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FIGHTING THE FILIPINOS.
Good Work Done by the American Volunteers in the
Third Battle of Manila.
Onr soldiers are walking over the
Filipinos in great style. Even when
fighting Mausers behind entrenchments with
plainly and Remingtons they are
no match for the Americans.
The Filipinos have the Spanish dread
of a charge against an entrenched po¬
sition. They give way in rout at the
very having moment when trained soldiers,
reserved their fire, would
sweep fusillade. the assailants with a withering
in no other way can
charging the infantry be repulsed. What
Filipin oa know about fighting
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MEIJ OF THE SIGNAL SERVICE.
Extending tbe telegraph lines during the
third battle of Manila.
they have leaimed from the Spaniards,
who waste a tremendous amount of
ammunition in volleys at long range
and run when the euemy presses
them. The chief credit for onr vic¬
tories must go to General Elwell S.
Otis, whose disposition of troops at
every point where they were likely to
come iu contact with the enemy has
shown him to possess military talents
of a high order. Besides feeling and
engaging the enemy in the environs
of Manila, he has had to police a dis¬
affected city; in other words, to deal
with an internal a3 well as an external
Vigilance bas insured success.
There never has been a time, either
fcv night or day, when General Otis
has not been master of the situation.
May 1, 1898, August 13, 1898, Feb
ruary 5, 1899—these are the dates of
the three.battles of Manila. The first
victory was unattended with any loss
to our side; the second cost about
fifty men, killed or wounded; in the
third the list of our casualties was
five times as great as in the second.
The losses suffered by Spaniards and
natives on these three occasions (and
.the Filipinos must strictly be regard
ed as subjects of Spain until Spain
has ratified the treaty of peace) will
never be quite accurately stated; they
were probably about eleven or twelve
times as severe as ours.
Firing began at a quarter before
nine o’clock on Saturday evening,
February 4. Two native soldiers re
fused to obey the order of a sentry
who challenged them, as they ad
vanned toward the outpost of the First
Nebraska Regiment, stationed be
tween Manila and Santa Mesa. The
necessity of maintaining the integrity
of our lines, especially at night, has
been impressed upon all by the eon
duct of certain Filipinos who had
slipped through a week earlier and
attempted to Nebraska assassinate Ameriq^n
soldiers. The sentry again
called upon the two natives to halt,
and, as they paid no attention to his
order, levelled his rifle and fired upon
them. The sequel shows that they
had been sent for precisely this pur
pose, to draw the sentry’s fire, as
part of a preconcerted plan to place
the responsibility for beginning the
action upon our troops,. and to make
America appear the aggressor.
Twenty thousand Filipinos in their
trenches, block-houses, and little vil
dotting the plain evidently
thought thomselves ready to drive the
hues in upon the city.
Krupp possessed field-guns; several quick-firing of them
armed with Mausers many
of the latest
and a number of Spanish sol
had joined their rapks.
About thirteen thousaud of our
;roops were holding tho positions
formerly occupied by the Spaniards,
nidway between Maui in and tbe bauds
>f Filipinos north, east aud south of
;he city. A semicircular fighting
ine, seventeen miles in length, was
formed of the following regiments, be
linuing with those stationed on Ma¬
nila Fay north of the capital: the
twentieth Kausas, First Montana,
tentn Pennsylvania Brigadier-General and Third Artil
bry, under Havri
Ion G. Otis; the First South Dakota,
First Colorado and First Nebraska,
Commanded Batteries by General and Hale, B sup¬
ported [itah by A of the
Light Artillery, under General
Ho Arthur, northeast to east of the
*
city; • the First
First Wyoming California, First Idaho,
and First Washing¬
ton, under General King, east and
southeast, near the Pasig River; the
Fourth Cavalry, Fourteenth Infantry,
Fust North Dakota Infantry and
Sixth Artillery Division, commanded
by General Anderson, near the south
shore of the city.
Like an echo of the sentry's shot a
gun was fired from Block-house No. 7,
and the signal for attacking our troop^ a
had been given. The Nebraska regi¬
ment was made the first target; pres
ently, however, the firing spread on
both sides along the confronting lines.
On the north the Filipinos were con
centraiing at Caloooan and at Gaga
langin, where they had mounted two
siege-guns; on the east, at Santa
Mesa, the attack was hot; southward,
near Paco, there was evidence of au
intention to advance against Ander¬
son’s command. A lull in the firing
from midnight until about four o’clock
in the morning was succeeded by a
new outburst all along the Filipino
line.
