in their places, as evening fell, a crowd of Cuban insurgents-hungry, dirty, and armed with every kind of weapon imaginable, but with nothing that would mark them as an allied force. Their demands, indeed, were less modest than to be led against their ancient enemies. All they wanted was food-and plenty of it.

Colonel Roosevelt's first task was to march his men about half a mile inland, to a place selected for the camping, and there to get them into the best possible shape for the morrow. The place was a bushy, dust-covered flat, with a jungle on one side, and fetid pools on the other. For the first time the men saw the huge land-crabs of the island, and marveled as the strange animals scuttled through the underbrush; and they marveled even more when they heard these same creatures utter their disturbing cry in the still hours of the night.

But the Rough Riders-dismounted-were in Cuba! Just fifty-two days had passed since the declaration of war. This was the only volunteer force that reached Santiago in time to be of use in the fighting, with the single exception of the Seventy-first New York National Guard. The latter regiment had been organized for years,

was fully armed, equipped, drilled and provided in every way. The Rough Riders had come in less than two months' time from the absolute beginning. Before April 30 not one step had been taken for their formation. Yet in this incredibly short time they were ready for the storming of San Juan hill. And they stormed it.

Never before, perhaps, in the history of a civilized country, has such dispatch been made in the preparation of a fighting force. And certainly never before was an organization so quickly brought to such a degree of efficiency. The result was due solely to Colonel Roosevelt's decision, energy, and remarkable capacity for leadership. The deciding element of the land force in Cuba was his personal contribution to the cause of his nation. And the recognition of this fact is probably the highest tribute that can be paid him.

CHAPTER XIII.

SERVICE IN CUBA.

BRIGADED WITH THE FORCES OF A FIGHTING MAN

THE AFFAIR

AT LAS GUASIMAS, AND THE LOSS OF PRECIOUS LIVES-THE ROUGH RIDERS PROVE THEIR HEROISM IN BATTLE-FROM THE TRENCHES TO THE HOSPITAL-GRAVES IN ALIEN SOIL-AFTER PEACE, THE RETURN HOME.

Months before the war broke out, Gen. S. M. B. Young, of the regular army, had been the guest of Mr. Roosevelt and Dr. Leonard Wood at a club in New York, and they had told him that when hostilities began-an event which they confidently anticipated-they were going to "try and get in." "Come to my brigade," said General Young, "and I guarantee to show you some fighting." And he kept his word.

At Tampa, in those distressing days when they did not know where the Government wanted them to go, the Rough Riders were brigaded with the First and Tenth regular cavalry, under General Young. The latter organization was composed of colored men. It was called the Second

Brigade. The first was made up of the Third, Sixth and Ninth-the latter also colored; and this was commanded by Brigadier-General Sumner. Major-General Joseph Wheeler commanded the entire force-absolutely all the cavalry that saw service in the neighborhood of Santiago.

The appointment of General Wheeler was of itself an interesting detail in the history of that war. He had been the most dashing and formidable cavalry commander in the Confederate army at the time of the war between the States, and President McKinley had wisely believed that the selection of such a man would be a most advantageous move in the process of unifying the nation. Ever since the Civil War the spirit of sectionalism had existed. There were men, both in the North and in the South, who refused to accept the results of the war, and whose effort seemed directed to preventing that singleness of purpose and action by which national advance could best be made. So far as lay in their power they were inflicting a harm upon their country by that inexcusable treason which flourishes in a time of peace and prosperity. With the beginning of the war against Spain the opportunity

arose to cement the sections. The South had suffered as much as the North from the perils of Cuba. Its sons had been treacherously slaughtered in the destruction of the Maine. The warlike spirit which always lived in that section was fired with the desire for reprisal; and the unexpected happened when the whole South, from the Ohio to the Gulf, rallied to the defense of the national flag. No other act of recognition could have meant so much as this appointment of General Wheeler to the command of the cavalry forces. Of all the great military leaders of the Confederacy still living, he best expressed the sentiment and enjoyed the favor of his section. Besides, it was, in a military sense, a particularly appropriate nomination. General Wheeler was a soldier. Though past the age of sixty years, he was full of vigor, possessed of an abundance of nervous force, still the master of military detail, and a natural leader of men. His appointment was one of the wisest that the President could have made; and with him in command it was an absolute certainty that the promise of General Young, that Mr. Roosevelt and his friend should see fighting, would be fulfilled.

General Young was a fine type of the Amer