Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1898-10-18
THIRTEENTH i:
At MANILA
THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF COLONEL
Reeve .!'' .sas:.,. -af


respondence it re,sched the war, depart
sofa Will be intop ,sted In knowing what q
Minnesota officer aaid Of Minnesota men
who were under fire. 1t was tho FIRST bat
taken part since the Civil War. After
that great conflict our people have become
accustomed to pursuits Of peace, and
while militia regiments have been main.
tanned. few who belonged to them ever
looked forward to actual service, and 1t
was probably not In the most elaborate
dream Of any that the first blood shed In
war by Minnesota men would be upon
soil in the far Eastern hemisphere, and
In country which Is so different from
our own
Colonel Reeves report In full Is as
follows:
Quartet Malate, Manila, P. l., Aug. IL
1888. Sir: In accordance with orders re-
ceived from General Arthur Macarthur
division, Eighth Army Corps, moved
talions OF four companies each from Camp
Dewey at $50 a. m. Aug. 10. and
marched through the town of Pascal
a. M. arrived at the general line of our
earthworks, where was directed to leave
the Second and third battalions consist
ing Of Companies Y, H, u, E, and /, F, B,
A, and proceeded with the First battalion
consisting of Companies X. l., NJ, and q,
to position on the extreme left of the
First brigade where we occupied
an abandoned line Of lnsurgent earth
works directly IN front aud to the
left Of blo;khouse No. IA. At about 1920
talon, and At 1850 advanced with the
First and Second battalions past our earth
works, throwing out q strong line Of Skin
mishers from Companies K and l.. Near
blockhouse r. was directed to detach one
company (M) toward the blockhouss, in
which vicinity, and scouting to tho front,
they remained during the entire action
here threw out two lines Of skirmishers
In my front under command Of Captain
Masterman, Company K, and First Scr
geant Held of Company L. both OF which
were withdrawn after a time, joining the
main column before arriving at Cingalon
With the remaining seven companies we
proceeded in column Of tours along
the main road, assisting tho Aston bat.
GcFy w AAOSC oAOAA 3 uAS oNOA VIC ,CHA VA
works at the burning magazine. lmme-
diately after passing this point / was
ordered under heavy fire to throw out u
company to protect the left flank, and
Company d was detached for this pur-
pose :
We reached the church at Cingalon
with six companies OF the First and Sec.
ond battalions, and being in advance of
I f1SaS1 70
out line Of skirmishers to the right and
front, and to establish point In the road
Immediately in our front, along which
we had been advancing A detachment
of Company K were thrown out to the
right; detachments Of Company G and H
to the left and the point established in
Company L, with eight men and SER
geant, 100 yards from the Spanish earth
works. These men remained In position
in the road and under such cover as they
could obtain until warned that the bat
tory were about to fire from q point 80
yards In their rear, when they were with
drawn to the side Of the road, and, the fire
increasing greatly, Lieutenant LAHORE
was ordered back by Captain Spear of
Company E for reinforcements Company
G, Captain Seebach, was sent forward,
and strengthened the line already formed
With the failure to discharge the guns,
after assisting the artillery to get tho
pieces out OF the road, the line fell back
about 100 yards from the front to the cross
road by tho church. Captain Bjornstad
and q portion Of Company H, occupying a
position to the left and directly across tho
road in advance Of the cross road at tho
church, maintained their position until
the command cease firing was given.
The Third battalion, owing to some
confusion Of orders, and Company NJ, de-
tached, did not arrive ut the front during
tho action, although Companies l and F.
were exposed to a plunging fire from tho
Spanish line, losing one man killed and
three wounded.
Owing to the peculiar nature Of tho
ground, covered as 1t was with dense
growth Of tropical vegetation, it was inn
possible for me to observe the individual
conduct of the men under my command.
Exposed to q whitening fire from an un-
seen enemy, all did their duty with cool
ness, intelligence and courage, being In.
spired by the example Of the general com.
manding, whose utter disregard Of per-
sonal danger prevented what otherwise
might have proved q serious disaster.
In this connection desire to commend
the conspicuous daring of Captain Bjorn.
stad (severely wounded), the bravery Of
Captaing Seebach (severely wounded)
Spear and Metz; Of Lieutenants Lackore,
Trowbridge, Bunker, Falk and Garcelon;
Of sergeant Major Laye, and the intelli.
pent dispositions made under heavy FIRE
BY Captains Masterman and Morgan.
I enclose herewith memorandum set
ting forth the exceptional actions on the
part of individuals which deserve recogni.
ton and special reward.
Very respectfully,
G. MCC. REEVE,
Col. 18th, MINI. Inf, U. s. v.
To A. A. A. Gen., First Brigade, Second
Division, Eighth Army Corps
Memorandum Of exceptional actions on
the part Of individual members Of the
Thirteenth Minnesota volunteer infantry:
CAPTAIN A. w. BJoRNsTAD, Company
II, Took personal command Of the firing
line in the road at the church, lying down
on the line with his men, without cover,
and again forming another line in the