USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of companies I and E, Sixth Regt., Illinois Volunteer Infantry from Whiteside County > Part 17
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In the meantime Brigadier General Schwan had arrived at Guanica and was ordered to disembark his troops, and march to Yauco and thence west with an additional force of two batteries of artillery and one troop of cavalry. This force was to occupy the western portion of the island and drive out or capture all of the Spanish troops in that territory. From August seventh
261
MANEUVERS OF VARIOUS COMMANDS.
to fifteenth General Schwan's troops had several engage- ments with the Spanish, made prisoners of war one hundred and sixty-two regulars, captured and paroled two hundred volunteers. captured much valuable mater- ial, and cleared the western part of the island of the enemy.
Major General Brooke arrived on July thirty-first and disembarked at Arroyo. on the southeastern coast of the island. On August fifth his troops had a sharp engagement with the enemy at Guayama, which was finally occupied by our forces. On the eighth. another action took place near this point and the Spanish troops were driven to the north in the direction of San Juan. The order for cessation of hostilities arrived at about this period and stopped farther action. General Wil- · son's troops. which had landed at Ponce previous to the arrival of General Henry's division, had been advanced in a northeasterly direction, and at Coamo a sharp en- gagement took place between his command and the Spanish. Our troops were successful in the action and a number of the enemy were killed and nearly two hun- dred taken prisoners. The Spanish troops had taken a position at Asomante, in the mountains some fifteen miles in advance of General Wilson's command, in the direction of San Juan. On the twelfth of August, Gen- eral Wilson's artillery began shelling the enemy's pos- ition, preparatory to an advance, and were under arms and ready to move when orders were received suspend- ing hostilities.
The western and southern portions of the island was well invested by our troops and the enemy had been driven in the direction of San Juan. Our division, under command of General Henry, was to march direct-
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HISTORY OF COMPANIES I AND E.
ly north from Ponce in the direction of Arecibo, which is located on the northern coast of the island. There we were to join General Schwan's brigade. The ob- ject of this movement was to intercept the enemy re- treating before the advance of General Schwan's troops. This operation would have formed a strong division on the line of retreat of the Spanish troops occupying the western portion of the island.
On August ninth our brigade began .the march in the direction of Arecibo. For a few miles north of Ponce the military road was in excellent condition, but beyond that the trail had at first been considered almost impassable for an army. General Stone had been en- gaged for several days, with a force of natives, in open- ing the trail for the passage of our troops. The new- ly made trails were in horrible condition and the men could make but little headway at times. In the march to Utuado and their subsequent return, the troops of General Henry's command covered more miles than those of any other division of the invading army of Porto Rico, and this over mountain trails, which were poor enough at their best, and made much worse by the daily downpour of rain which we encountered.
263
MARCHING OUT OF PONCE.
CHAPTER XX.
On the morning of the ninth of August, our division broke camp and marching through the town, took a northerly course with Arecibo as its final destination, as far as we then knew. Arecibo is located on the northern coast of the island, about half way between the eastern and western coasts and almost directly north of Ponce as the crow flies. The island is about forty miles in width at this point but the trail wound in, out, and around the mountains in such a crazy fashion as to make the actual distance between the two cities several times forty miles.
The campaign, as mapped out by General Miles, was intended to drive out or capture all of the Spanish troops in the southern and eastern portions of the island, thus forcing them toward a common center, and event- ually drawing the lines of the advancing troops closer until the enemy's forces were practically hemmed in, in the vicinity of San Juan, the capital city of Porto Rico, and located on the northeastern coast of the island. With the Spaniards driven together and our land troops menacing them in the rear and on both flanks, while the guns of our war-ships were trained on the city and neighboring country, the position of the enemy would soon have become untenable and the result must have been the surrender of their forces.
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HISTORY OF COMPANIES I AND E.
The natural consequence of the movements of the commands of Generals Wilson and Brooks, on our right and General Schwan's troops on our left, would be to gradually force the troops of the enemy back into the center of the island and toward our line of march, and we fully expected to have a brush with them "most any time after we had gotten well away from the coast.
