Evening star., 1898-07-20
A COWARD REGIMENT
~ -:
Lay Down in q Shelter at the San Juan
Battle.
REFUSED 10 MOVE WHEN ORDERED
Other Regiments Walked Over
Them, Hqrtyiing Into Action.
SOME CRITICISMS NOTED

o.
| a campaign which, has been replete with
| more picturesque features than this of
| Santiago de Cuba. In. speaking of it as a
| campaign, 1 include both naval and mill
| tary operations, which constitute as closely
| related a whole as even the necessities of
| the dramatic art could exact.
The doings of our warships along the
southern Cuban coast for the last five
| weeks have been a continuous spectacle of
| the most stupendous and sensational order.
Every day, every hour, the fleet has fur
nished an imposing panorama of martial
activity, offset by magnificent back
| ground of coast, bristling with fortifica-
| tions, and eliminating high up toward the
! heavens in horizon of wonderful boldness
! and of unique strangeness and beauty.
When we read in our Thucydides of the
sea and land fights Of ancient Greece we
retain in the imagination thrlliing pictures
| in natural settings of simple grandeur. but
| the modern battle has. rule, retro
graded as to poetic characteristics rather
! than advanced. The killing for our coun-
| try's sake has grown to be more ana more
| of business.
Therefore the aspect of this war, up to
the present time, which l am trying TO
emphasize, furnishes sort of esthetic re-
| lief. The debarkation of the troops ana
| their movements on land partake i'll only
a. different degree of this element Inc
! swift movement of boats to the abandoned
shores Of Daiqueri and Siboney, laden with
lusty and eager soldiery; the rush OF tne
latter through the boiling surf to set foot
on the land they were to conquer: the wild
swimming of poor. frightened peas's
through the chopping billows; the un-
freighting of heavy guns and munitioHs lil al
the foot of frowning. honeycombed cliffs or
beetling bluffs, in these Claude Lorraine
or Turner would have found his most
welcome inspiration.
Acme of Human Tragedy.
Then the quick. sharp fighting upon the
heights the unfolding of the army into lts
long, serpentne advancing length; the
passing over the slightly plateau of Sevilla
down into the enhancing valley of the San
Juan, dimly Unveiled at Its feet; the camp
ing or rather, bvouaeking, In mist-snf oud-
ed bottoms. amid shrubbery weighed 10"
with tropical dew: the lighting of the
10000 camp fires. which burned fickerlngly
until the full. voluptuous moon came out
to shame them, the sudden onward marcn
on the day before the beginning OF the
great battle, lasting for many or the troops
far into the thick. murky night; the drop
ping down to sleep for few. short, fitful
hours, without fire Sr sup, in the dense
brambe and CACTUS brush. nearest to the
positions that they were to take in the
early dawn for the coming combat; the
awakening on the dew-saturated ground;
the snatching of the brief cup of coffee fur
lively cooked behindN the cottony mist ris-
ing fromithe valley; hhen the quick blazing
Que Of the sAthe=gwinging of the artil-
lery into position; the booming of the sig
nal guns of thesheet. .ytelling that the ships
were there to do their cooperative part:
the flashing of Lawtons batteries away to
the northwest va ra; :: announcing that he
had begun his onslaught upon Caney,
where the enemy had threatened our flank:
the difffenlt advance through brush and
open space exposed to whitening fire
from the trenches in front and the sharp
shooters in Ithe rearf> the heroic storming
of the Sau~Jnan bill in our immediate
front to the music of both bullet and she'll;
the long grim struggle to make sure of
positions SO galIantly won; the deep pail
of smoke hanging over the field as dark
ness fell, and the frequent flashes of rifles
far into the small hours-no mere word
picturng can ever convey an exact sense
of what all this meant to the eye and the
ear and the soul of those present.
And during and after the more important
part of the confict-the bestowal of the
wounded and dead - truly, battle is the
acme of human tragedy.
Battle Of San Juan.
OF most great fights it is probably true
that the nearer you are to the extreme
front the less general conception you can
gain for the time of what is going The
formation of the ground on which the bat
tie of San Juan took place peculiarly il
greenly masked breastWorks on the east
ern verge of the plateau, could be located
by the troops who were moving against
him. chiefly by the sound of his volleys.
Even from the summit of the hill at our
left center, on which Grimes Battery was
posted, and which afforded fine general
view of the whole field, from the extreme
left to the Stone Fort dominating Caney,
it was not easy to discern clearly more
than a small portion of the Spanish line of
fire. Our men. as they advanced to the at
tack, were completely shut in for half the
distance westward of the San Juan river
by the tangled brush, which, however. was
peopled by bushwhackerS, whose fre was
constant and deadly.
In some of the regiments the majority of
the casualties took place here. before they
had emerged from what would ordinarily
be termed cover. And, Slnguiarly
enough some of the volunteers. 1t Is sup
posed, showed the greatest reluctance to
leave this fancied shelter, which was really
SO dangerous to them
Regiment Refused to obey.
A certain regiment. which I shall not
name until the official reports of the battle
are accessible lay down in the road lead
ing through the timbered plain, and all but
one battalion refused to move on when Or
dered. Officers of other regiments were
heard to upbraid these soldiers and to ask
them to act like men. If their own officers
had thus spoken to them 1T is not to be
doubted that they WOulu nave promptly
responded The way was so blocked by
their inaction that for a little while the
advance was stopped.
Then two regiments Of regulars pressed
forward over the prostrate forms of those
ahead of them, some of the soldiers never
touching ground for yards at a time. 1t is
but the merest justice to say that the regi-
ment which had lain obstinately in the
road afterward through at least part Of
it's number. helped TO carry the most diff
cult position intits Front 1t is very prob
able that the eonduft of two of it's bat
talons as described to me, was due to
Misrepresentation of orders on the part of
it's officers.
The order of Gen. Shafter which led to
the battle of san Juan was tentative in
it's nature .'Yol wip push out and cap
ture the salient position in your front" it
said to Gems Whee and Kent, 'if Il
can be done without bringing on general
e1 gagement." Il
How In the ramc of all that is military
Gems. Wheeler end Kent. or any one else.
could determine beforehand whether this
attempt would bring on general engage
ment is certainly beyond human conjec-
ture. And yet II; seems strange that a de-
termined assault with the full strength of
our line. on the best and most prominent
position of the enemy, with our right wing
at the same time hammeriDg away at a
commanding stronghold on his left flank,
eouId he orf]erad without the anror1nauv-