Gen. Lawton's Division then proceeded down the El Caney road to Santa
Cruz, passing by way of the masonry bridge. This was about dusk. The
division marched in columns of fours, with the artillery in front in
column of sections, and without even an advance guard thrown out. The
artillery had passed the masonry bridge and had nearly reached the
Santa Cruz farm-house, when the order was given to halt. The division
halted in the road and began to cook supper. Fires were kindled, and
coffee put on to boil. Suddenly, a few shots came scattering over the
ridge and dropped in among the troops. A messenger was sent back to
Gen. Shafter to inform him that further advance in this direction was
not practicable, as the enemy had been encountered in force. The
position this division was destined, in the beginning, to occupy was
within less than 300 yards of where it halted. There was no large body
of Spanish troops in that portion of the field. The whole valley
between that ridge and Santiago had been swept by machine gun fire
during the afternoon. It is possible that there might hare been a few
Spanish pickets on the ridge, but this is not believed to be probable.
There was some firing about this time from the Spanish trenches near
Fort Canosa, at the 13th Infantry upon the hill where the dynamite gun
was subsequently placed.
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