Brookings weekly register. (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1898-1903, 1899-02-16

ano hafferty, with company Oh an
other battalion, fell into line. anywhere,
anywhere, touching elbows with blacks
and whites. so long as they could be Sin
the swim" Individual volunteers also
broke loose from the stationary ranks
and elbowed to the front among regu-
lars. One of these independents was Aus
tin Pardee, boy Of II, son OF former
officer OF the Thirteenth, who had cried
to take his fathers place and fight sor
the flag until his widowed mother
yielded.
Fording the creek and giving their
burning heads cooling dip as they
passed, the men Of the brigade lined up
on the bank, leaving Wikoff dead and
Worth lying in his blood, the last and
most shining sacrifices to the Moloch Of
"Hell's Crossing.'' In the broad field
ON the left of Hawkins two regiments
Wikoff's column struck zone of pitt
less fire, ard there the third commander
Of the brigade, gray haired Liscum OF
the Twenty fourth, went down. Staff
Officer Tayman of the Twenty fourth
told me that his eyes were riveted on
the noble leader, whose form could be
seen cutting its way through the tall
grass with giant strides. Like flash CT
Lightning he was seen, then disappeared.
In the van Of the column the Thir-
teenth regiment. led by Colonel Worth
as far as "Hell's Crossing climbed mp
the bank and went through the wire
fence, where gaps had already been
made. Major Ellis was at its head, but
was soon shot down. There was an open
field stretching away up to the block
house. This regiment had lost heavily
at the crossing, particularly by Spanish
shrapnel, but moved resistlessly on un-
til CALLING volley fire compelled 1t to
seek shelter under bank some hundred
yards from the fort.
The Ninth regiment, on the left Of
the Thirteenth, passed the ordeal at the
crossing with but little loss In climb
ing the bank it was struck by heavy
Mauser fire from San Juan heights and
from the trees, left, right and in front.
Pressing ON in line with the Thirteenth,
the regiment halted at the bank and de-
livered its fire upon the Spaniards in
When the Twenty fourth regiment Of
blacks appeared in view above the crest
of the river bank, the Spaniards ap.
parently turned all their fire upon them,
hoping, as they said afterward, to de-
moralize them and precipitate panic.
The blacks didn't scare, however.
Just how long these men halted ut the
ho "a uncarta,v, fa~ tha~o v,<x <<,s
sation Of fighting. and lapse Of time was
not noted. II was Krag- -Jorgensen
against Mauser In the attempt to subdue
the Spanish fire for charge. This stage
of the infantry fight was about coinci-
dental with the capture Of Kettle"
hill by the cavalry, which has already
been described, and took place probably
between 1890 and o'clock. Mean
while Grimes battery, no longer ham
pered by the balloon. was vigorously
shelling the blockhouse and trenches, as
was also Parkhurst's battery. Second
artillery, which had taken position to
the left and front of Grimes, near Ell
Poso. The success Of the cavalry In
clearing Kettle" hill. really an ad-
vanced position Of the Spanish line, had
allowed the Hotchlxiss guns and Parker's
Gatlings to cross San Juan river at the
ford Of the main road and get to high
ground on the southern slope Of the hill.
Parker 3 advent upon the scene marked
crisis in the attack. He had three
guns with him and opened them all
upon the blockhouse which Captain
Boughton Of the Third cavalry pointed
out to him. Grimes and Parkhurst, be il
remembered. were pouring in their
shells, but the Spanish fire did not abate.
Starting with low rate of speed,
Parker gradually turned his guns mp to
their highest capacity, and in the space
of ten minutes, the muzzles Of the guns
sweeping gradually along the Spanish
Trenches, sifyed 20, 600 bullets into the
crowded works Before the enemy real
lied what the horrid hail meant the
ominous sound Of the machine guns had
already terrified them. and they began
to leave their pits, preferring possible
death outside to certain slaughter with
in. Then silence fell upon the block
house, upon its loopholed chambers,
upon its batteries, upon its trenches fill
cd with men.
But all this time neither the cavalry
nor the infantry had stood idle waiting
for the artillery to do their work. The
cavalrymen, who had not been ordered
by Sumner to remain ON kettle" hill,
formed lines of troops and battalions
and plunged down the slope, across the
valley and up the farthest slope toward
the Spanish second position. When this
movement began, San Juan blockhouss
was still belching fire, and part of the
Third cavalry, together with the Sixth,
under Major Lebo, struck out in di-
agonal line for the stubborn fortress.
Hawkins men, nearest the cavalry at
that time and separated from Wikoff's
regiments by shrubbery and trees and
the elevations of ground between, start
ed forward, the Sixteenth apparently
leading and DETECTING somewhat to the
left At the very head of the Sixteenth
regiment ran that stalwart negro, whose
powerful machete had cut through the