El Caney

On the morning of July 1, shortly before main assault on the San Juan Heights was set to begin, Brig. Gen. Henry Lawton, with a force of infantry, attacked the Spanish installation near El Caney. This was expected to be a very brief engagement, but it dragged on all day, involved fighting from fixed positions, and caused serious casualties among both the Americans and Spanish. Lawton’s force was supported by Cuban insurgents.

Today, El Caney is a substantial suburban district northeast of Santiago. It is connected to the metropolitan center by a major paved road that passes through some relatively rural areas. Historic photographs suggest that at the time of the 1898 fighting, El Caney was a small community composed mainly of lightly built homes.  Before the American attack on July 1, in addition to fortifying the Church, Spanish troops constructed a network of five wooden blockhouses and trenches around the entire western side of El Caney.

There are two major landmarks within the town of El Caney that unquestionably survive from 1898. One of these is the Church at the north edge of the town plaza. This Church was used as a blockhouse by Spanish troops and is shown in many historic photos. It retains much of its historic character, but appears to have been replastered since the exterior walls retain no sign of either loop holes or battle damage. The other structure within El Caney that clearly survives from the time of the battle is the plaza itself. This open area in the center of the developed region appears to be in exactly the same location as it was in 1898, but comparisons with historic photographs indicate that it has been leveled and paved.

El Viso

El Viso is the name of a small stone fort that lies about 600m (656 yards) southeast of El Caney. Practically, the term also refers to the conical hill the fort sits upon. El Viso formed the key to the defenses of El Caney. Unlike the wood and earthen blockhouses that formed the bulk of the fortifications around Santiago and El Caney, El Viso was a substantial stone structure that had been raised by the Spanish army well before the War.  In addition to thick stone masonry walls with rifle loop holes, it had a wooden roof topped with a flag pole. As added defense, the stone fort had been augmented by rifle pits and trenches dug on the northern, eastern, and southern sides of El Viso hill. El Viso and El Caney being on the American right flank was enough to convince Gen. William Shafter that the San Juan attack could not safely proceed until defenses in the El Caney area had been neutralized.

El Viso was the major focus of the fighting around El Caney. An artillery battery under Captain Allyn Capron set up nearly one mile due south of the hill. They took a while to find the range of the fort, but when they did late in the day on July 1, the wooden roof was blown away and the walls were breeched. Even after that, the Spanish continued a heavy defense from trenches and rifle pits that were located on lower sections of the hill. In a grinding assault, these were taken by the afternoon of July 1.

Today, El Viso is a well maintained park area. The Stone Fort has been stabilized in a rustic condition. The park has also been decorated with several 18th century bronze cannons in spite of the fact that none were used fighting of July 1, 1898. The most prominent of these cannons sits atop a large concrete pier that rises above the level of the stone walls to give the fort a historically picturesque feel. There are two sets of monuments present at El Viso. First is a stone cenotaph with a plaque to Lt. N. F Andual of the Bacano Regiment. It was raised in 1900. Second, mounted on the large modern concrete base of the cannon at the center of the El Viso fort are three separate bronze plaques recording the participation of American and Cuban troops in the July 1 fighting.  A plaque erected in 1929, and rendered in both Spanish and English, states that Cuban troops of the 1st Battalion of the Bacanao Regiment were "the first in the assault" on the Fort.