The San Francisco call., 1898-12-23
FIERCE FIGHTING OF THE ROUGH RIDERS
 BEFORE SANTIAGO
Colonel Roosevelt Tells of the Bravery of His Men and the
 Hardsfips Endured.

wounded. came up to rejoin us as soon as
 thelr condition allowed them to walk, most Of the worst cases being ultimately
 sent to the States.
 on the 10th the truce was at an end
 ana the bombardment reopened. AS far as our lines were concerned it was on the spanish part very feeble. We suffered no losses and speedily got the fire from their trehches in our front completely silenced.
 On the l1th we were moved three quarters of mile to the right The truce agaln being on, nothing happened here except we continued to watch, and did our best to get the men, especially sick, property fed, and having no transporta- tion and being able to get hardly any through the regular channels, we used anything we could capturing Spanish cavalry horses, abandoned mules. which had been shot but which our men took and cured, diminutive, skinny ponies, pur- chased rom the Cubans, etc. By this means and by the exertions of the off, cers we were able from time to time to get supplies of beans, sugar, tomatoes and even oatmeal, while from the Red Cross people we got our invaluable load of rice, cornmeal, etc., all of this being of the ut
 most consequence, not only for the sick, but also for the nominally well, as the lack of proper food was telling terly impossible to get them clothes and shoes, those they had being in many cases literally dropping to pieces. On the 17th the city surrendered.
 
 pest camp we have had but the march hither under the monday sun told very heavily on our men, weakened by under feeding and overwork, and the next morning 123 cases were reported to the doctor, and l now have but half of the 600 men with which I landed four weeks ago fit for duty. As we had but one wagon the change necessitated leaving much of my stuff behind, with a night of discomfort, with scanty shelter and scanty food for the most of the officers and many of the men. Only the possession Of the improvised pack train alluded to above saved us from being worse. Yes terday l sent in a detail of six men and officers to see if they could not purchase proper food, clothing, etc., for the men, even if we had to pay for it out of our own pockets. Our suffering has been due primarily to lack of transportation and proper food or sufficient clothing and of medical supplies. We should now have wagon sheets for tentage. Very respect fully, THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
 The first report is dated Trenches of the men who were killed or wounded and how the Spaniards were finally driven over the brow of the hills front ing on Santiago. The report concludes as follows:
 By this time the regiments were much mixed and We were under a very heavy fire, both of shrapnel and from rifles, 1 from the batteries, entertainments and forts Immediately in front of the city. 1 On the extreme front now found my six cavalry regiments and the two bat 1 teries under me. The Spaniards made one or two efforts to retake the line, but were promptly driven back. Both Gen. eral Summer and you sent me word to hold the line at all hazards, and that | night we dug a line of entrenchments across our front. using the captured nothing to eat except what we captured | from the Spaniards; but their dinners | had fortunately been cooked and we ate | them with relish, having been fighting l all day. We had no blankets or coats l and lay by the trenches all night. The | Spaniards attacked us once in the night, and at dawn they opened a heavy ar tillery and rife fire. Very great assist ance was rendered us by Lieutenant Par ker's Calling battery at critical moments | of the firing line in a way that repeated | Iy called forth the cheers of my men. One | of the Spanish batteries which was used | against us was directly in front of the over the battery, saving it from our fire | for a considerable period. The Spanish | Mauser, bullets made clean wounds, but brass jacketed bullet which exploded, making very bad wounds indeed.
 We went into the fight about 490 strong. there are, half a dozen missing. The great heat prostrated nearly forty men, some of them among the best in the regi- | ment. Besides Captain O'NeiE and Lieu tenant Haskell, Lieutenants Leahy, De- vereaux and Case were wounded. All | behaved with great gallantry. As for | Captain O'Neill, his loss Is one of the | severest that could have befallen the regi- ment. He was man of cool head, great | executive ability and literally dauntless | 
 The guerrillas in trees not only fired at | our troops, but seemed to devote them- selves especially to shooting at the sur geons, the hospital assistants with Red | Cross bandages on their arms, the wound ed who were being carried in filters and | the burying parties. Many of these guer- | rillas were dressed in green uniforms. We sent out detail of sharpshooters among | those in our rear, also along the line | where they had been shooting the wound- ed and killed thirteen.
 To attempt to give list of the men | who showed signal valor would necessi- | tate sending in an almost complete roster | of the regiment. Many of the cases | which I mention stand merely as exam