The Colored Regulars in the United States Army Part 13

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE SANTIAGO CAMPAIGN, BY CAPTAIN R.H.R.

LOUGHBOROUGH, 25TH U.S. INFANTRY.

The 25th U.S. Infantry left its stations in Montana on the 10th of April, 1898; six companies (B, C, D, E, F and H) went in camp at Chickamauga National Park; the other two companies (A and G) went to Key West, Fla.

On May 6th the six companies at the Chickamauga National Park moved by rail to Tampa, Fla., arriving the night of the 7th, where they were joined by the two companies from Key West. With the exception of three days in 1870, the regiment had never been together since its organization in 1869. It necessarily followed that many of the officers, as well as men, were strangers to each other.

Our camp at Tampa was fair; the ground is sandy and flat, but as the rainy season had not set in, it was dry and the health was good. Drills and parades were held daily (Sundays excepted), but on account of the intense heat the hours for it were limited to the early mornings and after sunset. The clothing of the men was the same they had worn in Montana, and did not add to their comfort. Supplies of all kinds (except rations) came by piecemeal, and we finally sailed for the tropics with the same clothing used in the Northwest.

At 6 o'clock P.M. June 6th the regiment received orders to strike tents and be ready to move within an hour; the order was immediately complied with, though the necessary transportation to move the baggage did not report until the forenoon of the following day; it was not far from noon when the last of it left the camp for the railroad station, en route to Port Tampa, where we were to embark on transports for the seat of war.

As soon as the camp equipage was started, the regiment was formed and marched to West Tampa (about three miles), where we took a train for Port Tampa, distant nine miles. On arrival, the regiment boarded the steamer "Concho," one of the vessels to carry the expedition to its destination. The 4th U.S. Infantry had preceded us, and the next day a battalion of the 2d Ma.s.sachusetts Volunteers was put on, but owing to the crowded condition of the ship, a few days later they were transferred to another vessel.

The "Concho" is a large ship, but without the comforts I have seen since then on the U.S. Army transports plying between San Francisco and Manila. The ships used were hastily fitted up for the occasion, and it could not be expected that they would be all that was required, but some of the appointments could and should have been better. After a tedious wait until June 14th, we sailed down Tampa Bay and out on the Gulf of Mexico, still in ignorance of our destination. The evening of the 15th the light at Dry Tortugas was seen to our right. June 16th, 17th and 18th our course was a little south of east, and part of the time the north coast of Cuba was visible. The weather (except the intense heat) was fine. On Sunday morning, June 18th, we entered the Windward Pa.s.sage, and it seemed certain, from our course, that Santiago was our objective. Early the next morning the high mountains of Santiago de Cuba were in plain sight to our north. June 20th and 21st, remained off the coast; the sea was rough and the vessel rolled considerably, adding to the discomfort of every one, especially those subject to seasickness. During the evening of the 21st, orders were received to be ready to disembark the following morning. About 8 A.M. on the 22d our warships began sh.e.l.ling the coast, and two hours later the troops started in small boats from the transports to the sh.o.r.e. By evening most of the Second Division and part of the Cavalry Division were on Cuban soil. There was no opposition to our landing; I believe that a small force well handled could have made it very difficult, if, indeed, it could not have prevented it.

As soon as the regiment had landed it was marched out about four miles and bivouacked for the night. The country is rugged and covered with a dense tropical vegetation. A few "Cuban Patriots" had joined us and formed the extreme advance, saving us some disagreeable outpost duty. This was the only service that I know of them doing throughout the campaign, though they were always on hand ration day. Later developments showed that the service rendered was not so important, as any Spanish force had retired to a safe place, something our friends looked out for whenever there was any danger.

June 23d, the regiment started shortly after daylight towards the city of Santiago. About 9 o'clock there was a report that the enemy were in our front. The regiment was immediately formed for battle, and reconnoitering parties sent forward; after about thirty minutes' delay the supposed enemy proved to be the large leaves of some tropical trees being moved by the wind, giving them the appearance of persons in motion. Our route was over a narrow trail, through a dense wilderness; water was scarce and the heat was intense. About noon we arrived at Siboney, where we bivouacked for the night. Before daylight next morning the troops in our rear were heard pa.s.sing on the trail by our camp. Shortly after daylight Captain Cap.r.o.n's battery of four guns pa.s.sed, and the men lined up along the road and cheered l.u.s.tily. About an hour later, musketry fire and the occasional discharge of a Hotchkiss gun could be plainly heard towards Santiago. About three-quarters of an hour later we received orders to march. By mistake, the wrong trail was taken, and after marching fourteen hours we returned to our camp of the previous night, all f.a.gged out.

