the quay and to their fellows on +the other ships. The channel was very tortuous; and we anchored before +we had gone far down it, after coming within an ace of a bad collision +with another transport. The next morning we were all again under way, +and in the afternoon the great fleet steamed southeast until Tampa +Light sank in the distance. + +For the next six days we sailed steadily southward and eastward +through the wonderful sapphire seas of the West Indies. The thirty odd +transports moved in long parallel lines, while ahead and behind and on +their flanks the gray hulls of the war-ships surged through the blue +water. We had every variety of craft to guard us, from the mighty +battle-ship and swift cruiser to the converted yachts and the frail, +venomous-looking torpedo-boats. The war-ships watched with ceaseless +vigilance by day and night. When a sail of any kind appeared, +instantly one of our guardians steamed toward it. Ordinarily, the +torpedo-boats were towed. Once a strange ship steamed up too close, +and instantly the nearest torpedo-boat was slipped like a greyhound +from the leash, and sped across the water toward it; but the stranger +proved harmless, and the swift, delicate, death-fraught craft returned +again. + +It was very pleasant, sailing southward through the tropic seas +toward the unknown. We knew not whither we were bound, nor what we +were to do; but we believed that the nearing future held for us many +chances of death and hardship, of honor and renown. If we failed, we +would share the fate of all who fail; but we were sure that we would +win, that we should score the first great triumph in a mighty +world movement. At night we looked at the new stars, and hailed the +Southern Cross when at last we raised it above the horizon. In the +daytime we drilled, and in the evening we held officers' school; but +there was much time when we had little to do, save to scan the +wonderful blue sea and watch the flying-fish. Toward evening, when the +officers clustered together on the forward bridge, the band of the +Second Infantry played tune after tune, until on our quarter the +glorious sun sunk in the red west, and, one by one, the lights blazed +out on troop-ship and war-ship for miles ahead and astern, as they +steamed onward through the brilliant tropic night. + +The men on the ship were young and strong, eager to face what lay +hidden before them, eager for adventure where risk was the price of +gain. Sometimes they talked of what they might do in the future, and +wondered whether we were to attack Santiago or Porto Rico. At other +times, as they lounged in groups, they told stories of their past +--stories of the mining camps and the cattle ranges, of hunting bear +and deer, of war-trails against the Indians, of lawless deeds of +violence and the lawful violence by which they were avenged, of brawls +in saloons, of shrewd deals in cattle and sheep, of successful quests +for the precious metals; stories of brutal wrong and brutal appetite, +melancholy love-tales, and memories of nameless heroes--masters of men +and tamers of horses. + +The officers, too, had many strange experiences to relate; none, not +even Llewellen or O'Neill, had been through what was better worth +telling, or could tell it better, than Capron. He had spent years +among the Apaches, the wildest and fiercest of tribes, and again and +again had owed his life to his own cool judgment and extraordinary +personal prowess. He knew the sign language, familiar to all the +Indians of the mountains and the plains; and it was curious to find +that the signs for different animals, for water, for sleep and death, +which he knew from holding intercourse with the tribes of the +Southeast, were exactly like those which I had picked up on my +occasional hunting or trading trips among the Sioux and Mandans of the +North. He was a great rifle shot and wolf hunter, and had many tales +to tell of the deeds of gallant hounds and the feats of famous horses. +He had handled his Indian scouts and dealt with the "bronco" Indians, +the renegades from the tribes, in circumstances of extreme peril; for +he had seen the sullen, moody Apaches when they suddenly went crazy +with wolfish blood-lust, and in their madness wished to kill whomever +was nearest. He knew, so far as white man could know, their ways of +thought, and how to humor and divert them when on the brink of some +dangerous outbreak. Capron's training and temper fitted him to do +great work in war; and he looked forward with eager confidence to what +the future held, for he was sure that for him it held either triumph +or death. Death was the prize he drew. + +Most of the men had simple souls. They could relate facts, but they +said very little about what they dimly felt. Bucky O'Neill, however, +the iron-nerved, iron-willed fighter from Arizona, the Sheriff whose +name was a by-word of terror to every wrong-doer, white or red, the +gambler who with unmoved face would stake and lose every dollar he had +in the world--he, alone among his comrades, was a visionary, an +articulate emotionalist. He was very quiet about it, never talking +unless he was sure of his listener; but at night, when we leaned on +the railing to look at the Southern Cross, he was less apt to tell +tales of his hard and stormy past than he was to speak of the +mysteries which lie behind courage, and fear, and love, behind animal +hatred, and animal lust for the pleasures that have tangible shape. He +had keenly enjoyed life, and he could breast its turbulent torrent as +few men could; he was a practical man, who knew how to wrest personal +success from adverse forces, among money-makers, politicians, and +desperadoes alike; yet, down at bottom, what seemed to interest him +most was the philosophy of life itself, of our understanding of it, +and of the limitations set to that understanding. But he was as far as +possible from being a mere dreamer of dreams. A staunchly loyal and +generous friend, he was also exceedingly ambitious on his own account. +If, by risking his life, no matter how great the risk, he could gain +high military distinction, he was bent on gaining it. He had taken so +many chances when death lay on the hazard, that he felt the odds were +now against him; but, said he, "Who would not risk his life for a +star?" Had he lived, and had the war lasted, he would surely have won +the eagle, if not the star. + +We had a good deal of trouble with the transports, chiefly because +they were not under the control of the navy. One of them was towing a +schooner, and another a scow; both, of course, kept lagging behind. +Finally, when we had gone nearly the length of Cuba, the transport +with the schooner sagged very far behind, and then our wretched +transport was directed by General Shafter to fall out of line and keep +her company. Of course, we executed the order, greatly to the wrath of +Captain Clover, who, in the gunboat Bancroft, had charge of the rear +of the column--for we could be of no earthly use to the other +transport, and by our presence simply added just so much to Captain +Clover's anxiety, as he had two transports to protect instead of one. +Next morning the rest of the convoy were out of sight, but we reached +them just as they finally turned. + +Until this we had steamed with the trade-wind blowing steadily in +our faces; but once we were well to eastward of Cuba, we ran southwest +with the wind behind on our quarter, and we all knew that our +destination was Santiago. On the morning of the 20th we were close to +the Cuban coast. High mountains rose almost from the water's edge, +looking huge and barren across the sea. We sped onward past Guantanamo +Bay, where we saw the little picket-ships of the fleet; and in the +afternoon we sighted Santiago Harbor, with the great war-ships +standing off and on in front of it, gray and sullen in their +war-paint. + +All next day we rolled and wallowed in the seaway, waiting until a +decision was reached as to where we should land. On the morning of +June 22nd the welcome order for landing came. + +We did the landing as we had done everything else--that is, in a +scramble, each commander shifting for himself. The port at which we +landed was called Daiquiri, a squalid little village where there had +been a railway and iron-works. There were no facilities for landing, +and the fleet did not have a quarter the number of boats it should +have had for the purpose. All we could do was to stand in with the +transports as close as possible, and then row ashore in our own few +boats and the boats of the war-ships. Luck favored our regiment. My +former naval aide, while I was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, +Lieutenant Sharp, was in command of the Vixen, a converted yacht; and +everything being managed on the go-as-you-please principle, he steamed +by us and offered to help put us ashore. Of course, we jumped at the +chance. Wood and I boarded the Vixen, and there we got Lieutenant +Sharp's black Cuban pilot, who told us he could take our transport +right in to within a few hundred yards of the land. Accordingly, we +put him aboard; and in he brought her, gaining at least a mile and a +half by the manoeuvre. The other transports followed; but we had our +berth, and were all right. + +There was plenty of excitement to the landing. In the first place, +the smaller war-vessels shelled Daiquiri, so as to dislodge any +Spaniards who might be lurking in the neighborhood, and also shelled +other places along the coast, to keep the enemy puzzled as to our +intentions. Then the surf was high, and the landing difficult; so that +the task of getting the men, the ammunition, and provisions ashore was +not easy. Each man carried three days' field rations and a hundred +rounds of ammunition. Our regiment had accumulated two rapid-fire Colt +automatic guns, the gift of Stevens, Kane, Tiffany, and one or two +others of the New York men, and also a dynamite gun, under the +immediate charge of Sergeant Borrowe. To get these, and especially the +last, ashore, involved no little work and hazard. Meanwhile, from +another transport, our horses were being landed, together with the +mules, by the simple process of throwing them overboard and letting +them swim ashore, if they could. Both of Wood's got safely through. +One of mine was drowned. The other, little Texas, got ashore all +right. While I was superintending the landing at the ruined dock, with +Bucky O'Neill, a boatful of colored infantry soldiers capsized, and +two of the men went to the bottom; Bucky O'Neill plunging in, in full +uniform, to save them, but in vain. + +However, by the late afternoon we had all our men, with what +ammunition and provisions they could themselves carry, landed, and +were ready for anything that might turn up. + + + + III + + GENERAL YOUNG'S FIGHT AT LAS GUASIMAS + +Just before leaving Tampa we had been brigaded with the First (white) +and Tenth (colored) Regular Cavalry under Brigadier-General S. B. M. +Young. We were the Second Brigade, the First Brigade consisting of the +Third and Sixth (white), and the Ninth (colored) Regular Cavalry under +Brigadier-General Sumner. The two brigades of the cavalry division +were under Major-General Joseph Wheeler, the gallant old Confederate +cavalry commander. + +General Young was--and is--as fine a type of the American fighting +soldier as a man can hope to see. He had been in command, as Colonel, +of the Yellowstone National Park, and I had seen a good deal of him in +connection therewith, as I was President of the Boone and Crockett +Club, an organization devoted to hunting big game, to its +preservation, and to forest preservation. During the preceding winter, +while he was in Washington, he had lunched with me at the Metropolitan +Club, Wood being one of the other guests. Of course, we talked of the +war, which all of us present believed to be impending, and Wood and I +told him we were going to make every effort to get in, somehow; and he +answered that we must be sure to get into his brigade, if he had one, +and he would guarantee to show us fighting. None of us forgot the +conversation. As soon as our regiment was raised General Young applied +for it to be put in his brigade. We were put in; and he made his word +good; for he fought and won the first fight on Cuban soil. + +Yet, even though under him, we should not have been in this fight at +all if we had not taken advantage of the chance to disembark among the +first troops, and if it had not been for Wood's energy in pushing our +regiment to the front. + +On landing we spent some active hours in marching our men a quarter +of a mile or so inland, as boat-load by boat-load they disembarked. +Meanwhile one of the men, Knoblauch, a New Yorker, who was a great +athlete and a champion swimmer, by diving in the surf off the dock, +recovered most of the rifles which had been lost when the boat-load of +colored cavalry capsized. The country would have offered very great +difficulties to an attacking force had there been resistance. It was +little but a mass of rugged and precipitous hills, covered for the +most part by dense jungle. Five hundred resolute men could have +prevented the disembarkation at very little cost to themselves. There +had been about that number of Spaniards at Daiquiri that morning, but +they had fled even before the ships began shelling. In their place we +found hundreds of Cuban insurgents, a crew of as utter tatterdemalions +as human eyes ever looked on, armed with every kind of rifle in all +stages of dilapidation. It was evident, at a glance, that they would +be no use in serious fighting, but it was hoped that they might be of +service in scouting. From a variety of causes, however, they turned +out to be nearly useless, even for this purpose, so far as the +Santiago campaign was concerned. + +We were camped on a dusty, brush-covered flat, with jungle on one +side, and on the other a shallow, fetid pool fringed with palm-trees. +Huge land-crabs scuttled noisily through the underbrush, exciting much +interest among the men. Camping was a simple matter, as each man +carried all he had, and the officers had nothing. I took a light +mackintosh and a tooth-brush. Fortunately, that night it did not rain; +and from the palm-leaves we built shelters from the sun. + +General Lawton, a tall, fine-looking man, had taken the advance. A +thorough soldier, he at once established outposts and pushed +reconnoitring parties ahead on the trails. He had as little baggage as +the rest of us. Our own Brigade-Commander, General Young, had exactly +the same impedimenta that I had, namely, a mackintosh and a +tooth-brush. + +Next morning we were hard at work trying to get the stuff unloaded +from the ship, and succeeded in getting most of it ashore, but were +utterly unable to get transportation for anything but a very small +quantity. The great shortcoming throughout the campaign was the +utterly inadequate transportation. If we had been allowed to take our +mule-train, we could have kept the whole cavalry division supplied. + +In the afternoon word came to us to march. General Wheeler, a regular +game-cock, was as anxious as Lawton to get first blood, and he was +bent upon putting the cavalry division to the front as quickly as +possible. Lawton's advance-guard was in touch with the Spaniards, and +there had been a skirmish between the latter and some Cubans, who were +repulsed. General Wheeler made a reconnaissance in person, found out +where the enemy was, and directed General Young to take our brigade +and move forward so as to strike him next morning. He had the power to +do this, as when General Shafter was afloat he had command ashore. + +I had succeeded in finding Texas, my surviving horse, much the worse +for his fortnight on the transport and his experience in getting off, +but still able to carry me. + +It was mid-afternoon and the tropic sun was beating fiercely down when +Colonel Wood started our regiment--the First and Tenth Cavalry and +some of the infantry regiments having already marched. Colonel Wood +himself rode in advance, while I led my squadron, and Major Brodie +followed with his. It was a hard march, the hilly jungle trail being +so narrow that often we had to go in single file. We marched fast, for +Wood was bound to get us ahead of the other regiments, so as to be +sure of our place in the body that struck the enemy next morning. If +it had not been for his energy in pushing forward, we should certainly +have missed the fight. As it was, we did not halt until we were at the +extreme front. + +The men were not in very good shape for marching, and moreover they +were really horsemen, the majority being cowboys who had never done +much walking. The heat was intense and their burdens very heavy. Yet +there was very little straggling. Whenever we halted they instantly +took off their packs and threw themselves on their backs. Then at the +word to start they would spring into place again. The captains and +lieutenants tramped along, encouraging the men by example and word. A +good part of the time I was by Captain Llewellen, and was greatly +pleased to see the way in which he kept his men up to their work. He +never pitied or coddled his troopers, but he always looked after them. +He helped them whenever he could, and took rather more than his full +share of hardship and danger, so that his men naturally followed him +with entire devotion. Jack Greenway was under him as lieutenant, and +to him the entire march was nothing but an enjoyable outing, the +chance of fight on the morrow simply adding the needed spice of +excitement. + +It was long after nightfall when we tramped through the darkness +into the squalid coast hamlet of Siboney. As usual when we made a +night camp, we simply drew the men up in column of troops, and then +let each man lie down where he was. Black thunder-clouds were +gathering. Before they broke the fires were made and the men cooked +their coffee and pork, some frying the hard-tack with the pork. The +officers, of course, fared just as the men did. Hardly had we finished +eating when the rain came, a regular tropic downpour. We sat about, +sheltering ourselves as best we could, for the hour or two it lasted; +then the fires were relighted and we closed around them, the men +taking off their wet things to dry them, so far as possible, by the +blaze. + +Wood had gone off to see General Young, as General Wheeler had +instructed General Young to hit the Spaniards, who were about four +miles away, as soon after daybreak as possible. Meanwhile I strolled +over to Captain Capron's troop. He and I, with his two lieutenants, +Day and Thomas, stood around the fire, together with two or three +non-commissioned officers and privates; among the latter were Sergeant +Hamilton Fish and Trooper Elliot Cowdin, both of New York. Cowdin, +together with two other troopers, Harry Thorpe and Munro Ferguson, had +been on my Oyster Bay Polo Team some years before. Hamilton Fish had +already shown himself one of the best non-commissioned officers we +had. A huge fellow, of enormous strength and endurance and dauntless +courage, he took naturally to a soldier's life. He never complained +and never shirked any duty of any kind, while his power over his men +was great. So good a sergeant had he made that Captain Capron, keen to +get the best men under him, took him when he left Tampa--for Fish's +troop remained behind. As we stood around the flickering blaze that +night I caught myself admiring the splendid bodily vigor of Capron and +Fish--the captain and the sergeant. Their frames seemed of steel, to +withstand all fatigue; they were flushed with health; in their eyes +shone high resolve and fiery desire. Two finer types of the fighting +man, two better representatives of the American soldier, there were +not in the whole army. Capron was going over his plans for the fight +when we should meet the Spaniards on the morrow, Fish occasionally +asking a question. They were both filled with eager longing to show +their mettle, and both were rightly confident that if they lived they +would win honorable renown and would rise high in their chosen +profession. Within twelve hours they both were dead. + +I had lain down when toward midnight Wood returned. He had gone over +the whole plan with General Young. We were to start by sunrise toward +Santiago, General Young taking four troops of the Tenth and four +troops of the First up the road which led through the valley; while +Colonel Wood was to lead our eight troops along a hill-trail to the +left, which joined the valley road about four miles on, at a point +where the road went over a spur of the mountain chain and from thence +went down hill toward Santiago. The Spaniards had their lines at the +junction of the road and the trail. + +Before describing our part in the fight, it is necessary to say a +word about General Young's share, for, of course, the whole fight was +under his direction, and the fight on the right wing under his +immediate supervision. General Young had obtained from General +Castillo, the commander of the Cuban forces, a full description of the +country in front. General Castillo promised Young the aid of eight +hundred Cubans, if he made a reconnaissance in force to find out +exactly what the Spanish strength was. This promised Cuban aid did +not, however, materialize, the Cubans, who had been beaten back by the +Spaniards the day before, not appearing on the firing-line until the +fight was over. + +General Young had in his immediate command a squadron of the First +Regular Cavalry, two hundred and forty-four strong, under the command +of Major Bell, and a squadron of the Tenth Regular Cavalry, two +hundred and twenty strong, under the command of Major Norvell. He also +had two Hotchkiss mountain guns, under Captain Watson of the Tenth. He +started at a quarter before six in the morning, accompanied by Captain +A. L. Mills, as aide. It was at half-past seven that Captain Mills, +with a patrol of two men in advance, discovered the Spaniards as they +lay across where the two roads came together, some of them in pits, +others simply lying in the heavy jungle, while on their extreme right +they occupied a big ranch. Where General Young struck them they held a +high ridge a little to the left of his front, this ridge being +separated by a deep ravine from the hill-trail still farther to the +left, down which the Rough Riders were advancing. That is, their +forces occupied a range of high hills in the form of an obtuse angle, +the salient being toward the space between the American forces, while +there were advance parties along both roads. There were stone +breastworks flanked by block-houses on that part of the ridge where +the two trails came together. The place was called Las Guasimas, from +trees of that name in the neighborhood. + +General Young, who was riding a mule, carefully examined the Spanish +position in person. He ordered the canteens of the troops to be +filled, placed the Hotchkiss battery in concealment about nine hundred +yards from the Spanish lines, and then deployed the white regulars, +with the colored regulars in support, having sent a Cuban guide to try +to find Colonel Wood and warn him. He did not attack immediately, +because he knew that Colonel Wood, having a more difficult route, +would require a longer time to reach the position. During the delay +General Wheeler arrived; he had been up since long before dawn, to see +that everything went well. Young informed him of the dispositions and +plan of attack he made. General Wheeler approved of them, and with +excellent judgment left General Young a free hand to fight his battle. + +So, about eight o'clock Young began the fight with his Hotchkiss +guns, he himself being up on the firing-line. No sooner had the +Hotchkiss one-pounders opened than the Spaniards opened fire in +return, most of the time firing by volleys executed in perfect time, +almost as on parade. They had a couple of light guns, which our people +thought were quick firers. The denseness of the jungle and the fact +that they used absolutely smokeless powder, made it exceedingly +difficult to place exactly where they were, and almost immediately +Young, who always liked to get as close as possible to his enemy, +began to push his troops forward. They were deployed on both sides of +the road in such thick jungle that it was only here and there that +they could possibly see ahead, and some confusion, of course, ensued, +the support gradually getting mixed with the advance. Captain Beck +took A Troop of the Tenth in on the left, next Captain Galbraith's +troop of the First; two other troops of the Tenth were on the extreme +right. Through the jungle ran wire fences here and there, and as the +troops got to the ridge they encountered precipitous heights. They +were led most gallantly, as American regular officers always lead +their men; and the men followed their leaders with the splendid +courage always shown by the American regular soldier. There was not a +single straggler among them, and in not one instance was an attempt +made by any trooper to fall out in order to assist the wounded or +carry back the dead, while so cool were they and so perfect their fire +discipline, that in the entire engagement the expenditure of +ammunition was not over ten rounds per man. Major Bell, who commanded +the squadron, had his leg broken by a shot as he was leading his men. +Captain Wainwright succeeded to the command of the squadron. Captain +Knox was shot in the abdomen. He continued for some time giving orders +to his troops, and refused to allow a man in the firing-line to assist +him to the rear. His First Lieutenant, Byram, was himself shot, but +continued to lead his men until the wound and the heat overcame him +and he fell in a faint. The advance was pushed forward under General +Young's eye with the utmost energy, until the enemy's voices could be +heard in the entrenchments. The Spaniards kept up a very heavy firing, +but the regulars would not be denied, and as they climbed the ridges +the Spaniards broke and fled. + +Meanwhile, at six o'clock, the Rough Riders began their advance. We +first had to climb a very steep hill. Many of the men, foot-sore and +weary from their march of the preceding day, found the pace up this +hill too hard, and either dropped their bundles or fell out of line, +with the result that we went into action with less than five hundred +men--as, in addition to the stragglers, a detachment had been left to +guard the baggage on shore. At the time I was rather inclined to +grumble to myself about Wood setting so fast a pace, but when the +fight began I realized that it had been absolutely necessary, as +otherwise we should have arrived late and the regulars would have had +very hard work indeed. + +Tiffany, by great exertions, had corralled a couple of mules and was +using them to transport the Colt automatic guns in the rear of the +regiment. The dynamite gun was not with us, as mules for it could not +be obtained in time. + +Captain Capron's troop was in the lead, it being chosen for the most +responsible and dangerous position because of Capron's capacity. Four +men, headed by Sergeant Hamilton Fish, went first; a support of twenty +men followed some distance behind; and then came Capron and the rest +of his troop, followed by Wood, with whom General Young had sent +Lieutenants Smedburg and Rivers as aides. I rode close behind, at the +head of the other three troops of my squadron, and then came Brodie at +the head of his squadron. The trail was so narrow that for the most +part the men marched in single file, and it was bordered by dense, +tangled jungle, through which a man could with difficulty force his +way; so that to put out flankers was impossible, for they could not +possibly have kept up with the march of the column. Every man had his +canteen full. There was a Cuban guide at the head of the column, but +he ran away as soon as the fighting began. There were also with us, at +the head of the column, two men who did not run away, who, though +non-combatants--newspaper correspondents--showed as much gallantry as +any soldier in the field. They were Edward Marshall and Richard +Harding Davis. + +After reaching the top of the hill the walk was very pleasant. Now +and then we came to glades or rounded hill-shoulders, whence we could +look off for some distance. The tropical forest was very beautiful, +and it was a delight to see the strange trees, the splendid royal +palms and a tree which looked like a flat-topped acacia, and which was +covered with a mass of brilliant scarlet flowers. We heard many +bird-notes, too, the cooing of doves and the call of a great brush +cuckoo. Afterward we found that the Spanish guerillas imitated these +bird-calls, but the sounds we heard that morning, as we advanced +through the tropic forest, were from birds, not guerillas, until we +came right up to the Spanish lines. It was very beautiful and very +peaceful, and it seemed more as if we were off on some hunting +excursion than as if were about to go into a sharp and bloody little +fight. + +Of course, we accommodated our movements to those of the men in +front. After marching for somewhat over an hour, we suddenly came to a +halt, and immediately afterward Colonel Wood sent word down the line +that the advance guard had come upon a Spanish outpost. Then the order +was passed to fill the magazines, which was done. + +The men were totally unconcerned, and I do not think they realized +that any fighting was at hand; at any rate, I could hear the group +nearest me discussing in low murmurs, not the Spaniards, but the +conduct of a certain cow-puncher in quitting work on a ranch and +starting a saloon in some New Mexican town. In another minute, +however, Wood sent me orders to deploy three troops to the right of +the trail, and to advance when we became engaged; while, at the same +time, the other troops, under Major Brodie, were deployed to the left +of the trail where the ground was more open than elsewhere--one troop +being held in reserve in the centre, besides the reserves on each +wing. Later all the reserves were put into the firing-line. + +To the right the jungle was quite thick, and we had barely begun to +deploy when a crash in front announced that the fight was on. It was +evidently very hot, and L Troop had its hands full; so I hurried my +men up abreast of them. So thick was the jungle that it was very +difficult to keep together, especially when there was no time for +delay, and while I got up Llewellen's troops and Kane's platoon of K +Troop, the rest of K Troop under Captain Jenkins which, with Bucky +O'Neill's troop, made up the right wing, were behind, and it was some +time before they got into the fight at all. + +Meanwhile I had gone forward with Llewellen, Greenway, Kane and +their troopers until we came out on a kind of shoulder, jutting over a +ravine, which separated us from a great ridge on our right. It was on +this ridge that the Spaniards had some of their intrenchments, and it +was just beyond this ridge that the Valley Road led, up which the +regulars were at that very time pushing their attack; but, of course, +at the moment we knew nothing of this. The effect of the smokeless +powder was remarkable. The air seemed full of the rustling sound of +the Mauser bullets, for the Spaniards knew the trails by which we were +advancing, and opened heavily on our position. Moreover, as we +advanced we were, of course, exposed, and they could see us and fire. +But they themselves were entirely invisible. The jungle covered +everything, and not the faintest trace of smoke was to be seen in any +direction to indicate from whence the bullets came. It was some time +before the men fired; Llewellen, Kane, and I anxiously studying the +ground to see where our opponents were, and utterly unable to find +out. + +We could hear the faint reports of the Hotchkiss guns and the reply +of two Spanish guns, and the Mauser bullets were singing through the +trees over our heads, making a noise like the humming of telephone +wires; but exactly where they came from we could not tell. The +Spaniards were firing high and for the most part by volleys, and their +shooting was not very good, which perhaps was not to be wondered at, +as they were a long way off. Gradually, however, they began to get the +range and occasionally one of our men would crumple up. In no case did +the man make any outcry when hit, seeming to take it as a matter of +course; at the outside, making only such a remark as: "Well, I got it +that time." With hardly an exception, there was no sign of flinching. +I say with hardly an exception, for though I personally did not see an +instance, and though all the men at the front behaved excellently, yet +there were a very few men who lagged behind and drifted back to the +trail over which we had come. The character of the fight put a premium +upon such conduct, and afforded a very severe test for raw troops; +because the jungle was so dense that as we advanced in open order, +every man was, from time to time, left almost alone and away from the +eyes of his officers. There was unlimited opportunity for dropping out +without attracting notice, while it was peculiarly hard to be exposed +to the fire of an unseen foe, and to see men dropping under it, and +yet to be, for some time, unable to return it, and also to be entirely +ignorant of what was going on in any other part of the field. + +It was Richard Harding Davis who gave us our first opportunity to +shoot back with effect. He was behaving precisely like my officers, +being on the extreme front of the line, and taking every opportunity +to study with his glasses the ground where we thought the Spaniards +were. I had tried some volley firing at points where I rather +doubtfully believed the Spaniards to be, but had stopped firing and +was myself studying the jungle-covered mountain ahead with my glasses, +when Davis suddenly said: "There they are, Colonel; look over there; I +can see their hats near that glade," pointing across the valley to our +right. In a minute I, too, made out the hats, and then pointed them +out to three or four of our best shots, giving them my estimate of the +range. For a minute or two no result followed, and I kept raising the +range, at the same time getting more men on the firing-line. Then, +evidently, the shots told, for the Spaniards suddenly sprang out of +the cover through which we had seen their hats, and ran to another +spot; and we could now make out a large number of them. + +I accordingly got all of my men up in line and began quick firing. +In a very few minutes our bullets began to do damage, for the +Spaniards retreated to the left into the jungle, and we lost sight of +them. At the same moment a big body of men who, it afterward turned +out, were Spaniards, came in sight along the glade, following the +retreat of those whom we had just driven from the trenches. We +supposed that there was a large force