The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1898-08-25

alike,And / heard an officer state who
was through the war, Andersonville and
prisons excepted, that he never suffered
so for ratiQns. 1t took two weeks of hard
road hailding before an army wagon could
get 1S miles inland.
On the evening of the 3Oth we broke
camp and were issued two-days' rations
We moved about 6. 80 p. M, after heavy
rain-s56rm. On this march we could
scarcely see the men in front of us, and
our route was through mud which even
Virginia could not boast. All the way
was from ankle to knee-deep in mud and
water, from which at times it seemed i'm.
possible to withdraw your foot. About 8
p. m. we went to sleep under arms, with
our rolIe for a pillow.
4 We soon learned that there was a little
fortified town of Ell Caney which we were
to capture in the morning. 1t was with
some strange feelings that we undertook
ITO rest, knowing we were to fight on the
morrow. We were aroused at daybreak
July 1st, but did not get under way until
$50. The first gun was fired at 6.35. /
can safely say many of us jumped. 1t
would be but natural. Almost immedi-
ately came the rattle of musketry. We
soon began to move towards the left of
| the town. About mile from our camp
we suddenly found ourselves in the firing
line. IcSn give no adequate idea of our
conception of battle as the bullets began
to whistle over our heads with that pc
ouliar ring and whistle and the rustic of
the leaves as the bullets passed on in
their deaShly career. We Immediately
dropped fo the ground, and | am not
ashamed tD say that my nose hugged the
ground pretty closely. Our skirmish line
was soon frmed, and we started our ad-
vance snes. Three men were wound
Led ss4. 81 y Eus 1t spass without @ qualm of
fear that our company started it's advance.
After few short rushes we rushed across
an open space and into sunken road,
where we took our position. During our
| advance the third battalion got separated
| from the regiment, and was late in getting
into position. We were fortunate In this,
for there were 8 men killed and Al wound
ell in the first two battalions. Had we
got into the line at the same time they
did our loss would have been proportion
ately greater. Here we were spread out
under boiling sun, and many of our men
had given up their canteens to wounded
soldiers, and now felt the loss severely.
Here was more work for me. AS cap
tain's orderly, / had to advance the length
of our line to find our major. His orders
were to send detail back with canteens.
AS yet we had not fired, as we could see
nothing to shoot at, as the enemy were
using smokeless powder. Much of our
loss in the first two batallions was due to
the smoke of their Springfield rifles, which
showed our position at once to the enemy
1t is almost suicide to use our Springfield
rifles in our warfare. Our regulars, of
course, have the Krag Jorgensen gun,
which uses smokeless powder. AS our
fire was withheld | was one of the first to
go back for water, and carried eight can
teens back nearly two miles and filled
them. On my way down we passed many
dead and wounded, and as we passed in
the rear of the clump of trees used as a
hospital the groans of the wounded were
terrible The Spaniards have no respect
for red-cross flag, and their sharpshoot-
ers fired continually on men carrying lit
ters. On my way back to the line /
heard our captain was sick, so carried his
haversack and roll as well as my own.
This made heavy load. AS / approach
ed the firing line was personally eau
toned by Colonel Clark not to undertake
to cross the open space at the end of our
line. | knew our men were sadly in need
of water, and, seeing one other man get
safely across, made break, and while
bullets were whistling all around me, |
crossed safely, and saw my canteens given
to the suffering men. [ was pretty we'll
exhausted, but felt | had done what l
could.
The regulars on our right soon charged
the fort and entertainments, and drove
the Spaniards out into the hills. Their
loss was terrible. Out of 500 picked men
sent out from Santiago in the morning to
re-enfOrce the town Only. 40 returned.
oSpaniard gould resist a bayonet charge
with q live American behind his gun.
The firing soon ceased, and we secured
our rolls and haversacks and started to-
wards Santiago. An attack on the earth
works. on the western edge of the city was
begun at the same time we assaulted Ell
Carney. About two miles of ground and
the entrenchments of San Juan were gain
ed for our side. Again we bivouacked
under arms, and got about two hours
sleep. Rations were issued and before
daybreak we were again on the march to-
ward Santiago. Our position was now
on the right of the line. Attack on the
city opened about five O'Clock, and again
we had TO advance. Leaving our rolls.
we soon secured our position, this time
as support for the 18th infantry The
firing kept up necessarily all day. At
dark it became quiet. Our regiment be-
gan to throw up earthworks, but were
discovered by the enemy, who began a
lively fusllade about II O'Clock. We
all were called out, but did not advance
to the firing line. Several men in our
battalion were wounded by stray bullets.
The firing only lasted about an hour.
The next day we again moved to right.
About this time some kind of an armistice
was put in force, and we had a rest OF a
week. During this time we were busilv
engaged In digging entrenchments. each
company building it's own; not with the
modern implements of warfare, but with
few bayonets, tinpans, cups and plates.
The boys worked with will. and we soon
had good ditch. About as soon as we
got our entertainments finished some re-
Inducements arrived, and we would move
out to the right This happened four
times, until we have completely surround
ed the city, and our right now rests at
| the harbor's edge.
On Sunday, July 10th, we went into the
trenches, and bombardment Of the city
began at4. 40 p. M. Cur artillery wrecked
many of the Spanish outYorks, and our
gunners secured the range of all parts OF
| the city. Firing ceased at dark, with no