362 CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE FIGHT FOR EL CANEY.

/"TAHE battle fought before Santiago on July ist has been called sometimes the battle of El Caney, and sometimes the of threebrigades (eight battalionsofregulars and one of New York volunteers), was waiting to attack San Juan as soon as Caney had fallen. Kent had anotherfour-gun batter)',underCaptain Grimes, which was in position on the hill near El Pozo farm. The dismounted cavalry and Rough Riders under General Sumner held the right of Kent's position, and there were more Cubans onboth sides of the ground assigned to his division. Bates's brigade washeldinreserve, and Duffield'sbrigadeof volunteers was moving along the coast railway to attack Aguadores, supported by the fleet, which stood in towards the harbour mouth, bombarded the forts, and sent its shells flying over the hills into Santiago itself.

battle of San Juan. There were really two battles, one on the Americanright at ElCaney, another on the left between El Pozo and the hill of San Juan, besides some skirmishing on the coast at Aguadores. Itwill make the events of the dayclearer if we begin by describing the fight for El Caney, which held the first place in GeneralShaffer's plan for the day's operations.

The three brigades of Lawton's division destined for the attack of El Caney passed the night on the edge of the woods fronting the Spanish position. No fires wereallowed in the bivouacs, and the soldiers were told to makeas little noise as possible, for it was feared that if the enemybecameaware of the preparations in progress for the attack he might abandon the little town without fighting, and the plan of operations had for its object not the mere occupation of El Caney but the capture of its garrison. The Americans at this period very much underestimated the fighting capacity of the Spaniards, and everyone in the attacking forcebelieved that evenif the Spaniards didnot give way before the mere menaceof anattack, they wouldbe drivenout by the first rush.

The sky was overcast, and the morning was hot andsultry. But at twentyminutes to seven, when the first shot was fired on the right by Capron's battery, the clouds overhead began to break, and the sun shone out brightly. "Boys," said a soldier, as the first cannon shot echoed in the woodedhills, " this is the first of July. It's a pity we can't keep Santiago for the Fourth." It was going to bekept a gooddeallonger.

The chief defence of El Caney was an oldfashioned stone fort on a conical hill to the south-east of the little town. The houses on each front of the place wereloopholed,and there were some blockhouses on each side, linked together by shelter trenches and wire entanglements. The village church, a solid stone building, was alsoprepared for defence. The houses weresingle-storied cottages,and the few streets of the town were wide and open and planted with trees.

At sunrise the men were roused from their sleep, and while the hot mist still hung in the valleys, the columns were marshalled for the fight. General Lawton's division worked up to the low ridges close to El Caney without meeting with the least resistance, for the Spaniards had no outposts or patrols in front of their position, and were awaiting the attack inside their defences. Lawton had eight battalions of regulars and oneof volunteers under his orders. Only one light battery of four guns, under Captain Allyn Capron,had been assigned to his division. His right, the exposed flank, was protected by the only two troops of mounted cavalry with the army. Still further away to the right were some of Garcia's Cubans, but already the Americans had learned to set very little dependenceon their fighting capacity.

" From the crest of theridge," writes Captain Lee, the British attache1, who accompanied Lawton's staff, " we could look right down into the village, its thatched and tiled roofs hall hidden by the large shade-trees that we afterward learned to dread as the lurking-places 01 sharpshooters. In the village itself profound quiet reigned, and there was no sign of life beyond a few thin wisps of smoke that curled from the cottage chimneys. Beyond lay the fertile valley with a few cattle grazing, Away to his left General Kent's division,also