The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-09-15

by over -exertion in the sun and in- tense heat of the day before which prevented me from participating as ac- | lively in the battle as I desired, but from high hill near my headquarters had a general view of the battlefield, extending from El Cahey on the right to the left of our lines on San Juan | hill"
 Attack on ASuadores.
 General Shafter follows in detail the | movements of the troops and the in trenching done during the night. He ! says: General Duffleld, with the Thir- 1 ty-third Michigan, attacked Aguadores | as ordered but was unable to accom- plish more than to detain the Spaniards in that vicinity. On the night of July 1 l ordered General Duffield, at Siboney, to send forward the Thirty-fourth Michigan and the Ninth Massachusetts, both of which had pust arrived from ] the United States. These regiments , reached the front the next morning. All day on the second the battle ragged with more or less fury, but such of our troops as were in position at daylight held their ground, and Lawton gained strong and commanding position on the right. About 10 D. m. the enemy made q vigorous assault to throw my | lines, but he was repulsed at all points. | On the morning of the third the battle was renewed, but the enemy seemed to | have expended his energy in the assault | of the previous night and the firing along the lines was desultory until it was stopped by my sending the follow ing letter within the Spanish lines: l Approaching the Surrender. | General Shafter then gives the dis | patches passing between him and l General Toral, as already published:
 He proceeds: 1T was of the opinion that the Spaniards would surrender If given little time, and I thought this result would be hastened if the men of their army could be made to under stand that they would be well treated as prisoners of war. Acting upon this presumption, I determined to offer to return all the wounded Spanish off, cers at El Clancy, who were able to bear transportation and who were will l ing to give their paroles not to serve | against the forces of the United States until regularly exchanged. This offer was made and accepted These off, cers, as well as several of the wounded privates, twenty-seven in all, were sent to their lines under the escort of our mounted cavalry. Our troops were re- ceived with honors, and I have every reason to believe the return of the Spanish prisoners produced good im- pression on their comrades.
 Termination of Battle.
 'The cessation of firing about noon on the third practically terminated the battle of Santiago, all that occurred af- ter this time may properly be treated under the head of the siege, which fol- lowed. After dedueting the detach- ments retained at Siboney and Daiqui- ri to render these depots secure from attack, organizations held to protect our Hanks, others acting as escorts and guards to light batteries, the members of the hospital corps, guards left in charge of the blanket rolls which the intense heat caused the men to cast aside before entering battle orderles etc, it is doubtful if we had more than 12,000 men on the firing line on July 1 when the battle was fiercest and when the important and strong po- sitions of Fl Clancy and San Juan were captured.
 The Cuhans.
 "A few Cubans assisted in the attack at Fl Clancy and fought valiantly, but their numbers were too small to mater ially change the strength as indicated above. The enemy confronted us with numbers about equal to our own, they fought obstinately in strong intrenched positions and the results obtained clearly indicate the intrepid gallantry of the company officers and men and the benefits derived from the careful training and instruction given in the company in recent years in rifle prac- tice and other battle exercises.
 The Losses.
 "Our losses in these battles were twenty-two officers and POS men killed and S1 officers and 1,203 men wounded, missing 79. The missing, with few ex- captions, reported later" General Shaf- ter says the arrival of General Escario
 at Santiago was not anticipated. He
 says: General Garcia, with between four and five thousand Cubans, was in-
 trustedNwith the duty of watching for
 and intercepting the endorsements.
 This, however, he failed to do, and Es-
 carlo passed into the city along on my | extreme right near the bay After ] speaking of Admiral Cevera's sortie and the destruction of his fleet, General l Shafter says he again called on the Spanish commander to surrender, and continues: Sampson Asked to Force HarbOr.
 "On the same date I informed Ad- miral Sampson that if he would force , his way into the harbor the city would , surrender without any further sacrifice , of life. Commodore Watson replied , that Admiral Sampson was temporari- ly absent, but that in his (Watson's) opinion the navy should not enter the l harbor." The strength of the enemy's
 position was such that I did not wish l to assault, if it could be avoided. An : examination of the enemy's works made after the surrender, fully justified the wisdom of the course adopted. The , intrenchments could only have been carried with great loss of life.'' Gen. eral Shafter gives the various efforts towards securing a surrender and his
 re-opening the engagement on the 10th
 when the truce ended. On the 14th the 1 surrender was again demanded. By