The military road running north from Ponce sev- eral miles, was far superior to any country road we had ever seen in the states. In many places it was blasted and built from solid rock with a generous growth of fine shade trees on either side. As we drew away from the coast the roadway gradually inclined upward and made abrupt turns around the foothills of the mountains which we were approaching. The steady climb soon began to tell on the men and they began to drop by the road- side. The Massachusetts boys were in advance of us and as we plodded along we passed numbers of their regiment who had been beaten down by the fierce heat. These men were readily recognized by the brown uni- forms which they wore.
We found the nights to be very cool, and before dawn a heavy dew fell. As the sun rose over the hill tops the dew was condensed and a heavy vapor envel- oped everything. By this the men were given a thor- ough broiling early each morning and left them soft and weak for the remainder of the day. The heat was more intense and did more execution between the hours of eight and ten o'clock in the morning than at any other time during the day, At the commencement of this march the officers had been instructed to watch their men carefully and no man would be allowed to fall out of the column without a written permit from a
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CLIMBING THE MOUNTAINS.
commissioned officer of his company. We were given ten minutes rest each hour, march twenty.five minutes and rest five, repeating this each half hour while on the march.
At about the noon hour, as the column was taking its five minutes rest, the men were ordered to an atten- tion and General Henry, accompanied by two staff officers, came riding towards us. By this time the men were in hard shape and General Henry must have passed a large number of them who were lying by the roadside overcome by the heat. The call for a doctor or a hospital attendant was being continually passed up and down the line as some of the weaker ones fell faint- ing in a comrades arms or at his feet. As the General rode by our battalion he was heard to remark, "This is terrible, if the heat continues we must put these men on night marches." Nothing more was heard from it however.
We were then well into the mountains and were passing through a very productive part of the island. Coffee plantations, covering several thousand acres each, were located along the route. They extended partly up the mountain side, midst what appeared to us to be a heavy growth of timber. Upon getting into the wood- land we saw that the trees were kept thinned out and just enough remained standing to make a good shade for the coffee plant. These plants attain a height of from six to ten feet. branching out at the top, the berry growing in a pod at the extreme end of the branches. The pods were just turning to a reddish color and in a short time would be in condition to harvest.
The residences, and buildings which surrounded them, were much handsomer and more substantially
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HISTORY OF COMPANIES I AND E.
built than those found along the coast. Coffee houses were usually of large dimensions and well built. In the front of the store houses, dry beds were made of cement and slightly raised from the ground. Small cars, built on trucks, were run out to the dry beds on platforms built of plank. Sugar mills became more fre- quent and here and there a native would have his corn crop harvested and strung on poles very close to his abode. We had been informed that corn was one of the principle products of the island but never saw more than five or six bushels of ear corn in one mans gath- ering for the season.
The first night out from Ponce we bivouaced in and about a coffee house. A small store building and a cou- ple of native homes were in the neighborhood and the village bore the name of Gagos. On the opposite side of the road from the coffee house an excellent grazing ground for the bullocks and mules was found. This was on the mountain side and quite steep. An embankment ten feet high bordered the inner side of the roadway. Just over the outer edge of this bank the men had rolled themselves in their blankets and were sleeping soundly. Back of them and farther up the slope the mules and bullocks were feeding. During the middle of the night the cattle stampeded and rushed about in the wildest confusion. The startled sleepers awoke, and tak- ing in the situation made a break to get out of the path of the oncoming, half crazed bullocks. In the hurry and excitement they forgot the abrupt drop into the roadway directly in front of them and the darkness of the night prevented them from seeing it. Rushing straight ahead many of them suddenly found themselves treading the air and the next instant dropped in a heap in the road-
267
CAMP "BULL RUN" AT GAGOS.
way below, or went sprawling half way across it. Several of the men were bruised considerable and one of our reg- iment had a leg broken. Major Anthony set the frac- tured limb the next morning and the injured man was sent back to Ponce. From this occurance the camp de- rived its name of "Bull Run."
