eral Gomez's camp. He was sitting on his horse,
at the summit of a little hill, with Gomez and the latter's chief of
staff, watching a skirmish which was taking place at a distance of a
quarter of a mile or more, between a detachment of insurgents and a
column of Spanish troops. One of the few sharp-shooters in the enemy's
army got the range of the little group on the hill, and almost the first
ball which he sent in that direction struck the "Record" correspondent
in the forehead between and just above the eyes. As he reeled in the
saddle Gomez's chief of staff sprang to catch him and break his fall.
The next Mauser bullet from the hidden marksman pierced the pommel of
the saddle that the staff-officer had just vacated; and the third shot
killed Gomez's horse. The general and his aide then hastily escaped from
the dangerous position, carrying the "Record" correspondent with them;
but he was dead. In the first two months of the war the corps of field
correspondents, in proportion to its numerical strength, lost almost as
many men from death and casualty as did the army and navy of the United
States. The letters and telegrams which they wrote on their knees, in
the saddle, and on the rocking, swaying cabin tables of despatch-boats
while hurrying to West Indian cable-stations were not always models of
English composition, nor were they always precisely accurate; but if the
patrons of their respective papers had been placed in the field and
compelled to write under similar conditions, they would be surprised,
perhaps, not at the occasional imperfection of the correspondents' work,
but at the fact that in so unfavorable and discouraging an environment
good work could be done at all.

CHAPTER V

OFF FOR SANTIAGO

The most important event in the early history of the war, and the event
that controlled the movements of the Red Cross steamer _State of Texas_,
as well as the movements of General Shafter's army, was the arrival of
the Spanish fleet of cruisers and torpedo-boats at Santiago de Cuba on
May 19. There had been skirmishes and bombardments before that time, at
Matanzas, Cardenas, and various other points on the Cuban coast; but
none of them had any strategic importance, or any particular bearing
upon the course or the conduct of the war. It was the appearance of
Admiral Cervera at Santiago which determined the field of action, and,
to some extent, the plan of campaign. The invasion of eastern Cuba had
already