Arizona republican., 1898-07-21
OF THE WOUNDED.
knta Goes Wild Over the Men
 From Santiago.

From Santiago.
 ae convaleScentS among the wound
 ,om Santiago were allowed to come
 own this afternoon, and the town
 1t wild over them and showed en-
 siasm in every way it could think
 Men and women clustered about
 lem to hear their stories
 When the wounded arrived yester- Iday, the 2,500 men now stationed at
 Fort McPherson were waiting to cheer them, but this idea was not carried out. I hc expressions which came from the | troops at the post were more of pity tran of glorification. The wounded men came from the train, some of them on crutcheS, others aided by cOmpan- ions, while many had to be carried on stretchers. Their faces were drawn and pinched, their clothes were torn,
 and many of them were without suffi- cient clothing. Some of the officers
 had dispensed with their coats and had placed their shoulder straps on their shirt sleeves, to show their rank. Save for these shoulder straps there was no difference in appearance between offl- i cers and privates in many cases. All were worn and hungry and tired. Many of them had not taken off their clothes for ten days. When food was placed before them they ate ravenously, and t was only when ordered by the phy sicians in charge of the hospital mess to stop eating that they left the tables. After dinner the soldiers were shown
 to their rooms, and after a bath they all went to sleep. Many of them did not wake up for supper. It was the first time in weeks that they had en- ;oyed the luxury of sleeping on clean, cool cots, with sound roof over their heads, and nature made the best of the opportunity Today, however, much of the fatigue and the suffering belongs to the past, and the Atlanta, which General Sherman pounded-confeder- ate Atlanta-has been glorifying them, and the boy in blue is hero at home amt ng his own people.
 The wounded men were in the hot test part of the fight and they have in teresting stories to tell. Some of them advanced to within half mile of San tiago and they declare hat they could have held this position .aaa they not been ordered to fall back. on the night of June 30 the men advanced to i within a short distance of the city of Santiago and then slept on their arms. The following morning it was found that the pickets had been within ten yards of the Spanish lines. For some
 reason they were not fired upon. On July 1 the battle began. One of the greatest difficulties the Americans had to contend with was the Spanish sharp shooters. It is said that these men did more harm prior to their rout than
 ofI, ov-t ,f fTo ic6
 The Americans did not know when on from what tree they would be greeteC with a volley of Spanish bullets. A private says he was fighting near a commissioned officer, lieutenant, he thinks, who kept lodging from side to side. The officer continued these an advanced to his side and asked if he was wounded.
 My God, man." replied the officer, l don't you see that fellow shooting at me: He has been begging away at my carcass for fifteen minutes"
 Sure enough, in proof of what the officer said, moment later puff of smoke came from the tree pointed out and a bullet whizzed close to where the officer and private were standing. The officer took the private's rife and ccnlly knelt on the ground while he took deliberate aim at the place from which the puff of smoke had arisen. The aim Of the officer was good, and tthe crack of the rifle the sharpShoot- CT was seen to hang his head downward from the tree. This was the secret of the fighting of the SharpshOOters in trees. They had been tied in place by their officers, and escape for them was Impossible. In addition to this they had been informed, so the captured ores said, that the Americans invari- ably killed all who were taken prison er., and for this reason they fought with courage born of desperation, be- liev ing that capture meant sure death and the mutilation of their bodies. Another private said that they fought from trenches with their food supply by them. Their supply of pro-
 visions was enough to last for weeks.
 and had the trenches been captured by the Spaniards there would have
 been temporary end of the famine in Santiago. The private added. however. that there was no danger of the pro- visions being captured as long as the United States soldiers defended the trenches.
 The officers were the principal ob- | iects of attack by the Spaniards. The 1 Spanish sharpshooters and the regular lines of infantry all directed their fire
 at the officers, and when one was seen
 to fall Q cheer invariably went up from ! the Dons. Many privates were natur- ! ally victims of the fire, but both the l officers and the men who arrived yes 1 terday say that the Spaniards appeared
 to take special delight in killing off cers.
 CDe story was of duel on the bat ! tie field between two soldiers, one ! Al etican, the other Spanish It was during enc of the lulls that occasion aEE occur on battle fields, when the Hien on their own accord stop firing in order to let the smoke clear away
 and to catch breath of fresh air Tbe
 SraEiards had made a charge and had been repulsed. The Americans had
 pursued them and one man was left
 in, nf ho