Kent, having with him a number of Regulars, and the Seventy-first New York Volunteers, and by trustworthy General Wheeler, leading the Regular cavalry and the Rough Riders. The advance was made across a mountain stream and through rough undergrowth and grass beaten down by recent rains. In the undergrowth the barbed wire fencing was thick, and at some places it was impossible to pass through before the wires were cut. Here many were shot down, the Spanish sharpshooters taking advantage of every halt made.
But the progress of the Americans could not be stopped, and led by Wheeler, Roosevelt, and other fearless officers, they mounted the side of the hill amid a fierce firing from the Spaniards. Bullets whistled in all directions, and overhead burst many shells, dealing out death and destruction. Some of our soldiers used rifles with old-fashioned powder, making a great smoke, and thus served as a mark for the enemy's gunners, of which the Spaniards were not slow to take advantage. The final shock came at the blockhouse, where steel met steel, and many fought face to face until one or the
