was interviewed by a representative of the
_Illinois State Register_, to whom he gave a description of the battle
of July 1st. He said: "On the night of June 30th the second squadron
of the Tenth Cavalry did outpost duty. Daylight opened on the
soon-to-be blood-sodden field on July 1st, and the Tenth was ordered
to the front. First went the first squadron, followed soon after by
the second, composed of Troops G, I, B and A. The Tenth Cavalry is
composed of Negroes, commanded by white officers, and I have naught
but the highest praise for the swarthy warriors on the field of
carnage. Led by brave men, they will go into the thickest of the
fight, even to the wicked mouths of deadly cannon, unflinchingly."

Lieutenant Roberts says further that "at 9 o'clock on the morning of
July 1st the order came to move. Forward we went, until we struck a
road between two groves, which road was swept by a hail of shot and
shell from Spanish guns. The men stood their ground as if on dress
parade. Single file, every man ready to obey any command, they bade
defiance to the fiercest storm of leaden hail that ever hurtled over a
troop of United States cavalry. The order came, 'Get under cover,' and
the Seventy-first New York and the Tenth Cavalry took opposite sides
of the road and lay down in the bushes. For a short time no orders
came, and feeling a misapprehension of the issue, I hastened forward
to consult with the first lieutenant of the company. We found that
through a misinterpreted order the captain of the troop and eight
men had gone forward. Hastening back to my post I consulted with the
captain in the rear of Troop G, and the quartermaster appeared upon
the scene asking the whereabouts of the Tenth Cavalry. They made known
their presence, and the quartermaster told them to go on, showing the
path, the quartermaster led them forward until the bend in the
San Juan River was reached. Here the first bloodshed in the Tenth
occurred, a young-volunteer named Baldwin fell, pierced by a Spanish
ball."

An aide hastened up and gave the colonel of the regiment orders to
move forward. The summit of the hill was crowned by two block-houses,
and from these came an unceasing fire. Lieutenant Roberts said he had
been lying on the ground but rose to his knees to repeat an order,
"Move forward," when a mauser ball struck him in the abdomen and
passed entirely through his body. Being wounded, he was carried off of
the field, but after all was over