of Cubans with General Young, +not being aware that these Cubans had failed to make their appearance, +and as it was impossible to tell the Cubans from the Spaniards, and as +we could not decide whether these were Cubans following the Spaniards +we had put to flight, or merely another troop of Spaniards retreating +after the first (which was really the case) we dared not fire, and in +a minute they had passed the glade and were out of sight. + +At every halt we took advantage of the cover, sinking down behind +any mound, bush, or tree trunk in the neighborhood. The trees, of +course, furnished no protection from the Mauser bullets. Once I was +standing behind a large palm with my head out to one side, very +fortunately; for a bullet passed through the palm, filling my left eye +and ear with the dust and splinters. + +No man was allowed to drop out to help the wounded. It was hard to +leave them there in the jungle, where they might not be found again +until the vultures and the land-crabs came, but war is a grim game and +there was no choice. One of the men shot was Harry Heffner of G Troop, +who was mortally wounded through the hips. He fell without uttering a +sound, and two of his companions dragged him behind a tree. Here he +propped himself up and asked to be given his canteen and his rifle, +which I handed to him. He then again began shooting, and continued +loading and firing until the line moved forward and we left him alone, +dying in the gloomy shade. When we found him again, after the fight, +he was dead. + +At one time, as I was out of touch with that part of my wing +commanded by Jenkins and O'Neill, I sent Greenway, with Sergeant +Russell, a New Yorker, and trooper Rowland, a New Mexican cow-puncher, +down in the valley to find out where they were. To do this the three +had to expose themselves to a very severe fire, but they were not men +to whom this mattered. Russell was killed; the other two returned and +reported to me the position of Jenkins and O'Neill. They then resumed +their places on the firing-line. After awhile I noticed blood coming +out of Rowland's side and discovered that he had been shot, although +he did not seem to be taking any notice of it. He said the wound was +only slight, but as I saw he had broken a rib, I told him to go to the +rear to the hospital. After some grumbling he went, but fifteen +minutes later he was back on the firing-line again and said he could +not find the hospital--which I doubted. However, I then let him stay +until the end of the fight. + +After we had driven the Spaniards off from their position to our +right, the firing seemed to die away so far as we were concerned, for +the bullets no longer struck around us in such a storm as before, +though along the rest of the line the battle was as brisk as ever. +Soon we saw troops appearing across the ravine, not very far from +where we had seen the Spaniards whom we had thought might be Cubans. +Again we dared not fire, and carefully studied the new-comers with our +glasses; and this time we were right, for we recognized our own +cavalry-men. We were by no means sure that they recognized us, +however, and were anxious that they should, but it was very difficult +to find a clear spot in the jungle from which to signal; so Sergeant +Lee of Troop K climbed a tree and from its summit waved the troop +guidon. They waved their guidon back, and as our right wing was now in +touch with the regulars, I left Jenkins and O'Neill to keep the +connection, and led Llewellen's troop back to the path to join the +rest of the regiment, which was evidently still in the thick of the +fight. I was still very much in the dark as to where the main body of +the Spanish forces were, or exactly what lines the battle was +following, and was very uncertain what I ought to do; but I knew it +could not be wrong to go forward, and I thought I would find Wood and +then see what he wished me to do. I was in a mood to cordially welcome +guidance, for it was most bewildering to fight an enemy whom one so +rarely saw. + +I had not seen Wood since the beginning of the skirmish, when he +hurried forward. When the firing opened some of the men began to +curse. "Don't swear--shoot!" growled Wood, as he strode along the path +leading his horse, and everyone laughed and became cool again. The +Spanish outposts were very near our advance guard, and some minutes of +the hottest kind of firing followed before they were driven back and +slipped off through the jungle to their main lines in the rear. + +Here, at the very outset of our active service, we suffered the loss +of two as gallant men as ever wore uniform. Sergeant Hamilton Fish at +the extreme front, while holding the point up to its work and firing +back where the Spanish advance guards lay, was shot and instantly +killed; three of the men with him were likewise hit. Captain Capron, +leading the advance guard in person, and displaying equal courage and +coolness in the way that he handled them, was also struck, and died a +few minutes afterward. The command of the troop then devolved upon the +First Lieutenant, young Thomas. Like Capron, Thomas was the fifth in +line from father to son who had served in the American army, though in +his case it was in the volunteer and not the regular service; the four +preceding generations had furnished soldiers respectively to the +Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Civil +War. In a few minutes Thomas was shot through the leg, and the command +devolved upon the Second Lieutenant, Day (a nephew of "Albemarle" +Cushing, he who sunk the great Confederate ram). Day, who proved +himself to be one of our most efficient officers, continued to handle +the men to the best possible advantage, and brought them steadily +forward. L Troop was from the Indian Territory. The whites, Indians, +and half-breeds in it, all fought with equal courage. Captain +McClintock was hurried forward to its relief with his Troop B of +Arizona men. In a few minutes he was shot through the leg and his +place was taken by his First Lieutenant, Wilcox, who handled his men +in the same soldierly manner that Day did. + +Among the men who showed marked courage and coolness was the tall +color-sergeant, Wright; the colors were shot through three times. + +When I had led G Troop back to the trail I ran ahead of them, +passing the dead and wounded men of L Troop, passing young Fish as he +lay with glazed eyes under the rank tropic growth to one side of the +trail. When I came to the front I found the men spread out in a very +thin skirmish line, advancing through comparatively open ground, each +man taking advantage of what cover he could, while Wood strolled about +leading his horse, Brodie being close at hand. How Wood escaped being +hit, I do not see, and still less how his horse escaped. I had left +mine at the beginning of the action, and was only regretting that I +had not left my sword with it, as it kept getting between my legs when +I was tearing my way through the jungle. I never wore it again in +action. Lieutenant Rivers was with Wood, also leading his horse. +Smedburg had been sent off on the by no means pleasant task of +establishing communications with Young. + +Very soon after I reached the front, Brodie was hit, the bullet +shattering one arm and whirling him around as he stood. He had kept on +the extreme front all through, his presence and example keeping his +men entirely steady, and he at first refused to go to the rear; but +the wound was very painful, and he became so faint that he had to be +sent. Thereupon, Wood directed me to take charge of the left wing in +Brodie's place, and to bring it forward; so over I went. + +I now had under me Captains Luna, Muller, and Houston, and I began +to take them forward, well spread out, through the high grass of a +rather open forest. I noticed Goodrich, of Houston's troop, tramping +along behind his men, absorbed in making them keep at good intervals +from one another and fire slowly with careful aim. As I came close up +to the edge of the troop, he caught a glimpse of me, mistook me for +one of his own skirmishers who was crowding in too closely, and called +out, "Keep your interval, sir; keep your interval, and go forward." + +A perfect hail of bullets was sweeping over us as we advanced. Once +I got a glimpse of some Spaniards, apparently retreating, far in the +front, and to our right, and we fired a couple of rounds after them. +Then I became convinced, after much anxious study, that we were being +fired at from some large red-tiled buildings, part of a ranch on our +front. Smokeless powder, and the thick cover in our front, continued +to puzzle us, and I more than once consulted anxiously the officers as +to the exact whereabouts of our opponents. I took a rifle from a +wounded man and began to try shots with it myself. It was very hot and +the men were getting exhausted, though at this particular time we were +not suffering heavily from bullets, the Spanish fire going high. As we +advanced, the cover became a little thicker and I lost touch of the +main body under Wood; so I halted and we fired industriously at the +ranch buildings ahead of us, some five hundred yards off. Then we +heard cheering on the right, and I supposed that this meant a charge +on the part of Wood's men, so I sprang up and ordered the men to rush +the buildings ahead of us. They came forward with a will. There was a +moment's heavy firing from the Spaniards, which all went over our +heads, and then it ceased entirely. When we arrived at the buildings, +panting and out of breath, they contained nothing but heaps of empty +cartridge-shells and two dead Spaniards, shot through the head. + +The country all around us was thickly forested, so that it was very +difficult to see any distance in any direction. The firing had now +died out, but I was still entirely uncertain as to exactly what had +happened. I did not know whether the enemy had been driven back or +whether it was merely a lull in the fight, and we might be attacked +again; nor did I know what had happened in any other part of the line, +while as I occupied the extreme left, I was not sure whether or not my +flank was in danger. At this moment one of our men who had dropped +out, arrived with the information (fortunately false) that Wood was +dead. Of course, this meant that the command devolved upon me, and I +hastily set about taking charge of the regiment. I had been +particularly struck by the coolness and courage shown by Sergeants +Dame and McIlhenny, and sent them out with small pickets to keep watch +in front and to the left of the left wing. I sent other men to fill +the canteens with water, and threw the rest out in a long line in a +disused sunken road, which gave them cover, putting two or three +wounded men, who had hitherto kept up with the fighting-line, and a +dozen men who were suffering from heat exhaustion--for the fighting and +running under that blazing sun through the thick dry jungle was +heart-breaking--into the ranch buildings. Then I started over toward +the main body, but to my delight encountered Wood himself, who told me +the fight was over and the Spaniards had retreated. He also informed +me that other troops were just coming up. The first to appear was a +squadron of the Ninth Cavalry, under Major Dimick, which had hurried +up to get into the fight, and was greatly disappointed to find it +over. They took post in front of our lines, so that our tired men were +able to get a rest, Captain McBlain, of the Ninth, good-naturedly +giving us some points as to the best way to station our outposts. Then +General Chaffee, rather glum at not having been in the fight himself, +rode up at the head of some of his infantry, and I marched my squadron +back to where the rest of the regiment was going into camp, just where +the two trails came together, and beyond--that is, on the Santiago side +of--the original Spanish lines. + +The Rough Riders had lost eight men killed and thirty-four wounded, +aside from two or three who were merely scratched and whose wounds +were not reported. The First Cavalry, white, lost seven men killed and +eight wounded; the Tenth Cavalry, colored, one man killed and ten +wounded; so, out of 964 men engaged on our side, 16 were killed and 52 +wounded. The Spaniards were under General Rubin, with, as second in +command, Colonel Alcarez. They had two guns, and eleven companies of +about a hundred men each: three belonging to the Porto Rico regiment, +three to the San Fernandino, two to the Talavero, two being so-called +mobilized companies from the mineral districts, and one a company of +engineers; over twelve hundred men in all, together with two guns.* + + * Note: See Lieutenant Muller y Tejeiro, "Combates y Capitulacion + de Santiago de Cuba," page 136. The Lieutenant speaks as if only one + echelon, of seven companies and two guns, was engaged on the 24th. + The official report says distinctly, "General Rubin's column," which + consisted of the companies detailed. By turning to page 146, where + Lieutenant Tejeiro enumerates the strength of the various companies, + it will be seen that they averaged over 110 men apiece; this + probably does not include officers, and is probably an + under-statement anyhow. On page 261 he makes the Spanish loss at Las + Guasimas, which he calls Sevilla, 9 killed and 27 wounded. Very + possibly he includes only the Spanish regulars; two of the Spaniards + we slew, over on the left, were in brown, instead of the light blue + of the regulars, and were doubtless guerillas. + +General Rubin reported that he had repulsed the American attack, and +Lieutenant Tejeiro states in his book that General Rubin forced the +Americans to retreat, and enumerates the attacking force as consisting +of three regular regiments of infantry, the Second Massachusetts and +the Seventy-first New York (not one of which fired a gun or were +anywhere near the battle), in addition to the sixteen dismounted +troops of cavalry. In other words, as the five infantry regiments each +included twelve companies, he makes the attacking force consist of +just five times the actual amount. As for the "repulse," our line +never went back ten yards in any place, and the advance was +practically steady; while an hour and a half after the fight began we +were in complete possession of the entire Spanish position, and their +troops were fleeing in masses down the road, our men being too +exhausted to follow them. + +General Rubin also reports that he lost but seven men killed. This +is certainly incorrect, for Captain O'Neill and I went over the ground +very carefully and counted eleven dead Spaniards, all of whom were +actually buried by our burying squads. There were probably two or +three men whom we missed, but I think that our official reports are +incorrect in stating that forty-two dead Spaniards were found; this +being based upon reports in which I think some of the Spanish dead +were counted two or three times. Indeed, I should doubt whether their +loss was as heavy as ours, for they were under cover, while we +advanced, often in the open, and their main lines fled long before we +could get to close quarters. It was a very difficult country, and a +force of good soldiers resolutely handled could have held the pass +with ease against two or three times their number. As it was, with a +force half of regulars and half of volunteers, we drove out a superior +number of Spanish regular troops, strongly posted, without suffering a +very heavy loss. Although the Spanish fire was very heavy, it does not +seem to me it was very well directed; and though they fired with great +spirit while we merely stood at a distance and fired at them, they did +not show much resolution, and when we advanced, always went back long +before there was any chance of our coming into contact with them. Our +men behaved very well indeed--white regulars, colored regulars, and +Rough Riders alike. The newspaper press failed to do full justice to +the white regulars, in my opinion, from the simple reason that +everybody knew that they would fight, whereas there had been a good +deal of question as to how the Rough Riders, who were volunteer +troops, and the Tenth Cavalry, who were colored, would behave; so +there was a tendency to exalt our deeds at the expense of those of the +First Regulars, whose courage and good conduct were taken for granted. +It was a trying fight beyond what the losses show, for it is hard upon +raw soldiers to be pitted against an unseen foe, and to advance +steadily when their comrades are falling around them, and when they +can only occasionally see a chance to retaliate. Wood's experience in +fighting Apaches stood him in good stead. An entirely raw man at the +head of the regiment, conducting, as Wood was, what was practically an +independent fight, would have been in a very trying position. The +fight cleared the way toward Santiago, and we experienced no further +resistance. + +That afternoon we made camp and dined, subsisting chiefly on a load +of beans which we found on one of the Spanish mules which had been +shot. We also looked after the wounded. Dr. Church had himself gone +out to the firing-line during the fight, and carried to the rear some +of the worst wounded on his back or in his arms. Those who could walk +had walked in to where the little field-hospital of the regiment was +established on the trail. We found all our dead and all the badly +wounded. Around one of the latter the big, hideous land-crabs had +gathered in a gruesome ring, waiting for life to be extinct. One of +our own men and most of the Spanish dead had been found by the +vultures before we got to them; and their bodies were mangled, the +eyes and wounds being torn. + +The Rough Rider who had been thus treated was in Bucky O'Neill's +troop; and as we looked at the body, O'Neill turned to me and asked, +"Colonel, isn't it Whitman who says of the vultures that 'they pluck +the eyes of princes and tear the flesh of kings'?" I answered that I +could not place the quotation. Just a week afterward we were shielding +his own body from the birds of prey. + +One of the men who fired first, and who displayed conspicuous +gallantry was a Cherokee half-breed, who was hit seven times, and of +course had to go back to the States. Before he rejoined us at Montauk +Point he had gone through a little private war of his own; for on his +return he found that a cowboy had gone off with his sweetheart, and +in the fight that ensued he shot his rival. Another man of L Troop who +also showed marked gallantry was Elliot Cowdin. The men of the plains +and mountains were trained by life-long habit to look on life and +death with iron philosophy. As I passed by a couple of tall, lank, +Oklahoma cow-punchers, I heard one say, "Well, some of the boys got it +in the neck!" to which the other answered with the grim plains proverb +of the South: "Many a good horse dies." + +Thomas Isbell, a half-breed Cherokee in the squad under Hamilton +Fish, was among the first to shoot and be shot at. He was wounded no +less than seven times. The first wound was received by him two minutes +after he had fired his first shot, the bullet going through his neck. +The second hit him in the left thumb. The third struck near his right +hip, passing entirely through the body. The fourth bullet (which was +apparently from a Remington and not from a Mauser) went into his neck +and lodged against the bone, being afterward cut out. The fifth bullet +again hit his left hand. The sixth scraped his head and the seventh +his neck. He did not receive all of the wounds at the same time, over +half an hour elapsing between the first and the last. Up to receiving +the last wound he had declined to leave the firing-line, but by that +time he had lost so much blood that he had to be sent to the rear. The +man's wiry toughness was as notable as his courage. + +We improvised litters, and carried the more sorely wounded back to +Siboney that afternoon and the next morning; the others walked. One of +the men who had been most severely wounded was Edward Marshall, the +correspondent, and he showed as much heroism as any soldier in the +whole army. He was shot through the spine, a terrible and very painful +wound, which we supposed meant that he would surely die; but he made +no complaint of any kind, and while he retained consciousness +persisted in dictating the story of the fight. A very touching +incident happened in the improvised open-air hospital after the fight, +where the wounded were lying. They did not groan, and made no +complaint, trying to help one another. One of them suddenly began to +hum, "My Country 'tis of Thee," and one by one the others joined in +the chorus, which swelled out through the tropic woods, where the +victors lay in camp beside their dead. I did not see any sign among +the fighting men, whether wounded or unwounded, of the very +complicated emotions assigned to their kind by some of the realistic +modern novelists who have written about battles. At the front everyone +behaved quite simply and took things as they came, in a +matter-of-course way; but there was doubtless, as is always the case, +a good deal of panic and confusion in the rear where the wounded, the +stragglers, a few of the packers, and two or three newspaper +correspondents were, and in consequence the first reports sent back to +the coast were of a most alarming character, describing, with minute +inaccuracy, how we had run into ambush, etc. The packers with the +mules which carried the rapid-fire guns were among those who ran, and +they let the mules go in the jungle; in consequence the guns were +never even brought to the firing-line, and only Fred Herrig's skill as +a trailer enabled us to recover them. By patient work he followed up +the mules' tracks in the forest until he found the animals. + +Among the wounded who walked to the temporary hospital at Siboney +was the trooper, Rowland, of whom I spoke before. There the doctors +examined him, and decreed that his wound was so serious that he must +go back to the States. This was enough for Rowland, who waited until +nightfall and then escaped, slipping out of the window and making his +way back to camp with his rifle and pack, though his wound must have +made all movement very painful to him. After this, we felt that he was +entitled to stay, and he never left us for a day, distinguishing +himself again in the fight at San Juan. + +Next morning we buried seven dead Rough Riders in a grave on the +summit of the trail, Chaplain Brown reading the solemn burial service +of the Episcopalians, while the men stood around with bared heads and +joined in singing, "Rock of Ages." Vast numbers of vultures were +wheeling round and round in great circles through the blue sky +overhead. There could be no more honorable burial than that of these +men in a common grave--Indian and cowboy, miner, packer, and college +athlete--the man of unknown ancestry from the lonely Western plains, +and the man who carried on his watch the crests of the Stuyvesants and +the Fishes, one in the way they had met death, just as during life +they had been one in their daring and their loyalty. + +On the afternoon of the 25th we moved on a couple of miles, and +camped in a marshy open spot close to a beautiful stream. Here we lay +for several days. Captain Lee, the British attache, spent some time +with us; we had begun to regard him as almost a member of the +regiment. Count von Gotzen, the German attache, another good fellow, +also visited us. General Young was struck down with the fever, and +Wood took charge of the brigade. This left me in command of the +regiment, of which I was very glad, for such experience as we had had +is a quick teacher. By this time the men and I knew one another, and I +felt able to make them do themselves justice in march or battle. They +understood that I paid no heed to where they came from; no heed to +their creed, politics, or social standing; that I would care for them +to the utmost of my power, but that I demanded the highest performance +of duty; while in return I had seen them tested, and knew I could +depend absolutely on their courage, hardihood, obedience, and +individual initiative. + +There was nothing like enough transportation with the army, whether +in the way of wagons or mule-trains; exactly as there had been no +sufficient number of landing-boats with the transports. The officers' +baggage had come up, but none of us had much, and the shelter-tents +proved only a partial protection against the terrific downpours of +rain. These occurred almost every afternoon, and turned the camp into +a tarn, and the trails into torrents and quagmires. We were not given +quite the proper amount of food, and what we did get, like most of the +clothing issued us, was fitter for the Klondyke than for Cuba. We got +enough salt pork and hardtack for the men, but not the full ration of +coffee and sugar, and nothing else. I organized a couple of +expeditions back to the seacoast, taking the strongest and best +walkers and also some of the officers' horses and a stray mule or two, +and brought back beans and canned tomatoes. These I got partly by +great exertions on my part, and partly by the aid of Colonel Weston of +the Commissary Department, a particularly energetic man whose services +were of great value. A silly regulation forbade my purchasing canned +vegetables, etc., except for the officers; and I had no little +difficulty in getting round this regulation, and purchasing (with my +own money, of course) what I needed for the men. + +One of the men I took with me on one of these trips was Sherman +Bell, the former Deputy Marshal of Cripple Creek, and Wells-Fargo +Express rider. In coming home with his load, through a blinding storm, +he slipped and opened the old rupture. The agony was very great and +one of his comrades took his load. He himself, sometimes walking, and +sometimes crawling, got back to camp, where Dr. Church fixed him up +with a spike bandage, but informed him that he would have to be sent +back to the States when an ambulance came along. The ambulance did not +come until the next day, which was the day before we marched to San +Juan. It arrived after nightfall, and as soon as Bell heard it coming, +he crawled out of the hospital tent into the jungle, where he lay all +night; and the ambulance went off without him. The men shielded him +just as school-boys would shield a companion, carrying his gun, belt, +and bedding; while Bell kept out of sight until the column started, +and then staggered along behind it. I found him the morning of the San +Juan fight. He told me that he wanted to die fighting, if die he must, +and I hadn't the heart to send him back. He did splendid service that +day, and afterward in the trenches, and though the rupture opened +twice again, and on each occasion he was within a hair's breadth of +death, he escaped, and came back with us to the United States. + +The army was camped along the valley, ahead of and behind us, our +outposts being established on either side. From the generals to the +privates all were eager to march against Santiago. At daybreak, when +the tall palms began to show dimly through the rising mist, the scream +of the cavalry trumpets tore the tropic dawn; and in the evening, as +the bands of regiment after regiment played the "Star-Spangled +Banner," all, officers and men alike, stood with heads uncovered, +wherever they were, until the last strains of the anthem died away in +the hot sunset air. + + + + IV + + THE CAVALRY AT SANTIAGO + +On June 30th we received orders to hold ourselves in readiness to +march against Santiago, and all the men were greatly overjoyed, for +the inaction was trying. The one narrow road, a mere muddy track along +which the army was encamped, was choked with the marching columns. As +always happened when we had to change camp, everything that the men +could not carry, including, of course, the officers' baggage, was left +behind. + +About noon the Rough Riders struck camp and drew up in column beside +the road in the rear of the First Cavalry. Then we sat down and waited +for hours before the order came to march, while regiment after +regiment passed by, varied by bands of tatterdemalion Cuban +insurgents, and by mule-trains with ammunition. Every man carried +three days' provisions. We had succeeded in borrowing mules sufficient +to carry along the dynamite gun and the automatic Colts. + +At last, toward mid-afternoon, the First and Tenth Cavalry, ahead of +us, marched, and we followed. The First was under the command of +Lieutenant-Colonel Veile, the Tenth under Lieutenant-Colonel Baldwin. +Every few minutes there would be a stoppage in front, and at the halt +I would make the men sit or lie down beside the track, loosening their +packs. The heat was intense as we passed through the still, close +jungle, which formed a wall on either hand. Occasionally we came to +gaps or open spaces, where some regiment was camped, and now and then +one of these regiments, which apparently had been left out of its +proper place, would file into the road, breaking up our line of march. +As a result, we finally found ourselves following merely the tail of +the regiment ahead of us, an infantry regiment being thrust into the +interval. Once or twice we had to wade streams. Darkness came on, but +we still continued to march. It was about eight o'clock when we turned +to the left and climbed El Poso hill, on whose summit there was a +ruined ranch and sugar factory, now, of course, deserted. Here I found +General Wood, who was arranging for the camping of the brigade. Our +own arrangements for the night were simple. I extended each troop +across the road into the jungle, and then the men threw down their +belongings where they stood and slept on their arms. Fortunately, +there was no rain. Wood and I curled up under our rain-coats on the +saddle-blankets, while his two aides, Captain A. L. Mills and +Lieutenant W. N. Ship, slept near us. We were up before dawn and +getting breakfast. Mills and Ship had nothing to eat, and they +breakfasted with Wood and myself, as we had been able to get some +handfuls of beans, and some coffee and sugar, as well as the ordinary +bacon and hardtack. + +We did not talk much, for though we were in ignorance as to +precisely what the day would bring forth, we knew that we should see +fighting. We had slept soundly enough, although, of course, both Wood +and I during the night had made a round of the sentries, he of the +brigade, and I of the regiment; and I suppose that, excepting among +hardened veterans, there is always a certain feeling of uneasy +excitement the night before the battle. + +Mills and Ship were both tall, fine-looking men, of tried courage, +and thoroughly trained in every detail of their profession; I remember +being struck by the quiet, soldierly way they were going about their +work early that morning. Before noon one was killed and the other +dangerously wounded. + +General Wheeler was sick, but with his usual indomitable pluck and +entire indifference to his own personal comfort, he kept to the front. +He was unable to retain command of the cavalry division, which +accordingly devolved upon General Samuel Sumner, who commanded it +until mid-afternoon, when the bulk of the fighting was over. General +Sumner's own brigade fell to Colonel Henry Carroll. General Sumner led +the advance with the cavalry, and the battle was fought by him and by +General Kent, who commanded the infantry division, and whose foremost +brigade was led by General Hawkins. + +As the sun rose the men fell in, and at the same time a battery of +field-guns was brought up on the hill-crest just beyond, between us +and toward Santiago. It was a fine sight to see the great horses +straining under the lash as they whirled the guns up the hill and into +position. + +Our brigade was drawn up on the hither side of a kind of half basin, +a big band of Cubans being off to the left. As yet we had received no +orders, except that we were told that the main fighting was to be done +by Lawton's infantry division, which was to take El Caney, several +miles to our right, while we were simply to make a diversion. This +diversion was to be made mainly with the artillery, and the battery +which had taken position immediately in front of us was to begin when +Lawton began. + +It was about six o'clock that the first report of the cannon from El +Caney came booming to us across the miles of still jungle. It was a +very lovely morning, the sky of cloudless blue, while the level, +shimmering rays from the just-risen sun brought into fine relief the +splendid palms which here and there towered above the lower growth. +The lofty and beautiful mountains hemmed in the Santiago plain, making +it an amphitheatre for the battle. + +Immediately our guns opened, and at the report great clouds of white +smoke hung on the ridge crest. For a minute or two there was no +response. Wood and I were sitting together, and Wood remarked to me +that he wished our brigade could be moved somewhere else, for we were +directly in line of any return fire aimed by the Spaniards at the +battery. Hardly had he spoken when there was a peculiar whistling, +singing sound in the air, and immediately afterward the noise of +something exploding over our heads. It was shrapnel from the Spanish +batteries. We sprung to our feet and leaped on our horses. Immediately +afterward a second shot came which burst directly above us; and then a +third. From the second shell one of the shrapnel bullets dropped on my +wrist, hardly breaking the skin, but raising a bump about as big as a +hickory-nut. The same shell wounded four of my regiment, one of them +being Mason Mitchell, and two or three of the regulars were also hit, +one losing his leg by a great fragment of shell. Another shell +exploded right in the middle of the Cubans, killing and wounding a +good many, while the remainder scattered like guinea-hens. Wood's lead +horse was also shot through the lungs. I at once hustled my regiment +over the crest of the hill into the thick underbrush, where I had no +little difficulty in getting them together again into column. + +Meanwhile the firing continued for fifteen or twenty minutes, until +it gradually died away. As the Spaniards used smokeless powder, their +artillery had an enormous advantage over ours, and, moreover, we did +not have the best type of modern guns, our fire being slow. + +As soon as the firing ceased, Wood formed his brigade, with my +regiment in front, and gave me orders to follow behind the First +Brigade, which was just moving off the ground. In column of fours we +marched down the trail toward the ford of the San Juan River. We +passed two or three regiments of infantry, and were several times +halted before we came to the ford. The First Brigade, which was under +Colonel Carroll--Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton commanding the Ninth +Regiment, Major Wessels the Third, and Captain