ABSTRACT
Madrid's transportation system began to function as usual, and more than one worker on that crisp fall morning kissed his family goodbye and mounted a streetcar as he did every day. Most of the troops committed in the battles of Casa de Campo and University City were Spaniards, militia of all parties, tough fighters from Madrid's Communist Fifth Regiment, and some 3,000 Anarchists who had marched in from Catalonia. The first bombings of the civilian population of Madrid occurred. Then the pulses of many Americans quickened when they read of the heroic stand before the capital city, and men carrying the radical conscience of America smiled at the blows being struck for the underdog in a far-off land. The Americans donated money to the local Red Cross, showed films for both the children and adults of the town, and the battalion doctor held clinics, treating the townspeople without charge.