The rations did not get to us until after nine o'clock that night; there was nothing to forage and the scarcity of wood for making fires made it difficult to se- cure a cup of coffee. I say there was nothing to forage and, generally speaking, there was nothing, but npon skirmishing around, the proprietor of the store was found to have three half grown chickens and a duck hid- den under his house.
After some dickering, two of the boys purchased a couple of chickens, paying an outrageous price for them, while the remaining chicken and duck was secured hy a pair of comrades. With much difficulty the boys gath- ered a limited supply of wood and securing a couple of tin buckets, the fowls were placed in them and swung over the fires. They sat about the impromptu fire-places eagerly watching for the first sign of broiling, alternate- ly stirring the fire and removing the cover of the pot to take a peep at the contents. As the odor of the broiling fowls filled the nostrils of the hungry men, they sat back in the shadows and patiently awaited for the end, and for one of the groups it soon came.
As they sat with closed eyes, their hunger increas- ing with each moment, and anticipating the feast which was soon to be theirs, their attention was attracted to the fire by the smell of something like that of burning leath- er arising from the pot while the delicious odor which had so recently pervaded the air, had disappeared. Hur-
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HISTORY OF COMPANIES I AND E.
rying to the fire they were just in time to see the bottom fall out of the pot and the badly burned chicken and duck drop into the fire. Dragging them from the blaze they found them burned to a crisp and cursing their ill luck and stupidity, they tossed the remainder of the fowls in- to the darkness, and kicking the glowing embers of the fire in a dozen directions they returned to the coffee house to await the coming of the wagon train which would bring them sowbelly and hardtack.
In their inexperience they had overlooked the fact that during the broiling process the water was rapidly passing away, and the pleasure derived from the pros- pects for a good feed, lulled them into semi-conscious- ness, from which they were aroused too late, and they saw their feast disappear in a moment. The boys about the other fire took warning from the experience of their unfortunate comrades and were soon devouring their chickens. Salt and pepper were both lacking but such trifles were overlooked and in a short time a small stack of bones, picked clean, lay on the ground, the only visi- ble evidence of the repast remaining.
At one o'clock, the following afternoon, the division broke camp and in a downpour of rain, continued the march. Company E, acting as rear guard, remained motionless the remainder of the day. The march before had been difficult but was now doubly so as the hard military road terminated at the coffee house and the re- mainder of the march was made over freshly made trails. The trail was kept soft by the heavy rains and after the first few companies had passed over it, became a perfect sea of sticky mud, the men going in above their ankles at every step, nearly pulling off their shoes in extricating their feet. It was just a trifle the strongest case of "leg-
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" Resting." A group of Co. I boys taking a five minute respite from the wearying march, in Porto Rico.
269
"SLEEPING PASS."
pilling" which we had as yet experienced.
We had covered but a short distance when we were halted on the bank of a stream an I held in a column of fours. We had been steadily climbing upwards since leaving Ponce and by this time were well up in the mountains. The rain poured down and we were soon wet to the skin and shivering from the cold. Although the men were wet and cold they kept their spirits up by singing, laughing, and treating the whole situation as a huge joke. After the storm ceased we again moved forward. In crossing the stream several of the boys slipped on the wet stepping stones and into the water they went. With each spilling, a shout went up from the watching soldiers, and the victim of the accident would be informed that no orders had been given to "fall in."
We paddled through the mud and water a few miles when we were halted for the night. And such a site for a camp. The trail at this point was not more than ten feet in width and the mud was fearful. On our left the solid face of the mountain rose abruptly far above us. On the right the trail sheered off nearly perpendicular to the valley several hundred feet be- low. For several moments we remained motionless, wondering how, in the name of mud, we were to convert this place into a camp. To lie or sit down meant a seat or bed in the sloppy clay. The tall grass and wide leaves of the plants growing on the very brink of the drop to the valley, were as wet as water could make them. The sun, which for once might have brought joy and comfort with its warm rays, failed to break from beneath the heavy clouds, and before preparations could be made, night was upon us.
