Imagine my astonishment and delight when he said
modestly--"I am General Shafter." I said to him, "I am glad to meet
one so brave and who has helped to add new lustre to our Flag." He
replied that "he considered it a privilege to have had a share in the
liberation of Cuba, and that our beloved nation was on the march to
still greater glory." Finding out where I came from, and that I lived
near Ballston Spa, he said, "You must know my son-in-law, William H.
McKittrick." I replied that I did, that I knew him when he was a boy,
and that he and his family were my parishioners, when I was Rector of
Christ Church, Ballston Spa, twenty-eight years ago. Said he, "William
distinguished himself in the Cuban War. He is now a Captain and
Assistant Adjutant-General, and it was he who was the first to hoist
the Flag over Santiago." The General having courteously invited me to
call on him, soon after bade me good-bye. It was a chance meeting, but
full of interest, especially under the circumstances. Here was the
hero who had captured the cannon and who had won laurels for himself
and for his country.
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