The Wadsworth dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1892-1899, 1898-09-28

ordering one volley to be fired.
ut was on Friday, the first day OF
the fighting, that | was wounded. We
were then Ia miles up from Siboney.
The Seventy-flrst was in the left center
of the First brigade Of the First divi-
sion. and we had received instructions
to advance and hold a small .stream of
water there. Then we were instructed
TO hold u fire and await orders. We
reached the stream all right. and while
we we're waiting for orders the sharp
shooters began to pick us of.
Corporal Immen was the first. He
was shot straight through the head. He
was standing up at the time and pitched
forward on his face. He did not die for
about 20 minutes. but he was uncon
scious, and / don't believe he knew
what hit him. Then Private Mcintyre
had a piece Of flesh about a quarter of
an inch thick gouged out of his chest
by q Mauser bullet. He announced
quietly that be had been hit. and while
he was talking Private Kirby was snot
through the leg. Then Private Althause
said that he had got a bullet in the leg.
All this time we were holding q fire
and awaiting orders. You see those
Spanish sharpshooters were hidden i'll
mango trees. The foliage is thick, much
thicker than any In the United States.
and as they used smokeless powder the
were hidden completely. And l want
to say here that all talk about Span.
iards being towards is bosh. They
fought like deyils. They were strongly
intrenched, and when our forces charged
the fighting was desperate.
"Shortly after Althause vas hit I felt
an awful pain shoot through iny right
arm. A Mauser bullet had gone clean
through tie bones Of my hand, entering
between the kndckles Of the second and
third fingers, smashing the bone and
coming out In o. slanting direction OIL
the inside OF the hand. My wound war
temporarily dressed, and / vas ordered
to the rear.
"While I was on my way back the
orders came for the charge to be made
on the blockhouss up the hin. With
the Seventy.irst were the Sixth infantry
and the Sixteenth infantry, two Of the
finest regiments In the regular army.
That charge was magnificent. IL was
glorious. It beat anything ] ever saw.
Our boys never faltered, but rushed
along neck aud neck with the regulars
and chased up the hill under wither.
ing frs. The blookhouse was captured,
and tho regulars congratulated our boys
on tho showing they had made.
Sergeant SchoAeld Of Company A |
and Private Skinner Of Company B
were killed exactly as Corporal Immen
was The. Mauser bullets went. clear
through their heads. Qpartermester
Sergeant J. ]. Long was shot in the hip
and had to be carried to the rear. He
was entitled to stay in the rear during
the fighting, but refused to do 50. He
said he had come to Cuba to fight, and
he intended. to scrap or know the reason
why. Major w. D. Bell. our surgeon,
and Chaplain George r. Van De Water
were also in the thickest Of the fight
looking after the wounded. The wound.
ed men behaved especially we'll in the
hospitals and on the field before help
arrived. There was but little ~groaning
or moaning, and that by men who were
only half conscious. They cheered each
other up. and some even cracked jokes
SO that their fellows in misfortune
would not give way. IL was q common
thing to hear q man who was all bat
tered aud shattered by bullets say to the
surgeon: Major, my wound hurts. like
hell, but that fellow over there is hurt
worse than am. / can stand 1t 10 or
Is minutes, until You. get through with
him. l toll you II made You feel proud
that you were an American to see such
ganieness." rFti
Pardon me-" interrupted q bystand
CT, ''but | wish you would tell me W hal
missing means. l have q relative il
the regular army. and his name appears
among the missing"
"I'diiate toshave any friend Of mine
reported missing. /" replied Lieutenan
Trull sadly. You see, the underground
there 10 so dense. that ! believe the ma
jority OF the missing men were mel
who were wounded and who were neve,
found in the uildersrowth Where the,
fell. The grass gets matted and tangled
up, sometimes reaching a height of X,
feet. You can't force your way through
1t. You a only cut a path with a
machete. The roads are but trails, ant
you a see how easily a wounded maj
could be lost. OF course some of tn
missing might have turned up at tn,
rear and been attached to other compa
MES, or some might have been captured
but ! think the chances are muc,
against either event. | am afraid tia
all the missing will eventually b,