The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-07-27
JUST ONE MANS EXPERIENCE


convenient and accessible corner Of ones
brain-pan A G. r
JUST ONE MANS EXPERIENCE
Detroit. Mich. July 2s.-Lieutenant Grin
B. Alyer. Of thesThird United States cav
airy. IS the first soldier OF the war 10
reach Detroit bearing the honorable
wounds OF battle. He came en- 3 visit 70
Captain 5. A. Smoke at Fort Wayne.
Wednesday and left yesterday for For,
Leavenworth, Kan. 10 visit his wife
Lieutenant Myer was wounded on the
first days fighting a. Santiago A Mauser
bullet struck him II the extreme lower
portion OF the abdomen. near the peSis.
and plou gaed rs way Though ten inches
OF flesh. coming cut near the base of the
spint. The wound was nola-ger in diam
eter than a lead pencil
The wounded officer gave description
OF the battle before Santiago. as he sat
rocking himself on the roOmy porch OF
Captain Smokes dwelling.
He is % years old and comes from an
old and respected family OF Cleveland.
OF athletic build and nervous energy. he
is a fair type OF the American soldier. He
has the Syrian cast OF countenance and
speaks with the fresh air of the plains in
his voice.
He told of the horrors OF that battle.
No one, he said, had ever described u,
and no one ever would.
a molten sun burned the troops; its
rays were like a million white-hot needles
soaring the flesh and binding the eyes
as the troops crept. stumbled and stag
gered forward in a perfect he'll OF fire.
he said
1T was Just at noon that was struck.
I felt as II someone had nit me a ter
rife blow with a sledgeLammer. re-
member that was leaning forward az the
time and that straigh tened up and said:
God, Jim, I'm done forr
Jim was another officer, who stood by
me, and as he turned 10 look at me. a
bullet pierced him through and through
and he fell across my legs. I lay there
for a full hour and no one but God and
myself knows how l suffered
The sun seemed to me to be setting
on fire the withered grass around me-
beat my hands about TO try and keep the
flames away. but there were no flames;
il was my fancy. All through that long
hour the bullets screeched and whistled
about me and here and there could see
some poor fellow straighten up and fan
with his arms beating the air"
WAS I afraid when going into the bat
tie? Yes I was afraid Who ever says
he would not be afraid under like cir
e1mstances Is both a fool and a liar. Ny
nerves were strained 10 such tension
that I felt as If the blood vessels IN my
head would burst. / kept saying to my
self as the bullets screeched about me:
The next one is for Grin! The next one
is for Orin' and would duck my head
as I heard them. Nearly every soldier
does that. 1 am told in his first battle.
II had lust said TO myself. The next
one is for Orin,' when PUNK 1 got IL
thought l was mortally wounded. for
I felt as tthe whole lower portion OF me
had been shot away. Ny right leg was
paralyzed for twenty-four hours, and l
was a very happy man when foono tnat
it was not permanently so.
'Our troops made some very bad mis-
takes: mistakes that will probably never
be made again. One was when co%ored
regiment that had pushed away up in
the very heart Of the fire, threw 10 the
breeze its regimental flag. The nag was
yellow and blue and resembied the Span
ish colors The American troops in the
rear. thinking the flag was the nag OF
Spain and that the cohored regiment was
a Spanish regiment. fired two volleys into
r. killing and wounding many OF the
brave colored lads.
Another mistake was made by Mich
igan company When the wagon tram
was taking myself and the hundreds OF
other wounded from the field to Siboney,
y NT,cbtgan soldier came out OF a grove
and for some unaccountable reason. dis
charged his rife. This seemed TO be
signal for terrific volley that came d.
rectly afterward from the company IN
the grove.
9Th. rnrFes attached TO the wagon train
we're wild fellows and the suden firing
starnpeded them. They ran away, and
the foremost. going into gully. all OF
the wagons crashed after. and the wreck
Of the train with the wounded men In X
was complete. II was six hours before We
could get assistance and have the wagon
train moved IN order.
, Are the spaniards good soldiers7 Wen.
YOU can bet your very existence they are
the best soldiers on earth, 7 believe. and
whenever you see a contrary statement
in the newspapers you can set II down az
a lie. They are NOT only devilish good
soldiers. but devf1sh good narksmen.
II was with the detachment that went
with a flag Of truce 70 General Toral' the
Spanish general defending santiago. The
old general received US with great cour-
tasv. and after II had been explained 20
him that further resistance on MS part
would be useless: that the fall OF Santiago
was certain. he said with a smile;
Soldiers and gentlemen. you know that
II Is possible for solder to die in de-
Tense OF his nag
yes, they are sfrategisis- For LID
Yards IN front OF their Entertainments they
had cut away the trees and brush. leaving
a pa lmetto tree here and one there ard
another beyond. Now. why did they rave
those trees standing They were ieft a.
range finders. The Span!srds had nea-
s-1re-5 ne distance from their iufrencn-
rnentz 20 each o. those trees sad they
knew exactly how - train their guns
when our troops approached in the open
eng. and they trained them vel too
Their very first shot disrnouated one ~
our best guns killed seven noea and
wounded score more
..,lo neither General Shatter ror Ger
e-sf wbee3s- VAS IN active command %
oi- troops Ro.a q thera were 81 ard
were about three rifles II ere rear - ne
ers.frr lire The troo7s we're Command (
81 by Asfu.art General John . Mhsy
- --s- q rra-e--ate o fCa1sa4a Smoke {