Kerr the Sixth--had +already crossed and was marching to the right, parallel to, but a +little distance from, the river. The Spaniards in the trenches and +block-houses on top of the hills in front were already firing at the +brigade in desultory fashion. The extreme advance of the Ninth Cavalry +was under Lieutenants McNamee and Hartwick. They were joined by +General Hawkins, with his staff, who was looking over the ground and +deciding on the route he should take his infantry brigade. + +Our orders had been of the vaguest kind, being simply to march to +the right and connect with Lawton--with whom, of course, there was no +chance of our connecting. No reconnaissance had been made, and the +exact position and strength of the Spaniards was not known. A captive +balloon was up in the air at this moment, but it was worse than +useless. A previous proper reconnaissance and proper look-out from the +hills would have given us exact information. As it was, Generals Kent, +Sumner, and Hawkins had to be their own reconnaissance, and they +fought their troops so well that we won anyhow. + +I was now ordered to cross the ford, march half a mile or so to the +right, and then halt and await further orders; and I promptly hurried +my men across, for the fire was getting hot, and the captive balloon, +to the horror of everybody, was coming down to the ford. Of course, it +was a special target for the enemy's fire. I got my men across before +it reached the ford. There it partly collapsed and remained, causing +severe loss of life, as it indicated the exact position where the +Tenth and the First Cavalry, and the infantry, were crossing. + +As I led my column slowly along, under the intense heat, through the +high grass of the open jungle, the First Brigade was to our left, and +the firing between it and the Spaniards on the hills grew steadily +hotter and hotter. After awhile I came to a sunken lane, and as by +this time the First Brigade had stopped and was engaged in a stand-up +fight, I halted my men and sent back word for orders. As we faced +toward the Spanish hills my regiment was on the right with next to it +and a little in advance the First Cavalry, and behind them the Tenth. +In our front the Ninth held the right, the Sixth the centre, and the +Third the left; but in the jungle the lines were already overlapping +in places. Kent's infantry were coming up, farther to the left. + +Captain Mills was with me. The sunken lane, which had a wire fence +on either side, led straight up toward, and between, the two hills in +our front, the hill on the left, which contained heavy block-houses, +being farther away from us than the hill on our right, which we +afterward grew to call Kettle Hill, and which was surmounted merely by +some large ranch buildings or haciendas, with sunken brick-lined walls +and cellars. I got the men as well-sheltered as I could. Many of them +lay close under the bank of the lane, others slipped into the San Juan +River and crouched under its hither bank, while the rest lay down +behind the patches of bushy jungle in the tall grass. The heat was +intense, and many of the men were already showing signs of exhaustion. +The sides of the hills in front were bare; but the country up to them +was, for the most part, covered with such dense jungle that in +charging through it no accuracy of formation could possibly be +preserved. + +The fight was now on in good earnest, and the Spaniards on the hills +were engaged in heavy volley firing. The Mauser bullets drove in +sheets through the trees and the tall jungle grass, making a peculiar +whirring or rustling sound; some of the bullets seemed to pop in the +air, so that we thought they were explosive; and, indeed, many of +those which were coated with brass did explode, in the sense that the +brass coat was ripped off, making a thin plate of hard metal with a +jagged edge, which inflicted a ghastly wound. These bullets were shot +from a .45-calibre rifle carrying smokeless powder, which was much +used by the guerillas and irregular Spanish troops. The Mauser bullets +themselves made a small clean hole, with the result that the wound +healed in a most astonishing manner. One or two of our men who were +shot in the head had the skull blown open, but elsewhere the wounds +from the minute steel-coated bullet, with its very high velocity, were +certainly nothing like as serious as those made by the old +large-calibre, low-power rifle. If a man was shot through the heart, +spine, or brain he was, of course, killed instantly; but very few of +the wounded died--even under the appalling conditions which prevailed, +owing to the lack of attendance and supplies in the field-hospitals +with the army. + +While we were lying in reserve we were suffering nearly as much as +afterward when we charged. I think that the bulk of the Spanish fire +was practically unaimed, or at least not aimed at any particular man, +and only occasionally at a particular body of men; but they swept the +whole field of battle up to the edge of the river, and man after man +in our ranks fell dead or wounded, although I had the troopers +scattered out far apart, taking advantage of every scrap of cover. + +Devereux was dangerously shot while he lay with his men on the edge +of the river. A young West Point cadet, Ernest Haskell, who had taken +his holiday with us as an acting second lieutenant, was shot through +the stomach. He had shown great coolness and gallantry, which he +displayed to an even more marked degree after being wounded, shaking +my hand and saying: "All right, Colonel, I'm going to get well. Don't +bother about me, and don't let any man come away with me." When I +shook hands with him, I thought he would surely die; yet he recovered. + +The most serious loss that I and the regiment could have suffered +befell just before we charged. Bucky O'Neill was strolling up and down +in front of his men, smoking his cigarette, for he was inveterately +addicted to the habit. He had a theory that an officer ought never to +take cover--a theory which was, of course, wrong, though in a volunteer +organization the officers should certainly expose themselves very +fully, simply for the effect on the men; our regimental toast on the +transport running, "The officers; may the war last until each is +killed, wounded, or promoted." As O'Neill moved to and fro, his men +begged him to lie down, and one of the sergeants said, "Captain, a +bullet is sure to hit you." O'Neill took his cigarette out of his +mouth, and blowing out a cloud of smoke laughed and said, "Sergeant, +the Spanish bullet isn't made that will kill me." A little later he +discussed for a moment with one of the regular officers the direction +from which the Spanish fire was coming. As he turned on his heel a +bullet struck him in the mouth and came out at the back of his head; +so that even before he fell his wild and gallant soul had gone out +into the darkness. + +My orderly was a brave young Harvard boy, Sanders, from the quaint +old Massachusetts town of Salem. The work of an orderly on foot, under +the blazing sun, through the hot and matted jungle, was very severe, +and finally the heat overcame him. He dropped; nor did he ever recover +fully, and later he died from fever. In his place I summoned a trooper +whose name I did not know. Shortly afterward, while sitting beside the +bank, I directed him to go back and ask whatever general he came +across if I could not advance, as my men were being much cut up. He +stood up to salute and then pitched forward across my knees, a bullet +having gone through his throat, cutting the carotid. + +When O'Neill was shot, his troop, who were devoted to him, were for +the moment at a loss whom to follow. One of their number, Henry +Bardshar, a huge Arizona miner, immediately attached himself to me as +my orderly, and from that moment he was closer to me, not only in the +fight, but throughout the rest of the campaign, than any other man, +not even excepting the color-sergeant, Wright. + +Captain Mills was with me; gallant Ship had already been killed. +Mills was an invaluable aide, absolutely cool, absolutely unmoved or +flurried in any way. + +I sent messenger after messenger to try to find General Sumner or +General Wood and get permission to advance, and was just about making +up my mind that in the absence of orders I had better "march toward +the guns," when Lieutenant-Colonel Dorst came riding up through the +storm of bullets with the welcome command "to move forward and support +the regulars in the assault on the hills in front." General Sumner had +obtained authority to advance from Lieutenant Miley, who was +representing General Shafter at the front, and was in the thick of the +fire. The General at once ordered the first brigade to advance on the +hills, and the second to support it. He himself was riding his horse +along the lines, superintending the fight. Later I overheard a couple +of my men talking together about him. What they said illustrates the +value of a display of courage among the officers in hardening their +soldiers; for their theme was how, as they were lying down under a +fire which they could not return, and were in consequence feeling +rather nervous, General Sumner suddenly appeared on horseback, +sauntering by quite unmoved; and, said one of the men, "That made us +feel all right. If the General could stand it, we could." + +The instant I received the order I sprang on my horse and then my +"crowded hour" began. The guerillas had been shooting at us from the +edges of the jungle and from their perches in the leafy trees, and as +they used smokeless powder, it was almost impossible to see them, +though a few of my men had from time to time responded. We had also +suffered from the hill on our right front, which was held chiefly by +guerillas, although there were also some Spanish regulars with them, +for we found their dead. I formed my men in column of troops, each +troop extended in open skirmishing order, the right resting on the +wire fences which bordered the sunken lane. Captain Jenkins led the +first squadron, his eyes literally dancing with joyous excitement. + +I started in the rear of the regiment, the position in which the +colonel should theoretically stay. Captain Mills and Captain McCormick +were both with me as aides; but I speedily had to send them off on +special duty in getting the different bodies of men forward. I had +intended to go into action on foot as at Las Guasimas, but the heat +was so oppressive that I found I should be quite unable to run up and +down the line and superintend matters unless I was mounted; and, +moreover, when on horseback, I could see the men better and they could +see me better. + +A curious incident happened as I was getting the men started forward. +Always when men have been lying down under cover for some time, and +are required to advance, there is a little hesitation, each looking +to see whether the others are going forward. As I rode down the line, +calling to the troopers to go forward, and rasping brief directions +to the captains and lieutenants, I came upon a man lying behind a +little bush, and I ordered him to jump up. I do not think he +understood that we were making a forward move, and he looked up at me +for a moment with hesitation, and I again bade him rise, jeering him +and saying: "Are you afraid to stand up when I am on horseback?" As I +spoke, he suddenly fell forward on his face, a bullet having struck +him and gone through him lengthwise. I suppose the bullet had been +aimed at me; at any rate, I, who was on horseback in the open, was +unhurt, and the man lying flat on the ground in the cover beside me +was killed. There were several pairs of brothers with us; of the two +Nortons one was killed; of the two McCurdys one was wounded. + +I soon found that I could get that line, behind which I personally +was, faster forward than the one immediately in front of it, with the +result that the two rearmost lines of the regiment began to crowd +together; so I rode through them both, the better to move on the one +in front. This happened with every line in succession, until I found +myself at the head of the regiment. + +Both lieutenants of B Troop from Arizona had been exerting +themselves greatly, and both were overcome by the heat; but Sergeants +Campbell and Davidson took it forward in splendid shape. Some of the +men from this troop and from the other Arizona troop (Bucky O'Neill's) +joined me as a kind of fighting tail. + +The Ninth Regiment was immediately in front of me, and the First on +my left, and these went up Kettle Hill with my regiment. The Third, +Sixth, and Tenth went partly up Kettle Hill (following the Rough +Riders and the Ninth and First), and partly between that and the +block-house hill, which the infantry were assailing. General Sumner in +person gave the Tenth the order to charge the hills; and it went +forward at a rapid gait. The three regiments went forward more or less +intermingled, advancing steadily and keeping up a heavy fire. Up +Kettle Hill Sergeant George Berry, of the Tenth, bore not only his own +regimental colors but those of the Third, the color-sergeant of the +Third having been shot down; he kept shouting, "Dress on the colors, +boys, dress on the colors!" as he followed Captain Ayres, who was +running in advance of his men, shouting and waving his hat. The Tenth +Cavalry lost a greater proportion of its officers than any other +regiment in the battle--eleven out of twenty-two. + +By the time I had come to the head of the regiment we ran into the +left wing of the Ninth Regulars, and some of the First Regulars, who +were lying down; that is, the troopers were lying down, while the +officers were walking to and fro. The officers of the white and +colored regiments alike took the greatest pride in seeing that the men +more than did their duty; and the mortality among them was great. + +I spoke to the captain in command of the rear platoons, saying that +I had been ordered to support the regulars in the attack upon the +hills, and that in my judgment we could not take these hills by firing +at them, and that we must rush them. He answered that his orders were +to keep his men lying where they were, and that he could not charge +without orders. I asked where the Colonel was, and as he was not in +sight, said, "Then I am the ranking officer here and I give the order +to charge"--for I did not want to keep the men longer in the open +suffering under a fire which they could not effectively return. +Naturally the captain hesitated to obey this order when no word had +been received from his own Colonel. So I said, "Then let my men +through, sir," and rode on through the lines, followed by the grinning +Rough Riders, whose attention had been completely taken off the +Spanish bullets, partly by my dialogue with the regulars, and partly +by the language I had been using to themselves as I got the lines +forward, for I had been joking with some and swearing at others, as +the exigencies of the case seemed to demand. When we started to go +through, however, it proved too much for the regulars, and they jumped +up and came along, their officers and troops mingling with mine, all +being delighted at the chance. When I got to where the head of the +left wing of the Ninth was lying, through the courtesy of Lieutenant +Hartwick, two of whose colored troopers threw down the fence, I was +enabled to get back into the lane, at the same time waving my hat, and +giving the order to charge the hill on our right front. Out of my +sight, over on the right, Captains McBlain and Taylor, of the Ninth, +made up their minds independently to charge at just about this time; +and at almost the same moment Colonels Carroll and Hamilton, who were +off, I believe, to my left, where we could see neither them nor their +men, gave the order to advance. But of all this I knew nothing at the +time. The whole line, tired of waiting, and eager to close with the +enemy, was straining to go forward; and it seems that different parts +slipped the leash at almost the same moment. The First Cavalry came up +the hill just behind, and partly mixed with my regiment and the Ninth. +As already said, portions of the Third, Sixth, and Tenth followed, +while the rest of the members of these three regiments kept more in +touch with the infantry on our left. + +By this time we were all in the spirit of the thing and greatly +excited by the charge, the men cheering and running forward between +shots, while the delighted faces of the foremost officers, like +Captain C. J. Stevens, of the Ninth, as they ran at the head of their +troops, will always stay in my mind. As soon as I was in the line I +galloped forward a few yards until I saw that the men were well +started, and then galloped back to help Goodrich, who was in command +of his troop, get his men across the road so as to attack the hill +from that side. Captain Mills had already thrown three of the other +troops of the regiment across this road for the same purpose. Wheeling +around, I then again galloped toward the hill, passing the shouting, +cheering, firing men, and went up the lane, splashing through a small +stream; when I got abreast of the ranch buildings on the top of Kettle +Hill, I turned and went up the slope. Being on horseback I was, of +course, able to get ahead of the men on foot, excepting my orderly, +Henry Bardshar, who had run ahead very fast in order to get better +shots at the Spaniards, who were now running out of the ranch +buildings. Sergeant Campbell and a number of the Arizona men, and +Dudley Dean, among others, were very close behind. Stevens, with his +platoon of the Ninth, was abreast of us; so were McNamee and Hartwick. +Some forty yards from the top I ran into a wire fence and jumped off +Little Texas, turning him loose. He had been scraped by a couple of +bullets, one of which nicked my elbow, and I never expected to see him +again. As I ran up to the hill, Bardshar stopped to shoot, and two +Spaniards fell as he emptied his magazine. These were the only +Spaniards I actually saw fall to aimed shots by any one of my men, +with the exception of two guerillas in trees. + +Almost immediately afterward the hill was covered by the troops, +both Rough Riders and the colored troopers of the Ninth, and some men +of the First. There was the usual confusion, and afterward there was +much discussion as to exactly who had been on the hill first. The +first guidons planted there were those of the three New Mexican +troops, G, E, and F, of my regiment, under their Captains, Llewellen, +Luna, and Muller, but on the extreme right of the hill, at the +opposite end from where we struck it, Captains Taylor and McBlain and +their men of the Ninth were first up. Each of the five captains was +firm in the belief that his troop was first up. As for the individual +men, each of whom honestly thought he was first on the summit, their +name was legion. One Spaniard was captured in the buildings, another +was shot as he tried to hide himself, and a few others were killed as +they ran. + +Among the many deeds of conspicuous gallantry here performed, two, +both to the credit of the First Cavalry, may be mentioned as examples +of the others, not as exceptions. Sergeant Charles Karsten, while +close beside Captain Tutherly, the squadron commander, was hit by a +shrapnel bullet. He continued on the line, firing until his arm grew +numb; and he then refused to go to the rear, and devoted himself to +taking care of the wounded, utterly unmoved by the heavy fire. Trooper +Hugo Brittain, when wounded, brought the regimental standard forward, +waving it to and fro, to cheer the men. + +No sooner were we on the crest than the Spaniards from the line of +hills in our front, where they were strongly intrenched, opened a very +heavy fire upon us with their rifles. They also opened upon us with +one or two pieces of artillery, using time fuses which burned very +accurately, the shells exploding right over our heads. + +On the top of the hill was a huge iron kettle, or something of the +kind, probably used for sugar refining. Several of our men took +shelter behind this. We had a splendid view of the charge on the San +Juan block-house to our left, where the infantry of Kent, led by +Hawkins, were climbing the hill. Obviously the proper thing to do was +to help them, and I got the men together and started them +volley-firing against the Spaniards in the San Juan block-house and in +the trenches around it. We could only see their heads; of course this +was all we ever could see when we were firing at them in their +trenches. Stevens was directing not only his own colored troopers, but +a number of Rough Riders; for in a melee good soldiers are always +prompt to recognize a good officer, and are eager to follow him. + +We kept up a brisk fire for some five or ten minutes; meanwhile we +were much cut up ourselves. Gallant Colonel Hamilton, than whom there +was never a braver man, was killed, and equally gallant Colonel +Carroll wounded. When near the summit Captain Mills had been shot +through the head, the bullet destroying the sight of one eye +permanently and of the other temporarily. He would not go back or let +any man assist him, sitting down where he was and waiting until one of +the men brought him word that the hill was stormed. Colonel Veile +planted the standard of the First Cavalry on the hill, and General +Sumner rode up. He was fighting his division in great form, and was +always himself in the thick of the fire. As the men were much excited +by the firing, they seemed to pay very little heed to their own +losses. + +Suddenly, above the cracking of the carbines, rose a peculiar +drumming sound, and some of the men cried, "The Spanish machine-guns!" +Listening, I made out that it came from the flat ground to the left, +and jumped to my feet, smiting my hand on my thigh, and shouting aloud +with exultation, "It's the Gatlings, men, our Gatlings!" Lieutenant +Parker was bringing his four gatlings into action, and shoving them +nearer and nearer the front. Now and then the drumming ceased for a +moment; then it would resound again, always closer to San Juan hill, +which Parker, like ourselves, was hammering to assist the infantry +attack. Our men cheered lustily. We saw much of Parker after that, and +there was never a more welcome sound than his Gatlings as they opened. +It was the only sound which I ever heard my men cheer in battle. + +The infantry got nearer and nearer the crest of the hill. At last we +could see the Spaniards running from the rifle-pits as the Americans +came on in their final rush. Then I stopped my men for fear they +should injure their comrades, and called to them to charge the next +line of trenches, on the hills in our front, from which we had been +undergoing a good deal of punishment. Thinking that the men would all +come, I jumped over the wire fence in front of us and started at the +double; but, as a matter of fact, the troopers were so excited, what +with shooting and being shot, and shouting and cheering, that they did +not hear, or did not heed me; and after running about a hundred yards +I found I had only five men along with me. Bullets were ripping the +grass all around us, and one of the men, Clay Green, was mortally +wounded; another, Winslow Clark, a Harvard man, was shot first in the +leg and then through the body. He made not the slightest murmur, only +asking me to put his water canteen where he could get at it, which I +did; he ultimately recovered. There was no use going on with the +remaining three men, and I bade them stay where they were while I went +back and brought up the rest of the brigade. This was a decidedly cool +request, for there was really no possible point in letting them stay +there while I went back; but at the moment it seemed perfectly natural +to me, and apparently so to them, for they cheerfully nodded, and sat +down in the grass, firing back at the line of trenches from which the +Spaniards were shooting at them. Meanwhile, I ran back, jumped over +the wire fence, and went over the crest of the hill, filled with anger +against the troopers, and especially those of my own regiment, for not +having accompanied me. They, of course, were quite innocent of +wrong-doing; and even while I taunted them bitterly for not having +followed me, it was all I could do not to smile at the look of injury +and surprise that came over their faces, while they cried out, "We +didn't hear you, we didn't see you go, Colonel; lead on now, we'll +sure follow you." I wanted the other regiments to come too, so I ran +down to where General Sumner was and asked him if I might make the +charge; and he told me to go and that he would see that the men +followed. By this time everybody had his attention attracted, and when +I leaped over the fence again, with Major Jenkins beside me, the men +of the various regiments which were already on the hill came with a +rush, and we started across the wide valley which lay between us and +the Spanish intrenchments. Captain Dimmick, now in command of the +Ninth, was bringing it forward; Captain McBlain had a number of Rough +Riders mixed in with his troop, and led them all together; Captain +Taylor had been severely wounded. The long-legged men like Greenway, +Goodrich, sharp-shooter Proffit, and others, outstripped the rest of +us, as we had a considerable distance to go. Long before we got near +them the Spaniards ran, save a few here and there, who either +surrendered or were shot down. When we reached the trenches we found +them filled with dead bodies in the light blue and white uniform of +the Spanish regular army. There were very few wounded. Most of the +fallen had little holes in their heads from which their brains were +oozing; for they were covered from the neck down by the trenches. + +It was at this place that Major Wessels, of the Third Cavalry, was +shot in the back of the head. It was a severe wound, but after having +it bound up he again came to the front in command of his regiment. +Among the men who were foremost was Lieutenant Milton F. Davis, of the +First Cavalry. He had been joined by three men of the Seventy-first +New York, who ran up, and, saluting, said, "Lieutenant, we want to go +with you, our officers won't lead us." One of the brave fellows was +soon afterward shot in the face. Lieutenant Davis's first sergeant, +Clarence Gould, killed a Spanish soldier with his revolver, just as +the Spaniard was aiming at one of my Rough Riders. At about the same +time I also shot one. I was with Henry Bardshar, running up at the +double, and two Spaniards leaped from the trenches and fired at us, +not ten yards away. As they turned to run I closed in and fired twice, +missing the first and killing the second. My revolver was from the +sunken battle-ship Maine, and had been given me by my brother-in-law, +Captain W. S. Cowles, of the Navy. At the time I did not know of +Gould's exploit, and supposed my feat to be unique; and although Gould +had killed his Spaniard in the trenches, not very far from me, I never +learned of it until weeks after. It is astonishing what a limited area +of vision and experience one has in the hurly-burly of a battle. + +There was very great confusion at this time, the different regiments +being completely intermingled--white regulars, colored regulars, and +Rough Riders. General Sumner had kept a considerable force in reserve +on Kettle Hill, under Major Jackson, of the Third Cavalry. We were +still under a heavy fire and I got together a mixed lot of men and +pushed on from the trenches and ranch-houses which we had just taken, +driving the Spaniards through a line of palm-trees, and over the crest +of a chain of hills. When we reached these crests we found ourselves +overlooking Santiago. Some of the men, including Jenkins, Greenway, +and Goodrich, pushed on almost by themselves far ahead. Lieutenant +Hugh Berkely, of the First, with a sergeant and two troopers, reached +the extreme front. He was, at the time, ahead of everyone; the +sergeant was killed and one trooper wounded; but the lieutenant and +the remaining trooper stuck to their post for the rest of the +afternoon until our line was gradually extended to include them. + +While I was re-forming the troops on the chain of hills, one of +General Sumner's aides, Captain Robert Howze--as dashing and gallant +an officer as there was in the whole gallant cavalry division, by the +way--came up with orders to me to halt where I was, not advancing +farther, but to hold the hill at all hazards. Howze had his horse, and +I had some difficulty in making him take proper shelter; he stayed +with us for quite a time, unable to make up his mind to leave the +extreme front, and meanwhile jumping at the chance to render any +service, of risk or otherwise, which the moment developed. + +I now had under me all the fragments of the six cavalry regiments +which were at the extreme front, being the highest officer left there, +and I was in immediate command of them for the remainder of the +afternoon and that night. The Ninth was over to the right, and the +Thirteenth Infantry afterward came up beside it. The rest of Kent's +infantry was to our left. Of the Tenth, Lieutenants Anderson, Muller, +and Fleming reported to me; Anderson was slightly wounded, but he paid +no heed to this. All three, like every other officer, had troopers of +various regiments under them; such mixing was inevitable in making +repeated charges through thick jungle; it was essentially a troop +commanders', indeed, almost a squad leaders', fight. The Spaniards who +had been holding the trenches and the line of hills, had fallen back +upon their supports and we were under a very heavy fire both from +rifles and great guns. At the point where we were, the grass-covered +hill-crest was gently rounded, giving poor cover, and I made my men +lie down on the hither slope. + +On the extreme left Captain Beck, of the Tenth, with his own troop, +and small bodies of the men of other regiments, was exercising a +practically independent command, driving back the Spaniards whenever +they showed any symptoms of advancing. He had received his orders to +hold the line at all hazards from Lieutenant Andrews, one of General +Sumner's aides, just as I had received mine from Captain Howze. +Finally, he was relieved by some infantry, and then rejoined the rest +of the Tenth, which was engaged heavily until dark, Major Wint being +among the severely wounded. Lieutenant W. N. Smith was killed. Captain +Bigelow had been wounded three times. + +Our artillery made one or two efforts to come into action on the +firing-line of the infantry, but the black powder rendered each +attempt fruitless. The Spanish guns used smokeless powder, so that it +was difficult to place them. In this respect they were on a par with +their own infantry and with our regular infantry and dismounted +cavalry; but our only two volunteer infantry regiments, the Second +Massachusetts and the Seventy-first New York, and our artillery, all +had black powder. This rendered the two volunteer regiments, which +were armed with the antiquated Springfield, almost useless in the +battle, and did practically the same thing for the artillery wherever +it was formed within rifle range. When one of the guns was discharged +a thick cloud of smoke shot out and hung over the place, making an +ideal target, and in a half minute every Spanish gun and rifle within +range was directed at the particular spot thus indicated; the +consequence was that after a more or less lengthy stand the gun was +silenced or driven off. We got no appreciable help from our guns on +July 1st. Our men were quick to realize the defects of our artillery, +but they were entirely philosophic about it, not showing the least +concern at its failure. On the contrary, whenever they heard our +artillery open they would grin as they looked at one another and +remark, "There go the guns again; wonder how soon they'll be shut up," +and shut up they were sure to be. The light battery of Hotchkiss +one-pounders, under Lieutenant J. B. Hughes, of the Tenth Cavalry, was +handled with conspicuous gallantry. + +On the hill-slope immediately around me I had a mixed force composed +of members of most of the cavalry regiments, and a few infantrymen. +There were about fifty of my Rough Riders with Lieutenants Goodrich +and Carr. Among the rest were perhaps a score of colored infantrymen, +but, as it happened, at this particular point without any of their +officers. No troops could have behaved better than the colored +soldiers had behaved so far; but they are, of course, peculiarly +dependent upon their white officers. Occasionally they produce +non-commissioned officers who can take the initiative and accept +responsibility precisely like the best class of whites; but this +cannot be expected normally, nor is it fair to expect it. With the +colored troops there should always be some of their own officers; +whereas, with the white regulars, as with my own Rough Riders, +experience showed that the non-commissioned officers could usually +carry on the fight by themselves if they were once started, no matter +whether their officers were killed or not. + +At this particular time it was trying for the men, as they were +lying flat on their faces, very rarely responding to the bullets, +shells, and shrapnel which swept over the hill-top, and which +occasionally killed or wounded one of their number. Major Albert G. +Forse, of the First Cavalry, a noted Indian fighter, was killed about +this time. One of my best men, Sergeant Greenly, of Arizona, who was +lying beside me, suddenly said, "Beg pardon, Colonel; but I've been +hit in the leg." I asked, "Badly?" He said, "Yes, Colonel; quite +badly." After one of his comrades had helped him fix up his leg with a +first-aid-to-the-injured bandage, he limped off to the rear. + +None of the white regulars or Rough Riders showed the slightest sign +of weakening; but under the strain the colored infantrymen (who had +none of their officers) began to get a little uneasy and to drift to +the rear, either helping wounded men, or saying that they wished to +find their own regiments. This I could not allow, as it was depleting +my line, so I jumped up, and walking a few yards to the rear, drew my +revolver, halted the retreating soldiers, and called out to them that +I appreciated the gallantry with which they had fought and would be +sorry to hurt them, but that I should shoot the first man who, on any +pretence whatever, went to the rear. My own men had all sat up and +were watching my movements with utmost interest; so was Captain Howze. +I ended my statement to the colored soldiers by saying: "Now, I shall +be very sorry to hurt you, and you don't know whether or not I will +keep my word, but my men can tell you that I always do;" whereupon my +cow-punchers, hunters, and miners solemnly nodded their heads and +commented in chorus, exactly as if in a comic opera, "He always does; +he always