Young's Fight at Las Guasimas 91 



supposed that there was a large force of Cubans 

 with General Young, not being aware that these 

 Cubans had failed to make their appearance, and 

 as it was impossible to tell the Cubans from the 

 Spaniards, and as we could not decide whether 

 these were Cubans following the Spaniards we had 

 put to flight, or merely another troop of Spaniards 

 retreating after the first (which was really the case) 

 we dared not fire, and in a minute they had passed 

 the glade and were out of sight. 



At every halt we took advantage of the cover, 

 sinking down behind any mound, bush, or tree- 

 trunk in the neighborhood. The trees, of course, 

 furnished no protection from the Mauser bullets. 

 Once I was standing behind a large palm with my 

 head out to one side, very fortunately; for a bullet 

 passed through the palm, filling my left eye and ear 

 with the dust and splinters. 



No man was allowed to drop out to help the 

 wounded. It was hard to leave them there in the 

 jungle, where they might not be found again until 

 the vultures and the land-crabs came, but war is a 

 grim game and there was no choice. One of the 

 men shot was Harry Heffner of G Troop, who 

 was mortally wounded through the hips. He fell 

 without uttering a sound, and two of his compan- 

 ions dragged him behind a tree. Here he propped 

 himself up and asked to be given his canteen and 



