The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-09-23
TIE C0L0RED TROOPS

Will tiiiCh AOAldSe IOun0 a barbarOuS
dehght in firing upon doctors and mem
bers of the Red Cross engaged in attend
ance3 upon the wounded. 49, 80 -
sergeant sBiVins took a look through the
woods with his glasses, and thought he
spled one Of these miscreants in tree
covered with leaves.
| tive me two men, he said, -"and I will
clean the woods Of all those towards who
tired on our Red Cross.''r r. ElEf i1Es 3fs
zen. Sumner and some members OF his,
staH heard this remark. But when the
sergeant strove to point out the sharp.
| snooleT II his place of 4concealmant the.
general Insisted It was only a hnzzard
Then he rode off, :Bivins turned ia his
men and said: s.1st.t :. -
wen, boys, what I was trying to.
snow the general might be a buzzard :;
1ou Will see before the sun goes down.
mat some man will be shot opposite that
tree ~ t,astr --,.,' : 0ppo9-'o 't'"t
True enough by. 2 p. M two men of
.ne oeVenty-hrst volunteers had been,
Killed and several wounded. I said Rows
ouzzards don't shoot A detail was sent
out from the Ninth cavalry and before
hlgnt SIX sharpshooters were killed out
o! one tree and four were killed in the
V1cin1ty OF the hospital" -. -
So a. 5hese, negro chroniclers have un-
rough riders and that of the ,nmerse
n La or the white officers and men
put tney make some exceptions. - =
me historian of the Twenty-fourth In
W Coi. emerson H. I.iscun1. were h,n,.
lantry tells how these troops, Commanded
ts on July 1 in their efforts to ger to
haar ~ VI oattie, whence they could
Ia Inc roar or the conflict, by the an
parent reluctance OF the white regiments
tle Nlntn and Thirteenth, which led the
Van. = At last they complained fo thar
commander and begged to be allowed to
pass ana take the lead. Col E.. III. Lis
80 I'm, no less hero, no less brave than
~ IeNioils ne commanded, weary himself
~ the apparent reluctance of his leading
commander c selling the Opportunity q tha
.ast "loe road where passing might ha
erected, told the lieutenant colonel Of tia
Nlnth infantry that his men were haI
comma coming aroused and desired to- go to the
f,'.4t Inc thirteenth infantry needed no
lurtner~ invitation, but immed,at .lI1
stepped to the left of the road and al,
lowed US to take the lead, while they az.
costed US With such epithets as. "Thnre
! 81 me nghters, There so the men that
", VIII make Spain tremble.' They know this
is true, and not one dare DENY it, - -" :,
having passed the Ninth and ,rhirteafnn,+h,
regiments, there remained nothing tn ~,
peue the progress of the colored t,oons
save the thorny 'Enderbrush and numerous
streams peculiar to Cuba, until thew came
20 d, 1ord IN the road, ;twhere Gen. J. Ford
l I'll was standing, disguised, with tears
running down his cheeks, begging !. al.
mon1shing,, persuading and entreatine IT,
seVenty-tirst New York volunteers Iwhital
lor the love Of country liberty. honor
ana dignity; in the name OF freedom. in
the name of God, for the sake Of Their.
uear" notners and fathers to stand *up ike
men ana hight, and go to the 'front.'"
g, but all In vain," says this authority:
they fed like sheep from the presence Of
wolves. j. + y F0aS7 - oo1A.o VI
On seeing Col. Liscum and the bovs
Wnom ne had formerly commanded. and
"hom ne so well knew he seemed almost
WIG with JOY. At his last sight Of the
colored boys, who were then double-tim-
ing and almost breathless. he. ran ou+t
graspedr Liscums hand, exclaiming in his
deep voice: Liscum, turn to. Won. LETT.
pass over all the troops YOU see there
tthe TWenty-first New York were rushino
to the rear and lying down under cover1
turn to your right, ford the stream and
heht everything before you! These were
H., us GXact "ords-l heard them distinct
~ Llscum smiled and with perfect COM
posure replied: General, my boys will not
disgrace the flag ''..' ~
Turning to the left along the San J,1an
road, running parallel with the river Of
the same name, those dark heroes, mad
dened by the terrible and trying fire to
winch ,tney were being subjected, rushed
Do.
Wlldered and stampeded Seventy-f1rst.
They dashed into the river, which took
them upto their necks. They swan
across; they rushed wildly over the open
field. The entire fire of the Spanish line
was concentrated upon them Any body
of men of less determination and bravery
would have been completely dernoralized
and defeated. Col Liscum saw that to
stop was destruction and death to his
men; to go ahead was little less danger
Gus, but he choose the latter and ordered
a charge. The flood of flame that fell
upon these men is almost beyond descrip-
ton. From early morn had the Sixteenth
infantry striven against hope to, charge
this impregnable summit, but in vain.
They had bravely attempted repeatedly to
charge this point but were as often re-
pulsed Their ranks had been fearfully
depleted, and there seemed no hope of
success against such a formidable foe,
but when the colored boys of the Twen-
ty-fourth infantry showed their brilliant
faces upon this bloody field matters as
sumed different aspect. ,..... 4,
"Col. Iiscum, standing on tiptoe, vi
ciously waved his sword toward the hill,
and never did men obey their leader with
more determine ton. While thus directing.
the movements Of his troops, Col, Liscum
fell, pierced by q bullet in his left Shout
red, but his men did not falter a moment
IL
John A. Quincy, fell within fifty yards
of each other, but Sergeant William
NJ Ellis took command, of, the company;
two minutes later he also fell badly
wounded, but the boys did not want for A
a commander, Sergeant Lewis w. Nc 4
Nabb, stepping to the head Of his COM
pany, led them on up the hill and to sue /
ocss.' BE- . sf &ala ssg.E&
A membe~ of the Tenth cavalry regi-
ment, who was interviewed by the au-
thors of this book, told of the landing of
that regiment, and the trying march to
the front, and then continued: "The rough
riders had gone on in great glee. banter
ing us and good naturally boasting of
how they were going to lick the Spaniards
without any trouble and telling US to just
wait there until they returned-th they
would bring back to us some Spanish
heads as trophies. Soon we, heard firing
in the distance, and our captain remarked
that somebody ahead was doing good
work. The fusillades kept up with SO
much persistence and vigor. that our Off
GERS, without orders, decided to move for
ward and reconnoiter. N 5sss
'sWhen we got where we could see what
was going on we found that the rough
riders had marched down narrow val
ley. The sSpaniards had men posted at
the entrance, and as soon as the rough
riders had gone in had closed up behind
them and were thus firing on them from
both front and rear. When the Spaniards
received a volley from our men. who fired
without command they feared we were
going to flank them, and rushed out of
ambush ssin front OF \. the rough riders.
throwing up their hands and shouting.
DOM shoot; we are Cubans!' The rough
riders thus let them escape. and gave
them a chance to take better position
ahead. ssg33 ISL
During this time all the men were In