Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-12-03
v /

~ w.. va lis universally
RaMsM hL>Y% GRT M pronounced by
7. s|zTSbkE%AN his equals in
b~A rank as well as
e. . his superiors an
able soldier. He personally reconuoit-
cred all the region around El Caney
before submitting the plan which Law
ton adopted without change OF course
it was supposed that the artillery fire
would speedily render the fort, the
blockhouses, the church and other
buildings practically useless for defense,
and that short fight between the in.
fantry would end the battle. But there
were only four guns at hand, and while
these were of the very best and were
splendidly served. under the personal
direction of Lieutenants w. r. Kenly
and Allston Hamilton, they were not
able at the range which their smoking
powder compelled them to take to smash
things for Chaffee in the required time.
Every discharge of tho guns was fol-
lowed by showers of Mauser bullets,
flying wild, of course, but the result
showed that the battery would have
been silenced by Mauser fire alone had
it attempted to do its work at short
range. In the old style of fighting,
where both sides used smoking powder
and short range rifles, infantry were
counted upon to keep down infantry
fire and give the artillery a chance. At
the old artillery range of 500 yards
Capron could have smashed the stone
fort and blockhouses in short order.
A veteran who commanded a regi-
ment at Ell Caney told me that the Span
ish position there was an ideal one ;
that one Spaniard was equal to four
Americans in the charging line. The
village of Ell Caney itself is a compact
group of stone houses. The tallest of
these, az we'll az the church on the hill
side back of them and its belfry, were
loopholed, and on the outskirts of the
village there were several ordinary
blookhouses filled in with earth and one
made of stone. The key to the position,
as before stated, was the strong stone
fort, southeast of the village, crowning
hill about 100 feet high. The Ell
Caney garrison has been variously esti-
mated from 500 to 1000 infantry, no
artillery nor machine guns. An esti-
mate, which seems to be generally nc
cepted, places the strength at AGO men.
It has also been stated that 400 men
were killed, wounded and taken prison
ers. The Spanish general, Vara del Rey,
with his brother and two sons, were
among the killed.
General Chaffee's plan was to throw
the left regiment of his brigade against
the stone fort, swinging his right in
line with it around so as to sweep the
interval between the fort and the viii
lage and thus hold the Spanish between
his line and that of Ludlow's Duling
the night Of the 30th he placed a COM
pany of the Twelfth regiment at the
base of a hill which lay between his
bivouac and the stone fort, with orders
to seize the hill in the morning. He also
placed company Of the Seventh regi
ment on a height northeast of FL Caney.
At daylight of the LIST Chaffee sent
the Twelfth regiment to deploy to the
right of the company posted ON the hill
and attack in q southwest direction
that is, toward the fort, and at the same
/ time he led the Seventh and Seventeenth
north by "a road from Montanamo,
changing directions southwest toward
the village and the interval between
/ that and the fort a about 49, or an
hour after Capron S guns opened, these
regiments came in view of the Twelfth
and formed connection, so as to cover
the whole Spanish position. The bri-
gade line was actually formed about s
/ O'Clock, for in advancing the men ON
I the right found themselves fired ON from
/ a blockhouse northeastAf El Caney viii
/ lage. Fifty Cubans We're sent against
! the blockhouse to keep its fire down.
The glory Of taking the stone fort fell
| to the Twelfth regiment, but the Sew
/ enth and Seventeenth, ON it's right,
should share the honor. They fought
the Spaniards flank and rear. The Sew
enteenth on the extreme right, near the
village, crept forward to a sunken road
ON the crest, looking down into val
I ley upon the village Below them was
/ a hollow through which runs creek,
/ but when they attempted to advance
down the slope toward the creek the
men had no cover at all. In the low
land was a ravine completely covered
| by Spanish fire. The orders Of the regi-
ment We're not to FIRE except they could
do so effectively, which was seldom, as
the Spaniards plying their Mausers at
them were hidden behind the ston
walls of houses. in blind trenches and
behind barricades where their smoke
less powder did not give them away.
The regiment went into the fight at El
Caney 400 strong and lost 1 | men killed
and 40 wounded. Lieutenant Colonel J.
It. Haskell was wounded by three
Mauser bullets, and the command de-
yolYCd upon Major L. NJ. O'Brien, q