Evening star., 1898-06-13

GU O.l IILc illIl SudIUlllS ilc dDdUuOHSu Cd-
BILE station at the entrance to the outer
harbor OF Guantanamo. has been engaged
in beating off a bush attack by Spanish
guerrillas and regulars since 3 o'clock Sat
urday afternoon. The fighting was almost
continuous for thirteen hours until q
o'clock this morning. when reinforcements
were landed from the Marblehead.
Four of our men were killed and one
wounded
Tie advance pickets under Lieuts. Ne
vile and Shaw. are unaccounted for.
Surgeon Gibbs Killed
Among the killed is Assistant Surgeon
John Blair Gibbs. SOL Of Major Gibbs of the
regular army, who fell in the Custer mas
sacre. His home was at Richmond, Va
but he has been Dracticing in New York
and he entered the service since the war
began He was a very popular officer.
The others killed are:
Sergeant Charles II. Smith of Smallwood.
Private William Dunphy of Gloucester,
Mass.
Private James McColgan of stoneham,
Mass.
Corporal Glass was accidentally wounded
In the head.
Ihe Spanish loss is unknown, but it was
probably considerable The splashes of
S4'SA Atti4i dl dEllSnC at the positions
the Spaniards occupied indicate fatalities
but their comrades carried off the killed
and wounded
The engagement began with desultorv fir
Ing at the pickets. a Thousand yards inland
from the camp. Capt. Spicer's company
was doing guard duty and was driven in
finally rallying on the camp and repulsius
the enemy at ) o'clock
The bodies of Privates McColgan and
Dinphy were found. both shot in the head.
The large cavities caused by the bullets
waich inside range OF 800 yards have a
rotary motion. indicate that the victims
wsre killed at close range
Bodies Were MutiIated.
The bodies Were stripped of shoes. hats
and cartridge belts and horribly mutilated
with machetes. When they We're brought
In the whole battalion formed three sides
OF hollow square about the Camp on tha
nj top Below in the bay We're the war
SHIPS a anchor Inland from the mill camp
Is deep ravine and beyond this are high
mis- ihe adjacent country is heavy with
a thicket growth
The sky was blanketed vrirb cIo,,7 ,
Shsn sunset came gale was blowing sea-
Ward. Night fell. thick and impenetrabIe
i ne spanish squads, concealed in the cha
phrral cover had the advantage the Amert
cans on the ridge furnishing fine targets
against the sky and the white tents. The
spaniards fought from cover till midnight
oIscoverable only by flashes at which the
marines fired volleys. The repeaters sound
ed like crackers in a barrel
Inc -Aarblehead launch, a Colt machine
an in her bow, pushed up the bav. en6lad-
ing the Spaniards and it is thought that
some We're Killed. The marines trailcd
much blood to the waters edge and there
- Nst It. Sharks are numerous IN the vicini-
ty.
The ships throw their search lights
ashore the powerful electric eyes sweeping
the deep tropic foliage and disclosing oc-
casionany skulking parties of spaniards
u all resembled transformation scene at
the harbor
Each discovery of the enemy was greeted
by the cracks of the rifles along the edge of
the camp ridge or by the long roll of the
Isunchs 5 machine gun. searching the thick
cts with leaden stream.
Main Attack at Midnight.
Shortly after midnight came the main at
tack The Spaniards made a gallant charge
up the southwest SLOPE but We're met bv
repeated volleys from the main body. and
broke before they were one-third of the
way up the hill; but they came so close
that at points there was almost hand-to-
hand struggle. The officers used their re-
yoIvers.
Three Spaniards got through the open
formation TO the edge of the camp whe re
Colonel Jose Campina the Cuban guide.
opened upon them with his revolver, and
they turning and finding themselves with
out support, ran helter skelter down the
reverse side of the hill
1t was during this assault that Assistant
Surgeon Gibbs was killed. He was shot in
the head in front of his own tent the far
thest point OF attack. He fell into the arms
cf Private Sullivan and both dropped A
second bullet threw dust in their faces.
surgeon Gibbs lived ten minutes, but did
1ot regain consciousness.
The surgeons of the hospital CORPS then
removed their quarters to the trenches
tbout the Old Spanish stockade north of
the camp. The attacks were continued at
Intervals throughout the rest of the night.
with firing from small squads in various
directions.
Toward morning the fire slackened. Dawn
is the favorite time for attack, and. as the
east paled, the marines, lying on their
Buns, were aroused Some were actually
ts-eep, as they had had no rest for forty
eisht hours and tired nature could no long
" stand the strain. But no attack came.
Artillery Brought Into Play.
Three new 12-pound field guns. which
could not be used during the night for fear
II hitting our own men, shelled several
squads of Spaniards after daylight. They
lived into the bushes like prairie dogs into
burrows. as the shells broke over them in
he gray dawn
As the correspondent of the Associated
Press talked with Major Cockre!I, who was
N charge Of the outposts, word came OF
the finding of The body OF Sergeant Smith
He was reported as having been killed al
O'Clock On the previous day, but it ap-
pears that ne had been seen alive at IL
o'clock in the evening. When and how he
was killed no one knows at this writing
neither had the men been mustered nor had