158 The Rough Riders 



next twenty-four hours, however, the amount of 

 comfort was small, as in the way of protection and 

 covering we only had what blankets, raincoats, and 

 hammocks we took from the dead Spaniards. Am- 

 munition, which was, of course, the most vital need, 

 was brought up in abundance; but very little food 

 reached us. That afternoon we had just enough to 

 allow each man for his supper two hardtacks, and 

 one hardtack extra for every four men. 



During the first night we had dug trenches suf- 

 ficient in length and depth to shelter our men and 

 insure safety against attack, but we had not put in 

 any traverses or approaches, nor had we arranged 

 the trenches at all points in the best places for of- 

 fensive work; for we were working at night on 

 ground which we had but partially explored. Later 

 on an engineer officer stated that he did not think 

 our work had been scientific ; and I assured him that 

 I did not doubt that he was right, for I had never 

 before seen a trench, excepting those we captured 

 from the Spaniards, or heard of a traverse, save as 

 I vaguely remembered reading about them in books. 

 For such work as we were engaged in, however, the 

 problem of intrenchment was comparatively simple, 

 and the work we did proved entirely adequate. No 

 man in my regiment was ever hit in the trenches or 

 going in or out of them. 



But on the first day there was plenty of excite- 



