The National tribune., 1898-08-11
BY HENRY RoMEYN, BREvET-MAJoR, U
S. A., RETIRED.

On the afternoon of June 30 last, salts
fled that a battle was impending between
: the American and Spanish forces. l OBJ
tanned permission from the Surgeon at
Siboney, Cuba, TO ride on an ambulance
as far To the front as Gen. Skaters S Head
quarters. on the way TO Santiago Rough
scarcely expresses the character OF the
trip to persons accustomed To American
roads. Our way was a mere cart-track
cut through the brush in some places
! deep in mud that reached to the hubs OF
the vehicle. and on the hills covered with
loose powders or large rocks, over which
the mules stumbled and the wheels slid
and bounced in way that threatened
the destruction of the outfit.
L. just before sunset we overlook troops
hastenIng 10 the front along this road
! which was not wide enough foi d column
OF iours, and every time we would reach Il
! detachment the men would nave to idl
out oi line to the side to- give oul team
room. mention these things 10 illustrate
the extreme difficulty oil getting troops To
the front III any sort vi formation
The march'waS continued late INTO the
night, but at O'Clock the ambulance
| hated at the tents Of the Ftst DIVISION
hospital, about three miles and a halt
nom Santiago. Here among the medical
was taken care o for the night
Alter an early breakfast the next morn
ing, equipped with field glass camera
! and iiaVeISdck containing d few hard
| tack. ! started Tor the front The road
was iuii of moving troops and at the
| crossing oi the creek about a mile and q
| hdif from camp | found The war balloon
winch was being aiken slowly 10 the front
| had seen II the night before, a thousand
I-Ieetoi more IN The AIR, whence the occu
! pants oi The car looked down upon the
l'iofifflcauonS and cry OF Santiago 1t was
now towed along, not more than so ieet
| ifom the SIOund, by about dozen men
| iouith oi Il GIiIe beyond the cfOoSing
| referred 10, The track entered dense
ttmbet winch EXTENDED to the next cross
! ing at the San Juan. Al the ieit OF the
road and u iourth of mile from it, / saw
GiintS > bdtteFy-A, "a u. . Aft-On n
niii perhaps 10 feet higher than the road
way. ana near the buildings ol an aban
doned sugar plantation called FL Poso OF
| Ihe Wei. the name being derived from IL
| wen near the creek, IN which d steam
! puuip ndd been used
A POINT OF VANTAGE
| Believing from the location of the bat
! terry that this would be d good place to
/ see the coming battle, | left The road and
| went over 10 II. | found that knew the
| ciiIcerS, ana was made welcome. Ii was
| not yet o.-ociock.. Inc battery was III
position, awaiting orders to open fire.
Far OIL IL the rIgiit CaprOn battery had
| gone lnto position near the town Ell Caney,
ana the first gun was fired at 80 0 clock.
| Infantry lire on the right began at I 10
% CLOCK anu soon afterwards Grimes s bat
,ely oi,eneu on the Spanish bloc ckhouse ii = d
| intTehchnents surrounding 1t, which stood
! III ifont oi hospital buiiding rust o 1
| oidc oi the cry oi Santiago. over this
| nuiiuing then one Rco Cross flag foated.
IL hdIi an nouf seven were displayed from
me group oi buildings. Directly III front
oi me DuiIuILgS were two bate IcS one Oh
| WHcn codid not be reached without danger
| Vi Sttihtng me hospital.
/ lhe opdnidrdS aid not return the artil-
ieTy ire untii 20 O'Clock but the first
snot showed thai their range had been
! accurately calculated. the inst shell ex-
ptoatns immediately over the guns OF
Gninco . battery, killing two men and
wouudine i've others.
he octde had ITS comic as well as
tragIc sIde. Ntth the battery were three
correspondents. At the explosion oil the
hfot sheii thcy scattered. / had a camera
iii my hdnd enueavonng to catch a pic
turc ..4th he fash the gun. When the
rhei burst | found it convenient to
walk down the nal, and walking down
WIS much easier than walking up had
been, dnd could be Gone nIofe rapidly.
dad not get thy picture.
| AIy rOute was to one side To get ont of
the line oi fire. The other two co re
apondentS, unaccuStomed To fire started
uitcctly To the rear, and were in a more
dangerous position than ii they had re
: NAMED with the battery When they
came out oi he brush hail an hour after
wards they were without any impedi
menta; blankets, canteens haversacks
cameras, mad disappeared, forgotten in
the rush ior shelter. The ire OF the
battery was resumed as as the
! Spanish tire ceased and was directed
IL i-niiuCiDIUy L.
40, ana TO position on its left where II
was thought The battery was placed from
which the shells had come, the smoke
, less powder used by the Spaniards max
ing II extremely difficult To locate the
guns, but this was eventually done and
there was no more artillery fire from that
particular spo on that day.
Immediately III front Of the blockhOuse
and on the side OF the hill. which sioped
steepiy down 10 the valley of the San
| Juan. was "A rifc c-pit large enough 10
accommodate battalion, and this was
filled with Spanish infantrymen With
their use ut smoheleSS powder 1t also took
! some time {" determine their position. but
| when II was done they were soon driven
| out by the rapid fire uf the artillery
THE WAR BALLOON RIDDLED
| While this was going on the trOons
| which | had left in the roadway early in
/ the morning were pushing 10 the front and
| the balloon lUf some unknown reason uns
Icafred We'll to the front OF the column
| floating lust above the tree tops. AS II
approached the clear ground on the ia
| her side Of the stream d dropping fire
| was opened upon II by the SDanI,h
| which soon INCREASED to volieyS rlddlinG
| the balloon and rendering It useless.
The head OF the column succeeded in
| getting onto open ground and pushed
| forward To The banks of the stream. II
was impossible tor me IN my position to
| determine the order in which the troops
| advanced. Wounded men soon BEGAN to
iall OUT to the rear. The firing became
| heavier each moment tDat OF the Span
| iardS being easily distinguished from the
Americans. being volley firing by bat
! talIons, while that OF OuI men was file
| firing. Besides, the volunteer regiments
I'd and 9th Mass. list n Y, and a part OF
| the 3ith Mich, were armed with the
| Springfield. caiber AS, the report being |
| very much louder than that of the guns of
either the .Spaniards or ouf Regulars
The roar Increased rapidly punctuated |
by that of CaprOn guns far away on the |
| left. LawtOn, Chaffee and Ludlow were
making headway lar on the right. The |
distance from right to left of the line |
following It's course, was over four miles |
1t was impossible at that distance to see |
anything OF the fight going on at Ell Caney
| even with good glass. but by noticing |
carefully we could understand that the |
line was pushing forward driving back the |
SpaniardS.
On the left the American line had |
pushed across the level ground, which