5 8 The Rough Riders 



race, for he was the only man of pure Spanish blood 

 who bore a commission in the army, and he de- 

 manded the privilege of proving that his people were 

 precisely as loyal Americans as any others. I was 

 glad when it was decided to take him. 



It was the evening of June 7th when we suddenly 

 received orders that the expedition was to start from 

 Port Tampa, nine miles distant by rail, at daybreak 

 the following morning; and that if we were not 

 aboard our transport by that time we could not go. 

 We had no intention of getting left, and prepared at 

 once for the scramble which was evidently about to 

 take place. As the number and capacity of the trans- 

 ports were known, or ought to have been known, and 

 as the number and size of the regiments to go were 

 also known, the task of allotting each regiment or 

 fraction of a regiment to its proper transport, and 

 arranging that the regiments and the transports 

 should meet in due order on the deck, ought not to 

 have been difficult. However, no arrangements were 

 made in advance; and we were allowed to shove and 

 hustle for ourselves as best we could, on much the 

 same principles that had governed our preparations 

 hitherto. 



We were ordered to be at a certain track with 

 all our baggage at midnight, there to take a train 

 for Port Tampa. At the appointed time we turned 

 up, but the train did not. The men slept heavily, 



