In the Trenches 163 



ganize his battery. He then, by his own exertions, 

 got it to the front and proved that it could do in- 

 valuable work on the field of battle, as much in at- 

 tack as in defence. Parker's Catlings were our 

 inseparable companions throughout the siege. After 

 our trenches were put in final shape, he took off 

 the wheels of a couple and placed them with our 

 own two Colts in the trenches. His gunners slept 

 beside the Rough Riders in the bomb-proofs, and 

 the men shared with one another when either side 

 got a supply of beans or of coffee and sugar; for 

 Parker was as wide-awake and energetic in getting 

 food for his men as we prided ourselves upon being 

 in getting food for ours. Besides, he got oil, and 

 let our men have plenty for their rifles. At no hour 

 of the day or night was Parker anywhere but where 

 we wished him to be in the event of an attack. If 

 I was ordered to send a troop of Rough Riders to 

 guard some road or some break in the lines, we 

 usually got Parker to send a Catling along, and 

 whether the change was made by day or by night, 

 the Catlings went, over any ground and in any 

 weather. He never exposed the Catlings needlessly 

 or unless there was some object to be gained, but 

 if serious fighting broke out, he always took a hand. 

 Sometimes this fighting would be the result of an 

 effort on our part to quell the fire from the Span- 

 ish trenches; sometimes the Spaniards took the ini- 



