near Santiago, June 29th says: "Attention is called to Colonel Wood's report on the conduct of Captain Capron, Major Brodie, Captain McClintock, and others." General Young added: "I cannot speak too highly of the efficient manner in which Colonel Wood handles his regiment, and of his magnificent behavior on the field. The conduct of Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt, as reported to me by my two aides, deserves my highest commendation. Both Colonel Wood and Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt disdained to take advantage of shelter or cover from the enemy's fire while any of their men remained exposed to it-an error of judgment, but happily on the heroic side. I beg leave to repeat that the behavior of all men of the regular and volunteer forces engaged in this action, was simply superb, and I feel highly honored to be in the command of such troops." Colonel Leonard Wood, First United States Volunteer Cavalry, commanding Second Brigade, Cavalry Division, reports from the trenches about Santiago de Cuba, July 5th. He bears the usual testimony about the superiority of the Spanish artillery, using smokeless powder, with the result that they promptly located by the clouds of smoke from our guns our position, and inflicted quite a severe loss upon both the brigade and battery, the First Volunteer Cavalry (the Roosevelt regiment) being the principal sufferers. The Colonel traces the course of the action, and says "that dismounted cavalry should have been able to charge regular infantry in the strong position supported by artillery and the general lay of the land, seems almost incredible; yet this is exactly what the cavalry division did in this fight, passing over a long zone of fire, and charging steep hills topped with works and blockhouses. Of the five officers of the Brigade staff, four were killed or wounded, and one exhausted by the intense heat;" and Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt is credited with conspicuous gallantry in leading a charge on one of the hills. The brigade took into action 75 officers and 1,446 men; lost 21 officers, killed and wounded; 217 men, killed and wounded; a loss of twenty-eight per cent of officers and fifteen per cent of enlisted men. Colonel Wood says: "Major Webb Hayes, a son of President Hayes, on duty temporarily with the brigade, was cool and collected under fire, did gallant service, and was slightly wounded." Colonel Wood, in his report of the engagement at Guasavas, nine miles from Santiago, June 24, refers to the severe loss of gallant men, Captain Capron dying soon after the termination of the fight, but performed service "of the very greatest value," and Colonel Wood says: "The First Squadron was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, and the Second under Major Alex O. Brodie. Both of these officers deserve great credit for the intelligence and courage with which they handled their men." We append the official reports of Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt to Colonel Wood; the first dated "Trenches outside Santiago, July 4, 1898;" and the second dated at "Camp Hamilton, near Santiago de Cuba, July 20, 1898." "Col. Leonard Wood, "Trenches outside Santiago, July 4, 1898. "Commanding Second Cavalry Brigade. "Sir: On July 1 the regiment, with myself in command, was moved out by your orders directly following the First Brigade. Before leaving the camping ground several of our men were wounded by shrapnel. After crossing the river at the ford we were moved along and up its right bank under fire and were held in reserve at a sunken road. Here we lost a good many men, including Captain O'Neil, killed, and Lieutenant Haskell, wounded. We then received your order to advance and support the regular cavalry in the attack on the intrenchments and blockhouses on the hills to the left. The regiment was deployed on both sides of the road, and moved forward until we came to the rearmost lines of the regulars. We continued to move forward until I ordered a charge, and the men rushed the blockhouse and rifle pits on the hill to the right of our advance. They did the work in fine shape, though suffering severely. The guidons of Troops E and G were first planted on the summit, though the first men up were some A and B troopers, who were with me. "We then opened fire on the intrenchments on a hill to our left which some of the other regiments were assailing and which they carried a few minutes later. Meanwhile we were under a heavy rifle fire from the intrenchments along the hills to our front, from whence they also shelled us with a piece of field artillery until some of our marksmen silenced it. When the men got their wind we charged again and carried the second line of intrenchments with