Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-05-20

ond was terrible.
But it was on the march from Sevilla
to Ell Caney that the real hardship of
the campaign began. Rations for three
days had been distributed and the men
had orders TO cook them, but few obey
ed. Some of the rations were not dis
tributed by the company commissaries
and were carried in bulk by men detail
ed for the purpose. All of this brings up
the issue as between novices and old sol
diers. and. of course, officers as well as
men must be included in the structures
The idea of the crowd is that the gov
ernment can and will do everything
There is time when soldiers must do
for themselves.
1t was 6 o'clock p. III. when the regi-
meDt, with the rest of General Lud-
low s brigade. set out for Ell Caney. The
march was over Il rough and slippery
hill trail, wet from an afternoon rain.
The men detailed to carry rations. had
also their Springfield rifles and extra
with bacon in the side, bags of coffee,
cans of tomatoes and hard tack. When
the men subsequently returned along
this trail to recover the sorely needed
rations, the horde of Cuban camp fol-
lowers had carried off everything.
About 10 at night the command
reached level. grassy fields south of Ell
Caney and east of Santiago. The men
were under orders not to build fires, not
to talk loud, and, Worn out with the heat
and tedious march, they lay down in
the wet grass and slept. Under the or
ders they could not strike light for
smoking and could not make coffee.
The chronicler of all this is not disposed
10 gloss over anything, but he says that
there was no fault finding, as the men
realized that absolute secrecy and 81
lence were necessary TO success.
The short march on the morning Of
July 1 was toward Ell Caney battlefield.
Led by the regulars of the Eighth and
Twenty-second the line marched past
Capron' guns, which had already open
ed the ball. Finally, while the Second
was marching west along narrow
trail orders came to move by the right
flank into the brush. This shift of di
rection brought the men soon in front
If the Spanish lines. Capron's firing
meanwhile grew heavier. and the Mau
ser fire aimed at the regulars in front
steadily increased, bullets going over
the heads of the Massachusetts, men.
Says the regimental chronicler: at was
not to be expected but that the men
would be little nervous at what they
were up against for the first time, but
there were very few men that baked,
and those who did were quickly spotted
by their comrades.
Through the brush the regiment made
its way to the Santiago-El Caney road.
There the men discarded rolls and hav-
ersack and all other impediments ex-
cept canteens and rifles. In column of
fours the command moved up the road
toward El Caney seven companies
strong, five having been halted at Ca
prom S battery. Down across the road
from Ell Caney came a raking Mauser
fire from Spanish trenches and loopholed
buildings in Ell Caney. The Twenty Sec
ond regulars in line of battle in the field
were hard pressed, and General Ludlow
directed Colonel Clark to send four COM
panies out to re-enforce the regulars.
Two of the companies detached reached
the regulars, but the other two got lost
in the chapparal and made their way to
the crossroad, sunken way, having a
ho,,ly for x-bn fhor
fought all day.
These detachments of force left but
three companies with Colonel Clark.
With them he threw out a deployed
line and advanced to the edge of the
brush facing the enemy. These compa-
MES kept up a continuous firing and
advanced to an open field in front Of
the Spanish blockhouses The Massa-
chusetts men were armed with Spring
field rifles, which send out a cloud of
smoking powder. This circumstance
drew the fire Of the Spaniards, and the
result was that the fire Of the Second
gradually slackened to almost nothing.
But they were not withdrawn from the
line, nor did they give ground one
inch
The companies in the sunken road, E
and L, were good targets for Mausers
Lieutenant Field of l. was mortally
wounded, and Private Brooks of E killed
early in the action. Companies B and
K Joined the line of regulars, but were
handicapped by the black powder and
thus reduced to a nullity in the fight
except for defense AS the fight waxed
warm, however, the best shots fired at
Spanish sharpshooters, at blockhouses
and trenches, as chance offered. The men
were good shots, for the Second had the
best target record in the state.
In the seven companies on the firing
line there were officers and men killed
and SO wounded The strength was
about 54; hence the casualties about s
per cent. Says the chronicler before
quoted: ''It was veritable baptism of
fire for the boys of the Second, but they
stood to it like men, and, with three ex-
ceptions, every man shot was ON the
firing line. .
At 6 O'Clock p. m. the day of battle
the regiment Joined the division column
for an advance direct upon Santiago.
as originally ordered by Shafter. At 8
o'clock the line halted and lay until 8
a. m., the I'd, when orders came from
Shafter to take the back track to the
Siboney Santiago road and join the
troops which had carried San Juan hill.