The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-03
The Rag Brought Down I'm Three
Shots at 1,6OO Yards--An Old Cas-
tie Knocked Into Ruins.
Copyright, 1885, by the Associated Press,

|
IN FRONT OF AGUADoREs with the
advance of the Thirty-third Michigan, Fri
day, July /, noon, by the Associated Press
dispatch boat Dandy, by way of Port An
ston. Ills a. m. delayed in transmission }
The American fleet has been sheling the
fort and rifle pits of Aguadores all the
morning. The Thirty-third Michigan Vol
unteers took a train at Juragua in two d.
visions, the first at a. m. and the second
at 7:15. A rickety engine ran the six miles
in about an hour and stopped a mile and
a half from the fort, out of sight.
General Duffield, commanding the land
forces, signaled to the New York to begin
firing at 9:30. The New York and the Su-
vance advanced about 1000 yards distant
| from the fort. The Suwanee with three
successive shots, knocked the Spanish flag
off the fort, wrecked one corner of the
structure and shot away the staff. The
Cubans and the Thirty-third threw out
skrmishers on the hill and shots were ex-
changed all the morning with the rife pits
The fort and blockhouse were both silenced
by the New York. whose secondary bat
terry peppered the ravine8 while occasionally
the deafentng roar of n.a fturret guns was
heard.
Early in the advance eight companies
marched up the railroad track and another
force went around the beach out of sight
of the Spanish forts. Six small shells were
thrown over the heads of the men, too
close for comfort, and the troops were
sent to cover under the embankment in the
railroad cut. There they are now awaiting
orders. The sharpshooters were popping
away from the hillside, and occasionally
the report of ships gun was heard.
The officers and men who formed this
advance were General Dufield, Colonel
Boynton, with the Thirty-third Michigan;
Major Webb, third battalion; Lieutenant
Colonel Schmidt, first battalion, and Maj.
Burton, second battalion. Capt. Fred AL
ger, son of the secretary of war, who is
an aid to General Shafter, was with the
regiment.
At 2 o'clock this afternoon the ranks were
forced to return for water. On the first trip
half the command was brought back and
the train returned for the others. 1t de-
velops that this attack was merely diver
sion in favor of General Lawtons movement
Il ,s~l-A a t. 0e-tn1 10
take Aguadores as the river is unfordable
and the Spaniards have blown up the far
end of the railroad bridges. Only Compa-
nies B, D and H took part in the action
owing to the limited space where the men
could be deployed.
The killed thus far were all the victims
of the first shells fired by the Spaniards,
who had the line of range of the railroad,
though the firing was high. The men had
just thrown off their packs when shell
from a three-inch cannon exploded in the
ranks OF Company L. The killed were:
JOHN FRANKLIN, of Diamondale, Mich.
- SEABRIGHT.
The wounded were:
FRANK LAWSON, of Lawson, Mich. left
arm fractured.
D. A. STARK. Ann Arbor, Mich. right
arm fractured.
CLIFFORD H. CURTIS, of Landlake
All the killed and wounded were mem
bers of Company L, which was made up of
sons of veterans AS the train left a second
shell exploded on the track. wounding a
number of others.