Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1898-06-30
Tho Battle Of SeyilIn-First Skirmisll
OF Shafter's Army,

10th regular cavalry, will DO known in
history as tho battle of la Quasina
That it did not end in tho cOmploto
slaugltor of tho Americans was not duo
/ to any miscalcnlation in tho plans Of the
Spanards, for rs perfect an ambuscado
| as was over formed in tho brain of an
Apache Indian, was prepared, and Liout
Col. Roosevelt and his mon walked
squaroiy into it. For an hour and n half
thcy hold thoir ground undor u perfect
storm of bullets from tho front and
sides, and then Col. Wood at til, right,
! charge, which turned the tide of battle
and scnt tho oncmy flying over tho hills
toward Santiago. -"
1t 10 now definitely known that sixtoon
mon on tho American sido woro killed
and sixty wcrc wounded or aro reported
to bo missing. Itsis impossible to calcu-
late tho Spanish losses, but it is known
that they were far heavier than those of
tho Americans, at least with regard to
ctual loss of lifo. Already thirty-sovon
| Spanish soldiers have boon found and
buried, whilo many others arc undoubt-
Cdly lying in tho thick undcrbrush on tho
side of tho gully and on tho slopo Of tho
hill, whore tho main body of tho enemy
was located. Tho wounded were all rc-
moved. That tho Spanards wcro thor
oughly posted rs to tho route to bc taken
| toward Sovilla was evident, as shown by
| tho careful preparations they had made.
| Tho main body of tho Spaniards was
posted on hill, on tho heavily wooded
! slopes of which had hccn erected two
block houses, ilanltod by Irregular en-
| trcnchmCnts of stone and fallen trees.
At tho bottom of these hills run two
roads along which Lieut.. COL. Roosevelt g
mon, tho eight troops of tho 1st and 10th
cavalry, with battery OF four howitzors,
advanced. These roads arc but little
| more than GullicS, rough and narrow,
and at places almost impossible. In
these trails tho fight occurred. Nearly
half milo separated Rooscvclts mon
| from tho regulars, and between them and
on both sides of tho road in tho thick
undcrbruSh. was concealed force of
Spaniards that must have hccn large,
| Judging from tho terrific and constant
fire thoy poured in on the Americans.
| Tho fight was opened by tho lSt and
| 10th cavalry, undCr Con. Young. A
| force Of SpaniardS was known to bc in
| the vicinity of La Quasina, and early in
tho morning Lieut.. Col. Rooscvclts men
started up the prccipitous bluff back of
Sibonoy to attack the Spaniards on their
| right flank, Gen. Young at the same timo
| taking tho road ut the foot Of tho hill
| About two and Il half miles out from
| Sihoncy somo Cubans, brcathlcss and
| excited, rushed into camp with the
announcement that the SpLniards were
| but little way in front, and were
strongly cntrcnclcd. Quickly the ITotch-
| kiss guns in the front were brought to
tho rear, while Il strong scouting lirc
was thrown out. Then cautiously and in
silence the troops moved forward until
| Il bend il. tho road disclosed hill where
| tho SpaniardS were located. Tho guns
were again brought to the front and
placed III position, while tho mon
crouchcd down in tho road, waiting
| impaticntly to give Rooscyolt's men,
who were toiling over tho little trail
along the crest of the ridge, time to got up.
At 7.3o \. M. Gen. Young gave the
command to the men at tho IIotchkiss
guns to open fire. Tho command was
| the signal for Il fight that for stubborn
ness has seldom been cuualcd Tho in
slant the llotchkiSS guns were fired there
| came rom the hillsidcs commanding tho
road vollcy after volley from the Mauscrs
Of the SpaniardS.
"Don't shoot until you sec something
to shoot at" yelled Gen. Young, and the
men, with set jaws and cleaning eyes,
! obcyCd the OrGcr. Crawling along tho
| edge of the road and protecting them
selves as much as possible from the fear
ful fire of the Spanards, tho troopers,
some of them stripped to tho waist,
watched the base of the hill, and only
| fired when any part of Il Spaniard be-
came visible. Never for an instant did
| they faltcr. One husky warrior Of the
10th cavalry, with ragged wound in his
thigh, coolly knclt bchinl Il rock loading
and firing, and when tolu by one Of his
comrades that he was wounded, laughed
and said: "Oh, that's all right. That's
been there for some time"
HOW THE ROUGH RIDERS FELL.
In the meantime, away of to the left,
| could be heard tho crack of the rifles of
| Col. Woods men, and the regular,
dccpcr-toncd vollcy firing Of the Span
iardS.
Over there the American losses were
| the heaviest. Col. Woods men, with an
advance guard well ont in front, and two
Cuban guides before them, but appa-
| rcntly with no llankcrs, went squarcly
into the trap set for them by tho Span
iards, and only the unfaltcring courage
OF the men in the face OF fire that would
make even veteran quail prevented
what might easily have been Il disaster.
AS il was, Troop l., tho advance guard
under the unfortunate Capt. CaprOn, was
almost surrounded, and but for the rein
forccmcnt hurricdly sent forward every
man would probably have been killed or
wounded. "rhcre must have been nearly
! 200 SpaniardS i'm front and to the sides
of uS,' said Lieut.. Col. Roosevelt to-day
| when discussing the fight. "rhcy held
the ridges with rillc-pits and machine
guns and had u body of men in ambush
in the thick jungle ut the sides OF tho
road over which we were advancing.
Our advance guard struck the men in
ambush and drove them out. but they
lost Capt. Capr0n, Iicut. Thomas and
about fifteen men killed or wounded.
"Thc Spanish firing was accurate, so
accurate, indeed, that it surprised me,
and their firing was foarfully heavy"
81 want to say a word for our own
men," continued Lieut. Col. Roosevelt
"Evcry officer and man did his duty up
To the handle. Not Il man ilinchcd."
CHARGING a BLOCK HOUSE.
From another officer, who took n pro-
mincnt part in tho fighting, moro details
said he, "iicut. Col. Roosevelt took Tie
right wing, with Troops G and X, under
Capts. Llcwyn and Jenkins, and moved
to the support Of Capt. Eapron, who was
getting it hard. At the same time co.,
Wood and Major Brodic took the left
wing, and advanced in open ordor on the
Spanish right wing. Major BrOdic was
wounded before the troops had advanced
one hundred yards. Col. Wood tncn took
the right wing and shifted Lieut.. COL
Roosevelt to the left.
In the meantime the fire Of the Span
lardS had increased in volume, but, not
withStandinG this, an order for general
charge was given, and with yell the
mon Sprang forward Lieut.. Col. RooSe-
welt, in front Of his men, Snatchcd rifle
soldier, and cheering and yelling with
his mon led thp oI yourc Eor n ,mnn,nnt