out through the gaps in the wire fence to join it, and they complied with the same alacrity and enthusiasm that they had displayed in entering this bloody field.  The Gatlings redoubled their fierce grinding of bullets on the Spanish, despite which there still came a savage fire from the blockhouse and trenches.  Here the gallant Captain Wetherell, Sixth Infantry, fell, shot through the forehead, at the head of his company, and I received a Mauser bullet through the left lung, which disabled me.  But the blood of the troops was now up, and no loss of officers or men could stop them.  They charged up the incline until, coming to a steep ridge near the top, they were brought to a stand by the hail of bullets from the Gatlings against the summit.  As soon as this could be stopped by a signal, the mingled troops of the Sixth, Sixteenth, Thirteenth and Twenty-fourth swept up and over the hill and it was won.”

From testimony gathered on the evening of the fight it was concluded that there were more men of the Twenty-fourth Infantry on the ridge in this first occupation than of any other regiment, but all of the regiments of the division had done admirably and the brave blacks of the Twenty-fourth won on that day a standing in arms with the bravest of the brave.

The Spaniards although driven from their first line, by no means gave up the fight; but retreating to a line of intrenchments about eight hundred yards in the rear they opened upon the new-comers a fire almost as hot as before, and the troops found it difficult to hold what they had gained.  The supporting regiments were coming up and strengthening the line, the men meanwhile entrenching themselves under fire as rapidly as possible.  The Thirteenth Infantry was immediately ordered off to the right to assist the cavalry division, especially the Rough Riders, who were said to be in danger of having their flank turned.  Here it remained under fire all night.

The advance and charge of the Twenty-fourth made up only a part of the advance and charge of the Third Brigade; and this in turn was part of the attack and assault made by the whole infantry division; a movement also participated in at the same hour by the cavalry division; so that regarded as a whole, it was a mighty blow delivered on the enemy’s right and centre by two-thirds of the American Army, and its effect was stunning, although its full weight had not been realized by the foe.  The part sustained in the assault by each regiment may be estimated by the losses experienced by each in killed and wounded.  Judged by this standard the brunt fell upon the Sixth, Sixteenth, Thirteenth, and Twenty-fourth, all of which regiments lost heavily, considering the short time of the action.