The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1899-01-20
An EVE WITNESS


4
Antonio battery our hrst line ~
tranehes were dug about q thousand
yards from the spanish eafthNufks.
tho men labofing oil niRhi. aud when
morning came We were fairly shelf
cred from spanish rife nre. although
,he krupp guns ~ the battery. played
havoc with our lines whenever they
opened on Ne. which was nearly every
night. Spaniards evidently prcforring
20 fight In the dark
We held these trenches for three
weeks under almost constant fire from
the spanish lines. The tops of the tre.s
IN our vicinity were cut clean OF by
their high firing. II was as much as
a mans life was worth to show him
self for an instant above the trenches.
the distance being only Goo yards be-
tween the lines
Often our men amused themselves by
putting hat on a stick and hosting IL
a little above the trenches IL would
always bring a shower of bullets from
the Spaniards. One of the photos |
send you Is of house that was few
Yards in advance of our lines. You can
see how IL was ridded: IL is almost inn
possible to put ones hand on IL any
place without covering bullet holes.
We were losing a few men every day
and not gaining an inch. IL was i'm
possible TO advance in that direction
on account of the natural formation OF
the country, there being about 500
Yards OF open ground In our immed-
tate front, a river too deep to ford ex-
cept In one place. which was under the
guns of San Antonio battery. We al
ways had these big Krupps 20 reckon
with. You must remember IL was the
rainy season, the roads were rivers OF
mud, and the trenches were seldom
without water. sometimes up to our
knees, causing great suffering among
the men. About this time Admiral
Dewey allowed us to take two old g.
inch muzzle loading guns from the
arsenal al Cavite. and after almost a
weeks labor we got them in position.
where we were able TO give the Span-
iards a little of their own medicine. al
though we were unable to drive them
from the strong position they held.
Then the United States troops came
over from Cayite and established Camp
Dewey. First California being first in
the field, In a few DAYS they threw up
"A line of trenches fifty Yards in advance
of ours. starting at the beach, and
continuing inland about tbree-oI,arters
of a milo The Utah IJpbt Ratterv
moved nm as soon as the trenches were
comnIeted Our troops were with
Drawn about n mile no the right
As the story goes Admiral Dewey
,romised the Snaniards 90 long as thev
Ala NO, hegi, bos,ilities no would NOT
attack without giving Them warning
On Tho NIGH NJ inIy aIst tbe snan,ard
onened Are on an utmost OF the Penn
sylvania Regiment who resnonded
The reserves came nm and for a Short
Zine a general engagement seemed in.
eyitable but for a while the Span-
iards withdrew .About n o'clock ths
Spaniards again opened fire on the
American lines from the San Antonio
battery and extreme right. They evil
IDENTIFY were trying to flank the
trenches. but we're met with such a
CALLING fire that they were compelled
to return after two hours hard fight
ing. The Americans were lying in the
trenches. which contained two feet of
mud and water. 1t was as dark as
Mitch ana tho rain canning down in
torrents. There was nothing TO he seen