94 



RECREATION. 



General Young then directed that the ist 

 Cavalry Squadron be deployed in line of 

 battle, Captain Knox in the left center 

 across ?he trail. Captain Galbreath on the 

 left, extending toward the position of the 

 Rough Riders, and Captain Wainwright and 

 Lieutenant Wright on the right of the line, 

 with orders to swing to the left and strike 

 the left of the Spanish line. The command 

 " forward,'* was silently passed along the 

 line, but we had not moved more than 50 

 yards, when the close proximity of the 

 Spanish line was made known to us by 

 volley after volley of Mauser bullets, which 

 came hissing and crashing through the 

 brush, killing several of our men. The 

 Hotchkiss guns were in position on the left 

 of the trail, where they did very effective 

 service. They were served by a detachment 

 of the 10th Cavalry, and the corporal who 

 was in charge was killed by the first Spanish 

 volley. 



General Young remained much of the 

 time near these guns, directing their work, 

 and constantly exposing himself to a galling 

 fire, utterly indifferent to the danger of the 

 situation. General Wheeler, soon after the 

 engagement opened, appeared on the fight- 

 ing line and moved about through the brush 

 looking after the wounded men, with no 

 more concern for his personal safety than 

 if he had been on parade. 



Colonel Bell said that in all his previous 

 experience in battle he had been able to lo- 

 cate the enemy that had fired on him by 

 the smoke; but in this instance there was 

 none, and it was impossible, at first, to re- 

 turn the fire with any degree of accuracy. 

 In a few minutes, however, the location of 

 the enemy's lines was determined and a de- 

 structive fire was poured into them. Their 

 left flank was doubled up by the 2 troops 

 on the right, and after a desperate fight they 

 were forced to fall back, although outnum- 

 bering us 3 to 1. 



After the fight had been in progress about 

 a half hour and about the time the Spanish 

 lines began to waver, word came to Gen- 

 eral Young that the Rough Riders were be- 

 ing roughly handled, over on the left, and 

 were sorely in need of help. 



Two troops of the 10th Cavalry, then in 

 support of the 1st (regular) Cavalry Squad- 

 ron, under command of Captain Beck, were 

 at once sent to the relief of the Rough 

 Riders. They moved gallantly up the slope, 

 through the brush, under a heavy fire, and 

 charged the flank of the Spanish line which 

 was opposing the volunteers, doubled it up 

 and forced the enemy to retreat, thus ex- 

 tricating the Rough Riders from a precari- 

 ous situation. 



Too much cannot be said of the gallantry 

 of the officers and men of this little regular 

 force of 450 men. who in the dense jungle, 

 on ground and position selected by the en- 

 emy, in less than an hour defeated and put 

 to flight a force of Spanish regulars of 3 



times their own number. The action was 

 replete with examples of individual bravery. 

 Captain Knox, of the ist Cavalry, was 

 dangerously wounded (supposed mortally). 

 He, however, insisted on retaining his com- 

 mand until he became so weak from loss of 

 blood that he was supposed to be dying, 

 and was carried to the rear. He was shot 

 through one kidney, through the liver, the 

 lower lobe of one lung and had 2 ribs brok- 

 en. Lieutenant Byram then took command 

 of the troop and in a few minutes was shot 

 in the head. The surgeon dressed his wound 

 and ordered him to lie down in the brush at 

 the dressing stand; but he insisted on re- 

 turning to the fighting line and did so 

 against the orders and protests of the 

 surgeon. He kept command of his troop 

 till he fainted and had to be carried to the 

 rear. 



Doctor Delgado, on duty with the ist 

 Cavalry Squadron, was conspicuous for 

 bravery throughout the fight. Together 

 with the hospital assistants, he was most of 

 the time on the fighting line, caring for the 

 wounded. 



The courage and bravery of the other of- 

 ficers and the enlisted men could not be ex- 

 celled and bore constant testimony to the 

 gallantry of the American soldier. 



" Who does not to-day," said Colonel 

 Bell, " feel a thrill of pride, when he con- 

 templates the daring deeds of these brave 

 men?" 



When Captain Knox was carried to the 

 rear and lay in the brush, the surgeon, who 

 had come up with the re-enforcements after 

 the fight had ended, went to him and said, 



" Captain, have you any message you 

 would like to send to your family? " 



The captain replied with feeble voice, 

 " No, I shall carry my messages to them my- 

 self after this war is over." 



A few minutes after Lieutenant Byram 

 was carried to the rear, his ist Sergeant was 

 wounded, leaving the troop under the com- 

 mand of the 2d Sergeant. 



" Meantime my orderly was shot, and 

 while the doctor and field nurses were in the 

 act of stanching the blood from a severed 

 artery, a volley came and 6 bullets passed 

 through the poor fellow's body, rendering 

 further attention unnecessary. Strange to 

 say neither the doctor nor the nurses were 

 injured by this volley. 



" A few minutes later my sergeant-major 

 was shot through the body and before he 

 could be carried to the rear he was dead. 

 Just at this time I was wounded, a Mauser 

 bullet having badly shattered my left leg 

 below the knee. I prevented myself from 

 falling, by the aid of my saber, and was soon 

 carried to the rear. Eight men killed and 

 22 wounded was the result of this short en- 

 gagement. We suffered heavily, consider- 

 ing the small number of men engaged, but 

 we did the work cut out for us. We gained 

 the position assigned to us and held it in the 



