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CHAPTER XII
WHEREIN IS RELATED SOME EVENTS WHICH HAPPENED TO US ON JULY FIRST

HARDLY had we passed the battery before we heard the boom of one of its guns, followed by another and another and we knew then the trouble had begun. We kept on the trail for a while longer, the men keeping well closed up now and keeping eyes and ears alert. El Caney was now replying to Capron and we could hear for the first time the squeal of the Mauser bullets as they began to go over us with a sound like that of a vicious cat at bay. We were under fire but hardly realized it as yet.

It was a splendid morning. Our trail led along the side of what had once been well cultivated fields, the only indication of that now being the inevitable barbed wire fencing. The skies were cloudless and birds sang as we went along to battle. There were other birds too but they did not sing. Hardly had the first of Capron's cannon sent its "good morning" salute to El Caney before a speck was visible in the sky. Larger and larger it grew until we saw it was a buzzard scenting the battle and before long it was joined by hundreds of its kind, all circling about in the air only a short distance from the earth and waiting for the rich feast about to be spread for them. But we recked not of buzzards or what their presence presaged.

A short distance further along the trail, a quick order and we changed direction to the right, leaving the trail and going across the field directly toward El Caney. Barbed wire fencing was in our way but the two wire cutters attached to each company soon made a gate for us. Our battalion swung through and into the field while the second battalion kept to the trail and took the field further along. The third battalion and I of the second, as we afterwards found, were halted by Capron's battery and were not given front seats to the performance. The field soon changed to scrub and bush through which way was made as best we could without much regard to alignment. Then came a bit of forest and then we debouched out upon the Santiago road, one of the few thoroughfares in Cuba that looked like a road. A halt and then we stripped for action. Rolls and haversacks were taken off and piled by the road side. The belts and the pockets of the brown canvas coats were filled with cartridges and we were ready for trouble.

Meanwhile it was evident that there was trouble ahead of the Second. From El Caney's forts and trenches came a hail of bullets, while on our right and left there were the Krags of our regulars popping away with machine like regularity, their whip like sentences being punctuated at intervals by the 3-inch rifles of Capron's men. Over our heads went the Mausers in a steady stream and there wasn't a man of the Second marching up that road that morning who failed to bow his head, (most of us called it "ducking") in response to their salutation. The 8th and 22d of our brigade had gone on ahead of us, had deployed to the left and we could hear their Krags answering the Mausers. It was our first experience under fire and it is no wonder that nearly all of us wished ourselves, for just a few moments, somewhere else and remembered certain pressing engagements we had at Springfield that Friday morning. But this feeling was like going into a cold bath. The first plunge is the worst and within half an hour after getting into the action these same men that were "ducking" their heads to the bullets were up on the firing line and acting like veterans instead of men who up to that morning had never faced an armed foe. Our education had progressed rapidly.

And here a word as to El Caney where Gen. Vara Del Ray and 620 Spanish troops held Lawton's division at bay from 6.30 in the morning until 4.30 in the afternoon. In the general plan for the day's work of July 1st Lawton's division was to sweep over to Caney, devote an hour or so to capturing it and then swing over to the San Juan forts and aid Kent's division to take them. Trustworthy (?) Cuban advices were that there were only a couple of hundred Spanish troops in El Caney and the taking of that outpost of Santiago was to be but an incident of our march to San Juan. But Gen. Del Ray had not been consulted as to this program and the result was our time schedule went to pieces. An entire division against 620 men looks like heavy odds in favor of the division but it must be remembered that the enemy were strongly entrenched with all the advantage of position and knew the ground thoroughly, while we were in the open with little or no shelter and with only a four-gun light battery against stone forts, strong blockhouses and well made intrenchments, so that our advantage in numbers was more than made up by the superior position of the enemy.

