The record-union., 1898-11-11

tddttS 10 the Clly OF SdnLldSo anu "
locate the prominent points of the sur
rounding topography. The positions We
We're able to secure on the hills near
our outposts We're not advantageous
enough for the purposes intended: and
on the next day, after having secured
Within less-than a mile Of Caney and
close to the road connecting it with
an additional force through Major
Beach, engineer of the cavalry division,
We ventured with Lieutenant Batson to
Santiago. Without the use Of field
glasses We could see the Spanish senti-
nels pacing back and forth in front
Of some of their block houses. The other
members OF our party, on that day,
We're E. NJ Bane, official photographer,
one Sergeant and two Cuban privates.
and one Sergeant and five privates Of
the Ninth Dismounted Cavalry. A Pc
culiar incident of the day was that,
without firing shot we returned to
our Lines after our work had been per-
formed, with ten prisoners and horse.
captured by our small force. It is fair
10 explain, however, that they were not
soldiers, but civilians who claimed
they had come out of the city to get
mangoes and other fruits, and were on
their way back to Santiago when we
detained them. From them We obtain
ed information as to the number of
Spanish troops in Santiago, their con-
dltlon and the nature of the barbed
wire ENHANCEMENT around the city. On
that same day Lieutenant Colonel
Derby and Lieutenant Hoffman had
gone scouting with a detachment of six
Cubans beyond Ell Poso and almost to
the San Juan River crossing. Later on
they proceeded to Marianage, which the
Spaniards had evacuated the day be-
lore, and climbing a tree they observed
the Spanish position on San Juan hill.
On June Both Lieutenant Cheney had
completed his reconnaissance along the
coast line, and venturing within sight
Of the Spanish sentinels of Aguadores,
reconnoitered their strong position On
that same day Lieutenant Colonel Der
oy continued accommodating the coun-
try toward San Juan and went again
far beyond our outposts.
On July lst Lieutenant Colonel Der
by, chief engineer, and Lieutenant Max
held of the Signal Corps, made their
balloon ascension, which has been so
much criticised. The opponents of the
balloon claim that it's presence at the
front betrayed the position of the troops
and that the deadly fire poured upon it
by the Spaniards was the cause of un-
necessary casualties. On the other
hand, the observers in the balloon. who
certainly deserve credit for their un-
f11nching valor while exposed to a most
severe fire, argue that their discovery
OF the trail running parallel and to
the left ON the main road, through
which General Kent swung his division
as soon as. Colonel Derby notified him of
It's existence, saved many lives by re-
neV1ng the congestion Of the main road
through which the troops had been ad-
Vanclng. The results proved, however.
that the usefulness Of the battalion in
warfare must be confined to the rear.
OF 1ar enough from the enemy to insure
1t a fa1r chance of escape from the fire
that VIII be directed against it, while il
must be kept far enough from the main
oody of the troops to prevent the spent
bullets from causing losses that might
be avoided
While the fighting was going on. near
ly all the officers attached to tbe recon
halssance party were out with the
n
the line of fire, noting the position Of
the olI1erent regiments. and. brigades.
Inc instruments used in the recon-
Holssance work We're the prismatic
coiilpass' cavalry sketching case. and
oIteh hand level. The distances were
estimated by pacing. The average
daldy distance covered by each indi-
Vlaual varied, according to the nature
OF the country and the width of the
pelt sketched, from one to ten miles.
Inc different parties reported eyery
evening to the office Of the Chief En-
glneer where the works were complied.
lifted together and added to the man
OF the previous day. A tracing was
made, and then blue-prints were issued
to the commanders of divisions bril-
gades and batteries, and other officers
as far as the available number would
permit. The first blueprint issued in
the field was on July 3D., and they con-
tfnued to be issued from that time on
nearly every other day. showing all
additional information and changes in
the position of the troops
The Chief Engineers office. was moved
from the Seguranca to- headquarters
in the field, on June 30th,. burt soon, after
the capture Of San Juan, the office was
moved to San Juan hill, Jtlst behind our
intrenchments for convenience In re-
ceiving the daily reports. The map
ping and all the field office work was
performed by Lieutenant George M.
Hoffman of the Corps of Engineers, and
|. the writer, or by either one of them
when the other was in the field. R. S.
Porro had charge of the compiling on
board the Seguranca, and continued
attached to the office of the Engineer
Corps till July Sth, when he was trans
ferred to another branch of the SER
vice.
The blue-printing was done by means
of an inprovised field outfit, as the
glass Of the blue-printing frame was
broken while being unloaded at Sibo-
ney, and we We're unable TO secure an
other one of the same size to replace
it, We were fortunate enough how
ever, to find two pieces of window
glass about 24x30 inches EACH Our i'm
provised frame consisted of the cover
of one of the packing boxes around
headquarters, over which was stretched
blanket folded to make three or four
thicknesses. The blueprint paper and
the tracing were unrolled, placed ON the
blanket and kept in contact by the
weight of the two pieces of glass rest
ing on it. For a tray for washing the
ue-prints we used a rubber blanket
The trenches in the Santiago cam
paign were. not laid out by the engi-
neers, but were dug on the nights of
July 1st and I'd by the troops of the
line, under the direction Of their own
officers. After the capture Of San Juan