Evening star., 1898-08-09
A TOWN OF TENTS
Recipients Of Spanish Bullets at San
tiago Now Here.
DOWN at WASHINGTON BARRACKS
A Wounded Regular Describes the
Fight on San Juan Hill.
FACTS ABOUT list NEW YORK

Down at Washington barracks. or "the
arsenal as WashiS gtonians will ever cal
| the big park-lke military reservation at
| the foot of Az street, there is e small town
| OF tents spread out on the edge of the
| river fIort. and its occupants are American
soldiers who buffeted the bilows of war at
Santiago. and suffered in the storm of lead
| that swept over them.
The tents are hospital tents, and are
much different from the meager canvas
| GOV erff gs their present tenants have been
| formerly accustomed to. Instead of the
hard ground and blanket for a mattress
there are smooth plank floors and iron
| bedsteads equipped with comfortable bed
dig, and as one iimpng soldier said this
| morning:
J Its like getting 10 heaven after long
| dose of purgatory'
| Tnere are about 1e0 tenants in these tents
| now and nearly every one of them bears
| the mark of a Mauser bullet or the ugly
| scars of Spanish shells. In the general hos
| ptal under whose balconies the tened
| town 3pre ads soutkward, there are other
| victims of Spanish fury and Cuban climate
| VINO are in more serious condition, bu.
| the convalescentS are not to be eny;ed The
| majority or the men at the barracks ar
| rived yesterday from Fortress Monroe.
There were 125 of Them and an additional
detachment Of the same number will arrive
! tomorrow
| Star reporter visited the barracks this
| morning and as the electric car carrying
MIN sped down Az street he was struck by
the number of men wearing Uncle Sans
uniform who hobbled along on crutches
| limped painfully with the assistance of
canes, or had arms in slings or heads ban
daged Within the gates there Were more
| OF the same sort One and all were de-
lighted with the new quarters. Among
them were members Of the. regular infan-
rpCriyr1 1lrnrG 1sr,..
Icing observable, wounded rough riders
and few other volunteers.
The Star reporter saw big. intelligent
| looking man sitting in one of the tents and
sauntered in on him. 1t was a fortunate
selection.
An Important Contribution.
| The man proved to be John J. Davitt
| musician of Company G, 18th Infantry
! 'fhe 18th, together with the 9Th and a4th
| Infantry, took San Juan Hill in that tenn
| pestuous charge of July l, and as Davitt
was Gen. Wikoff's orderly, he was in a
position to know all about the events of
| that day over which so much controversy
mas arisen Here is his story, just as he
| told 1t:
Il was onderly for Gen. WikoT, COM
n,ander of the Sd Brigade, 9Th Army Corps,
during the fight July L at Santiago" said
| broke camp early, and started for the
| front. We had to go over a mignty mean
road, narrow and rough with many creeks
| tc cross. After toiling along for some
| time we reached place where two roads
| forked. one leading to the right; where the
/ 9th and the 10Th Infantry, part Of Gen.
| Hawkins brigade, were resting.
The fist New York.
| Gen. Kent was at the forks ! speak of,
and he ordered our regiment to take up to
| the left of Hawkins brigade
| Along that trail,' said Sen. Kent
| 'you'll find the list New York but pay no
attention to them. because they'n go TO
/ further, and 1 don't think they'll interfere
| with you going in this trip
| The trail in question was very narrow"
continued Musician Davitt, "and Gen. WI
| kof and his staff led our column. consist
! ilg of the 18th, 9th and 24th Infantry
| along it. In order to get the men of the
| list New York out of cur way L saw Gen.
| Wikof and Lieut. Malone of his STAFF use
| the fiat sides of their swords on them
| striking them on their legs and other parts
| OF their bodies The men of the list were
completely demoralized. AS 1 was Con.
Wfkoffs orderly. | was right alongside of
| him and saw 1t all After getting through
| the list we had to cross d creek up 20 our
| waists and then We had to break down Il
wire fence in order TO get into a field TO
form for the fight. Several men of our
| regiment were killed here by shells ana
Mauser bullets The Spaniards seemed to
| nave dead range on us. The 9th and oath
Regiments followed and formed on our
|
| into us. and Gen Wikof was killei just
| about this time. Men We're falling in ey-
| cry direction. Later on Col. Worth of the
| 18th was wounded. Then l reported to
Mai. Ourn1and.
The Charge Up San Juan Hill.
About an hour or so afterward along
| came three shells from Grimes battery
| One struck about three yards from the
| Spanish intrenchments, and the other two
Strupk no inf fair nd
| and drove the Spaniards out. At this our
brigade made a charge. There was no order
given. Every man seemed inspired by the
same motive, to go in and co the Span
| iards up. Up San Juan hill We all started
but at the base Spanish bullet got me in
the ankle and put me out of il. But as
lay there l could see our boys going in and
l tell you they never faltered AT first it
didn't look to me as if our boys could es-
cape getting killed. There couldn't have
been fiercer rain of fire than that poured
on them by the Spaniards But the boys
just knew they had to take that block
house on top of San Juan or be massacred
virtually; and take it they did"
How n Mauser Bullet Feels.
The bullet received by Davitt went di-
rectly through his ankle. He was asked
how it felt to be hit by Mauser bullet
when it hits the BONE he said, you
feel just as if you had been hit hard on
your crazy bone with rock
The rim of Private Saiender's hat held an
interesting diary. Written upon il is the
following record:
Fighting 18th Infantry. Left Ft. Porter,
Buffalo, n. Y, for war April 10 l9S Ar
rived at Tampa, Fla, April 2I '9s Broke
camp at Tampa and got aboard the trans
port Saratoga at Port Tampa June g. '9S
Forty-six days in camp at Tampa Landed
at Siboney, Cuba, June %, '9S, after seven
teen days on board the boat. Battle of
Santiago, Cuba, July l and =. Louis Sa-