The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-12-11

Tit veterans Of the civil war who used to
tell m their experiences always seemed to
dwell upon the big things. The boom Of can
non and the scream Of shells appeared fore
most in their memories, they talked Of the
movements OF whole brlg1des aud divisions.
IhGir horizon was. certainly widc~ thnn mine
in the recent war. for ! personally knew little
save The movements of my own. company.
Ana when | search my memory for rhc sn-
lent points Of the Santiago campaign IL is the
httIo things that stuck out.
On July !. when my COMPANY reached tho
erest'of San Juan Hill. IT was ordered 10 go, in
support of Grimcs's battery, 100 Yards down
the opposite incline OF the hill. toward Santi-
ago. The advance was made at double time.
Arriving ut u barbed wire fence that marked
the limit ofthe advance. we were ordered to
lie down and FIRE at will. There was no cover.
and we we're a target for the FIRE Of the entire
about US really did lear some resemblance To-
the hnz2 OF a swarm of angry bees. We were
n skirmiSh line; that is, three naccs apart.
post about the size. Of my wrist. 1t wouldn't
have stopped a birdshot, much less a Mauser
IRE. Ihat brought me close TO my neiRhbor
on my right. Private Geor"e. n lad Of Il. He
carefully picking il, out. Of the grass PUT It in his
trousers pocket | asked:
E,i"orgc, what are you going to do with
mmIll keen, that she'll" he replied. methodi-
cally rcloadinG. FOR my mother"
When We had been at the barbed- wire fence
about ten minutes and my company had lost
four killed and fourteen wounded. word came
that Grimes's Battery had been withdrawn
and for us TO retire to the crest of the hill.
There we would find n sunken roadway. af-
nrGer 80 : HIS ihIs ff2i ,Ma i, II ry wasn't necessary gns 4
that was in him. l was ALWAYS slow footed.
one ny one the men Of my comnany outdis;
that YOU are enduring u longer exposure. espe-
cihlly to shots from the rear. thnn your COM
pHnlons. AZ n last straw, the latest and short
Gst-lcGgcd man in the company. Sergt. Hal
lidny. passed me at an easy lope. / made n
final desperate effort to keen up. and in doing
50 lnirl,X ran, over my own feet and nearly fell.
Selgt. Halliday. glancing over his shoulder.
snw me STUN !e. Slowing up TO n walk, a good.
plump target for the enemy's sharnshooters.
Ii. anYiously asked. with hands out to assist:
Old man, are YOU hiti'
DON need to say what / think of Halliday.
The remainder of that afternoon we passed
stretched out in the roadway on the crest OF
San Juan Hill. The depression was less than
six inches deep. To get any protection from
the living bullets it was necessary to stick to
the ground like q postage stamp. While we
were permitted to fire in return we could for
get our danger. But soon word came that the
s 5 n las. Of , o%r srringlsld rifles was making VS.
Of lying cold under fire began TO tell on us.
Under such circumstances the tobacco smoker
.'ii' AC.hi' ~ vi NOlSolulltfll. L ltl ID %
baGco: knew that my bunkie. Van Fleet.
bad started with z fey pinchcs that morning.
filled pipe in one hand and a match in the
other. | asked for a bit of tobacco.
This Is nv last %pipeful." he said. Here
At dusk that evening the firing ceased. We
could ge. IN from our cramped positions and
stretch ourselves without imminent hazard Of
occupying the position Of honor at a military
funeral Than for thp fret fima T diccpr-
cred that l had received a slight flesh wound.
1t was not disabling, but any Gunshot wound
received in the tropics must be cleansed and
dressed. Ny Captain ordered me to the field
hospital to have it cared for. He said nothing
about returning. Here was my opportunity.
That day had been one long nightmare Of hor;
evening all the fight had oozed out OF me. The
dread realities OF wal. the dead and the wound
cd; confronted me at every ste,p Of my, two
the field hospital. Capt. dude stafford TOOK
River and dressed nv scratch. There was an
I'm = m6 frd la standing near. Just as Surgeon
Hit. nv boyF Ali right. Get into the am
b bulpn &c an and 60 to siboney. You'll soon be
This bov," said Cant. Stafford. looking ur
from his work. lis a man. He'll go back to The
front in the morning."
That saved me from being a gutter.
By the Surgeons orders remained at the
field hospital overnight. 1t was Just n clear
ing in the thicket. There were no tents. no
blankets. and fires were not permitted. l had
left my own blanket further on toward the
front that morning. In Florida our regiment
had picked upa stray colored boy. about 10
years Of age. He had attached himself to the
hospital c,orns. We called him, Mahogany.
AS | stood in a quandary over how to get a
night s rest on the wet ground. Mahogany
came along with a blanket trailing over his
fl" "HGe brf , boss" he said Deegrlpg up Ct me in
come with ne. Use 60: some cold coffee an
bacon an' 70, can take my blanket
We shared II.
One OF our men who was killed that day was
Private Brown. He was shot lust as we
reached the barbed-wire fence. but survived
several hours in an unconscious state. He
was Il college lad from Cornell and a general
f%nvoritc. Four, of our men started to carry
him M the incline to the crest Of the hill. He
was heavy ana IL was flow. hazardous work.
To the lett of our line were some men from the
Sixteenth Regular Infantry. When the order
cline with loor Brown. He did not know
ment, But he Stopped in that leaden hail
storm and helped. And. first Of all. he had our
men put Brown down while he wet his lips
fnat was the stun the regulars were made OF.
Sergt. lierson was one OF the hest liked
men in the company. but he couldn't tolerate
fool questions. On the morning Of July 3 he
sat on the bank of the intrAnclment thinking
coffee, He was really exposing himself I'M
necessarily One OF the men nearby was ner-
vousiy watching him. Their eyes met. and
the private, somewhat embarrassed re-
marked, for lack % something better 10 say:
Are you taking n cup ri coffee"
\ look Of disgust spread over Persons
speaking conntonnnce.
An I tnking, %c9nee;" he heGan. mockingly.
hand ~. sir," lie continued. with added
sarcasm, u am not taking coffee
After tine three days lighting We moved from
san Juan Hill to another. that VIC came later 10
call Misery Hill. II was while we were on Mis-
Hill that Private Fa,l got the Spanish man
tIl.a, The Spanish refugee were nj Fl Cuncy
and Earl and ! ran the guard lines and went
there IA look ut them. That was after the sur
render. Some. of the refugees were well
hut all were hungry. Seated ~ the
porch ut n cottage VIZ encountered Il hand