to the attack
so brilliantly executed.

"In this fierce encounter words fail to do justice to the gallant
regimental commanders and their heroic men, for, while the generals
indicated the formation and the points of attack, it was, after all, the
intrepid bravery of the subordinate officers and men that planted our
colours on the crest of San Juan Hill and drove the enemy from his
trenches and blockhouses, thus gaining a position which sealed the fate of
Santiago.

"In the action on this part of the field, most efficient service was
rendered by Lieutenant J. H. Parker, Thirteenth Infantry, and the Gatling
gun detachment under his command.

"The fighting continued at intervals until nightfall, but our men held
resolutely to the position gained at the cost of so much blood and toil.

"On the night of July 1st I ordered General Duffield, at Siboney, to send
forward the Thirty-fourth Michigan and the Ninth Massachusetts, both of
which had just arrived from the United States.

"All day on the second the battle raged with more or less fury, but such
of our troops as were in position at daylight held their ground, and
Lawton gained a strong and commanding position on the right. About ten
P. M. the enemy made a vigorous assault to break through my lines, but he
was repulsed at all points.

"On the morning of the third the battle was renewed, but the enemy seemed
to have expended his energy in the assault of the previous night, and the
firing along the line was desultory."

Such is the official report of the battle before Santiago, where were
killed of the American forces twenty-three officers, and 208 men; wounded
eighty officers, and 1,203 men; missing, eighty-one; total, 1,595.

An account of any engagement is made more vivid by a recital of those who
participated in the bloody work, since the commanding officer views the
action as a whole, and purely from a military standpoint, while the
private, who may know little or nothing regarding the general outcome,
understands full well what took place immediately around him. Mr. W. K.
Hearst, the proprietor of the New York _Journal_, told the following
graphic story in the columns of his paper:

"I set out before daybreak this morning on horseback with Honore Laine,
who is a colonel in the Cuban army. We rode over eight miles of difficult
country which intervenes between the army base, on the coast, and the
fighting line, which is being driven forward toward Santiago.