No one except those thoroughly acquainted with this country will ever know how dreadfully desperate the fight and charge were. It is a mistake that the Spaniards won't fight. The Spaniards have their barracks and other buildings covered with the Red Cross and abuse all the established principles of 'warfare. They put their men in trees hidden with leaves and bark and they pick off officers, surgeons and men of the hospital corps.
Finally it became necessary to systematically hunt these down, and this has been done with considerable success. The night of the 4th Sampson began countermining, and the dynamite made such a racket that the Spanish officers ran out under a flag of truce about 11:30 P. M. and wanted to know what we meant by firing under a flag of truce. It did not take us long to tell them that our flag of truce did not include the navy. Now, about 9 am, I hear the guns of the navy and Morro castle exchanging compliments.
Of all the precautions advised before we started for Cuba I could follow but few. I wear my woolen bandages, but in wading the stream I was unable to put on dry clothes again. In fact, for seventy-two hours we were under fire without sleep and thirty-six hours without water or food of any kind.
Bacon and hard bread are fine. I sleep on the side of San Juan hill in a ditch, so I won't roll out. I have a raincoat, blanket and shelter half.
This is the most beautiful country I have ever seen, and if we should have peace I know of no place I would rather live in. I have seen enough of the horrors of the war, but am proud of the gallant boys of the Twenty fourth. The fighting is practically over, so have no fear. Your son,
WILL.
COLONEL WOOD WRITES OF HIS BATTLE—ROUGH RIDERS' LEADER DESCRIBES THE AMERICAN ATTACK AT LA QUASINA.
Camp First United States Volunteer Cavalry, Six Miles Out of
Santiago, June 27, 1898.
Dear General: Thinking that a line about our fight and general condition would interest you, I take this opportunity to drop you a line. We are all getting along very comfortably thus far and find the climate much better than we expected; also the country, which, aside from being awfully rough and full of undergrowth, is rather picturesque and attractive.
We commenced our advance from our first landing place on the 23d, and that night General Young and I, as second in command of the Second Cavalry brigade, had a long war talk about taking the very strong Spanish position about five miles up the road to Santiago. He decided that he would make a feint on their front and hold on hard, while I was to make a detour by trail under a couple of Cuban guides and take them in flank and try to get them out of their strong position, which was in the wildest and roughest part of the trail toward the town. Our little plan worked. I located the Spanish outpost and deployed silently and when in position fired on them. Shortly after I opened I could hear Young on the right, down in the valley.