does!" + +This was the end of the trouble, for the "smoked Yankees"--as the +Spaniards called the colored soldiers--flashed their white teeth at +one another, as they broke into broad grins, and I had no more +trouble with them, they seeming to accept me as one of their own +officers. The colored cavalry-men had already so accepted me; in +return, the Rough Riders, although for the most part Southwesterners, +who have a strong color prejudice, grew to accept them with hearty +good-will as comrades, and were entirely willing, in their own +phrase, "to drink out of the same canteen." Where all the regular +officers did so well, it is hard to draw any distinction; but in the +cavalry division a peculiar meed of praise should be given to the +officers of the Ninth and Tenth for their work, and under their +leadership the colored troops did as well as any soldiers could +possibly do. + +In the course of the afternoon the Spaniards in our front made the +only offensive movement which I saw them make during the entire +campaign; for what were ordinarily called "attacks" upon our lines +consisted merely of heavy firing from their trenches and from their +skirmishers. In this case they did actually begin to make a forward +movement, their cavalry coming up as well as the marines and reserve +infantry,* while their skirmishers, who were always bold, redoubled +their activity. It could not be called a charge, and not only was it +not pushed home, but it was stopped almost as soon as it began, our +men immediately running forward to the crest of the hill with shouts +of delight at seeing their enemies at last come into the open. A few +seconds' firing stopped their advance and drove them into the cover of +the trenches. + + * Note: Lieutenant Tejeiro, p. 154, speaks of this attempt to + retake San Juan and its failure. + +They kept up a very heavy fire for some time longer, and our men +again lay down, only replying occasionally. Suddenly we heard on our +right the peculiar drumming sound which had been so welcome in the +morning, when the infantry were assailing the San Juan block-house. +The Gatlings were up again! I started over to inquire, and found that +Lieutenant Parker, not content with using his guns in support of the +attacking forces, had thrust them forward to the extreme front of the +fighting-line, where he was handling them with great effect. From this +time on, throughout the fighting, Parker's Gatlings were on the right +of my regiment, and his men and mine fraternized in every way. He kept +his pieces at the extreme front, using them on every occasion until +the last Spanish shot was fired. Indeed, the dash and efficiency with +which the Gatlings were handled by Parker was one of the most striking +features of the campaign; he showed that a first-rate officer could +use machine-guns, on wheels, in battle and skirmish, in attacking and +defending trenches, alongside of the best troops, and to their great +advantage. + +As night came on, the firing gradually died away. Before this +happened, however, Captains Morton and Boughton, of the Third Cavalry, +came over to tell me that a rumor had reached them to the effect that +there had been some talk of retiring and that they wished to protest +in the strongest manner. I had been watching them both, as they +handled their troops with the cool confidence of the veteran regular +officer, and had been congratulating myself that they were off toward +the right flank, for as long as they were there, I knew I was +perfectly safe in that direction. I had heard no rumor about retiring, +and I cordially agreed with them that it would be far worse than a +blunder to abandon our position. + +To attack the Spaniards by rushing across open ground, or through +wire entanglements and low, almost impassable jungle, without the help +of artillery, and to force unbroken infantry, fighting behind +earthworks and armed with the best repeating weapons, supported by +cannon, was one thing; to repel such an attack ourselves, or to fight +our foes on anything like even terms in the open, was quite another +thing. No possible number of Spaniards coming at us from in front +could have driven us from our position, and there was not a man on the +crest who did not eagerly and devoutly hope that our opponents would +make the attempt, for it would surely have been followed, not merely +by a repulse, but by our immediately taking the city. There was not an +officer or a man on the firing-line, so far as I saw them, who did not +feel this way. + +As night fell, some of my men went back to the buildings in our rear +and foraged through them, for we had now been fourteen hours charging +and fighting without food. They came across what was evidently the +Spanish officers' mess, where their dinner was still cooking, and they +brought it to the front in high glee. It was evident that the Spanish +officers were living well, however the Spanish rank and file were +faring. There were three big iron pots, one filled with beef-stew, one +with boiled rice, and one with boiled peas; there was a big demijohn +of rum (all along the trenches which the Spaniards held were empty +wine and liquor bottles); there were a number of loaves of rice-bread; +and there were even some small cans of preserves and a few salt fish. +Of course, among so many men, the food, which was equally divided, did +not give very much to each, but it freshened us all. + +Soon after dark, General Wheeler, who in the afternoon had resumed +command of the cavalry division, came to the front. A very few words +with General Wheeler reassured us about retiring. He had been through +too much heavy fighting in the Civil War to regard the present fight +as very serious, and he told us not to be under any apprehension, for +he had sent word that there was no need whatever of retiring, and was +sure we would stay where we were until the chance came to advance. He +was second in command; and to him more than to any other one man was +due the prompt abandonment of the proposal to fall back--a proposal +which, if adopted, would have meant shame and disaster. + +Shortly afterward General Wheeler sent us orders to intrench. The +men of the different regiments were now getting in place again and +sifting themselves out. All of our troops who had been kept at Kettle +Hill came forward and rejoined us after nightfall. During the +afternoon Greenway, apparently not having enough to do in the +fighting, had taken advantage of a lull to explore the buildings +himself, and had found a number of Spanish intrenching tools, picks, +and shovels, and these we used in digging trenches along our line. The +men were very tired indeed, but they went cheerfully to work, all the +officers doing their part. + +Crockett, the ex-Revenue officer from Georgia, was a slight man, not +physically very strong. He came to me and told me he didn't think he +would be much use in digging, but that he had found a lot of Spanish +coffee and would spend his time making coffee for the men, if I +approved. I did approve very heartily, and Crockett officiated as cook +for the next three or four hours until the trench was dug, his coffee +being much appreciated by all of us. + +So many acts of gallantry were performed during the day that it is +quite impossible to notice them all, and it seems unjust to single out +any; yet I shall mention a few, which it must always be remembered are +to stand, not as exceptions, but as instances of what very many men +did. It happened that I saw these myself. There were innumerable +others, which either were not seen at all, or were seen only by +officers who happened not to mention them; and, of course, I know +chiefly those that happened in my own regiment. + +Captain Llewellen was a large, heavy man, who had a grown-up son in +the ranks. On the march he had frequently carried the load of some man +who weakened, and he was not feeling well on the morning of the fight. +Nevertheless, he kept at the head of his troop all day. In the +charging and rushing, he not only became very much exhausted, but +finally fell, wrenching himself terribly, and though he remained with +us all night, he was so sick by morning that we had to take him behind +the hill into an improvised hospital. Lieutenant Day, after handling +his troop with equal gallantry and efficiency, was shot, on the summit +of Kettle Hill. He was hit in the arm and was forced to go to the +rear, but he would not return to the States, and rejoined us at the +front long before his wound was healed. Lieutenant Leahy was also +wounded, not far from him. Thirteen of the men were wounded and yet +kept on fighting until the end of the day, and in some cases never +went to the rear at all, even to have their wounds dressed. They were +Corporals Waller and Fortescue and Trooper McKinley of Troop E; +Corporal Roades of Troop D; Troopers Albertson, Winter, McGregor, and +Ray Clark of Troop F; Troopers Bugbee, Jackson, and Waller of Troop A; +Trumpeter McDonald of Troop L; Sergeant Hughes of Troop B; and Trooper +Gievers of Troop G. One of the Wallers was a cow-puncher from New +Mexico, the other the champion Yale high-jumper. The first was shot +through the left arm so as to paralyze the fingers, but he continued +in battle, pointing his rifle over the wounded arm as though it had +been a rest. The other Waller, and Bugbee, were hit in the head, the +bullets merely inflicting scalp wounds. Neither of them paid any heed +to the wounds except that after nightfall each had his head done up in +a bandage. Fortescue I was at times using as an extra orderly. I +noticed he limped, but supposed that his foot was skinned. It proved, +however, that he had been struck in the foot, though not very +seriously, by a bullet, and I never knew what was the matter until the +next day I saw him making wry faces as he drew off his bloody boot, +which was stuck fast to the foot. Trooper Rowland again distinguished +himself by his fearlessness. + +For gallantry on the field of action Sergeants Dame, Ferguson, +Tiffany, Greenwald, and, later on, McIlhenny, were promoted to second +lieutenancies, as Sergeant Hayes had already been. Lieutenant Carr, +who commanded his troop, and behaved with great gallantry throughout +the day, was shot and severely wounded at nightfall. He was the son of +a Confederate officer; his was the fifth generation which, from father +to son, had fought in every war of the United States. Among the men +whom I noticed as leading in the charges and always being nearest the +enemy, were the Pawnee, Pollock, Simpson of Texas, and Dudley Dean. +Jenkins was made major, Woodbury Kane, Day, and Frantz captains, and +Greenway and Goodrich first lieutenants, for gallantry in action, and +for the efficiency with which the first had handled his squadron, and +the other five their troops--for each of them, owing to some accident +to his superior, found himself in command of his troop. + +Dr. Church had worked quite as hard as any man at the front in +caring for the wounded; as had Chaplain Brown. Lieutenant Keyes, who +acted as adjutant, did so well that he was given the position +permanently. Lieutenant Coleman similarly won the position of +quartermaster. + +We finished digging the trench soon after midnight, and then the +worn-out men laid down in rows on their rifles and dropped heavily to +sleep. About one in ten of them had blankets taken from the Spaniards. +Henry Bardshar, my orderly, had procured one for me. He, Goodrich, and +I slept together. If the men without blankets had not been so tired +that they fell asleep anyhow, they would have been very cold, for, of +course, we were all drenched with sweat, and above the waist had on +nothing but our flannel shirts, while the night was cool, with a heavy +dew. Before anyone had time to wake from the cold, however, we were +all awakened by the Spaniards, whose skirmishers suddenly opened fire +on us. Of course, we could not tell whether or not this was the +forerunner of a heavy attack, for our Cossack posts were responding +briskly. It was about three o'clock in the morning, at which time +men's courage is said to be at the lowest ebb; but the cavalry +division was certainly free from any weakness in that direction. At +the alarm everybody jumped to his feet and the stiff, shivering, +haggard men, their eyes only half-opened, all clutched their rifles +and ran forward to the trench on the crest of the hill. + +The sputtering shots died away and we went to sleep again. But in +another hour dawn broke and the Spaniards opened fire in good earnest. +There was a little tree only a few feet away, under which I made my +head-quarters, and while I was lying there, with Goodrich and Keyes, a +shrapnel burst among us, not hurting us in the least, but with the +sweep of its bullets killing or wounding five men in our rear, one of +whom was a singularly gallant young Harvard fellow, Stanley Hollister. +An equally gallant young fellow from Yale, Theodore Miller, had +already been mortally wounded. Hollister also died. + +The Second Brigade lost more heavily than the First; but neither its +brigade commander nor any of its regimental commanders were touched, +while the commander of the First Brigade and two of its three +regimental commanders had been killed or wounded. + +In this fight our regiment had numbered 490 men, as, in addition to +the killed and wounded of the first fight, some had had to go to the +hospital for sickness and some had been left behind with the baggage, +or were detailed on other duty. Eighty-nine were killed and wounded: +the heaviest loss suffered by any regiment in the cavalry division. +The Spaniards made a stiff fight, standing firm until we charged home. +They fought much more stubbornly than at Las Guasimas. We ought to +have expected this, for they have always done well in holding +intrenchments. On this day they showed themselves to be brave foes, +worthy of honor for their gallantry. + +In the attack on the San Juan hills our forces numbered about 6,600.* +There were about 4,500 Spaniards against us.** Our total loss in +killed and wounded was 1,071. Of the cavalry division there were, all +told, some 2,300 officers and men, of whom 375 were killed and +wounded. In the division over a fourth of the officers were killed or +wounded, their loss being relatively half as great again as that of +the enlisted men--which was as it should be. + + * Note: According to the official reports, 5,104 officers and men + of Kent's infantry, and 2,649 of the cavalry had been landed. My + regiment is put down as 542 strong, instead of the real figure, 490, + the difference being due to men who were in hospital and on guard at + the seashore, etc. In other words, the total represents the total + landed; the details, etc., are included. General Wheeler, in his + report of July 7th, puts these details as about fifteen per cent of + the whole of the force which was on the transports; about + eighty-five per cent got forward and was in the fight. + + ** Note: The total Spanish force in Santiago under General Linares + was 6,000: 4,000 regulars, 1,000 volunteers, and 1,000 marines and + sailors from the ships. (Diary of the British Consul, Frederick W. + Ramsden, entry of July 1st.) Four thousand more troops entered next + day. Of the 6,000 troops, 600 or thereabouts were at El Caney, and + 900 in the forts at the mouth of the harbor. Lieutenant Tejeiro + states that there were 520 men at El Caney, 970 in the forts at the + mouth of the harbor, and 3,000 in the lines, not counting the + cavalry and civil guard which were in reserve. He certainly very + much understates the Spanish force; thus he nowhere accounts for the + engineers mentioned on p. 135; and his figures would make the total + number of Spanish artillerymen but 32. He excludes the cavalry, the + civil guard, and the marines which had been stationed at the Plaza + del Toros; yet he later mentions that these marines were brought up, + and their commander, Bustamente, severely wounded; he states that + the cavalry advanced to cover the retreat of the infantry, and I + myself saw the cavalry come forward, for the most part dismounted, + when the Spaniards attempted a forward movement late in the + afternoon, and we shot many of their horses; while later I saw and + conversed with officers and men of the civil guard who had been + wounded at the same time--this in connection with returning them + their wives and children, after the latter had fled from the city. + Although the engineers are excluded, Lieutenant Tejeiro mentions + that their colonel, as well as the colonel of the artillery, was + wounded. Four thousand five hundred is surely an understatement of + the forces which resisted the attack of the forces under Wheeler. + Lieutenant Tejeiro is very careless in his figures. Thus in one + place he states that the position of San Juan was held by two + companies comprising 250 soldiers. Later he says it was held by + three companies, whose strength he puts at 300--thus making them + average 100 instead of 125 men apiece. He then mentions another + echelon of two companies, so situated as to cross their fire with + the others. Doubtless the block-house and trenches at Fort San Juan + proper were only held by three or four hundred men; they were taken + by the Sixth and Sixteenth Infantry under Hawkins's immediate + command; and they formed but one point in the line of hills, + trenches, ranch-houses, and block-houses which the Spaniards held, + and from which we drove them. When the city capitulated later, over + 8,000 unwounded troops and over 16,000 rifles and carbines were + surrendered; by that time the marines and sailors had of course + gone, and the volunteers had disbanded. + + In all these figures I have taken merely the statements from the + Spanish side. I am inclined to think the actual numbers were much + greater than those here given. Lieutenant Wiley, in his book _In Cuba + with Shafter_, which is practically an official statement, states + that nearly 11,000 Spanish troops were surrendered; and this is the + number given by the Spaniards themselves in the remarkable letter + the captured soldiers addressed to General Shafter, which Wiley + quotes in full. Lieutenant Tejeiro, in his chap. xiv., explains that + the volunteers had disbanded before the end came, and the marines + and sailors had of course gone, while nearly a thousand men had been + killed or captured or had died of wounds and disease, so that there + must have been at least 14,000 all told. Subtracting the + reinforcements who arrived on the 2nd, this would mean about 10,000 + Spaniards present on the 1st; in which case Kent and Wheeler were + opposed by at least equal numbers. + + In dealing with the Spanish losses, Lieutenant Tejeiro contradicts + himself. He puts their total loss on this day at 593, including 94 + killed, 121 missing, and 2 prisoners--217 in all. Yet he states that + of the 520 men at Caney but 80 got back, the remaining 440 being + killed, captured, or missing. When we captured the city we found in + the hospitals over 2,000 seriously wounded and sick Spaniards; on + making inquiries, I found that over a third were wounded. From these + facts I feel that it is safe to put down the total Spanish loss in + battle as at least 1,200, of whom over a thousand were killed and + wounded. + + Lieutenant Tejeiro, while rightly claiming credit for the courage + shown by the Spaniards, also praises the courage and resolution of + the Americans, saying that they fought, "con un arrojo y una + decision verdaderamente admirables." He dwells repeatedly upon the + determination with which our troops kept charging though themselves + unprotected by cover. As for the Spanish troops, all who fought them + that day will most freely admit the courage they showed. At El + Caney, where they were nearly hemmed in, they made a most desperate + defence; at San Juan the way to retreat was open, and so, though + they were seven times as numerous, they fought with less + desperation, but still very gallantly. + +I think we suffered more heavily than the Spaniards did in killed +and wounded (though we also captured some scores of prisoners). It +would have been very extraordinary if the reverse was the case, for we +did the charging; and to carry earthworks on foot with dismounted +cavalry, when these earthworks are held by unbroken infantry armed +with the best modern rifles, is a serious task. + + + + V + + IN THE TRENCHES + +When the shrapnel burst among us on the hill-side we made up our minds +that we had better settle down to solid siege work. All of the men who +were not in the trenches I took off to the right, back of the Gatling +guns, where there was a valley, and dispersed them by troops in +sheltered parts. It took us an hour or two's experimenting to find out +exactly what spots were free from danger, because some of the Spanish +sharp-shooters were in trees in our front, where we could not possibly +place them from the trenches; and these were able to reach little +hollows and depressions where the men were entirely safe from the +Spanish artillery and from their trench-fire. Moreover, in one hollow, +which we thought safe, the Spaniards succeeded in dropping a shell, a +fragment of which went through the head of one of my men, who, +astonishing to say, lived, although unconscious, for two hours +afterward. Finally, I got all eight troops settled, and the men +promptly proceeded to make themselves as much at home as possible. For +the next twenty-four hours, however, the amount of comfort was small, +as in the way of protection and covering we only had what blankets, +rain-coats, and hammocks we took from the dead Spaniards. Ammunition, +which was, of course, the most vital need, was brought up in +abundance; but very little food reached us. That afternoon we had just +enough to allow each man for his supper two hardtacks, and one +hardtack extra for every four men. + +During the first night we had dug trenches sufficient in length and +depth to shelter our men and insure safety against attack, but we had +not put in any traverses or approaches, nor had we arranged the +trenches at all points in the best places for offensive work; for we +were working at night on ground which we had but partially explored. +Later on an engineer officer stated that he did not think our work had +been scientific; and I assured him that I did not doubt that he was +right, for I had never before seen a trench, excepting those we +captured from the Spaniards, or heard of a traverse, save as I vaguely +remembered reading about them in books. For such work as we were +engaged in, however, the problem of intrenchment was comparatively +simple, and the work we did proved entirely adequate. No man in my +regiment was ever hit in the trenches or going in or out of them. + +But on the first day there was plenty of excitement connected with +relieving the firing line. Under the intense heat, crowded down in +cramped attitudes in the rank, newly dug, poisonous soil of the +trenches, the men needed to be relieved every six hours or so. +Accordingly, in the late morning, and again in the afternoon, I +arranged for their release. On each occasion I waited until there was +a lull in the firing and then started a sudden rush by the relieving +party, who tumbled into the trenches every which way. The movement +resulted on each occasion in a terrific outburst of fire from the +Spanish lines, which proved quite harmless; and as it gradually died +away the men who had been relieved got out as best they could. +Fortunately, by the next day I was able to abandon this primitive, +though thrilling and wholly novel, military method of relief. + +When the hardtack came up that afternoon I felt much sympathy for +the hungry unfortunates in the trenches and hated to condemn them to +six hours more without food; but I did not know how to get food into +them. Little McGinty, the bronco buster, volunteered to make the +attempt, and I gave him permission. He simply took a case of hardtack +in his arms and darted toward the trenches. The distance was but +short, and though there was an outburst of fire, he was actually +missed. One bullet, however, passed through the case of hardtack just +before he disappeared with it into the trench. A trooper named +Shanafelt repeated the feat, later, with a pail of coffee. Another +trooper, George King, spent a leisure hour in the rear making soup out +of some rice and other stuff he found in a Spanish house; he brought +some of it to General Wood, Jack Greenway, and myself, and nothing +could have tasted more delicious. + +At this time our army in the trenches numbered about 11,000 men; and +the Spaniards in Santiago about 9,000,* their reinforcements having +just arrived. Nobody on the firing line, whatever was the case in the +rear, felt the slightest uneasiness as to the Spaniards being able to +break out; but there were plenty who doubted the advisability of +trying to rush the heavy earthworks and wire defenses in our front. + + * Note: This is probably an understatement. Lieutenant Muller, in + chap. xxxviii. of his book, says that there were "eight or nine + thousand;" this is exclusive of the men from the fleet, and + apparently also of many of the volunteers (see chap. xiv.), all of + whom were present on July 2nd. I am inclined to think that on the + evening of that day there were more Spanish troops inside Santiago + than there were American troops outside. + +All day long the firing continued--musketry and cannon. Our artillery +gave up the attempt to fight on the firing line, and was withdrawn +well to the rear out of range of the Spanish rifles; so far as we +could see, it accomplished very little. The dynamite gun was brought +up to the right of the regimental line. It was more effective than the +regular artillery because it was fired with smokeless powder, and as +it was used like a mortar from behind the hill, it did not betray its +presence, and those firing it suffered no loss. Every few shots it got +out of order, and the Rough Rider machinists and those furnished by +Lieutenant Parker--whom we by this time began to consider as an +exceedingly valuable member of our own regiment--would spend an hour or +two in setting it right. Sergeant Borrowe had charge of it and handled +it well. With him was Sergeant Guitilias, a gallant old fellow, a +veteran of the Civil War, whose duties were properly those of +standard-bearer, he having charge of the yellow cavalry standard of +the regiment; but in the Cuban campaign he was given the more active +work of helping run the dynamite gun. The shots from the dynamite gun +made a terrific explosion, but they did not seem to go accurately. +Once one of them struck a Spanish trench and wrecked part of it. On +another occasion one struck a big building, from which there promptly +swarmed both Spanish cavalry and infantry, on whom the Colt automatic +guns played with good effect, during the minute that elapsed before +they could get other cover. + +These Colt automatic guns were not, on the whole, very successful. +The gun detail was under the charge of Sergeant (afterward Lieutenant) +Tiffany, assisted by some of our best men, like Stevens, +Crowninshield, Bradley, Smith, and Herrig. The guns were mounted on +tripods. They were too heavy for men to carry any distance and we +could not always get mules. They would have been more effective if +mounted on wheels, as the Gatlings were. Moreover, they proved more +delicate than the Gatlings, and very readily got out of order. A +further and serious disadvantage was that they did not use the Krag +ammunition, as the Gatlings did, but the Mauser ammunition. The +Spanish cartridges which we captured came in quite handily for this +reason. Parker took the same fatherly interest in these two Colts that +he did in the dynamite gun, and finally I put all three and their men +under his immediate care, so that he had a battery of seven guns. + +In fact, I think Parker deserved rather more credit than any other +one man in the entire campaign. I do not allude especially to his +courage and energy, great though they were, for there were hundreds of +his fellow-officers of the cavalry and infantry who possessed as much +of the former quality, and scores who possessed as much of the latter; +but he had the rare good judgment and foresight to see the +possibilities of the machine-guns, and, thanks to the aid of General +Shafter, he was able to organize his battery. He then, by his own +exertions, got it to the front and proved that it could do invaluable +work on the field of battle, as much in attack as in defence. Parker's +Gatlings were our inseparable companions throughout the siege. After +our trenches were put in final shape, he took off the wheels of a +couple and placed them with our own two Colts in the trenches. His +gunners slept beside the Rough Riders in the bomb-proofs, and the men +shared with one another when either side got a supply of beans or of +coffee and sugar; for Parker was as wide-awake and energetic in +getting food for his men as we prided ourselves upon being in getting +food for ours. Besides, he got oil, and let our men have plenty for +their rifles. At no hour of the day or night was Parker anywhere but +where we wished him to be in the event of an attack. If I was ordered +to send a troop of Rough Riders to guard some road or some break in +the lines, we usually got Parker to send a Gatling along, and whether +the change was made by day or by night, the Gatling went, over any +ground and in any weather. He never exposed the Gatlings needlessly or +unless there was some object to be gained, but if serious fighting +broke out, he always took a hand. Sometimes this fighting would be the +result of an effort on our part to quell the fire from the Spanish +trenches; sometimes the Spaniards took the initiative; but at whatever +hour of the twenty-four serious fighting began, the drumming of the +Gatlings was soon heard through the cracking of our own carbines. + +I have spoken thus of Parker's Gatling detachment. How can I speak +highly enough of the regular cavalry with whom it was our good fortune +to serve? I do not believe that in any army of the world could be +found a more gallant and soldierly body of fighters than the officers +and men of the First, Third, Sixth, Ninth, and Tenth United States +Cavalry, beside whom we marched to blood-bought victory under the +tropic skies of Santiago. The American regular sets the standard of +excellence. When we wish to give the utmost possible praise to a +volunteer organization, we say that it is as good as the regulars. I +was exceedingly proud of the fact that the regulars treated my +regiment as on a complete equality with themselves, and were as ready +to see it in a post of danger and responsibility as to see any of +their own battalions. Lieutenant Colonel Dorst, a man from whom praise +meant a good deal, christened us "the Eleventh United States Horse," +and we endeavored, I think I may say successfully, to show that we +deserved the title by our conduct, not only in fighting and in +marching, but in guarding the trenches and in policing camp. In less +than sixty days the regiment had been raised, organized, armed, +equipped, drilled, mounted, dismounted, kept for a fortnight on +transports, and put through two victorious aggressive fights in very +difficult country, the loss in killed and wounded amounting to a +quarter of those engaged. This is a record which it is not easy to +match in the history of volunteer organizations. The loss was but +small compared to that which befell hundreds of regiments in some of +the great battles of the later years of the Civil War; but it may be +doubted whether there was any regiment which made such a record during +the first months of any of our wars. + +After the battle of San Juan my men had really become veterans; they +and I understood each other perfectly, and trusted each other +implicitly; they knew I would share every hardship and danger with +them, would do everything in my power to see that they were fed, and +so far as might be, sheltered and spared; and in return I knew that +they would endure every kind of hardship and fatigue without a murmur +and face every danger with entire fearlessness. I felt utter +confidence in them, and would have been more than willing to put them +to any task which any crack regiment of the world, at home or abroad, +could perform. They were natural fighters, men of great intelligence, +great courage, great hardihood, and physical prowess; and I could draw +on these qualities and upon their spirit of ready, soldierly obedience +to make up for any deficiencies in the technique of the trade which +they had temporarily adopted. It must be remembered that they were +already good individual fighters, skilled in the use of the horse and +the rifle, so that there was no need of putting them through the kind +of training in which the ordinary raw recruit must spend his first +year or two. + +On July 2nd, as the day wore on, the fight, though raging fitfully at +intervals, gradually died away. The Spanish guerillas were causing us +much trouble. They showed great courage, exactly as did their soldiers +who were defending the trenches. In fact, the Spaniards throughout +showed precisely the qualities they did early in the century, when, as +every student will remember, their fleets were a helpless prey to the +English war-ships, and their armies utterly unable to stand in the +open against those of Napoleon's marshals, while on the other hand +their guerillas performed marvellous feats, and their defence of +intrenchments and walled towns, as at Saragossa and Gerona, were the +wonder of the civilized world. + +In our front their sharp-shooters crept up before dawn and either +lay in the thick jungle or climbed into some tree with dense foliage. +In these places it proved almost impossible to place them, as they +kept cover very carefully, and their smokeless powder betrayed not the +slightest sign of their whereabouts. They caused us a great deal of +annoyance and some little loss, and though our own sharp-shooters were +continually taking shots at the places where they supposed them to be, +and though occasionally we would play a Gatling or a Colt all through +the top of a suspicious tree, I but twice saw Spaniards brought down +out of their perches from in front of our lines--on each occasion the +fall of the Spaniard being hailed with loud cheers by our men. + +These sharp-shooters in our front did perfectly legitimate work, and +were entitled to all credit for their courage and skill. It was +different with the guerillas in our rear. Quite a number of these had +been posted in trees at the time of the San Juan fight. They were +using, not Mausers, but Remingtons, which shot smokeless powder and a +brass-coated bullet. It was one of these bullets which had hit Winslow +Clark by my side on Kettle Hill; and though for long-range fighting +the Remingtons were, of