On the day the American troops landed on the coast of Cuba, the
Cubans informed General Wheeler that the enemy were intrenched at
Guasimas, blocking the way to Santiago.
Guasimas is not a village,
nor even a collection of houses; it is the meeting place of two
trails which join at the apex of a V, three miles from the seaport
town of Siboney, and continue merged in a single trail to Santiago.
General Wheeler, guided by the Cubans, reconnoitred this trail on the
23rd of June, and with the position of the enemy fully explained to
him, returned to Siboney and informed General Young and Colonel Wood
that on the following morning he would attack the Spanish position at
Guasimas. It has been stated that at Guasimas, the Rough Riders were
trapped in an ambush, but, as the plan was discussed while I was
present, I know that so far from any ones running into an ambush,
every one of the officers concerned had a full knowledge of where he
would find the enemy, and what he was to do when he found him.
That night no one slept, for until two o'clock in the morning, troops
were still being disembarked in the surf, and two ships of war had
their searchlights turned on the landing-place, and made Siboney as
light as a ball-room. Back of the searchlights was an ocean white
with moonlight, and on the shore red camp-fires, at which the half-
drowned troops were drying their uniforms, and the Rough Riders, who
had just marched in from Baiquiri, were cooking a late supper, or
early breakfast of coffee and bacon.
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