El Caney lay almost directly in front of us, a small town backed up against a steep hill as if at bay and with forts, intrenchments and houses bristling with rifles. To our right on a small elevation was the famous stone fort over which floated the red and yellow flag of Spain. A little to the left was the village church, of stone and converted into a fortress while on either sides of both fort and church were the familiar Spanish blockhouses. And in front of all were the trenches, well built and covering all the front and sides of the town, a covered way connecting some of them with the fort and with their fronts guarded by fences and entanglements of barbed wire, a protection found of value against the Cubans, but which proved to be of less efficiency against the valor of American soldiers. This was what El Caney presented to us on that bright July morning.

Our brigade's work had been mapped out and appeared to be comparatively easy. It was to take position on the left of the American line and cut off the retreat of the enemy towards Santiago when he was driven from Caney which, as already scheduled, was to be within an hour or so after the initial shot. But the program for Ludlow's brigade was changed by force of circumstances, for hardly had the 8th and 22d of our brigade got into position before they were attacked and replied in kind and within a few moments the hottest part of the action was taking place on the left instead of being confined to the right and center, as originally planned.

And while this was happening we were down the "pike" getting ready to add our contribution to the din of battle. We were not long in getting ready and leaving one man from each company to guard the rolls left by the roadside the seven companies of the Second marched to the firing line. The first battalion, G, B, K and D companies, was by this time some distance ahead of the second, while the third was still held up by the battery. Col. Clark, Lieut. Col. Shumway and Adjutant Hawkins were standing beneath a huge tree at the intersection of the "sunken" road with the Santiago road and hardly had the companies come up before an order came from Gen. Ludlow to send four companies to strengthen the line of the 22d on our left. B and K companies of the first battalion and L and E of the second battalion, which had by this time come up, were detailed and B and K, under command of Major Southmayd started for the 22d. L and E followed but through some misunderstanding got into a "hot box" and after a time returned to the sunken road and took position there.

B and K marched down the sunken road and then across an open space, across which the bullets were flying in a steady stream. It was necessary to "duck" here and it was done without any loss of dignity. This space cleared, the companies came to a bit of bush and then into a gully facing El Caney on the left. Here was the 22d, lying down and answering the fire of the Spaniards in good style.

Hardly had B and K reached the gully and taken position when the hail of bullets began to fall among them and men began to drop. Private Frank E. Moody of K was one of the first hit and died almost instantly, the bullet having pierced his heart. On the march of the night before he had felt a presentiment of his fate and so strong was this feeling of his fate that he gave his watch to Private Fuller to take home to his parents. Before long Private John J. Malone of B got a fatal wound just below the heart and then men began to fall thick and fast. As soon as the two companies had taken their positions they were ordered to fire, but the enemy's return for the first few volleys was payment with compound interest. The smoke from the Springfield rifles showed the position of our men and lifting slowly, made just the target which the enemy needed. At this time the line was about 900 yards from the advanced Spanish trenches and it must have been just like rifle practice for the enemy. Within a moment after the first volley from the Springfields crashed out a hail of bullets was poured into the two companies from the trenches and men fell like sheep. Capt. Warriner, raising on one shoulder to give an order, sank back with a Mauser through his body. Corporal Ward Lathrop got one through his head, Corporal Hoadley got his "in the neck," the bullet going through the right side, Wagoner Boule had one through his left hand, Private Ashley of B was hit in the left forearm, Private James F. Ferrier was shot through the right shoulder and also had a bullet traverse the right side of his head, making an ugly wound, Howard Meyrick had a double one, one bullet striking his right leg, while another went through his left shoulder and the upper part of his left arm. Private C. J. Riordan got a bullet through his left hand while Private A. E. Rose got the thumb and one finger of his right hand nipped, Private W. B. Riopel was hard hit, the bullet entering his left shoulder and entering the lungs. Barkman of K got a Mauser through his left elbow and was also hit in the left leg below the knee.

As quickly as possible the wounded were picked up by their comrades and taken to the rear, a temporary dressing station being established beneath a huge tree on the Santiago road. The first aid bandages came in handily on the field and were used to advantage. Lieut. Powers took command of K and Capt. McDonald, as cool as if battles were everyday occurrences, kept a watchful eye on his men.

