Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-08-30
MODEST FRED M'CABE
Story of Returned Rough Rider" Of
the Cuban Campaign boys
All Fought Well.
BULLETS FAIRLY RAlNED
Captain Muller's Experience in Indian
Fighting Valuable-All Shared Alike
When Food Was S~carce-Santa
FEES Wounded.

When in May last saw the pick of
Santa FEES sons being hurried off to war,
my mind could not picture them as | see
them coming home today - robust,
healthy youths they went away; shat
tered, physical wrecks they are now.
The first of Santa FEES boy soldiers to
come back is Fred McCabe, who hurried
home on furlough to the bedside of a
dying father. When I saw him yester-
day, weak, thin and partially deaf, my
heart went out to the poor reconcen.
trados. If our Nor who had a power
full government behind them could have
suffered so much in two months, in the
name of God what have the poor
wretches endured, who were prosecuted
for two years by a mighty government?
From the time the boys left here until
they got off to Cuba, life was dull to
them, daily routine was drill, eat and
lounge around, but once in Cuba their
condition changed, the scene rapidly
shifted.
In going over on the Yucatan the
rations given out were canned beans,
beef, tomatoes, hard tack and steamed
coffee. The beans and tomatoes Soured,
hence their meals were beef and steamed
coffee. Of course there was a steward,
but the rich Trough Riders" from New
York, who had lots OF money, paid big
prices to get the best, and the poor
devils who had but a few cents to pay
| got what was left. One sick soldier on
the way over paid $40 for a pie, and his
| government paid him $13 a month for
| the privilege of giving up his life.
From the moment the boys got on
Cuban soil they realized the time to fight
had come. Some of them may have
wished they were at home, but if they
| did it never will be known, because they
will not w it.
Those letters which appeared from
time to time were more or less eXag.
gerated. The boys all fought well, and
as near as l could gather yesterday
from Fred McCabe they got on about as
follows:
"We left Siboney in the morning. The
day after, while in a narrow canon with
tropical brushes all around us. we were
ambushed. / guess the officers knew
the S~paniards were close by, but for a
moment we were ratified by the volleys
that seemed to come from out the
ground. They told us to lie down and
fight. The Spaniards fought like Ben
gal tigers and seemed to have our range
exactly, but they fell back from pit to
pit, then back into their block houses,
and in two hours and a half they broke
and ram. No, 1 can never tell what it
was like. The bullets fairly ralned, the
shells screaming, the wounded and the
dying all around us groaning, pleading,
bleeding, swearing, with here and there
a bush or grass on fire made such a
sight that tongue will fail to tell it
And when the fighting was all over, we
all sat around, but none of us could
talk much, WI had a ringing in our ears,
and how our bodies got to shaking.
When we did get together we noticed
many places vacant, some were merely
wounded, but others answered calls nc
more. When came the order for q
bugler, there was not a bugler anywhere
in sight. At last we heard a call "cease
firing!" and when we raised our heads
above the grass we saw against the line
of Spanish guns and trenches a ragged
bugler, blowing, blowing, and then we
saw twas Gbc oIlLlil"uC was uAV I'LL
one around.
Captain Muller's experience in Indian
campaigns stood him well in hand, as
the tactics of the Spaniards were like
that of Lo. Captain Muller never asked
the boys to 60 any place, he only asked
that they would follow where he led,
And when the food for us was scarce
we knew that Fritz, at least, was none
the better off.
Now about the boys-Willie Schnepple
stood it best of all, Hudson, Hill, Hoglt
and Skinner took to fighting, naturally
DR.. Massie and Jim Brady did not gel
to Cuba, they are at Montauk Point, anC
are looking well. Lieutenant Viii
Griffin acted as clerk for Colonel Wood
awhile. Lieutenant Sherrard Coleman
was slightly wounded.
When Shafter gave the order for us
to charge the Spaniards, Pete Grifir
charged them in the same manner hi
formerly charged Santa Feans for water
(Wynkoop got a little flesh wound cause6
by the bursting of a shell.
The 10th cavalry, colored, will com
pare favorably with any fighting com
pany on earth.
Sergeant Wesley was also wounded
but Wesley comes from fighting stock an(
did not know that he was hurt. Chapil
got badly hurt but is coming on al
right. We did not witness the big nava
fight, but the oar of the guns out at sci
told us it was on, and we knew the biz
game was off.
If all those who return home from TIE
front are us modest as Private Fred NJ