A recent campaign in Puerto Rico by the Independent Regular Brigade under the command of BrigGeneral Schwan . AUCO TO LAS MARIAS Here were assembled on the evening ofAug. 8, 18985 all the forces assigned to Gen-eral Schwan, with the exception of TroopA, Fifth Cavalry, which did not appearuntil some thirty hours later. The com-mand was composed of the Eleventh In-fantry, Light Battery D of the FifthArtillery, Light Battery C of the ThirdArtillery, and the troop of cavalry alreadymentioned,— all regulars, and as resolute andpicturesque a set of men as ever wore theuniform of war. Because we had
A recent campaign in Puerto Rico by the Independent Regular Brigade under the command of BrigGeneral Schwan . AUCO TO LAS MARIAS Here were assembled on the evening ofAug. 8, 18985 all the forces assigned to Gen-eral Schwan, with the exception of TroopA, Fifth Cavalry, which did not appearuntil some thirty hours later. The com-mand was composed of the Eleventh In-fantry, Light Battery D of the FifthArtillery, Light Battery C of the ThirdArtillery, and the troop of cavalry alreadymentioned,— all regulars, and as resolute andpicturesque a set of men as ever wore theuniform of war. Because we had no Volunteers with us, wewere not granted even one little word-spat-tering newspaper scribe, and so relinquishedat the outset any fugitive hopes of glory thatotherwise might have been entertained. Wewere out for business,— hard marching, hardliving, hard fighting,— and the opening vistawas fringed with gore. We were none of usthe darlings of any particular State, nor theprecious offspring of a peripatetic statesmanwith a practised pull. We were at no timedecimated by disease through ignorant or in-. Statue of Columbus, Mayagut YAUCO TO LAS MARIAS 19 subordinate disregard of the primary princi-ples of hygiene. We didnt write long wail-ing letters home because we were obliged tosleep on the damp ground, and had neitherhot rolls, chocolate, nor marmalade for break-fast. We were ragged, hungry, tough, andfaithful. In other words, we were regulararmy men, and, most distinctly, not Volun-teers. There is a personality peculiar to the pro-fessional soldier, even though he be but ahalf-fledged recruit, that defies analysis andbaffles description. He is of course builtfrom the same clay as his brother of theVolunteers; but the latter is a tin god, andthe former is a devil. Yet the differencedoes not spring from anything more funda-mental than environment, and therein lies thesolace of the other fellow. Putting aside allodious comparisons and limiting myself to aview of the regular
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