El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-07-25
Personal Observations at Santa 90
New York Tribune.

Personal Observations at Santiago
New York Tribune.
The experiences and observations of
Private III. l.. Baker, of Company |,
list regiment, If put in print, would
make good history of the entire San
tiago campaign, both on land and on
recover from a slight attack of fever.
He was in the thick of the fight, but
escaped without wound. This is the
story of his experiences as he told
it to Tribune reporter on the
Olivette:
THE heaviest work in the fighting
was done by the Rough Riders. the 18th
Infantry and the list Regiment This,
l think, is what any participant in the
first shot was fired by Tom Isabel, of
Colonel Roosevelt's cavalry. Isabel
killed his man and how many others l
don't know. He was wounded seven
times before he quit. don't know
which troop he was in, but
I'll never forget the way he
fought. The first man killed
in the list Regiment was Private Deck:
err, of Company 1. We were ordered
was the first man there. He dropped
as he was about to fire. The story
about cowardice in the list is lie,
and that's all [ care to say about it,
We fought under great disadvantages
because of our powder, and were sew
eral times told to stop firing. At one
time we got into an ambush where we
were fired on from three sides at once
This explains why so many of our fel.
lows were wounded in the soles of the
feet as they were lying on the ground
Much of the time we couldn't see the
Spaniards at all, although we knew
they were within three hundred yards
of US. Sometimes it seemed as though
the trees were full of them, picking US
off right and left.
''The work of the Rough Riders was
something magnificent. They fought
like fiends. and it is wonder that so
many OF them came out of the fight
alive. For that matter it was most
gratifying to hear the praise the for
eign military attaches gave our troops.
such fighting. Our fellows fought as
though they did not know what de-
feat meant. They no more thought of
turning back, even under the hottest
fire, than they did of flying over the
Spanish intrenchments right into
Santiago In the first days fighting a
body of seven hundred or eight hun
and half hours Of fighting, whip
ped and drove back four thou
sand Spsuiards, although the
enemy was strongly intrenched behind
their own breastworks. We heard sf-
terward that the four thousand Spani-
ards had boosted that for the two and q
half hours they had held the entire
American Army in check. When our
troops finally gained the breastworks
we found the bitches full of dead men,
most of them shot through the head,
and many on the hands and shoulders.
these being the only parts of them we
could aim at.
81 had the great good luck to witness
the destruction of Admiral Cervera's
fleet, and it was one of the grandest
sights that history will ever tell about.
Another sight that l shall never forget
was the reception our men gave Lieu
tenant Hobson. Every man in the
camp who had strength to use his vocal
chords and to drag his legs out where
Lieutenant Hobson was, joined in the
and you would have
thought to see US that every man there
was raving maniac.
II want to say word for the doc
tors: They worked necessarily, and
tried their best by their diligence to
make up for the lamentable lack of
their number. This was true not only |
on the field, but also on this ship COM
ing up from Santiago. With over
three hundred men aboard, there has
not been death or even an amputa-
ton. Not oven a finger has been lost
oy the use OF surgeons knife.