CHAPTER X.

REVIEW AND REFLECTIONS.

     Gallantry of the Black Regulars—­Diary of Sergeant-Major
     E.L.  Baker, Tenth Cavalry.

It is time now to sum up the work of the four regiments whose careers we have thus far followed, and to examine the grounds upon which the golden opinions they won in battle and siege are based.  We have seen that in the first fight, that of Las Guasimas, on June 24th, the Tenth Cavalry, especially Troops I and B, both with their small arms and with the machine guns belonging to Troop B, did most effective work against the Spanish right, joining with the First Cavalry in overcoming that force which was rapidly destroying Roosevelt’s Rough Riders.  Nor should it be forgotten that in this first fight, Troop B, which did its full share, was commanded on the firing line by Sergeants John Buck and James Thompson.  In the squad commanded by Sergeant Thompson several men of the First Regular Cavalry fought and it is claimed were highly pleased with him as squad commander.

While this was the first fight of the men of the Tenth Cavalry with the Spaniards, it was by no means their first experience under fire.  From the time of the organization of the regiment in 1866 up to within a year of the war, the men had been engaged frequently in conflicts with Indians and marauders, often having men killed and wounded in their ranks.  The fights were participated in by small numbers, and the casualties were not numerous, but there were opportunities for the acquirement of skill and the display of gallantry.  Altogether the men of the regiment during their experience on the plains engaged in sixty-two battles and skirmishes.  This training had transformed the older men of the regiment into veterans and enabled them to be cool and efficient in their first fight in Cuba.

Sergeant Buck, upon whom the command of Troop B chiefly fell after becoming separated from his Lieutenant in the battle at Guasimas, joined the regiment in 1880, and had already passed through eighteen years of the kind of service above described.  He was at the time of the Cuban War in the prime of life, a magnificent horseman, an experienced scout, and a skilled packer.  In 1880, when he joined the regiment, the troops were almost constantly in motion, marching that one year nearly seventy-seven thousand miles, his own troop covering twelve hundred and forty-two miles in one month.  This troop with four others made a ride of sixty-five miles in less than twenty-one hours, arriving at their destination without the loss of a single horse.  In 1893 he was mentioned by the commanding officer of Fort Missoula, Montana, for highly meritorious service, skill and energy displayed while in charge of pack train of an expedition across the Bitter Root Mountains, Idaho, during the most inclement weather, in quest of a party of gentlemen lost. (Letter of commanding officer, Fort Missoula, Montana, February 12, 1894.) Sergeant Buck has also won the silver medal for revolver shooting.