Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 89 



and for the most part by volleys, and their shooting 

 was not very good, which perhaps was not to be 

 wondered at, as they were a long way off. Grad- 

 ually, however, they began to get the range and oc- 

 casionally one of our men would crumple up. In 

 no case did the man make any outcry when hit, 

 seeming to take it as a matter of course; at the out- 

 side, making only such a remark as, "Well, I got it 

 that time." With hardly an exception, there was 

 no sign of flinching. I say with hardly an excep- 

 tion, for though I personally did not see an instance, 

 and though all the men at the front behaved excel- 

 lently, yet there were a very few men who lagged 

 behind and drifted back to the trail over which we 

 had come. The character of the fight put a premium 

 upon such conduct, and afforded a very severe test 

 for raw troops because the jungle was so dense 

 that as we advanced in open order, every man was, 

 from time to time, left almost alone and away from 

 the eyes of his officers. There was unlimited oppor- 

 tunity for dropping out without attracting notice, 

 while it was peculiarly hard to be exposed to the 

 fire of an unseen foe, and to see men dropping under 

 it, and yet to be for some time unable to return it, 

 and also to be entirely ignorant of what was going 

 on in any other part of the field. 



It was Richard Harding Davis who gave us our 

 first opportunity to shoot back with effect. He was 



