Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1899-08-04
THE VOLUNTEER.
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A Sketch of the
Cuban War.

i. !. = r !. + l. + :. :. + = = = = -
With the intensity of a tropical day
fire gun seemed to expend its entire
force of furnace heat upon the unshel-
tered spot in front of Santiago, where
lay E grievously wounded American
soldier boy. The wide, tortured eyes of
the youth stared fearfully upward to
the Glazing zenith, past tha fo1l birds
watching his sufferings 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 no into his aching orbs,
md the hot drops crept down his cheeks.
He did not try TO wipe them away. He
could not. A Msuser 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 a Cuban,
black and burly. slain by the bullet of
n 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
brenk. There was a scanty breakfast,
and us the men ate ii there were indi-
cations of the coming clash of arms.
The flies 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 a 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
by the men. Sometimes through the
smoke they caught a 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 mp the gun Of a man who
had fallen and spoke a CHEEKY word.
The Spanish artillery and the far
reaching Mausers swept within a GER
tain limit every inch of ground, but
with a 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 n of the men is help
cd to the rear. The bullets came hotter
and faster from the Spanish in the
trenches and from the blockhouses.
More comrades stretched ont quietly
with the death mark ON their faces,
There was no time for words only a
mad swelling of the heart and a throb-
bling of the brain. A deadly thirst for
blood dried mp all other feeling as an
other man was lifted back.
Suddenly u cool voice they had heard
before rang out an order; Come on,
boysl Charged" And the thin line rushed
through the smoke and advanced up the
hill With a 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 n awful moment the men fall
tered 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 a 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 pulling lines Of smoke from cur
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. a 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
aiatance, and he made his way painful