From Yauco to Las Marias Part 1

From Yauco to Las Marias.

by Karl Stephen Herrman.

INTRODUCTION

I have ventured to set down in this place the following bald and brief items of our recent history, not because I doubt an already existing common knowledge of their substance, but simply because they serve to illuminate and give finish to the succeeding narrative.

Major-General Miles sailed from Guantanamo, Cuba, on the 21st of July, 1898; and landed at Guanica, Puerto Rico, on the 25th of the same month.

The troops sailing with him numbered 3,554 officers and men, mainly composed of volunteers from Ma.s.sachusetts, Illinois, and the District of Columbia, with a complement of regulars in five batteries of light artillery, thirty-four privates from the battalion of engineers, and detachments of recruits, signal, and hospital corps.

On August 1st he was re-enforced by General Schwan's brigade of the Fourth Army Corps and part of General Wilson's division of the First Corps, raising his numerical strength to 9,641 officers and men. The Spanish forces in Puerto Rico at that time numbered some 18,000, about evenly divided between regulars and volunteers, and scattered advantageously over 3,700 square miles of territory. By the end of August the American strength had nearly doubled.

In the brief campaign that followed, a large part of the island was captured by the United States forces, and the positions of all the Spanish garrisons, except that at San Juan, were made untenable. There were altogether six engagements,--at Guanica Road, Guayamo (2), Coamo, Hormigueros, Aibonito, and Las Marias,--with a total loss to the Spaniards of about 450 killed and wounded, while the American casualties of the same nature amounted to 43.

General Miles, in his scheme of operations, intended that three columns of our troops--each composed of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and their adjuncts--should march through the eastern, western, and central parts of the island, respectively, diverging at Ponce and coalescing before San Juan. The entire success of this plan was prevented only by the arrival of the order to suspend hostilities, on the 13th of August.

The column marching east--known as the First Division, First Army Corps--was commanded by Major-General James H. Wilson, and took part in three engagements. The column sent through the interior--known as the Provisional Division--was commanded by Brigadier-General Guy V. Henry, and met no opposition of moment.

The third column, called the Independent Regular Brigade, and directed to proceed through the western section of the island, was commanded by Brigadier-General Theodore Schwan, and had two engagements with the Alphonso XIII Regiment of Cazadores.

It is the story of General Schwan's campaign that I am about to relate.

CHAPTER I

The Independent Regular Brigade

_Place of meeting_--_Forces comprised by the command_--_Why we were not like the Volunteers_--_Characteristics of the professional soldier_--_Sketches of the more important officers_--_What we were ordered to do_.

Yauco, the place selected by General Miles as a rendezvous for the troops of the Independent Regular Brigade, is a town of about 15,000 inhabitants, and some six miles distant from Guanica. It is connected both by rail and wagon-road with Ponce, the largest city on the island, and is noted for its Spanish proclivities, fine climate, excellent running water, and setting of mountains--luxuriantly green throughout the year.

Here were a.s.sembled on the evening of Aug. 8, 1898, all the forces a.s.signed to General Schwan, with the exception of Troop "A," Fifth Cavalry, which did not appear until some thirty hours later. The command was composed of the Eleventh Infantry, Light Battery "D" of the Fifth Artillery, Light Battery "C" of the Third Artillery, and the troop of cavalry already mentioned,--all regulars, and as resolute and picturesque a set of men as ever wore the uniform of war.

Because we had no Volunteers with us, we were not granted even one little word-spattering newspaper scribe, and so relinquished at the outset any fugitive hopes of glory that otherwise might have been entertained. We were out for business,--hard marching, hard living, hard fighting,--and the opening vista was fringed with gore. We were none of us the darlings of any particular State, nor the precious offspring of a peripatetic statesman with a practised pull. We were at no time decimated by disease through ignorant or insubordinate disregard of the primary principles of hygiene.

We didn't write long wailing letters home because we were obliged to sleep on the damp ground, and had neither hot rolls, chocolate, nor marmalade for breakfast. We were ragged, hungry, tough, and faithful. In other words, we were regular army men, and, most distinctly, _not_ Volunteers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Statue of Columbus, Mayaguez.]

There is a personality peculiar to the professional soldier, even though he be but a half-fledged recruit, that defies a.n.a.lysis and baffles description. He is of course built from the same clay as his brother of the Volunteers; but the latter is a tin G.o.d, and the former is a devil. Yet the difference does not spring from anything more fundamental than environment, and therein lies the solace of the other fellow. Putting aside all odious comparisons and limiting myself to a view of the regular army man as I know him, I can simply say that in the eight months during which I underwent in his company hard knocks and privations without number I could not have found a more truly satisfactory comrade and friend. He doesn't, on the average, know much about books; nor did he ever hear of the Etruscan Inscriptions or the Pyramidal Policy of the Ancient Egyptians. He takes a grim delight in smashing the English language into microscopic atoms at a single blow. He is more fond of women, horses, and prize-fighting than is good for him. He will steal when he is hungry, lie to save his skin, curse most terribly on trifling provocation, and spend, to his last sou markee, his hard-won wage on adulterated drink.

