The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1898-08-11
LETTER FROM A MEMBER OF THE
FIRST EXPEDITION.
He Describes the Trip, the Capture of
the Ladrones, the Landing and Con-
ditions Near Manila.

Paul f. de La \ergne mas just re-
ceived most interesting letter from
Ralph II. Moulton of Company l., Sec
ond Oregon volunteers, who went
through here on the first Manila eX-
pedition. 1t is dated at Cavite, July
4, and is written on blanks used by
Spanish officers in making their re-
ports. Signatures of various officers
appear on these blanks, giving an adj
ditional interest to the letter The
part of the communication descrip
tive of the trip, the landing and OF
Cavite is here given
We arrived here in Manila bay on
July 80, and the following day COM
menced to land. My company was
next to the last and it was dark be-
fore we touched land. We were Ian
ded on the wharf at Cavite arsenal and
Immediately took up our quarters in
the buildings vacated by the Spanish
troops. The quarters are very Old,
built of brick and adobe. with tile roof
and flooring. There is plenty of light
through windows, there is no glass,
only grated bars. and where the win
dows are cased it is with small pieces
of very thin shell, cut about 2b IN
ches square. We sleep on cots made
after the fashion of a screen door and
laced with rattan. They are very
comfortable to sleep on, much nicer
than anything | have struck since |
have been in service They are plac-
ed on stands which raise the cot about
% foot from the floor But to make
this story more connected | had bet
ter start in at the first. We had II
very nice trip from Honolulu out 20
the Ladrone Islands. We lay there
for a couple of days but we were not
allowed on shore. The Charleston
shelled a fort there on the morn
ing we arrived and the following day
a party of marines and two companies
of our regiment made ready to go
ashore They were towed part way in
when boat put out from shore with
| a flag of surrender. The garrison sur
rendered and was taken on board the
| Sydney, so men and Il officers, los ri
fies, half Mauser and half Remington,
with nearly ten thousand rounds of
cartridges. The Remington guns
We're used by Il company of natives.
They We're disarmed and turned loose,
much to their qualification. The fol-
lowing morning we sailed for Manila,
arriving in about seven days. The La
|
| good as they are now. If the place
was in touch with the world they
might be very wealthy. They have
mail communication every three
months. We arrived here on the 35th
day out from San Francisco, and may
be you think we were not glad to be
on shore again. So far we have had
no scrimmage. We are about ten or
|
! further by the line of march we will
take up. Cavite lays on a point of
land which is quite wide here, but
further toward the mainland it mar
rows to width of 100 feet. We can
hold the position against any move
the Spanish can make against us and
will probably move on the town when
the second expedition arrives. The
city of Manila is completely surroun-
ded by the insurgents. The night we
came ashore the Spanards moved out
from Manila 5000 strong, but were
driven back inside by the rebels with
a loss of roo killed and wounded.
There are about 5000 prisoners here
in the barracks guarded by the in
surgents. They are a sorry looking
set and are begging for cigarettes
would make you laugh for a week.
they are very small people and they
handle gun in great shape. The
gun is nearly as tall as the man.
When Dewey seized the arsenal he
allowed the natives to take all the
property they could carry away, but
the Spanish dumped a lot of shells in
the bay before they left. Their flight
was very hurried however. The ma
tives said the breakfast was left on
the tables uneaten. One of our men
conversed with a Spanish lieutenant;
the lieutenant said the Americans
: fought like demons; it was all over
in three-quarters of an hour. The
Spanish ships are sunk all around the
bay, and some of them are burned
There are four or five of them thai
remind me of the wreck of the Maine
That score was fully wiped out here
only in a different manner. The city
presents very pretty view from tn,
bay, all the buildings look white anC
nice; on closer inspection the appear
, ance may not be as satisfactory.
wish you could see this place. 1t GOV
ers vast amount of land and some o
the buildings must be very old. Their
are plenty of bronze cannon and NOR
tars, but all muzzle loading and con
I sequently of little service. The bronz
e guns would be fine in a park and
hope the American government vii
take a lot of them home. The MOI
tars are finely moulded and inscribed
0 Some have Ferdinand vi" on then
? The prison and firing section are i
{ plain view. The wall where the exc
? cutions took place is full of bullets
: many are being dug out by the boy
!. as relics, little too gruesome for IN,
C My memory will be sufficient 70
,, many of such things. Our trip on
was tame, very poor food, and every
body on board looked back on the sta
in Honolulu with fond recollection,
J. and wished we had a chance to repea
e the visit