June 21. Dispatch boats active; transports circling; Morro Castle pointed out; three days' rations issued to each man; no ext ra impedimenta to be taken ashore; crew preparing for landing.
June 22. As we neared Daiquiri, the designated place for disembarking, flames could be seen reaching almost to the heavens, the town having been fired by the fleeing Spaniards upon the approach of war vessels of Sampson's fleet, who were assembling to bombard the shore and cover our landing. After a fierce fire from these ships, the landing was effected with loss of two men of our regiment, who were doubtless crushed to death between the lighters. They were buried near the place of recovery the next morning.
The few half-clothed and hungry-looking natives on shore seemed pleased to see us. Daiquiri, a shipping point of the Spanish-American Iron Company, was mostly deserted. The board houses seemed to have been spared, while the sun-burned huts thatched with palm were still smoking, also the roundhouse in which there were two railroad locomotives, warped and twisted from the heat. The Spanish evidently fired everything they could before evacuating.
June 23. At 6.00 p.m. Troops A, B, E and I, left with four Troops of the First U.S. Cavalry and Rough Riders (First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry) as advance guard of the Army of Invasion on the main road to Santiago de Cuba; about 800 men all told, three Hotchkiss guns, manned by ten cavalrymen, accompanied also by the Brigadier Commander, General S.M.B. Young and staff.
Note.—These troops marched about 13 miles through a drenching rain from 7 to 10 p.m.; bivouacked one hour later. Oh the 24th, after breakfast, took the trail about 5.15 a.m. The vapor from wet clothing rose with the sun, so that you could scarcely recognize a man ten feet away. About three and one-half miles above Siboney the command was halted; the first U.S. Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders) sent to the left; proceeding farther about one mile, the main column was split, First U.S. Cavalry going to the right, the Tenth Cavalry remaining in the center. General Wheeler joined at this point, accompanied by his orderly, Private Queene, Troop A, Tenth Cavalry. Disposition of the troops was explained by General Young, who had located his headquarters with the Tenth U.S. Cavalry; General Wheeler made his the same. Hotchkiss guns were ordered closed up; magazines filled. The column had proceeded but a short way when the engagement opened in all its fury; troops were deployed and advanced in the direction from which the bullets were coming the thickest, as rapidly as the formation of the ground would permit, the left of the line touching the right of the Rough Riders.
June 24. Headquarters, band and the remainder of the First and Tenth U.S. Cavalry were off at 6 A.M. The road was alive with troops (C, D, F, G,) colonels and privates alike lugging their rations and bedding beneath that ever watchful tropical sun, feeling as though they would wilt at every step, the undergrowth being so thick and tall that scarcely any breeze could get to you.
On emerging from this thicket, through which we had been marching for several hours, the Sampson fleet could be heard firing on the Spanish batteries on shore. Marines and other troops could be seen crossing the mountains above Altares; this revived the men very much. As we approached Verni Jarabo (Altares?), we were met by General Lawton, who informed our Colonel that the advance guard was engaged with the Spanish at La Guasima, and that it was hard pressed. Our pace was quickened; the news appeared to lighten our heavy packs as we toiled to the front to assist our comr ades. The roar of the artillery became plainer; wounded men along the road as well as those played-out from the intense heat. Women and children were fleeing to places of safety. Our forces were repairing a railroad engine and track; also tearing up a piece leading to a Spanish blockhouse. In fact, everything seemed to have on an exceedingly warlike tint, but our advance continued as swifty as our weary feet would allow, which soon brought us to a number of our own comrades conveyed on litters from La Guasima, where our advance guard was tussling hard with the Dons for the honors of the day.
Upon arrival of reinforcements, victory had been wrested from the Dons fairly by the advance guard without assistance. Every one greeted each other, as though it had been a year instead of a few hours since parting. The First U.S. Cavalry and Rough Riders were unstinted in extolling the fighting qualities of their brothers in arms, the Tenth U.S. Cavalry.
The enemy was struck early June 24, entrenched on the heights of La Guasima, near Sevilla, on the main road from Daiquiri to the city of Santiago de Cuba. The advance guard was soon hotly engaged with them; after a very desperate fight of over one hour, the enemy was driven in confusion from their intrenchments. Our men were too exhausted to follow them. The Tenth Cavalry lost 13 killed and wounded. For a while it was a terrific fight, as the enemy was strongly intrenched on the heights and our men had to climb them subjected to their fire, which was very accurate, and much of it doubtless from machine guns in hands of experienced men. Our men had also to contend with the thickest underbrush, wire fences (the famous military trochas) and Spanish daggers jabbing them in side at every step. For a while the situation was serious. The decisive blow of the attack seems to have b een struck at an opportune moment, and the enemy withdrew in confusion.
It has been estimated that about 4,000 Spanish were engaged. Everything indicated that they lost heavily; a Santiago paper put it at 240. The writer and the Sergeant-Major of the First U.S. Cavalry superintended the digging of one large grave where all the dead of the two regiments were interred according to the Episcopal service. The Rough Riders, being farther to our left, buried their own. If advantage of position goes for anything, the Spanish should have annihilated the Americans as they approached the stronghold.