From the soldier’s story, as well as from the official report of the brigade commander, it is conclusive that the real objective of the Second Brigade was the stone fort, and that the Twenty-fifth Infantry, which occupied the right of the line, had no other objective whatever.* [Transcriber’s Note:  No footnote text present for this footnote anchor.] It also appears that Bates’ brigade, although somewhere on the right, was not so near but that the commanding officer of the Twenty-fifth could see the need of troops at his right; and to meet this need the brigade commander “sent forward 40 Cubans, who advanced on the stone fort with our lines.”  The fire from this fort continued severe during the whole of the advance, and until the last halt made by the Twenty-fifth.  At the first fence met by the Twenty-fifth Lieutenant McCorkle was killed; and, to use the words of a soldier, “as the regiment swept toward the Spanish stronghold” to reach the slope of a little mound for cover, many more fell.  Behind this little mound, after resting about five minutes, they began their last fire upon the enemy.  This must have been as late as 3 o’clock, and perhaps considerably later, and the fire from the stone fort was vigorous up until their last halt, as their casualties prove.  The battery had begun to fire on the fort again at 12.30 and continued from the same position until 2.10, the range being as has been already stated, 2,400 yards.  Hence the artillery firing at long range had ceased, and it is generally conceded that this long range firing had been ineffective.  Captain Capron says he moved his battery at 2.10 p.m. to 1,000 yards from Caney and opened fire on two blockhouses.  He does not say at what hour he opened fire on these two blockhouses, or how long he continued to fire, or what was the effect of his fire upon the two block houses.  Lieutenant-Colonel Bisbee, who was acting as support of Capron’s battery, says of himself that he “moved with the battery at 3.30 p.m. by the Dubroix (Ducureaux) road.”  General Lawton says the battery was moved to a new position about 2.30, “about 1,000 yards from certain blockhouses in the town, where a few shots, all taking effect, were fired.”  From these reports it would appear that after moving to the second station the battery fired upon two blockhouses in the town, and not upon the stone fort.  General Ludlow, speaking of the battle, says:  “In the present case, the artillery fire was too distant to reduce the blockhouses or destroy the entrenchments, so that the attack was practically by infantry alone.”  On the other hand, General Chaffee says:  “The resistance at this point,” meaning the stone fort at the time of assault, “had been greatly affected by the fire of Capron’s battery.”  Colonel Comba, of the Twelfth Infantry, says:  “The artillery made the breach through which our men entered the stone work.”  Bonsal says that Captain Capron, “under the concentrated fire of his four guns at a point blank range of a thousand yards, had converted the fort into a shapeless ruin,” when the infantry charged it.