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Updated: May 3, 2025
A few Cubans assisted in the attack at El Caney, and fought valiantly, but their numbers were too small to materially change the strength, as indicated above.
Did the colored troopers exhibit in forgetting all these shortcomings to themselves and race of their own government when they made those daring charges on San Juan and El Caney!! They were possessed with large hearts and sublime courage. How they fought under such circumstances, none but a divine tongue can answer.
The country between the two points was a jungle, the roads hardly better than trails, where troops frequently had to go in single file. The fight at El Caney was severe, the enemy being well-entrenched, well-armed and protected by wire entanglements and block houses, and General Lawton suffered a loss of more than 400 killed and wounded before driving the Spaniards out of their position.
The Spanish commander at El Caney had been killed about noon, his men had suffered heavily, and the new commanding officer discovered that his retreat by the El Caney road was threatened. The only other line of retreat was by way of the San Miguel and Cuabitas roads. The Spanish forces at El Caney were also running low in their ammunition, and it was therefore decided to withdraw.
The first and last real land battle before Santiago occurred on July 1-2, with 13,500 troops on the American side against an available Spanish force somewhat less in number, but holding strongly fortified and entrenched positions around the town. The advance and charges uphill necessary to capture El Caney and the steep heights of San Juan called for desperate courage.
Almost at that hour the troops were breaking camp and moving forward along the one narrow jungle-road choked with wagon, pack-mule, and soldier through a haze of dust, and, turning to the right at the first crossing beyond corps head-quarters under Chaffee for Caney.
Beyond the plaza, however, on Enramadas Street, I began to meet the stream of destitute refugees returning to the city from Caney, and a more dirty, hungry, sick, and dejected-looking horde of people I had never seen.
Besides, Big Tom himself weighed in the scale more than Mount Mitchell, and not to see him was to miss one of the most characteristic productions of the country, the typical backwoodsman, hunter, guide. So we rode down Bolling Creek, through a pretty, broken country, crossed the Caney River, and followed it up a few miles to Wilson's plantation.
They ask if non-combatants can occupy the town of Caney and railroad points, and ask until ten o’clock of fifth instant before city is fired on. They claim that there are between fifteen thousand and twenty thousand people, many of them old, who will leave. They ask if I can supply them with food, which I cannot do for want of transportation to Caney, which is fifteen miles from my landing.
"No man can read the story in to-day's Journal of the 'Rough Riders' charge on the blockhouse at El Caney of Theodore Roosevelt's mad daring in the face of what seemed certain death without having his pulses beat faster and some reflected light of the fire of battle gleam from his eyes."
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