He speaks plainly when he says: 

“I don’t think it an exaggeration to say that if it had not been for the timely aid of the Tenth Cavalry (colored) the Rough Riders would have been exterminated.  This is the unanimous opinion, at least, of the men of the Tenth Cavalry.  I was in the fight of July 1, and it was in that fight that I received my wound.  We were under fire in that fight about forty-eight hours, and were without food and with but little water.  We had been cut off from our pack train, as the Spanish sharpshooters shot our mules as soon as they came anywhere near the lines, and it was impossible to move supplies.  Very soon after the firing began our Colonel was killed, and the most of our other officers were killed or wounded, so that the greater part of that desperate battle was fought by some of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry without officers; or, at least, if there were any officers around, we neither saw them nor heard their commands.  The last command I heard our Captain give was:” 

“‘Boys, when you hear my whistle, lie flat down on the ground.’”

“Whether he ever whistled or not I do not know.  The next move we made was when, with a terrific yell, we charged up to the Spanish trenches and bayoneted and clubbed them out of their places in a jiffy.  Some of the men of our regiment say that the last command they heard was:  ’To the rear!’ But this command they utterly disregarded and charged to the front until the day was won, and the Spaniards, those not dead in the trenches, fled back to the city.”

[Illustration:  CUBANS FIGHTING FROM TREE TOPS.]

But a colored man, Wm. H. Brown, a member of the Tenth Cavalry, said: 

“A foreign officer, standing near our position when we started out to make that charge, was heard to say; ’Men, for heaven’s sake, don’t go up that hill!  It will be impossible for human beings to take that position!  You can’t stand the fire!’ Notwithstanding this, with a terrific yell we rushed up the enemy’s works, and you know the result.  Men who saw him say that when this officer saw us make the charge he turned his back upon us and wept.”

“And the odd thing about it all is that these wounded heroes never will admit that they did anything out of the common.  They will talk all right about those ‘other fellows,’ but they don’t about themselves, and were immensely surprised when such a fuss was made over them on their arrival and since.  They simply believed they had a duty to perform and performed it.”—­Planet.

* * * * *

OUR COLORED SOLDIERS.

A FEW OF THE INTERESTING COMMENTS ON THE DEEDS PERFORMED BY THE BRAVE BOYS OF THE REGULAR ARMY—­SAVED THE LIFE OF HIS LIEUTENANT BUT LOST HIS OWN.

“The Ninth and Tenth Cavalry are composed of the bravest lot of soldiers I ever saw.  They held the ground that Roosevelt retreated from and saved them from annihilation.”