course, nothing like as good as the Mausers, +they were equally serviceable for short-range bush work, as they used +smokeless powder. When our troops advanced and the Spaniards in the +trenches and in reserve behind the hill fled, the guerillas in the +trees had no time to get away and in consequence were left in the rear +of our lines. As we found out from the prisoners we took, the Spanish +officers had been careful to instil into the minds of their soldiers +the belief that the Americans never granted quarter, and I suppose it +was in consequence of this that the guerillas did not surrender; for +we found that the Spaniards were anxious enough to surrender as soon +as they became convinced that we would treat them mercifully. At any +rate, these guerillas kept up in their trees and showed not only +courage but wanton cruelty and barbarity. At times they fired upon +armed men in bodies, but they much preferred for their victims the +unarmed attendants, the doctors, the chaplains, the hospital stewards. +They fired at the men who were bearing off the wounded in litters; +they fired at the doctors who came to the front, and at the chaplains +who started to hold burial service; the conspicuous Red Cross brassard +worn by all of these non-combatants, instead of serving as a +protection, seemed to make them the special objects of the guerilla +fire. So annoying did they become that I sent out that afternoon and +next morning a detail of picked sharp-shooters to hunt them out, +choosing, of course, first-class woodsmen and mountain men who were +also good shots. My sharp-shooters felt very vindictively toward these +guerillas and showed them no quarter. They started systematically to +hunt them, and showed themselves much superior at the guerillas' own +game, killing eleven, while not one of my men was scratched. Two of +the men who did conspicuously good service in this work were Troopers +Goodwin and Proffit, both of Arizona, but one by birth a Californian +and the other a North Carolinian. Goodwin was a natural shot, not only +with the rifle and revolver, but with the sling. Proffit might have +stood as a type of the mountaineers described by John Fox and Miss +Murfree. He was a tall, sinewy, handsome man of remarkable strength, +an excellent shot and a thoroughly good soldier. His father had been a +Confederate officer, rising from the ranks, and if the war had lasted +long enough the son would have risen in the same manner. As it was, I +should have been glad to have given him a commission, exactly as I +should have been glad to have given a number of others in the regiment +commissions, if I had only had them. Proffit was a saturnine, reserved +man, who afterward fell very sick with the fever, and who, as a reward +for his soldierly good conduct, was often granted unusual privileges; +but he took the fever and the privileges with the same iron +indifference, never grumbling, and never expressing satisfaction. + +The sharp-shooters returned by nightfall. Soon afterward I +established my pickets and outposts well to the front in the jungle, +so as to prevent all possibility of surprise. After dark, fires +suddenly shot up on the mountain passes far to our right. They all +rose together and we could make nothing of them. After a good deal of +consultation, we decided they must be some signals to the Spaniards in +Santiago, from the troops marching to reinforce them from without--for +we were ignorant that the reinforcements had already reached the city, +the Cubans being quite unable to prevent the Spanish regulars from +marching wherever they wished. While we were thus pondering over the +watch-fires and attributing them to Spanish machinations of some sort, +it appears that the Spaniards, equally puzzled, were setting them down +as an attempt at communication between the insurgents and our army. +Both sides were accordingly on the alert, and the Spaniards must have +strengthened their outlying parties in the jungle ahead of us, for +they suddenly attacked one of our pickets, wounding Crockett +seriously. He was brought in by the other troopers. Evidently the +Spanish lines felt a little nervous, for this sputter of shooting was +immediately followed by a tremendous fire of great guns and rifles +from their trenches and batteries. Our men in the trenches responded +heavily, and word was sent back, not only to me, but to the commanders +in the rear of the regiments along our line, that the Spaniards were +attacking. It was imperative to see what was really going on, so I ran +up to the trenches and looked out. At night it was far easier to place +the Spanish lines than by day, because the flame-spurts shone in the +darkness. I could soon tell that there were bodies of Spanish pickets +or skirmishers in the jungle-covered valley, between their lines and +ours, but that the bulk of the fire came from their trenches and +showed not the slightest symptom of advancing; moreover, as is +generally the case at night, the fire was almost all high, passing +well overhead, with an occasional bullet near by. + +I came to the conclusion that there was no use in our firing back +under such circumstances; and I could tell that the same conclusion +had been reached by Captain Ayres of the Tenth Cavalry on the right of +my line, for even above the cracking of the carbines rose the +Captain's voice as with varied and picturesque language he bade his +black troopers cease firing. The Captain was as absolutely fearless as +a man can be. He had command of his regimental trenches that night, +and, having run up at the first alarm, had speedily satisfied himself +that no particular purpose was served by blazing away in the dark, +when the enormous majority of the Spaniards were simply shooting at +random from their own trenches, and, if they ever had thought of +advancing, had certainly given up the idea. His troopers were devoted +to him, would follow him anywhere, and would do anything he said; but +when men get firing at night it is rather difficult to stop them, +especially when the fire of the enemy in front continues unabated. +When he first reached the trenches it was impossible to say whether or +not there was an actual night attack impending, and he had been +instructing his men, as I instructed mine, to fire low, cutting the +grass in front. As soon as he became convinced that there was no night +attack, he ran up and down the line adjuring and commanding the +troopers to cease shooting, with words and phrases which were +doubtless not wholly unlike those which the Old Guard really did use +at Waterloo. As I ran down my own line, I could see him coming up his, +and he saved me all trouble in stopping the fire at the right, where +the lines met, for my men there all dropped everything to listen to +him and cheer and laugh. Soon we got the troopers in hand, and made +them cease firing; then, after awhile, the Spanish fire died down. At +the time we spoke of this as a night attack by the Spaniards, but it +really was not an attack at all. Ever after my men had a great regard +for Ayres, and would have followed him anywhere. I shall never forget +the way in which he scolded his huge, devoted black troopers, +generally ending with "I'm ashamed of you, ashamed of you! I wouldn't +have believed it! Firing; when I told you to stop! I'm ashamed of +you!" + +That night we spent in perfecting the trenches and arranging +entrances to them, doing about as much work as we had the preceding +night. Greenway and Goodrich, from their energy, eagerness to do every +duty, and great physical strength, were peculiarly useful in this +work; as, indeed, they were in all work. They had been up practically +the entire preceding night, but they were too good men for me to spare +them, nor did they wish to be spared; and I kept them up all this +night too. Goodrich had also been on guard as officer of the day the +night we were at El Poso, so that it turned out that he spent nearly +four days and three nights with practically hardly any sleep at all. + +Next morning, at daybreak, the firing began again. This day, the 3rd, +we suffered nothing, save having one man wounded by a sharp-shooter, +and, thanks to the approaches to the trenches, we were able to relieve +the guards without any difficulty. The Spanish sharp-shooters in the +trees and jungle nearby, however, annoyed us very much, and I made +preparations to fix them next day. With this end in view I chose out +some twenty first-class men, in many instances the same that I had +sent after the guerillas, and arranged that each should take his +canteen and a little food. They were to slip into the jungle between +us and the Spanish lines before dawn next morning, and there to spend +the day, getting as close to the Spanish lines as possible, moving +about with great stealth, and picking off any hostile sharp-shooter, +as well as any soldier who exposed himself in the trenches. I had +plenty of men who possessed a training in woodcraft that fitted them +for this work; and as soon as the rumor got abroad what I was +planning, volunteers thronged to me. Daniels and Love were two of the +men always to the front in any enterprise of this nature; so were +Wadsworth, the two Bulls, Fortescue, and Cowdin. But I could not begin +to name all the troopers who so eagerly craved the chance to win honor +out of hazard and danger. + +Among them was good, solemn Fred Herrig, the Alsatian. I knew Fred's +patience and skill as a hunter from the trips we had taken together +after deer and mountain sheep through the Bad Lands of the Little +Missouri. He still spoke English with what might be called Alsatian +variations--he always spoke of the gun detail as the "gondetle," with +the accent on the first syllable--and he expressed a wish to be allowed +"a holiday from the gondetle to go after dem gorrillas." I told him he +could have the holiday, but to his great disappointment the truce came +first, and then Fred asked that, inasmuch as the "gorrillas" were now +forbidden game, he might be allowed to go after guinea-hens instead. + +Even after the truce, however, some of my sharp-shooters had +occupation, for two guerillas in our rear took occasional shots at the +men who were bathing in a pond, until one of our men spied them, when +they were both speedily brought down. One of my riflemen who did best +at this kind of work, by the way, got into trouble because of it. He +was much inflated by my commendation of him, and when he went back to +his troop he declined to obey the first Sergeant's orders on the +ground that he was "the Colonel's sharp-shooter." The Lieutenant in +command, being somewhat puzzled, brought him to me, and I had to +explain that if the offence, disobedience of orders in face of the +enemy, was repeated he might incur the death penalty; whereat he +looked very crestfallen. That afternoon he got permission, like Fred +Herrig, to go after guinea-hens, which were found wild in some numbers +round about; and he sent me the only one he got as a peace offering. +The few guinea-hens thus procured were all used for the sick. + +Dr. Church had established a little field hospital under the +shoulder of the hill in our rear. He was himself very sick and had +almost nothing in the way of medicine or supplies or apparatus of any +kind, but the condition of the wounded in the big field hospitals in +the rear was so horrible, from the lack of attendants as well as of +medicines, that we kept all the men we possibly could at the front. +Some of them had now begun to come down with fever. They were all very +patient, but it was pitiful to see the sick and wounded soldiers lying +on their blankets, if they had any, and if not then simply in the mud, +with nothing to eat but hardtack and pork, which of course they could +not touch when their fever got high, and with no chance to get more +than the rudest attention. Among the very sick here was gallant +Captain Llewellen. I feared he was going to die. We finally had to +send him to one of the big hospitals in the rear. Doctors Brewer and +Fuller of the Tenth had been unwearying in attending to the wounded, +including many of those of my regiment. + +At twelve o'clock we were notified to stop firing and a flag of +truce was sent in to demand the surrender of the city. The +negotiations gave us a breathing spell. + +That afternoon I arranged to get our baggage up, sending back strong +details of men to carry up their own goods, and, as usual, impressing +into the service a kind of improvised pack-train consisting of the +officers' horses, of two or three captured Spanish cavalry horses, two +or three mules which had been shot and abandoned and which our men had +taken and cured, and two or three Cuban ponies. Hitherto we had simply +been sleeping by the trenches or immediately in their rear, with +nothing in the way of shelter and only one blanket to every three or +four men. Fortunately there had been little rain. We now got up the +shelter tents of the men and some flies for the hospital and for the +officers; and my personal baggage appeared. I celebrated its advent by +a thorough wash and shave. + +Later, I twice snatched a few hours to go to the rear and visit such +of my men as I could find in the hospitals. Their patience was +extraordinary. Kenneth Robinson, a gallant young trooper, though +himself severely (I supposed at the time mortally) wounded, was +noteworthy for the way in which he tended those among the wounded who +were even more helpless, and the cheery courage with which he kept up +their spirits. Gievers, who was shot through the hips, rejoined us at +the front in a fortnight. Captain Day was hardly longer away. Jack +Hammer, who, with poor Race Smith, a gallant Texas lad who was +mortally hurt beside me on the summit of the hill, had been on kitchen +detail, was wounded and sent to the rear; he was ordered to go to the +United States, but he heard that we were to assault Santiago, so he +struggled out to rejoin us, and thereafter stayed at the front. Cosby, +badly wounded, made his way down to the sea-coast in three days, +unassisted. + +With all volunteer troops, and I am inclined to think with regulars, +too, in time of trial, the best work can be got out of the men only if +the officers endure the same hardships and face the same risks. In my +regiment, as in the whole cavalry division, the proportion of loss in +killed and wounded was considerably greater among the officers than +among the troopers, and this was exactly as it should be. Moreover, +when we got down to hard pan, we all, officers and men, fared exactly +alike as regards both shelter and food. This prevented any grumbling. +When the troopers saw that the officers had nothing but hardtack, +there was not a man in the regiment who would not have been ashamed to +grumble at faring no worse, and when all alike slept out in the open, +in the rear of the trenches, and when the men always saw the field +officers up at night, during the digging of the trenches, and going +the rounds of the outposts, they would not tolerate, in any of their +number, either complaint or shirking work. When things got easier I +put up my tent and lived a little apart, for it is a mistake for an +officer ever to grow too familiar with his men, no matter how good +they are; and it is of course the greatest possible mistake to seek +popularity either by showing weakness or by mollycoddling the men. +They will never respect a commander who does not enforce discipline, +who does not know his duty, and who is not willing both himself to +encounter and to make them encounter every species of danger and +hardship when necessary. The soldiers who do not feel this way are not +worthy of the name and should be handled with iron severity until they +become fighting men and not shams. In return the officer should +carefully look after his men, should see that they are well fed and +well sheltered, and that, no matter how much they may grumble, they +keep the camp thoroughly policed. + +After the cessation of the three days' fighting we began to get our +rations regularly and had plenty of hardtack and salt pork, and +usually about half the ordinary amount of sugar and coffee. It was not +a very good ration for the tropics, however, and was of very little +use indeed to the sick and half-sick. On two or three occasions during +the siege I got my improvised pack-train together and either took or +sent it down to the sea-coast for beans, canned tomatoes, and the +like. We got these either from the transports which were still landing +stores on the beach or from the Red Cross. If I did not go myself I +sent some man who had shown that he was a driving, energetic, tactful +fellow, who would somehow get what we wanted. Chaplain Brown developed +great capacity in this line, and so did one of the troopers named +Knoblauch, he who had dived after the rifles that had sunk off the +pier at Daiquiri. The supplies of food we got in this way had a very +beneficial effect, not only upon the men's health, but upon their +spirits. To the Red Cross and similar charitable organizations we owe +a great deal. We also owed much to Colonel Weston of the Commissary +Department, who always helped us and never let himself be hindered by +red tape; thus he always let me violate the absurd regulation which +forbade me, even in war time, to purchase food for my men from the +stores, although letting me purchase for the officers. I, of course, +paid no heed to the regulation when by violating it I could get beans, +canned tomatoes, or tobacco. Sometimes I used my own money, sometimes +what was given me by Woody Kane, or what was sent me by my +brother-in-law, Douglas Robinson, or by the other Red Cross people in +New York. My regiment did not fare very well; but I think it fared +better than any other. Of course no one would have minded in the least +such hardships as we endured had there been any need of enduring them; +but there was none. System and sufficiency of transportation were all +that were needed. + +On one occasion a foreign military attache visited my head-quarters +together with a foreign correspondent who had been through the +Turco-Greek war. They were both most friendly critics, and as they +knew I was aware of this, the correspondent finally ventured the +remark, that he thought our soldiers fought even better than the +Turks, but that on the whole our system of military administration +seemed rather worse than that of the Greeks. As a nation we had prided +ourselves on our business ability and adroitness in the arts of peace, +while outsiders, at any rate, did not credit us with any especial +warlike prowess; and it was curious that when war came we should have +broken down precisely on the business and administrative side, while +the fighting edge of the troops certainly left little to be desired. + +I was very much touched by the devotion my men showed to me. After +they had once become convinced that I would share their hardships, +they made it a point that I should not suffer any hardships at all; +and I really had an extremely easy time. Whether I had any food or not +myself made no difference, as there were sure to be certain troopers, +and, indeed, certain troop messes, on the lookout for me. If they had +any beans they would send me over a cupful, or I would suddenly +receive a present of doughnuts from some ex-roundup cook who had +succeeded in obtaining a little flour and sugar, and if a man shot a +guinea-hen it was all I could do to make him keep half of it for +himself. Wright, the color sergeant, and Henry Bardshar, my orderly, +always pitched and struck my tent and built me a bunk of bamboo poles, +whenever we changed camp. So I personally endured very little +discomfort; for, of course, no one minded the two or three days +preceding or following each fight, when we all had to get along as +best we could. Indeed, as long as we were under fire or in the +immediate presence of the enemy, and I had plenty to do, there was +nothing of which I could legitimately complain; and what I really did +regard as hardships, my men did not object to--for later on, when we +had some leisure, I would have given much for complete solitude and +some good books. + +Whether there was a truce, or whether, as sometimes happened, we +were notified that there was no truce but merely a further cessation +of hostilities by tacit agreement, or whether the fight was on, we +kept equally vigilant watch, especially at night. In the trenches +every fourth man kept awake, the others sleeping beside or behind him +on their rifles; and the Cossack posts and pickets were pushed out in +advance beyond the edge of the jungle. At least once a night at some +irregular hour I tried to visit every part of our line, especially if +it was dark and rainy, although sometimes, when the lines were in +charge of some officer like Wilcox or Kane, Greenway or Goodrich, I +became lazy, took off my boots, and slept all night through. Sometimes +at night I went not only along the lines of our own brigade, but of +the brigades adjoining. It was a matter of pride, not only with me, +but with all our men, that the lines occupied by the Rough Riders +should be at least as vigilantly guarded as the lines of any regular +regiment. + +Sometimes at night, when I met other officers inspecting their +lines, we would sit and talk over matters, and wonder what shape the +outcome of the siege would take. We knew we would capture Santiago, +but exactly how we would do it we could not tell. The failure to +establish any depot for provisions on the fighting-line, where there +was hardly ever more than twenty-four hours' food ahead, made the risk +very serious. If a hurricane had struck the transports, scattering +them to the four winds, or if three days of heavy rain had completely +broken up our communication, as they assuredly would have done, we +would have been at starvation point on the front; and while, of +course, we would have lived through it somehow and would have taken +the city, it would only have been after very disagreeable experiences. +As soon as I was able I accumulated for my own regiment about +forty-eight hours' hardtack and salt pork, which I kept so far as +possible intact to provide against any emergency. + +If the city could be taken without direct assault on the intrenchments +and wire entanglements, we earnestly hoped it would be, for such an +assault meant, as we knew by past experience, the loss of a quarter +of the attacking regiments (and we were bound that the Rough Riders +should be one of these attacking regiments, if the attack had to be +made). There was, of course, nobody who would not rather have +assaulted than have run the risk of failure; but we hoped the city +would fall without need arising for us to suffer the great loss of +life which a further assault would have entailed. + +Naturally, the colonels and captains had nothing to say in the peace +negotiations which dragged along for the week following the sending in +the flag of truce. Each day we expected either to see the city +surrender, or to be told to begin fighting again, and toward the end +it grew so irksome that we would have welcomed even an assault in +preference to further inaction. I used to discuss matters with the +officers of my own regiment now and then, and with a few of the +officers of the neighboring regiments with whom I had struck up a +friendship--Parker, Stevens, Beck, Ayres, Morton, and Boughton. I also +saw a good deal of the excellent officers on the staffs of Generals +Wheeler and Sumner, especially Colonel Dorst, Colonel Garlington, +Captain Howze, Captain Steele, Lieutenant Andrews, and Captain Astor +Chanler, who, like myself, was a volunteer. Chanler was an old friend +and a fellow big-game hunter, who had done some good exploring work in +Africa. I always wished I could have had him in my regiment. As for +Dorst, he was peculiarly fitted to command a regiment. Although Howze +and Andrews were not in my brigade, I saw a great deal of them, +especially of Howze, who would have made a nearly ideal regimental +commander. They were both natural cavalry-men and of most enterprising +natures, ever desirous of pushing to the front and of taking the +boldest course. The view Howze always took of every emergency (a view +which found prompt expression in his actions when the opportunity +offered) made me feel like an elderly conservative. + +The week of non-fighting was not all a period of truce; part of the +time was passed under a kind of nondescript arrangement, when we were +told not to attack ourselves, but to be ready at any moment to repulse +an attack and to make preparations for meeting it. During these times +I busied myself in putting our trenches into first-rate shape and in +building bomb-proofs and traverses. One night I got a detail of sixty +men from the First, Ninth, and Tenth, whose officers always helped us +in every way, and with these, and with sixty of my own men, I dug a +long, zigzag trench in advance of the salient of my line out to a +knoll well in front, from which we could command the Spanish trenches +and block-houses immediately ahead of us. On this knoll we made a kind +of bastion consisting of a deep, semi-circular trench with sand-bags +arranged along the edge so as to constitute a wall with loop-holes. Of +course, when I came to dig this trench, I kept both Greenway and +Goodrich supervising the work all night, and equally of course I got +Parker and Stevens to help me. By employing as many men as we did we +were able to get the work so far advanced as to provide against +interruption before the moon rose, which was about midnight. Our +pickets were thrown far out in the jungle, to keep back the Spanish +pickets and prevent any interference with the diggers. The men seemed +to think the work rather good fun than otherwise, the possibility of a +brush with the Spaniards lending a zest that prevented its growing +monotonous. + +Parker had taken two of his Gatlings, removed the wheels, and mounted +them in the trenches; also mounting the two automatic Colts where he +deemed they could do best service. With the completion of the +trenches, bomb-proofs, and traverses, and the mounting of these guns, +the fortifications of the hill assumed quite a respectable character, +and the Gatling men christened it Fort Roosevelt, by which name it +afterward went.* + + * Note: See Parker's "With the Gatlings at Santiago." + +During the truce various military attaches and foreign officers came +out to visit us. Two or three of the newspaper men, including Richard +Harding Davis, Caspar Whitney, and John Fox, had already been out to +see us, and had been in the trenches during the firing. Among the +others were Captains Lee and Paget of the British army and navy, fine +fellows, who really seemed to take as much pride in the feats of our +men as if we had been bound together by the ties of a common +nationality instead of the ties of race and speech kinship. Another +English visitor was Sir Bryan Leighton, a thrice-welcome guest, for he +most thoughtfully brought to me half a dozen little jars of devilled +ham and potted fruit, which enabled me to summon various officers down +to my tent and hold a feast. Count von Gotzen, and a Norwegian +attache, Gedde, very good fellows both, were also out. One day we were +visited by a travelling Russian, Prince X., a large, blond man, smooth +and impenetrable. I introduced him to one of the regular army +officers, a capital fighter and excellent fellow, who, however, viewed +foreign international politics from a strictly trans-Mississippi +stand-point. He hailed the Russian with frank kindness and took him +off to show him around the trenches, chatting volubly, and calling him +"Prince," much as Kentuckians call one another "Colonel." As I +returned I heard him remarking: "You see, Prince, the great result of +this war is that it has united the two branches of the Anglo-Saxon +people; and now that they are together they can whip the world, +Prince! they can whip the world!"--being evidently filled with the +pleasing belief that the Russian would cordially sympathize with this +view. + +The foreign attaches did not always get on well with our generals. +The two English representatives never had any trouble, were heartily +admired by everybody, and, indeed, were generally treated as if they +were of our own number; and seemingly so regarded themselves. But this +was not always true of the representatives from Continental Europe. +One of the latter--a very good fellow, by the way--had not altogether +approved of the way he was treated, and the climax came when he said +good-by to the General who had special charge of him. The General in +question was not accustomed to nice ethnic distinctions, and grouped +all of the representatives from Continental Europe under the +comprehensive title of "Dutchmen." When the attache in question came +to say farewell, the General responded with a bluff heartiness, in +which perhaps the note of sincerity was more conspicuous than that of +entire good breeding: "Well, good-by; sorry you're going; which are +you anyhow--the German or the Russian?" + +Shortly after midday on the 10th fighting began again, but it soon +became evident that the Spaniards did not have much heart in it. The +American field artillery was now under the command of General +Randolph, and he fought it effectively. A mortar battery had also been +established, though with an utterly inadequate supply of ammunition, +and this rendered some service. Almost the only Rough Riders who had a +chance to do much firing were the men with the Colt automatic guns, +and the twenty picked sharp-shooters, who were placed in the newly dug +little fort out at the extreme front. Parker had a splendid time with +the Gatlings and the Colts. With these machine guns he completely +silenced the battery in front of us. This battery had caused us a good +deal of trouble at first, as we could not place it. It was immediately +in front of the hospital, from which many Red Cross flags were flying, +one of them floating just above this battery, from where we looked at +it. In consequence, for some time, we did not know it was a hostile +battery at all, as, like all the other Spanish batteries, it was using +smokeless powder. It was only by the aid of powerful glasses that we +finally discovered its real nature. The Gatlings and Colts then +actually put it out of action, silencing the big guns and the two +field-pieces. Furthermore, the machine guns and our sharp-shooters +together did good work in supplementing the effects of the dynamite +gun; for when a shell from the latter struck near a Spanish trench, or +a building in which there were Spanish troops, the shock was seemingly +so great that the Spaniards almost always showed themselves, and gave +our men a chance to do some execution. + +As the evening of the 10th came on, the men began to make their coffee +in sheltered places. By this time they knew how to take care of +themselves so well that not a man was touched by the Spaniards during +the second bombardment. While I was lying with the officers just +outside one of the bomb-proofs I saw a New Mexican trooper named +Morrison making his coffee under the protection of a traverse high up +on the hill. Morrison was originally a Baptist preacher who had joined +the regiment purely from a sense of duty, leaving his wife and +children, and had shown himself to be an excellent soldier. He had +evidently exactly calculated the danger zone, and found that by +getting close to the traverse he could sit up erect and make ready his +supper without being cramped. I watched him solemnly pounding the +coffee with the butt end of his revolver, and then boiling the water +and frying his bacon, just as if he had been in the lee of the roundup +wagon somewhere out on the plains. + +By noon of next day, the 11th, my regiment with one of the Gatlings +was shifted over to the right to guard the Caney road. We did no +fighting in our new position, for the last straggling shot had been +fired by the time we got there. That evening there came up the worst +storm we had had, and by midnight my tent blew over. I had for the +first time in a fortnight undressed myself completely, and I felt +fully punished for my love of luxury when I jumped out into the +driving downpour of tropic rain, and groped blindly in the darkness +for my clothes as they lay in the liquid mud. It was Kane's night on +guard, and I knew the wretched Woody would be out along the line and +taking care of the pickets, no matter what the storm might be; and so +I basely made my way to the kitchen tent, where good Holderman, the +Cherokee, wrapped me in dry blankets, and put me to sleep on a table +which he had just procured from an abandoned Spanish house. + +On the 17th the city formally surrendered and our regiment, like the +rest of the army, was drawn up on the trenches. When the American flag +was hoisted the trumpets blared and the men cheered, and we knew that +the fighting part of our work was over. + +Shortly after we took our new position the First Illinois Volunteers +came up on our right. The next day, as a result of the storm and of +further rain, the rivers were up and the roads quagmires, so that +hardly any food reached the front. My regiment was all right, as we +had provided for just such an emergency; but the Illinois newcomers +had of course not done so, and they were literally without anything to +eat. They were fine fellows and we could not see them suffer. I +furnished them some beans and coffee for the elder officers and two or +three cases of hardtack for the men, and then mounted my horse and +rode down to head-quarters, half fording, half swimming the streams; +and late in the evening I succeeded in getting half a mule-train of +provisions for them. + +On the morning of the 3rd the Spaniards had sent out of Santiago many +thousands of women, children, and other non-combatants, most of them +belonging to the poorer classes, but among them not a few of the best +families. These wretched creatures took very little with them. They +came through our lines and for the most part went to El Caney in our +rear, where we had to feed them and protect them from the Cubans. As +we had barely enough food for our own men the rations of the refugees +were scanty indeed and their sufferings great. Long before the +surrender they had begun to come to our lines to ask for provisions, +and my men gave them a good deal out of their own scanty stores, until +I had positively to forbid it and to insist that the refugees should +go to head-quarters; as, however hard and merciless it seemed, I was +in duty bound to keep my own regiment at the highest pitch of fighting +efficiency. + +As soon as the surrender was assured the refugees came streaming back +in an endless squalid procession down the Caney road to Santiago. My +troopers, for all their roughness and their ferocity in fight, were +rather tender-hearted than otherwise, and they helped the poor +creatures, especially