There was quite a strong resistance made at Coamo, a town on the main military road between Juana Diaz and the Spanish mountain stronghold at Aibonito. General Wilson effected the capture of this place with the most consummate skill. His plan was simple enough. It was nothing more nor less than an ordinary flank movement, such as Grant and Sherman used so successfully during the Civil War.
General Wilson advanced against the town on the main road with sufficient infantry, cavalry and artillery to drive out the Spanish garrison. But when the latter attempted to retreat they found their way blacked by the Sixteenth Pennsylvania, under Colonel Hulings, which General Wilson had sent round to the rear of the town the night before.
The attack in front was timed so as to allow this force to get into position.
The Battle of Coamo, if indeed, it can be so called, for it was nothing more than a lively skirmish, has been thus described:
"Just as darkness fell, the regiment left the military road and struck at a right angle for the hills to the northward. Porto Rican guides led the way over paths so rough and narrow that the men could move only in single file. It was toilsome progress. Absolute silence was enjoined; no smoking was permitted lest the fitful flash of a match should betray the movement to the watchful Spaniards on the hills. For hours the men toiled on. The officers were compelled to walk and lead their horses. Creeks and rivulets were waded; lofty hills were climbed or skirted; yawning ravines were crossed. The men dripped with perspiration, although the night air was chilly.
"At dawn both General Wilson and General Ernest were in the saddle, and long before the shadows lifted from the valleys the main body of the army was in motion to drive the enemy out of the town and into Hulling's net. Nearer than the village and off to the right was the blockhouse of Llamo de Coamo. The blockhouse was the first place attacked. There was a heavy, jarring rumble over the macadam of the military road. Anderson's battery came along at a sharp trot. At a turn in the road where the blockhouse came into view it halted. Two minutes later the fight opened. For a few minutes the Spanish returned the fire with Mausers, but as shell after shell crashed through the blockhouse, they abandoned it and fell back toward Coamo. Soon flames leaped upward from the roof, and an hour later the fort was but a smoldering ruin.
"Meanwhile the infantry was pressing rapidly forward. General Wilson was wondering what had become of Hulings. Not a warlike sound came from the village, a mile and a half away. Had the garrison escaped? Suddenly from beyond the town came the rattle of musketry. Soon the sound swelled into a steady roar, which the mountains echoed again and again."
The same writer tells a story in regard to one whom he terms a real hero of the war, and he calls attention to the callous manner in which Spanish soldiers were sacrificed to protect political adventurers at home. To quote his own words:
"His name was Don Rafael Martinez. There was no military justification for attempting to hold Coamo under the circumstances. Yet Major Martinez stayed. He was still in the prime of youth and in fine health. In Spain his family is aristocratic and influential, and could have protected him from the consequences of a quixotic court-martial. Martinez knew that resistance was utterly hopeless. But Colonel San Martian had been practically disgraced by Governor-General Macias for evacuating Ponce, and all commanders of garrisons in the path of the American army were ordered to fight. So Major Martinez kissed his young wife and children good-by one day last week and sent them into San Juan for safety. His scouts brought word that an American column of double the garrison's strength was slowly creeping around to his rear. Then Martinez knew that he was trapped, and decided to go out and meet the enemy. He rode in advance of his slender column until he sighted Hulings's men, who were immediately apprised of the enemy's presence by a volley. Soon bullets were flying like hail. Martinez, mounted upon a gray horse, rode up and down in front of his troops, uttering encouraging words. The soldier's death which Martinez sought was not long coming. For a while he reeled in his saddle, maintaining his seat with evident difficulty. Then his horse went to his knees, and Martinez slowly slid from the saddle, a lifeless form. When Major Martinez was found, five wounds, three of which were mortal, were discovered. His horse was shot in four places."
The result of the attack on Coamo was the capture of about one hundred and eighty men, or most of the garrison except the cavalry who took to the mountains by paths better known to them than to the Americans. Of General Wilson's force, none was killed and only a few were wounded.