antry fire. Later in the day this position was recovered and
entrenchments thrown up, which, it was claimed, made the position
impregnable. The guns were so placed they could do tremendous destruction.

"There was a lull that afternoon, but in the evening the Spaniards opened
up an attack along our entire line, with the intention, evidently, of
taking us by surprise and rushing us out of our entrenchments. But their
purpose was a failure."

General Lawton, in his report after the assault upon and the capture of El
Caney by his division during the first day's fighting, says:

"It may not be out of place to call attention to this peculiar phase of
the battle.

"It was fought against an enemy fortified and entrenched within a compact
town of stone and concrete houses, some with walls several feet thick, and
supported by a number of covered solid stone forts, and the enemy
continued to resist until nearly every man was killed or wounded, with a
seemingly desperate resolution."

It was Sergeant McKinnery, of Company B, Ninth Infantry, who shot and
disabled General Linares, the commander of the Spanish forces in Santiago.
The Spanish general was hit about an hour after San Juan Hill was taken,
during the first day's fighting. The American saw a Spaniard, evidently a
general officer, followed by his staff, riding frantically about the
Spanish position, rallying his men.

Sergeant McKinnery asked Lieutenant Wiser's permission to try a shot at
the officer, and greatly regretted to find the request refused. Major Bole
was consulted. He acquiesced, with the injunction that no one else should
fire. Sergeant McKinnery slipped a shell into his rifle, adjusted the
sights for one thousand yards, and fired. The shell fell short. Then he
put in another, raised the sights for another one thousand yards, took
careful aim, and let her go. The officer on the white horse threw up his
arms and fell forward.

"That is for Corporal Joyce," said McKinnery as he saw that his ball had
reached the mark. The officer on the white horse was General Linares
himself. It was afterward learned that he was shot in the left shoulder.
He immediately relinquished the command to General Toral.

On the evening of July 3d, General Shafter sent the following cablegram to
the War Department:

"HEADQUARTERS FIFTH ARMY CORPS,
"NEAR SANTI