The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-07-22

oNu ~
measure the courage of the men who
here went ashore we must understand
lust how much danger there was in
the undertaking from their own point
of view.
Presumably the Spanish garrisons all
the way from Havana to Cabanas knew
of our presence. If they did not it was
their fault, for we coasted near to shore
the whole day on a very conspicuous
paddle steamer painted red.
We anchored within a half mile of
shore and d~isembarked a dozen regu-
lars on a beach of which We knew
nothing excepting that it was about a
mile from Cabanas, in which, accord
ing to our Cuban guides, Their was
or had been a garrison OF z,UVV span
iards.
According to all the probabilities, a
Spanish force would be on hand to dis
pute our landing. Those first few men
who landed through the surf went as
coolly as though by special invitation
OF friends on shore. There was 70 pa
rade of fine sentiment, no h~andshaking,
no address from the commanding Off
Ger, no serving out of stimulating
drink. which sometimes makes men
careless of danger.
Thick tropical bushes lined the beach,
and behind those we felt confident that
Spanish sharpshooters must be lying
in ambush. with possibly a small piece
of artillery that would open upon our
crazy transport so soon as we should
have got the bulk Of our landing party
under way for the shore.
Every private who went on this trip
knew the situation az we'll as his Off
GERS. There was an ominous silence
on shore, and no unnecessary talk on
board.
We had no bluejackets on board. and
had therefore to make use of the civil
ian crew of the transport, four men,
with a coxsWain named John Donovan.
This same John Donovan knew well
that if he were caught ashore he would
be treated as an i%nsurgent or pirate
| along with the rest of his crew Of un-
uniformed tilibusters. But John Don
ovan never bothered his head about
international law. more thar to re-
member that he was a thoroughbred
Irishman, with a coating of citizenship,
and a profound contempt for the "da-
go" and all others not Of his own kin
and kidney.
John Donovan was a splendid picture
of manhood as he stood up in the stern
of the whalebOat, steering with his
long sweep, and guiding his crew to
where he thought the surf least dan
gerous. This was not saying much, for
the transport was anchored off a coral
reef, extending as far as the eye could
reach in each direction. The waves
broke high on this reef, and the men
/ had to spring out of the boats and
drag them ashore for a distance of
perhaps one hundred yards. Some Of
the boats capsized outright, and in
each case there were many nut
when the different crews were up to
their necks in the breakers, holding
aloft their rifles and wondering why
the Spaniards did not seize this oppor-
tunity Of shooting them to pieces.
AS there were not enough deck hands
on the transport to row more than one
small o at a time, the commander
called for volunteers. There was no
lack of them from among the %privates.
One of them vas my German friend
Buerger, who a served in the ancO
German war, had then served in the
United States navy, had been rams
ferred to the army, and had already
served Uncle Sam eighteen years. I
had many a chat with him during the
trip, and found. him one of the few
happy men l have ever met. He loved
the service, had no idea of being any
thing else than a regular soldier, spoke
English with a strong native accent,
was proud of the German emperor. but
thought Germany was going to the
devil from too much government.
Buerger stepped into his seat, picked
up his sweep n pulled for the Cuban
shore with mechanical cas- and am
righteousness. There were one hundred
n six soldiers altogether on board,
and about half of them went ashore,
While the other half lined the bulwarks
of the transport-their rifles ready.
1t was hard to say which was the
most dangerous, to remain on the ship
or go ashore. Both were bad enough
as picnic grounds. One h from the
Chnro cn,,11 oa-l ~ ~~Ako-s 80 -all1o
BOAT to the bottom in five athoms of
water, with no means of saving life
except by swimming amid sharks and
breakers.
There was a moment when about a
dozen regulars stood alone upon the
Cuban beach while the small BOATS
were struggling through the surf to
take off more men. But never vas
there among these or any of those
who followed the slightest hesitation to
follow the orders given by the officers.
me woods had not been reconnoitered
previous to landing. They had not even
Deen hred into by way Of precaution.
nevertheless, this handful of soldiers
at once commenced skirmishing into
the unknown, and soon enough the
oullets commenced to sing about our
ears.
These We're not picked men. They
were taken as they happened to come.
Inc commander did rot ask for vol
unteers to start from Tampa, or even
Tor the first landing party. He had
TO select men to pull the sweeps, not
because any were more brave than
the rest, but simply because of their
knowledge of rowing. Every man who
was IN that fight On that day was in
telligent enough to know that his
chances of seeing home again were
hopelessly small. The mere idea Of
iand1ng fifty men on an unknown beach
IN the neighborhood of a strong gar