the women and children, in every way, giving +them food and even carrying the children and the burdens borne by the +women. I saw one man, Happy Jack, spend the entire day in walking to +and fro for about a quarter of a mile on both sides of our lines along +the road, carrying the bundles for a series of poor old women, or else +carrying young children. Finally the doctor warned us that we must not +touch the bundles of the refugees for fear of infection, as disease +had broken out and was rife among them. Accordingly I had to put a +stop to these acts of kindness on the part of my men; against which +action Happy Jack respectfully but strongly protested upon the +unexpected ground that "The Almighty would never let a man catch a +disease while he was doing a good action." I did not venture to take +so advanced a theological stand. + + + + VI + + THE RETURN HOME + +Two or three days after the surrender the cavalry division was marched +back to the foothills west of El Caney, and there went into camp, +together with the artillery. It was a most beautiful spot beside a +stream of clear water, but it was not healthy. In fact no ground in +the neighborhood was healthy. For the tropics the climate was not bad, +and I have no question but that a man who was able to take good care +of himself could live there all the year round with comparative +impunity; but the case was entirely different with an army which was +obliged to suffer great exposure, and to live under conditions which +almost insured being attacked by the severe malarial fever of the +country. My own men were already suffering badly from fever, and they +got worse rather than better in the new camp. The same was true of the +other regiments in the cavalry division. A curious feature was that +the colored troops seemed to suffer as heavily as the white. From week +to week there were slight relative changes, but on the average all the +six cavalry regiments, the Rough Riders, the white regulars, and the +colored regulars seemed to suffer about alike, and we were all very +much weakened; about as much as the regular infantry, although +naturally not as much as the volunteer infantry. + +Yet even under such circumstances adventurous spirits managed to make +their way out to us. In the fortnight following the last bombardment +of the city I enlisted no less than nine such recruits, six being +from Harvard, Yale, or Princeton; and Bull, the former Harvard oar, +who had been back to the States crippled after the first fight, +actually got back to us as a stowaway on one of the transports, +bound to share the luck of the regiment, even if it meant yellow +fever. + +There were but twelve ambulances with the army, and these were quite +inadequate for their work; but the conditions in the large field +hospitals were so bad, that as long as possible we kept all of our +sick men in the regimental hospital at the front. Dr. Church did +splendid work, although he himself was suffering much more than half +the time from fever. Several of the men from the ranks did equally +well, especially a young doctor from New York, Harry Thorpe, who had +enlisted as a trooper, but who was now made acting assistant-surgeon. +It was with the greatest difficulty that Church and Thorpe were able +to get proper medicine for the sick, and it was almost the last day of +our stay before we were able to get cots for them. Up to that time +they lay on the ground. No food was issued suitable for them, or for +the half-sick men who were not on the doctor's list; the two classes +by this time included the bulk of the command. Occasionally we got +hold of a wagon or of some Cuban carts, and at other times I used my +improvised pack-train (the animals of which, however, were continually +being taken away from us by our superiors) and went or sent back to +the sea-coast at Siboney or into Santiago itself to get rice, flour, +cornmeal, oatmeal, condensed milk, potatoes, and canned vegetables. +The rice I bought in Santiago; the best of the other stuff I got from +the Red Cross through Mr. George Kennan and Miss Clara Barton and Dr. +Lesser; but some of it I got from our own transports. Colonel Weston, +the Commissary-General, as always, rendered us every service in his +power. This additional and varied food was of the utmost service, not +merely to the sick but in preventing the well from becoming sick. +Throughout the campaign the Division Inspector-General, +Lieutenant-Colonel Garlington, and Lieutenants West and Dickman, the +acting division quartermaster and commissary, had done everything in +their power to keep us supplied with food; but where there were so few +mules and wagons even such able and zealous officers could not do the +impossible. + +We had the camp policed thoroughly, and I made the men build little +bunks of poles to sleep on. By July 23rd, when we had been ashore a +month, we were able to get fresh meat, and from that time on we fared +well; but the men were already sickening. The chief trouble was the +malarial fever, which was recurrent. For a few days the man would be +very sick indeed; then he would partially recover, and be able to go +back to work; but after a little time he would be again struck down. +Every officer other than myself except one was down with sickness at +one time or another. Even Greenway and Goodrich succumbed to the fever +and were knocked out for a few days. Very few of the men indeed +retained their strength and energy, and though the percentage actually +on the sick list never got over twenty, there were less than fifty per +cent who were fit for any kind of work. All the clothes were in rags; +even the officers had neither socks nor underwear. The lithe college +athletes had lost their spring; the tall, gaunt hunters and +cow-punchers lounged listlessly in their dog-tents, which were +steaming morasses during the torrential rains, and then ovens when the +sun blazed down; but there were no complaints. + +Through some blunder our march from the intrenchments to the camp on +the foothills, after the surrender, was made during the heat of the +day; and though it was only some five miles or thereabouts, very +nearly half the men of the cavalry division dropped out. Captain +Llewellen had come back, and led his troop on the march. He carried a +pick and shovel for one of his sick men, and after we reached camp +walked back with a mule to get another trooper who had fallen out from +heat exhaustion. The result was that the captain himself went down and +became exceedingly sick. We at last succeeded in sending him to the +States. I never thought he would live, but he did, and when I met him +again at Montauk Point he had practically entirely recovered. My +orderly, Henry Bardshar, was struck down, and though he ultimately +recovered, he was a mere skeleton, having lost over eighty pounds. + +Yellow fever also broke out in the rear, chiefly among the Cubans. It +never became epidemic, but it caused a perfect panic among some of +our own doctors, and especially in the minds of one or two generals +and of the home authorities. We found that whenever we sent a man to +the rear he was decreed to have yellow fever, whereas, if we kept him +at the front, it always turned out that he had malarial fever, and +after a few days he was back at work again. I doubt if there were ever +more than a dozen genuine cases of yellow fever in the whole cavalry +division; but the authorities at Washington, misled by the reports +they received from one or two of their military and medical advisers +at the front, became panic-struck, and under the influence of their +fears hesitated to bring the army home, lest it might import yellow +fever into the United States. Their panic was absolutely groundless, +as shown by the fact that when brought home not a single case of +yellow fever developed upon American soil. Our real foe was not the +yellow fever at all, but malarial fever, which was not infectious, but +which was certain, if the troops were left throughout the summer in +Cuba, to destroy them, either killing them outright, or weakening them +so that they would have fallen victims to any disease that attacked +them. + +However, for a time our prospects were gloomy, as the Washington +authorities seemed determined that we should stay in Cuba. They +unfortunately knew nothing of the country nor of the circumstances of +the army, and the plans that were from time to time formulated in the +Department (and even by an occasional general or surgeon at the front) +for the management of the army would have been comic if they had not +possessed such tragic possibilities. Thus, at one period it was +proposed that we should shift camp every two or three days. Now, our +transportation, as I have pointed out before, was utterly inadequate. +In theory, under the regulations of the War Department, each regiment +should have had at least twenty-five wagons. As a matter of fact our +regiment often had none, sometimes one, rarely two, and never three; +yet it was better off than any other in the cavalry division. In +consequence it was impossible to carry much of anything save what the +men had on their backs, and half of the men were too weak to walk +three miles with their packs. Whenever we shifted camp the exertion +among the half-sick caused our sick-roll to double next morning, and +it took at least three days, even when the shift was for but a short +distance, before we were able to bring up the officers' luggage, the +hospital spare food, the ammunition, etc. Meanwhile the officers slept +wherever they could, and those men who had not been able to carry +their own bedding, slept as the officers did. In the weak condition of +the men the labor of pitching camp was severe and told heavily upon +them. In short, the scheme of continually shifting camp was impossible +of fulfilment. It would merely have resulted in the early destruction +of the army. + +Again, it was proposed that we should go up the mountains and make our +camps there. The palm and the bamboo grew to the summits of the +mountains, and the soil along their sides was deep and soft, while the +rains were very heavy, much more so than immediately on the coast +--every mile or two inland bringing with it a great increase in the +rainfall. We could, with much difficulty, have got our regiments up +the mountains, but not half the men could have got up with their +belongings; and once there it would have been an impossibility to feed +them. It was all that could be done, with the limited number of wagons +and mule-trains on hand, to feed the men in the existing camps, for +the travel and the rain gradually rendered each road in succession +wholly impassable. To have gone up the mountains would have meant +early starvation. + +The third plan of the Department was even more objectionable than +either of the others. There was, some twenty-five miles in the +interior, what was called a high interior plateau, and at one period +we were informed that we were to be marched thither. As a matter of +fact, this so-called high plateau was the sugar-cane country, where, +during the summer, the rainfall was prodigious. It was a rich, deep +soil, covered with a rank tropic growth, the guinea-grass being higher +than the head of a man on horseback. It was a perfect hotbed of +malaria, and there was no dry ground whatever in which to camp. To +have sent the troops there would have been simple butchery. + +Under these circumstances the alternative to leaving the country +altogether was to stay where we were, with the hope that half the men +would live through to the cool season. We did everything possible to +keep up the spirits of the men, but it was exceedingly difficult +because there was nothing for them to do. They were weak and languid, +and in the wet heat they had lost energy, so that it was not possible +for them to indulge in sports or pastimes. There were exceptions; but +the average man who went off to shoot guinea-hens or tried some +vigorous game always felt much the worse for his exertions. Once or +twice I took some of my comrades with me, and climbed up one or +another of the surrounding mountains, but the result generally was +that half of the party were down with some kind of sickness next day. +It was impossible to take heavy exercise in the heat of the day; the +evening usually saw a rain-storm which made the country a quagmire; +and in the early morning the drenching dew and wet, slimy soil made +walking but little pleasure. Chaplain Brown held service every Sunday +under a low tree outside my tent; and we always had a congregation of +a few score troopers, lying or sitting round, their strong hard faces +turned toward the preacher. I let a few of the men visit Santiago, but +the long walk in and out was very tiring, and, moreover, wise +restrictions had been put as to either officers or men coming in. + +In any event there was very little to do in the quaint, dirty old +Spanish city, though it was interesting to go in once or twice, and +wander through the narrow streets with their curious little shops and +low houses of stained stucco, with elaborately wrought iron trellises +to the windows, and curiously carved balconies; or to sit in the +central plaza where the cathedral was, and the clubs, and the Cafe +Venus, and the low, bare, rambling building which was called the +Governor's Palace. In this palace Wood had now been established as +military governor, and Luna, and two or three of my other officers +from the Mexican border, who knew Spanish, were sent in to do duty +under him. A great many of my men knew Spanish, and some of the New +Mexicans were of Spanish origin, although they behaved precisely like +the other members of the regiment. + +We should probably have spent the summer in our sick camps, losing +half the men and hopelessly shattering the health of the remainder, if +General Shafter had not summoned a council of officers, hoping by +united action of a more or less public character to wake up the +Washington authorities to the actual condition of things. As all the +Spanish forces in the province of Santiago had surrendered, and as +so-called immune regiments were coming to garrison the conquered +territory, there was literally not one thing of any kind whatsoever +for the army to do, and no purpose to serve by keeping it at Santiago. +We did not suppose that peace was at hand, being ignorant of the +negotiations. We were anxious to take part in the Porto Rico campaign, +and would have been more than willing to suffer any amount of +sickness, if by so doing we could get into action. But if we were not +to take part in the Porto Rico campaign, then we knew it was +absolutely indispensable to get our commands north immediately, if +they were to be in trim for the great campaign against Havana, which +would surely be the main event of the winter if peace were not +declared in advance. + +Our army included the great majority of the regulars, and was, +therefore, the flower of the American force. It was on every account +imperative to keep it in good trim; and to keep it in Santiago meant +its entirely purposeless destruction. As soon as the surrender was an +accomplished fact, the taking away of the army to the north should +have begun. + +Every officer, from the highest to the lowest, especially among the +regulars, realized all of this, and about the last day of July, +General Shafter called a conference, in the palace, of all the +division and brigade commanders. By this time, owing to Wood's having +been made Governor-General, I was in command of my brigade, so I went +to the conference too, riding in with Generals Sumner and Wheeler, who +were the other representatives of the cavalry division. Besides the +line officers all the chief medical officers were present at the +conference. The telegrams from the Secretary stating the position of +himself and the Surgeon-General were read, and then almost every line +and medical officer present expressed his views in turn. They were +almost all regulars and had been brought up to life-long habits of +obedience without protest. They were ready to obey still, but they +felt, quite rightly, that it was their duty to protest rather than to +see the flower of the United States forces destroyed as the +culminating act of a campaign in which the blunders that had been +committed had been retrieved only by the valor and splendid soldierly +qualities of the officers and enlisted men of the infantry and +dismounted cavalry. There was not a dissenting voice; for there could +not be. There was but one side to the question. To talk of continually +shifting camp or of moving up the mountains or of moving into the +interior was idle, for not one of the plans could be carried out with +our utterly insufficient transportation, and at that season and in +that climate they would merely have resulted in aggravating the +sickliness of the soldiers. It was deemed best to make some record of +our opinion, in the shape of a letter or report, which would show that +to keep the army in Santiago meant its absolute and objectless ruin, +and that it should at once be recalled. At first there was naturally +some hesitation on the part of the regular officers to take the +initiative, for their entire future career might be sacrificed. So I +wrote a letter to General Shafter, reading over the rough draft to the +various Generals and adopting their corrections. Before I had finished +making these corrections it was determined that we should send a +circular letter on behalf of all of us to General Shafter, and when I +returned from presenting him mine, I found this circular letter +already prepared and we all of us signed it. Both letters were made +public. The result was immediate. Within three days the army was +ordered to be ready to sail for home. + +As soon as it was known that we were to sail for home the spirits of +the men changed for the better. In my regiment the officers began to +plan methods of drilling the men on horseback, so as to fit them for +use against the Spanish cavalry, if we should go against Havana in +December. We had, all of us, eyed the captured Spanish cavalry with +particular interest. The men were small, and the horses, though well +trained and well built, were diminutive ponies, very much smaller than +cow ponies. We were certain that if we ever got a chance to try shock +tactics against them they would go down like nine-pins, provided only +that our men could be trained to charge in any kind of line, and we +made up our minds to devote our time to this. Dismounted work with the +rifle we already felt thoroughly competent to perform. + +My time was still much occupied with looking after the health of my +brigade, but the fact that we were going home, where I knew that their +health would improve, lightened my mind, and I was able thoroughly to +enjoy the beauty of the country, and even of the storms, which +hitherto I had regarded purely as enemies. + +The surroundings of the city of Santiago are very grand. The +circling mountains rise sheer and high. The plains are threaded by +rapid winding brooks and are dotted here and there with quaint +villages, curiously picturesque from their combining traces of an +outworn old-world civilization with new and raw barbarism. The tall, +graceful, feathery bamboos rise by the water's edge, and elsewhere, +even on the mountain-crests, where the soil is wet and rank enough; +and the splendid royal palms and cocoanut palms tower high above the +matted green jungle. + +Generally the thunder-storms came in the afternoon, but once I saw +one at sunrise, driving down the high mountain valleys toward us. It +was a very beautiful and almost terrible sight; for the sun rose +behind the storm, and shone through the gusty rifts, lighting the +mountain-crests here and there, while the plain below lay shrouded in +the lingering night. The angry, level rays edged the dark clouds with +crimson, and turned the downpour into sheets of golden rain; in the +valleys the glimmering mists were tinted every wild hue; and the +remotest heavens were lit with flaming glory. + +One day General Lawton, General Wood and I, with Ferguson and poor +Tiffany, went down the bay to visit Morro Castle. The shores were +beautiful, especially where there were groves of palms and of the +scarlet-flower tree, and the castle itself, on a jutting headland, +overlooking the sea and guarding the deep, narrow entrance to the bay, +showed just what it was, the splendid relic of a vanished power and a +vanished age. We wandered all through it, among the castellated +battlements, and in the dungeons, where we found hideous rusty +implements of torture; and looked at the guns, some modern and some +very old. It had been little hurt by the bombardment of the ships. +Afterward I had a swim, not trusting much to the shark stories. We +passed by the sunken hulks of the Merrimac and the Reina Mercedes, +lying just outside the main channel. Our own people had tried to sink +the first and the Spaniards had tried to sink the second, so as to +block the entrance. Neither attempt was successful. + +On August 6th we were ordered to embark, and next morning we sailed +on the transport Miami. General Wheeler was with us and a squadron of +the Third Cavalry under Major Jackson. The General put the policing +and management of the ship into my hands, and I had great aid from +Captain McCormick, who had been acting with me as adjutant-general of +the brigade. I had profited by my experience coming down, and as Dr. +Church knew his work well, although he was very sick, we kept the ship +in such good sanitary condition, that we were one of the very few +organizations allowed to land at Montauk immediately upon our arrival. + +Soon after leaving port the captain of the ship notified me that his +stokers and engineers were insubordinate and drunken, due, he thought, +to liquor which my men had given them. I at once started a search of +the ship, explaining to the men that they could not keep the liquor; +that if they surrendered whatever they had to me I should return it to +them when we went ashore; and that meanwhile I would allow the sick to +drink when they really needed it; but that if they did not give the +liquor to me of their own accord I would throw it overboard. About +seventy flasks and bottles were handed to me, and I found and threw +overboard about twenty. This at once put a stop to all drunkenness. +The stokers and engineers were sullen and half mutinous, so I sent a +detail of my men down to watch them and see that they did their work +under the orders of the chief engineer; and we reduced them to +obedience in short order. I could easily have drawn from the regiment +sufficient skilled men to fill every position in the entire ship's +crew, from captain to stoker. + +We were very much crowded on board the ship, but rather better off +than on the Yucatan, so far as the men were concerned, which was the +important point. All the officers except General Wheeler slept in a +kind of improvised shed, not unlike a chicken coop with bunks, on the +aftermost part of the upper deck. The water was bad--some of it very +bad. There was no ice. The canned beef proved practically uneatable, +as we knew would be the case. There were not enough vegetables. We did +not have enough disinfectants, and there was no provision whatever for +a hospital or for isolating the sick; we simply put them on one +portion of one deck. If, as so many of the high authorities had +insisted, there had really been a yellow-fever epidemic, and if it had +broken out on shipboard, the condition would have been frightful; but +there was no yellow-fever epidemic. Three of our men had been kept +behind as suspects, all three suffering simply from malarial fever. +One of them, Lutz, a particularly good soldier, died; another, who was +simply a malingerer and had nothing the matter with him whatever, of +course recovered; the third was Tiffany, who, I believe, would have +lived had we been allowed to take him with us, but who was sent home +later and died soon after landing. + +I was very anxious to keep the men amused, and as the quarters were +so crowded that it was out of the question for them to have any +physical exercise, I did not interfere with their playing games of +chance so long as no disorder followed. On shore this was not allowed; +but in the particular emergency which we were meeting, the loss of a +month's salary was as nothing compared to keeping the men thoroughly +interested and diverted. + +By care and diligence we succeeded in preventing any serious +sickness. One man died, however. He had been suffering from dysentery +ever since we landed, owing purely to his own fault, for on the very +first night ashore he obtained a lot of fiery liquor from some of the +Cubans, got very drunk, and had to march next day through the hot sun +before he was entirely sober. He never recovered, and was useless from +that time on. On board ship he died, and we gave him sea burial. +Wrapped in a hammock, he was placed opposite a port, and the American +flag thrown over him. The engine was stilled, and the great ship +rocked on the waves unshaken by the screw, while the war-worn troopers +clustered around with bare heads, to listen to Chaplain Brown read the +funeral service, and to the band of the Third Cavalry as it played the +funeral dirge. Then the port was knocked free, the flag withdrawn, and +the shotted hammock plunged heavily over the side, rushing down +through the dark water to lie, till the Judgment Day, in the ooze that +holds the timbers of so many gallant ships, and the bones of so many +fearless adventurers. + +We were favored by good weather during our nine days' voyage, and +much of the time when there was little to do we simply sat together +and talked, each man contributing from the fund of his own +experiences. Voyages around Cape Horn, yacht races for the America's +cup, experiences on foot-ball teams which are famous in the annals of +college sport; more serious feats of desperate prowess in Indian +fighting and in breaking up gangs of white outlaws; adventures in +hunting big game, in breaking wild horses, in tending great herds of +cattle, and in wandering winter and summer among the mountains and +across the lonely plains--the men who told the tales could draw upon +countless memories such as these of the things they had done and the +things they had seen others do. Sometimes General Wheeler joined us +and told us about the great war, compared with which ours was such a +small war--far-reaching in their importance though its effects were +destined to be. When we had become convinced that we would escape an +epidemic of sickness the homeward voyage became very pleasant. + +On the eve of leaving Santiago I had received from Mr. Laffan of the +Sun, a cable with the single word "Peace," and we speculated much on +this, as the clumsy transport steamed slowly northward across the +trade wind and then into the Gulf Stream. At last we sighted the low, +sandy bluffs of the Long Island coast, and late on the afternoon of +the 14th we steamed through the still waters of the Sound and cast +anchor off Montauk. A gun-boat of the Mosquito fleet came out to greet +us and to inform us that peace negotiations had begun. + +Next morning we were marched on shore. Many of the men were very sick +indeed. Of the three or four who had been closest to me among the +enlisted men, Color-Sergeant Wright was the only one in good health. +Henry Bardshar was a wreck, literally at death's door. I was myself in +first-class health, all the better for having lost twenty pounds. +Faithful Marshall, my colored body-servant, was so sick as to be +nearly helpless. + +Bob Wrenn nearly died. He had joined us very late and we could not +get him a Krag carbine; so I had given him my Winchester, which +carried the government cartridge; and when he was mustered out he +carried it home in triumph, to the envy of his fellows, who themselves +had to surrender their beloved rifles. + +For the first few days there was great confusion and some want even +after we got to Montauk. The men in hospitals suffered from lack of +almost everything, even cots. But after these few days we were very +well cared for and had abundance of all we needed, except that on +several occasions there was a shortage of food for the horses, which I +should have regarded as even more serious than a shortage for the men, +had it not been that we were about to be disbanded. The men lived +high, with milk, eggs, oranges, and any amount of tobacco, the lack of +which during portions of the Cuban campaign had been felt as seriously +as any lack of food. One of the distressing features of the malarial +fever which had been ravaging the troops was that it was recurrent and +persistent. Some of my men died after reaching home, and many were +very sick. We owed much to the kindness not only of the New York +hospitals and the Red Cross and kindred societies, but of individuals, +notably Mr. Bayard Cutting and Mrs. Armitage, who took many of our men +to their beautiful Long Island homes. + +On the whole, however, the month we spent at Montauk before we +disbanded was very pleasant. It was good to meet the rest of the +regiment. They all felt dreadfully at not having been in Cuba. It was +a sore trial to men who had given up much to go to the war, and who +rebelled at nothing in the way of hardship or suffering, but who did +bitterly feel the fact that their sacrifices seemed to have been +useless. Of course those who stayed had done their duty precisely as +did those who went, for the question of glory was not to be considered +in comparison to the faithful performance of whatever was ordered; and +no distinction of any kind was allowed in the regiment between those +whose good fortune it had been to go and those whose harder fate it +had been to remain. Nevertheless the latter could not be entirely +comforted. + +The regiment had three mascots; the two most characteristic--a young +mountain lion brought by the Arizona troops, and a war eagle brought +by the New Mexicans--we had been forced to leave behind in Tampa. The +third, a rather disreputable but exceedingly knowing little dog named +Cuba, had accompanied us through all the vicissitudes of the campaign. +The mountain lion, Josephine, possessed an infernal temper; whereas +both Cuba and the eagle, which have been named in my honor, were +extremely good-humored. Josephine was kept tied up. She sometimes +escaped. One cool night in early September she wandered off and, +entering the tent of a Third Cavalry man, got into bed with him; +whereupon he fled into the darkness with yells, much more unnerved +than he would have been by the arrival of any number of Spaniards. The +eagle was let loose and not only walked at will up and down the +company streets, but also at times flew wherever he wished. He was a +young bird, having been taken out of his nest when a fledgling. +Josephine hated him and was always trying to make a meal of him, +especially when we endeavored to take their photographs together. The +eagle, though good-natured, was an entirely competent individual and +ready at any moment to beat Josephine off. Cuba was also oppressed at +times by Josephine, and was of course no match for her, but was +frequently able to overawe by simple decision of character. + +In addition to the animal mascots, we had two or three small boys who +had also been adopted by the regiment. One, from Tennessee, was named +Dabney Royster. When we embarked at Tampa he smuggled himself on +board the transport with a 22-calibre rifle and three boxes of +cartridges, and wept bitterly when sent ashore. The squadron which +remained behind adopted him, got him a little Rough Rider's uniform, +and made him practically one of the regiment. + +The men who had remained at Tampa, like ourselves, had suffered much +from fever, and the horses were in bad shape. So many of the men were +sick that none of the regiments began to drill for some time after +reaching Montauk. There was a great deal of paper-work to be done; but +as I still had charge of the brigade only a little of it fell on my +shoulders. Of this I was sincerely glad, for I knew as little of the +paper-work as my men had originally known of drill. We had all of us +learned how to fight and march; but the exact limits of our rights and +duties in other respects were not very clearly defined in our minds; +and as for myself, as I had not had the time to learn exactly what +they were, I had assumed a large authority in giving rewards and +punishments. In particular I had looked on court-martials much as +Peter Bell looked on primroses--they were court-martials and nothing +more, whether resting on the authority of a lieutenant-colonel or of a +major-general. The mustering-out officer, a thorough soldier, found to +his horror that I had used the widest discretion both in imposing +heavy sentences which I had no power to impose on men who shirked +their duties, and, where men atoned for misconduct by marked +gallantry, in blandly remitting sentences approved by my chief of +division. However, I had done substantial, even though somewhat rude +and irregular, justice--and no harm could result, as we were just about +to be mustered out. + +My chief duties were to see that the camps of the three regiments +were thoroughly policed and kept in first-class sanitary condition. +This took up some time, of course, and there were other matters in +connection with the mustering out which had to be attended to; but I +could always get two or three hours a day free from work. Then I would +summon a number of the officers, Kane, Greenway, Goodrich, Church, +Ferguson, McIlhenny, Frantz, Ballard and others, and we would gallop +down to the beach and bathe in the surf, or else go for long rides +over the beautiful rolling plains, thickly studded with pools which +were white with water-lilies. Sometimes I went off alone with my +orderly, young Gordon Johnston, one of the best men in the regiment; +he was a nephew of the Governor of Alabama, and when at Princeton had +played on the eleven. We had plenty of horses, and these rides were +most enjoyable. Galloping over the open, rolling country, through the +cool fall evenings, made us feel as if we were out on the great +Western plains and might at any moment start deer from the brush, or +see antelope stand and gaze, far away, or rouse a band of mighty elk +and hear their horns clatter as they fled. + +An old friend, Baron von Sternberg, of the German Embassy, spent a +week in camp with me. He had served, when only seventeen, in the +Franco-Prussian War as a hussar, and was a noted sharp-shooter--being +"the little baron" who is the hero of Archibald Forbes's true story of +"The Pig-dog." He and I had for years talked over the possibilities of +just such a regiment as the one I was commanding, and he was greatly +interested in it. Indeed I had vainly sought permission from the +German ambassador to take him with the regiment to