And so matters stood while the
darkness lasted, the American rifles
and light artillery replying to Mau¬
sers, and it was all inconclusive. But
when day broke the Charleston, the
Concord and the captured gunboat
Callao opened fire on the enemy’s
troops north of the city, the monitor
Monadnock shelling those on the
south; and a little later the captured
light-draught gunboat Layuna de Bay
went irp the Pasig, and plied her Gat¬
ling guns with terrible accuracy at
Sanfa Ana. And our land forces, ad¬
vancing over rice fields and through
dense undergrowth and bamboo thick¬
ets, in which the enemy had con¬
structed intrenchments, pressed the
natives back and captured the villages
of San Juan del Monte, Santa Ana,
San Pedro Macati and Santa Mesa.
General King’s brigade charged a
force of Filipinos, far superior in
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UTAH’S L LIGHT ARTILLERY, WHICH DID SUCH GOOD WORK AT MANILA.
[When the great lighting line of our troops was formed around Manila the Utah
battery supported the advance of the two brigades on the southern flank. The artil¬
lery was also engaged in a conflict with the savage Igorrote bowman.]
numbers, and drove them in confusion
toward the Pasig River, in which
many were-drowned. The Nebraskans
captured a howitzer and carried a
good position near the water works,
about five miles east of the city. On
the southeast the Filipinos made a
stand in the Paco church, until the
building was shelled by Captain
Dyer’s battery, Sixth Artillery, and
set on fire by California volunteers;
then, of those who had not been killed
in the church, some were shot as they
ran out and others were captured.
At noon on Sunday the firing of the
Filipinos slackened. “Our casual¬
ties,” Major-General Otis says in his
report, “probably aggregate 250.”
The Filipino loss is estimated at 4000.
Wounded Filipinos found in the
trenches were taken to the American
field hospitals and cared for, while a
great number of captives were placed
in the military prison at Manila.
During the fight there was intense
excitement in the city, where order
was maintained by Minnesota volun¬
teers, serving as police.
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COMPAEATIVE SIZES OF AMERICAN AND
FILIPINO SOLDIERS.
The bombardment made a Manilan
holiday for thousands, who flocked to
view it as a curious spectacle from the
water front; other citizens, huggipg
their security at home, hung out white
flags, or neutral flags, as an additional
precaution, until the city looked ns
though it had made ready for some
dilatory procession, but from the win¬
dows of these very houses the Ameri-
can patrols were fired npon. Women
of the foreign colonjP were sent to
the transports for safety, while, as
though to replace these, hundreds of
women refugees began to arrive from
the destroyed villages, seven or eight
of which, plainly visible from the Ma¬
nila Observatory, were burnt and bat¬
tered down, lest they should serve
again to shelter the treacherous en¬
emy.
On Monday morning, February 6,
there was light firing at long range,
late in the afternoon General Hale’s
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AMERICAN SENTRIES IN THE PUENTA EE
ESPANA, MANILA.
brigade won a position the control of
which had become indispensable; it
took possession of the water-works at
Singalon, four companies of the Ne¬
braskans and a part of the Utah bat¬
tery encountering a force of Filipinos
on tbe hill and dispersing them, though
with a loss of two Nebraskans killed
and three wounded. Sergeant Young
of the Utah battery was wounded,
captured, murdered, and mutilated.
On Tuesday, February 7, our forces
had advanced far enough towards the
north to discover that Caloocan, six
miles from the city, was held with sav¬
age determination. A reconnoitring
party, attacked by a body of Filipinos,
was in great danger, when a charge
by Kansas troops, led by Colonel Fun
ston, drove the enemy behind their
intrenchments with heavy loss. In
this encounter Lieutenant Alford was
killed and six Kansans wounded.
The men of the so-called Filipino
army are uniformed and all are armed
with Mausers and Remingtons. There
was little discipline among them ac¬
cording to our ideas.
As nearly as we could ascertain,
writes Captain W. G. Bates, U. S.
V^, nila, who it has the just custom returned of these from Ma¬
was sol¬
diers to pVepare'at their homes food
sufficient to Iasi two or three days,
and go with it to the trenches, where
they would remain till all their food
was exhausted, when they would go
home again and get a fresh supply.
