re the battle began, if we could have
obtained transportation for them from the sea-coast. As fast as possible
the wounded were taken in army wagons from the field-hospital to
Siboney, where they were put on board the transports, and at eight
o'clock on Tuesday evening Major Johnson was able to report to Major
Wood that every wounded man left in the hospital was in a tent, with a
rubber poncho or tarpaulin under him and a blanket over him.

In spite of unfavorable conditions, the percentage of recoveries among
the wounded treated in this hospital was much greater than in any other
war in which the United States has ever been engaged. This was due
partly to improved antiseptic methods of treatment, and partly to the
nature of the wound made by the Mauser bullet. In most cases this wound
was a small, clean perforation, with very little shattering or
mangling, and required only antiseptic bandaging and care. All abdominal
operations that were attempted in the field resulted in death, and none
were performed after the first day, as the great heat and dampness,
together with the difficulty of giving the patients proper nursing and
care, made recovery next to impossible.

CHAPTER XIII

SIBONEY DURING THE ARMISTICE

On the morning of July 3, General Shafter, who had recovered confidence,
demanded the immediate surrender of Santiago, threatening, in case of
refusal, to bombard the city; and negotiations under a flag of truce
continued thereafter for a period of ten days. Meanwhile, on the evening
of Friday, July 8, Miss Barton, Dr. Egan, Dr. Hubbell, and I returned to
the _State of Texas_ to meet Mrs. J. Addison Porter, wife of the
President's secretary, who had just arrived on the hospital steamer
_Relief_, and to get some ice and other hospital supplies of which we
were in need. We left the field-hospital in an army wagon about seven
o'clock and reached Siboney soon after ten. The surf raised by a strong
south-easterly wind was rolling so high on the strip of beach behind
which the village stood that we could not get off on board the _State of
Texas_, nor even communicate with her. It was extremely tantalizing to
us, tired, hungry, and camp-soiled as we were, to see the lights of our
steamer only a quarter of a mile away, to know that almost within reach
were a cool bath, a good supper, a clean bed, and all the comforts, if
not the luxuries, of life, and yet to feel that, so far as we were
concerned, they were as