The heavy fire which the powder smoke had drawn upon the two companies was also being felt by the 22d and its choleric commander, Major Van Horn, came rushing over with, "For God's sake, Second Massachusetts, stop firing! You're making us a regular target for the enemy." This was not all he said, either, but it was stronger language than politeness required. The firing did stop, that is, the volley firing did, but the company commanders gave their men orders to fire at will. Soon Major Van Horn came over with another protest and the two companies moved along a little further to the right but on the same line as the 22d and leaving quite a little gap between them. As the 22d advanced so did B and K, taking advantage of what cover there was and keeping up their fire for some time. It was perhaps that protest of Major Van Horn that gave the impression that the entire Second regiment was ordered off the firing line, an impression that is a very much mistaken one. From the time the two companies took position on the right of the 22d they fired at intervals and at will until the Spaniards were driven from the last trench and El Caney was taken.

While these things were happening on our left G company was having troubles of its own on the extreme right of the line. Sending B and K to the 22d left Col. Clark with only G and D companies of the first battalion with him, the three companies of the second battalion having been placed in the sunken road, whose banks gave them some protection from the incessant fire from El Caney. G and D were sent further along up the Santiago road and G was halted directly in front of a cultivated field which was directly in front of the trenches and the town and was flanked by the stone fort. Halting here the second platoon of the company under Lieut. Edward J. Leyden deployed as skirmishers and advanced across the field, taking every possible advantage of cover, of which there was little, and halting at intervals to kneel and fire. The light brown uniforms advancing slowly across the field soon attracted the notice of the enemy, even before the first volley from the Springfields gave the Spaniards a target, and men began to drop. Still the line advanced until it was within 500 yards of the fort and then a halt was ordered and the men threw themselves flat on the ground and began firing at will. Now the bullets from both fort and trenches were hailing about them but they kept crawling along until within a range of 400 yards. Then Lieut. Leyden looked around and saw that his 14 men were isolated from the rest of the company and he at once realized that it was suicidal to go further without reinforcements. Arthur Packard, beloved of all his comrades, had fallen dead on the field with a Spanish bullet through his head and George Richmond, one of the "old timers" of the company, had fallen fatally wounded. "Goldie" Bresnan had been ordered to the rear with the blood dripping from a shattered hand and Ernest Marble, wounded in the head, lay on the field. Others had in the meantime joined the little force, men from other companies, but not enough to make a further advance successful. Among the reinforcements was Lieut. D. J. Moynihan of I company, who had left his position with the second battalion and walked across the field to join Leyden's men. He essayed his luck as a sharpshooter, borrowing a rifle from one of the men, and fired three shots before he himself sank to the ground with a bullet through his body. Before this happened, however, and when he first joined Lieut. Leyden, Lieut. Moynihan advised that the advance should continue and suggested a charge. But Lieut. Leyden pointed to the few men he had and asked what the result would be. There was no answer to this. Less than 20 men charging against a stone fort under a heavy fire from it and flanked by the trenches would have been heroic, no doubt, but it would have been deliberately throwing away men's lives and to no good result. So Lieut. Leyden refused to order a charge but sent Lieut. Moynihan back to Col. Clark for orders. These were for him to remain where he was and there the platoon stayed until the town was taken, although some of the men advanced even closer to the fort, taking advantage of some small piles of stones, which had evidently been heaped up as shelter for Spanish outposts. All the long afternoon the little squad lay under the pitiless sun, firing whenever there was a chance until they heard the cheers of the charging regulars and saw the red and yellow flag of Spain go down from the fort and the Stars and Stripes replace it. Then they sprang to their feet and cheered. But it was not all over then. The fort had been taken but from trench and blockhouse and church and every building in El Caney still came the hail of Mausers. The dead and wounded of the Second were being attended to as best could be done, but their comrades still fought on. Two guns of Capron's battery had been moved up to a position in the rear of D company and the balance of G and were knocking things about in the old town. Gen. Vara Del Ray was wounded unto death and the American troops were drawing their lines closer and closer around Caney, but still the Spaniards fought on with the courage of desperation. At the fork of the roads was Col. Clark, sending his staff officers, or rather officer, Lieut. Paul R. Hawkins, hither and thither and giving messages to his orderlies. Lieut. Hawkins, cool under fire, won a high place in the regard of the men who saw him that day and the orderlies, including Private Ross of B, showed coolness and courage. Two other Springfield men, Sergeant Scully and Corporal Ross of G were pressed into service as orderlies for a time and did their duty well. Two cool and collected men were Col. Clark and Lieut. Col. Shumway and both exposed themselves, at times against the wish of the brigade commander, along the line. Gen. Ludlow was for some time at the fork of the roads with Col. Clark, his dead horse, shot under him, almost at the outset of the action, lying near by, but once he was gone he did not return and neither he nor anyone else in authority gave the orders to withdraw the Second from the firing line, as has been stated by some. If any such orders were issued which is doubtful, they were never received by Col. Clark, and the companies of the Second stayed throughout the day where he placed them.

