The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-07-04

Headquarters OF General Smarter,
Friday, July /, eyening.-By the Asso-
| ciated Press dispatch boat Cynthia
(via Port Antonio, Saturday, and
! Kingston, Sunday, July 8, 2:3O a. M
Hemmed in on all sides by General
| Lawton's division, the Spanish troops
in the town of Caney are tonight
practically prisoners of war, and by
! daybreak tomorrow Saturday Spain
will have lost 1000 OF her best soldiers.
killed, wounded and taken prisoners in
and around the town, which was prae-
tically in the hands of the American
! forces at o'clock tonight. This result
was not obtained, however without
severe lighting on the part of the
! American forces, and although it is
| impossible at this time to give g. list
| of the dead or wounded, it is safe to
say that the loss in General Law
| toms division alone will be $50 killed
| or wounded
Among the officers wounded are:
Colonel Carpenter, commanding the
Seventh infantry.
Lieutenant Colonel Patterson, COM
handing the Twenty-second infantry,
will probably recover.
Lieutenant Besaros, Seventh in
fantry, wounded twice.
Major Corliss of the Seventh in
fantr-.
Captain Jackson of company G,
Seventh infantry, shot in the left
breast.
Lieutenant Charles z. Field, Second
Massachusetts, shot through the fore
head
General Ludlow's horse was killed
under him.
In General Lawton's division the
oh ho RI
middle of the day, suffered the heaviest
loss, although other regiments were
more actively engaged during the after
noon.
The fight for the possession of
Caney was most obstinate and the
ultimate victory reflects great credit
upon the American troops. It was a
glory, too, for Spain, though she never
had a chance to win at any time dur
ing the day. Her men fought in in
trenchments, covered with blockhouses,
while the American forces were in the
open from 4.rst to last. The Spanish
soldiers stuck to their work like men
and this, the first land fight of the
war may well cause Spain to feel
proud of her men.
The American soldiers attacked the
entertainments through open ground
and from the firing of the first shot
until they were on the hills above
Caney, they fought their way forward
and the Spanish were driven back
wards General Chaffee's brigade held
the right of the line, with the town of
Caney General Ludlow's division was
in the center and Colonel Miles held
the left.
PLAN OF BATTLE.
The plan of battle was for Captain
Allyn Capron's battery of the First ar
tillery, which held a position in the
center. above General Ludlow, to Shell
the fort near the town, for General
Ckaffee to close in as soon as the ar
tillery had reduced the fort and driven
the Spaniards toward Santiago; Gen
eral Ludlow to lay in the road below
the hill on which Captain Capron's bat
terry was stationed, and spring in on
General Chaffees left, while Colonel
Miles brigade was to keep close to
General Ludlows right, and, by a sim
ultaneous movement, sweep the Span
iards in toward Caney.
General Lawton. who personally di-
rected the operations of his division,
left his camp, on the road from ST.
honey TO Santiago, at 4 a. M, and at
O'Clock was with Captain Capron
battery on the hill above Caney.
Orders were given that the battle
should begin from the center, unless
General Chaffee, who was the nearest
to the enemy, should find himself at
tackled first.
The action opened at GAS. with Shot
from the second section of Captain
Capron's battery. 1t struck close to
the stone fort, near Caney. Another
shot hit the fort fairly. The Spaniards
gave IN the idea of holding the sto2e
fort proper after it was struck the first
time. and the entire garrison ran down
the hill toward the town. The covered
way in front of the fort, however, was
held by the Spanish troops, who main
tanned an obstinate fire on our men,
who were advancing slowly through the
brush and groves, only firing an occa-
sional shot.
Captain Capron's battery opened on
the enemy at once, and tore the ground
up with shells, sending clouds of dust
high into the air.
FINE CRAFTSMANSHIP.
The battery also sent a number of
shells entirely through the fort, tear
ing down large sections of the walls.
This fine craftsmanship was repeated
several times, the battery stopping the
fire of the Spanish soldiers who had
opened fire repeatedly from the COW
cred way pits. By o'clock General
Chaffee's brigade was pressing in to-
ward the town, and the firing at inter-
Nd.S WAS very wall
1t was very difficult TO see anything
of the battle, owing to the rolling ma
ture Of the ground and the dense veg
citation that obscured the view in al
most every direction made it imDos-
sible to see far.
The fire, at times, was very lively
during the morning, but the SDaniards
in the covered way made a most OBJ
stinate defense, and refused to yield an
inch. Time and again shells from Cap
tain Caprons battery drove them TO
cover, but as soon as the fire ceased
they were up and at it again. Despite
the heavy firing of the American troops,
they were able to make but little appar-
ent progress during the morning, al
though eventually they steadily drew
in and inclosed the town on all rides.
At noon it became evident that the
fire from the covered way could not be
stopped by the artillery alone, and that
no permanent advance could be made
until the place was taken, and General
Lawton decided to capture it by as
sault. Accordingly he sent messen-
ger to General Chaffee, with instruc-
lions to take the position by a charge.
General Chaffee thereupon closed in
with his men rapidly from the north,
while Captain Capron maintained
heavy fire on that fort, keeping the
SpaniardS in the covered way and put |
ting hole after hole into the stone walls
of the fort. Shortly afterwards he
threw a shot from the battery which
tore away the flagstaff, bringing the