The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-12
FROM THE FIELD OF BATTLE.
CONTINUED from Eighth Page.)

tiers. The Spaniards are afraid of them
They can be scornful when they are IN
camp or in the cities but when they get
out in the field and il is face 10 face with
the Cubans, they know il is death for one
or the other You can't blame che Gu
bans much. though. See the way the
Spaniards did us Their sharpshOoters,
hiding in trees and from other cover, shot
down the men carrying the wounded from
the field. shot the wounded on the filters,
and otherwise established the truth of the
stories of cruelty that have been told of
them in the past. Il got TO be more dan
gerouS to try to remove the wounded than
TO stay in the thick of the fight. One ne
gro soldier, who was helping an officer
off the field, was nearly shot two or three
times by a Spaniard in a tree. The bull
lets were probably intended for the Off
Ger. Putting the wounded man behind the
tree the soldier soon got the range on the
sharpshooter and brought him dead to the
ground. One wounded man was killed
while in a litter by a sharpshooter. The
Spaniard was located and was soon rid
died with bullets. 1t was so dangerous
for the wounded, as well as those helping
them, to try and get to the rear, that
those who were able to get along were
told to crawl or roll along the ground so
as not to become targets for the Span
iards There is no question that they de-
iberately set to work to pick off the
wounded, and especially the officers"
The feeling against the SpaniardS on ac-
count of this murder of the wounded and
defiance of the rules of warfare, became
very bitter and some of the Spaniards
who were captured are said to have found
their way into the hands of the Cubans
who made short work of them in revenge
for their own long list of wrongs at their
hands. A few Spaniards, captured by
Americans, who were too busy to carry
them to the rear, were doubtless placed
in the hands of Cubans and added to the
list of dead or missing.
Trooper Hoekstrah is positive that the
Cubans massacred the Spanish prisoners
placed in their charge. Once at their
mercy it was not long before a machete,
swung with lightning speed, caught the
prisoner on the neck and sent his bleeding
head to the ground, the dismembered
trunk being thrown contemptuously aside.
Knowing what was in store for them, the
Spaniard's first plea when taken prisoner
was 10 be kept away from the Cubans.
All expect to be slain a once if the Gu
bans get control of them, and experience
tends to show that their belief is well
based.
While the soldiers had no time to eat
for many hours, there was an occasional
opportunity to get water, and the suffer
ing from thirst was much less than might
be supposed. Springs of cool water gave
chance to Stake their thirst at times.
For forty-eight hours they fought with
scarcely any food and it was an eX-
hausted force that welcomed The oppor-
tunity to lie down and rest on the blood
stained battle ground. Evidences We're on
all sides that the loss to the Spanlards
had been greater than that inflicted on
the Americans. One feature of the fight
was the finding of jugs of rum and
whisky in the trenches from which the
enemy had been driven. Spanish prisoners
said they had had nothing to eat and had
been given the liquor TO drink to brace
them up for the battle The American Of
ficers made the soldiers break the jugs
and let the contents run out.
1T almost broke the hearts of lots Of
the boys to see adj that good stuff going
to waste said one of the privates,. "but
l guess the officers were right. The Span
iards might have poisoned the whisky for
all we knew. Men who will shoot wound
ed men from ambush may be open to sus-
picion about anything.
Gen. Joe Wheeler, the men in Savannah
said, is the most popular commander in the
army. Men from all sections have be.
come endeared to him, and if the war lasts
long he promises to become the idol of tht
volunteers.
The wounded soldiers left on the Kansa.
| City at noon for New York