ches."

[Illustration: FIRST PAY-DAY IN CUBA FOR THE NINTH AND TENTH CAVALRY.]

Officers of other regiments which were near the Twenty-fourth on July
1 are equally strong in their praise of the Negroes. Their yells were
an inspiration to their white comrades and spread dismay among the
Spaniards. A Captain in a volunteer regiment declares that the
Twenty-fourth did more than any other to win the day at San Juan.
As they charged up through the white soldiers their enthusiasm was
spread, and the entire line fought the better for their cheers and
their wild rush.

Spanish evidence to the effectiveness of the colored soldiers is not
lacking. Thus an officer who was with the troops that lay in wait for
the Americans at La Quasina on June 24th, said:

"What especially terrified our men was the huge American Negroes. We
saw their big, black faces through the underbrush, and they looked
like devils. They came forward under our fire as if they didn't the
least care about it."

THE CHARGE AT EL CANEY.

It was the Tenth Cavalry that had this effect on the Spaniards. At
San Juan the Ninth Cavalry distinguished itself, its commander,
Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, being killed. The fourth of the Negro
regiments, the Twenty-fifth Infantry, played an especially brilliant
part in the battle of El Caney on July 1st. It was held in reserve
with the rest of Colonel Miles' brigade, but was ordered to support
General Lawton's brigade toward the middle of the day. At that hour
marching was an ordeal, but the men went on at a fast pace. With
almost no rest they kept it up until they got into action. The other
troops had been fighting hard for hours, and the arrival of the
Twenty-fifth was a blessing. The Negroes went right ahead through the
tired ranks of their comrades. Their charge up the hill, which was
surmounted by Spanish rifle pits and a stone fort, has been told. It
was the work of only a part of the regiment, the men coming chiefly
from three companies. Colonel Milts had intended having his whole
brigade make the final charge, but the Twenty-fifth didn't wait for
orders. It was there to take that hill, and take the hill it did.

One of the Spanish officers captured there seemed to think that the
Americans were taking an unfair advantage of them in having colored
men who fought like that. He had been accustomed to the Negroes in the
insurgent army, and a different lot they are from those in the United
States army.

"Why," he