Meanwhile the big tree a bit down the road was the scene of some grewsome work. Soon after the opening of the action Lieut. Hawkins had been ordered by Col. Clark to bring up the surgeons and the ground under the big tree was then transformed into a temporary hospital or rather a dressing station. Here Surgeon Bowen and his assistants, Lieuts. Gates and Hitchcock, aided by Hospital Stewards Fortier, Greenberg and Howes and the members of the hospital corps, labored until the enemy's sharpshooters, discerning the group under the tree, made it an object of attention and the bullet-torn leaves began to flutter down upon the wounded. Then the hospital was moved farther down the road and the dead and dying and wounded conveyed there as tenderly as possible under the circumstances. It was here the heroic Father Edwin Fitzgerald, the beloved chaplain of the 22d, labored from morning until far into the night, caring as tenderly as a mother for the wounded of all the regiments, making their places as easy as possible for them, bringing them water from the distant brook, giving the consolations of religion to all, whether of his creed or not. More than once he visited the firing line and aided in bringing some poor fellow down to the hospital. Danger he cared not for and he went on with his work apparently oblivious to his bullet-torn coat, two holes in which bore eloquent witness to narrow escapes. On that day Father Fitzgerald earned the lifelong affection of the officers and men of the Second.

And so time wore on until between 4.30 and 5 in the afternoon, when ringing cheers announced that the last trench had been won and El Caney was ours. Then followed the reunion of the regiment. Lieut. Leyden marched his gallant platoon back and the men fell into their old places in G company. B and K came back from the left with the 22d and the regiment gathered once more on the Santiago road, soldiers now, stained with powder and battle smoke and grim with the thoughts of the day and its events. Further down the road in the improvised hospital lay the forms, cold in death, of five brave men and with them were 40 more or less seriously wounded, three of them mortally.

The Second had received its baptism of blood.

CHAPTER XIII
WE LEARN SOME MORE THINGS ABOUT THE ART OF WAR AS CONDUCTED IN THESE DAYS

IT was not exactly a joyous reunion as the companies assembled in the Santiago road that afternoon. True, we were all glad to see one another again, but the heat and burden of the day had been great and there were many faces missing from the ranks. Nearly ten hours on the battlefield under the burning Cuban sun and without much to comfort us in the way of food or drink was not conducive to good temper and to this was added the spur of the ingratitude of our so-called Cuban allies. It will be remembered that just before the regiment went into action the rolls and haversacks had been discarded and placed by the roadside and it fell out that while the owners were up on the firing line fighting for Cuba Libre, some of the Cuban patriots came along and, the guards placed over the property being absent, helped themselves to the rations in the haversacks. These were the Cubans, by the way, who were supposed to be fighting over on our left that day, but it seems they had more important business, to them, on hand to bother much about fighting. So as we gathered there in the road in the stillness which followed the battle storm and realized that we were to go supperless there were some things said about our Cuban friends which indicated a not very high feeling of esteem for them.

