Rocky Ford enterprise., 1899-05-04
BRAVE KANSAS MEN.
THEIR WONDERFUL ACHIEVE
MENT. 4
A H.sdful of Them cro.. . River uas..
Fire and Chase Thousands Of Filipinos
From Their Trsoohss.

from Manila to the Record give fur
| ther details OF the remarkable success
es OF the American troops n few days
ago In the face Of great obstacles. The
correspondent says:
The taking of the bridge over the Rio
Grande ut Calumpit was a deed Of as
tonishing daring. 1t was the most
strongly defended position held by the
insurgents. Located ON the north shore
of the Rio Grande. opposite Calumpit,
1t is the most valuable strategic point
In n'Luzon. The fact that II was guarded
by the most trustworthy and best dis
ciplined regiments of General Aguin-
aldo made the feat the more note
worthy. Army officers tonight say the
daring displayed by the American
troops to-day is almost unparalleled
in the annals of modern warfare.
1t.was red-letter day for the Twen-
itieth regiment of Kansas volunteers,
commanded by Colonel Funston. One
hundred and twenty men belonging to
that regiment crossed the. river in the
face Of deadly fire from 5000 insur-
gent Mausers. This torrent Of bullets
was augmented by the fusillade of
Maxim gun of which the insurgents
have obtained possession. -
Colonel Funston. with only nine men.
charged the trenches manned by thou
sands of insurgents. discharglng their
rifles as they ran up the embankment.
The American artillery, on the south
shore of the Rio Grande, poured shot
and shell Into the Filipino stronghold.
The rebels were stampeded.. They
went to the north toward Bacolor. !
Despite the extraordinary risks and
chances taken by the Americans, our
troops suffered very few casualties.
Only one man was killed and the
wounded do not exceed u dozen. The
Insurgents lost heavily, fully twenty
five were killed during the mad charge
Of Colonel ,Funston's .mep on the
trenches. =. '-srrs.- - = .L. '3'..,f
counted fifteen bodies In the trench
es and along the railway In. a distance
of n quarter of mile.
The bridge. where the desperate fight
ing took place is about 100 yards long.
It;extends over the Rio Grnnde and Is
the gateway, practically. tothe entire
northern portion. of the island Of Lu-
zon. All the ties and rails had been
removed from the structure, making 1t
almost impossible to cross. as the men
had to creep along the iron framework.
AT the further end of the bridge, op-
posite Calumpit, were the. most care
fully constructed and formidable
earthworks. They seemed almost i'm
pTekuaDle- Iuey were III tue loriu VI
semicirculnr trenches around the ap-
proach of the bridge. These trenches
have roofs of steel rails. These roofs
formed splendid protection against
bursting shells. and for time made
the work Of the artillery almost futile.
About 800 yards west of the railroad,
on the north shore of the Rio Grande,
n deep narrow stream empties into the
river. Beyond this stream are other
trenches commanding the south shore
Of the river.
The American forces occupied the
south shore, within 400 yards of the
insurgent earthworks.
Early in the morning the Filipinos
began steady fire from both their in
fantry and artillery. Most Of it was
directed upon the freighthouse where
the 9th artillery gun was stationed.
The Americans, however, returned
such n heavy fire that the insurgents
were obliged to keep beneath the cover
Of their earthworks.
1t was during this fire that Colonel
Funston and his 100 Knnsans per-
formed the exploit of the day.
They marched down to the river, a
distance Of 300 yards from the freight
house. in plain view OF the Insurgents.
Immediately the Filipino fire was di-
iCNttu upph lnt lNlhSiS lHtI. CUlOutl
Funston and his men were prepared to
cross the river so that they could make
n flank attack upon the rebels in the
trenches.
Privates White and Trembly of COM
pany ID of the Kansas regiment strip
ped off their uniforms. jumped into the
river and swan directly toward the
Filipino breastwOrks. Almost immedi-
ately they drew the fire from the
trenches of the insurgents, but evil
IDENTIFY they had not been noticed by
the insurgents Mt the end of the bridge.
The latter were fully occupied by the
artillery and infantry fire of the Amer
leans.
When White and Trembly reached
the shore they carried rope to the
beach, tied 1t to an upright of the
bridge, and by making a tremendous
noise frightened the Insurgents out
They had no arms, but they threw
clods of dirt into the trenches and kept
up such terrific yelling that the in
surgents thought a whole company
was upon them. All this time Colonel
Funston and his men on the south
! shore of the river kept up n steady
fire, thereby protecting White and
Trembly. Two more Kansans follow
ed in small boat with the clothes and
rifles which had been stripped Off by
Trembly and White. but the boat cap
sized. Its contents We're lost and the
two men In it We're obliged to swim
for their lives.
Colonel Funston in the meantime fol-
lowed on raft with about twenty
men. Close behind him came two more.
RATS on which were thirty men. The
appearance of this number revealed to
che main force of the Eilipinos the dar-
ing trick which had been practiced up
On them. Immediately they directed
wild fire toward the RATS. 1t was in
effective. As soon as Colonel Funston
reached the opposite shore with his
fifty men he rushed down to the small
stream which empties into the Rio
| Grande about 300 yards from the rail-