Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-09-30
CUBAN CAMPAIGN
Services of Troop F, Rough Riders"
in Front of Santiago--In Camp
at Montauk.
GUASIMA, SAN JUAN FIGHTS
Casualties Brave Officers and Men-Hard-
ships and Work in the Trenches -Thir-
teen Men Fit for Duty on Arrival
at Montauk.

teen Men Fit for Duty on Arrival
at Montauk.
Troop +, LIST United States volunteer
cavalry, Captain Max. Luna command
ing, vas enlisted in Albuquerque, and
was mustered into the service of the
United States at Santa Fe, May 5, 1898.
On May 7 the troop left this city in
company with the other three troops of
the New Mexico squadron for San INTO
Mo, Texas, for regimental organization.
From Captain Max. Luna, who COM
handed the troop from the muster in to
its muster out at Camp Wikoff, Septem-
Der Is. the following sketch of the troops
services has been cleaned by a reporter
of the New Mexican:
At a Antonio, the entire regiment of
twelve troops was assembled, armed
with Krag-Jorgensen carbines and pis-
tolls. and fully equipped and mounted,
it proceeded thence to Tampa, Fla. In
the early part of June, the regiment
boarded the transport Yucatan in Tam
pa bay, and was landed at Baiqueri In
the Province of Santiago de Cuba, June
%: that is, eight troops of the regiment.
under the command Of Colonel Leonard
Wood and Lieutenant Colonel Theodore
Roosevelt, took part in that expedition.
Three Of the New Mexico troops, E, F
and H. participated in the campaign.
On June %, the command marched to
Siboney, where it camped for the night.
On June "A, troop F, as part of the LIST
United States volunteer cavalry, at
tached to General Youns's brigade,
went into it's first engagement, in com
pany with the other seven troops of the
regiment.
Captain Capron's troop, l., formed the
advance guard that morning, and troop
F, which was next in the line of march,
deployed to the left Of a barbed wire
fence, facing the enemy in the under
brush and cactus, and while so deployed
as skirmishers, the engagement of La
Guasima commenced. Therein the troop
lost one man killed, w. T. Irwin, Of
Texas, and eight wounded. one of whom,
Frank Booth, of Albuquerque, subse-
quently died from the effects of wounds
received in that action. That night, the
regiment camped on the ground occu-
pied by the enemy in the morning, and
remained there for two days, until it
was advanced to a position nearer to
Santiago at a small settlement called
Sevilla. There it remained until the
night of June 80. under the constant fire
Nj lllS SiISIiIJ oikA IL III 1 Nv
regiment was marched to Ell Poso,
| where 1t camped for the night. On the
morning of July l, began the battle Of
| San Juan hill. in which the troop parti-
cipated. This battle was opened by fire
| from Captain Grimes regular battery.
The Spanish artillery returned the fire,
n did accurate work, resulting in the
killing of several men of the regiment,
and the wounding of others. Among the
killed on that day was VIII Freeman,
who enlisted in Albuquerque. Later on.
the regiment was ordered to take a po-
sition IN a sunken road. and while car
rying out that movement, Cadet Ernest
Haskell, of Massachusetts, who is in the
second class at West Point and who
acted as second lieutenant Of F troop.
was shot, receiving a serious wound
through the body. During the sanle en-
sagement. later on, F troop, with the
| rest of the regiment. being part Of the
cavalry brigade, took up a position in
what is known as Bloody Lane, where
it encountered a murderous fire from
the enemy, which could not be returned
except by the first line, composed or
| regulars from the 9th cavalry.
During the same engagement the fa-
nous cavalry charge on a Juan hill,
| led by Colonel Wood and Lieutenant
Colonel Roosevelt. was made by dis
mounted cavalry, troop T included. The
| hill was taken, but nine more wounded
| men and one wounded officer We're the
casualties. That night the troop, with
the rest Of the regiment, was engaged in
digging trenches until the wee sma'
hours of the morning. The work was
very hard and dangerous and often In
t%errupted by firing from the enemy's
| ljnaJ Xrhiah Wnra parV pIOqa D1Irtnp
the entire siege of the City of Santiago
the troop furnished it's proper quota OF
men to guard the trenches. During the
night of July 2 the Spanish forces made
a desperate sortie on the American po-
sition, which was repulsed, the enemy
retiring with a loss of 800 men killed and
wounded. After July 8 there was very
little other fighting, until the surrender
of Santiago took place.
The troop remained with the regiment
near Santiago, enduring sickness and
hardships until it returned to the United
States, leaving Santiago harbor August
s, and landing at Montauk Point Au-
gust Is, with Is men fit for duty out OF
the 70 who had left Tampa bay the
month before.
During the campaign, Second Lieuten.
ant Maxwell Keyes, son of Major A. s
b. Reyes, u. s. A., retired, acted as
first lieutenant, and acquitted himself
With such gallantry that he was pro
NOTED to a first lieutenancy and ap-
pointed regimental adjutant by Colone
Roosevelt. The second lieutenant wal
Ernest Haskell, a West Point cadet
whose services were Of the highest char.
acter, and who was wounded as already
noted.
Captain Luna speaks in the highest
terms Of the g%allantry, endurance, ODE.
dience and patience exhibited by the en-.
listed men of F troop; the men behaved
and bore themselves like veterans and
fought gallantly. or General Leonard
Wood and Colonel Theodore Roosevelt
he cannot say too many things.
Captain Luna was OF duty on General
Woods staff for a month. acting as In
terpreter between the general and the
| Spanish authorities, and also as a mem
Der of the commission examining the
| Spanish prisons and prisoners at Santt-
ago.