t El Caney, and took possession of the Spanish flag for
his regiment. An officer of the 12th Infantry came up while Butler
was in the house and ordered him to give up the flag, which he was
compelled to do, but not until he had torn a piece off the flag to
substantiate his report to his Colonel of the injustice which had
been done to him. Thus, by using the authority given him by his
shoulder-straps, this officer took for his regiment that which had
been won by the hearts' blood of some of the bravest, though black,
soldiers of Shafter's army.

The charge of El Caney has been little spoken of, but it was quite as
great a show of bravery as the famous taking of San Juan Hill.

A word more in regard to the charge. It was not the glorious run from
the edge of some nearby thicket to the top of a small hill, as many
may imagine. This particular charge was a tough, hard climb, over
sharp, rising ground, which, were a man in perfect physical strength
he would climb slowly. Part of the charge was made over soft,
plowed ground, a part through a lot of prickly pineapple plants and
barbed-wire entanglements. It was slow, hard work, under a blazing
July sun and a perfect hail-storm of bullets, which, thanks to the
poor marksmanship of the Spaniards, "went high."

It has been generally admitted, by all fair-minded writers, that the
colored soldiers saved the day both at El Caney and San Juan Hill.

Notwithstanding their heroic services, they were still to be
subjected, in many cases, to more hardships than their white brother
in arms. When the flag of truce was, in the afternoon of July 3d,
seen, each man breathed a sigh of relief, for the strain had been
very great upon us. During the next eleven days men worked like ants,
digging trenches, for they had learned a lesson of fighting in the
open field. The work went on night and day. The 25th Infantry worked
harder than any other regiment, for as soon as they would finish a
trench they were ordered to move; in this manner they were kept moving
and digging new trenches for eleven days. The trenches left were each
time occupied by a white regiment.

On July 14th it was decided to make a demonstration in front of
Santiago, to draw the fire of the enemy and locate his position. Two
companies of colored soldiers (25th Infantry) were selected for this
purpose, actually deployed as skirmishers and started in advance.
General Shafter, watching the movement from a distant hill, saw that