valry, and Rough
Riders, at work on trenches, where we reported. All seemed glad to
have my little reinforcement, about 65 men, and ammunition. I never
felt so relieved at anything as I did to get that herculean task off
my hands, a job as hard as working a problem in the third book of
Euclid. The men were so tired that they would lie down at every stop
to find the right road or the way out of the wire entanglements
constantly encountered. I have never seen in a book anything to equal
the Spanish wire entanglements. Barbed wire was stretched in every
nook and corner, through streams, grass, and from two inches to six
feet in height, and from a corkscrew to a cable in design. It takes
the nerve of a circus man to get men along when they are so exhausted
that every place feels alike to them, and that they would gladly give
away Mr. Jim Hill's fortune if they possessed it, for a few hours'
sleep.

On arrival at the front, lunch was about over or just ready.
Lieutenant E.D. Anderson (10th Cavalry) gave me two and one-half
hardtacks from his supply, which he carried in his bosom. I was soon
down for a little rest; all desultory firing had ceased; the pick and
the shovel were the only things to disturb the quietude of that
anxious night. Had been down but a short time when aroused by one of
the Rough Riders, who had some rice and meat in an ammunition box
which he brought from the captured blockhouse. The meat was
undoubtedly mule, as the longer I chewed it the larger and more spongy
it got, and were it not for the fact that I had had some experience
in the same line many years before in Mexico while in pursuit of
hostile Indians, I would certainly have accused our best friends
(Rough Riders) of feeding us rubber. I made another effort for a
little sleep, and was again aroused by some one passing around
hardtack, raw bacon, etc., with instructions as to where to go to cook
it. I thanked him and carefully laid it aside to resume my nap. At
2.40 A.M. the pickets were having such a lively set to, that I thought
the general engagement was on. It was at this time I discovered that I
was shivering cold, and that my teeth were rattling equal to a
telegraph sounder; so under the circumstances, I concluded not to try
for any more sleep. The dew was falling thick and heavy; no coat, no
blanket, top shirt torn in strips from the brush, and undershirt wet
and in my pack, thrown off on coming into battle.

Early July 22nd the artillery