“It was ghastly as one moved over the battle-field to come across an
upturned face lying in a pool of blood, to see what was once a man, bent,
and twisted, and doubled. And still more horrible was it as the moonlight
fell over the field, and at unexpected places one ran against this fruit
of war and saw faces in the pallor of death made even more ghostlike by
the light, while the inevitable sea of crimson stood out in more startling
vividness by the contrast.
“We had won the battle, but our position was a somewhat precarious one.
“Our line was long and thin, and there was a danger of the Spaniards
breaking through and attacking us in the rear or left flank. To guard
against this possibility, Lawton’s division at El Caney was ordered to
move on to El Pozo, and Kent’s division was under orders to draw in its
left. The men who had fought at El Caney were hoping to be allowed to
sleep on the battle-field and obtain the rest which they so badly needed,
but after supper they were placed under arms and the march commenced.
“The Seventh U. S. Infantry led. It was a weird march. Immediately after
leaving El Caney we crossed an open field, a skirmish line was thrown out,
and the men were commanded to maintain absolute silence. We were in the
heart of the enemy’s country, and caution was necessary.
“After crossing this field we came to a deep gully through which ran a
swift stream almost knee-deep. Our way led across this stream, and there
was only one means of getting over. That was to plunge in and splash
through. Tired as we all were, after getting thoroughly wet our feet felt
like lead, and marching was perfect torture. Still there was no let-up.
“We pressed steadily forward until we came to where the road forked off.
Our directions had not been very explicit, we had no maps, and our
commander took the road which he thought was the right one. It soon led
between high banks of dense growth of chaparral on either side. The moon
had disappeared behind the clouds, and had the Spaniards wanted to
ambuscade us we were at their mercy.
“I will not say that we were nervous, exactly, but I think we would all
rather have been out of that lane. The fear that your enemy may be
crouching behind bushes, that you know nothing of his presence until he
pours a rifle fire into you, is rather trying on the nerves.
“The command was frequently halted for the officers to consult, and after
we had gone about a mile they concluded they were on the wrong road, and
went to the right about. When we came out where we had started we found
Brigadier-General Chaffee sitting silent on a big horse and watching a
seemingly never-ending line of men marching past him. We fell into
position and pushed on the road to Santiago.
“How long we marched that night I cannot tell. It seemed interminable. My
watch had run down and no one around me had the time. Finally we were
ordered to halt, and the men were told to stack arms, take off their
packs, and rest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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