n--knew the distance of every
Spanish position. A Spanish captain told me
afterward that it was dangerous for them even to
stick up a finger for fear of having it shot off;
and yet the Spanish commander still held out.

The literary style of the young lecturer reveals the direct virile
qualities that since have made General Pershing one of the most forceful
and clear American writers on topics having to do with the military
affairs of the country. His use of adjectives perhaps is somewhat freer
than in his later writings, but there is the same vivid, direct power of
expression and description. His modesty at the time prevented him from
referring to the fact that twice he was recommended for brevet
commissions in the war with Spain for "personal gallantry and untiring
energy and faithfulness." Nor did he mention the words of General
Baldwin, a brave soldier of the Civil War, who said of him: "Pershing is
the coolest man under fire I ever saw." And he makes no mention of the
earnest protest of a certain foreign officer, the representative of his
own government in the Santiago campaign, who begged the daring troops
not to make the now famous charge up San Juan Hill because they would be
rushing into certain death.

The official records, however, are now available and consequently we
are not dependent upon stories which occasionally seem to possess a
snow-ball like quality of increasing in size as they gain in distance
from their starting points.

Headquarters, Tenth U. S. Cavalry,
Camp Hamilton, Cuba, July, 1898.
Adjutant General, Second Brigade, Cavalry Division,
Fifth Army Corps.

Sir:--I have the honor to submit the following
report of the part taken by the Tenth Cavalry in
the battle of July 12th and 13th, 1898, before
Santiago de Cuba.

On the morning of July 1st the regiment,
consisting of troops, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, I,
field and staff, occupying a position on the left
of the second cavalry, directed the line extending
nearly north and south on a ridge some three or
four miles from Santiago.

At about 6:30 A. M. a battery of artillery massed
a short distance from our right opened upon the
works of Santiago, the regiment being exposed to
much of the return fire of the American batteries.