The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-09-18
CHAPTER x


n Ii day the sound of battle ragged.
II Before the deadly hail of rifle
IA bullets, the terrific fire of the ma
I chine guns, the exploding bombs,
and the terrible shrapnel, hun
dreds of strong men were stricken
down; companies melted away like
snow under the fierce heat Of the July
sun, which blazed in the sky. Chilling
rains, driving in sheets, drenched the
warning battalions and made the steep
slopes of the Cuban hills soft and slip
perry. But ever the cry was onward,
onward-and the American flag led the
way for heroes to follow unfalteringly.
When every slope was stained with
American blood the courage of the SOL
diers was the highest. They pressed
forward, irresistible as the avalanche;
terrible in their determination and
rearing their deadly crests, roll land
ward and sweep whole cities to their
doom.
In the thick of the fray ever were the
Rough Riders. Above the booming of
cannon and the shrieking of shells
rang their defiant bugles, and the voices
of the Rough Riders were often raised
in responsive cheers.
The Spaniards were screened from
view by trees and bushes. They were
burrowed, like squirrels, in their rifle
pits and trenches; they were perched
y y <
positions Of advantage, and their
smokeless powder enabled them unseen
to lay in the dust many heroes who
never had a chance for their lives and
who never had an inkling OF the hiding
places of their enemies. Colonel Wood
and Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt
had no reason to regret that
Harry Ostend, Binnie and Julia
had been added to their COM
mand.
Just before Lieutenant Colonel
Roosevelt personally led COM
stronghold of the Spaniards. This was
formed of an earthwork, which had
been hastily and greatly strengthened
by the addition of tree trunks. 1t was
q complete masked fort, the existence
Of which was made known to the Amer
leans by the repeated vOlleys which
came from 1t. Every volley caused
death in the American ranks. On
every side it was protected by barbed
wire fencing, the wire being twisted
into thick strands that the Spaniards
did not believe that the Americans
could ever break through to charge
them with the bayonets. Behind the
sheltering earthwork were placed the
choicest sharpshooters in the Spanish
army. While the Americans could not
see them, the Spanish shooters saw
every movement of the Americans. and
they aimed deliberately to make every
bullet count.
"Ah," cried Roosevelt in voice that
was heard clearly in the horrible din
of battle, here is hornets nest to
clear out; and here is work cut out
for the Rough Riders. Rush them out
before they can fire again!"
What yell answered him. There
were cowboys from all the States and
Territories of the great West; crack
shots from the Rocky Mountains; fear
less hunters of wild beasts from Cali
fornia and from the frozen north; ath-
letes from half a dozen great Ameri-
can universities who had been pre-
viously known only as heroes of the
football field or the baseball diamond or
as great Oarsmen, bicyclists, runners,
hammer throwers or all around strong
men; and there-not the least of the
heroes within sound of Roosevelt's
ringing voice-were Binnie, who could
boast that he had once led a victorious
army against the Skull Hunters of New
Guinea, and Harry Ostend, whose en-
tire life had been filed with a success
sion of exciting and perilous adven-
lures.
In the fore in that wild rush against
the wire fences, which formed the
outer defense of the masked fort, were
Harry Ostend and Binnie. An instant
and their furious attack had made
break in the trocha, through which the
Rough Riders near them poured at top
speed. There was a hundred yards
Of ground yet TO cross, over which the
concealed Spaniards had the range per-
fectly. The foremost Rough Riders
spread out in a thin, long line, follow
ing the tactics which they had learned
in a score Of campaigns against the In
dams In the mountain ranges of the
West. They did not pause to fire. Be
fore the astonished Spaniards could
fully realize the boldness of their as
sailants, the Rough Riders were leap
ing over the fort. yelling like Indians,
each determined to be the first to en-
gage the hated Spaniards in a hand-to-
hand conflict. Such combat was once
common to American backwoodsmen
and to American sailors in the early
days of the Republic. There was