152 The Rough Riders 



however, we were all awakened by the Spaniards, 

 whose skirmishers suddenly opened fire on us. 

 Of course,, we could not tell whether or not this 

 was the forerunner of a heavy attack, for our Cos- 

 sack posts were responding briskly. It was about 

 three o'clock in the morning, at which time men's 

 courage is said to be at the lowest ebb ; but the cav- 

 alry division was certainly free from any weakness 

 in that direction. At the alarm everybody jumped 

 to his feet, and the stiff, shivering, haggard men, 

 their eyes only half-opened, all clutched their rifles 

 and ran forward to the trench on the crest of the 

 hill. 



The sputtering shots died away and we went to 

 sleep again. But in another hour dawn broke and 

 the Spaniards opened fire in good earnest. There 

 was a little tree only a few feet away, under which 

 I made my headquarters, and while I was lying 

 there, with Goodrich and Keyes, a shrapnel burst 

 among us, not hurting us in the least, but with the 

 sweep of its bullets killing or wounding five men in 

 our rear, one of whom was a singularly gallant 

 young Harvard fellow, Stanley Hollister. An 

 equally gallant young fellow from Yale, Theodore 

 Miller, had already been mortally wounded. Hol- 

 lister also died. 



The Second Brigade lost more heavily than the 

 First; but neither its brigade commander nor any 



