The herald., 1898-06-27

two block houses, f1anked BY irregular In
trenchments Of stone and fallen trees. At
the bottom Of these nils run two roads.
along which Lieutenant-C Colonel Roose-
volts men and eight troops of the First and
Tenth cavalry. with battery Of four How
itssrs advanced. These roads are but little
more than gullies. rough and narrow and at
places almost impossible. In these trails
the night occurred. Nearly half mile sep
arated Roosevelt's men from the regulars.
and between them on both sides Of the road
in the thick underbrush was concealed a
large, judging from the terrific and constant
nre which occurred on the Americans.
Opening Of the Fight
The fight was opened by the First ana
Tenth cavalry under General Young. A
force Of Spaniards was known to be in the
vicinity Of La Quasin, and early in the
morning Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt's
men started on up the precipitous blum
back Of Siboney to attack the Spaniards
on their right flank, General Young at the
same time taking the road at the foot of the
hill. About two and half miles out from
Siboney some Cubans, breathless and ex-
cited, rushed into the camp with the an
pouncement that the Spaniards were but
a little way in front and were strongly en-
trenched. Quickly the Hotchkiss guns out
in front were brought to the rear, while a
strong scouting line was thrown out. Then
cautiously and In silence, the troops moved
forward until bend in the road disclosed
hill where the Spaniards were located.
The guns were again brought to the front
and placed in position, while the men
crouched In the road, waiting impatiently
to give Roosevelt's men, who were toiling
over the little trail along the crest of the
ridge. time to get up.
At 1880 a. m. General Young gave the COM
mand to the men at the Hotchkiss guns to
open fire. The command was the begin
ming Of fight that for stubbornness has
seldom been equaled. The instant the
Hotchkiss guns were fired, the hillsides
commanding the road gave forth volley af-
ter volley from the Mausers of the Span
ish,
Clean, Clear Grit
Don't shoot until you see something to
shoot at!' yelled General Young and the
men, with set jaws and cleaning eyes,
obeyed the order Crawling along the edge
Of the road and protecting themselves as
much as possible from the fearful fire of
the spaniards, the troops. some of them
stripped to the waist, watched the base of
the hill, and when any part Of a Spaniard
became visible they fired. and never for an
instant did they falter.
One husky warrior of the Tenth cavalry.
with ragged wound in his thigh, coolly
knelt behind a rock, loading and firing, and
when told by one Of his comrades that he
was wounded. laughed and said:
"Oh, that's all right. That's been there
for some time"
In the meantime, away of to the left, was
heard the crack Of the rifles of Colonel
Woods men and the regular deep-toned
volley firing OF the Spanish. Over there the
American losses were the greatest.
Walked Into the Trap
Col. Woods men, with an advance guard
we'll out in front. with two Cuban guides
before them but apparently with nc flank
ers. went squarely into the trap set for
them by the Spaniards, and only the un-
faltering courage Of the men in the face
Of a fire that would make even a veteran
quail, prevented what might have been a
disaster. AS 1t was, Troop L, the advance
guard under the unfortunate Capt. Capron.
was all but surrounded, and, but for the
reinforcements hurriedly sent forward,
every man would probably have been
killed or wounded.
There must have been nearly 1900 Span
iards in front and to the sides Of u.s." said
Lieut.. Roosevelt today. when discussing
the fight
They held the ridges. with rifle pits and
machine guns, and had body of men in
ambush in the thick jungle at the sides of
the road over which we were advancing
Our advance forward struck the men in
ambush and drove them out. But they left
Capt. Capron. Lieut.. Thomas and about Is
men killed or wounded.
THE Spanish firing was accurate, so ac-
curate, indeed, that 1t surprised me, and
their firing was fearfully heavy"
Not a Man Flinched
IT want to say word for our own men"
continued Lieut.. Col. Roosevelt. Every