THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 354 in one long line, partly hid in bush, partly' in the open. The Spaniards were retiring from the ridge, on which the Rough Riders were advancing ; their left had fallenback on the hill where their machine guns had been in action, and they were preparing for the final retirement onSevilla.

family. His father was actually in command of EBattery of the ist Artillery in Shaffer's army ; his grandfather,Captain Allyn Capron,had been killed in action while commanding the same battery at Cherubusco in the Mexicancampaign.

Young Capron, who fell at Las Guasimas, had enteredthe regular cavalry as a private, and won his commission by good service. Roosevelt spoke of him as one of the best officers he had ever met.

The newsof the fight wasconveyed to Siboney while it was still in progress by an officer who galloped in with the message that the cavalry had attacked the Spaniards and were meeting with a doggedresistance. Soon after, wounded menbeganto come limping in from the front, and an infantry battalion was hurried off to reinforce the fighting line. When it arrivedthe action was over. Once the more open country near the foot of the two paths was reached, the Spaniards had retreated rapidly. The 10th Cavalry on the right had dashed up the hill from which the machine guns were retiring. On the left, Roosevelt, rifleinhand, at the head of three troops of his Rough Riders, had rushed a ruined sugar factory where the Spanish rearguard had made a brief stand. The fight had lasted an hour and a half. The Spaniards hadinflicteda severeloss on the attackingforce, but they had abandoned their position before the persistent advance of the Americans; and although it was true that Colonel Alcanizhad never meant to do more than make a show of resistance, the perfectly legitimate impression alike in the ranks of Young's regulars and Wood and Roosevelt'svolunteers was that they had won abrilliant littlevictory. It was a most encouragingopening for the campaign.

The losses of the victors had been heavy. The total force engaged was 064 officers and men, and the loss had been 16 killed and 52 wounded. Amongthe woundedwasMr.Edward Marshall, a correspondent of the New York Journal. Shot through the back near the spine, andpartly paralysed, he was carried to thefield hospital, where he was told he had not long to live. Lying on the stretcher, he dictated the storyof the battle tobe telegraphed to hispaper. It was written down by one of the volunteers who knew shorthand, and it was only when the long telegram was completed that Marshall discovered that his kindly helper had been writing with a wounded hand.

Mr. Marshall recovered against all hope,and hassince told his impressions when the Spanish bullet struck him down. He seems to have felt very little pain, though this was not the impression of those who saw him. Mr.Harding Most of the dozen men that formed the point of the advance guard were struck down by the first two volleys of the Spaniards. The second sergeant of the second party, Marcus Russell, was killed just after hiscomradeFish. Russell was another " ranker" of good family, and had held the commissionof a colonel on the staff of the Governor of his State before the war. Another of the scouts was disabled,not by the Spanish fire, but by a defective cartridge that explodedas he closed the breech of his carbine. He staggered back blindedto the firingline.

The Rough Riders had opened fire as soon as the first volley rattled through the trees. Some of the cow-boy soldiersgave vent to their excitement in wild oaths, but Roosevelt's voice was heard sternly commanding:" Stop that swearing. Idon't want to hear any cursing to-day." The men weresoonperfectly in hand. It had been predicted that the cow-boys and hunters, once they were in action, would shoot according to their own independent judgment, and pay very little heed to orders;but in this LasGuasimas fight the menfired volleys,waiting patiently for the order to fire and not wasting ammunition wildly. They threw away all impedimenta, even their water bottles, keeping only their rifles and cartridge belts, and then began working forward through the bush, keeping a very good line. The Spaniards were retiringslowly from the first. Twice they stood for awhile and checked the American advance, and the tangle-of the wood was so thick that any rapid movement wasimpossible. Roosevelt took personal command of the left of the line, Wood sendinghim one of the reservecompanies.

The other two ware extended to the right towardsthe valley, in order to give touch with General Young's column of regulars, but the tight had been more than an hour in progress oefore this was effected. The firing had begun in the woodlongbefore Young cameinto action in the valley, but the regulars do not seem for some tjme to have been aware of the firing on their lest. The'two"columns were then deployed