The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-06-06
THE VOLUNTEER
%
Sketch Of the
Cuban War.

j.
+ A Sketch Of the
!. Cuban War. ].
i. j. !. j. !. !. !. !. !. :. !. !. !.
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 a 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 sutferings with calculat-
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 matterl 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
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 hill. 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 ad-
vance, and the first limo of the enemy
was swept away.
The battle grew. Here and there
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
reeling underfoot. Shells burst with
horrid shrek and flung out quick
death. Still the men pushed on. An
officer picked up the gun of 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 unfinch-
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
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 q cool voice they had heard
before rang out an order: ssCome on,
boysl 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
i or q uf11I <Io 81
teredl Groans of agony and hoarse COM
mandSmingled. 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 Front 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
} mindI 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 a ball
in his thigh. A comrade ran to his as
} distance. aud he made his way painful