West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1899-05-25
CAPROa'S Light BATTERY.
Two Long Shots Before Santiago,
One by Sergeant John Harry NeT,
kingwOOd Boy. Who is Now in
IaniIa.
From the san Francisco Examiner.

ht't - lcRn nan keb, cOmeiy
young fellow at the Preside this
week who has the credit Of making
the most remarkable shot ever
scored under actual conditions of
warfare. This is Sergeant John Ii.
Nell, OF Battery T.. FIRST Artillery,
better known IA Capron's B ,ttrrg.
The wonderful shot was aimed
bY Sergeant Ncff on the morning
OF July lst, last year, At the flag
STAFF on the biockEouse or tort at
HI Caney. The range was $500
yards. or nearly a mile and half.
and the stick no aimed ut was no
thicker than II mans arm. II was
no huke, for he announced his
purpose in advance, and he cut
he staff in two.
Sergeant Neif is a handsome
young Virginian of peculiarly
American type, modest young
fellow, with slight stutter and n
clear, steady eye.
81 was shooting above myself
that day." said Sergeant Neff. Il
seemed to have streak of luck.
After while General Lawtou got
me to do some shooting for him.
He lent me his glasses TO get the
location Of the trenches. You see,
the Spanish trenches were not built
up. They were scooped out and
the earth was carried away so that
they were hard to see unless you
could catch sight Of the raw edge
OF newly turned ground. You
could not make them out at all
with tho naked eye, but with the
help OF tie glasses you could some
times locate them. Then would
mark some larger object that could
be seen without glasses IN line or
nearly in line with the place |
wanted to hit, and by doing little
figuring one could generally man
age to get there"
Sergeant Williams, likewise of
the Capron Battery. is the man
who made the famous shot at El
Caney of which people have heard
SO much. 1t was at longer range
than Neff's flagstaff shot, being
$500 yards, not far short of two
miles. A troop of Spanish cavalry
was riding ouL of Ell Caney IN
fancled security, when Williams
plunked bunch of shrapnell right
in the middle of the party, utterly
demoralizing the troop. How many
were killed is not known, because
they were carried away, but the
Americans found half dozen dead
horses on the spot next day.
The battery is in charge of
Cap ain Hawkins and Lieutenant
Kenly and they are very busy men,
as the battery is short Of its usual
quota OF four officers. They have
their full force of 100 enlisted men
and are taking to Manila only the
saddle horses of the battery. They
expect to pull the guns with mules.
owe were short Of artillery at
Santiago" said Lieu teuant Kenly.
We had but four batteries alto
gether, and of these only two.
Capron's and Grimes. got any
where that they could do effective
work. Our battery was AT Ell
CaRey and we were able to breach
the stSne fort there so that 1t could
be taken by infantry. 1t was
strong stone building and never
could have been taken by assault
had we not broken down the walls.
I'll Caney was defended by the
crack regiment OF the Spanish
service, the Queens Own. They
had never before been defeated in
battle, and every man of them but
about seventy-five died right there.
They were good soldiers"
Lieutenant Kenly told Of the
tight place that the battery cot
into on the night of July 1st
Either through the stupidity Of the
Cuban guides or by some misman.
agement the battery and the First
lnfanty were marched from Ell
Caney along the road to Santiago.
a matter of four or five miles. and
at nightfall they were considerably
IN advance Of the American lines,
and without knowing It almost in
touch with the Spanish pickets.
The had to blyOuac on the road
which was nothing more than
narrow passage between two walls
OF imPenetrable jungle. Worst OF
all, The battery Was ahead OF the
infantry aud they might have been
endladed without being able to
reply. As soon rs three or four
horses were killed the road would
have been blocked. The Spanish
pIckets discovered them, bot The
Spanlards seemed TO lack sufficient
iniatiatiyo TO take advantage OF The
mistake. The Americans slept
calmly through 1t all until about 2
o'clock in the morning, when they
we're moved back TO position
where they could take care Of them
selves.
All tho non commissioned Off
GERS now with tho battery we're at
Santiago, and these ure their
names: First Sergeant Charles
lludeman. Sergeant LoufsI
Mehung. Sergeant Avery r. Long.
Sergeant, Henry OLSON, Sergeant
Martin a r1I.- l.-.-... 90