a rush. Swinging to the left, we then drove the Spaniards over the brow of the chain of hills fronting Santiago. By this time the regiments were much mixed, and we were under a very heavy fire, both of shrapnel and from rifles from the batteries, intrenchments, and forts immediately in front of the city. On the extreme front I now found myself in command with fragments of the six cavalry regiments of the two brigades under me. The Spaniards made one or two efforts to retake the line, but were promptly driven back. "Both General Sumner and you sent me word to hold the line at all hazards, and that night we dug a line of intrenchments across our front, using the captured Spaniards' intrenching tools. We had nothing to eat except what we captured from the Spaniards; but their dinners had fortunately been cooked, and we ate them with relish, having been fighting all day. We had no blankets and coats, and lay by the trenches all night. The Spaniards attacked us once in the night, and at dawn they opposed a heavy artillery and rifle fire. Very great assistance was rendered us by Lieutenant Parker's Gatling battery at crit ical moments; he fought his guns at the extreme front of the firing line in a way that repeatedly called forth the cheers of my men. One of the Spanish batteries which was used against us was directly in front of the hospital so that the Red Cross flag flew over the battery, saving it from our fire for a considerable period. The Spanish Mauser bullets made clean wounds; but they also used a copper-jacketed or brass-jacketed bullet which exploded, making very bad wounds indeed. "Since then we have continued to hold the ground; the food has been short; and until to-day we could not get our blankets, coats, or shelter tents, while the men lay all day under the fire from the Spanish batteries, intrenchments, and guerrillas in trees, and worked all night in the trenches, never even taking off their shoes. But they are in excellent spirits, and ready and anxious to carry out any orders they receive. At the end of the first day the eight troops were commanded, two by captains, three by first lieutenants, two by second lieutenants, and one by the sergeant whom you made acting lieutenant. "We went into the fight about 490 strong, 86 were killed or wounded, and there are about half a dozen missing. The great heat prostrated nearly 40 men, some of them among the best in the regiment. Besides Captain O'Neil and Lieutenant Haskell, Lieutenants Leahy, Devereux, and Carr were wounded. All behaved with great gallantry. As for Captain O'Neil, his loss is one of the severest that could have befallen the regiment. He was a man of cool head, great executive capacity, and literally dauntless courage. "The guerrillas in trees not only fired at our troops, but seemed to devote themselves especially to shooting at the surgeons, the hospital assistants with Red Cross bandages on their arms, the wounded who were being carried in litters, and the burying parties. Many of the guerrillas were dressed in green uniforms. We sent out a detail of sharpshooters among those in our rear, along the line where they had been shooting the wounded, and killed thirteen. "To attempt to give a list of the men who showed signal valor would necessitate sending in an almost complete roster of the regiment. Many of the cases which I mention stand merely as examples of the rest, not as exceptions. Captain Jenkins acted as major, and showed such conspicuous gallantry and efficiency that I earnestly hope he may be promoted to major as soon as a vacancy occurs. Captains Lewellen, Muller, and Luna led their troops throughout the charges, handling them admirably. At the end of the battle Lieutenants Kane, Greenwood, and Goodrich were in charge of their troops, immediately under my eye, and I wish particularly to commend their conduct throughout. Lieutenant Franz, who commanded his troop, also did well. "Corporals Waller and Fortesque and Trooper McKinley, of Troop E; Corporal Rhoads, of Troop D; Troopers Allerton, Winter, MacGregor, and Ray Clark, of Troop F; Troopers Bugbee, Jackson, and Waller, of Troop A; Trumpeter Macdonald, of Troop L; Sergeant Hughes, of Troop B, and Trooper Geiven, of Troop G, all continued to fight after being wounded, some very severely. Most of them fought until the end of the day. "Trooper Oliver B. Norton, of B, with his brother, was by my side throughout the charging, was killed while fighting with marked gallantry. Sergeant Ferguson, Corporal Lee, and Troopers Bell and Carroll, of Troop K; Sergeant Daine, of Troop E; Troopers Goodwin, Campbell, and Dudley Dean, and Trumpeter Foster, of B, and Troopers Greenwald and Bardelas, of A, are all worthy of special mention for coolness and gallantry. They merit