The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-12-20
ASHAM BATTLR


F7ouEht at Malate for kGheCt on SPAIN
How tho Philippines Became ours. 1
correspondence OF the ST. Louis Globe
nemocrat: That the bombardment Of
Wala.e Fort and the stosmins OF the
trenches at the city of Manila, was
ssam battle pure and simple Is the In
formation contained In an interesting
M otinslde history divulged in a letter
from a petty oflcer.on board the olym-
MA, Admiral Dewey's flagship, to a
tbeud In Duluth, MINI. In the light Of
That is told the AFFAIR takes on a COM
pIexIon Of comic opera. II might be
said to have the aspect Of what in sport
,nr parlance would be called a hippo
drome." So far as known. this Is the
orst mixing OF the true state Of afEalrs
That has reached the public. 1t In no
way detracts from the fame OF Admiral
Dewey. BY dint Of unparalleled daring
and hard fighting he had the Spaniards
Of his mercy. Manila was under his
Ci,ng. and that he chose to Join 10 a lit
tle scheme to let the Spanish CONF
mander down easy, so that the latter
could put on a better front on his re-
turn home, merely shows that his spir-
n OF generosity and accommodation Is
srual TO his gallantry. The letter is
dated at Cavlte. October g. It says:
II suppose you would like 20 hear the
yarn about the fall Of Manila. take 1t
Tor granted you have heard how Rome
,cll In days Of gore. By the time you get
Iris letter the fall of Manila win doubt
less seem an old story, but here goes,
Dewey and Merritt had sent several
ioInt notes to Jandines (Augustl had re-
flgned) demanding the surrender OF
The cite, and representing the needless
slaughter and suffering which would
ensne II 1t became necessary to bonn
hard and storm the town. Jandlnes an-
swered, saying that he was compelled to
resist until overpowered, and was re-
Guired to keep his Don-combatants In
the walled town, as he was afraid the
insurgents would massacre them II
they we're transferred. Finally, through
the offices OF the Belgian consul, a COM
promise was made. The agreement was
10 the effect that we should make
sham battle OF 1t. the fleet 70 lombard
Malate Fort, and the army to storm the
trenches.
was working on the poop the day before
the engagement, when Admiral Dewey
and one OF the generals-I think 1t was
General Grcene-were sitting there.
Anyway, IoverheaTd Dewey say to his
'nibs:
"'WelI, I'm going over tomorrow. at
els, to lombard Malate. The under
standing is that they will not fire a
shot. The Belgian consul will be,wait-
ing TO take BrumbV ashore to hoist the
nag. II thev fire on my fleet will de-
etroy the city,
This was on the 18th. That afternoon
the divisional officers had the gun cap
Gains up on the after turret, taking
bearings on the Manila Notifications.
We had found a fine telescope in CaVite
on the I'd Of May and had 1t on board
and mounted on a tripod. By its aid we
could see every trench, fort, battery,
blockhouse, and. might almost say,
every gun In Manila. We had Manila
pat then.
"Well, the next morning We hove an
Choir at o'clock. steamed to Manila and
came about 1000 Yards right abreast OF
the city. The foreign fleet had been mo-
tilted on the 18th to get out Of range.
And who do you think were the first to
get out OF the way? Nobody less than
our German friends, and they took with
them their terrible 'Kr-r-r-wupp' guns.
The foreign fleets anchored according to
the way their sympathies tended-the
English and Japs near our transports
and the French. German and Austrians
away up at the northern end OF the bag,
nearly hull down.
I'VE opened fire something after Q
o'clocl: and pt It up pretty regularly'
but not rapidly, until Il. The army sig
nailed TO US, Cease firing; we are TO
CHARGE And charge theY did. No Doubt
at all about that. They went over three
quarters OF mile OF rough country,
through three trenches almost filed
with water about four feet deep, and
did not stop until they were in the city,
where they halted to restore formation.
From the first moment the first trench
was passed the affair degeRerated from
q fight into foot race. The Spaniards
could have given big handicap to our
troops and then beaten them. We could
Gee them dropping over one side OF the
Malate Fort rs the Colorado troops
came up on the other. suppose you
know that the Thirteenth Minnesota
was the first troop to enter the town.
AT this time. about L O'clock, Adj
miral Dewey called the Belgian consul's
tug alongside and sent Brumby, the
flag lieutenant, and two signal men
ashore to receive the surrender. They
took No. ! American ensign (the lar
Gest regulation flag made) to hoist
when the surrender was made.
we waited all the afternoon until
o'clock, when the Belgian consul again
came alongside. He brought word that
Jandines would surrender as soon as a
general with six hundred troops should
be landed in order to protect the town
from the insurgents. General Merritt
went ashore with six hundred Of the Or
eson volunteers. marched up the Luz
nate and grounded arms in front Of the
governors palace. Then the ceremony
commenced. When the transfer OF SOW
ereigntV was made we hOlsted the stars
and stripes and down came the blood
and gold. The two flags passed each
other about midway Of the stan. We
saw II at once, and let loose. We imme-
dlately slgnaled Cheer Flag and fire
the national salute That night ne
anchored of the city front"
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