The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-09-25
Washington Office of The Herald,
1415 C Street, n. W.

Washington, .. c., Sept. 21.-General
E. H Liscum, formerly colonel of the
Twenty-fourth infantry. and in COM
mand of the regiment at San Juan, has
been here this week. He has received
many attentions at the hands of war
department officials, as he is regarded
as one of the bravest and best of the
gallant officers in that remarkable bat
tie. The general was severely wounded
IN the battle and still carries a hlauser
bullet in his right shoulder. He is still
suffering from the wound and cannot
use his right arm or hand. The colo
mel viii rer am in Washington several
days.
Corporal John R. Conn, of company
II, Twenty fourth regiment, who is still
in Santiago province, has addressed a
letter to his sister, Mrs. j. w. Crom-
well, in this city, giving details, from
his point of observation, of the career
of the regiment from the date of its
landing in Cuba to the fall of Santiago.
The Washington star gives the letter
in full. 1t contains many interesting
and heretofore unpublished details of
the campaign, and reads as follows:
we came ashore from transports
here at SibOney June %, the next day
after the Rough .Riders had their ia
nous battle; and here let me tell you
the real truth of the case: Five or
six regiments diSembarked on the 2lSt
or 22d-I am uncertain which date-at
a. Doiu. about y miles east of here,
and started west toward Santiago and
met with little or no resistance until
they had advanced this far. The morn
Ing Of June y there were three columns
started WeSt-hrst the First volunteer
cavalry Qtough Riders), going over
narrow bride path on the very comb
of a mountain, where the uuderbrush
was so thick il was impossible to walk
only in single file; next, the First
United States regular cavalry, going
over a very rough and irregular wagon
road. running north of parallel with the
route taken by the Rough Riders, the
two roads making junction about four
and one-haJf miles west of here, and
the third column, the Tenth United
States regular cavalry. taking a route
about a mile or more still farther
north. where there was no road at all
j was intended that the three COM
mands should move as nearly abreast
as possible, but the difficulties the
Tenth cavalry had to contend with in
advancing were not taken into consid-
GRAFTON, so they were about 20 TO so
minutes behind on getting into ac-
ton.
They all took up the march as above,
advancing as cautiously as a blind
man would, feeling and cutting their
way through the dense underbrush,
where il was, at times, impossible to
see more than ten feet from you, and
difficult at any time TO see more than
so to IS yards in any direction The
first column, the Rough Riders, was the
first to strike the enemy in ambush
about 500 yards east of the junction Of
the two roads mentioned, receiving
vOlley that would have routed anybody
but az American. The first regulars,
hearing the music, as they called it,
hurried forward to join in the dance,
and awoke a hornets nest of Span
iards on the left, north of the party
engaging the Rough Riders, and had
more music. than they could furnish
dancers for But, to the credit of the
uniform and the flag, there is no ac-
count of either column giving an inch.
They advanced sufficiently to come into
line, and holding their ground until
the much abused and poorly appreci-
ated sons of Ham burst through the
underbrush. delivered several Volleys,
and yelling as only colored throats can
yell. advanced on a run. Their posi-
ton being still further to the north and
opposite the left flank of the Spaniards
they (the Spaniards) could not stand
il any longer but broke and ran and
did not make a decided stand until they
faced US at San Juan Hill July l. When
the battle closed June "a there were 10
or 20 killed, but only one of them was
o0lored.
"The first thing that greeted us as we
came ashore was an exaggerated ac-
count of the battle of the day before
The killed and the wounded. as ru-
NOR bad ii, was something like 200, and
IN evidence was a column of filters
coming down the hill. l counted ten or
twelve, and they were still coming, and