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CHAPTER V

The Engagement at Hormigueros


Topography of the battlefield — Macomb's cavalry fired into by Spanish skirmishers — Our advance-guard comes into contact with the foe — General Schwan reaches the firing line — The main body arrives and joins in the fray — Subsequent manoeuvres of our column — The Spanish retreat — A computation of losses.


THE ensuing account of our fight with the Alphonso XIII Regiment of Cazadores, on the 10th of August, is taken bodily from the official report made by General Schwan to Major-General Miles under date of August 21: —

At a distance of about seven miles from Mayaguez the Rio Rosario, coming from the east, parallels the road for nearly a mile, and empties into the Rio Grande just

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