Battle of El Caney

Battle of El Caney
Part of the Spanish–American War

The Capture of El Caney, Howard Chandler Christy
DateJuly 1, 1898
Location
El Caney, Cuba
Result American victory[1]
Belligerents
 United States
Cuban rebels		 Spain
Commanders and leaders
Henry Lawton Joaquín Vara de Rey †
Salvador Díaz Ordóñez WIA
Strength
18,000[2][3]
4 field guns		 500[2][4]
2 field guns
Casualties and losses
1,300 dead and wounded[3]: 137  38 killed
138 wounded
160 captured[2]

The Battle of El Caney was fought on July 1, 1898, during the Spanish-American War. 600 Spanish soldiers held for twelve hours, until they ran out of ammunition, against Henry W. Lawton's 5th US Division, made up of 6,899 men. This action temporarily delayed the American advance on the San Juan Hills, as had been requested of General William Rufus Shafter.[3]: 131  Nevertheless, American forces advanced on San Juan Hill the same day. Though encountering spirited resistance similar to El Caney, the Americans were ultimately victorious, culminating in the capitulation of the Spanish garrison.[5]

  1. ^ Cuban battlefields of the Spanish-American War–El Caney, retrieved January 20, 2021
  2. ^ a b c Micheal Clodfelter, Warfare and Armed Conflict: A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500–2000, page 286.
  3. ^ a b c Nofi, A.A., 1996, The Spanish–American War, 2020, Pennsylvania: Combined Books, ISBN 0938289578
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ossad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Konstam, Angus. San Juan Hill 1898: America's Emergence as a World Power: 1998, p. 77