th the
first Spanish official report of the battle of Manila Bay, in which
Admiral Dewey was described as having been repulsed and forced to
retire.

There are one or two minor mistakes made by Mr. Bonsal. He states
that on the roster of the officers of the Rough Riders there were ten
West Pointers. There were three, one of whom resigned. Only two were
in the fighting. He also states that after Las Guasimas
Brigadier-General Young was made a Major-General and Colonel Wood a
Brigadier-General, while the commanding officers of the First and
Tenth Cavalry were ignored in this "shower of promotions." In the
first place, the commanding officers of the First and Tenth Cavalry
were not in the fight--only one squadron of each having been present.
In the next place, there was no "shower of promotions" at all. Nobody
was promoted except General Young, save to fill the vacancies caused
by death or by the promotion of General Young. Wood was not promoted
because of this fight. General Young most deservedly was promoted.
Soon after the fight he fell sick. The command of the brigade then
fell upon Wood, simply because he had higher rank than the other two
regimental commanders of the brigade; and I then took command of the
regiment exactly as Lieutenant-Colonels Veile and Baldwin had already
taken command of the First and Tenth Cavalry when their superior
officers were put in charge of brigades. After the San Juan fighting,
in which Wood commanded a brigade, he was made a Brigadier-General and
I was then promoted to the nominal command of the regiment, which I
was already commanding in reality.

Mr. Bonsal's claim of superior efficiency for the colored regular
regiments as compared with the white regular regiments does not merit
discussion. He asserts that General Wheeler brought on the Guasimas
fight in defiance of orders. Lieutenant Miley, in his book, "In Cuba
with Shafter," on page 83, shows that General Wheeler made his fight
before receiving the order which it is claimed he disobeyed. General
Wheeler was in command ashore; he was told to get in touch with the
enemy, and, being a man with the "fighting edge," this meant that he
was certain to fight. No general who was worth his salt would have
failed to fight under such conditions; the only question would be as
to how the fight was to be made. War means fighting; and the soldier's
cardinal sin is timidity.

General Wheeler remained throughout steadfast against any retreat
f