Someone espied a wire fence close to the trail
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HISTORY OF COMPANIES I AND E.
and the boys immediately began a systematic search for fence posts. Before long it was necessary to walk two miles in advance of the camp to secure a single post. Away out there we found a banana grove and the returning soldiers brought back a double load of wood and bananas. One of the boys gave a treacher- ous looking native an American dollar for a scrawny duck and with a fence post on his shoulder and the duck under his arm he hurried back to camp. The rations had not come up and the contents of the haversacks went but a little way in appeasing the hun- ger of the men. A limited number of small fires were built and the men huddled about them in a vain ef- fort to partially dry their clothing and drive the chill from their bodies.
The mountainside was cut away in places to make fire-places and a dry spot in which to rest. The duck which the soldier had brought into camp was dressed in the dark, cut up and placed in a meat pan. The fires were so small and occupied so fully that it was a scramble to get near one. After edging the pan to within close proximity of the scattered coals, the duck was left to roast. About ten o'clock the fowl was supposed to be well done, and the better part of it was disposed of in a few moments, the wings and drum sticks were retained for a breakfast. The meat was ex- ceedingly rare and had a peculiar flavor but it went at any rate and sufficed to appease the hunger for the time being.
We had no blankets and the shelter tents were back with the wagon train. As the fires burned lower the weary men turned their attention to the task of arrang- ing as comfortable sleeping quarters as possible. Some
271
THE MIDNIGHT SCARE.
crawled into the holes where the fires had been built others sat on their rifles and rested against the mountain side and a few stood upright and nodded. £ A few of the boys secured two fence posts each, and laying them par- allel with each other. filled the intervening space with wet leaves and grass. Nearly every man had fallen into a fitful, restless sleep, when. close to our ears came the muffled report of a shot. All were awake in an instant. We had seen or heard nothing of the enemy since leav- ing Ponce but the conclusion formed by each of us was that the Spaniards had come upon us unawares and fired at the sentinels. Following the first report came another and another, the sound appearing to come from our very midst.
Everyone was mystified for a moment"and"rifles were brought to a "ready" and the men prepared for ac- tion. The darkness was so intense and the men were brought to their feet so suddenly that confusion reigned about us. We knew not in which direction to look for the impending danger and could not even guess in what shape it might present itself. One of our boys who was leaning against the mountain, opened his eyes and hearing the reports of the shots, shook his comrade roughly and cried out "come on comrade. the Spaniards are after us," and up the trail they flew, expecting every second to be shot down.
The mystery was soon solved and it was soon learned that one of the boys nicknamed "Alice." had placed his haversack on top of a bed of coals which contained a lit- tle fire and the canvas had burned through. bringing the cartridges which he carried, in contact with the fire. which resulted in the explosions and brought the whole camp to its feet. Major Channon was on the scene and
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HISTORY OF COMPANIES I AND E.
by his orders the haversack and contents were hurled down into the valley. "Alice" protested against this action and told the major there were but three boxes of loaded cartridges in the haversack. And he did not care so much for the haversack and ammunition but they had thrown away his tin plate.
Returning to our resting places we again stretched ourselves on the downy beds and for the most part re- mained awake till morning. Shortly after daylight a detail of men went back to the wagon train and brought us rations. We crawled to the eastern slope of the mountain and basking in the warm sun, dried our cloth- ing. Looking back in the direction from which we had come the day before, we could plainly see the buildings in the village and the flat roofs of every one of them was covered with soldiers, lying prone on their backs and faces upturned to the sun. They too were drying their washing.
The man who had retained a portion of the duck for his breakfast brought it to light and found the feathers were not more than half plucked from it and the job of cleaning which had been done in the dark was anything but an appetizer for breakfast. He concluded sowbelly was good enough and threw the foul fowl over the em- bankment. This camp was appropriately called "Sleep- ing Pass," and is remembered as one of the "original" camps which circumstances forced upon us during our service in the Porto Rican campaign.
