The National tribune., 1898-08-11

opened fire upon it, One bullet, evidently
intended for the cook OF the hospital. al
work about his fire, passed between il
and the table where the surgeons were
taking their evening meal. The direction
whence IL came was noted, and Corporal
and three men OF the 18th Inf sent out tt
find the shdrpshCoter, brought him to the
ground IN a lew minutes.
Before dark OF the first day wound ed
men had begun to arrive, and by 7 clock
hundreds had accumulated There had
been no help provided for the hOspita
attendants to put up tents, and very little
OF that work had been accomplished
When | reached the hospital Dr. Wood
surgeon in charge, asked me to give him
some assistance in providing sleeping
| places Tor men whose wounds had been
attended To- temporarily. The ground was
covered with grass 20 inches or two feet IN
hight, and heavy dew soon made walk
ing IN this equal To wading in d stream
tents were spread on the grass and ths
men lay down upon the canvas and ther
were covered with tent files If they had
no blankets.
II was interesting to note the difference
between the veteran and the recruit The
old soldier generally had his blanket
haverSack and canteen with him The
new man had nothing One man of the
2d Mass told me that his Captain refused
to allow him To bring away his blanket
saying he would get blankets at the
hospital.
Men kept coming in all night By mid
night an acre Of ground was covered with
wounded as thlckly as they could lie and
enable US To move about among them
The canvas was all used, and then, in
default oi any better place. the men were
obliged 10 lie down upon the wet grass
without covering or anything between
them and the ground.
AMERICAN ENDURANCE
The wounded bore the hardship and
suffering wonderfully well. They waited
patiently until they could be attended to.
the only demand being for water. The
endurance of some passed comprehen-
sion. | had noticed one man standing
apparently uncOncerned for some time
aud thought him friend of some wounded
man whom he had brought there for aid
When he asked me for a place to lie down
in, l said to him, Il can only furnish
places for the wounded" To which he
replled, II am wounded" And | found
that he had been shot through the BODY
not more than an inch above the heart
the ball passing out through the shoulder
blade. With this wound he had walked
nearly four miles, and then without com
plaint had waited over an hour for atten
ton.
Another man, whose skull had been
ny Dctil tfldt pdSSeu through
the top of his head, and who was part of
the time deliriOuS, took me for a priest
and insisted on my giving him the last
rites of the Catholic Church | could not
undeceive the man, and whenever | tried
to leave him he would seize hold of me
and repeat his request. | removed him
into tent that we had succeeded in
putting up, and about the time The re-
moval was accomplished the Chaplain of
the 9th Mass, with two whom ne called
his boys, one under each arm, came to
me for place for them. told him of the
situation of the man, and he went over to
him and administered the last rites to the
unfortunate fellow.
And SO the work went on. All night
long wounded came back from the field
supported by comrades, or car
ried on Htters; the use of wheeled vehicles
was out of the question. Seven operating
ta bles were going by the light of the lamps
near the entrance to the hospital grounds,
and ii was As on the morning of the I'd of
July when the last man had received
succeeded in getting about IS minutes
sleep, but the surgeons had no rest, and
before the battle was over some of them
had worked 60 hours without sleep At
8 O'Clock was called to breakfast. at the
surgeons tent, and half an hour later was
on the way to the front. | found that two
batteries had been moved during the night
around near the redoubt of San Juan
which position it was thought would bring