The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-08-11

| oiiSiell reports on the SaIidnJ Work or the
marines at Guantanamo bay. They include
! those of Commander McCaIla, of the Mar
hlehead, in charge of the naval forces there,
| Colonel Huntington. in charge of the ma.
rines, and Captain Elliott The latter refers
to the engagement which occurred when the
well supplying the enemy's base was de-
stroyed. 1t is the most interesting of the re-
ports and is as follows:
Camp McCalla, Cuba. June Is.
Sir have the honor to submit the fol-
lowing report: In accordance with your
verbal directions left camp at a. M yes
terday with two companies of the battalion.
9 and ID. commanded respectively by First
Lieutenant l.. c. Lucas and Captain William
F: Spicer with an aggregate of 100 men and
nifty Cubans, under command of Lieutenant
Colonel Eugene Thomas. Colonel sLaberde,
Oh the Cuban army, was also present, but
without command. My orders were to de-
stroy 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 pos
sible the continuance of the annoying at
lacks upon our forces in camp here.
Two miles and a half from. Cusco, half
the Cubans and the first platoon of Com
pany c. under Lieutenant Lucasis command,
passed over mountain on our left, hoping
to cut off the enemys pickets. In this we
failed and our force was discovered by the
Spanish outpost which retreated Immediate
ly and gave the alarm to the main body.
whose headquarters were in house at Gus
co.
"A high mountain separated the two
forces at this point and each attempted TO
gain it's crest as a point of advantage. IN
this we were successful, but were fired on
heavily by the enemy from the valley, at
to by the Cubans of the main body. Lieu-
tenant Lucas, with thirty-two men OF his
platoon and the remaining Cubans, came
into the fight at 11:15, the other nine men
of his platoon becoming exhausted and were
Obliged to return to Camp McCalla. Lieuten..
ant Bannon conducted the second platoon of
Company G, just below the crest of the hill,
out of fire from the enemy leaving the mar
row path, which was the only road, and
making their way through the cacti Just in
rear of this platoon and following in single
file was Company d.
UNDER A HEAVY FIRE.
1.-The crest of the hill was in the shape of
a horse shoe, two-thirds encircling CuAo
valley and the well. The Cubans, Companies
c and D occupied one-half of this horse shoe
ridge. while Second Lieutenant l.. j. Magill,
with one platoon (ffty mem, of Company
A, came up from the valley on the opposite
side, where he had been stationed as an
out post from Camp McCalla, having been
attracted by the heavy fire and believing his
force necessary to our assistance, and occu-
pied the left center of this horse shoe ridge.
As soon al ne saw our position he sent one
of his men around the ridge to report to me.
For fifteen minutes we were marching under
heavy fire to which no reply was made, to
gain this position.
by the use of glasses and careful search
by the men individuals were discovered 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 heretofore
impossible. owing to the dense chapparel in
which the enemy sought successful cover
Many of the men fired as coolly as at target
practice, consulting with zach other and
their officers as to range Among these were
Private Carter, Faulkner and Boniface, all
of whom did noticeable execution. This
M xy n
Magill an opportunity to get in cross
fire, which was well taken advantage of.
struggling shots the United States snip
Dolphin, Commander II. w. Lyon, Z. 5.
N. which had been sent along the coast
to cooperate with us if possible, was sig
nailed to shell the house used as the enemy'S
headquarters and also the valley, but she
was too far to the front having mistaken
the valley intended, that her fire was In
Lieutenant MagilPs direction, driving him
to the reverse side of the ridge. However,
this shell fire started the enemy from his
hiding places, which gave the other COM
panies the opportunity to, fire at them on
the move. Signal was made to the Dolphin
to cease firing, and Lieutenant Magill was
directed to form a skirmsh line and move
down the valley in front of him in order
to rout out the enemy driving him toward
fire from the Dolphin. The fight which be-
gan at II a. M was now drawing to close,
being over at p. M. The enemy. began q
struggling retreat at p. M. getting out or
the valley as best they could. ,yftrr
WASTED NO SHOTS.
1.-The fire of the force under my command
was at all times deliberate and aimed,
sights being adjusted and volleys were fired
when sufficiently large bodies of the enemy
could be seen to justify it. 80 The two
platoons of Company c, under First Lieu
tenant Lucas and Second Lieutenant p. NJ
Bannon, were handled with the best Of
judgment. Company ID crowded on the
firing line, and men ueedlessly exposed
themselves by standing in groups. First
Lieutenant w. G. Neville, commanding the
first platoon, did his best with the men in
front of him. Captain Spicer. commanding
Company d, was overcome by the sun ON
the top of the hill, and had to be sent on
board the Dolphin. Lieutenant Neville in
jured his hip and ankle in catching mis- foot
and falling down the mountain side after
the fight was over These accidents left
of Company ID. which he handled with en-
tire satisfaction. Forty men. left the crest
OF the hill at 5l5 F. N. M under ieutena an
house lately occupied by the enemy. Can
teens were taken from the men still holding
the crest and filled from water requested
| by signal. from the Dolphin The marines
fired on an average about sixty shots EACH
the Cubans belts being refilled during the
action from the belts of the marines, each
having to furnish six clips, or thirty cart
ridges itha oss 20 our force NOS ono 0r,,,a.o =,
twelve overcome by heat. These latter were
kindly taken on board the Dolphin and
cared for. This ship rendered every pOssi-
BILE assistance to tho expedition. Two Gu
bans were wounded during the fight on the
HILL one being accidentally shot by Colonel
well the Cubans were placed up the valley,
from which the enemy retreated and began
d noisy and hot fight with guerrillas, who
had not been dislodged. In this fight the
Cubans lost two killed and two wounded,
but killed five of the enemy. The march
home began at $50 p. M, camp being
reached al y. m.
tanned. which is believed to be reliable,
sixty of the enemy. among whom were two
officers, were killed The wounded were nu-
merOua but the wounds were probably light
owing to the range of 600 SEQ or 1000
yards. at which distances all explosive ef-
feet of the bullets were lost. Eighteen pris-
oners. including one lieutenant were cap
quantity of ammunition. Lieut.. Magill also
captured a complete Photograph outfit and
destroyed the signal station. This had been
used ever since our arrival here and could
be seen at all times. Before closing | de-
sire TO commend Lieut.. Magilfs good judy
ment in coming up and the excellent man
enr In which he handled his men, Sergeant
John Fl. Quick was Obliged 10 stand on the
open ridge under fire TO signal the DOH
phn which he did with the utmost cool
ness using his rifle with equal judgment
while not using signals.
MY only regret is that Company Il, un-
der the command of First Lieut.. james c.
Mahoney, which had been sent to- US from
an outpost near Camp McCalla when the
heavy firing was heard there, was unable
to report to me until p. m. Had he been