Reveille sounded before the sun could light up the tropic sky. Blue-clad soldiers with only a few hours’ sleep shook off their stiffness, and orders circulated among them to strike their pup tents. As the gray light of dawn slowly crept across the eastern Cuban sky, tropical birds squawked to announce the beginning of the first day of July 1898.

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Regiments of American troops were camped along the Santiago Road for several miles back toward Siboney. Brigadier General Samuel S. Sumner’s Cavalry Division of two brigades rested below El Pozo Hill. Because of the limited sea transport available when the Americans landed at Daiquirí on June 22–barely enough to accommodate the troops, let alone horses–the dismounted cavalry would have to fight as infantry. Only the artillery, supply trains, officers and their orderlies retained their mounts.

Colonel Henry K. Carroll commanded the brigade of the 3rd, 6th and 9th (Colored) U.S. Cavalry regiments, while Colonel Leonard Wood commanded the brigade of the 1st and 10th (Colored) U.S. cavalries, along with the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, known as the ‘Rough Riders.’ A Harvard graduate and surgeon, Wood had established his military reputation in the 1886 campaign against the Apache warrior Geronimo, during which he received the Medal of Honor. Wood had assumed command of the brigade after Sumner had relieved the division’s ailing original commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler.

Along the road behind El Pozo waited Brig. Gen. Jacob Ford Kent’s 1st Division. Brigadier General Hamilton S. Hawkins commanded the 1st Brigade, which included the 6th and 16th U.S. Infantry and 71st New York Volunteer Infantry regiments. Close behind him were Brig. Gen. Charles A. Wikoff and his 2nd Brigade, comprised of the 9th, 13th and 24th (Colored) U.S. Infantry regiments. Then came Brig. Gen. E.P. Pearson’s 3rd Brigade, made up of the 2nd, 10th and 21st U.S. Infantry regiments.

The previous morning, Maj. Gen. William R. Shafter, commander of the V Corps, had ridden up to El Pozo to survey the heights around Santiago de Cuba and El Caney. His staff accompanied him–Lt. Col. Edward J. McClernand, Lt. Col. George McClellan Derby, Lt. Col. John D. Miley and Lieutenant R.H. Noble. Derby, the chief engineer officer, went up in a hydrogen balloon to observe the proposed battlefield. At noon, Brig. Gen. Henry W. Lawton, commander of the 2nd Division, and Brig. Gen. Adna R. Chaffee, commanding that division’s 3rd Brigade, joined the staff on their ride.

When Shafter completed his reconnaissance, he summoned Kent and Sumner to outline a plan of action.The ground assault on the city of Santiago was part of a joint Army-Navy operation to capture or destroy the Spanish cruiser squadron trapped in the bay. The dominating heights around the city, defended by 750 men and two modern howitzers, was the primary Army objective. Spanish General Arsenio Linares y Pombo had placed most of Santiago’s garrison of 10,429 soldiers, sailors, marines and more artillery at other points around the city, or in reserve. To the north, 3,000 Cuban insurgents under General Calixto García Iñiguez blocked the arrival of any Spanish reinforcements along the Cobre Road. Northeast of the city, 520 Spanish troops, commanded by Brig. Gen. Joaquín Vara de Rey y Rubio, occupied El Caney. Because reinforcements could move down the road from El Caney and threaten Shafter’s right flank, he proposed that Lawton capture the town. Lawton claimed that he could take it in two hours. Shafter detached Captain Allyn Capron’s howitzer battery to support Lawton.

Sumner and Kent would advance along the main road to Santiago, then cross the Aguadores River, with Sumner deploying his brigades to the right and Kent to the left. After he captured El Caney, Lawton would line up to the right of Sumner. Captain George Grimes’ howitzer battery would support the main effort.

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