A great many men of the brigade were overcome with heat during this long, tiresome and fruitless ramble. I cannot say how many of these were of the 25th Infantry, but in my own company (B) there was not a man out of the ranks when the camp was reached. (I have called the above-mentioned place "Siboney." There is probably some other name for it, as the Cubans have one for every hamlet. It is not far from Siboney, and not knowing the name, have called it Siboney.)

On the morning of the 25th we got rations from the transport and all enjoyed a hearty breakfast. At 1 P.M. we broke camp and marched to Sevilla, about six miles. Here we remained until the morning of the 27th, part of the regiment being out on picket duty. June 27th, the regiment marched three miles towards Santiago and bivouacked on the banks of a small creek. Bathing was forbidden, as the creek was the only water supply for the army. The troops remained at this place until the afternoon of June 30th. The camp was in the valley of the creek, the ground is low and flat, and with the heavy rainfall every one was uncomfortable. Rations had to be brought from Siboney over a trail and did not arrive regularly.

About 1 o'clock in the afternoon on the 30th, the officers of the regiment were a.s.sembled at headquarters and were notified that there would be an attack on the Spanish position the next morning. About 4 o'clock the regiment started for its position, arriving after 10 o'clock, having covered a distance of less than three miles. The route was over an excuse for a road, but was crowded with some of the troops of almost every organization of the army, causing numberless halts, but worse than all, breaking the much-needed rest of the troops. On one part of this route I heard men asking, "What regiment is this?" and heard various responses, as follows: "The W.W.W.'s, the 1st Cavalry, the 4th Infantry, the 10th Cavalry," etc. Some one asked, "What are the W.W.W.'s?" and some one replied, "Wood's Weary Walkers." I do not know who is responsible for that condition of affairs. Had we had an enterprising enemy in our front, disaster certainly would have followed. Here were a number of organizations scattered along a narrow, muddy trail, at the mercy of an active foe. All this was only three or four miles from the Spanish works. The men were cheerful, and few if any realized that there might be danger.

Most of the men were up and moving about before daylight the next morning. Shortly after, the regiment started in the direction of El Caney. At 9 A.M. we halted in a mango grove near the Ducureau mansion. Shortly before noon a mounted orderly appeared with a message for the brigade commander. A few minutes later the march towards El Caney was taken up.

Heavy musketry fire had been heard in that direction since shortly before 7 o'clock. A march of little more than a mile and the regiment was formed for battle, Companies G and H in the firing line, C and D in support, the remaining four companies in reserve.

For two hours or perhaps more the firing was very heavy, especially during the second hour. Attention is called to report of Colonel A.S. Daggett, pages 387 and 388, "Report of the War Department, 1898, Vol. I," and endors.e.m.e.nt on same by Major-General A.R. Chaffee. He says: "This stone fort was practically in the possession of the 12th Infantry at about 2 P.M. July 1." I cannot reconcile this statement with the fact that between the hours named some of the heaviest firing was going on, which does not indicate that its defenders were ready to give up. Lord Wellington once said, "At the end of every campaign truth lies at the bottom of a deep well, and it often takes twenty years to get her out." This may not be an exception. About half-past 4 o'clock the firing ceased and El Caney was ours.

The dead were collected near a hedge and the regiment was formed in column of ma.s.ses to pay a silent tribute of respect to our departed comrades.

The regiment then started for the mango grove where we had left our blanket rolls and haversacks. Just as we were starting, some men with canteens started for water (about a mile away), when orders were received to be ready to march in twenty minutes. A few rods took us back to the road leading to Santiago. We moved down the road about three-quarters of a mile and halted. Two hours later, the pack train arrived with ammunition and then another with rations. Before the latter were issued orders were issued to move at once to the rear. The regiment marched over the trail it had come on the day before, arriving at El Poso about 8 o'clock A.M. Here we took the road leading to Santiago. About 9 A.M. we pa.s.sed under San Juan Hill and moved to our right. Our forces held the crest of the hill.

In pa.s.sing along the hill we were sheltered from the fire except a short s.p.a.ce, where one or two men were slightly wounded. Arriving at the La Cruz house near the road leading from El Caney to Santiago about 3.30 P.M. and bivouacked for the night. About 10 o'clock the troops on our left were attacked by the Spanish. The firing was very heavy for an hour, when it suddenly ceased, and we retired for the night.

During this time we were under the hill and protected from the fire.

Next morning (Sunday, July 3d) desultory firing began at daylight. About 7 A.M. the regiment left the La Cruz house and moved across the Caney-Santiago road and formed line to the left and moved forward to a ridge overlooking the city.

A number of shots fell about us, but no one was struck.