Once gathered together again and the roll called came the after work of the battle. Squads were sent over the field to bring in any dead or wounded that might have been overlooked and to gather up any property left there. The companies which had lost men prepared to march to the hospital to bury the dead and those fortunate ones whose haversacks had been untouched began to light their cooking fires. Hardly an hour had elapsed since Caney was taken when up came an aide with orders for Col. Clark and when he read them the assembly sounded and we heard with disgust the orders that the regiment was to move at once to San Juan to reinforce the first division. We had anticipated after our hard day's work a bite to eat and a night's rest and here we were disappointed in both. Faintly through that day at intervals we at Caney could hear the sounds of battle in our rear and we heard late in the afternoon that it was our troops attacking the San Juan forts but it was not until after we had finished our job at El Caney that we heard what the first division had done.

But orders are orders and grumbling does not count against them. The details sent to dig graves were recalled, the equipments were donned again and in a short time we were once more "piking the pike." It was a gloomy march that evening, for the men were not very much inclined to conversation. On we went, now in columns of fours on a fairly decent road for Cuba, again in column of files through the bush and finally emerged onto another road. It was now dark, but we kept on until about 10 o'clock we came to a stone bridge over the San Juan river and the order to halt was given as the head of our regiment reached the bridge. Whether it was to be a mere halt or a bivouac no one seemed to know and no one cared. Hardly had the order to halt been given before the men had dropped by the roadside and, worn out by the toilsome march of the night before and the day's work, followed by the march to the bridge, were asleep, many of them without even taking off their heavy rolls. It was not an ideal place for slumber, either. Troops were continually passing by and every now and then a mule team would pass with a clatter but the sleepers slumbered on. Until after midnight we lay there, waiting for further orders. About one o'clock up came mule wagons and a pack train and soon after the men were awakened and told to "hurry up" and get rations. In a few moments the scene was changed. Huge fires were lighted and by their light the rations were given out, the delights of slumber proving to be less strong than the desire to eat and every man awakening to the knowledge that we would soon be on the move again. So it was. Hardly had we drawn rations and began to cook them before a battery of artillery moved hurriedly by us to the rear, many of us just having time to draw our legs out of the way of the wheels. Next came the 8th and 22d of our brigade and by 2 o'clock we too were on the march. Following the road over which we had come for a short distance, we soon left it and changing direction to the right, swung into a trail across country. Along this we marched for hours amid the darkness, through woods and chaparral and fields, once cultivated. We climbed hills and forded streams, all in the darkness, we brushed the morning mist from the trees and grass as we passed, and when the dawn came found ourselves still on the march, wet and tired and sleepy and bedraggled. Daylight made no difference. On we pressed, climbing a long hill, crowned with plantation buildings and from which we could look down upon a scene of beauty, the green-clad hills and mountains, their tops still wreathed in the morning mist and with no sign that aught but peace and happiness lay in the valleys between them. No time, however, this to enjoy scenery, no matter how picturesque. On we went, now down the hill and into a thick piece of woods, where we halted for a little time, then on again until we once more struck a road and reached El Pozo, where there had been considerable trouble the day before. Without waiting for us the quadrille had already opened. During our halt in the woods we could hear the artillery and the rifles and soon after we reached the El Pozo road and once more swinging to the right started for San Juan we realized that it might be a case of El Caney over again, for we encountered a steady stream of wounded men going or being carried to the rear. Down the road screeched the Mausers, but still high over our heads and in the distance we could hear the boom of the guns of the Spanish forts as they answered our light artillery. Still onward, with no band or field music to give us the cadenced step, a minute's halt now and then until we were compelled to leave the road to make way for a battery banging recklessly along to take another position. Then across a stream and over an open field in full view of the enemy's trenches on the right, passing the battleground of the day before and, under fire by this time, we swung once more to the right and took position on a hill on nearly the extreme right of the American line.

