1 86 The Rough Riders 



houses immediately ahead of us. On this knoll we 

 made a kind of bastion consisting of a deep, semi- 

 circular trench with sand-bags arranged along the 

 edge so as to constitute a wall with loop-holes. Of 

 course, when I came to dig this trench, I kept both 

 Greenway and Goodrich supervising the work all 

 night, and equally of course I got Parker and Stevens 

 to help me. By employing as many men as we did 

 we were able to get the work so far advanced as to 

 provide against interruption before the moon rose, 

 which was about midnight. Our pickets were 

 thrown far out in the jungle, to keep back the Span- 

 ish pickets and prevent any interference with the 

 diggers. The men seemed to think the work rather 

 good fun than otherwise, the possibility of a brush 

 with the Spaniards lending a zest that prevented its 

 growing monotonous. 



Parker had taken two of his Gatlings, removed 

 the wheels, and mounted them in the trenches ; also 

 mounting the two automatic Colts where he deemed 

 they could do best service. With the completion 

 of the trenches, bomb-proofs, and traverses, and the 

 mounting of these guns, the fortifications of the hill 

 assumed quite a respectable character, and the Gat- 

 ling men christened it Fort Roosevelt, by which 

 name it afterward went.* 



During the truce various military attaches and 



* See Parker's "With the Gatlings at Santiago." 



