A recent campaign in Puerto Rico by the Independent Regular Brigade under the command of BrigGeneral Schwan . seposition had not yet been determined, it wasdecided to push ahead and beyond the ironbridge. This, despite the fact that the menhad now marched 13 miles and were verytired. Once in possession of the bridge andthe high ground to the north of it, the com-mand would occupy a strong position, whichwould make it hard to check its advanceon Mayaguez. Accordingly, the advance-guard, under Captain Hoyt, moved forward,deploying its advance party as skirmishersand its supports into a line of s
A recent campaign in Puerto Rico by the Independent Regular Brigade under the command of BrigGeneral Schwan . seposition had not yet been determined, it wasdecided to push ahead and beyond the ironbridge. This, despite the fact that the menhad now marched 13 miles and were verytired. Once in possession of the bridge andthe high ground to the north of it, the com-mand would occupy a strong position, whichwould make it hard to check its advanceon Mayaguez. Accordingly, the advance-guard, under Captain Hoyt, moved forward,deploying its advance party as skirmishersand its supports into a line of squads. Inthis formation it continued until it had ap-proached the bridge within about 400 this juncture the enemy opened fire, atfirst individual fire. The firing aimed atthe advance-guard accelerated the march ofthe Eleventh Infantry, which . . reportedto the brigade commander, whose staff hadalready commenced the demolition of thewire fences enclosing the road. About thetime that the brigade commander caused thedeployment of two companies to re-enforcethe advance-guard,— Major Gilbraith in. YAUCO TO LAS MARIAS 51 command,— the enemy, from his position inthe hills to the right front, fired volleys atthe main body through the interval separat-ing the infantry advance-guard from thecavalry, wounding a number of men, alsoan officer and several horses of the brigadestaff. Meanwhile the artillery battalion,under the authority of the brigade com-mander, had taken up a position to the leftof the road. As the powder used by theenemy was absolutely smokeless, and hisposition being, moreover, for the most partscreened by the trees along the Rio Grande,the question of the exact direction to begiven Major Gilbraiths detachment, and tothe lines of battle about to be formed fromthe main column, became a most perplexingone. Luckily, this uncertainty did not lastlong, those of the enemys bullets thatstruck the ground near us solving the prob-lem. Some slight confusion was caused
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