The times., 1899-05-12
THE FALL OF MALOLOS
DESCRIBED IN DETAIL
Operations of the Command of
Brig. Gen. II. G. Otis.
A Consecutive Story of One Period
in the Luzon Campaign.
Fcnts of Daring Performed by the
American Troops-CoioneI Fnns-
TOMS noId Maneuvers.

A very interesting report has just been
submitted to the Adiutant General by Brig
Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, covering the op-
erations of his command. the First Brigade
Second Division Eighth Army Corps, in the
Philippines. The report, in part, is as fol-
lows:
In compliance with regulations and in
structions l have the honor TO submit the
following preliminary and incomplete re-
port of the operations of this brigade from
the first to the thirty-first day Of March,
1899, inclusive. The report is necessarily
only a partial one for the reason that i
have not yet received the official reports
of the several regimental commanders; nor
are complete official casualty lists, by reg
imenis, at hand, though ! am able to give
in this report the brigade's losses in the
aggregate.
During the time following the battle of
Caloocan, fought February 10, 1899, to
March "a. 1899, inclusive the brigade occu-
pied its intrenched position on line run
ming in a general northwest and southeast
direction from near the shore Of Manila
Bay, just north of Caloocan, to and beyond
the Church de la Lama, the whole brigade
line being about two and half miles long.
Within the forty days and over during
which the brigade held this line. facing an
active enemy, the troops were under fire.
quqnt and annoying fire night and day,
frotn strong rebel intrenchments stretching
along almost the entire brigade front. An
escaped Spanish prisoner reported to me
that a shell fired by the navy against the
Filipino intrenchments near Malabon, ex-
plcded, killing and wounding between forty
and fifty rebel soldiers. This period of
wearing duty, desu.tory firing, AMI frequent
casualties was brought to an end by the
movement against Malolos.
The orders for the advance of the di-
vision northwardly were first given by the
division commander tconditionally) to the
brigade and regimental commanders at a
conference held in the church at Caloocan
on the night of March %. The enemy's
main force was understood to be then on
line running eastwardly from Polo TO
Noyaliches and the Rio Nunca, with
strong outpost line extending from just
north OF Caloocan to San Francisco del
Monte and Maraquina.
THE preliminary movements necessary
TO bring about several changes of position
were quietly made on the night of March
"a. and apparently without discovery by the
enemy. The positions evacuated by the
Twentieth Kansas and First Montana reg
iments were at once occupied by the Third
der General Wheaton
The leading feature of the plan to be
carried out as explained by the division
commander was TO pierce the enemy's CEN
tire; to do which the first advance was to
be made with a view to occupying the Cal
ocean Balanstasig Tor Balintauac) road
about one mile in front of Blockhouse No
2, and running in a general east and west
direction.
The second advance was to be the next
parallel road northward of the Balantasig
road: the Third Artillery touching the
Tuiiahan River west of Cabatuhan, and
extending eastwardly along the road 10
the village of Banlac; the other regiments
of the brigade on a line TO the right. On
the third advance the First Brigade was to
pass the River Tuliahan by the left flank
and advance on the village of Bibana, sup
posed to be on the enemy's main line; the
Third Artillery resting on that village, and
the Kansas and Montana regiments pro-
longing the line so as to conform to the
movements of the Second Brigade gener-
ally: the whole movement thus bringing
the division on a line eastwardly of Nova
liches. The fourth movement: Change of
front to the left on the Third Artillery,
bringing the right of the First Brigade op-
posite Polo.
AT 6 o'clock on the morning OF March
structions, from its positions in front and
to the right and left of the Church de la
Lama. The Second Brigade, having farther
TO march in order 10 get into position, had
moved half an hour earlier. The advance.
once begun, was almost continuous the
enemy being steadily driven before us
from the start, and the prescribed plan for
the preliminary movements was largely
carried out during the first day. with some
l,tra
tain unforeseen features of the situation
developed during the advance.
Fcnts of Bravery
1.-The two parallel roads referred TO were
taken and passed during the first two
hours. and before O'Clock in the morning
the Third Artillery and the Twentieth
Kansas Regiment had gained the north
bank of the Tuliahan River. the men wad-
ing and swimming the stream at points
where the water was neck deep and even
deeper. The river was intrepidiy crossed
by the advance of these regiments under a
severe fire from the intrenched enemy, fir
ing at short range from their works on the
north bank.
THE advance Of the first named regi-
ment, crossing the river in the face of a
strongly occupied blockhouse on the north
bank, suffered considerable losses in its
determined onset, but inflicted severe pun
ishment on the enemy. driving his picked
troops from the blockhouse after killing
many of them on the bank of the river.
Here Lieutenant Abernathy, Third Artil-
lery, distinguished himself by gallant con-
duct in action with his command.
The rush Of our soldiers was so sudden
and impetuous that the enemy was un-
able TO escape. and nearly an entire de-
iachment, according to information sub
sequenuy derived from a native-the de-
tachment numbered thirty men-died
where they fought, having been attacked
in both front and flank by the impetuous
volunteers and shot down at short range
Out of the whole number of Filipinos en-
gagged at that particular point. twenty-si1
were killed outright, two mortally wound
ed. and one slightly wounded and only
one appears to have gotten away. During
The days movements through the difficult
country traversed, interspersed as it IL
with dense jungles. thorny thickets, bam-
bco belts, difficult streams and treacherous
norasses, the regiments and battalions oi
the brigade unayoidably became somewhat
separated, more particularly the First
Montana, which had been so delayed that
but one battalion succeeded in crossing
the Iuliahan early in the day with the
other regiments In the afternoon another
battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Wal.
lace crossed, and the remaining battalion
under Colonel Kessler, which had sweryec
so much to the right that by personal di.
rection Of the division commander il wa,
temporarily attached 10 and operated witt
the Second Brigade during the latter por.
ton Of the day. succeeding In passing tn.
the brigade aggregated sixty-eight killet
and wounded