" Gen. Wood and
Col. Roosevelt were consulted, and they concurred with the above
views, and the battery remained in reserve.
[Illustration: Charge on San Juan Hill.]
On the morning of the 2d of July a handsome young soldier, in the
uniform of a Rough Rider, approached the battery commander, saluted,
and said, "Col. Roosevelt directs me to report to you with my two
guns." Inquiry elicited the fact that the young trooper was Serg.
William Tiffany, that he had command of two Colt's automatic
rapid-fire guns, with a crew consisting of Corp. Stevens and six men,
and that he had 4,000 rounds of 7-millimeter ammunition. Four thousand
was not a very large supply for two guns which could fire at the rate
of 500 shots each per minute. Fortunately, the Gatling Gun Detachment
had found time, on the 1st of July, to collect about 10,000 rounds of
Mauser ammunition in the captured trenches, and a comparison of the
Mauser with the 7-millimeter ammunition at once disclosed the fact
that it was precisely the same ammunition which Tiffany had brought
along for his guns. The problem of ammunition supply for Tiffany's
guns was solved. He now had 14,000 rounds, and his guns became a very
powerful reinforcement at this point.
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