The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-27
Six Hundred United States Marines
but Victorious In the End.
HOT MARCH THROUGH PERILS
AND A STUBBORN FIGHT, IN WHICH
THE ENEMY WAS ROUTED.
Probably Fifty Of the Bushwhackers
< Killed, While the American Loss
Was but Six-COolness Under Fire.

Correspondence of the Associated Press-(copy-
right.)
| OFF GUANTANAMO, ON Board the Asso-
| ciated Press boat Dandy June 10, via Port
| Antonio. Jamaica, June 16.-Scoured by
blazing tropical sun, harassed by the per-
| sistent fire of daredevil Spanish guerrilas,
| and handicapped by lack of training and
/ absolute inexperience, the six hundred ma
| rines of Lieut.. Huntington's command have
/ within the week battered their way to what
| should be to them lasting fame. Schooed
| for the easy life of marines aboard ship,
/ and unified for severe physical exertion by
| weeks of inactivity on the cramped decks
| of the troop ship Panther, they have rushed
| into the hardships and dangers of guer-
/ rflla campaign with the steady nerves and
| patient endurance of veterans of a dozen
wars. When the story of the war with
/ Spain shall have been told there will be no
| part of it more creditable to Americans and
| American armies than that which shall deal
| with the events of the week since the Pan
| Their disembarked her troops in Guantanamo
| harbor One American officer and five pri-
Yates have been killed but at least 100 Span
| ish deaths settle that score.
| The Panther steamed up to the blockad-
| ing fleet off Santiago at 10 o'clock Friday
iIIOIIllllS, June ana thirty minutes later
| had put about under orders from Admiral
| Sampson to proceed to Guantanamo and
| land the troops The harbor lies thirty-eight
miles east of Santiago de Cuba, and is one
! of the best on the southern coast of the
| island. The town and forts from which
the bay takes its name lie about five miles
| back from the coast, a winding channel
/ leading from the main inlet. To the left of
| the entrance is strip of low swampy land,
while at the right rises a range of steep
| rocky hills, extending from the shore line
inland for a mile and then sloping off into
| the lowlands, on which the city stands On
| these bluffs a half mile from the sea line
| the Spaniards had thrown up earthworks
/ and dug rough rifle pits commanding the
entrance, and the day preceding the Pan
Tiers arrival the Marblehead had been sent
! to shell this spot. Captain McCalla found
his task an easy one. Scarcely half dozen
/ Spanish volleys were fired at the Marble
| head. and two dozen shells drove the enemy
officers and men panic-stricken to the noun
| tains beyond. When the troop ship arrived
| she found nothing to prevent the immediate
disembarking, and before nightfall the ma
| rines had taken possession of the hill and
were gayly making camp, delighted to es-
/ cape from the tedium of life aboard the
! transport.
4 OLD GLORY UNFURLED.
The cowardly retreat of the enemy under
| the Marblehead's guns had led the American
| officers to believe that there was little
| possibility of an attack, and but slight prep
| arations were made to repel one. Just be-
| fore sunset the troops were thrown into line
| and for the first time the American flag was
run up Spanish Flagstaff, and the vanguard
| of the army of invasion salute6 the stars
| and stripes on Cuban soil. The sun-blistered
/ barren hilltop took on an appearance more
| pleasing to American eyes as the white
walled tents sprang up around the flagstaff
| and the uniforms of the American soldiers
| grew numerous among the faded vegetation
ana Juttlng rocks. On the narrow beach at
| the base of the hill lay a struggling little
| village of matched fishermens huts with
| store or two and a brightly painted cable
office. The inhabitants had fled the day
before, and without instructions from the
feet Colonel Huntington ordered the miser-
able little place burned. A delighted marine
| thrust brand from a camp fire into a
| thatch of the nearest hovel, and in a mo-
ment the sea breeze had swept the flames
down the narrow street, leaping among the
timbers which burned like matchwood. A
cheer burst from the men in the camp above
| and was echoed from the little fleet lying a
| half mile off shore. Through the evening
| the men froliced and sang, but by 10 o'clock
! the camp was quiet, save for the tramp and
voices of the sentries.
| About midnight the crack of single rifle
from the bush to the east of the camp gave
| the first warning of the presence of the
| enemy. The quick challenge of sentry
| was answered by a scattering volley from
! the brush and in a moment the hill was
live xryffl,
cropping for guns, and acting mechanically
/ under the sharp commands of their officers
| Within two minutes one hundred American
rifles had sent their bullets in the direction
| of the enemy, and five minutes later a hail
| of lead was hammering through the chap
/ paral, every man of the six hundred at his
| post. The guerrillas scattered in all direc-
| tons, but throughout the night their bullets
| whirled over the camp al intervals, each
| volley drawing the fire of Huntington's men
AS the night wore on without determined
! attack, the men began to view the affair as
a huge joke. and much difficulty was ex-
| perienced by the officers in keeping their
| commands under shelter.
] Throughout Saturday there were frequent
scattering shots from the bushwhackers and
returns from the hill, but no damage was
| to the. enemy. The latter fought in true
| guerrilla fashion, covering their bodies with
| PAIN leaves ana gently waving large leaves
| over their heads. Thus disguised they
| crept among the rank ground growth almost
| at will, the sbarpest being unable to detect
| day the earthworks were strengthened and
| additional rifle pits were dug and Saturday
| night the wisdom hof the measure was
| proved From dark until daylight the ma
| rines lay under an almost constant fire
| Early in the night a little detachment OF
/ five or six daring Spaniards crept close to
| the hilltop, dashed through the line of sen
| tries, and running straight across the east
| ward side of the camp, poured a volley
| among the startled Americans. 1t was then
| that Gibbs, the surgeon. was killed. with
| evidently acting under skilled chieftain
| for their attacks and changes of position
| came with bewidering frequency. They
fired from the hills back OF the American
| position, from the low points towards the
sea line. from the direction of the city, ana
twice even crept into the bushes on the
| beach between the marines and the war
! ships in the bay. They covered their APP
| proaches and retreats with marvellous cum
| ming, and older and more experienced men
| than the marines might have been pardoned
| all the splendid fellows coolly blazed away
guided by the rife flashes of the enemy and
| if there was one faint heart in the six hun
| dred Ii was not found out.
SHELLED BY WAR SHIPS.
| With dawn Sunday the bushwhackers re-
| treated into the hills, and although there
| was scattering firing. little work was done
| until about O'Clock in the afternoon At
| that hour a body OF Spanish skirmishers
a.