ly affected by the fire of Capron's battery.
A few moments after the seizure of this point--the key to the
situation--my left was joined by General Bates with a portion of his
command." It is to be noted in connection with all of the above
statements that Major McCaskey, who commanded the Twentieth Infantry
(Bates brigade), says: "The First Battalion was moved to the right and
put into action on the left of the Twenty-fifth Infantry's firing
line, and one company, A, took part in the latter part of the charge
by which the stone house was taken." The two points to be noted here
are (1) that this battalion was on the left of the Twenty-fifth's
firing line, and (2) that one company took part in the charge upon the
stone house. When Chaffee's brigade charged the stone house from the
right some of Bates' troops, at least this Company A, from the
battalion near the firing line of the Twenty-fifth Infantry, took part
in the latter part of the charge. The two brigades, Bates' and
Chaffee's, joined immediately after the capture of the stone fort and
opened fire upon the town.

We have now traced the actions and the fortunes of the three following
brigades: Ludlow's Chaffee's and Bates'. But what has become of Miles'
brigade? Unfortunately, the Second Brigade has not been so well
reported as were the others engaged in the action at El Caney. We have
seen that it was ordered to take position on the right of Ludlow's
brigade at 11.30, when Capron's battery ceased its firing for the
fifty minutes. "We were detained in reaching our position by troops in
our front blocking the road," says the brigade commander. "We came
into action directly in front of the stone blockhouse at 12.30, and
from that hour until about 4.30, when the command 'cease firing' was
given, the blockhouse having been captured, my command was
continuously under fire." The reader will note in this report that the
brigade went into action at 12.30, several hours before the charge was
ordered by General Chaffee, and at least an hour and a half before,
according to the report of the commander of the Third Brigade, "this
fort was practically in the possession of the Twelfth Infantry." Major
Baker, who commanded the Fourth Infantry, says: "About 12 m. we
received orders directing us to take our place in the line of battle,
and arriving at the proper point the regiment was placed in line in
the following order: The First Battalion in the fighting line; the
Second Battali