| Show ILA aa BATTLE 26 25 per associated press dispatch boat dandy via kingston king ston jamaica june 26 copyrighted 1898 bythe associated press the initial fight of col woods rough riders and the troopers of the first and tenth regular cavalry will be known in alot history ry as the battle of la Qua sina that it did not end in the complete slaughter of the Ameri americans dans was not due to any miscalculation in the plan of the spanish for as perfect an ambuscade a m as was ever formed in the brain of an apache indian was prepared and col roosevelt Koo sevelt and 71 we his men walked squarely into it por fo r an hour and a half they held their ground under a perfect storm of bullets from the front and sides and then than col wood at the right and col roosevelt at the left led a charge which turned the tide of battle and sent the enemy flying over the hills toward santiago it is now definitely known that fifteen men on the american side were killed while sixty were wounded or we are reported to be missing it is impossible pos isible to calculate the spanish losses 6 but it to is known they were far heavier 4 than those of the americans at eaon as regards actual losses of life already thirty seven dead spanish sol jira have been found and bu buried ried while many others are undoubtedly lying in the thick underbrush on the side of the gully and on the slope of the hill where the main body of the enemy was located the wounded all removed that the spaniards were thoroughly posted as to the route to be taken by the americans in their movements toward sevilla was evident as shown by the careful preparations they had made the main body of the spaniards aads was posted on a hill on the heavily wooded slopes of which had been erect ed two blockhouses flanked by irregular entrenchments ments of stone and fallen trees at the bottom of these hills run two roads along which col roose rome belts men and eight troops of the first and tenth cavalry with a battery of four fo ur howitzers howit advanced these roads axe are but little more than gullies rough and narrow and at places almost impassable in these trails the fight occurred nearly half a mile separated roose belts men from the regulars and between them and on both sides of the road in the thick underbrush was concealed a force of spaniards that must have been large judging from cheter the terrific and constant fire they poured in on the americans the fight was opened by the first and tenth cavalry under gen young A force tf of spaniards was known to be in the vicinity of la Qua sina and early in the morning col roose belts men started off up the precipitous bluff back of siboney to atta attack c k the spaniards on their right flank gen young at the same time taking the road at the foot of the hill about two and a half miles out from siboney boney Sl some cubans breathless and excited rushed into the camp with the announcement that the spaniards were but a little way in front and strongly entrenched I 1 quickly the hotchkiss guns out in the front were brought to the rear while a strong scouting line was thrown out then cautiously and in silence the troops moved forward until a bend in the road disclosed a hill where the spaniards were located the guns were again brought to the front and placed in position while the men crouched in the road waiting impatiently to give Roosevel ts men who were tolling toiling over the little trail along the crest of the ridge time to get up ae a in gen young gave the command to the men at the hotchkiss guns to open fire the command was the beginning of a fight that for stubbornness born ness has seldom been equaled th the e in stant the hotchkiss guns gims were fired the hillsides hill sides commanding the road gave forth volley after volley from the mau sers of the spanish dont shoot until you see something to shoot at yelled gen young and the men with set jaws and gleaming eyes obeyed the orders crawling along the edge of the road and protecting themselves as much as possible from the fearful fire of the spanish the troops some of them stripped to the waist watched the base of the hill and when any part of a spaniard became visible they fire dand never for or an instant did they falter one husky warrior of the tenth cavalry with a ragged wound in his thigh 1 coolly knelt behind a rock loaded and firing and when told by one of his comrades that he was wounded laughed and said oh all right that chati been there for some time in the meantime away off to the left was heard the crack of the rifles I 1 of col woods men and the regular deeper toned volley firing of the span ish over there the american losses wie were the greatest col woods men with an ad advance vance guard well out in front and two cuban guides before them but apparently with no flankers went squarely into the trap set for them by the span laris lards and only the unfaltering courage of the men in the face of a fire that would make even a veteran quail prevented what might easily have been a disaster As it was troop L the advance guard under the unfortunate capron was all surrounded and but for the reinforcements hurriedly sent forward every man would probably have been killed or wounded there must have been nearly 1500 spaniards in front and to the sides of us said col roosevelt today when discussing the fight they held the ridges with rifle pits and machine guns and had a body of men in ambush in the thick jungle at the sides of the road over which we were advancing our advance forward struck