During the 1898 war with Spain, the Mauser M1893 used by the Spanish Army gained a deadly reputation, particularly from the Battle of San Juan Hill, where 750 Spanish regulars significantly delayed the advance of 15,000 U.S. troops armed with outclassed Springfield Krag–Jørgensen bolt action rifles and older single-shot Springfield trapdoor rifles. The Spanish soldiers inflicted 1,400 U.S. casualties in a matter of minutes. Likewise, earlier in the day, a Spanish force of 540 regulars armed with the same Mauser rifle under Spanish General Vara Del Rey held off General Henry Ware Lawton's Second Division of 6,653 American soldiers and an Independent Brigade of 1,800 men for ten hours in the nearby town of El Caney, keeping that division from assisting in the attack on the San Juan Heights. A U.S. Army board of investigation was commissioned as a direct result of both battles. They recommended replacement of the Krag.