The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-08-15
Last Engagement of the War Ii
Porto Rico.
FOUGHT BY GEN. WILSON
ENEMY OCCUPIED STRONG POSI-
TON NEAR COAMo.
Our Battery Went Into Action at
Gallop and In the Face of Ter
rife Fire From the Spaniards-
One Soldier Killed and Several
Wounded.

Beyond Coamo, Porto Rico. Aug. L.
delayed in transmission. )-General Will
son moved one Lancaster battery out to
the front this afternoon for the purpose of
Smelling the Spanish position on the crest
of the mountain at the head of the pass
through which the road winds. The enemy
occupied position OF great natural
strength, protected by several lines of en-
trenchmentS and battery OF two How
itzers. The Spaniards were eager for the
fray and earlier in the day had fired upon
Colonel Biddle of the engineer corps, who,
with a platoon of Troop G, of New York,
was accommodating on their right flank.
AS our battery rounded a curve IN the
road, 1000 yards away, the enemy opened
an artillery and infantry fire. -Four COM
panies of the Third Wisconsin, which
were posted on the bluffs to the right of
the road, We're not permitted to respond to
the infantry fire.
The guns advanced at a gallop in the
face of a terrific fire. were numbered and
the enemy at a lively rate, striking the
emplacements, batteries and entrench-
mentS with the rythmatic regularity OF
a trip-hammer. The enemy soon aban-
dOned one gun, but continued TO serve the
other at intervals for over an hour. They
had our range, and their shrapnel burst
repeatedly over our men. One shell burst,
the fragments killing Corporal Swanson,
Company L, and seriously wounding Cor
poral Yanke and Privates Bunce and
Vought.
captain Paget, the BRUSH army OIncer
who is with the American forces for the
purpose of observing the operations in the
field, distinguished himself by aiding DIR.
Woodbury.. Captain Lee and Private 81
ser, of Company F, were wounded by
Mauser bullets.
In about two hoe the enemy abandon
ed the old gun anu the men began to flee
from the entertainments toward banana
grove. Our guns shelled them as they
BATTERY REITERATED.
One gun was now ordered to advance
TO position a quarter of a mile further
on. 1t had just reached the new position
whe nthe Spanish infantry reinforcementS
filed into the trenches and fired down q
deadly fire on our men,, compelling the
battery TO retire at gallOp. Then both
the enemy's Howitzers reopened, and
screamed and MauSerS sang. An
other gun galloped from the rear, but our
was exhausted. Lieutenant
Haynes was shot in the body by a Mauser
just before his gun retired, the ball fol-
lowing a rib.
advance We're countermanded, and the
firing soon ceased.
Colonel Bliss of General Wilson'S staff,
went forward to the enerliy's line with
flag of truce and explained that peace ne
gotiations were'a almost concluded and that
their position was untenable and demand
I'd their surrender. The Spanish have no
with the outside world,
and the commander asked till tomorrow.
that he might communicate with Gov
ernor Macias.
General Wilson and his staff viewed to-
lays action from hili at the right. The
enemy's guns were fired from a high ele-
Fat1On, with low velocity. The SpaniardS
had the ranges as accurately as they had
1t Santiago. Their position from the front
S almost impregnable. Estimates of the
strength of the enemy range from 500 TO
600. Their position is five miles from
4 ibOnitO