Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1898-09-24
DEEDS OF HEROlSM
BEFORE SANTIAGO.
STRIKING INCIDENTS OF THE vALoR
OF OUR TROOPS UNDER FIRE.


OF OUR TROOPS UNDER FIRE.
Lieutenant Newelrs Nerve-An Episode
at Ell Caney That His Men Have Not
FOrg0tten-The Sort of Thing That
Wins Battles.
What every officer of regulars does,
II he is or intends to become an etfi-
cient factor on the field of battle, is to
attempt to win the confidence and re-
spect of his men. He endeavors to
become we'll acquainted with their per-
sonal peculiarities, aud he studies how
to instil into them that spirit which,
having no English equivalent for it,
we call esprit de corps. A captain
usually has plenty OF opportunity for
this, the other company officers not
quite so much so, and it sometimes
happens that IL lieutenant finds himself
suddenly in command of company
which has been somewhat demoralized
by the loss of the man to whose leader
ship it has been accustomed. Then is
the time when he must act swiftly and
firmly if he would avoid disaster.
Such a crisis came to Lieutenant New
ell, Second Lieutenant of Company A,
Twenty second United States Infantry,
Mt FL Caney, and the choicest war rem
iniscence Of his men is how he came
out of it. The firing had been sharp
where they stood, and early in the
fight the Captain and the First Lieu
tenant fell, leaving The command to
Lieutenant Newell, who is a young
Southerner. His men We're nervous
and disheartened by their losses, and
their commander saw that unless he
got them in hand soon there would be
some happenings that would not look
we'll in the reports. Some of his men
were out ahead skirmishing, and one
of them, q man who was popular in the
company, fell. The Lieutenant or
dered his men forward to get the
wounded soldier. They stood still.
Again he ordered them, but they did
not obey Turning to Sergeant whom
he implicitly trusted, Lieutenant New
ell said quietly:
Sergeant, / want you to go out
with me to get that wounded man."
eyes, sir" said the Sergeant, salut.
ing.
The company stood and watched
them go forward. At the first glance
the Lieutenant saw that the soldier
could not live more than few min
utes. He groaned out a request to be
taken back to the lines to die.
"All right" said the officer. "We'll
take you in minute. Just lie quiet,
and I'll stay with you"
In two minutes, during which time
Lieutenant Newell and his Sergeant
stood there under fire, the soldier died.
Then the two went back to the lines.
Nothing was said between the COM
pany and the officer, who had just
proved himself, but the nervous waver-
ing of the line was over. The men
stood like rocks, and when the order
came to advance they went forward
with cheer. In three minutes they
had passed the line that separates the
tyrO from the veteran.
"That amt in the book, SIR" said
the soldier, who told this incident to
the writer; "but, by jingo, that's the
sort of thing that wins battles!"-New
York Sun.
How II Feels to BE Shot.
Lieutenant j. r. Thomas, q rough
rider, who is now in Chicago recover
ing from wound received in Cuba,
says: "a Mauser bullet-hole through
the tibia caused dull, deadened sort
of shock, with the pain mainly absent.
but fellow knows that he is shot the
minute it strikes him. There is more
pain in binding the limb 20 stop the
loss Of blood than in the mere injury.
The shot makes one feel like he had
been hit by baseball bat with the
pain left out"
Pat Lavey, of Burlingame, Kan,
who was himself shot in the wrist and
side, writes home: "And I must not
forget to tell you about young fellow
in my troop named John Berlin. John
was shot squarely between the eyes,
the bullet coming out behind the right
ear. He fell close beside me, and as
he gasped his dying breath he called
out, oh, mother, mother; Oh, God in
heaven, forgive me!' and with these
words upon his lips he died. 1t was
horrible, and I can hear those yells
ringing:ln my ears to this moment"
Homer Durgy, OF the Thirty-fourth
Michigan, gives this account Of the
wound he received before Santiago:
'Well, was lying on my back,
listening to the music of shells and
bullets-some sharpshooters shooting
at group of officers behind me-
when I rolled on my left side just in
time to get it in the right arm, and
saved Captain Faladeau from getting
hit in the stomach. He told me so
himself. When the bullet hit me I
said, ,'Ohp and grabbed my arm and
threw it around like rag. The Cap
tain said, Leave it alone, Durgy;
you're hit Sergeant Mccormick cut
off my sleeve, and Bert O'Day fixed
me up. I laid there until the boys
marched up the hill, and then Bert
Allen, who had been wounded in the
neck, and myself started for the
Thirty-fourth hospital, two miles
away"
s. J. Williams, of Troop D, Sixth
Cavalry, writes:
"During the fight my thoughts were
more of home than of anything else
The closest call I had was shot un.
der my chin while I was lying down,
which threw dirt all over my face and
tasted rather sour"
Surgeon Church In the Fight at Guasimas.
When G Troop passed on across
the trail to the left I stopped at the
place where the column had first
halted-it had been converted into a
dressing station, and the wounded of
G Troop were left there in the care of
the hospital stewards. A tall, gaunt