The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-07-07
SOLDIERS LIKE PAINTERS.
Military Methods In Vogue IN Gen.
trail America
Caere Is No Fair and Open Warfare. the
Sneaking and Catlike Style Of
lighting Being the Most
ReSorted To.


American soldiers take to shelter and
ambush when fighting. When Col
Garfias, with his regiment. started up
Picacho mountain, above Tegucigalpa,
Honduras, to drive the revolutionists
from the little table land where the
waterworks reservoir was found AS was
told in the Sun the other day, his men
sneaked from rock to rock, and the en-
envy in falling back did the same.
During the same revolution Gen. Vas
guez had the forces of Policarpo Bonilla
eooped up in place called Tatumbia.
His men outnumbered Bonilla's, and.
besides having cannon. they were bet
ter armed and better supplied with am
munition. The village Bonilla occupied
vas in valley, while Vassuez occupied
all the hills around, save one. When
Vasquez attacked this Hill, his force,
though greatly superior, insisted on
running forward from rock to rock, In
dian fashion.
But the most noticeable feature of the
Tatumbia situa ton was ia the length
Of time the two forces sat looking at
ech other and doing nothing but fire
an occasional shot. They were literally
rarling and splitting at each other for
days. Then Bonilla slipped away in the
shadows, and next day was found in the
suburbs of the capital and holding the
crest of a mountain that commanded
the town.
Tt was here that found the two COM
satants, and for three days / saw them
facing each other, snarling and growl-
ing, butdaing no more, and then Bonilla
slipped away again. When Bonilla left
Tctumbia for Tegucigalpa, he made a
regular panther spring upon his enemy,
but for lack of ammunition failed to get
good Claw bold on his victims neck.
And, panther fashion, he neither wor-
ried over the failure nor made another
immediate dash.
lie waited until he had another chance
Is good as that and then made another
leap. He came back again, this time
with his claws so well shsrpened that
Vasquez was the one to sneak, and he
eventually sneaked across the border.
There was not one good stand-up-and-
fight battle in these wars, nor have !
ever heard of body of Central Amer
icaa troops carrying asposition with
the bayonet.
With these things in mind, every Eng
disappearing man 1 met in Central
America spoke contemptrously of Cen
trail American soldiers. They were
called towards, of course, and it was as
serted that they had neither tact nor
again that one English or German reg
iment, properly equipped, could sweep
the country from San Jose de Costa Rica
TO Guatemala city. To my mind this Is
all nonsense. / heard such talk in the
presence of natives, and the natives lis
tened, AZ 1t seemed to me, in an attitude
Ike that of panther crouched in the
brush when the gauehos are after him.
They did not resist, but they were right
dangerous to attack hand and hand in
such circumstances.
No one who has seen the Seventh reg
iment, \. G. s. n. Y, on parade can look
at the ordinary Central American sol
CfcI WtSilOuI d SI1llc. His u4lfOIm con-
sists of blue drilling shirt or blouse,
blue drilling trousers and straw hat
nothing more. He commonly carries
an old-style Remington rife, and this is
held, even when on drill, much as All
Adirondack woodsman holds his Win
chester-"at all angles" And that IL
the soldier in the regular army in time
of peace. The revolutionists that saw
in Honduras had for uniforms only
white bands around their hats
Their clothing included the common
cotton shirt and trousers worn by field
haRds-they went to battle as they
went to plant corn. Their arms were
for the most part pitiful to look at.
They carried the cheap little pot-metal
ruzzle-loading shotguns, made in Eng
gand for the export trade. To put in
two drachms of powder and four buck
shot would be to load them to the last
gasp. 1t was on such weapons as these
that the revolutionists staked their
lives. And that they did this is worth
considering in forming an estimate OF
the men g seldiers.-N. Y. Sun.