Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1898-07-29

him i'm language more forcible than ele-
CANT TO come up onto the line and as he
didn't seem TO see the need OF complying
| went back ana rushed him up. We
maintained our bind sort Of shooting
for ten or fifteen minutes and then III
the face OF a fire tnat was not decreasing
IN the least We were ordered 10 advance.
Going ahead about 80 yds. we laid down
again and opened fire fired until my
carbine got SO hot / couldn' hold 1t and
then getting tired Of shooting Dlindly in
To that jungle / resolved lot TO fire
again until | saw something TO shoot at
Fixing my attention on IA spot more open
than the rest | watched tor Spaniards
Soon | distinguished three men stand
ing, whether facing toward Us or i'll the
opposite direction | conldn't determine
called an officers attention 10 them
but he thought they were Cubans and
advised me 90 hold my fire. After the
fight we found the Cubaus Il mile in our
rear and so | missed e shot at the first
Spaniard | saw. Speaking OF the Cuban
"patriols, the position they held 1T the
conclusion OF the Battle OF Guaslmas
pronounced "Mas-si- mus they have
held consistently ever since, the
c)warlly thieves Their principal Occu-
patton SINCE the arrival OF American
troops has been 10 bang on our rear
and pinch anything that isn't nailed
down. RObbing the dead is pastime
witha Cuban. They are monErel race
OF half breeds of whom the largest half
is the lowest type OF plantation negro
God help Cuba If 1t is ever given over
10 them. 1t would be "Out of the frying
pan into the fire.
But to return to my description by
slow advances we drove the Spaniards
out Of the brush and at last started them
on the run for Santiago. 1t took two
hours and a half TO do 1t for they num-
bered 1000 while the whole American
force numbered about 900 / happened
to be standing on the line near Lieut.
Col Roosevelt, and he called me TO him,
and invited me 90 sit down. He maintains
! the most friendly terms with all his men
and says that he wants TO know each
man personally. We talked Of the in
cidents of the fight and when | asked
| him what he thought Of his regiment he
SAID me felt II an honor 60 be one of it,
members Tie isalways in the place of
greatest danger and leads ais men in
person, and they would follow him
through he'll Itself. Such dare devils
were never gathered together before.
After the fight we went into camp on
! the hill from which we had driven the
! Spaniards. The next day we buried our
dead, among whom were Capt CaprOn
OF L. Troop aud Hamilton Fish, a New
York millionaire. l knew personally ON
! ly one man who was killed, man
named DOrety of Detroit who was
| think the first Michigan soldier killed in
the war. He was the last man | spoke
to before wedeploye q through the fence.
The second day after the fight we adj
vanced again and went into camp
which we maintained until the day be-
fore the first Of July when the second
! light began. On the afternoon of thu
Both we broke camp again and marched
until about nine at night. All marches
in Cuba are alike, hard and uresome.
| We slept ON cur arms again and | was
so tired | went TO bed supperless. The
next morning we awoke 70 hud that in
the darkness we had taken up a position
TO support battery Of light artillery
which was being posted on hill just III
! front of us. Taking my canteen for q
bluff | went up on the hill top and found
| that it overlooked Santiago itself.
| looked long and curiously little know
ing how soon / was to have much
closer view. After eating IA hearty
breakfast we did up our rolls and
watched the artillery get into action
At 6:30 they opened ire and with smil-
| ng faces we cheered the gunners when
| they made a good shot. But soon the
smiles disappeared for with a curiously
ominous half whistle, half flutter a
Spanish shell came sailing toward US,
and exploded in the air few yards III
advance of us killing curious Cuban
| who had climbed on top Of a house 70
get a better view. The second shell fell
amongst the gunners killing three and
| wouuding a lot more, the third dropped
among the Rough Riders and killed and
| wounded five This was getting inter
esting, as one COW puLcher near me re-
marked, too d. interesting, so we were
moved from our exposed position % a
ravine near by and lay there for Il while.
Soon our fighting orders came and stack
ing our lOlls and putting guard over
| them we marched toward the front
! The battle at Caney over TO our right had
| begun already. After an hours march
we got the command to maintain silence
and this time there was no need TO order
! the carbiucs 10 tded, we knew what was
coming and instinctively every man
! opened his magazine, slipped in the iil e
cartridges, drew back the lever, put a
| cartridge in the chamber and locked his
piece. Then that OmlnOus silence again,
our scouts were feeling for the enemy
again Fighting Spaniards IN tins jan
gle Is worse than lighting Indians on the
| plains. Nature has provided natural
barriers ana the enemy had re-enforced
them by artificial means so that 10 one
who has not been over the ground per-
sonally can at all appreciate the Difficult.
ties that confronted the American army
! tbat first OF July. It's a curious COIN
cidence that the battle of Santiago oc-
cured OH the Both anniversary OF the
! Battle of Gettysburg, and was opened by
me same brigade namely che Second Bri-
| gade Cav, III this case composed Of the
! list Reg Cav 10th Reg. Cav (colored
and the Rough Riders. Soon our al.
! vance uncovered the enemy and tbc ball
opened. We were held In res rye fOr the
greater part of the morning out if any
| one has an idea that the reserve Is a
place OF safety they must dismiss tn,
idea at once IN fact think we lostm1rc