The age-herald., 1898-08-11
BRAVERY OF
 THE MARINES Gallant WOrkof Huntington's Men at Guantanamo Bay THE OFFICIAL REPORTS Of the Commanders Given Out by Navy Department.
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE ENGAGEMENT When the EnemY's Base of Supplies
 Was Destroyed. MOUNTAIN SEPARATED FORCES And Each Attempted to Gain It's Crest as Vantage Point Americans Were Successful, But Were .s |
 Fired on Heavily.
When the EnemY's Base of Supplies
 Was Destroyed.
MOUNTAIN SEPARATED FORCES

Waashington, Aug. 10-The navy depart ment today gave out for publication the official reports on the gallant work of the marines at Guantanamo bay. They include those of Commander McCalla of the Mar blehead, in charge of the naval forces there; Colonel Huntington, in charge of the marines, and Captain Elicit. The lat ter refers to the engagement which oc- cured when the well supplying the ene- my's base was destroyed. It is the most interesting of the reports, and is as fol- lows:
 Camp McCalla, Guantanamo Bay, June 15, 1S9S.-Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report:
 In accordance with your verbal directions l left camp at a.. m. yesterday with two companies of the battalion, c and D, com manded respectively by First Lieut.. L.. c. Lucas and Capt. William F. Spicer, with an aggregatae of 160 men and fifty Cubans, under command of Lieutenant Co onel Eu- gene Thomas.
 My orders were to destroy the well at Cusco, about six miles from this camp, which was the only water supply of the enemy within twelve miles of this place, and the existence of which made possible the continuance of the annoying attacks upon our forces in camp here. Two mi es and half from Cusco half the Cubans and the first platoon of Company c, under Lieutenant Lucas command, passed over a mountain on our left, hoping to cut off the enemys pickets. In this we failed, and our force was discovered by the Span- ish outpost. which retreated immediately . and gave the alarm to the main body, whose headquarters were in a house at Cusco
 Separated by Mountain
 A high mountain separated the two forces at this point and each attempted to gain it's crest as point of vantage In this we were successful, but were fired on heavily by the enemy from the valley at a distance of 800 yards. The fire was replied to by the Cubans of the main body. Lieutenant Lucas, with thirty-two men of his platoon and the remaining Cubans, came into the fight at Il :15, the other nine of his platoon becoming exhausted and were obliged to return to Camp McCalla. Lieutenant Ban- non conducted the second platoon of Com- pany c just below the crest of the hill out of range of the enemy, leaving the mar row path, which was the only road, and making their way through the cacti. Just in the rear of this platoon and following in single file was company D. The crest of the hill was in the shape of horseshoe. two-thirds encircling Cusco valley and the we'll. The Cubans, Companies c and D, oc- Cup1eQ One-ndlI UT IHlS HOTSeSHOe Tiu6c, while Lieutenant l.. J. McGil with one platoon of Company A came up from the valley on the opposite side, where he had been stationed an outpost from Camp McCalla having been attracted by the heavy fire and believing his force necessary to our assistance, and occupied the left een- ter of this horseshoe ridge. As soon as he saw our position he sent one of his men around to report to me. For fifteen min- utes we were marching under heavy fire, to which no reply was made, to gain this position.
 Broke for Cover
 By the use of glasses and careful search bv the men, individuals were dscerned here and there and fire being opened upon them they would break from cover to cover and we were thus enabled to gain targets at which to fire, which had been hereto fore impossible, owing to the dense chap paral in which the enemy sought cover. Many of the men fired as coolly as at tar get practice, consulting with each other and their officers as to the range. This movement of the enemy gave Lie',tenant MaGill an opportunity to get id cross fire which was well taker Advantage of. Hav- ing reduced the -sflemy's fire to struggling shots tne United States steamer Dolphin, which had been sent along the coast to cooperate with us If possible, was sig nailed to shell the house used as the ene- my's headquarters and also the valley, but she was too far to the front, having mis- taken the valley intended, that her fire was in Lieutenant MaGill'5 direction, driv-. ing him to the reverse side of the ridge. $ However this shell fire started the emmy from his hiding place which gave the other companies the opportunity to fire at them.
 Signal to Cease ring
 Signal was made to the Dolphin to cease firing and Lieutenant MaGill was directed to form skirmish line and move down tie valley in front of him in order to rout out the enemy, driving him toward the sea. This was defeated by renewed shell fire from the Dolphin.
 The fight, which began at Il a. m., was now near a close, being over at a. m. The enemy began a struggling retreat at D. m. getting out of the valley as best they could.
 The fire of the force under my command was at all times deliberate and well aimed, sights being adjusted and volleys were fired when sufficiently large bodies of the enemy