The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-07-19
SKATER COULD HAVE BEEN
EASILY ROUTED.
Spanish Defenses Were Constructed
On Scientific Principles, While
the American Engineers Never
Got to the Front-General Officers
Also Remained In the Rear, Care
less and Over-confident.

!
ception you can gain for. the time OF
what is going on. The formation of the
ground on which the battle of San Juan
| took place peculiarly illustrates the
fact. The enemy, behind greenly
masked breastworks on the eastern
verge Of the plateau, could be located
by the troops who were moving against
| him chiefly by the sound OF his voileys
| Even from the summit of the hill at our
left center. on which Grimes battery
was posted and which afforded a fine
1 general view of the whole field, from
| the extreme left to the "stone fort
| dominating Caney, ii was not easy to
discern clearly more than small por-
| ton of the Spanish line of fire. Our
men, as they advanced TO the attack,
were completely shut in for half the
distance westward of the San Juan
river by the tangled brush, which, how
ever, was peopled by bushwhackers.
whose fire was constant and deadly.
In some of the regiments the ma
! jority of the casualties took place here
before they had emerged from what
could ordinarily be termed cover"
And singularly enough, some of the
1 volunteers. it is supposed, showed the
| greatest reluctance to leave this fancied
shelter. which was really so dangerous
| to them. A certain regiment. which L
shall not name until the official reports
| of the battle are accessible, lay down in
the road leading through the timbered
plain. and all but one battalion refused
to move on when ordered. Officers of
other regiments were heard to uDbraid
these soldiers and to ask them to act
like men. If their own officers had thus
spoken to them it is not to be doubted
that they would have promptly re-
sponded The way was so blocked by
I ,n-,- f-s, hill
the advance was stopped. Then two
regiments of regulars pressed forward
over the PROSTATE forms of these men,
some of the soldiers never touching the
ground for yards at a time. 1t is but
the merest Justice to say that the regi-
ment which had lain so obstinately in
the road afterwards helped to carry the
most difficult position in its front 1t
is very probable that the conduct OF
two of its battalions, as described to
me. was due to a misrepresentation of
orders on the part of it's officers.
sHAFTER'S ORDERS.
The order of General Shafter which
led to the battle of San Juan was
tentative in its nature. You will push
out and clear the salient position in
your front" it said to Generals
Wheeler and Kent, IF it can be done
without bringing on a general en-
gagement."
How. in the rame of all that is
military, Generals Wheeler and Kent
or any one else could determine before
hand whether this attempt would bring
on a general engagement is certainly
beyond human conjecture. And, yet. it
seems strange that a determined as
sault, with the full strength of our line,
on the best and most prominent portion
of the enemy, with our right wing at
the same time hammering away at a
commanding stronghold on his left
flank. could be ordered without the ac-
campaigning superstition that a general
engagement must follow. One thing
is certain; that the enthusiasm CT the
men and officers were such that once
started their advance could not have
been checked, even by orders from the
ma jor general, until they had driven
the enemy from the crest of the oppO-
site ridge. Unstinted credit is due
them for their attack and their subse-
quent steadiness in defense of that
which they had gained 1t was only
as the stalWart blue-brcwn line of the
American troops hurled the Spaniards
back from the deep entertainments in
which the latter had been hidden and
took their places as posssssors of a
dominating position that the whole
panorama Of the fight was unfolded to
those who were carefully watching it
from the exposed vantage point of
Grimes hill.
WORK OF ARTILLERY.
Between five and six miles to the
northeastward the incipient firing of
Lawtons artillery could be marked
distinctly. First, the white puff of
old-fashioned powder, and what seemed
to be many seconds would tick away
hafora The DIM car7ud r.aocbad
lastly, around the base of the old
church, converted into a blockhouse.
near the upper end OF the town. or
else up on the ramparts of the Stone
Fort above it, great masses of dirt
and dust were seen to rise, showing
that the shell had struck and had
exploded at or near its mark.
a mist hung over the lower foothills !
and only where a deeper range of
vapor fioated over the edge OF the
valley could the line of our infantry !
men be made out. It was. of course. |
much in advance of the artillery posi- |
ton, which was sharp point, /
hill 10 our right rear. /
The steady pop-pop of Lawton's rifles. |
answered by the Spanish at longer and |
longer intervals, was cheering enough, /
as we'll because it proved the GOODNESS
and deliberation of our marksmen, as
that it indicated an uncompromising 1
onward movement.
STRONG DEFENSES.
The firing continued heavier on the right |
throughout the whole OF the first day than !
[ was on the left. Nowhere was better 1
the fact that position and /
defensive works we're the chief reliance /
IF the enemy. This carried with il the /
.orrollary that these two factors had been |
immensely underestimate by our gen. /
sral officers. It was revelation to every 1
military man who surveyed the field aft l
IT we had secured possession of the whole |
o do it. They all declared that with such |
positions, so covered by entertainments, |
10 army in the world equal to ours in /
number could have dislodged us. unless.
indeed. il had great prepcnderance in
one Of the most striking facts of the
.ampaign is that the Santiago expedition I
vas insufficiently equipped with field
runs: but even had we three times as
many field guns. IL would still be true
hat we were absurly wrong in our no
ion of, the fighting capacity of the Span
sh troops and OF the value of ..eir pre-
,arations for defense.
ARMY IN DANGER.
While for three or four days our army
vas encamped on the Seviila branch of
he San Juan. il became common re-
mark of field and company officers that
ny enemy with a small degree of enter
rise could attack rs there and easily do
ls Sreat damage IL indeed he could nor
out US and drive US back in confusion.
O crowded and jumbled was our camp
nd 50 imperfect our formation. a high
idge to the westward Of our center.
Which was not thoroughly plcketed. would
ave afforded him command of our entire
osition But not even a demonstration
vas madc against US. 1t was only when
was thought the SpaniardS were erect |
Inc ~rrt-t