G'day, mauser list!

I usually post on the krag and trapdoor lists, but I do own a few nice mausers and hunt with them. I was doing a bit of reading about the USMC landing at Guantanamo in 1898 when I found this:

letter home from Sgt. Bloomfield W. Riddle, USMC

Our first landing in Cuba was an exciting and hazardous undertaking. The
bay of Guantanamo was our first landing place, and here lay in hiding
until about 2 o’clock in the night. Then the boats of Sampson’s fleet,
Marblehead, Suwanee, Oregon and torpedo boat Porter began a bombardment
of the city of Guantanamo. They kept up a steady fire until at daybreak,
at a given signal, 700 United Statesicon Marines charged upon the fort. For
thirteen hours we fought with Yankee pluck and about 7 o’clock the next
evening the Spaniards gave way and retreated. Then our boys gave such a
yell of victory that it could be heard a good mile. That yell I shall
never forget as long as I live.

Within five hours afterwards we had the city under control with 100
killed and 169 wounded on the Spanish side and but six killed and twelve
wounded on our side. You observe that the Spaniards are remarkably good
fighters, but they cannot hit a flock of barns, as they shoot too high.
I could hear the bullets whiz over our heads.

On the following day (Sunday), June 10, about 5 o’clock, the Spaniards
made a charge on us 3000 strong. The fight lasted until Monday morning
about 10 o’clock, when the enemy withdrew with many killed and wounded.
Our loss was small, only seven men being wounded. On Thursday, June 13,
in the afternoon, they fired on our pickets, killing two men. One poor
fellow had twenty-one shots in him and the other had fourteen. This made
our blood boil, of course, and we went at them with the spirit of
brutes, killing sixty and wounding ninety-five. On our side two were
killed and eighteen wounded. On Saturday, the 15, I was sent on the
scout to General Garcia, as I told you in the beginning of my letter. I
will tell you for what I went when I return home. This letter may never
reach home, but if it does, let me know if the United States army has
started for Cuba or not, for I can hear nothing here of the movements of
the troops.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++
"they shoot too high, the bullets whizz over our heads"

Every mauser I ever bought shot about a foot high at 100m. I think they were zero-ed for 300-350m as a regular practice. The Spanish regulars were pretty good - my guess is they were shooting high because of the way the rifles were sighted.

Just a thought. The Spanish American War has not been given the study it deserves, and the troops who served on both sides have also been kind of neglected. Like it was a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta instead of a deadly serious conflict between two major powers.

Just thought I would throw this out for discussion. What say ye, O mausered ones?

jn
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