The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1899-07-04
THE VOLUNTEER.
e
A Sketch of the
Cuban War.

+ a sketch OF the j
IL Cuban War. i
+ + + i. + 4. i. + i. 4. + !. + i. 4 ~
With the intensity of tropical day
the sun seemed to expend its entire
force of furnace heat upon the unshel-
tered spot in front of Santiago, where
lay grievously wounded American
soldier boy. The wide, tortured eyes of
the youth stared fearfully upward to
the glazing zenith, past the foul birds
watching his sufferings with calcuIat-
ing vision and waiting for their human
feast which seemed sure to come. He
thought with sickening brain of his
northern home-the green hills the
running streams, the dear mother.
Tears welled up into his aching orbs,
and the hot drops crept down his cheeks
He did not try to wipe them away. He
could not. A Mauser bullet had struck
him in the thigh, another in the right
arm and another in the left. He was
helpless But what matter The dead
could not see, and the mother would
probably never know how he had nobly
fought even to the gates of death. At
his feet lay the dead body Of Cuban,
black and burly. slain by the bullet Of
a Spanish sharpshooter For these Gu
bans he was dying, for them he had
come to help free the island from the
tyranny of Spanish rule.
Then he recalled the events of that
day at San Juan hin. The American
troops had been on their feet since day
break. There was scanty breakfast,
and as the men ate it there were indi-
cations of the coming clash Of arms.
The files on the march to the firing line
were closed up. Every sense was alive.
The bugle sounded. and then came the
order to advance. The tempest of mus
kerry and shrapnel through which they
moved forward drove like storm Of
steel into the faces of the men, but
nothing could resist the imperious adj
vance, and the first line of the enemy
was swept away.
The battle grew. Here and there a
soldier went down, but the column
stood firm. The officers marched close
by the men. Sometimes through the
smoke they caught glimpse of the
colonel leading on in front.
The din increased. The earth seemed
Keeling underfoot. Shells burst with
horrid shrek and flung out quick
death. Still the men pushed on An
officer picked up the gun of a man who
had fallen and spoke CHEEKY word.
The Spanish artillery and the far
reaching Mausers swept within GER
tain limit every inch Of ground, but
with firm and rapid step that unAinch-
ing column moved forward.
Louder grew the tumult, and thicker
came the angry messengers. A sharp
cry of pain, and one of the men is help
ed to the rear. The bullets came hotter
and faster from the Spanish in the
trenches and from the blockhouses.
More comrades stretched out quietly
with the death mark on their faces.
There was no time for words only a
mad swelling of the heart and throb-
bling of the brain. A deadly thirst for
blood dried up all other feeling as an
other man was lifted back.
Suddenly cool voice they had heard
before rang out an order: "Come on,
boys Charged And the thin line rushed
through the smoke and advanced up the
hill With cheer they answered the
fiery blast that swept into their faces
with sudden fury. The air seemed in
stinct with leaden life, and volley after
volley pealed forth from the deadly
rifles.
For one awful moment the men fall
teredi Groans of agony and hoarse COM
mands mingled, and all around Ameri-
can soldiers lay down to die. But the
check was only momentary, and on into
the jaws of death the column went.
Every man leaned forward as though
breathing heavy wind. From right,
left and front they felt the pounding of
the enemy's guns, and shrapnel swept
through the ranks like hail
On the summit of the hill the block
house swarmed with the foe, dimly seen
through putting lines of smoke from our
guns. The Spanish were intrenched-
Americans in the open. But never
mind Forward And soon the foreign
foe was driven back and the stronghold
captured
Half way down the slope, as the vic
tors pursued the flying enemy, with
ering blast of Mauser bullets swept
across the open ground, and the boy
who now lay dying in the open space
in the tall grass fell forward with ball
in his thigh. A comrade ran to his as
sistance, and he made his way painful
y to the rear, but as he passed along
another Spanish bullet struck him in
the right arm, and presently he was
wounded in the left Then his day of
battle was done, and the black hours of
Inconsistencies followed.
When reason returned the sounds of
battle had ceased, and he wondered
where his comrades were. Were they
all dead2 Would they search for him
He was alive, but he knew that death
would come in few short hours. How
hot the sun beat down. How still ev-
erything seemed to him-no whizzing
of bullets in the air, nor shrek of
screaming shell. nor the yell of charg-
ing troops nothing but the silence Of
an ocean of grass. There was the dead
Cuban lying at his feet-a CHASTITY
bunch of mortality. How big and black
he wasl His eyes were staring at him
like balls of glass What were they
staring at him fort The night was COM
ing on apace-would he have to lie in
the tail grass until the morrow He
could not tell. And then the dark cloud
again settled Ger his senses and it was
hours before the light came into his
soul.
Deaths door is mirror and the dy-
ing have good memories. When con-
seriousness returned the boys mind
went back to his home He wondered If
all was we'll ON the old farm, where he
and his mother and brother had lived in
peace until the war with Spain called
him to the front. He had letter In his
pocket from home-he would read it
again But alasl he could not reach
his pocket-both arms were disabled
and in the inky darkness he could not
see.
How long since had he left homer
Three months only three monthsl And
now he lay dying in his young man
hood. He remembered the morning that