The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-09-15

them under a heavy fire from their
entrenchment. Gen. Wheeler, cavalry
commander, was present during the
| engagement and reports that our
troops officers and men, fought with
| the greatest gallantry. This engage
ment gave us a well-Watered country
TO the front on which to encamp our
| troops
ut was not until nearly two weeks
| after the army landed that it was pos
| sible to place on shore three days sup
| plies in excess of those required for
| the daily consumption.
ATTACK BEGUN.
"On June 80 I reconnoitered the
country about Santiago and made my
| plan of attack. From a high hill from
which the city was in plain view
| could see the San Juan hill and the
country about FL Caney. The roads
We're very poor, and, indeed, they were
| little bride paths until the San Juan
river and Ell Caney were reached.
THE artillery opened on the town at
| 6:15 a. m. The battle here soon be-
came general and was hotly contested.
! The enemy'S position was naturally
| strong, and was rendered more so by
| blockhouses, a stone fort and entrench-
mentS cut in solid rock and lOOped-
holeing of a solidly built stone church.
The opposition offered by the enemy
was greater than had been anticipated
and prevented Lawton from joining
| the right of the main line during the
| day, as had been intended. After the
battle had continued for some time
Do hr;or 1a Of re h
ed my headquarters from Siboney. I
| directed him to move near Ell Caney
to give assistance, if necessary. He did
so, and was put in position between
Miles and Chaffee. The battle con-
tinued with varying intensity during
most of the day and until the place
was carried by assault about 4:30 p.
m. AS the Spaniards endeavored to re-
treat along the Santiago road, Lud-
lows position enabled him to do very
effective work and to practically cut
off all retreat in that direction.
After the battle at FL Caney was Well
opened and the sound Of the small-arm
fire caused us to believe that LaWton
was driving the enemy before him, 1
directed Grimes battery to open fire
from the heights of FL POseo on the
San Juan block house, which could be
seen situated in the enemys entrench-
ments, extending along the crest of
! San Juan hill. This fire was effective,
and the enemy could be seen running
away from the vicinity of the block
house. The artillery fire from Ell Poseo
was soon returned by the enemy's ar
| tiliery. They evidently had the range
of this hill, as their fire killed and
wounded many. AS the Spaniards used
! smokeless powder it was very difficult
| to locate the position of their pieces,
while on the contrary the smoke caused
by our black powder plainly indicated
the position of our battery.
"a this time the cavalry division un-
der Gen. Sumner, which was lying con-
cealed in the general vicinity of the Ell
Poseo heights, was ordered forward,
with directions to cross the San Juan
river and deploy to the right on the
Santiago side, while Kent's division was
to follow closely in it's rear and deploy
to the left
UNDER A CALLING FIRE.
''These troops moved forward in COM
pliance with orders, but the road was
so narrow as to render it impracticable
to retain the column of fours formation
at all points, while the underground on
| either side was so dense as to preclude
the possibility of deploying skirmishers.
1t naturally resulted that the progress
made was slow, and the long range
| rifles of the enemy'S infantry killed and
| wounded a number of our men while
marching along this road. and before
| there was any opportunity to return
the fire. At this time Gems. Kent and
| Sumner were ordered to push forward
with all possible haste and place their
troops in position to engage the enemy.
Gen. Kent, with this end in view,
forced the head of his column along
! SIDE of the cavalry column, as far as
the narrow trail permitted, and thus
! hurried his arrival at the San Juan and
the formation beyond that stream A
| few hundred yards before reaching the
! San Juan the road forks, a fact that
was discovered by Lieut.. Col. Derby Of
my staff, who had approached we'll to
the front in a war balloon. This infor-
nation he furnished to the troops, re-
sulting in Sumner moving on the right
hand road, While Kent was enabled to
utilize the road to the left"
Gen. Wheeler, the permanent COM
| mander of the cavalry division, who
| had been i'll, came forward during the
morning and later returned to duty,
and rendered most gallant and efficient
service during the remainder of the
| day.
After crossing the stream the cav
airy moved to the right, with a view Of
| connecting with Lawton's left, when he
| could come up, and with their left rest
| i1g near the Santiago road.
MANY OFFICERS FALL.
I'm the meantime Kent's division,
with the exception Of two regiments of
! Hawkins brigade, being thus uncov-
cred, moved rapidly to the front from
| the forks, previously mentioned, in the
| read, utilizing both trails, but more es-
pecially the one to the left, and cross
! ing the creek, formed for attack on the
| front of San Juan hill. During this for
| nation the entire brigade suffered Sc
verely. While personally superintend-
| ing this movement, it's valiant COM
mander, Col. Wikoff, was killed. The
command of the brigade then devolved
! upon Lieut.. Col. Worth, Thirteenth in
| fantry, who was soon severely wound
| ed, and next upon Lieut.. Col. Liscum,
Twenty fourth infantry, who, fifteen
| minutes later also fell under the terri
BILE fire Of the enemy, and the command