the men in ambush and drove them out but they lost capt capron thomas and about fifteen men killed or wounded the spanish firing was accurate so accurate indeed that it surprised me and their firing was feax fearfully fully heavy teavy If 11 1 I want to say a word for our own men continued col roosevelt every officer and man did his duty up to the handle not a man flinched from another officer who took a prominent part in the fighting more details were obtained when the firing began said he velt took the right wing with troops G and K X under caits 11 llewellyn ewe 11 yn an and d jerkins and moved to the support of capt capron who was getting it hard at the same time col wood and maj brodle brodie took the left wing and advanced in open order on the spanish right wing maj brodie was wounded before the troops had advanced KH yards col wood then took the right wing and shifted col acci roosevelt to the left in the meantime the fire of the spaniards had increased in volume but notwithstanding an order for a general charge was given and with a yell the men sprang forward col roosevelt in iii front of his men snatched a rifle and ammunition belt from a wounded soldier and cheering and yelling with his men led the advance for a moment the bullets were singing like a swarm of bees all around them and every instant some poor fellow went down on the right wiling capt meola took tock bad his leg broken with a bullat bull at from a gun while tour four of his men mem went down at the same time caba luna of w w w capt lune luna of troop F P lost nine of hie blis men then the reserves troops K and E were ordered up col wood wath the right wing charged straight ek ait a blockhouse yards yarda ya rda away and col roosevelt on the left charged at the same time up the men went bellint like fiends and never stopping to return t the fire of the spaniards but kept on with a grim determination to capture that bockhouse that charge chame was the end when yards of the the spaniards broke and ran and for the first time we had the pl plea ur which the spaniards b toad been elpe rien all through the engagement of tAng with the enemy in bight in the two hours fighting during which the volunteers battled with a concealed enemy enough deeds deed of hero tern were done to III fill a volume one of the men of troop E desper wounded was lying squarely be between fan the lines of fire surgeon church chura hur rived to his hig side sad and with bullets built deft ing all around him calmly dressed the mans wound bandaged it and walked unconcernedly badir bacic soon oon with two men end and the letter the tb wounded wan man was waa placed on the utter and brought into our lines another An oither soldier dier of troop L concealing himself an ae best beat he could behind a tree gave up his bis place to bo a wounded companion and a moment or two later was nm hiim belf wounded sergt bell stood by the side of ct capron when the latter was mortally hilt he had seen that he was fighting against terrible odds but never flinching give me your arm a minute he said to the sergeant and kneeling down he deliberately aimed and fired two shots in quick succession at each a a spaniard was seen to tall fall bell in the meantime had seized a dead comrades gun and knelt beside his captain and fired steadily ste bAilY when capt ca pt capron fell he gave the sergeant a parting message to his wife and faither and bade the sergeant goodbye in a cheerful voice and was then borne bome away dying sergeant hamilton fish jr first man killed by the spanish fire he was near the head of the column as it fit turned from the wood road into the range oft of tile the spanish ambuscade ile he shot one spaniard who was firing from the cover of a dense patch of underbrush when a bullet struck his bis breast be sank at the foot of a tree with his back against it capt capron stood over him al shooting hooting and others rallied wound around mm him covering the wounded man the ground this afternoon was thick with empty shells where fish lay jay he heed twenty minutes he gave a small ladys hunting case watch from his bis belt to a messmate as a last with the exception of captain capron all the rough riders killed in yesterdays ter days fight were burled buried this morning on the field of action their bodies were laid in one long trench each j W wrapped rapped in a blanket palm leaves lined the trench and were heaped in profusion over the dead heroes chaplain brown read the beautiful episcopal burial service for the dead and as he melt knelt in prayer every trooper with bared head knelt around the trench when the chaplain announced the hymn nearer my god to thee the deep bass voices of the men gave a most mos impressive rendering of the music the dead rough rough riders rest right on the summit of the hill where they tell fell the sight is most beautiful A growth of ald luxurious grass and flowers covers the slopes and from the top a tar far reaching view is had over the t tropical forest chaplain brown has marked each grave and has complete records for the benefit of friends of the dead soldiers capt caprone Cap rons body was brought into inta jaragua this afternoon but it was deemed inadvisable to send the remains north at this season and the in berment took place on a hillside near the seashore back of the provisional A hospital after a brief service a parting volley was fired over the grave of the dead captain and the bugle sound 04 0 taps s as the sun sank over the injun mountain in tops beyond santiago |