Shortly after, we were in possession of the ridge and began intrenching. The firing was kept up and two men were wounded. About noon we were informed that a truce had been established and all work was stopped. This gave all a much-needed rest, though it proved to be of short duration, caused by a false alarm by Major Webb, the inspector of the division staff.

During the afternoon the regiment was moved to the foot of the ridge, leaving only the pickets on the crest. About 8.30 P.M. we were ordered to the picket line and began intrenching. The tall gra.s.s was wet from a drenching rain a few hours before. The ground, though wet, was hard, and slow progress was made, having only their bayonets for picks and their bare hands for shovels. All night this work went on.

The men were tired, and hungry (as rations had not come up that day), but worked faithfully. During this, and I will add, throughout the campaign, I never heard a murmur nor a complaint; even when almost all the men of the regiment were down with fever and bowel trouble they were cheerful and ready to do any duty they were called on for.

The morning of July 3d Cervera's fleet sailed down the bay.

An officer rode by our part of the line about half-past 9 and informed us of it. A few minutes later we heard the roar of the big guns, though at the time I little thought of what was going on. In the afternoon we heard cheering on our line way to the left, and as the good news came along it was taken up, and soon the whole line was shouting.

On the morning of July 5th the non-combatants left Santiago by two roads, one pa.s.sing through our line. It was a pitiful sight. During the forenoon of the 5th we moved about a mile to the right and began intrenching. This position was very near the Spanish line, and quite elaborate works were constructed. We remained in this position until the morning of the 11th, when the regiment was ordered to the right of the line, about three miles. Here we intrenched. About 1 P.M. a truce was announced.

At 9.15 P.M. a staff officer came to the regimental commander's tent and informed him that the regiment was to be on the line at 12 o'clock midnight, and as soon as the moon rose to advance through the jungle until fired on, when the line was to halt and intrench. The night was stormy and any moon there might have been was obscured by the clouds.

We were up, however, standing until daylight in a drenching rain, for it was so dark that any movement was impossible.

Our rest was broken, without accomplishing anything that I know or heard of.

However, the rain and storm were providential, for I will always believe if the movement had been started we should have met with disaster. The ground was broken, deep ravines and underbrush with wire fences running through it. I have never learned who was "the father" of this order, and possibly never will. He must be ashamed of it.

The afternoon of the 12th the regiment advanced several hundred yards to the front and dug more intrenchments. They were still on this work the afternoon of the 14th when it was announced that the Spanish army had agreed to surrender.

This came none too soon, for our men were coming down with malarial fever. A few days later nearly half the regiment were on the sick list, and the balance could not have done much.

The regiment was moved the same afternoon to higher ground in rear of the trenches. Strong guards were kept to look out for our prisoners and to prevent "our allies," the Cubans, from going into the city.

On the morning of the 17th the formal surrender of the city and Spanish army took place. We were some distance away and did not see anything of the ceremony.

On July 25th the regiment was moved about a mile further back in the hills and made camp, our tents, etc., having been brought up from the transport. Medicines appeared very scarce, resulting in much suffering. The food supplied was totally unfit for our new surroundings, and I believe not a little of the sickness can be traced to this. Our last camp was as good as any to be found in that vicinity.

The regiment remained in camp until August 13th, when it embarked on the transport "Camanche" for Montauk Point, arriving on the 18th, and landed on the 23d.

B.H.R. LOUGHBOROUGH, Captain, 25th Infantry.

FOOTNOTES:

[18] First Lieutenant McCorkle killed; Captain Edwards and First Lieutenants Kinnison and Murdock wounded.

CHAPTER VII.

SAN JUAN.

Cavalry Division: The Ninth and Tenth Regiments.

When Lawton's division swung off to the right to engage the enemy at El Caney, with the results described in the preceeding chapter, the divisions of Wheeler and Kent were ordered to proceed directly along the Santiago road toward San Juan. Within a mile from El Pozo, the point where they had bivouacked for the night of the 30th, the troops arrived at the Aguadores River, which crosses the road here within less than a mile from San Juan Heights. Wheeler's division headed the column, although that general was not commanding. He had been relieved on the afternoon of the 30th and did not resume command until about 4 o'clock on July 1,[19] long after the heights had been carried, although he was on the field shortly after 1 o'clock of that day.

The Dismounted Cavalry Division on the morning of July 1 presented 2,663 fighting men, including officers. The First Brigade, commanded by Colonel Carrol, had 50 officers and 1,054 men, in regiments as follows: Third Cavalry, 22 officers, 420 men; Sixth Cavalry, 16 officers, 427 men; Ninth Cavalry, 12 officers, 207 men, the Ninth having hardly one-half the strength of either of the other regiments of the brigade. The Second Brigade, commanded by General Wood, contained 1,559 persons, distributed as follows: Brigade staff, 9 officers, 14 men; First Cavalry, 21 officers, 501 men: Tenth Cavalry, 22 officers, 507 men; First Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders), 25 officers, 517 men.

