84 The Rough Riders 



had his leg broken by a shot as he was leading his 

 men. Captain Wainwright succeeded to the com- 

 mand of the squadron. Captain Knox was shot 

 in the abdomen. He continued for some time giving 

 orders to his troops, and refused to allow a man 

 in the firing-line to assist him to the rear. His First 

 Lieutenant, Byram, was himself shot, but continued 

 to lead his men until the wound and the heat over- 

 came him and he fell in a faint. The advance was 

 pushed forward under General Young's eye with the 

 utmost energy, until the enemy's voices could be 

 heard in the intrenchments. The Spaniards kept up 

 a very heavy firing, but the regulars would not be 

 denied, and as they climbed the ridges the Spaniards 

 broke and fled. 



Meanwhile, at six o'clock, the Rough Riders be- 

 gan their advance. We first had to climb a very 

 steep hill. Many of the men, footsore and weary 

 from their march of the preceding day, found the 

 pace up this hill too hard, and either dropped their 

 bundles or fell out of line, with the result that we 

 went into action with less than five hundred men 

 as, in addition to the stragglers, a detachment had 

 been left to guard the baggage on shore. At the 

 time I was rather inclined to grumble to myself 

 about Wood setting so fast a pace, but when the 

 fight began I realized that it had been absolutely 

 necessary, as otherwise we should have arrived late 