There was, therefore, a constant
stream of these soldiers on the Calle
Real (the main road near our posi¬
tion), and many of them walked
through our camp. They were of all
ages, but principally young men and
boys. I found them very enthusiastic
and filled with ardent and genuine pa¬
triotism.
Their method ,of fighting seemed
somewhat peculiar to us. I saw sev¬
eral of their night engagements with
the Spaniards. It was the custom of
the Filipinos at some time during the
night to open fire on the Spanish lines
and keep it up for two or three hours.
The Spaniards from their works would
reply in the same manner, and a large
amount of ammunition would be ex¬
pended by both sides with little re¬
sult, beyond a few men wounded and
possibly one or two killed. Such
fights as these were of almost nightly
occurrence, and I have no doubt that
it was a fight of this kind that the
Filipinos began on the night of Feb¬
ruary 4th. According te their cus¬
tom they probably considered it over
when they stopped firing, and never
for one moment supposed that the
Americans would continue the battle
the next morning and advance to the
attack. When that happened they
were not only surprised, but utterly
unprepared. They had never been
in the habit of fighting or seeing
civilized troops fight outside entreneh
meats, and it was beyond their com
prehension that soldiers could be got
to advance across the open aud attack
fortified positions. The experience i§
similar to nothing in their history,
and the lesson, while it is a severe
one, v as necessary and will, have a
most salutary effect on all future deal¬
ings betweeu the Americans and the
natives. The belief that the Ameri¬
cans are afraid because they have
treated the Filipinos fairly bas been
rudely dispelled. It probably has be
oome very apparent to them that the
American troops are not to be trifled
with, and that the commanding of¬
ficers are thoroughly able to enforco
their orders.
AgainaUlo’a Forces.
Aguinaldo’s forces number about
35,000, the majority of whom are
armed with Mausers. * The arms were
largely procured from Spanish pris¬
oners, States. smugglers and the United
rifles Dewey turned over 2500
to the insurgents in Cavite after
the battle of May 1.*
The insurgent headquarters are at
Malolos, thirty miles.north of Ma¬
nila, on the railroad. When Aguin
aldo proclaimed the republic and an
nounced himself the dictator, he left
vacant the office of Secretary of State.
This is destined for Felipe Agoncillo,
now in Canada, i The Cabinet is:
Secretary of the Interior, Leandro
Ibarra; Secretary of War, Baldomero
Aguinaldo; Secretary of the Treasury,
Mariano Trias.
The commanders in the field are:
Lieutenant-General Riego de Dios,
Major-General Ricati, Brigadier-Gen
eral Pio del Pilar, a violent hater of
Americans; Brigadier-General Felipe
Sandico, Brigadier-General Pantelon
Garcia, Brigadier-General Noriel,
Brigadier-General Estrella, Brigadier-
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GENERAL PIO DEL PILAR.
Aguinaldo’s Chief General and Military
Adviser.
General Maseardo, Brigadier-General
Gregoria del Pilar,
Major-General Ricati commands in
the zone south of Manila; Garcia com¬
mands north of the city; Estrella com¬
mands in Cavite; del Pilar commands
to the east and up the Pasig to the
lake.
One of the cleverest men associated
with Aguinaldo is his secretary and
interpreter, Escamilla, He is an ac
complished linguist, speaks Spanish
fluently, English very well and Latin
and French, besides the native dia¬
lect's.
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IGORROTE BOWMEN IN AGUINALDO’S
ARMY.
While many of Aguinaldo’s soldiers
are well armed, on the other hand,
some of them were mere savages who
had never seen modern .artillery, and
had only bows and arrows to oppose
to Gatling guns; such were the half
naked Igorrotes, who were given “the
post of honor” in front of an American
battery.
To this mob, and to the people of
the islands generally Aguinaldo had
issued a proclamation earlier iu tli9
day, ordering his followers to regard
Americans as invaders, and to treat
them as enemies.
“Sii-Karka ttookuui.”
Hore is a good story from India.
Scene, a railway station on the main
line of the East Indian Railway. A
train from Delhi stops; a tester is go¬
ing round with his hammer striking
the wheels. To him au officer of
Royal Engineers who has bee^ watch¬
ing him from a carriage window:
“Why do you beat the wheels like
that?”
Answer—“Sirkarka hooknm.” (“It
is the order of the authority.”)
E. O.—“But what is the use of so
striking the wheels?”
