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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

ican fighting soldier. In the field he carried the same impedimenta as did Colonel Roosevelt-a mackintosh and a toothbrush!

The next day after disembarking was largely employed in getting baggage and camp equipage ashore from the ships, a labor that was made additionally difficult because the War Department had not found the right men for the control of details in the quartermaster's department. In the afternoon the orders came for the soldiers to advance. General Wheeler, trained to practical fighting, first found where the enemy was, and then directed General Young to take his brigade forward, and be ready to strike the Spaniards in the morning.

Colonel Roosevelt found his pony, "Texas," much the worse for its sea voyage and the forced swim ashore, but yet able to bear its master. The mid-afternoon sun was burning hot when the march began. Colonel Roosevelt led one squadron, and Major Brodie followed with the other. The jungle trail over the hills was so narrow and steep that in places the soldiers had to proceed in single file. The advance could never have been made had the Spaniards possessed the courage or the capacity for any kind

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