was sounded, no coffee was made, no noise allowed. We were nearing the
enemy, and every effort was made to surprise him. We had been told
that El Caney was well fortified, and so we found it.

The first warning the people had of a foe being near was the roar of
our field artillery and the bursting of a shell in their midst. The
battle was on. In many cases an invading army serves notice of a
bombardment, but in this case it was incompatible with military
strategy. Non-combatants, women and children all suffered, for to have
warned them so they might have escaped would also have given warning
to the Spanish forces of our approach. The battle opened at dawn and
lasted until dark. When our troops reached the point from which they
were to make the attack, the Spanish lines of entrenched soldiers
could not be seen.

[Illustration: CORPORAL BROWN. (Who was killed at a Hotchkiss gun
while shelling the Spanish block-house to save the Rough Riders.)]

The only thing indicating their position was the block-house situated
on the highest point of a very steep hill. The undergrowth was so
dense that one could not see, on a line, more than fifty yards ahead.
The Spaniards, from their advantageous position in the block-house
and trenches on the hill top, had located the American forces in the
bushes and opened a fusillade upon them. The Americans replied with
great vigor, being ordered to fire at the block-house and to the right
and left of it, steadily advancing as they fired. All of the regiments
engaged in the battle of El Caney had not reached their positions
when the battle was precipitated by the artillery firing on the
block-house. The 25th Infantry was among that number. In marching to
its position some companies of the 2d Massachusetts Volunteers were