Santiago. + +One Sunday before the regiment disbanded I supplemented Chaplain +Brown's address to the men by a short sermon of a rather hortatory +character. I told them how proud I was of them, but warned them not to +think that they could now go back and rest on their laurels, bidding +them remember that though for ten days or so the world would be +willing to treat them as heroes, yet after that time they would find +they had to get down to hard work just like everyone else, unless they +were willing to be regarded as worthless do-nothings. They took the +sermon in good part, and I hope that some of them profited by it. At +any rate, they repaid me by a very much more tangible expression of +affection. One afternoon, to my genuine surprise, I was asked out of +my tent by Lieutenant-Colonel Brodie (the gallant old boy had rejoined +us), and found the whole regiment formed in hollow square, with the +officers and color-sergeant in the middle. When I went in, one of the +troopers came forward and on behalf of the regiment presented me with +Remington's fine bronze, "The Bronco-buster." There could have been no +more appropriate gift from such a regiment, and I was not only pleased +with it, but very deeply touched with the feeling which made them join +in giving it. Afterward they all filed past and I shook the hands of +each to say good-by. + +Most of them looked upon the bronze with the critical eyes of +professionals. I doubt if there was any regiment in the world which +contained so large a number of men able to ride the wildest and most +dangerous horses. One day while at Montauk Point some of the troopers +of the Third Cavalry were getting ready for mounted drill when one of +their horses escaped, having thrown his rider. This attracted the +attention of some of our men and they strolled around to see the +trooper remount. He was instantly thrown again, the horse, a huge, +vicious sorrel, being one of the worst buckers I ever saw; and none of +his comrades were willing to ride the animal. Our men, of course, +jeered and mocked at them, and in response were dared to ride the +horse themselves. The challenge was instantly accepted, the only +question being as to which of a dozen noted bronco-busters who were in +the ranks should undertake the task. They finally settled on a man +named Darnell. It was agreed that the experiment should take place +next day when the horse would be fresh, and accordingly next day the +majority of both regiments turned out on a big open flat in front of +my tent--brigade head-quarters. The result was that, after as fine a +bit of rough riding as one would care to see, in which one scarcely +knew whether most to wonder at the extraordinary viciousness and agile +strength of the horse or at the horsemanship and courage of the rider, +Darnell came off victorious, his seat never having been shaken. After +this almost every day we had exhibitions of bronco-busting, in which +all the crack riders of the regiment vied with one another, riding not +only all of our own bad horses but any horse which was deemed bad in +any of the other regiments. + +Darnell, McGinty, Wood, Smoky Moore, and a score of others took part +in these exhibitions, which included not merely feats in mastering +vicious horses, but also feats of broken horses which the riders had +trained to lie down at command, and upon which they could mount while +at full speed. + +Toward the end of the time we also had mounted drill on two or three +occasions; and when the President visited the camp we turned out +mounted to receive him as did the rest of the cavalry. The last night +before we were mustered out was spent in noisy, but entirely harmless +hilarity, which I ignored. Every form of celebration took place in the +ranks. A former Populist candidate for Attorney-General in Colorado +delivered a fervent oration in favor of free silver; a number of the +college boys sang; but most of the men gave vent to their feelings by +improvised dances. In these the Indians took the lead, pure bloods and +half-breeds alike, the cowboys and miners cheerfully joining in and +forming part of the howling, grunting rings, that went bounding around +the great fires they had kindled. + +Next morning Sergeant Wright took down the colors, and Sergeant +Guitilias the standard, for the last time; the horses, the rifles, and +the rest of the regimental property had been turned in; officers and +men shook hands and said good-by to one another, and then they +scattered to their homes in the North and the South, the few going +back to the great cities of the East, the many turning again toward +the plains, the mountains, and the deserts of the West and the strange +Southwest. This was on September 15th, the day which marked the close +of the four months' life of a regiment of as gallant fighters as ever +wore the United States uniform. + +The regiment was a wholly exceptional volunteer organization, and its +career cannot be taken as in any way a justification for the belief +that the average volunteer regiment approaches the average regular +regiment in point of efficiency until it has had many months of +active service. In the first place, though the regular regiments may +differ markedly among themselves, yet the range of variation among +them is nothing like so wide as that among volunteer regiments, where +at first there is no common standard at all; the very best being, +perhaps, up to the level of the regulars (as has recently been shown +at Manila), while the very worst are no better than mobs, and the +great bulk come in between.* The average regular regiment is superior +to the average volunteer regiment in the physique of the enlisted men, +who have been very carefully selected, who have been trained to life +in the open, and who know how to cook and take care of themselves +generally. + + * Note: For sound common-sense about the volunteers see Parker's + excellent little book, "The Gatlings at Santiago." + +Now, in all these respects, and in others like them, the Rough Riders +were the equals of the regulars. They were hardy, self-reliant, +accustomed to shift for themselves in the open under very adverse +circumstances. The two all-important qualifications for a cavalryman, +are riding and shooting--the modern cavalryman being so often used +dismounted, as an infantryman. The average recruit requires a couple +of years before he becomes proficient in horsemanship and +marksmanship; but my men were already good shots and first-class +riders when they came into the regiment. The difference as regards +officers and non-commissioned officers, between regulars and +volunteers, is usually very great; but in my regiment (keeping in view +the material we had to handle), it was easy to develop +non-commissioned officers out of men who had been round-up foremen, +ranch foremen, mining bosses, and the like. These men were intelligent +and resolute; they knew they had a great deal to learn, and they set +to work to learn it; while they were already accustomed to managing +considerable interests, to obeying orders, and to taking care of +others as well as themselves. + +As for the officers, the great point in our favor was the anxiety +they showed to learn from those among their number who, like Capron, +had already served in the regular army; and the fact that we had +chosen a regular army man as Colonel. If a volunteer organization +consists of good material, and is eager to learn, it can readily do so +if it has one or two first-class regular officers to teach it. +Moreover, most of our captains and lieutenants were men who had seen +much of wild life, who were accustomed to handling and commanding +other men, and who had usually already been under fire as sheriffs, +marshals, and the like. As for the second in command, myself, I had +served three years as captain in the National Guard; I had been deputy +sheriff in the cow country, where the position was not a sinecure; I +was accustomed to big game hunting and to work on a cow ranch, so that +I was thoroughly familiar with the use both of horse and rifle, and +knew how to handle cowboys, hunters, and miners; finally, I had +studied much in the literature of war, and especially the literature +of the great modern wars, like our own Civil War, the Franco-German +War, the Turco-Russian War; and I was especially familiar with the +deeds, the successes and failures alike, of the frontier horse +riflemen who had fought at King's Mountain and the Thames, and on the +Mexican border. Finally, and most important of all, officers and men +alike were eager for fighting, and resolute to do well and behave +properly, to encounter hardship and privation, and the irksome +monotony of camp routine, without grumbling or complaining; they had +counted the cost before they went in, and were delighted to pay the +penalties inevitably attendant upon the career of a fighting regiment; +and from the moment when the regiment began to gather, the higher +officers kept instilling into those under them the spirit of eagerness +for action and of stern determination to grasp at death rather than +forfeit honor. + +The self-reliant spirit of the men was well shown after they left +the regiment. Of course, there were a few weaklings among them; and +there were others, entirely brave and normally self-sufficient, who, +from wounds or fevers, were so reduced that they had to apply for +aid--or at least, who deserved aid, even though they often could only +be persuaded with the greatest difficulty to accept it. The widows and +orphans had to be taken care of. There were a few light-hearted +individuals, who were entirely ready to fight in time of war, but in +time of peace felt that somebody ought to take care of them; and there +were others who, never having seen any aggregation of buildings larger +than an ordinary cow-town, fell a victim to the fascinations of New +York. But, as a whole, they scattered out to their homes on the +disbandment of the regiment; gaunter than when they had enlisted, +sometimes weakened by fever or wounds, but just as full as ever of +sullen, sturdy capacity for self-help; scorning to ask for aid, save +what was entirely legitimate in the way of one comrade giving help to +another. A number of the examining surgeons, at the muster-out, spoke +to me with admiration of the contrast offered by our regiment to so +many others, in the fact that our men always belittled their own +bodily injuries and sufferings; so that whereas the surgeons +ordinarily had to be on the look-out lest a man who was not really +disabled should claim to be so, in our case they had to adopt exactly +the opposite attitude and guard the future interests of the men, by +insisting upon putting upon their certificates of discharge whatever +disease they had contracted or wound they had received in line of +duty. Major J. H. Calef, who had more than any other one man to do +with seeing to the proper discharge papers of our men, and who took a +most generous interest in them, wrote me as follows: "I also wish to +bring to your notice the fortitude displayed by the men of your +regiment, who have come before me to be mustered out of service, in +making their personal declarations as to their physical conditions. +Men who bore on their faces and in their forms the traces of long days +of illness, indicating wrecked constitutions, declared that nothing +was the matter with them, at the same time disclaiming any intention +of applying for a pension. It was exceptionally heroic." + +When we were mustered out, many of the men had lost their jobs, and +were too weak to go to work at once, while there were helpless +dependents of the dead to care for. Certain of my friends, August +Belmont, Stanley and Richard Mortimer, Major Austin Wadsworth--himself +fresh from the Manila campaign--Belmont Tiffany, and others, gave me +sums of money to be used for helping these men. In some instances, by +the exercise of a good deal of tact and by treating the gift as a +memorial of poor young Lieutenant Tiffany, we got the men to accept +something; and, of course, there were a number who, quite rightly, +made no difficulty about accepting. But most of the men would accept +no help whatever. In the first chapter, I spoke of a lady, a teacher +in an academy in the Indian Territory, three or four of whose pupils +had come into my regiment, and who had sent with them a letter of +introduction to me. When the regiment disbanded, I wrote to her to ask +if she could not use a little money among the Rough Riders, white, +Indian, and half-breed, that she might personally know. I did not hear +from her for some time, and then she wrote as follows: + + + "MUSCOGEE, IND. TER., + "December 19, 1898. + + "MY DEAR COLONEL ROOSEVELT: I did not at once reply to your letter + of September 23rd, because I waited for a time to see if there should + be need among any of our Rough Riders of the money you so kindly + offered. Some of the boys are poor, and in one or two cases they + seemed to me really needy, but they all said no. More than once I saw + the tears come to their eyes, at thought of your care for them, as I + told them of your letter. Did you hear any echoes of our Indian + war-whoops over your election? They were pretty loud. I was + particularly exultant, because my father was a New Yorker and I was + educated in New York, even if I was born here. So far as I can learn, + the boys are taking up the dropped threads of their lives, as though + they had never been away. Our two Rough Rider students, Meagher and + Gilmore, are doing well in their college work. + + "I am sorry to tell you of the death of one of your most devoted + troopers, Bert Holderman, who was here serving on the Grand Jury. He + was stricken with meningitis in the jury-room, and died after three + days of delirium. His father, who was twice wounded, four times + taken prisoner, and fought in thirty-two battles of the civil war, + now old and feeble, survives him, and it was indeed pathetic to see + his grief. Bert's mother, who is a Cherokee, was raised in my + grandfather's family. The words of commendation which you wrote upon + Bert's discharge are the greatest comfort to his friends. They wanted + you to know of his death, because he loved you so. + + "I am planning to entertain all the Rough Riders in this vicinity + some evening during my holiday vacation. I mean to have no other + guests, but only give them an opportunity for reminiscences. I regret + that Bert's death makes one less. I had hoped to have them sooner, + but our struggling young college salaries are necessarily small and + duties arduous. I make a home for my widowed mother and an adopted + Indian daughter, who is in school; and as I do the cooking for a + family of five, I have found it impossible to do many things I would + like to. + + "Pardon me for burdening you with these details, but I suppose I am + like your boys, who say, 'The Colonel was always as ready to listen + to a private as to a major-general.' + + "Wishing you and yours the very best gifts the season can bring, I am, + + "Very truly yours, + "ALICE M. ROBERTSON." + + +Is it any wonder that I loved my regiment? + + + + APPENDIX A + + MUSTER-OUT ROLL + +[Owing to the circumstances of the regiment's service, the paperwork +was very difficult to perform. This muster-out roll is very defective +in certain points, notably in the enumeration of the wounded who had +been able to return to duty. Some of the dead are also undoubtedly +passed over. Thus I have put in Race Smith, Sanders, and Tiffany as +dead, correcting the rolls; but there are doubtless a number of +similar corrections which should be made but have not been, as the +regiment is now scattered far and wide. I have also corrected the +record for the wounded men in one or two places where I happen to +remember it; but there are a number of the wounded, especially the +slightly wounded, who are not down at all.] + + FIELD, STAFF, AND BAND COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT + TROOP A CAPTAIN FRANK FRANTZ + TROOP B CAPTAIN JAMES H. MCCLINTOCK + TROOP C CAPTAIN JOSEPH L. B. ALEXANDER + TROOP D CAPTAIN R. B. HUSTON + TROOP E CAPTAIN FREDERICK MULLER + TROOP F CAPTAIN MAXIMILIAN LUNA + TROOP G CAPTAIN WILLIAM H. H. LLEWELLEN + TROOP H CAPTAIN GEORGE CURRY + TROOP I CAPTAIN SCHUYLER A. MCGINNIS + TROOP K CAPTAIN WOODBURY KANE + TROOP L CAPTAIN RICHARD C. DAY + TROOP M CAPTAIN ROBERT H. BRUCE + +As said above, this is not a complete list of the wounded, or even of +the dead, among the troopers. Moreover, a number of officers and men +died from fever soon after the regiment was mustered out. Twenty-eight +field and line officers landed in Cuba on June 22nd; ten of them were +killed or wounded during the nine days following. Of the five +regiments of regular cavalry in the division, one, the Tenth, lost +eleven officers; none of the others lost more than six. The loss of +the Rough Riders in enlisted men was heavier than that of any other +regiment in the cavalry division. Of the nine infantry regiments in +Kent's division, one, the Sixth, lost eleven officers; none of the +others as many as we did. None of the nine suffered as heavy a loss in +enlisted men, as they were not engaged at Las Guasimas. + +No other regiment in the Spanish-American War suffered as heavy a loss +As the First United States Volunteer Cavalry. + + + + APPENDIX B + + COLONEL ROOSEVELT'S REPORT TO THE + SECRETARY OF WAR OF SEPTEMBER 10th + +[Before it was sent, this letter was read to and approved by every +officer of the regiment who had served through the Santiago campaign.] + +[Copy.] + + +CAMP WIKOFF, September 10, 1898. + +TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR. + +SIR: In answer to the circular issued by command of Major-General +Shafter under date of September 8, 1898, containing a request for +information by the Adjutant-General of September 7th, I have the +honor to report as follows: + +I am a little in doubt whether the fact that on certain occasions my +regiment suffered for food, etc., should be put down to an actual +shortage of supplies or to general defects in the system of +administration. Thus, when the regiment arrived in Tampa after a four +days' journey by cars from its camp at San Antonio, it received no +food whatever for twenty-four hours, and as the travel rations had +been completely exhausted, food for several of the troops was +purchased by their officers, who, of course, have not been reimbursed +by the Government. In the same way we were short one or two meals at +the time of embarking at Port Tampa on the transport; but this I think +was due, not to a failure in the quantity of supplies, but to the lack +of system in embarkation. + +As with the other regiments, no information was given in advance what +transports we should take, or how we should proceed to get aboard, nor +did anyone exercise any supervision over the embarkation. Each +regimental commander, so far as I know, was left to find out as best +he could, after he was down at the dock, what transport had not been +taken, and then to get his regiment aboard it, if he was able, before +some other regiment got it. Our regiment was told to go to a certain +switch, and take a train for Port Tampa at twelve o'clock, midnight. +The train never came. After three hours of waiting we were sent to +another switch, and finally at six o'clock in the morning got +possession of some coal-cars and came down in them. When we reached +the quay where the embarkation was proceeding, everything was in utter +confusion. The quay was piled with stores and swarming with thousands +of men of different regiments, besides onlookers, etc. The commanding +General, when we at last found him, told Colonel Wood and myself that +he did not know what ship we were to embark on, and that we must find +Colonel Humphrey, the Quartermaster-General. Colonel Humphrey was not +in his office, and nobody knew where he was. The commanders of the +different regiments were busy trying to find him, while their troops +waited in the trains, so as to discover the ships to which they were +allotted--some of these ships being at the dock and some in mid-stream. +After a couple of hours' search, Colonel Wood found Colonel Humphrey +and was allotted a ship. Immediately afterward I found that it had +already been allotted to two other regiments. It was then coming to +the dock. Colonel Wood boarded it in mid-stream to keep possession, +while I double-quicked the men down from the cars and got there just +ahead of the other two regiments. One of these regiments, I was +afterward informed, spent the next thirty-six hours in cars in +consequence. We suffered nothing beyond the loss of a couple of meals, +which, it seems to me, can hardly be put down to any failure in the +quantity of supplies furnished to the troops. + +We were two weeks on the troop-ship Yucatan, and as we were given +twelve days' travel rations, we of course fell short toward the end of +the trip, but eked things out with some of our field rations and troop +stuff. The quality of the travel rations given to us was good, except +in the important item of meat. The canned roast beef is worse than a +failure as part of the rations, for in effect it amounts to reducing +the rations by just so much, as a great majority of the men find it +uneatable. It was coarse, stringy, tasteless, and very disagreeable in +appearance, and so unpalatable that the effort to eat it made some of +the men sick. Most of the men preferred to be hungry rather than eat +it. If cooked in a stew with plenty of onions and potatoes--i.e., if +only one ingredient in a dish with other more savory ingredients--it +could be eaten, especially if well salted and peppered; but, as usual +(what I regard as a great mistake), no salt was issued with the travel +rations, and of course no potatoes and onions. There were no cooking +facilities on the transport. When the men obtained any, it was by +bribing the cook. Toward the last, when they began to draw on the +field rations, they had to eat the bacon raw. On the return trip the +same difficulty in rations obtained.--i.e., the rations were short +because the men could not eat the canned roast beef, and had no salt. +We purchased of the ship's supplies some flour and pork and a little +rice for the men, so as to relieve the shortage as much as possible, +and individual sick men were helped from private sources by officers, +who themselves ate what they had purchased in Santiago. As nine-tenths +of the men were more or less sick, the unattractiveness of the travel +rations was doubly unfortunate. It would have been an excellent thing +for their health if we could have had onions and potatoes, and means +for cooking them. Moreover, the water was very bad, and sometimes a +cask was struck that was positively undrinkable. The lack of ice for +the weak and sickly men was very much felt. Fortunately there was no +epidemic, for there was not a place on the ship where patients could +have been isolated. + +During the month following the landing of the army in Cuba the +food-supplies were generally short in quantity, and in quality were +never such as were best suited to men undergoing severe hardships and +great exposure in an unhealthy tropical climate. The rations were, I +understand, the same as those used in the Klondike. In this +connection, I call especial attention to the report of Captain Brown, +made by my orders when I was Brigade-Commander, and herewith appended. +I also call attention to the report of my own Quartermaster. Usually +we received full rations of bacon and hardtack. The hardtack, however, +was often mouldy, so that parts of cases, and even whole cases, could +not be used. The bacon was usually good. But bacon and hardtack make +poor food for men toiling and fighting in trenches under the midsummer +sun of the tropics. The ration of coffee was often short, and that of +sugar generally so; we rarely got any vegetables. Under these +circumstances the men lost strength steadily, and as the fever +speedily attacked them, they suffered from being reduced to a bacon +and hardtack diet. So much did the shortage of proper food tell upon +their health that again and again officers were compelled to draw upon +their private purses, or upon the Red Cross Society, to make good the +deficiency of the Government supply. Again and again we sent down +improvised pack-trains composed of officers' horses, of captured +Spanish cavalry ponies, or of mules which had been shot or abandoned +but were cured by our men. These expeditions--sometimes under the +Chaplain, sometimes under the Quartermaster, sometimes under myself, +and occasionally under a trooper--would go to the sea-coast or to the +Red Cross head-quarters, or, after the surrender, into the city of +Santiago, to get food both for the well and the sick. The Red Cross +Society rendered invaluable aid. For example, on one of these +expeditions I personally brought up 600 pounds of beans; on another +occasion I personally brought up 500 pounds of rice, 800 pounds of +cornmeal, 200 pounds of sugar, 100 pounds of tea, 100 pounds of +oatmeal, 5 barrels of potatoes, and two of onions, with cases of +canned soup and condensed milk for the sick in hospitals. Every scrap +of the food thus brought up was eaten with avidity by the soldiers, +and put new heart and strength into them. It was only our constant +care of the men in this way that enabled us to keep them in any trim +at all. As for the sick in the hospital, unless we were able from +outside sources to get them such simple delicacies as rice and +condensed milk, they usually had the alternative of eating salt pork +and hardtack or going without. After each fight we got a good deal of +food from the Spanish camps in the way of beans, peas, and rice, +together with green coffee, all of which the men used and relished +greatly. In some respects the Spanish rations were preferable to ours, +notably in the use of rice. After we had been ashore a month the +supplies began to come in in abundance, and we then fared very well. +Up to that time the men were under-fed, during the very weeks when the +heaviest drain was being made upon their vitality, and the deficiency +was only partially supplied through the aid of the Red Cross, and out +of the officers' pockets and the pockets of various New York friends +who sent us money. Before, during, and immediately after the fights of +June 24th and July 1st, we were very short of even the bacon and +hardtack. About July 14th, when the heavy rains interrupted +communication, we were threatened with famine, as we were informed +that there was not a day's supply of provisions in advance nearer than +the sea-coast; and another twenty-four hours' rain would have resulted +in a complete break-down of communications, so that for several days +we should have been reduced to a diet of mule-meat and mangos. At this +time, in anticipation of such a contingency, by foraging and hoarding +we got a little ahead, so that when our supplies were cut down for a +day or two we did not suffer much, and were even able to furnish a +little aid to the less fortunate First Illinois Regiment, which was +camped next to us. Members of the Illinois Regiment were offering our +men $1 apiece for hardtacks. + +I wish to bear testimony to the energy and capacity of Colonel +Weston, the Commissary-General with the expedition. If it had not been +for his active aid, we should have fared worse than we did. All that +he could do for us, he most cheerfully did. + +As regards the clothing, I have to say: As to the first issue, the +blue shirts were excellent of their kind, but altogether too hot for +Cuba. They are just what I used to wear in Montana. The leggings were +good; the shoes were very good; the undershirts not very good, and the +drawers bad--being of heavy, thick canton flannel, difficult to wash, +and entirely unfit for a tropical climate. The trousers were poor, +wearing badly. We did not get any other clothing until we were just +about to leave Cuba, by which time most of the men were in tatters; +some being actually barefooted, while others were in rags, or dressed +partly in clothes captured from the Spaniards, who were much more +suitably clothed for the climate and place than we were. The ponchos +were poor, being inferior to the Spanish rain-coats which we captured. + +As to the medical matters, I invite your attention, not only to the +report of Dr. Church accompanying this letter, but to the letters of +Captain Llewellen, Captain Day, and Lieutenant McIlhenny. I could +readily produce a hundred letters on the lines of the last three. In +actual medical supplies, we had plenty of quinine and cathartics. We +were apt to be short on other medicines, and we had nothing whatever +in the way of proper nourishing food for our sick and wounded men +during most of the time, except what we were able to get from the Red +Cross or purchase with our own money. We had no hospital tent at all +until I was able to get a couple of tarpaulins. During much of the +time my own fly was used for the purpose. We had no cots until by +individual effort we obtained a few, only three or four days before we +left Cuba. During most of the time the sick men lay on the muddy +ground in blankets, if they had any; if not, they lay without them +until some of the well men cut their own blankets in half. Our +regimental surgeon very soon left us, and Dr. Church, who was +repeatedly taken down with the fever, was left alone--save as he was +helped by men detailed from among the troopers. Both he and the men +thus detailed, together with the regular hospital attendants, did work +of incalculable service. We had no ambulance with the regiment. On the +battle-field our wounded were generally sent to the rear in +mule-wagons, or on litters which were improvised. At other times we +would hire the little springless Cuban carts. But of course the +wounded suffered greatly in such conveyances, and moreover, often we +could not get a wheeled vehicle of any kind to transport even the most +serious cases. On the day of the big fight, July 1st, as far as we +could find out, there were but two ambulances with the army in +condition to work--neither of which did we ever see. Later there were, +as we were informed, thirteen all told; and occasionally after the +surrender, by vigorous representations and requests, we would get one +assigned to take some peculiarly bad cases to the hospital. +Ordinarily, however, we had to do with one of the makeshifts +enumerated above. On several occasions I visited the big hospitals in +the rear. Their condition was frightful beyond description from lack +of supplies, lack of medicine, lack of doctors, nurses, and +attendants, and especially from lack of transportation. The wounded +and sick who were sent back suffered so much that, whenever possible, +they returned to the front. Finally my brigade commander, General +Wood, ordered, with my hearty acquiescence, that only in the direst +need should any men be sent to the rear--no matter what our hospital +accommodations at the front might be. The men themselves preferred to +suffer almost anything lying alone in their little shelter-tents, +rather than go back to the hospitals in the rear. I invite attention +to the accompanying letter of Captain Llewellen in relation to the +dreadful condition of the wounded on some of the transports taking +them North. + +The greatest trouble we had was with the lack of transportation. +Under the order issued by direction of General Miles through the +Adjutant-General on or about May 8th, a regiment serving as infantry +in the field was entitled to twenty-five wagons. We often had one, +often none, sometimes two, and never as many as three. We had a +regimental pack-train, but it was left behind at Tampa. During most of +the time our means of transportation were chiefly the improvised +pack-trains spoken of above; but as the mules got well they were taken +away from us, and so were the captured Spanish cavalry horses. +Whenever we shifted camp, we had to leave most of our things behind, +so that the night before each fight was marked by our sleeping without +tentage and with very little food, so far as officers were concerned, +as everything had to be sacrificed to getting up what ammunition and +medical supplies we had. Colonel Wood seized some mules, and in this +manner got up the medical supplies before the fight of June 24th, when +for three days the officers had nothing but what they wore. There was +a repetition of this, only in worse form, before and after the fight +of July 1st. Of course much of this was simply a natural incident of +war, but a great deal could readily have been avoided if we had had +enough transportation; and I was sorry not to let my men be as +comfortable as possible and rest as much as possible just before going +into a fight when, as on July 1st and 2nd, they might have to be +forty-eight hours with the minimum quantity of food and sleep. The +fever began to make heavy ravages among our men just before the +surrender, and from that time on it became a most serious matter to +shift camp, with sick and ailing soldiers, hardly able to walk--not to +speak of carrying heavy burdens--when we had no transportation. Not +more than half of the men could carry their rolls, and yet these, with +the officers' baggage and provisions, the entire hospital and its +appurtenances, etc., had to be transported somehow. It was usually +about three days after we reached a new camp before the necessaries +which had been left behind could be brought up, and during these three +days we had to get along as best we could. The entire lack of +transportation at first resulted in leaving most of the troop +mess-kits on the beach, and we were never able to get them. The men +cooked in the few utensils they could themselves carry. This rendered +it impossible to boil the drinking-water. Closely allied to the lack +of transportation was the lack of means to land supplies from the +transports. + +In my opinion, the deficiency in transportation was the worst evil +with which we had to contend, serious though some of the others were. +I have never served before, so have no means of comparing this with +previous campaigns. I was often told by officers who had seen service +against the Indians that, relatively to the size of the army, and the +character of the country, we had only a small fraction of the +transportation always used in the Indian campaigns. As far as my +regiment was concerned, we certainly did not have one-third of the +amount absolutely necessary, if it was to be kept in fair condition, +and we had to partially make good the deficiency by the most energetic +resort to all kinds of makeshifts and expedients. + +Yours respectfully, + +(Signed) + +THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Colonel +First United States Cavalry. + +Forwarded through military channels. + +(5 enclosures.) + +First Endorsement. +HEAD-QUARTERS FIFTH ARMY CORPS. +CAMP WIKOFF, +September 18, 1898. + +Respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant-General of the Army. + +(Signed) + +WILLIAM R. SHAFTER, Major-General Commanding. + + + + APPENDIX C + + THE "ROUND ROBIN" LETTER + +[The following is the report of the Associated Press correspondent of +the "round-robin" incident. It is literally true in every detail. I +was present when he was handed both letters; he was present while they +were being written.] + +SANTIAGO DE CUBA, August 3rd (delayed in transmission).