New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-07
Tur ROrGH RIDERS BRAVERY
,,o1r TEEr ENTERED THE BATTLE AND
FOUGHT
-,sv ~ THEIR UNDUE DARING-TIIE FALSE

porch Riders list Volunteer Ca'""' 80 i,h
h,n,ls,, OF fire to-day. and bore ca
,~a.,o h-avcrv There had been dHloS o'''
oars ~ the Regular Army some uou"'
Soo,ivonass # this force q men, p"' ~
o,o-y side "a heard praise OF US "'"''., -
the adverse criticism has 20 D'A' 49,, 49, -
,ae-hsiitv of engaging the eHe"'' c,-,,.
,r.s.oucos II was known ''o' ~
'.,.d themselves on the siae of the
had = battalion OF the 22d In
M. Las o,. ahead to reconnoitre. and
!ah"E 10" ..o,en,erts in the bushes that IN
the men s"' ..orce ~ a considerable number
d.csted the pres
- .ars telled and dragged along, showing
49,, sor.e sor, OF a breastwork was beinS erect
:. This information was given TO the officers or
-. oayalry regiment. but they felt that their
sc, were equal 20 the task or clearing the
,a. The criticism is made that tho troopers
r,arched without proper precautions. but the
coars cav that there vas an advance guard
,,,6e, command Of Captain Allyn X. Capron. jr.,
q. rroop L. and nankers on either side. j is
early known that there was heavy firing from
,,ther side as we'll as from in front, and the re-
mort IS common that some OF the Rough Riders
wore shooting ct one another in the extended
order formation Officers OF the regiment deny
this however. and say that the wounds received
Aankins forces. 1t is repeatedly asserted that
Edward Marshall the journal correspondent
who was shot fell by the hand Of one Of his own
side An officer who was beside him when he
fell Is certain however. tina, the bullet was from
a Spanish gun
OHcers We'd with men in bravery. Some of
them exposed themselves with what the Regu.
lars consider undue daring The privates were
prone much as possible, but those IN COM
mand gave their orders standing. Both Colonel
Wood and Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt walked
about freely. and were even mounted at times
Most Of the men struck while crossing the
cleared spaces In the underhrusb they were
better hidden
The Rough Riders had been Wild FOR fght
and when they got 4, they were delighted They
exchanged jokes with one another and laughed
In glee. One man Thomas Isabel. of Troop l..
was hit four times Even then he didn't want
20 stop fighting and go 10 the rear. His COM
rades finally compelled him to do SO. He be-
lieves that one span!ard struck him all four
times. He saw him aim at a shor, distance.
perhaps a hundred yards. The first shot struck
Isabelrs gun and disabled II. and then the
spaniard calmly proceeded TO have some target
practice with him. His aim was fair even II
ne struck no vital spot. Isabel is certain that
his partner killed the Spaniard.
One difficulty was that the Spaniards
uniform. and could not be told from friendly
Cubans few OF the insurgents were with
the regiment as scouts and lot more were
known 10 be around. At first the cavalrymen
were not sure that II was not Cubans at whom
they were firing and some Of them hesitated
about aiming at the enemy They won't max"
such mistake again. they vow.
At this writing It cannot he said Just how
Lieutenant Hall came TO make such a trghtful
blunder as 70 report Colonel Wood dying 1t
seems likely that in the excitement Of battle
ne became historical and virtually lost his
reason for the time. It is an interesting study
FOR the specialist in mental diseases. There can
be no possible doubt that Lieutenant Hall be-
lieved that Colonel WOOD killed and said
90 dozen Newspaper heard him
The Tribune correspondent hal met Lieu
tenant Hall in Tampa and knew him
to be the adjutant OF the regiment
Al the hospital at Sbonev the heu;en-
ant was met b. the correspondent Just al h"
was starting hack for his regiment with lot
Of medical supplies mules He was evidently
stirred up. but not more so than was to he
expected under the circumstances. This was
the story he told:
We had marched about five miles IN the road
70 sevua when our advance guard was al
tackled We had out both advance guard ana
fankers Troop L was IN front. When the mr.
ing began two companies we're thrown on the
right and the rest on the left There were no
men - take back the wounded. some moved
ahead TO get them out Of the firing line. We
couldn't spare any one 10 carry them pack
Colonel Wood and Colonel Roosevelt "ere
mounted most If the time Major Brodie was
wounded early Colonel Wood told me 70 have
=. aF'prWari |
heard something about Colonel Wood wanting
- have diving message carried n his wife. |
up him
At this point the adjutant stopped. overcome
by emotion apparently He went on
He gave mo the message and also some or-
ders"
What was the message some one asked.
Lieutenant Hall looked grieved az this That
vas a matter about which he could not speak.
Re sad As for the orders 1t in conse-
quence Of them that he az Sihoney getting
medical supplies
"rs ne DYING" was asked
Don't send that out but II know anything
about such things he is. ! met the 9th Cavalry
about two miles back. Our boys held their line.
J didn't talk with Capron He was dead when
] saw him
With this he hurried UP the hill toward the
battlefield. II was not positively known here
until late to-day that Colonel Wood was abso-
lutely unhurt. The question still is. How could
he have imagined such a story? Private Null
vaney tells OF various ways In which men are
affected in battle. but he mentions no case like
Lieutenant Halls
Captain Capron was shot clear through the
body. the ball entering the left shoulder and
passing out the other side at the waist. There
was no finer fellow in the Army than Captain
Capron. He was the son Of Major Allyn X. Ca
pron. Of the % Artillery, who is now here. Cap
tain Capron served in an infantry regiment
originally and was fine athlete. He was
anchor In a famous tug-o.-war contest in San