Rolls had been again stripped off and it was expected we would go into action, but the Spaniards had been given pretty nearly all the fight they wanted that day and there was little for the Second to do but to take its position and stay there. For hours the men lay on the hill crest under the blazing sun, without a chance at cooking a meal and hard pressed for water until details were sent back to the stream with canteens. Sharpshooters made this mission dangerous but no one refused to go.

It was not until early in the evening that the firing died down and it was safe to stand erect and walk about. The rolls and haversacks had been brought up and having been better guarded from prowling Cubans this time the contents of the haversacks were intact. By the time darkness came on the hillside on which we were camped for the day, tents had by this time been put up, was illuminated by the cooking fires and once more we enjoyed something that would pass for a meal. This over, sleep was the next necessity and we were not long in seeking our downy couches.

But we did not slumber long. Just about 10 o'clock there was a disturbance of the peace by the Spaniards, who apparently wished to spoil the good time we were having. Three or four big guns boomed out and then came the, by this time familiar sound of the Mausers. It needed no bell boy to awake us. In a jiffy we were up and scrambling for rifles and cartridge belts. Then came quickly spoken orders to "fall in" from the company commanders and the voices of the hurrying non-coms as they rounded up the men. All was black darkness and men stumbled over the grass and roots or slipped on the steep hillside. It was a scene of the utmost din and confusion, orders coming fast and loud, the men, still sleep-blinded, hustling about in confusion, the night's stillness broken by the crash of the Spanish rifles and the noise of exploding shells over our heads while on our right we heard the whip-like crack of the Krags answering the Mausers. "Hell's broken loose," avowed a B man as he groped about for his cartridge belt and indeed it seemed so.

Our battalion had its "shacks" on the top of the hill just below the crest while the other companies were scattered all along the hill but further below, so that the men of the Springfield companies were not long in falling in and making their way to the crest. But even then they were not quick enough to satisfy Major Van Horn, the choleric commander of the 22d, who appeared to have as bad a case of what was known to the boys as the "rattles" as any man ever had. Brandishing his sword, he ran about the hill, cursing the Second and ordering every man to the front, although it would have seemed he had enough to do to look after his own outfit. Col. Clark and his officers and the regiment were already on the top of the hill and awaiting events, but for some time Major Van Horn pranced and reared and vented his spleen upon the few men who happened to be a bit slow about getting up until finally his senses returned and he went where he belonged.

All in all our officers and men acted with coolness, considering the circumstances. It is not pleasant or conducive to coolness of thought or action to be suddenly pulled out of bed after a day of great exertion and hustle around in black darkness to the accompaniment of rifle bullets and bombshells and especially when it is uncertain whether the enemy is in one's front, flank or rear and go stumbling up a steep hill so that it is small wonder if at the outset a few were "rattled." But in a very short time the lines were formed on the top of the hill and the Second waited.

It was fortunate that none of our officers lost their heads and ordered their men to fire for the results could not fail to have been unfortunate all around. Just below us were three of our own regiments and had the Second fired the bullets would have hit our own men. It was a wonder that in the darkness and confusion nothing of the kind was done but officers and men kept their heads well and after the first confused rush up the hill all acted with commendable coolness.

But if we did not use our rifles the enemy did theirs and before the affair was over two men of the Second had been hit, one of them, Private Robert G. Kelly of G, mortally. A Mauser struck him in the left cheek, passing through and severing the lingual artery, lodged in the muscles of the right jaw. The other man hit was Private Peter N. White of A company, whose wound was not serious.

Poor Kelly was taken to his tent, where he lay in agony all night, the surgeons and hospital stewards doing all they could to relieve him. The next morning he was taken to the division hospital near Siboney where he lingered until July 7th, when he died. There was a story, which has never been denied, that his death was caused by internal hemorrhage caused by the imperfect manner in which his wound was cared for in the hospital.