ke a showing, and he
ordered General Young to push on with the Rough Riders and some other
troops. So away we went, with Colonel Wood at our head, and
Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt in command of one squadron and Major Brodie
in command of the other. In some spots the road was frightful, full of
mud-holes, with big land crabs crawling around in all directions, and
with the trailing vines full of poisonous spiders. We didn't know but
that the woods might be full of Spaniards, and we were on the alert to
give the Dons as good as they sent, should they show themselves."

By nightfall the Rough Riders reached the little village of Siboney
without having met the enemy. Here they went into camp in the midst of a
heavy thunder-storm in which every soldier and officer was drenched to
the skin. Fires could scarcely be lighted, and it was not until the
storm had partly cleared away that the cooks could prepare anything to
eat. Surely being a soldier was not all glory after all.

It had been learned that a portion of the Spanish army was less than
four miles away, and General Young was ordered by General Wheeler to
move forward at daybreak and engage the enemy. Colonel Wood received
orders to move the Rough Riders by a trail over a hill, beyond which the
country sloped toward the bay and the city of Santiago.

The first encounter with the enemy occurred at a place called La Guasima
(or Las Guasimas), so called on account of trees of that name growing in
the vicinity. Here the Spaniards had rifle-pits and mounds of earth to
shelter them and had likewise the sugar-house of a plantation. They had
been watching for the coming of the _Americanos_ eagerly, and were
determined to give our soldiers a lesson not to be forgotten. They knew
that our army had not been in active warfare for years, and felt certain
that they would soon be able to make the "paper" soldiers retreat.

The Rough Riders found the way led up a steep hill, and the pace was so
fast that before the firing line was reached some men fell out from
exhaustion. Theodore Roosevelt was at the head of the first squadron and
did his best to urge those under him forward. There was an advance
guard, led by some men under Sergeant Hamilton Fish, and Captain
Capron's troop, and soon a crash of firearms notified all that a fight
was on.

Orders were at once issued to fill the magazines of the guns, and this
was done. Then, while some troops moved to the left of the trail,
Lieutena