332 HENRY HILITGOODELL 



The brigade was in motion shortly before daybreak, pain- 

 fully making its way over the narrow, slippery paths and 

 climbing the grassy ridge overlooking the village. The 

 Twelfth and the Seventh regiments first deployed and took 

 position. Then came the order for the Seventeenth to 

 place itself on the right of the Seventh. Cautiously ad- 

 vancing in single file, it struck the sunken road running 

 parallel to the northeast slopes of El Caney. It was com- 

 manded by block-houses at either end, and in front was an 

 open country swept by the Spanish marksmen. The hedge 

 along the road was strongly interlaced with barbed wire. 

 The Colonel directed this to be cut, and through the open- 

 ing passed out into the field beyond, attended only by 

 Dickinson. In an instant this drew upon them the fire from 

 a hundred unseen guns. What followed is best described 

 in the words of the Colonel, taken from a private letter 

 written a short time before his death : — 



"Captain Dickinson's death wound was received at the 

 same moment I was shot through the left breast. He then 

 received a bullet through his right arm at the same in- 

 stant I was shot through the knee. This shot knocked me 

 down, and seeing me fall, he ran toward the men and told 

 them to 'Go and bring in the Colonel.' In other words, he 

 did not leave my side till he had been wounded twice." 



It is only right to say that all other accounts report 

 Captain Dickinson as being shot first in the arm; and seeing 

 the Colonel fall, he went back for help, and on his return 

 received his fatal wound. The weight of evidence would 

 seem to indicate that this is the correct version. Placed in 

 a litter and receiving such aid as was possible on the field, 

 he remained all day exposed to the bullets of the sharp- 



