Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1898-09-01
Ell 6hNEY BATTLE.
An Interesting Letter
From Tom Carroll
OF Lancaster.

DEAR BROTHER
just landed this morning and am
as well as l ever was in my life.
Three companies of the 18th Unfit,
two troops of the 9th cavalry, two
companies of the 34th Michigan and
one battery of heavy artillery left
Cuba on the 10th and we landed at
Long Island the oath, and we are
quarantined in camp at present. The
whole invading army will be here in a
few days and if peace is declared l
will be home in few weeks.
promised to give you the particu-
lars of the fighting we did in Cuba and
l tell you the Americans should be
proud of the regular army. If this
war is ended now | will tell you what
won 1.-THE battle of the first day of
July before Santiago. Anyone that
was in that battle and came out alive
will never forget it. The 18th was
the first to get mixed up in it. We
were advancing along just back of the
crest of a range of hills in line OF
skirmishers about eight or nine hun
dred yards from the town of Ell Caney
and the large stone fort in front of the
town when the Spaniards opened upon
us from the fort and town and they
also had trenches around the fort and
town. Well, when they fired the first
volley on us it was just 6 o'clock a.
M, and as | said before, we were
marching i'll single file three PAGES
apart and were loaded down with our
packs, haver sacks and canteens and
felts Well, when we heard those
bullets whlz you ought to have seen
US drop; the whole regiment dropped
as one man. If the Spaniards could
have seen US drop they would have
thought they killed us all, but not q
man was hit. Well, we got every
thing off our backs but cur belts and
crawled up to the crest of the hill and
got our positions which we held for
two hours before the rest of our bri-
gade came up, and it would have done
you good to see how we poured it into
them; it was terrible fight for ten
hours.
After we had been fighting seven
hours we found we would have to
charge the stone fort in order to take
the town that night and the whole
I'd division closed in at once and when
the troops gained the ground they
wanted, the charge was made. and IN
10 minutes the 18th INIT. colors waved
over the fort and the battle was ours.
Co.'S A., D. and f. of the 18th made
the charge.
Co. d. had six men wounded; none
killed. We took $50 prisoners from
the fort and town. 1t was 5 O'Clock
when the battle of FL Caney was over.
We had had nothing to eat since
noon the day before and we started
from Caney in half an hour and
marched all night and reinforced the
first division on our left and went
rlght on the firing line at 6 o'clock in
the morning and fought all day and
dug trenches at night unit! the Spani-
ards put up a flag of truce at noon the
3rd Of July.
That night was the first sleep we
had had since the 30th of June BY
that time Santiago was our meat for
we had line of breastworks nearly
around the city and as close as eight
OF nine hundred yards from the city,
and we held our ground until they
surrendered on July 10th. As soon
as the excitement died out the men
began to take the fever and died off
like hogs; it was terrible. It rained
every day. ! was lucky; l did not
get a scratch in all the fighting and
was not sick day. | will tell YOU
more next time. Love to all.
L. A. CARROLL. Co. d. 18th Inft.