OUR ARMY GOES TO CUBA.
Our soldiers--thousands of "Regulars" and thousands and thousands of
"Volunteers"--were waiting in camps in the eastern and southern parts
of the United States, in order to be ready to start for Cuba at short
notice. Thousands of them were never ordered to go, but stayed in camp
during all the war. Still, they were ready to go if needed.
About the middle of June more than 16,000 soldiers, under General
Shafter, sailed from Tampa, on the west coast of Florida, for the
southeastern shore of Cuba. It was hard work to ship so many men, and
2,000 horses and mules, and food, and all the things needed for war.
It took one week to load the ships. How many ships were needed for
this big "excursion party"? Thirty-four. Do you think our soldiers had
a pleasant voyage? They had not. They were crowded together, the
weather was very hot, some of the vessels were old and slow, and it
was six days before our Army drew near our Navy at Santiago, and
waited till plans were made for further movements.
Perhaps you are wondering where the Cubans were all this time, and
what they were doing. As our country was trying to help them, did not
the Cubans now come forward to join our forces? Yes. Several times
brave Americans had made their way in secret to distant parts of Cuba,
had met the Cuban generals, had talked with them, and brought back
messages. And now Admiral Sampson came out in a small boat to meet our
soldiers, and he took General Shafter on shore, a few miles west of
Santiago, to hold an important council with a number of Cuban
generals. The Cuban generals, chief of whom were General Garcia and
General Rabi, told our officers a good deal about the country, the
roads, etc., and planned to unite the Cuban troops with ours.
[Illustration: A Volunteer.]
When General Shafter returned, he ordered the soldiers to sail on
fifteen miles beyond Santiago, to a point called Daiquiri. This was
their landing-place. It was harder to land in Cuba than it had been to
leave Florida. Admiral Sampson sent some of his ships to fire upon
the shore and drive away the Spaniards, and he also sent small boats
to take our soldiers from the ships to the land. There were not boats
enough, so the landing was slow work. There was great trouble in
getting the horses and mules to swim ashore. But it takes less time to
unpack than to pack, and after four days our Army was on shore.
Our men were in a rough part of the country. Steep hills were
everywhere, the valleys were narrow, the roads were more like ditches.
Thick underbrush, prickly bushes and tall grasses grew in many places.
A number of men were set to work making roads, so that the wagons with
the army supplies could push on. It was the wet season, and rain fell
every day. Sometimes the streams would rise quickly and flood the new
roads. When the rain was not falling the air was hot, and a steam
seemed to rise from the ground. It seemed as if our men had no chance
at all.
Spanish soldiers had been sent out from Santiago, and were now busy
building log forts on hills a few miles from our camps, and piling up
stones and branches of trees to make mounds, and putting up fences of
barbed wire. In such places of shelter the Spaniards waited for our
troops to march forward.
You must understand that the city that our troops wanted to reach was
Santiago, but between them and it lay this rough country, where
marching would be so hard, and where the Spaniards had forts on some
of the hilltops.
[Illustration: Landing Troops at Daiquiri.]