vaded the Holy Land. The
hush seemed to pervade all nature as though she
held her bated breath in anticipation of the
carnage.

Captain Capron's field guns had opened fire upon
the southern field at El Caney and the hill
resounded with echoes. Then followed the reply of
the musketry of the attacking invaders. The
fighting in our front burst forth and the battle
was on.

The artillery duel began and in company with
foreign military attaches and correspondents we
all sat watching the effect of the shots as men
witness any fine athletic contest eagerly trying
to locate their smokeless batteries. A force of
insurgents near the old Sugar Mill cowered at the
explosion of each firing charge apparently caring
for little except the noise.

A slug of iron now and then fell among the
surrounding bushes or buried itself deep in the
ground near us. Finally a projectile from an
unseen Spanish gun discharged a Hotchkiss piece,
wounded two cavalrymen and smashed into the old
Sugar Mill in our rear, whereupon the terrorized
insurgents fled and were not seen again near the
firing line until the battle was over.

When the Tenth Cavalry arrived at the crossing of
San Juan River the balloon had become lodged in
the treetops above and the enemy had just begun to
make a target of it. A converging fire upon all
the works within range opened upon us that was
terrible in its effect. Our mounted officers
dismounted and the men stripped off at the
roadside everything possible and prepared for
business.

We were posted for a time in the bed of the stream
to the right directly under the balloon and stood
in the water to our waists waiting orders to
deploy. Remaining there under this galling fire of
exploding shrapnel and deadly Mauser bullets the
minutes seemed like hours. General Wheeler and a
part of his staff stood mounted a few minutes in
the middle of the stream. Just as I raised my hat
to salute in passing up the stream to pass the
squadron of my regiment, a piece of bursting shell
struck