The record-union., 1898-12-25

| ~ Y
AN1f shots with the
| l|,>11t4ASSS%&@~ rs ths fns@s asd there of Suns, on
but the Spaniards told the Americans
that General Escarro was in command
of them during the action with the cav
airy on the 24th.
The French officer before quoted said
that Linares instructed his men on San
Juan ridge to hold on as long,'a as they
could and then fall back, a comma nd
which is the next thing to ordering a
| retreat. The conduct of the Spaniards
all through indicated that they intended
to let the Americans come up to the
main defenses of the city if they would
Linares was wounded at a critical time
for counter attack on San Juan ridge
and seems to have been preparing for it
when hit. What transpired shortly
after his fall-that is on the evening of
July 2d-indicated that he hoped to turn
Skaters left flank and cut him off
from his base. In point of fact the right
flank of the American line was its
weakest spot just at that time. 1t
was ''in the air. as soldiers say, owing
| to the failure of Lawton to get into
| pOSItlOA Oll llic HcISHlS OIl the I'll 1dIlcS
road. Strong position, but a weak line
to hold it, is the way the cavalrymen
spoke Of the north part of the ridge
which they carried and intrenched, re-
| ferring to the situation the evening of
July 1st and the day following.
| Mention has been made of the Ninth
cavalry calling for help on the after
noon Of the 1st. This regiment, consist
| ing of one battalion, occupied the ex-
treme right, a narrow ridge, extending
toward the Ell Caney road, with Span
| ish blockhouse and fort only 900 yards
away. To that point the machine guns
were hurried. Kent also sent the Thir-
teenth Infantry.
! A proposition to retreat from its posi-
tion was discussed in the cavalry di-
| vision late on the 1st, and it was under
stood that Colonel Roosevelt, whose
rank made him senior on the front line,
favored it. Captain Morton, then conn
manding therThird cavalry, opposed it.,
saying the place would have to be won
again. Captain sBoughton of the same
regiment observed to Roosevelt, 1--WE
can hold it against all hell" But sup
ports We're needed, and after repeated
calls by Morton they came up at 10 p.
m. The last call for help was referred
| to General Wheeler as commander Of
the division, the first heard of him by
the officers on the front line that day.
| The Third Cavalry occupied and in
| trenched a salient on the ridge looking
| toward Santiago, the point nearest the
| Spanish trenches and less than 500
yards from them. AT midnight the
Spaniards opened on that point with a
sharp fusillade. Meanwhile the battal-
| ions left as reserve on Kettle" hill had
moved to the crest, making seven bat
| talions, or less than four regiments, to
hold the ridge from the San Juan road
| to that from Ell Caney. A most i'm
| portant part of the line this was as
| things stood. Had Lawton taken posi-
| tion on the Ell Caney road, with Kent
holding on at the blockhouse and south
of it, the ridge taken by the cavalry
would have been useless to the Span
iards.
There are some grounds for the claim
that the cavalry division took the ridge
without orders from headquarters. No
positive orders like those to Kent can
be traced General Sumner, who COM
the hill in order to avoid retreat and
casualties. The position which the cav
airy occupied in the morning of July
1st along the streams was one to en-
able it to support Kent in the attack
assigned him at San Juan or to help
Lawton in the attack at the Ell Caney
road. The conduct of General Wheeler
on the 1st of July supports the infer
;zsO L,
| orders to. attack in the morning. There
is slight contradiction in the state
ments of Wheeler and Shafter as to
Wheeler's work that day. Wheeler says
| he was able to act early in the morn
ing; that he conveyed Skaters orders
| to Kent to move forward, and also per-
sonally told Sumner to do the same, a
statement which places Sumner in COM
mand of the cavalry and makes Wheel
er an acting corps commander. Shat
| ter, on the other hand, says that
Wheeler, the permanent commander
, of the cavalry division. who had been
lid, came forward during the morning
and later returned to duty" Among
all the orders that day which traced
found no allusion to Wheeler, until
along in the evening, when he estab-
| lished his headquarters at the base Of
| the hill in the rear of his own division
| Wheeler says that he sent for intrench-
| ing tools and ordered his men to in
| trench and sent word to them that
Lawton would come up on the right,
and General Bates troop from FL Ca
ney would strengthen the left on San
| Juan ridge. This shows that Wheeler
| was perfectly familiar with ideas at
| headquarters, for these movements Of
Bates and Lawton were what Shafter
| himself had ordered and was expecting
at the hour Wheeler refers TO, toward
| midnight of July 1st.
| AS already indicated in these articles.
the success of the cavalry in taking the
first hill, giving the Calling and Hotch-
kiss guns a. chance to silence the block
house, made Kent's task easier As
things turned out, it was fortunate that
somebody ordered the cavalry to go in.
| A word will suffice to carry the story
of the cavalry over the I'd of July up to
the hour of night attack by the Span
iards and the second proposition to re-
| treat. A few rations and some water
were got up the first night. At day
break on the I'd the Spaniards opened a
fusillade and kept it up all day. The
night of the I'd a heavy fusillade began
on the extreme left of the infantry d.
| vision and rolled along in front of the
cavalry In an hour the Spanish were
| silenced. 1t is held in the cavalry that
General Sumner was then discussing