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Hospital Stewards Brown and Geyer crossing the mountains in Porto Rico.
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273
MOUNTAIN SCENERY.
CHAPTER XXI.
At ten o'clock. on the morning of August eleventh, the division again moved forward through the mud, fording numerous streams. The rain storms increased in number and violence as we climbed higher each day. Fording the streams became a more difficult task as they increased in depth and the currents grew swifter. The waters seemingly leaped from rock to rock, barely touch - ing the gravely beds as they continued on their mad race down the mountain, through gullies and gorges, dashing against great boulders which stood directly in their paths. swinging out and around them, always forg- ing down and ahead. never resting. Here and there the course would narrow and the force of the entire stream would press the waters through a small opening in the rocks and with a graceful curve the glittering body would spring out and away from mother earth, pick- ing up its course again a dozen feet below, forming a beautiful water-fall.
The scenery became more wild and grand. At times as we crawled around the mountain the trail would make a sudden turn and as we stood on the point, the valley below and country for miles about us lay exposed to our vision. These narrow valleys or gorges were entirely uncultivated and the tropical plants, bear- ing beautiful foliage, grew in the wildest confusion.
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HISTORY OF COMPANIES I AND E.
Looking over and beyond the beautiful handiwork of nature, opening out before us in all its splendor, the grandeur of the scene almost entirely lost to the weary soldiers, the home of some planter could be seen nestling on the mountain side, and surrounded by some half dozen less pretentious homes of his servants. In the distance they bore the appearance of buildings. freshly painted white, but upon closer inspection, as we neared them later, they were found to be thatched, unpainted, tumble-down shacks, bleached to a dazzling white by the rain and sun.
The trail coursed in and out, following the irreg- ular contour of the mountains. In many places it doubled on itsself, and gazing behind us we conld see the rear of the column apparently moving back in the direction of Ponce. Numerous deep gorges barred the way. To reach the opposite side we were compelled to traverse a decline for a mile or more, parallel with the gorge, crossing it some distance from where we first encountered it and climb up again on the other side. Reaching a point opposite to where the gorge made the break in the trail, less than a stone's throw separated us from the portion of the column in our rear. We had doubled more than two miles to cover an actual advance of much less than an eighth of a mile. Such was the condition of the country which we met with day after day as we advanced farther into the heart of the enemy's supposed stronghold. "Eternal vigilance" was ever the watchword and we momentarily expected to hear the pop of the "greaser's" rifles fired from ambush, the opportunity for such a move on their part frequently appearing to us to be rather tempting.
Looking back over the scenes after a lapse of three
:275
ARRIVAL AT ADJUNTAS.
years. one can hardly realize that we were allowed to move forward, unmolested. through that rugged coun- try. One troop of well mounted cavalry, equipped with a half dozen portable, rapid fire guns, could have an- noyed us" greatly, and made it a running fight for days if they had cared to have done so. The country must have been thoroughly known to the Spanish, while to us it was a strange land. The expeditions of the scouts and advance guards being our only source of receiving information. On either flank the enemy might have laid in ambush for us, poured in a withering fire on the marching column, and scattered among the rocks and trees before our troops could locate them. The topog- raphy of the country was such that flank guards could not be put out as the only trail over which it was pos- sible to move and remain in touch with the column was the one we were traversing.
As we advanced we saw signs of the late departure of the enemy, in many places. The strong walls which surrounded the burial grounds. had been loop-holed and made into temporary forts. In several places, a point commanding the approaching trail for some distance, had been cleared and leveled, with the evident intention of mounting a field piece with which to bar the advance of our troops. But whatever their intentions or oppor- tunities, the Spaniards did not molest us and we con- tinued the weary climbing. Some little distance from Adjuntas, the trail descended rapidly and taking a brace on ourselves, we slid, rolled and half ran the last mile before entering the outskirts of the town.
It was late in the afternoon when we marched down the narrow street. and a half mile beyond the town. The site selected for the campground of our
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