Before the troops left El Poso, Grimes' battery had been put in position and had fired a few shots at a blockhouse on San Juan Hill, distance 2,600 yards. Using black powder, which created a cloud of smoke with every shot, the battery was readily located by the foe, and the shrapnel from their guns was soon bursting among our forces. The second shot from the Spaniards wounded four of the Rough Riders and two or three of the regulars, while a third killed and wounded several Cubans. As a matter of course there was a rapid movements of the troops from that immediate vicinity. The firing soon ceased, and the troops took up that general advance movement already noted.

It is no easy task to follow the movements of the Cavalry Division from the time it left El Poso that July morning until it finally entrenched itself for the night on San Juan Hills. As heretofore we will take the official reports first, and from them make up the itinerary and the movements of the battle that followed, as far as they will enable us to do so. General Sumner says the division proceeded toward Santiago, and when about three-fourths of a mile from El Poso was halted in a narrow road to await orders and remained there for nearly an hour, subject to the effects of heavy artillery fire from the enemy's battery. Major Wessells, of the Third Cavalry, says, while following the road toward Santiago that morn, "much delay ensued from some reason unknown to the undersigned," and that the First Brigade of the division arrived at San Juan ford about 10 o'clock.

This creek was about five hundred yards farther toward Santiago than Aguadores River, and ran about parallel with San Juan Heights, from which it was about three-fourths of a mile distant.

The orders for which General Sumner had waited nearly an hour under fire had come and were "verbal instructions to move to the San Juan Creek and hold it." Reaching this creek his advance guard was met by the Spaniards who fired one volley and retreated to a position on a hill on Sumner's right front, about 1,200 yards distant. Crossing this creek with sufficient strength to hold it, Sumner was now ordered to move by the right flank and connect with Lawton's left. While his troops were in this ma.s.sed condition prior to deploying to the right through a thick jungle, the balloon that was in use for purposes of reconnoitering, came up the road and exposed itself to the full view of the Spaniards upon the heights. They needed no further invitation to direct toward our forces their artillery, for which the balloon became a flying target. Many officers and men were wounded here by exploding sh.e.l.ls and small arms' fire of the enemy (Sumner). Under this fire, however, the troops were deployed as ordered.

Colonel Wood, who had charge of the Second Brigade, of which the Rough Riders were the leading regiment, says this "regiment was directed to change direction to the right, and by moving up the creek to effect a junction with General Lawton's division, which was engaged at Caney, about one and a-half miles toward the right, but was supposed to be working toward our right flank. After proceeding in this direction about half a mile the effort to connect with General Lawton was given up." This movement to the right took place between ten and eleven o'clock, at which time Lawton's forces had made no impression upon El Caney, and he was far from making any movement which might be described as working toward the right flank of the Cavalry Division.

Lawton was not found by that half-hour's search to the right; and it was evident that something must be done by these troops in front, and done quickly. The whole division was under fire, and the battle on the Spanish side was in actual progress. True our men were hidden away in the jungle that bordered the creek, but their position was known to the Spaniards, and leaves and boughs are no cover from shot and sh.e.l.l.

They were receiving the fire of the enemy and making no reply whatever, save by the few ineffective shots from the far away battery on El Poso Hill.

Directly in front of the cavalry division was a little hill occupied by a Spanish force. This hill is called in General Wood's report East Hill, but in the literature of the battle it is usually mentioned as Kettle Hill. The fire in part was coming from here. Colonel Wood gives another report of the morning's experience in which he says: "The brigade moved down the road toward Santiago in rear of the First Brigade, with instructions to deploy to the right after crossing the San Juan, and continue to extend to the right, reaching out toward General Lawton's left and holding ourselves in rear of the First Brigade as a support. On reaching the stream the First Volunteer Cavalry, which was in the lead, crossed the stream with comparatively slight loss and deployed to the right in good order, but at this time a captive balloon was led down the road in which the troops were ma.s.sed, and finally anch.o.r.ed at the crossing of the stream. The approach and anchoring of this balloon served to indicate the line of approach of the troops and to locate the ford, and the result was a terrific converging of artillery and rifle fire on the ford, which resulted in severe loss of men. Under this fire the First United States Cavalry and the Tenth United States Cavalry crossed the stream and deployed to the right where they were placed in position in rear of the First Brigade. Two regiments of the Second Brigade, to wit., the First and the Tenth Regular Cavalry, were located in the rear of the First Brigade. The First Regular Cavalry had begun its day's work as support of Grimes' battery, but had later come forward and taken its place in the brigade time enough to join in the action that followed.