The evening times., 1898-09-14
The Great Record Made by the
Twenty-fourth Infantry.
THEY FOUGHT AT SAN JUAN
Then White Officers and Negro Pri-
Same Unfincbing Courage They
Showed on San Juan's Bloody
Hill.

OHel VI Tie y,
which has had among its other officers
Gen. Lawton, Gen. Mackenzey, Gen.
Doubleday Gen. Potter, Gen. Bliss and
Gen. Kent. After the fight at San Juan
Hill the Twenty-fourth dropped out of
sight. and for more than a month and a
half it was practically lost to the world.
During this time 1t went through an ex-
perience not easy to parallel.
In the attack on San Juan Hill the
black TWenty-fourth was ordered for
ward, to be supported by the Ninth and
Thirteenth Infantry. There were more
than 600 men in the regiment, and they
were marched a mile and a quarter by
the right flank, so as to take d position
at the front In performing this move
ment they passed the other regiments,
turned and formed at the front of the hill
Back of them and to their left were high
hills from which during their march to
position the nearly noiseleSs Mausers
rained a stream of bullets. 1t was not
till the regiment formed In the narrow
valley at the foot Of San Juan Hill that
the source of these bullets was known.
A few minutes after this preparatory for
nation the firing from these hills increas-
ed, and the position became untenable,
and the blacks moved forward 10 the at
tack. This brought them within range
of the other position held by the Span
iards, and from the right. from the left,
from behind from the treetops. seeming
ly from all around them came the leaden
hail. Men began 10 fall in numbers. many
shot in the right leg and the left shoulder
at the same time. Few who were shot
| received less than two wounds, and the
march up the hill was marked by the
| sight of tumbling. stumbling men, pitch
| ing forward in the death struggle.
| The Spaniards, counting on their ex-
| perience with the black insurgents, had
concentrated their fire on the Twenty
| fourth as the weakest part of the advanc-
| ing line and the regiment likely to be
thrown soonest into confusion The Twen-
| ty-fourth kept on, meeting the fire from
! the hilltops unfiinchingly, ignoring the
| CALLING cross-fire. not ,minding the bullets
| that pattered on the wire fence ahead,
| buried themselves with spiteful speed in
| the mud beneath or sang in high cadence
| over their heads. The men of the Ninth
| and Thirteenth began to fall. too, and
most of the losses of these regiments oc-
! CURED on the TANKS nearest the Twenty
fourth.
1t took the Twenty-fourth forty minutes
| to ascend San Juan Hill, and in that time
! Gen. WikoT had been shot in the back,
and while being carried TO the rear had
|
his successor, was shot in the back and
dragged off, and Lieut.. Col. Liscomb, who
next took command, was shot through the
shoulder and carried back On the hill
Col EwerS took command~and the TWEEN
tyfourth gained the trenches with a loss
of eight officers and eighty-five men. In
the trenches Ma jor Markley of the Twen-
ty-fourth, took command, and in the try
ing days that followed the battle of Sar
Juan Hill he upheld his command under
vicissitudes that few officers have beer
| called on to face.
For ten days the Twenty-fourth was or
San Juan Hill, relieving other commands
at different points a night and returning
10 camp in the trenches by day. There
were few shelter tents to accommodate Z
officers and men, and the sun scorched
the rain fell and soaked both men anC
ground, and sleep was TO be had only il
the mud. 1t was weary, heart-breakin.
work. this. and after a rest on the soggy
hill the men resumed their duties, stiff
| fened and weak.
On the tenth day an order was received
for the men to move off the hill and
camp and make themse yes comfortable
| The order was heard with satisfaction
and the regiment moved over TO a hi J.
side and began clearing the ground for a
camp and prepared TO have one nights
good rest. Fatigued and worn out by ex.
pcsure and constant duty. the men set a,
work with all the vim they could muster
and made good progress. The camp was
nearly ready at 4 p. m, when new or
der was received for the regiment to pro-
coed to Siboney at once. By p m. the
men were ready to start on an all-night
march. The night was pitch dark, the
brilliant southern stars, hidden by the
trees. lending scarcely a ray to illumi-
| - ha ,NI1
| along the trails over the hillsides and
| fioundered in puddles of water and mud
| Ii became necessary frequently for the
| men to grasp one anotherS hands 10
avoid being lost in the gloom or entanglet
in briar and underground. At a. m the
white tents of the hospital of Siboney
could be discerned from a hilltop, and
worn out by the tolls of the day and
night. the men lay down on the ground
and sipet with cold dew settling around
them.
Early that morning Major Markley
| went down the hill alone, poked around
and found out what his command was ex.
pccted to do. That climb back to the tor
Of the hill, where rested his tired but un-
complaining regiment. must have beer
made with a sinking heart for he had
learned that his men, having fought the
Spaniards SO bravely, were now to be
used as nurses and laborers in the yellow
fever hospital, two miles up the railroad
from Siboney. But If Major Markley hao
thoughts of encouragement he hid then
| we'll
He cheerfully announced the regiments
new duties, commented upon them as be
ing evidence of the worth of the Twenty
fourth, laughed at the officers who nigh
have felt weak-kneed, and reassured the
soldier whose looks indicated that he hes
itated at the test of the pesthouse. He
discovered soon that he had made som,
progress in reassurng his command, ant
seiZing the opportunity, called for volun
i, | teerS for the yellow fever tents. Capt
Augur quickly aided his commander ant
fifteen men volunteered from his compa
ny This started the ball rolling, and th
other captains, following the example s.
! bravely set by Capt. Augur. furnished tn
complement of sixty-five nurses for tn
yellow fever post. The detail started ol
their mission without murmur, withou
a protest that they had been mustered II
as soldiers, not as yellow fever nurses. l
{ was serious squad that marched out il
. the forenoon to take their station at tn
4 | post down the railroad nevertheless.
But the task before the regiment ha
2 | only begun. Volunteers for burial detail
volunteers for cooks, volunteers for polio
ing, volunteers for all manner of work at
tached to attending to some 200 sick no
$ | in the yellow fever camp were called fo
' till more than 100 men besides the nurse
were lined up for assignment.
After these necessary arrangements haC
l been made Major Markley called his Off
: GERS together for consultation. He ex
planned that it would be best for the Off
: GERS to camp on the hill instead of in tn
| valley, where SO many sick were, ant
| though a long walk would be made nee
essary by the arrangement, he believed