The Dickinson press., 1898-08-20
FIGHT OF BRAVE MEN
CAPTAIN THOMAS TELLS OF ROUGH
RIDERS DARING DEEDS

Captain Caprop. Dying. watched b Fight
Sergeant Bell. Painfully wounded
Fought On--I Am Wounded. was Al
IS Hamilton Fish Said when He Fell.
Captain John r. Thomas, Jr., Of Chi
cago. who had charge Of Troop L Of tn,
rough riders after Captain Capron wa
killed, was tho first of tho wounded sol
diers who arrived on the Olivette til,
other night to reach New York. HI
was met on board the Olivette BY hi.
father, Judge John r. Thomas Of tn.
United States court, Indian Territory,
and Miss Thomas Judge Thomas hat
obtained a leave Of absence for his sor
from the secretary Of wal.
Captain Thomas told IN interesting
story of the fighting Of the rough riders
"I am sorry" said he, '''that I did moi
have a chance to see more Of the fight
ing, but what I saw was Of the warm
est kind. On the Gath Of June I was
with Troop L at Qunsimas under Cap
tain Capron. We formed the advance
guard and went out on q narrow trail
toward Siboney. On the way we met
some of the Twenty-second men. who
told us that we were close to the enc.
my, as they had heard them at worh
during the night. Captain Capron, with
six men, had gone IN ahead Of us and
had come across tho body Of a dead Gu.
ban. Ten or fifteen minutes later Pri.
vate Thomas 1sbell of Indian Territory
saw q Spaniard in the brush ahead Of
him and fired. This was the first shot
from our troop, and the Spaniard fell
dead. Isbell himself was shot seven
times that day, but managed to walk
back to our field hospital, which was
fully four miles in the g He was
painfully but not dangerously wounded
and is now on the hospital ship City Of
Washington suffering from a badly in
jured thumb.
lit has been said that we were am
pushed, but that is not &c. Poor Cap
tain Capron received his death wound
early in the fight, and while he was ~.
ing on the ground dying he said, Let
me see it out; I want to see it ALL He
lived an hour and IL minutes after the
bullet struck him, and up to the mo.
ment that he fell had acted fearlessly
and had exposed himself all the time to
the enemy's fire.
II was then next in command Of the
troop, and I noticed that some of our
men lay too closely together as they
were %deploying. I went down the line
ordering them to their proper distances,
and as I passed along poor Hamilton
Fish was lying, mortally wounded, q
few feet from me. When he heard my
voice, Fish raised himself on his elbow
and said, 7 am wounded, I am wound
ed That was the last I saw of him in
life. He wa very brave and was very
popular among the men of the troops.
Sergeant Joe Kline of Troop L was
wounded early that day, and was order
ed to the rear with several other wound
ed men. On his way to the real Kline
discovered a Spanish sharpshooter in a
tree and shot at him. The Spaniard fell
dead, and Kline picked up a silve,
mounted revolver which fell from the
dead mans clothing as a souvenir,
which he highly prizes. Several of the
Spanish sharpshooters had picked up
cast of clothing Of the American sol
diers, and they wore these while they
were at their deadly work.
Sergeant Dillwin Bell Of cur troop,
who is q son Of N. E. Bell, supervising
architect Of the treasury at Chicago,
was badly injured from an exploding
shell while on the firing line. He was
ordered to the rear, but quickly came
back again. He was ordered away q
second time, but q few minutes later he
was to the front again firing away. Flo,
a third time he was sent back and once
more he insisted on going to the front,
and when the other men saw him they
greeted him with rousing cheers, and
he fought till the end Of the day, al.
though painfully wounded in the back.
II cannot speak too highly Of Colo
mel Theodore Roosevelt. He is every
inch a fighter and led a charge Of dis.
mounted cavalryiagainst men in pits al
San Juan successfully. It was: q won.
derful charge and showed ROOSEVELT
grit. was not there, but I have beer
told Of it repeatedly by those who saw
the colonel on the hill. Colonel Leonard
Wood, who is now brigadier general,
walked up and down the firing line ir
the first fight in the most fearless man.
ner, all the while giving commands Il
his men. He was absolutely fearless
and, though very much exposed, escaped
without injury. After the first fight W.
found a number Of Spaniards on th,
field and in the ohapparal, but they
were all dead. Our men shot we'll ant
most Of their bullets took effect.
"While lying inthe hospital I heari
a young man named Hall Of Carlisle
Pa, who belonged to the Twenty-sec
ond infantry, tell a story which will IL
lustrate better than anything else tn
accuracy Of the American shootera 81,
and five other men had crossed q ben.
In a road to get some water In thei
c%anteens. As they got into the open the,
were attacked by 50 Spanish cavalry
men, who cut them up badly with thei
sabers. Hall was the only one who wa
not killed. He was badly trampled b,
the horses and had some saber wound
on his body. Later on Hall was pickle,
up by some comrades, to whom he toll
his story. These men located the Span
iards who had done the work and opene'
fire on them. When they haddcease'
firing, there were 80 live horses, tw
dead ones and SO dead Spaniards. Thi
was pretty good shooting, wasn't it7"
Captain Thomas while he spoke wa
nursing his right leg, which was band
aged:up. He was wounded in the frs
fight at La Quasimas when the afgh
had lasted but two hours He wa
struck in the right leg with q Mause
bullet and was unable to take an; aotiv
part In the fighting after the first day
New York Herald.
Consigtent.
They tell a story to the effect thu
when the Society For the Prevention {
Crneltv tn Animala ~nrnnnaed n estal