From Yauco to Las Marias - A recent campaign in Puerto Rico by the Independent Regular Brigade under the command of Brig. General Schwan by Karl Stephen Herrman
page 25 of 65 (38%)
page 25 of 65 (38%)
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the promised honor be conferred upon him at once and without delay, it was
decided by General Schwan that in the face of so much opposition there was nothing to do but to leave the residents of Mayaguez to decide the question for themselves which they did in a most emphatic manner by refusing to endorse the planter as a possibility, and presenting the name of SeƱor Santiago Palmer as an acceptable party. This latter gentleman subsequently received the appointment, which was satisfactory to all concerned. * * * * * The news that we were about to meet the Spanish forces face to face spread rapidly among the men in the ranks, and aroused more enthusiasm than terrapin and champagne could have done. Nobody any longer complained of the heat; and, when it began to shower by fits and starts, nobody complained of that, either. There were no more stragglers casting a windward eye to an empty ambulance, nor growls because we pressed forward so rapidly. [Illustration: Custom-house at Mayaguez occupied by General Schwan as Brigade Headquarters.] On that particular afternoon I was with the advance-guard; and, when we had learned what we might expect before sunset, I studied the men about me with a lively curiosity as to what effect the probability of immediate action would have upon their visible emotions. Most of them, in our platoon of artillery at least, were boys, or little more than boys, and almost without exception recruits of less than six months' standing. It might have been expected that some degree of |
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