126 The Rough Riders 



to the captains and lieutenants, I came upon a man 

 lying behind a little bush, and I ordered him to 

 jump up. I do not think he understood that we 

 were making a forward move, and he looked up at 

 me for a moment with hesitation, and I again bade 

 him rise, jeering him and saying: "Are you afraid 

 to stand up when I am on horseback?" As I spoke, 

 he suddenly fell forward on his face, a bullet having 

 struck him and gone through him lengthwise. I 

 suppose the bullet had been aimed at me; at any 

 rate, I, who was on horseback in the open, was un- 

 hurt, and the man lying flat on the ground in the 

 cover beside me was killed. There were several 

 pairs of brothers with us; of the two Nortons one 

 was killed ; of the two McCurdys one was wounded. 



I soon found that I could get that line, behind 

 which I personally was, faster forward than the one 

 immediately in front of it, with the result that the 

 two rearmost lines of the regiment began to crowd 

 together; so I rode through them both, the better 

 to move on the one in front. This happened with 

 every line in succession, until I found myself at the 

 head of the regiment. 



Both lieutenants of B Troop from Arizona had 

 been exerting themselves greatly, and both were 

 overcome by the heat; but Sergeants Campbell and 

 Davidson took it forward in splendid shape. Some 

 of the men from this troop and from the other Ari- 



