Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-09-15

| In this action on this part of the field.
| most efficient service was rendered by Lieu.
tenant John II. Parker, Thirteenth infan-
| try, and the Calling gun detachment under
| his command.
THE fighting continued at intervals until
| nightfal, but our men held resolutely to
the positions gained at the cost of SO much
blood and toll
Il am greatly indebted to General Wheel
| er who. as previously stated, returned from
the sick list to duty during the afternoon.
His cheerfulness and aggressiveness made
| itself left on the battlefield. and the infor-
| nation he furnished to me at various
stages of the battle proved to be most use
| full.
My own health was impaired by over
| exertion in the sun and intense heat of the
| day before, which prevented me from par
ticipating as actively in the battle as 1
desired; but from high hill near my head
quarters / had a general view of the battle
| field. extending from EI Caney on the right
TO the left of our lines on San Juan hill"
General DumeId's Failure.
General Shafter follows in detail the
| movements of the troops and the intrench-
| ing done during the night. He says:
General Dufield. with the Thirtythird
Michigan, attacked Aguadores, as ordered,
Dul was unable 10 accomplish more lndn 10
| detain the Spanish in that vicinity
ION the night OF July l ordered General
Duffield, at Sboney. to send forward the
Thirty-fourth Michigan and the Ninth
Massachusetts,, both of which had just ar
rived from the United States. These regi-
ments reached the front the next morning.
"All day. on the End, 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 a strong
and commanding position on the right.
About 10 p. m, the enemy made a vigor-
Gus assault to break through my lines, but
he was repulsed at all points.
"On the morning Of the 3rd 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 stopped by my
sending the following letter within the
Spanish lines"
General Shafter then gives the dispatches
passing between him and General Toral,
already published. He proceeds:
Negotiating for Surrender.
II was of the opinion that the Spaniards
would surrender If given little time, and
L thought this result would be hastened II
the men of their army could be made to
prisoners of war.
! Acting upon this presumption, j de-
termined to offer to return all the wounded
Spanish officers at Ell Caney who were able
10 Dear transportation, and who were will
ing TO give their paroles not to serve
against the forces of the United States un-
Ill regularly exchanged. This offer was
made and accepted. These officers, as we'll
as several of the wounded Spanish privates
twenty-seven in all, We're sent to their lines
Under the escort of some of our mounted
cavalry. Our troops were received with
honors and have every reason to believe
the return of the Spanish prisoners pro-
duced good impression on their comrades.
The cessation of firing about noon on
the Sd practically terminated the battle
Of Santiago; all that occurred after this
time may properly be treated under the
head of the siege which followed.
After deducting the detachments re-
tainec at Siboney and Daiquiri to render
those depots secure from attack organiza-
tons held to protect our fianks, others
acting as escorts and guards to light bat
teries, the members of the hospital corps.
guards left in charge of blanket rolls which
the intense heat caused the men to cast
aside before entering battle, orderlies, etc,
1t is doubtful If We had more than 1900
men on the firing line on July /, when the
battle was fiercest and when the important
and strong positions of Ell Caney and San
Juan were captured.
Cubans Helped Little.
"A few Cubans assisted in the attack at
FL Caney, and fought valiantly. but their
numbers were too small to materially
change the strength as indicated above
The enemy confronted US with numbers
about equal to our own; they fought OBJ
stlnately in strong and intrenched positions
and the results obtained clearly indicate
the intrepid gallantry of the company off,
GERS and men, and the benefits derived from
the careful training and instruction given
in the company in recent years in rife
practice and other battle exercises. Our
losses in these battles were twenty-five Of
GERS and 30S men killed. and eighty-one Of
hcers and l,23 men wounded; missing sew
enty-nine The missing, with few excep-
tons. reported later on"
General Shafter says the arrival of Gem
eral Escario at Santiago was not antici-
pated. He says:
General Garcia, with between 1000 and
5'Vv Cubans. was intrusted with the duty
of watching for and intercepting the rein
forcement expected. This, however. he
failed to do. and Escario passed into the
city on my extreme right, near the bay"
Wanted Fleet to Enter Harbor.
After speaking of Admiral ceryera's sor-
tie and the destruction of his feet, General
Shafter says he again called on the Spanish
commander to surrender. He says:
On the same date l informed Admiral
Sampson that. If he would force his way
into the harbor, the city would surrender
without any further sacrifice of life Com
nodore Watson replied that Admiral Samp-
son was temporarily absent, but that in
Els (Watsons) opinion the navy should not
enter the harbor. -
The strength of the enemy's position
was such l did not wish to assault If it
could be avoided. An examination of the
enemy's works, made after the surrender,
fully justifies the wisdom of the course
adopted. The intrenchments could only
have been carried with great loss of life.
General Shafter gives the varying efforts
toward securing a surrender and his re-
opening the engagement on the 10th. when
the truce ended. On the 11th the surrender
was again demanded.
by this date the sickness in tho army
was increasing very rapidly. as a result of
exposure in the trenches to the intense
heat OF the sun and the heavy rains. More
over, the dews in Cuba are almost equal
to rains. The weakness of the troops was
becoming so apparent l was anxious to
bring the siege to an end, but. in common
with most of the officers of the army. 1
did not think an assault would be justifia-
bic, especially as the enemy seemed to be
acting on the good faith in the preliminary
propositions to surrender. .
Arrival of General Miles.
July u. I informed the Spanish COM
H.