Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 77 



It was mid-afternoon and the tropic sun was 

 beating fiercely down when Colonel Wood started 

 our regiment the First and Tenth Cavalry and 

 some of the infantry regiments having already 

 marched. Colonel Wopd himself rode in advance, 

 while I led my squadron, and Major Brodie fol- 

 lowed with his. It was a hard march, the hilly 

 jungle trail being so narrow that often we had to 

 go in single file. We marched fast, for Wood was 

 bound to get us ahead of the other regiments, so as 

 to be sure of our place in the body that struck the 

 enemy next morning. If it had not been for his 

 energy in pushing forward, we should certainly have 

 missed the fight. As it was, we did not halt until 

 we were at the extreme front. 



The men were not in very good shape for march- 

 ing, and moreover they were really horsemen, the 

 majority being cowboys who had "never done much 

 walking. The heat was intense and their burdens 

 very heavy. Yet there was very little straggling. 

 Whenever we halted they instantly took off their 

 packs and threw themselves on their backs. Then 

 at the word to start they would spring into place 

 again. The captains and lieutenants tramped along, 

 encouraging the men by example and by word. A 

 good part of the time I was by Captain Llewellen, 

 and was greatly pleased to see the way in which 

 he kept his men up to their work. He never pitied 



