The Worcester spy., 1898-10-01

The captain generals reply of thu
same date, stated that the council o.
defense had declared that the demand
could not be granted. but the captain
ment If we would allow him the time
strictly necessary for the communica-
tion by way OF Hong Kong.
This was declined on our part fol-
the reason that 1t could, In the opinion
of the admiral and myself, lead only to
continuance Of the situation, with ne
immediate result favorable to us, anc
the necessity was apparent and very
urgent that decisive action should be
taken at once to compel the enemy te
give up the town, in order to relieve our
troops from the trenches and from the
great exposure Of unhealthy conditions
which were unavoidable in a bivouaC
during the rainy season.
"The seacoast batteries in defence OF
Manila are so situated that 1t is i'm
possible for ships to engage them ex-
cept by firing into the town. and as the
bombardment of a city, filled with
women and children, sick and wounded
and containing large amount of neu-
tral property, could only be justified as
a last resort, It was agreed between
Admiral Dewey and myself that an at
tempt should be made to carry the ex-
treme right of the Spanish line Of in
trenchments in front of the positions at
that time occupied by our troops, which
with its flank on the seashore was en-
tirely open to the fire of the navy.
1T was not my intention to press the
assault at this point, in case the enemy
should hold 1t in strong force, until
LATTER the navy had made appreciable
breaches in the works and shaken the
troops holding them, which could not
be done by the army alone, owing tc
the absence Of Siege guns. This is indi-
Gated fully In the orders and memoran-
dunn Of attack hereto appended. 1t was
| believed, however, as most desirable
and in accordance with the principles
Of civilized warfere, that the attempt
should be made to drive the enemy out
| of his intrenchments before resorting TO
the bombardment Of the city.
| by orders issued some time preyi-
ously MacArthur's and -Greene's bri-
gades were organized as the "a division
Of the 9Th army corps, Brig Gen. Thos.
! M. Anderson commanding; and in an
| ticipation of the attack Gen. Anderson
moved his headquarters from Cavite to
the brigade camps and assumed direct
command in the field
About a. m. on the 18th, our fleet
| steamed forward from Cavite and be-
fore 10 a. M, opened hot and accu-
rate fire of heavy shells and rapid fire
| proJectiles on the sea flank of the
| Spanish entertainments at the powder
magazine fort, and at the same time
the Utah batteries, in position in our
trenches near the Gale Real began
firing with great accuracy At 1925
O'CLOCK, on pre- arranged signal from
our trenches that it was believed our
troops could advance, the navy ceased
firing, and Immediately a light line of
skirmishers from the Colorado regi-
ment of Greenes brigade passed over
our trenches and deploying rapidly for
ward, and line from the same regi-
ment from the left flank of our earth
works advancing swiftly up the beach
in open order. Both these lines found
the powder magazine fort and the
trenches fanking 1t deserted, but as
they passed over the Spanish works,
they were met by sharp fire from
second line situated in the streets of
Malate, by which number Of men
were killed and wounded, among others
the soldier who pulled down the Span
ish colors still flying on the fort, and
raised our own.
"The works of the second line soon
gave way to the determined advance
of Greene's troops, and that officer
pushed his brigade rapidly through
Malate and over the bridges to occupy
Binondo and San Miguel, as conten-
plated in his instructions. In the
meantime, the brigade Of Gen. MacAr-
thur advancing simultaneously on the
Pasay road, encountered very sharp
| fire coming from the block-house
/ trenches and woods in his front, posi-
! tions which 1t was very difficult to car
ry, owing to the swampy condition Of
the ground on both sides of the roads
and the heavy underground conceal
ing the enemy. With much gallantry
and excellent judgment on the part OF
the brigade commander and the troops
engaged, these difficulties were over
come with minimum loss, and Mac
Arthur advanced and held the bridges
and the town of Malate, as was con-
! templated in his instructions.
THE city of Manila was now in our
possession, excepting the walled town,
but shortly after the entry Of our
troops into Malate. a white flag was
displayed on the walls. whereupon
| Lieut.. Col. G.. A. Whittier, u. s. ", Of
my staff, and Lieut. Brurnby, u. s. N,
representing Admiral Dewey, were sent
ashore to communicate with the cap
tain general. I soon personally fol-
lowed these officers into the town, 60
\ ing at once to the palace of the gov
ernor general, and there, after a con-
versation with the Spanish authorities,
a preliminary agreement Of the terms
/
captain general and myself. This
agreement was subsequently incorpo-
rated into the formal terms Of capitu-
| lation, as arranged by the officers rep
resenting the two forces.
| Immediately after the surrender,
| the Spanish colors on the sea front
/ were hauled down and the American
flag displayed and saluted by the guns
of the navy. The I'd Oregon regiment.
! rErh hift11 1-,d lad 61r r..
vite, was disembarked and entered the
walled town as a provost guard, and
the colonel was directed to receive the
| Spanish arms and deposit them in
places of security The town was filed
with the troops OF the enemy driven
! in from The entrenchments, regiments
! formed and standing in line in the
streets, but the work of disarming pro-
ceeded quietly, and nothing unpleasant
| occurred.
| I'm leaving the subject of the opera
tions of the 18th, l desire here to re-
cord my appreciation of the admirable
| manner in which the orders for at
/ tack and the plan for occupation Of the
/ city were carried out by the troops ex-
actly as contemplated. I submit that
| for troops to enter under fire. a town
/ covering a wide area, to rapidly deploy
and guard all principal points in the
| extensive suburbs, to keep out the in
surgent forces pressing for admission.
| TO quietly disarm an army of Span
iards more than equal in number to
/ the American troops, anG finally, by
all this, to prevent all rapine, piilage
and disorder and gain entire and com
plete possession of q city of 30O, 900
people, filed with natives hostile to the
| European interests and stirred UP by
/ the knowledge that their own people
We're fighting in the outside trenches.
was an act which only he law-abid-
| ing, temperate, resolute American SOL
dier, well and skillfully handled by his
/ regimental end brigade commander