Hardly two minutes elapsed before Mauser rifles commenced to crack in the thicket and a hundred bullets whistled over the heads of the Rough Riders, cutting leaves from the trees and sending chips flying from the fence posts by the side of the men.  The Spaniards had opened and they poured in a heavy fire, which soon had a most disastrous effect.  The troops stood their ground with the bullets singing all around them.  Private Colby caught sight of the Spaniards and fired the opening shot at them before the order to charge was given.

Sergeant Hamilton Fish, Jr., was the first man to fall.  He was shot through the heart and died instantly.  The Spaniards were not more than 200 yards off, but only occasional glimpses of them could be seen.  The men continued to pour volley after volley into the brush in the direction of the sound of the Spanish shots, but the latter became more frequent and seemed to be getting nearer.

Colonel Wood walked along his lines, displaying the utmost coolness.  He ordered troops to deploy into the thicket, and sent another detachment into the open space on the left of the trail.  Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt led the former detachment and tore through the brush, urging his men on.  The shots came thicker and faster every moment, and the air seemed filled with the singing and shrieking sound of the Mauser bullets, while the short pop of the Spanish rifles could be distinguished easily from the heavier reports of the American weapons.  Sometimes the fire would come in volleys and again shots would follow each other in rapid succession for several minutes.

Captain Capron stood behind his men, revolver in hand, using it whenever a Spaniard exposed himself.  His aim was sure and two of the enemy were seen to fall under his fire.  Just as he was preparing to take another shot and shouting orders to his men at the same time, his revolver dropped from his grasp and he fell to the ground with a ball through his body.  His troop was badly disconcerted for a moment, but with all the strength he could muster he cried, “Don’t mind me, boys, go on and fight.”  He was carried from the field as soon as possible and lived only a few hours.  Lieutenant Thomas of the same troop received a wound through the leg soon afterward and became delirious from pain.

Roosevelt’s narrow escape.

The troops that were in the thicket were not long in getting into the midst of the fight.  The Spaniards located them and pressed them hard, but they sent a deadly fire in return, even though most of the time they could not see the enemy.  After ten or fifteen minutes of hot work the firing fell off some, and Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt ordered his men back from the thicket into the trail, narrowly escaping a bullet himself, which struck a tree alongside his head.

It was evident the Spaniards were falling back and changing their positions, but the fire continued at intervals.  Then the troops tore to the front and into more open country than where the enemy’s fire was coming from.  About this time small squads commenced to carry the wounded from the thicket and lay them in a more protected spot on the trail until they could be removed to the field hospital.