The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-09-13
LETTERS FROM MANILA
CAPTAIN GRANT TELLS OF THE
NIGHT ATTACK.
Cheers For the Utah Boys When
Their Guns Opened On the Enemy
H. W. Wyne's Version.

Yesterday morning General Greene
ordered me to take two of my guns up
to the entertainments and place them.
Captain Young also took up two of his.
We worked hard all day, building great
mounds of earth in front. and leaving
embrasures to fire through Captain
Young and were ordered TO leave nine
men with each gun. under command of
one officer. So, you see. l had IS men.
with Lieutenant Grow. and Captain
Young had IS men, with Lieutenant
Gibbs in command.
We had arranged a good shelter from
rain for our men by 5uilding good BAN
boo frames and covering Shem. All the
time We were working we kept the posi-
ton of our guns concealed f1om them
by brush, and l don't think they knew
the artillery was there.
Well. last night we were all tired.
When taps were sounded we were ali
/, in our beds and asleep. when heavy fir
ing commenced along the infantry lines.
We then heard the guns open from the
Spanish forts. and officers were stand
| ing in groups, listening, when the in
fantry firing became general and very
heavy all along the line. Then came
the angry bang of one of our guns;
there was no mistakng their voices.
and they kept it up for two and a half
hours. in the one, two, three, four order
When our guns opened we all knew it
meant q heavy night attack, and in a
moment the First Colorado and the
First California were on the road in
the mud and rain, going up to support
the infantry lines. 1t was dark and the
rain was coming down In torrents.
When we first turned out we filled our
timber chests with ammunition, and
were ready to go. In about 20 minutes
along came Major Thebaker, the inspec-
tor general, and he wanted to know if
we were ready to go. / said, Yes,
had been for some time" Well, we
stood around for about two and a half
hours and listened TO the battle. Then
we could hear the cheering from the
left of the line, that we heard after
wards came when the company of the
I h I'd artillery, armed as infantry, came
in behind our guns with modern rifles
and full cartridge belts, and this at
time when the Tenth Pennsylvania
belts were about empty
The Spaniards thought that we had
just thrown up light entertainments,
and, not being strong, they would just
come in in the night and capture the
whole outfit But they We're too late
by "a hours, and when our men cut
their fuses down at zero and turned
loose on them they thought they had
run up against a hard formation, but
a regular army officer who was watch
ing the Spanish attack said that when
one of our shrapnel would burst he
could see their ranks cleared away and
they they would close in and come on
again.
Just think of it, For two hours our
men stood at their guns, tore off their
shirts to swab out the guns when they
were hot; when some timber and earth
was knocked into the embrasures they
went outside and cleared it away in a
perfect hail of bullets. Hudson, one of
my men, had his back burned by a
shell bursting. and a shell went into the
1 had built to protect my
and only two men were
hit by bullets. Winkler had ball go
through the fieshy part of his arm, but
continued to serve ammunition until
the battle was over. and will be all
right in a few days.
One man in Battery A had shot hit
him in the side Of the stomach. make
a dark stripe across his body, and he
found the bullet in his shirt, and money
could not buy it from him.
AT 2:30 a. m. our men left camp with
two limbers laden with ammunition,
and. tell you. there was not one COM
plant from them as they lunged on
through the darkness and rain and !
mud.
Lieutenant Critchlow, thinking that |
some one might be wounded. had asked |
permission to go up with some men. !
had quite a fight on my hands to !
keep them all from going. so ! went /
up with the relief and found our guns /
n the mud and water and our men /
chilled and wet. Hot coffee was soon /
sent up from camp. 1 went to work |
md built platforms of oak planks that /
had stolen from the quartermaster's |
department. and then, after waiting
until daylight. l returned to camp,
meeting Captain Young on the way.
spent the day in the trenches and there
vas very little firing going on all day.
At o'clock the Spanish trained more
guns on our batteries and fired away
or about an hour. Lieutenant Critch-
Ow, who was in command, fired %
shots at them, and then, as it was
lark and he could not see where TO fire,
lie quit. The Spanish quit also, and all
vas quiet for the night.
Aug. 3.-Lieutenant Critchlow return
ID to camp this morning and made the
eport given above, and again our men
anne back to camp safe and sound.
We expect the Monterey in here any
lay, and then the Spanish will have to
10 some fighting or surrender, don't
,now which it will be.
When our guns opened on the Span
sh advance the other evening, the
Zenith Pennsylvania gave three cheers
md a tiger for the battery. 1t sound ID
lice amid the cracks of the rifles and
he shrieks of the shells.
From the battle the other night there
Ea 1z1