--Summoned by +Major-General Shafter, a meeting was held here this morning at +head-quarters, and in the presence of every commanding and medical +officer of the Fifth Army Corps, General Shafter read a cable message +from Secretary Alger, ordering him, on the recommendation of +Surgeon-General Sternberg, to move the army into the interior, to San +Luis, where it is healthier. + +As a result of the conference General Shafter will insist upon the +immediate withdrawal of the army North. + +As an explanation of the situation the following letter from Colonel +Theodore Roosevelt, commanding the First Cavalry, to General Shafter, +was handed by the latter to the correspondent of the Associated Press +for publication: + + + MAJOR-GENERAL SHAFTER. + + SIR: In a meeting of the general and medical officers called + by you at the Palace this morning we were all, as you know, + unanimous in our views of what should be done with the army. + To keep us here, in the opinion of every officer commanding + a division or a brigade, will simply involve the destruction + of thousands. There is no possible reason for not shipping + practically the entire command North at once. Yellow-fever + cases are very few in the cavalry division, where I command + one of the two brigades, and not one true case of yellow + fever has occurred in this division, except among the men + sent to the hospital at Siboney, where they have, I believe, + contracted it. + + But in this division there have been 1,500 cases of malarial + fever. Hardly a man has yet died from it, but the whole + command is so weakened and shattered as to be ripe for dying + like rotten sheep, when a real yellow-fever epidemic instead + of a fake epidemic, like the present one, strikes us, as it + is bound to do if we stay here at the height of the sickness + season, August and the beginning of September. Quarantine + against malarial fever is much like quarantining against the + toothache. + + All of us are certain that as soon as the authorities at + Washington fully appreciate the condition of the army, we + shall be sent home. If we are kept here it will in all human + possibility mean an appalling disaster, for the surgeons here + estimate that over half the army, if kept here during the + sickly season, will die. + + This is not only terrible from the stand-point of the + individual lives lost, but it means ruin from the stand-point + of military efficiency of the flower of the American army, + for the great bulk of the regulars are here with you. The + sick list, large though it is, exceeding four thousand, + affords but a faint index of the debilitation of the army. + Not twenty per cent are fit for active work. + + Six weeks on the North Maine coast, for instance, or + elsewhere where the yellow-fever germ cannot possibly + propagate, would make us all as fit as fighting-cocks, as + able as we are eager to take a leading part in the great + campaign against Havana in the fall, even if we are not + allowed to try Porto Rico. + + We can be moved North, if moved at once, with absolute + safety to the country, although, of course, it would have + been infinitely better if we had been moved North or to + Porto Rico two weeks ago. If there were any object in + keeping us here, we would face yellow fever with as much + indifference as we faced bullets. But there is no object. + + The four immune regiments ordered here are sufficient to + garrison the city and surrounding towns, and there is + absolutely nothing for us to do here, and there has not + been since the city surrendered. It is impossible to move + into the interior. Every shifting of camp doubles the + sick-rate in our present weakened condition, and, anyhow, + the interior is rather worse than the coast, as I have + found by actual reconnaissance. Our present camps are as + healthy as any camps at this end of the island can be. + + I write only because I cannot see our men, who have fought + so bravely and who have endured extreme hardship and danger + so uncomplainingly, go to destruction without striving so + far as lies in me to avert a doom as fearful as it is + unnecessary and undeserved. + + Yours respectfully, + + THEODORE ROOSEVELT, + Colonel Commanding Second Cavalry Brigade. + + +After Colonel Roosevelt had taken the initiative, all the American +general officers united in a "round robin" addressed to General +Shafter. It reads: + + + We, the undersigned officers commanding the various + brigades, divisions, etc., of the Army of Occupation in + Cuba, are of the unanimous opinion that this army should be + at once taken out of the island of Cuba and sent to some + point on the Northern sea-coast of the United States; that + can be done without danger to the people of the United + States; that yellow fever in the army at present is not + epidemic; that there are only a few sporadic cases; but that + the army is disabled by malarial fever to the extent that + its efficiency is destroyed, and that it is in a condition + to be practically entirely destroyed by an epidemic of + yellow fever, which is sure to come in the near future. + + We know from the reports of competent officers and from + personal observations that the army is unable to move into + the interior, and that there are no facilities for such a + move if attempted, and that it could not be attempted until + too late. Moreover, the best medical authorities of the + island say that with our present equipment we could not live + in the interior during the rainy season without losses from + malarial fever, which is almost as deadly as yellow fever. + + This army must be moved at once, or perish. As the army + can be safely moved now, the persons responsible for + preventing such a move will be responsible for the + unnecessary loss of many thousands of lives. + + Our opinions are the result of careful personal observation, + and they are also based on the unanimous opinion of our + medical officers with the army, who understand the situation + absolutely. + + J. FORD KENT, + Major-General Volunteers Commanding First Division, Fifth Corps. + + J. C. BATES, + Major-General Volunteers Commanding Provisional Division. + + ADNAH R. CHAFFEE, + Major-General Commanding Third Brigade, Second Division. + + SAMUEL S. SUMNER, + Brigadier-General Volunteers Commanding First Brigade, Cavalry. + + WILL LUDLOW, + Brigadier-General Volunteers Commanding First Brigade, Second + Division. + + ADELBERT AMES, + Brigadier-General Volunteers Commanding Third Brigade, First + Division. + + LEONARD WOOD, + Brigadier-General Volunteers Commanding the City of Santiago. + + THEODORE ROOSEVELT, + Colonel Commanding Second Cavalry Brigade. + + +Major M. W. Wood, the chief Surgeon of the First Division, said: +"The army must be moved North," adding, with emphasis, "or it will be +unable to move itself." + +General Ames has sent the following cable message to Washington: + + + CHARLES H. ALLEN, + Assistant Secretary of the Navy: + + This army is incapable, because of sickness, of marching + anywhere except to the transports. If it is ever to return + to the United States it must do so at once. + + + + APPENDIX D + + CORRECTIONS + +It has been suggested to me that when Bucky O'Neill spoke of the +vultures tearing our dead, he was thinking of no modern poet, but of +the words of the prophet Ezekiel: "Speak unto every feathered fowl +. . . . . ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood +of the princes of the earth." + +At San Juan the Sixth Cavalry was under Major Lebo, a tried and +gallant officer. I learn from a letter of Lieutenant McNamee that it +was he, and not Lieutenant Hartwick, by whose orders the troopers of +the Ninth cast down the fence to enable me to ride my horse into the +lane. But one of the two lieutenants of B troop was overcome by the +heat that day; Lieutenant Rynning was with his troop until dark. + +One night during the siege, when we were digging trenches, a curious +stampede occurred (not in my own regiment) which it may be necessary +some time to relate. + +Lieutenants W. E. Shipp and W. H. Smith were killed, not far from +each other, while gallantly leading their troops on the slope of +Kettle Hill. Each left a widow and young children. + +Captain (now Colonel) A. L. Mills, the Brigade Adjutant-General, has +written me some comments on my account of the fight on July 1st. It +was he himself who first brought me word to advance. I then met +Colonel Dorst--who bore the same message--as I was getting the +regiment forward. Captain Mills was one of the officers I had sent +back to get orders that would permit me to advance; he met General +Sumner, who gave him the orders, and he then returned to me. In a +letter to me Colonel Mills says in part: + + + I reached the head of the regiment as you came out of the + lane and gave you the orders to enter the action. These were + that you were to move, with your right resting along the + wire fence of the lane, to the support of the regular + cavalry then attacking the hill we were facing. "The + red-roofed house yonder is your objective," I said to you. + You moved out at once and quickly forged to the front of + your regiment. I rode in rear, keeping the soldiers and + troops closed and in line as well as the circumstances and + conditions permitted. We had covered, I judge, from one-half + to two-thirds the distance to Kettle Hill when + Lieutenant-Colonel Garlington, from our left flank called + to me that troops were needed in the meadow across the lane. + I put one troop (not three, as stated in your account*) + across the lane and went with it. Advancing with the troop, + I began immediately to pick up troopers of the Ninth Cavalry + who had drifted from their commands, and soon had so many + they demanded nearly all my attention. With a line thus made + up, the colored troopers on the left and yours on the right, + the portion of Kettle Hill on the right of the red-roofed + house was first carried. I very shortly thereafter had a + strong firing-line established on the crest nearest the + enemy, from the corner of the fence around the house to the + low ground on the right of the hill, which fired into the + strong line of conical straw hats, whose brims showed just + above the edge of the Spanish trench directly west of that + part of the hill.** These hats made a fine target! I had + placed a young officer of your regiment in charge of the + portion of the line on top of the hill, and was about to go + to the left to keep the connection of the brigade--Captain + McBlain, Ninth Cavalry, just then came up on the hill from + the left and rear--when the shot struck that put me out of + the fight. + + + * Note: The other two must have followed on their own initiative. + + ** Note: These were the Spaniards in the trenches we carried when + we charged from Kettle Hill, after the infantry had taken the San + Juan block-house. + +There were many wholly erroneous accounts of the Guasimas fight +published at the time, for the most part written by newspaper-men who +were in the rear and utterly ignorant of what really occurred. Most of +these accounts possess a value so purely ephemeral as to need no +notice. Mr. Stephen Bonsal, however, in his book, "The Fight for +Santiago," has cast one of them in a more permanent form; and I shall +discuss one or two of his statements. + +Mr. Bonsal was not present at the fight, and, indeed, so far as I +know, he never at any time was with the cavalry in action. He puts in +his book a map of the supposed skirmish ground; but it bears to the +actual scene of the fight only the well-known likeness borne by +Monmouth to Macedon. There was a brook on the battle-ground, and there +is a brook in Mr. Bonsal's map. The real brook, flowing down from the +mountains, crossed the valley road and ran down between it and the +hill-trail, going nowhere near the latter. The Bonsal brook flows at +right angles to the course of the real brook and crosses both +trails--that is, it runs up hill. It is difficult to believe that the +Bonsal map could have been made by any man who had gone over the +hill-trail followed by the Rough Riders and who knew where the +fighting had taken place. The position of the Spanish line on the +Bonsal map is inverted compared to what it really was. + +On page 90 Mr. Bonsal says that in making the "precipitate advance" +there was a rivalry between the regulars and Rough Riders, which +resulted in each hurrying recklessly forward to strike the Spaniards +first. On the contrary. The official reports show that General Young's +column waited for some time after it got to the Spanish position, so +as to allow the Rough Riders (who had the more difficult trail) to +come up. Colonel Wood kept his column walking at a smart pace, merely +so that the regulars might not be left unsupported when the fight +began; and as a matter of fact, it began almost simultaneously on both +wings. + +On page 91 Mr. Bonsal speaks of "The foolhardy formation of a solid +column along a narrow trail, which brought them (the Rough Riders) +within point-blank range of the Spanish rifles and within the +unobstructed sweep of their machine-guns." He also speaks as if the +advance should have been made with the regiment deployed through the +jungle. Of course, the only possible way by which the Rough Riders +could have been brought into action in time to support the regulars +was by advancing in column along the trail at a good smart gait. As +soon as our advance-guard came into contact with the enemy's outpost +we deployed. No firing began for at least five minutes after Captain +Capron sent back word that he had come upon the Spanish outpost. At +the particular point where this occurred there was a dip in the road, +which probably rendered it, in Capron's opinion, better to keep part +of his men in it. In any event, Captain Capron, who was as skilful as +he was gallant, had ample time between discovering the Spanish outpost +and the outbreak of the firing to arrange his troop in the formation +he deemed best. His troop was not in solid formation; his men were +about ten yards apart. Of course, to have walked forward deployed +through the jungle, prior to reaching the ground where we were to +fight, would have been a course of procedure so foolish as to warrant +the summary court-martial of any man directing it. We could not have +made half a mile an hour in such a formation, and would have been at +least four hours too late for the fighting. + +On page 92 Mr. Bonsal says that Captain Capron's troop was ambushed, +and that it received the enemy's fire a quarter of an hour before it +was expected. This is simply not so. Before the column stopped we had +passed a dead Cuban, killed in the preceding day's skirmish, and +General Wood had notified me on information he had received from +Capron that we might come into contact with the Spaniards at any +moment, and, as I have already said, Captain Capron discovered the +Spanish outpost, and we halted and partially deployed the column +before the firing began. We were at the time exactly where we had +expected to come across the Spaniards. Mr. Bonsal, after speaking of L +Troop, adds: "The remaining troops of the regiment had travelled more +leisurely, and more than half an hour elapsed before they came up to +Capron's support." As a matter of fact, all the troops travelled at +exactly the same rate of speed, although there were stragglers from +each, and when Capron halted and sent back word that he had come upon +the Spanish outpost, the entire regiment closed up, halted, and most +of the men sat down. We then, some minutes after the first word had +been received, and before any firing had begun, received instructions +to deploy. I had my right wing partially deployed before the first +shots between the outposts took place. Within less than three minutes +I had G Troop, with Llewellen, Greenway, and Leahy, and one platoon of +K Troop under Kane, on the firing-line, and it was not until after we +reached the firing-line that the heavy volley-firing from the +Spaniards began. + +On page 94 Mr. Bonsal says: "A vexatious delay occurred before the two +independent columns could communicate and advance with concerted action. +. . . When the two columns were brought into communication it was +immediately decided to make a general attack upon the Spanish +position. . . . With this purpose in view, the following disposition of +the troops was made before the advance of the brigade all along the +line was ordered." There was no communication between the two columns +prior to the general attack, nor was any order issued for the advance +of the brigade all along the line. The attacks were made wholly +independently, and the first communication between the columns was +when the right wing of the Rough Riders in the course of their advance +by their firing dislodged the Spaniards from the hill across the +ravine to the right, and then saw the regulars come up that hill. + +Mr. Bonsal's account of what occurred among the regulars parallels +his account of what occurred among the Rough Riders. He states that +the squadron of the Tenth Cavalry delivered the main attack upon the +hill, which was the strongest point of the Spanish position; and he +says of the troopers of the Tenth Cavalry that "their better training +enabled them to render more valuable service than the other troops +engaged." In reality, the Tenth Cavalrymen were deployed in support of +the First, though they mingled with them in the assault proper; and so +far as there was any difference at all in the amount of work done, it +was in favor of the First. The statement that the Tenth Cavalry was +better trained than the First, and rendered more valuable service, has +not the slightest basis whatsoever of any kind, sort, or description, +in fact. The Tenth Cavalry did well what it was required to do; as an +organization, in this fight, it was rather less heavily engaged, and +suffered less loss, actually and relatively, than either the First +Cavalry or the Rough Riders. It took about the same part that was +taken by the left wing of the Rough Riders, which wing was similarly +rather less heavily engaged than the right and centre of the regiment. +Of course, this is a reflection neither on the Tenth Cavalry nor on +the left wing of the Rough Riders. Each body simply did what it was +ordered to do, and did it well. But to claim that the Tenth Cavalry +did better than the First, or bore the most prominent part in the +fight, is like making the same claim for the left wing of the Rough +Riders. All the troops engaged did well, and all alike are entitled to +share in the honor of the day. + +Mr. Bonsal out-Spaniards the Spaniards themselves as regards both +their numbers and their loss. These points are discussed elsewhere. He +develops for the Spanish side, to account for their retreat, a wholly +new explanation--viz., that they retreated because they saw +reinforcements arriving for the Americans. The Spaniards themselves +make no such claim. Lieutenant Tejeiro asserts that they retreated +because news had come of a (wholly mythical) American advance on Morro +Castle. The Spanish official report simply says that the Americans +were repulsed; which is about as accurate a statement as the other +two. All three explanations, those by General Rubin, by Lieutenant +Tejeiro, and by Mr. Bonsal alike, are precisely on a par with the +first Spanish official report of the battle of Manila Bay, in which +Admiral Dewey was described as having been repulsed and forced to +retire. + +There are one or two minor mistakes made by Mr. Bonsal. He states +that on the roster of the officers of the Rough Riders there were ten +West Pointers. There were three, one of whom resigned. Only two were +in the fighting. He also states that after Las Guasimas +Brigadier-General Young was made a Major-General and Colonel Wood a +Brigadier-General, while the commanding officers of the First and +Tenth Cavalry were ignored in this "shower of promotions." In the +first place, the commanding officers of the First and Tenth Cavalry +were not in the fight--only one squadron of each having been present. +In the next place, there was no "shower of promotions" at all. Nobody +was promoted except General Young, save to fill the vacancies caused +by death or by the promotion of General Young. Wood was not promoted +because of this fight. General Young most deservedly was promoted. +Soon after the fight he fell sick. The command of the brigade then +fell upon Wood, simply because he had higher rank than the other two +regimental commanders of the brigade; and I then took command of the +regiment exactly as Lieutenant-Colonels Veile and Baldwin had already +taken command of the First and Tenth Cavalry when their superior +officers were put in charge of brigades. After the San Juan fighting, +in which Wood commanded a brigade, he was made a Brigadier-General and +I was then promoted to the nominal command of the regiment, which I +was already commanding in reality. + +Mr. Bonsal's claim of superior efficiency for the colored regular +regiments as compared with the white regular regiments does not merit +discussion. He asserts that General Wheeler brought on the Guasimas +fight in defiance of orders. Lieutenant Miley, in his book, "In Cuba +with Shafter," on page 83, shows that General Wheeler made his fight +before receiving the order which it is claimed he disobeyed. General +Wheeler was in command ashore; he was told to get in touch with the +enemy, and, being a man with the "fighting edge," this meant that he +was certain to fight. No general who was worth his salt would have +failed to fight under such conditions; the only question would be as +to how the fight was to be made. War means fighting; and the soldier's +cardinal sin is timidity. + +General Wheeler remained throughout steadfast against any retreat +from before Santiago. But the merit of keeping the army before +Santiago, without withdrawal, until the city fell, belongs to the +authorities at Washington, who at this all-important stage of the +operations showed to marked advantage in overruling the proposals made +by the highest generals in the field looking toward partial retreat or +toward the abandonment of the effort to take the city. + +The following note, written by Sergeant E. G. Norton, of B Troop, +refers to the death of his brother, Oliver B. Norton, one of the most +gallant and soldierly men in the regiment: + + + On July 1st I, together with Sergeant Campbell and Troopers + Bardshar and Dudley Dean and my brother who was killed and + some others, was at the front of the column right behind + you. We moved forward, following you as you rode, to where + we came upon the troopers of the Ninth Cavalry and a part + of the First lying down. I heard the conversation between + you and one or two of the officers of the Ninth Cavalry. + You ordered a charge, and the regular officers answered that + they had no orders to move ahead; whereupon you said: "Then + let us through," and marched forward through the lines, our + regiment following. The men of the Ninth and First Cavalry + then jumped up and came forward with us. Then you waved your + hat and gave the command to charge and we went up the hill. + On the top of Kettle Hill my brother, Oliver B. Norton, was + shot through the head and in the right wrist. It was just + as you started to lead the charge on the San Juan hills + ahead of us; we saw that the regiment did not know you had + gone and were not following, and my brother said, "For + God's sake follow the Colonel," and as he rose the bullet + went through his head. + + +In reference to Mr. Bonsal's account of the Guasimas fight, Mr. +Richard Harding Davis writes me as follows: + + + We had already halted several times to give the men a + chance to rest, and when we halted for the last time I + thought it was for this same purpose, and began taking + photographs of the men of L Troop, who were so near that + they asked me to be sure and save them a photograph. Wood + had twice disappeared down the trail beyond them and + returned. As he came back for the second time I remember + that you walked up to him (we were all dismounted then), and + saluted and said: "Colonel, Doctor La Motte reports that the + pace is too fast for the men, and that over fifty have + fallen out from exhaustion." Wood replied sharply: "I have + no time to bother with sick men now." You replied, more in + answer, I suppose, to his tone than to his words: "I merely + repeated what the Surgeon reported to me." Wood then turned + and said in explanation: "I have no time for them now; I + mean that we are in sight of the enemy." + + This was the only information we received that the men of L + Troop had been ambushed by the Spaniards, and, if they were, + they were very calm about it, and I certainly was taking + photographs of them at the time, and the rest of the + regiment, instead of being half an hour's march away, was + seated comfortably along the trail not twenty feet distant + from the men of L Troop. You deployed G Troop under Captain + Llewellen into the jungle at the right and sent K Troop + after it, and Wood ordered Troops E and F into the field on + our left. It must have been from ten to fifteen minutes + after Capron and Wood had located the Spaniards before + either side fired a shot. When the firing did come I went + over to you and joined G Troop and a detachment of K Troop + under Woodbury Kane, and we located more of the enemy on a + ridge. + + If it is to be ambushed when you find the enemy exactly + where you went to find him, and your scouts see him soon + enough to give you sufficient time to spread five troops + in skirmish order to attack him, and you then drive him + back out of three positions for a mile and a half, then + most certainly, as Bonsal says, "L Troop of the Rough + Riders was ambushed by the Spaniards on the morning of + June 24th." + + +General Wood also writes me at length about Mr. Bonsal's book, +stating that his account of the Guasimas fight is without foundation +in fact. He says: "We had five troops completely deployed before the +first shot was fired. Captain Capron was not wounded until the fight +had been going on fully thirty-five minutes. The statement that +Captain Capron's troop was ambushed is absolutely untrue. We had been +informed, as you know, by Castillo's people that we should find the +dead guerilla a few hundred yards on the Siboney side of the Spanish +lines." + +He then alludes to the waving of the guidon by K Troop as "the only +means of communication with the regulars." He mentions that his orders +did not come from General Wheeler, and that he had no instructions +from General Wheeler directly or indirectly at any time previous to +the fight. + +General Wood does not think that I give quite enough credit to the +Rough Riders as compared to the regulars in this Guasimas fight, and +believes that I greatly underestimate the Spanish force and loss, and +that Lieutenant Tejeiro is not to be trusted at all on these points. +He states that we began the fight ten minutes before the regulars, and +that the main attack was made and decided by us. This was the view +that I and all the rest of us in the regiment took at the time; but as +I had found since that the members of the First and Tenth Regular +Regiments held with equal sincerity the view that the main part was +taken by their own commands, I have come to the conclusion that the +way I have described the action is substantially correct. Owing to the +fact that the Tenth Cavalry, which was originally in support, moved +forward until it got mixed with the First, it is very difficult to get +the exact relative position of the different troops of the First and +Tenth in making the advance. Beck and Galbraith were on the left; +apparently Wainwright was farthest over on the right. General Wood +states that Leonardo Ros, the Civil Governor of Santiago at the time +of the surrender, told him that the Spanish force at Guasimas +consisted of not less than 2,600 men, and that there were nearly 300 +of them killed and wounded. I do not myself see how it was possible +for us, as we were the attacking party and were advancing against +superior numbers well sheltered, to inflict five times as much damage +as we received; but as we buried eleven dead Spaniards, and as they +carried off some of their dead, I believe the loss to have been very +much heavier than Lieutenant Tejeiro reports. + +General Wood believes that in following Lieutenant Tejeiro I have +greatly underestimated the number of Spanish troops who were defending +Santiago on July 1st, and here I think he completely makes out his +case, he taking the view that Lieutenant Tejeiro's statements were +made for the purpose of saving Spanish honor. On this point his letter +runs as follows: + + + A word in regard to the number of troops in Santiago. I + have had, during my long association here, a good many + opportunities to get information which you have not got and + probably never will get; that is, information from parties + who were actually in the fight, who are now residents of the + city; also information which came to me as commanding + officer of the city directly after the surrender. + + To sum up briefly as follows: The Spanish surrendered in + Santiago 12,000 men. We shipped from Santiago something over + 14,000 men. The 2,000 additional were troops that came in + from San Luis, Songo, and small up-country posts. The 12,000 + in the city, minus the force of General Iscario, 3,300 + infantry and 680 cavalry, or in round numbers 4,000 men (who + entered the city just after the battles of San Juan and El + Caney), leaves 8,000 regulars, plus the dead, plus Cervera's + marines and blue-jackets, which he himself admits landing in + the neighborhood of 1,200 (and reports here are that he landed + 1,380), and plus the Spanish Volunteer Battalion, which was + between 800 and 900 men (this statement I have from the + lieutenant-colonel of this very battalion), gives us in + round numbers, present for duty on the morning of July 1st, + not less than 10,500 men. These men were distributed 890 at + Caney, two companies of artillery at Morro, one at Socapa, + and half a company at Puenta Gorda; in all, not over 500 or + 600 men, but for the sake of argument we can say a thousand. + In round numbers, then, we had immediately about the city + 8,500 troops. These were scattered from the cemetery around + to Aguadores. In front of us, actually in the trenches, + there could not by any possible method of figuring have been + less than 6,000 men. You can twist it any way you want to; + the figures I have given you are absolutely correct, at + least they are absolutely on the side of safety. + + +It is difficult for me to withstand the temptation to tell what has +befallen some of my men since the regiment disbanded; how McGinty, +after spending some weeks in Roosevelt Hospital in New York with an +attack of fever, determined to call upon his captain, Woodbury Kane, +when he got out, and procuring a horse rode until he found Kane's +house, when he hitched the horse to a lamp-post and strolled in; how +Cherokee Bill married a wife in Hoboken, and as that pleasant city +ultimately proved an uncongenial field for his activities, how I had +to send both himself and his wife out to the Territory; how Happy +Jack, haunted by visions of the social methods obtaining in the best +saloons of Arizona, applied for the position of "bouncer out" at the +Executive Chamber when I was elected Governor, and how I got him a job +at railroading instead, and finally had to ship him back to his own +Territory also; how a valued friend from a cow ranch in the remote +West accepted a pressing invitation to spend a few days at the home of +another ex-trooper, a New Yorker of fastidious instincts, and arrived +with an umbrella as his only baggage; how poor Holderman and Pollock +both died and were buried with military honors, all of Pollock's +tribesmen coming to the burial; how Tom Isbell joined Buffalo Bill's +Wild West Show, and how, on the other hand, George Rowland scornfully +refused to remain in the East at all, writing to a gallant young New +Yorker who had been his bunkie: "Well, old boy, I am glad I didn't go +home with you for them people to look at, because I ain't a Buffalo or +a rhinoceros or a giraffe, and I don't like to be stared at, and you +know we didn't do no hard fighting down there. I have been in closer +places than that right here in United States, that is better men to +fight than them dam Spaniards." In another letter Rowland tells of the +fate of Tom Darnell, the rider, he who rode the sorrel horse of the +Third Cavalry: "There ain't much news to write of except poor old Tom +Darnell got killed about a month ago. Tom and another fellow had a +fight and he shot Tom through the heart and Tom was dead when he hit +the floor. Tom was sure a good old boy, and I sure hated to hear of +him going, and he had plenty of grit too. No man ever called on him +for a fight that he didn't get it." + +My men were children of the dragon's blood, and if they had no +outland foe to fight and no outlet for their vigorous and daring +energy, there was always the chance of their fighting one another: but +the great majority, if given the chance to do hard or dangerous work, +availed themselves of it with the utmost eagerness, and though fever +sickened and weakened them so that many died from it during the few +months following their return, yet, as a whole, they are now doing +fairly well. A few have shot other men or been shot themselves; a few +ran for office and got elected, like Llewellen and Luna in New Mexico, +or defeated, like Brodie and Wilcox in Arizona; some have been trying +hard to get to the Philippines; some have returned to college, or to +the law, or the factory, or the counting-room; most of them have gone +back to the mine, the ranch, and the hunting camp; and the great +majority have taken up the threads of their lives where they dropped +them when the Maine was blown up and the country called to arms. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rough Riders, by Theodore Roosevelt + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROUGH RIDERS *** + +***** This file should be named 13000.txt or 13000.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/0/0/13000/ + +Produced by Dagny Wilson + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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