The Bulloch herald. (Statesboro, Ga.) 1899-1901, March 09, 1899, Image 3

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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 v < m L m m A £ ■^y~- w m ■ 7/ • kV at h m G // m i" ► \ - n. t 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 77 \ ' rri 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. m If m gr la « S ■ 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 i 7 T AM left Mi *VTvT 9jm uni m <V* 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- \ IS % A t a f. k M\ i I,. ' j '/ io 4 : h b -fm «.• 11 i (©fi Q % io t ) % I 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. -i ' b'j ■ --/Fl? \m m m K * *-77 m fi to h (rK V"V w/J h 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.