Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-07-08
Lieutenant Coleman and Sergeant
Dame Relate Experiences Troop
E Bore Brunt of Fire.
The TROUGH RIDERS" IN 1T
Terrible Heat and Still More Terrible Hail
Of Bullets-Roosevelt's Praise for
Troop E-Men Fought Like
Heroes.

l. luoH ~. lSu -. -. NoIullptCl NuNuilN, |
has written home from the field of ac-
ton near Santiago. as follows:
Las Guasamas, five miles from Santi-
ago, camp on battle field, June 25.-We
have had our first battle. and are now
camping on the enemy's fortified posi-
ton. 1t is a wonder that so many of us
are alive. The detail is so great and
fraught with so many incidents that it
would be impossible for me to give but a
brief report of our first fight.
We left Baiqniri at 4 p. M. and by
$50, by forced marching reached Jura-
qua. II miles distant we a narrow trail
through the Cuban Jungle. The tenn
perature was simply burning and about
20 per zen of the regiment fell by the
wayside from exhaustion, as we had to
carry whatever we wanted on our backs,
and three days rations. When we
stopped for camp it was pouring rain.
Well, we pulled out again the next morn
ing ION the 24th); had reveille at 3
o'clock, and took up the forced march at
5, climbing the foothills of the noun
tains with our heavy loads, and then
took it single-fle along Il narrow noun
tain trail on a ridge, at a four-mile gait.
In the meantime most OF our men a
discarded all Of their rations and blank
ct rolls; they simply could not stand
the load. There were three regiments.
the LIST and 10th cavalry, regulars, and
our regiment. Our brigade had the hon
or of being the advanced guard.
When we reached this point we were
fired on from ambush: that is. we had
| been pushed right into the enemy's for
tilted position and they had Il crosS-firc
on rs with Mauser rifles and batteries OF
rapid fire guns. This fire was terrible,
as the Spaniards were using explosive
bullets in their rapid fire guns and we
did not know where the hiring came from.
For a time we thought our W men
were firing at us.
The Spanish are now signalling and
we have been ordered to be in readiness.
| will cut this short and only give an
account of our troop. We were raked
| by Il terrible fire and held our men I'M
| der excellent control by making them
lie down fiat on the ground, and well did
they stand firm.
1t was terrible. The bushes were cut
to pieces, but we had only one mar
wounded, Dean. of Santa Fe, and none
killed. We captured several Spaniards,
who said they did not understand the
Americans, since they did not retreat
from the heavy fire, but kept a com
ing" We routed them out and now
hold their position, which is a strong
one.
There were about 1000 Spaniards,
they say, and there were only 900 of us
IN thn bntt1n T,npn vvapn lntS nj mon
behind us, but they came too late to see
the fight, which lasted W and a hall
hours. Nearly all of our boys were hit
somewhere about their clothes. ! got
Il bullet hole through my blanket, which
was on my shoulder. and Pete Griffin
had one in his blanket. Three of the
bows had holes in their canteens and
several received shots through the leg
gings and knapsacks. One mar had his
canteen shot through twice while hold
ing it that a comrade could drink. In
the battle nine were killed, 33 wounded
and nine reported as missing. Captain
Capron was killed, Major Brodie ant
Captain McClintock were wounded. The
regulars loss was heavier than ours.
The spirit of the regiment is fine anc
the boys are all blood-thirsty. Santiago
is sure to fall; | don't care how many
men they may have. Admiral Sampson
is still bombarding them from the SET
and we are marching on. They killed
Captain Capron, who killed two Span
iards just before he was shot. He was
one of the incest men | eve met ant
was the idol of the regiment. Majol
Brodie had his wrist shattered, Captain
McClintock was shot twice through thu
leg. Lieutenant Thomas, of Capron'
troop, was also wounded in the leg, ant
so on through the long list. But we arr
here, here to stay. Not a a tiinched
You will, no doubt, see it all in thu
papers. The New York Journals cor
respondent, Russell, was right behinC
us. He was shot through the back, re
lceiving a broken spine, and cannot live
Richard Harding Davis and Dunning
of the Associated Press, were with US
and both had narrow escapes.
We are now burying the dead. Pool
boys; the tears will come as taps i.
sounded, but such is the fortune of war
1t is a wonder we were not all cut tt
pieces. 1t was a complete ambuscad'
and the Cubans all disappeared at tn
first shot. Lieutenant Will Griffin will
probably reach us today with rations
We have nothing left. All of us ar
well except that we are tired. Every
thing | have on, even at this hour, !
soaking wet, nothing but sweat, sweat
until you think it will never stop
Everything we had has been captured
/ have lost my grip and don't know
where my bed is. sleep on the ground
using u blanket / picked up.
In a second letter written in the even
ing after the one above. the .lieutenan
continued:
We did splendidly and are the admira
tion of the regulars. Lieutenant Colone
Roosevelt said that we behaved bette
than any other troop in his regimen
under fire when all behaved splendidly
We had orders not to fire for fear o
shooting into our own troops and we ha,
to be still and take that raking fire; no
q man OF us gave way. The boys benin
me said several times they thought | wa
shot, as the dirt was plowed up all owe
me and the grass cut down all around
Let it be remembered that Troop L Dor
the brunt of the rapid fire guns, and
Is Il miracle we were not all killed Q
wounded. Only Corporal Dean was hi
receiving a shot through the thigh as h
was kneeling down. The ball mad
only a flesh wound, and he was in exec
lent spirits when he left for the coas
carrying a wounded mar in front
him on the same horse, ~steadying hin
have several relics which l will tr
to bring home; an officers machete
pieces of Spanish money, neckties an
even wine. We captured whole barrel
of rum and wine, which the colonel OF
dered destroyed. The only thing tina
bothers me is the fact that we have t
carry everything we have here on on
backs. There are no pack animals yt
and it is so hot marching In these mou
tains-steep climbing and hot as hade
-you can form no conception of the ir