"
On the other hand, General Chaffee says: "The resistance at this
point," meaning the stone fort at the time of assault, "had been
greatly affected by the fire of Capron's battery." Colonel Comba, of
the Twelfth Infantry, says: "The artillery made the breach through
which our men entered the stone work." Bonsal says that Captain
Capron, "under the concentrated fire of his four guns at a point 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.
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