"He's a devil an' a ostrich an' a orphan-child in one."

But he will stand his ground in action while there is ground to stand on; he will throw his life away at a moment's notice for the flag, or a chosen comrade, or a worthless girl; he will march and starve and thirst world without end if he has a leader who holds his confidence; and he is, on the whole, a rather fine specimen of the true American--being usually Irish or German.

[Ill.u.s.tration: American Cavalry entering Mayaguez on the 11th of August.]

Our brigade commander, General Theodore Schwan--silent, upright, tall, and spare--was regarded with affection and respect by every one who came into personal contact with him, officer and man alike. He was shrewd, clever, and distinguished, but never too busy or elevated to listen to the humblest soldier from the ranks, and from first to last a gentleman. Of his staff it is the highest praise to say that they were in every way worthy of their chief. Bluff Captain Davison, gruff Captain Hutcheson, studious Major Root, saturnine Major Egan, wounded Lieutenant Byron, patient Lieutenant Poore, dashing Captain Elkins, and courteous Lieutenant Summerlin, I salute you all in the most military manner of the soldier dismounted! You were my friends in need, you lent me money, you gave me fatherly counsel and pa.s.ses of freedom to the shimmering tropic dawn--and I shall not forget.

At the head of the Eleventh Infantry was Colonel I.D. DeRussy, who, with his ministerial drawl and dry wit, was a sharp contrast to his blunt, impetuous, and fiery second in command, Lieutenant-Colonel Burke. But, so far as I am aware, perpetual harmony reigned between them; and both were beloved by their men. The battalion of artillery was commanded by Captain Frank Thorp of Light Battery "D," my own outfit. He was best known in the ranks as "Side-wheeler," from a peculiarity of gait, and, though well on in years, was at all times gallant, courageous, and capable. A stiff disciplinarian, he kept his guardhouse well filled from week to week; but he was as quick to reward as punish, when warranted by circ.u.mstances. It is worthy of note that although he took each day enough medicine to lay an ordinary man on his back, or in an early grave, yet he was well and fit from start to finish.

Captain Macomb of the Fifth Cavalry is not an easy man to describe in cold ink. Handsome, stalwart, and grave; black-haired, black-eyed, a scarf of yellow knotted at his throat,--he was Custer without the vanity or Lancelot devoid a Guinevere.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Public Fountain in Aguadilla, a Favorite Rendezvous for Runaway Lovers.]

When he clattered through the many quaint little towns ab.u.t.ting on our line of march, he was followed by a billow of sighs from behind the half-closed lattices, though I dare say he knew nothing about it; for indeed he was no heart-breaker, but a true soldier. I recommend him to either Rudyard Kipling or Richard Harding Davis.

Said General Miles, in a letter of instruction to General Schwan under date of August 6, 1898:--

"You will drive out or capture all Spanish troops in the western portion of Puerto Rico. You will take all necessary precautions and exercise great care against being surprised or ambushed by the enemy, and will make the movement as rapidly as possible, at the same time exercising your best judgment in the care of your command, to accomplish the object of your expedition."

And this programme we were now ready to carry out.

CHAPTER II

The First Day's March

_Disposition of our column_--_The road to Sabana Grande_--_The infantrymen's burden_--_Wayside hospitality_--_Hard tack and repartee_--_Into camp and under blankets_--_Arrival of Macomb's troop_--_A smoke-talk._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plaza Princ.i.p.al, Mayaguez. Town Hall in background.]

The disposition and arrangement of our forces on the first day's march can best be shown by the following doc.u.ment:--

HEADQUARTERS INDEPENDENT BRIGADE (REGULARS), CAMP AT YAUCO, PUERTO RICO, Aug. 8, 1898.

GENERAL ORDERS No. 13.

This command will move out on the road to Sabana Grande at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. It will observe the following rules and order of march:--

1. Macomb's troop of cavalry will act as a screen, and will march about two miles in advance of the point of the advance-guard. The extent of the front to be covered by, and the disposition of the cavalry, will depend upon the nature of the country, and will be left to the judgment of the troop commander. He will communicate freely by means of orderlies with the commander of the advance-guard, who will at once transmit all messages to the commanding general. Three mounted orderlies to be furnished by the troop, will march with the advance-guard.

2. Two companies of infantry, one platoon of artillery, and two Gatling guns will const.i.tute the advance-guard. A pioneer detachment, consisting of one non-commissioned officer and eight men, to be carefully selected from the advance-guard, will march with the reserve, and will be under the direction of the engineer officer of the brigade. The requisite tools will be carried on a cart. Upon arriving in camp, the advance-guard will immediately establish the outpost.

3. The main body will consist of nine companies of infantry, one battery and two platoons of artillery, and two Gatling guns.

4. The trains following the main body will be under the direction of the brigade quartermaster, and their order of march will be:--

Hospital train.

Ammunition column.

Supply and baggage wagons.