The National tribune., 1899-03-30


that they would block the road He
thought that it would be much better to
keep away from the road altogether; cut
trails parallel with the entire front of the
forest and hidden by it, with innumerable
! little trails leading into the open; and
hills through these trails at the same
moment. Whether this suggestion was
ever made TO the Commanding General or
not. do not know; but If il was, 1t failed
10 commend itself to his judgment. re-
| fer now-perhaps prematurely-to state
| of affairs in our immediate front which
was not fully disclosed until much later;
but ! do SO because knowledge oil II is
| absolutely essential TO IL clear under
standing of the way in which the battle
OF San Juan was fought.
Gen. Skaters plan OF operations, as
outlined by Capt. Lee, British Military
Attache. was substantially as follows
Gen. LawtOn's Division was 10 attack
Caney at daylight. July !, and was ex-
pccted TO drive the enemy quickly out OF
that post, which then menaced our right
Iank. Meanwhile the remainder oi NE
Fifth Corps was to advance along the
main trail toward Santiago, pushing pack
the Spanish outposts, and occupy me
line OF the San Juan River. There 1t was
10 deplny and await Lawton, VINO, hiNhlG
taken Caney, was to wheel to his ieit anu
form upon the right of the main line.
All these movements were to be COM
plated by the evening OF the ISL, anu fl
then the whole army would combine lor
the assault OF San Juan on the ID;
"The advance began on the afternoon
of Thursday. June 10. Gen. La~'I, on,
Division, accompanied by Carron's bat
tery of four field guns. marched out on
the Caney road, without meeting any OPP
position. and bivouacked for the nient
behind a ridge, or hill, about Il mile south
east of the village. At the same time me
remainder OF the corps. consisting on nth,
Wheeler's Cavalry Division, the division
of Gen. Kent, and three batteries OF iigh'
artillery, moved down the S'boncy-Sa
tiago road and went into camp near me
Pozo farmhouse. At daybreak on fr.-
dav, July I, both columns were in posi-
tion, within striking distance OF ,he enc
my's intrenched line. AS the fighting al
Cancy was wholly independent OF the
fighting at San Juan. it will be more con
venient to regard the two engagements as
separate battles, lFhough they were car
,icd on simultaneously. l shall not az
tempt however, to do more than oeHc'.oe
the tactics on the two widely y sePaia'eo
fields, and briefly state the results.
"The defenses OF Cancy consisted 0i a
strong stone fort on steep conicai mn
at the southeastern corner Oh t,e N,i,"is'
and four or five substantial log pioeh
houses, So placed as TO command eE.i!
nossible. or at least every practicab'e'
we're connected one with another hS deeP'
narrow trenches; the stone tort was sur
rounded by a network oi outlying my
pits: there VAS a barbed wire ei'ahs'e
mc,!t along the whole eastern ir"iit vi
the enemy's position; and the iaiee uue
in the village, as well as the houses ana
the old stone church, were full oi shatP
shooters. The garrison Of the place, ho'
including the inhabitants, who, o' coutse'
participated 10 Il greater or less eNteiie ai
the fighting, consisted OF three con'pa,'tH
of infantry belonging to the Sati Lu'9
Brigade and Al guerrillas-a 'o,n, .t ~ With
5l4 men. The regulars were afnsu VIZ
the Mauser magazine rifle, while the euel
rilIas used a As -caliber Remington Car
rying a large ard very destructive ptn
iacketed hall. They had neither aftliieis
nor machine guns. and relied whoiiS III
their small-arms their ritiePns' .;,,"n aau .|
great natural strength OF theiI postum
The officer in command was brig. ,ueh-
.Joaouin Vera del Rey. The attacking ioice
under direc OF Gen. Lawton,, consists go
of four brirades, numbering ahout 4,oo'
men. and was made UP wholly oi i'esu
lars with the exception oi the "a hiaSo;
"The battle began at half-past o cioCh
in the morning. Gen. Chahees bfleaoS
tool, I'D a position six or eisht huho'ec
vards from the fort on the eastern siae oi
the village; Ludiow's brigade matcneu
around on the western SIDE, SO as W .s
The enemy's escape; while the brigade oi
Cen Miles closed in on the south. "a "a,
nron,s battery, from the summit oi a mn
a little more than mile southehs. Vi u.e
fort. fred the first shot at g 30 a: m. ouI
infantry on Gen; Cnai,es nee ,enlird si% from
their fort, blockhouses, and rliieP'ts; any
fhe engagement soon became genera.
For the next three OF four hours the pat
tie was little more than rife duei az
about GOO yards range. Capfon oa'
tery, from the top OF the distant hiiii ION
at intervals, but its fire was slow ana not
verv effective Our infantry, meanwhile
were suffering far more loss than they
were able to inffict, for the reason ,iia'
they could find little or no shelter, WINE
the Spaniards were protected ny iooIr
firing at ranges which had been previ-
ous!y measured and were therefore ac
curately known. In spite oi their LOSSES
however, our men continued 10 creep ~,
ward, and about II o'clock Gen. Chahee
Brigade reached and occupied .le cieS.
of low ridge not more than "oo IL, S'
from the northeastern side oil the Viiidee.
The fire of the Spanish sharpshooleiS at
this short range was very close ana &C
c,Irate and before noon more than ioo OF
Gen. Chaffee's men lay dead OF Woundcd
in a sunken road about so yards PACK o.
the firing line. Inc ioSSeo ~ ''S
rades of Gems. Ludlow and Mics, on 'iie
western and southern sides oil the Niiiage'
were almost as great, and at ! ~ r.. M tie
attacking force seemed TO be bafeiy hoid-
ing its own. At this critical moment,
when the chances OF success or oeieat
seemed to be almost evenly balihced'
Gen. Lawton received an order from Gen.
Shafter to abandon the attack on Ianey
and hurry to the relief Of Gems. Kent and
Summer, who were hotly engaged IN 'front.'
of the San Juan nights. believing mat Il
retreat at this iuncture would be disas-
trous, and that the demoralizing eject oi
a repuIse at Caney would more than
counterbalance the support that ne coulc
give the center OF the line iii 'front.' oil San
Juan, Gen. Lawton disregarded TINS order
and pressed the. attack with renewed
yipor. CaDron's battery, about TINS time,
got the range Of the stone tort, shot away
its flagstaff, amid vociierous cheers from
our men, and soon began to make great
breaches in its massive walls. Gen.
Chaffee, who had been directed to make
a final assault on the fort when. in his
Judgment, the proper time had come, then
gave the order to charge; and the 18th
Inf, closely followed by several regiments
from Gen. Miles's Brigade. and the bri-
gade OF Gen. Bates, which had just ar
rived from SilOney, swafmed up The steep
slope of the hill, drove the Spaniards out
of their rifiepits, and took the fort by
storm. The first man inside its walls
was Mr.. James Creeiman, a war CORE
spondent, who was shot through the shoul-
der while recovering the Spanish flag.
Although the fire from the village and the