se, and injuring the
rider slightly in the arm and side, all of course, in addition to a
good sand bath. I then joined the regiment, some rods beyond, then
under cover. In crouching down behind a clump of brush, heard some one
groan; on looking around, saw Private Marshall struggling in the river
wounded. Immediately rushing to his assistance another of those
troublesome shells passed so close as to cause me to feel the heat. It
did not stop the effort, however, and the wounded man was placed in
safety.

The regiment remained in the road only a few moments when it was
ordered to take position behind the river bank some yards above the
balloon for protection; while moving to that position, and while
there, suffered much loss. Why we did not lose heavier may be
attributed to the fact that the enemy's musket fire was a trifle high,
and their shells timed from one-half to one second too long, caused
them to explode beyond, instead of in front, where the shells would
have certainly secured the Dons' maximum results, as, after the
balloon was cut down, you could scarcely hold your hand up without
getting it hit. During the battle, one trooper fell upon a good-sized
snake and crushed it to death, and another trooper allowed one of
these poisonous reptiles to crawl over him while dodging a volley from
the Spanish Mausers.

The shrapnel and canister shells, with their exceedingly mournful and
groaning sound, seemed to have a more terrifying effect than the swift
Mauser bullet, which always rendered the same salutation, "Bi-Yi." The
midern shrapnel shell is better known as the man-killing projectile,
and may be regarded as the most dangerous of all projectiles designed
for taking human life. It is a shell filled with 200 or 300 bullets,
and having a bursting charge, which is ignited by a time fuse, only
sufficient to break the base and release the bullets, which then move
forward with the velocity it had the time of bursting. Each piece is
capable of dealing death to any living thing in its path. In practice
firing, it is known where, by one shot, 152 hits were made by a single
shrapnel. In another, 215 hits are recorded. Imagine then, the havoc
of a well-directed shrapnel upon a group of men such as is here
represented. Capron's battery at El Caney cut down 16 cavalrymen with
one shell.

After a delay of about 30 minutes, during part of the time, the
writer, assisted by Sergeant Smith and Mr. T.A. Baldwin, cut all the
wire