The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1898-07-01

o
/ gave forth vOlley after vOlley from the
| Mausers of the Spaniards.
"Don't shoot Until You see Something to
shoot At"
/ yelled Gen. Young, and the men, with
set jaws and cleaning eyes, obeyed the
order Crawling along the road, and
\ protecting themselves as much as pos
sible from the fearful fire of the
/ Spaniards, the troopers, some of them
/ stripped to the waist, watched the
I base of the hill, and when any part ol
/ a Spaniard became visible they fired.
Never for an Instant Did They FaIter.
One husky warrior of the Tenth cav,
airy, with a ragged hole in his thigh,
coolly knclt behind a rock, loading and
| firing, and when told by one of his
/ companions that he was wounded.
! laughed and said: "Oh, that's all
right. That's been there for some
time"
The Twin BATTLES In the ChaperraL
In the meantime, away off to the
left could be heard the crack of the
rifles OF Col. Woods men and the regu.
lar, deep-tOncd volley firing of the
! Spanish.
Over there the American losses were
/ the greatest. Col. Woods men, with
an advance guard well out in front and
two Cuban guides before them, but
apparently with no hankcrs, went
squarely into the trap set for them by
the Spaniards, and only
The UnfaItering Courage of the Men,
in the face OF a fire that would even
make 4 veteran quail, prevented what
might easily have been Il disaster. AS
it was, Troop l., the advance guard
under the unfortunate Capt. Capron,
was almost surrounded, and but foI
the rcinforcements hurriedly sent for
ward every man would probably have
been killed or wounded.
The Spanish Fire Accurate and Heavy.
There must have been nearly 1,5OC
Spaniards in front and to the sides OF
US" said Lieut.-Col. Roosevelt to-day.
when discussing the fight. They
held the ridges with rife pits and ma.
chine guns, and had a body of men in
ambush in the thick Jungle at the sides
of the road over which we were ad
vancing. Our advance guard struck
the men in ambush and drove them
out. But they lost Capt. Capron, Lieut.
Thomas and about Is men killed Oh
wounded. The Spanish firing was ac
curate, so accurate indeed that it sLr-
priscd me, and their firing was fear.
fully heavy"
Il want to say word for our Owr
men," continued L:cut.-Col. Roosevelt.
Every officer and man did his duty uE
to the handle. Not man flinched."
Further ID etsiIs of the Fight.
From another officer who took
prominent part il the lighting, more
details were ootaincl.
when the firing began" said he,
"Licut. Col. Roosevelt took the right
wing with Troops G and X, under Cap,
tains Llewyln and Jenkins, and moved
to the support of Capt. CaPrOn, who
Was Getting 1t Hard.
At the same time Col. Wood and Maj
Brodie took the left wing and ad.
vanced in open order on the Spanish
right wing. Mai. BrOdie was wounded
before the troops had advanced 100
yards. Col. Wood then took the right
wing and shifted Col. Roosevelt to the
left
Teddy" Yelled aud Sprang Forward In
Front OF His Men.
in the meantime the fire of the
Spaniards had increased in volume.
but Notwithstanding this, an order for
4 general charge was given, and with
a yell the mcu sprdng forward. Col
Roosevelt, in front of his men, snatched
Il rifle and ammunition from al
wounded soldier. and cheering and
n Ia L. Il
For Il moment the bullets were singing
like swarm of bees all around them
and every instant some poor fellow
went down.
Heavy Losses-Reserves Ordered Up
Charged the BIOckhousc.
On the right wing Capt. McClintOcb |
had his leg broken by bullet from a
machine gun, while four of his mer |
went down. At the same time, Capt. |
Luna of Troop + lost nine OF his men. |
Then the reserves, Troops X and Z,
were ordered up. Col. Wood, with the |
right wing. charged straight at the /
so yards away, and Col. |
on the left, charged at the
same time. Up the men went, yelling |
like tiends, and never stopping to re
turn the fire of the Spaniards, but
keeping on with II grim determination
to capture that blOc1house.
The Spauiards Broke and Ran.
That charge was the end. When
within 300 Yards of the coveted point
the Spaniards broke and ran, and for
the first time we had the pleasure
which the Spaniards had been expe-
riencing all through the engagement,
Of shooting with the enemy in sight"