Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-08-20
4 HAILSTORM OF STEEL
ACROSS THE FORD N \ DEADLY FIRE
4, ,.,u,rn stc-y Of the santiago Battle
a. Told by scrEcnn, starr OF tho
Iwcnty-fourth.

NJ them bear upon thtF peTH'h' ti''
rr,rl,s ~ hardship and dlsease, or che
ee,rs Of battle. ci,zcnship takes a
i.,,er and more lofty meaning. whom
there minglos with "a those who Tor
love Of country. and Tor honor. have
given "tbs last suli measure Of devo-
don" Racial prejudice sinks away. and
only The man Il seen who barred MS
bosom to the bulio,s that the honor ~
ths flag might be- maintained. Width
or ofncsr or private there IL room for
an In such unbounded respect
Thursday evening Sergeant starr Of
Company D. Twen,y-fourih Infantry
came home on a thirty days leave OF
absence. lie was through she thlckcs;
" The battle Of san Juan. md though
nos wounded. was stricken with fever.
ana was sent back before She surron-
der. Sergeant Starr bears an honor
able record. lie Is one of two who
were In she service when the Twenty
fourth Infantry was formed out of tho
F0riy-nrst and Thlrty-rishih rcn-
mtnta after che close OF the Civil War
Tho other one was Sergeant Jones. who
is the preaon; drum major of she regi-
mont Starr enlisted In January, 1891,
In the ror,y-nrst and Jones In The
Thlr,y-clgh.h the following August.
starr ia man past middle age ana has
been clus.an,ly In the service Tor thlr-
iy years. ten % which was spent az
messenger 90 General Miles Hc tells
q graphic story % his experiences a.
the from, and being a man 81 more
than ordinary Intelligence. details che
events 1f thc bottle On the ist % July
IN very fun manner from the stand
point of 4 man in the ranks.
He spoke ferlIngiy ~ the demonsira-
tons along the rad. a. they went %
the South. and Hall " Inspired every
man In thn Twruty-fuurih 20 do hla
full duty This u the nrHt time." b.
added. II have ever spoken 10 a news.
ptpar reporter. and l would not do H1
nov bui th people % SlN Lake have
irliici ~ IKE men, and l cannot re-
Thlrc was some sickness In the
IWrniy-fuurih nt Tampa. but none of
that
The trip from Tampa TO Santiago"
said thu sergeant. was as pleasant A.
could De expected, and the weather
was excellent, but We were glad when
the mountains uf eastern Cula came 100
rlEht We landed on the 9th OF June
at slhony. about alN miles east ~ San.
Togo hnrhnf. After We landed We wcrr
marched about mile and n half from
the seashprc and went into camp In au
old C0cunW forest. We laid thore al
mat day ana sunday ana ON Monday
broke camp and marched up to the bait
tle ground. where the rough fidors had
ihclr battle. iinre We made camp aud
laid there until the sath OF June. About
= pm. nn The 2eth we broke camp and
marched about two miles anil went into
camp about II o'clock. Early on the
morning Of the iat uf July the nrinE
began. ana W kueg The battle was
on We wcru up before daylight. and
lY Hunup had hnnke camp. and took the
march toward Santiago. Tho road was
only tran. and outside % this was a
junElr illcd with thorna The only thing
that docs not bear thorna In a Cuban
jungle " rattan. ana you cannot walk
through u without first cutting your
way. We were obliged 10 keep 10 The
trails which had become a qunrmlrr
from the rnin. ~ $50 were along me
Nan Juan river going IN tho direction
~ thn ford. crossing over many streams
that now ln.u tho river, some 90 Them
being torrents caused 10y the ftln.
After cruHs'ng q large tributary ~ the
san Juan, at about pi5we wore ordered
20 unplek nud W. know We were going
Into action.
shortly after this We got TO the
ford. u was like marching into "A
hnllHtorin o. steel Therrnrmy was I'M
seen, but tho spanish shots were come
lnf from every direction. The trees
were fun 20 shlfp.tho1tera. ana the nrc
seemed ~ come from The tops uf tho
ircra ~ the ground. when We reached
the ford We found the rad WA
blocked ana We could not go any far
thfr. Tho nrc was terrific, "a man ON
each side % me was shot. aud men
wcrr falling an around We wcrf forced
10 seek cover. We only remained therr
short time whom tho order came 10
AT the ford was thc most trying
part OF the battle We could not See a
hpanlafd; We only felt the effects Of
their shots, and We know that Ia the
cungehted character 81 the rad, and
The crowded condition OF tho troops.
There were three regiments crowded
logdiher like aardiura IN hoxl that a
Tow Well-dirrrtrd shells would annlhl-
late us an, The call 20 march was The
most welcome words | ever hoard. We
were quickly at tho ford and were
pouring across under q deadly nre. A
part of our company made dash down
the stream, and making such a move
ment % right fan Into line" took
W Wv NAN'iH MNlAN WIS WAIST NrHn
an over, and In some places neck
This movement brought me on a
high bank, ana I snrang over into the
water up % my neck. a aharp-fhnlier
from a tree took n shot al me. and /
felt the heat OF the BAH na Il grazod
my neck. on the opposite hank was "A
harbed wire fence % about six wlras.
J came 90 the shore where a tree had
fallen down stream. ~ stump on the
bank, ana I crlwlCd up Just az one
of my men was cutting the wire, but
before he could do 20 n spanish bullet
shattered hts wrist and the nlppers fen
INTO the Hiroam. Another man picked
mem up and cut the wires ana we
charged w Toe bank, About atty yards
nom the strlm I saw Lieut. Quincy
lean over on Sergeant KEGS. and then
fnll 20 the ground We charged on
across piece OF country covered with
weeds and tan Frlss.
III was hero that 7 saw the first
spnniard. They were retrcntlng toward
San Juan hlll. The FIRE was lncrHsant.
both fiom rifles ana shells aud the sun
was beating down, making the place
Down Ike grasA Tho TWenty.f0ur
t9rmed the center OF the charge. with
me thirteenth on thu right ana the
nlNteenih on the lcfi, on making, Tor
me hlookhouse on the TOP m tho ht
Just before We came 20 the hin. Cap
tain Brctt WIS wounded, l saw him
holding his shattered arm up over his
shoulder and dashed on at the head