oint blank
range of a thousand yards, had converted the fort into a shapeless
ruin," when the infantry charged it.

It is probable that in this case, as in most cases of similar nature,
the truth divides equally between the apparently opposing views. Of
General Ludlow, who is the authority for this statement, that the
stone fort at El Caney was taken by infantry alone, General Lawton
says: "General Ludlow's professional accomplishments are well known
and his assignment to command a brigade in my division I consider a
high compliment to myself." "The fighting was all done with small
arms" were the words written me by an infantryman soon after the
battle. The question, whether Capron fired upon the stone fort after
taking his new position, or fired on two blockhouses, entirely
distinct from the fort, remains undetermined. The author of this work
inclines to the conclusion that the fire of Capron after moving to his
new position was directed for a brief period, at least, upon the stone
fort.

Inasmuch as we are now to trace the career of the Twenty-fifth
Infantry through an unfortunate dispute, on both sides of which are
officers of high rank and unimpeachable honor, it is important to
note, first, to what extent the several statements, both unofficial
and official, can be harmonized and made to corroborate one another.
Major Baker says: "Those of Bates' brigade and the Twenty-fifth
Infantry, after having carried the stone fort," which he explains was
some 75 feet higher than the town, then fired _down_ into the village.
The soldier who acted as left-guide of Company G, Twenty-fifth
Infantry, says, after getting up on the hill, "we fired _down_ into
the city until near dusk." The experience of the soldier agrees
exactly with the report of the officer. The fact that the Twenty-fifth
went up the hill cannot be questioned, and that up to their last halt,
they went under fire, no one will deny. Bonsal, in speaking of
Chaffee's brigade, which was "more immediately charged with the
reduction of Caney" (Ludlow's report), says: "And it was nearly five
o'clock when his most advanced regiment, the gallant Twelfth Infantry,
deployed into the valley and charged up the steep hillside, which was
lined with Spanish trenches, rising in irregular tiers and crowned
with a great stone fort." The stone fort at this time, however, was,
as he says, "a shapeless ruin." Where was the Twenty-fifth Infantry at
this time? Mr. Bonsal continues: "A