Memory plays funny tricks in such a fight, where things happen quickly, and all kinds of mental images succeed one another in a detached kind of way, while the work goes on.  As I gave the order in question there slipped through my mind Mahan’s account of Nelson’s orders that each ship as it sailed forward, if it saw another ship engaged with an enemy’s ship, should rake the latter as it passed.  When Hawkins’s soldiers captured the blockhouse, I, very much elated, ordered a charge on my own hook to a line of hills still farther on.  Hardly anybody heard this order, however; only four men started with me, three of whom were shot.  I gave one of them, who was only wounded, my canteen of water, and ran back, much irritated that I had not been followed—­which was quite unjustifiable, because I found that nobody had heard my orders.  General Sumner had come up by this time, and I asked his permission to lead the charge.  He ordered me to do so, and this time away we went, and stormed the Spanish intrenchments.  There was some close fighting, and we took a few prisoners.  We also captured the Spanish provisions, and ate them that night with great relish.  One of the items was salted flying-fish, by the way.  There were also bottles of wine, and jugs of fiery spirit, and as soon as possible I had these broken, although not before one or two of my men had taken too much liquor.  Lieutenant Howze, of the regulars, an aide of General Sumner’s, brought me an order to halt where I was; he could not make up his mind to return until he had spent an hour or two with us under fire.  The Spaniards attempted a counter-attack in the middle of the afternoon, but were driven back without effort, our men laughing and cheering as they rose to fire; because hitherto they had been assaulting breastworks, or lying still under artillery fire, and they were glad to get a chance to shoot at the Spaniards in the open.  We lay on our arms that night and as we were drenched with sweat, and had no blankets save a few we took from the dead Spaniards, we found even the tropic night chilly before morning came.

During the afternoon’s fighting, while I was the highest officer at our immediate part of the front, Captains Boughton and Morton of the regular cavalry, two as fine officers as any man could wish to have beside him in battle, came along the firing line to tell me that they had heard a rumor that we might fall back, and that they wished to record their emphatic protest against any such course.  I did not believe there was any truth in the rumor, for the Spaniards were utterly incapable of any effective counter-attack.  However, late in the evening, after the fight, General Wheeler visited us at the front, and he told me to keep myself in readiness, as at any moment it might be decided to fall back.  Jack Greenway was beside me when General Wheeler was speaking.  I answered, “Well, General, I really don’t know whether we would obey an order to fall back.  We can take