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AMERICAN BOYS' LIFE OF
CHAPTER XV
Along the Jungle Trail—Fording the River—Opening of the Battle of San Juan Hill—Bravery of the Rough Riders—Personal Experiences of Theodore Roosevelt during the Battle
Taken as a whole, the skirmish at La Guasima was quite an important one, for it showed the Spaniards that our soldiers were bound to advance upon Santiago, be the cost what it might.
More than this, it showed that Theodore Roosevelt was brave under fire. During the skirmish he paid but scant attention to his own personal safety. He went wherever he thought he was needed, and the fact that Mauser bullets were flying about in all directions did not daunt him.
"He was about as cool a man as I ever saw in a fight," said one old soldier. "He did all he could to encourage the men, and had a kind word for every man he ran across who was wounded. Once, in the thickest of the brush, he grabbed up a gun
