The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1898-06-16

DdWh IS the fayoritc time fo. attaol
and as the east palol. the marin,
'ying on their guns were arouse,
some were actually asleep. as they IN
no rest for As hours and tel natur
. could no longer stand the strai-. I'm
no attack came.
Ihree new 19-pound fed gun,
: which could not be used dyring IN
night for fear of hitting our own men
sheiled several squads of Spaniard
after daylight. They dove into III,
bushes like prairie dogs into burrow
as the shells broke over them in n,
gray dawn. As the correspond
ent talked with Maj Cockreu wbc
was IN charge OF the ont
posts, word came of the finding Of tb,
BODY of Sergt Smith. He was re.
ported as having been killed at five
O'Clock on the previous day, but it an.
pears that he had been seen alive at
ten o clock in the evening. When and
how he was killed no one knows at
TINS writing. Neither had the men
been mustered nor had the outposts Of
Lieut.. Neville and Shaw been relieved
Lieut-Col. Huntington and Mai
Cockrell gave high praise to :he nerve
and stcadineSs Of officers and men. cs-
Tcclally the young ones, as the en-.
gagement was baptism Of fire for n
large majority. The men were in
darkness and in Z strange land. but
they stood to their posts with courage
and fortitude and there was no svmp.
ton of panic.
The marines, though very much cx-
hausted, Were eager for more fighting.
promising to innict heavy punishment.
They complimented the daring Of the
Spaniards with characteristic camp
profanity
sunday the amplcst precautions were
taken and as the Dauntless left rein
forcemcnts were landing from the
y stormy time was ex-
rccted
Estimates vary as to the attacking .
force, some say 200 and the figures run
as high as l,OOl Col. Campina, the
-uban guide, said The Spaniards were
mostly irrcgulars, but the reports of
he discharge OF Mauscr rifles would
Indicate that they were regulars. as
most Of the guerillas carry Rcming-
ons. The Cuban gucrillas, as a rule,
rave more dash and courage than the
cgulars.
The new campaign uniforms prove
satisfactory and are almost invisible
t distance OF 200 yards. The Lee
unS caused several accidents in draw
1g cartridges. Corporal Glass shat
cred his hand. '
Despite the loss Of the men, which is
cenly regretted, the marines re ioice !
rat they have been engaged in their
rst fight on Cuban soil. They sailed I
'om New York the day war was de- q
arcd and cXrectcd to land within a
eek at Havana. Since then. until Il
ndcd on the shore of Guantanamo !
~, they had been cooped up on the 5
lnthcr and they had begun to fear W
at the troops would beat them after b
In controlling the outer harbor of Ct
lantanamo, where Lieut.. Col. Hunt u
gton's battalion of marines landed CT
Friday, RI Adm. Sampson secures "
secession of the Cuban terminus of OF
e French cable 10 Hayt. The ar III
ratuS in the office at the harbor 81
)uth was wrecked 10y a shell but II
, cable steamer Adria has instru5
ntS and operators aboard and di- w
t communication with Washing co
J will soon be established. The dis u
zee overland 20 Santiago around the an
y is about sixty miles and the roads
'e been rendered impossible by the
bans under Pedro Perez The first Til
ision of the Cuban army claims to
re 400 men, lut these figures
probably over estimated The
,ans believe that there are
nat $500 soldiers in the vicin- -"
Of Caimanera, which lies ."
he entrance TO the inner harbor are
intanamo City is inland about l5 LII
cS. The two harborS are connected Po'
q narrow channel. 1t is the outer ""'
Dor which Adm Sampson now 81
Is with the Martlehead, the Yose- n"'
e and the Vixen. and with battal- su'
of marines on the crest of a blunt i'oi
ocd cminence commanding the 'N.
'ance on the western side. In the "i0
r harbor are two small Spanish ''o'
boats and at Caimanera there is io'I
cry. '""
expedition of three steam arc
ches. otlcercd by Lieut.. Norman,
gn EustiS, son of M. james ID. CT
is, former United States am bassa- sigr
10 France, and Cadet g. Van Or roul
snder the general command of clut
t. Anderson, of the cruiser Mar The
lad. Saturday night, dragged for The
s. but found none. Lieut.. Ander- take
who distinguished himself ut cord
'eagoS, pulled dingy within so are
5 Of the fort without being discov- in Il
He found the fort 10 consist of each