Hawkins’ two regiments anchored on the road awaited Ewers’ brigade. The 13th arrived in the lead, then the 24th (Colored) followed by the 9th Infantry. Pearson followed with his brigade. Kent directed Pearson to deploy his 10th and 2nd Infantry regiments to the extreme left and send the 21st down the main road to join Hawkins as his reserve. Eight rows of barbed-wire fences stretched between Kent’s infantry and the Spanish trenches.

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Both the heat and Mauser fire became more intense. The men sought cover in the folds of the ground or behind brush, and officers walked among their men to bolster flagging morale. The Americans returned the Mauser fire, which did little good against the entrenched Spaniards. Casualties mounted as the senior officers waited for Lawton’s division to arrive, but that tenacious officer was still trying to take the blockhouses at El Caney. The Spanish defenders there fought with equal resolve until their ammunition ran out and their heroic commander, Vara de Rey, was killed.

No further orders came from General Shafter, who could not even see the battle. In sections along the river that they would later call ‘Hell’s Pocket’ and the ‘Bloody Ford,’ the men waited while Mauser bullets claimed more lives. The wounded who could walk made their way back to the aid station at the crossing of the Aguadores. Only storming the heights would silence the Spanish guns and finally end the killing.

The senior American officers had seen service in the Civil War. That conflict had trained them to await orders and follow them. Their company and junior field grade officers, in contrast, had begun their careers fighting Indians. The isolation of frontier garrisons and small-unit operations had accustomed them to acting on their own initiative.

Lieutenant John H. Parker raced down the main road with his four horse-drawn Gatling guns. ‘Where in the hell are the Spaniards?’ he exclaimed. ‘I’ve been fighting all day and haven’t seen a damned one!’ A captain graciously pointed to the top of the ridge. Parker thanked him and pulled his guns off to the side of the road. At 1:15, he placed them into action.

Lieutenant Jules Garesche Ord of Hawkins’ staff had remarked to a friend that he would come out of this battle either as a colonel or a corpse. Seeing the futility of remaining exposed to galling fire, he told Hawkins, ‘General, if you will order a charge, I will lead it.’

Ord’s commander remembered the costly charges against an entrenched enemy during the Civil War. He said nothing. At about that same time, they heard the pounding of Parker’s Gatlings.

Ord again spoke up: ‘If you do not wish to order a charge, General, I should like to volunteer. May I volunteer? We can’t stay here, can we?’

‘I would not ask any man to volunteer,’ replied the general.

‘If you do not forbid it, I will start it,’ returned Ord.

Hawkins pondered the situation for a moment. He observed the impact of the Gatlings kicking up clouds of yellow dust on the Spanish entrenchments. The other two brigades were not yet on line.

Undaunted by the silence, Ord again spoke up, ‘I only ask you not to refuse permission.’

Hawkins looked at this enthusiastic young officer. ‘I will not ask for volunteers, I will not give permission and I will not refuse it,’ he said. ‘God bless you and good luck!’

A smile flashed across the lieutenant’s face. With pistol in one hand, sword in the other, he ran forward at a crouch, shouting: ‘Come on–come on, you fellows! Come on–we can’t stop here.’

A spontaneous cry went up along the line. The waiting under fire was over. The men moved forward with Ord in the lead. Hawkins positioned himself between his two regiments and encouraged his men along the way.

As soon as the 13th Infantry came into the clearing, its men began to fall under the heavy enemy fire. Major William Auman, who had assumed command of the regiment after two senior officers were wounded, ordered his men to a gentle rise 100 yards to his front that offered some shelter and waited for the 24th Infantry to line up on his left. A sergeant in the 24th then sprang to his feet, shouting: ‘Come on, boys! Let’s knock the hell out of those sons of bitches!’ The 24th advanced, followed by the 9th Infantry and then the 13th.

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