Answer—“Khodar jani. Ham i sa
thees burre-si kurthani. Sirkarka
hookum.” (“God knows! I have
been doing this for thirty years; it is
the order of the authority.”—West¬
minister Gazette,
PRIVATES GIVE TESTIMONY
*e."
Regarding Canned Beef, Which Sus¬
tains Miles’ Statements.
There were several interesting de¬
velopments in the beef court of inquiry
at Washington Thursday. It was a
field day for the volunteer men of the
service, the waiting room being filled
all clay with members of the various
volunteer regiments which served in
Cuba and Porto Rico.
The first of these—Clarence Walters,
of the First volunteer engineers—told
a sensational story of hardship and
inhumanity suffered during his service,
describing tbe canned roast bpef in
harsher terms than has ever before
been applied to that much discussed
article. Later in the day Lieutenant
Sewell, United States army, who was
major of the volunteer battalion- in
which Walters served, contradicted his
story completely.
Walters, in his testimony, said that
the first can of beef he saw opened on
the transport going to Porto Rico had
worms in it and a few minutes after
being opened developed such a putrid
odor that it was impossible to have it
about. He ate some of it and was
made violently sick. He said be had
been on sea trips before and was never
seasick. The men of his company
complained of the meat and nearly all
of the men of his battalion were sick
throughout most of the voyage as a re¬
sult of eating this meat.
After reaching Porto Rico he was
sick for a week as a result of the voy¬
age. At least two-thirds of his com¬
pany were fully as sick as he and from
the same cause.
Captain Herbert Hicks, of company
M, Second Massachusetts, followed
with an account. #f the canned beef
used by bis command in Cuba. His
description of the meat did not make
it quite so repulsive' as that served to
Walters in Porto Rico, but he said it
way “a slimy, stringy mass, nauseat¬
ing to the taBte, without nutriment
and without form that could be recog¬
nized as meat except by the melted
fat with which it was soaked.” Wit¬
ness was shown several of the cans on
hand with tbe commission, but said
that they were not the same that he
had seen in service. Walters made
the same statement on being shown
the same cans.
A important development was the
denial by one James Fnrnan and
attributed to Dr. Maxwell Christine,
Philadelphia, that they had seen
injected with chemicals in an
packing house.
Dr. Christine explain that what
had seen was the pickling of corn
meats, the brine being injected
the meat to save several weeks’
in the pickling vats.
Lieutenant George Taylor, late of
the Sixth Massachusetts, who said he
was a groceryman before entering the
service, said his regiment served in
Porto Rico. They had very iittle
that they eonld eat on the trip down.
They sometimes hau bacon, but no
chance to cook it, and had to throw it
overboard. They had canned roast
beef, which they could not eat, and
had frequently only canned tomatoes,
hardtack and coffee. Asked if he
thought any sickness in his command
was caused by the food the men had
to eat, he repied:
“I think it was more dn9 to what
we did not have to eat. When we got
to Porto Rico there were thirty of' our
men so sick that they were never
landed.”
He had been a grocer ten years and
had seen canned roast beef before, but
it was a better article than be had
seen in the army. His trade in canned
beef, however, was very small.
LEGISLATORS RECESS.
Tennessee Assembly Gives Commit¬
teemen More Time to Work.
• In compliance with a resolution
adopted by the Tennessee legislature
that body took another recess Friday
until the 14th inst. It was represent¬
ed that there could be no judicial re¬
form unless the committee was given
time to draft the bill.
Senate amendments to the trading
strmp bill were agreed to and tbe bill
goes to the governor. It taxes agencies*
$500 and merchants using stamps $250.
GEN. TORAL ARRESTED.
Will Be Courtmartialed For Surren¬
dering Santiago to Shatter.
A special dispatch from Madrid saya:
General Toral, who commanded the
Spanish troops at Santiago de Cuba,has
been arrested and imprisoned,previous
to being tried by court-martial on the
charge of capitulating to General Shaf
ter at that place on July 14. last.
ADVANCE IN SUGAR.
Price of the Refined Article Goes Up
One-Eighth of a Cent.
A New York dispatch says: An all¬
round advance in the price of refined
sugars was made Monday by the the
American Sugar Refining Company,
Arbuckle Brothers and Howell, Son k
Co., tho last named firmed represent¬
ing the idependent refiners.
The advance is per pound, bring¬
ing barrels of sugar up to 5b «»nd
package ^ugar 5j ceuts.
The Molenhaenrr refinery, one of
the independent concerns, resumed
operations in all departments Mon¬
day.