promotion when the opportunity comes. But the most conspicuous gallantry was shown by Trooper Rowland. He was wounded in the side in our first fight, but kept in the firing line. He was sent to the hospital next day, but left it and marched out to us, overtaking us, and fought all through this battle with such indifference to danger that I was forced again and again to rate and threaten him for running needless risk. "Great gallantry was also shown by four troopers whom I cannot identify, and by Trooper Winslow Clark, of G. It was after we had taken the first hill -I had called out to rush the second, and, having by that time lost my horse, climbed a wire fence and started toward it. After going a couple of hundred yards, under a heavy fire, I found that no one else had come; as I discovered later, it was simply because in the confusion, with men shooting and being shot, they had not noticed me start. I told the five men to wait a moment, as it might be misunderstood if we all ran back, while I ran back and started the regiment; and as soon as I did so the regiment came with a rush. But meanwhile the five men coolly lay down in the open, returning the fire from the trenches. It is to be wondered at that only Clark was seriously wounded, and he called out, as we parted again, to lay his canteen where he could reach it, but to continue the charge and leave him where he was. All the wounded had to be left until after the fight, for we could spare no men from the firing Very respectfully, line. "THEODORE ROOSEVELT, "Camp Hamilton, near Santiago de Cuba, July 20, 1898. "Brig. Gen. Leonard Wood, "Commanding Second Brigade Cavalry Division. "Sir: In obedience to your directions, I herewith report on the operations of my regiment from the 1st to the 17th instant, inclusive. "As I have already made you two reports about the first day's operations, I shall pass them over rather briefly. On the morning of the 1st my regiment was formed at the head of the Second Brigade, by the El Poso sugar mill. When the batteries opened, the Spaniards replied to us with shrapnel, which killed and wounded several of the men of my regiment. We then marched toward the right, and my regiment crossed the ford before the balloon came down there and attracted the fire of the enemy, so that at that point we lost no one. My orders had been to march forward until I joined General Lawton's left wing, but after going about three-quarters of a mile I was halted and told to remain in reserve near the creek by a deep lane. The bullets dropped thick among us for the next hour while we lay there, and many of my men were killed or wounded. Among the former was Captain O'Neil, whose loss was a very heavy blow to the regiment, for he was a singularly gallant and efficient officer. Acting Lieutenant Haskell was also shot at this time. He showed the utmost courage, and had been of great use during the fighting and marching. It seems to me some action should be taken about him. "You then sent me word to move forward in support of the regular cavalry, and I advanced the regiment in columns of companies, each company deployed as skirmishers. We moved through several skirmish lines of the regiment ahead of us, as it seemed to me that our only chance was in rushing the intrenchments in front instead of firing at them from a distance. Accordingly we charged the blockhouse and intrenchments on the hill to our right against a heavy fire. It was taken in good style, the men of my regiment thus being the first to capture any fortified position and to break through the Spanish lines. The guidons of G and E troops were first at this point, but some of the men of A and B troops who were with me personally got in ahead of them. At the last wire fence up this hill I was obliged to abandon my horse, and after that went on foot. After capturing this hill we first of all directed a heavy fire upon the San Juan hill to our left, which was at the time being assailed by the regular infantry and cavalry, supported by Captain Parker's Gatling guns. By the time San Juan was taken a large force had assembled on the hill we had previously captured, consisting not only of my own regiment but of the Ninth and of portions of other cavalry regiments. We then charged forward under a heavy fire across the valley against the Spanish intrenchments on the hill in the rear of San Juan hill. This we also took, capturing several prisoners. We then formed in what order we could and moved forward, driving the Spaniards before us to the crest of the hills in our front, which were immediately opposite the city of Santiago itself. Here I received orders to halt and hold the line of the hill crest. I had at that time fragments of the six cavalry regiments and an occasional infantryman under |