Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1899-07-14
SOLDIERS LETTERS.
Being Materials for the History of IA War
of Criminal Aggression,

teers:
When we got in the woods maybe we
didn't strike a hornets nest. | never
stood such hot fire, but we kept right
on, and killed fifty-two of them, while
about three hundred got away. Pretty
good, wasn't it, for about sixty men?
They sent four companies to reinforce
us, but they could not catch us, as our
blood was up, and we wanted revenge
for poor---'s death. The men were
just crazy. | got three of them. We
had one man killed and five wounded.
Soon we had orders to advance, and we
rose up from behind our trenches and
started across the creek In mud and
water up to our waists. However, we
did not mind it bit, our fighting blood
was up, and we all wanted to kill
'niggers.' This shooting human beings
is 'hot game. and beats rabbit hunt
Ing all TO pieces. We soon
charged them again, and such slaugh-
ter you never saw. We killed them like
rabbits: hundreds, yes, thousands of
them. Every one was crazy. | tell you
it was awful after it was over. But it
was war. . We will soon round
them up and kill them of. 2No more
prisoners. They take none, and they
torture our men, so we kill wounded and
all of them. The weather is in.
tensely hot, and we are all tired, dirty,
and hungry, so we have to kill niggers
whenever we have chance, to get even
for all our trouble"
Charles r. Wyland, Company G,
Washington Volunteers, March %:
"This war is something terrible. You
see sights you could hardly believe, and
a life is hardly worth a thought. | have
seen shell from our artillery strike a
bunch of Filipinos. and then they would
go scattering through the air. legs, arms,
heads, all disconnected. And such sights
actually make our boys laugh and yell,
That shot was a peach white man
seems to forget that he is human.
Hasty intrenchments were thrown up to
protect our troops from this fire. the
bodies of many slain Fllipinos being
used as a foundation for this purpose,
intrenching tools being scarce. Other
bodies were thrown into the deep cuts
across the road, and with a little top
dressing of dirt made good road again
for the lTotchkiss gun serving with the
left wing to advance to position COM
handing the bridge, where the regiment
was to force a crossing in the morning.
Many other bodies were thrown into the
trenches and covered with dirt. while
others, scattered about In the woods and
fields over which the battle-line swept,
still remain unburied."
Frank Fay. Twentieth Infantry:
"Our soldiers are performing the task
set them by the government with ad.
mirabe skill aud valor. They are
sacrificing their own lives without
hesitation. and, so far as any sign al
pears, without reluctance or regret. But
it is sombre thought that little tact
with the Filipinos might have prevented
the rain of fire and bullets, and saved
tens of thousands of the natives, and
hundreds and thousands of our own
brave men,"
Sergeant Will A. Rule, Co. II, Color
ado Volunteers:
Ss"When you can realize four hundred
or five hundred persons living within the
confines of five or six blocks, and then
an order calling out all of the women and
children, and then setting fire to houses
and shooting down any niggers attempt
ing to escape from the flames, you have
an idea of Filipino warfare"
Fielding Lewis Poipdexter, of the
Second Oregon:
"About dark, before Company DIS
return, Colonel Summers rode over to
General Wheaton's headquarters.
Shortly after reaching there reports.
which afterwards proved to be somewhat
exaggerated, came in that two COM
panies of the Twenty-second Infantry
had been literally cut to pieces, having
fallen into an ambush. After a hasty
consultation 1t was decided to proceed at
once to kill or drive into the lake every
native possible to be found in the half
moon-shaped district lying between the
mouth of the Mateo river and the far
Their end of the lake, a distance of twelve
miles"
Robert d. Maxwell, Corporal Co. A,
Twentieth Kansas:
"Sometimes we stopped TO make sure a
native was dead and not lying down to
escape Injury. Some of them would fall
as though dead and, after we had passed,
would climb a tree and shoot every
soldier that passed that way. Even the
wounded would rise up and shoot after
we passed. This led to an order to take
no prisoners, but to shoot all
A. a. Barnes, Battery &, Third
United States Artillery;
1.-The town of Titatia was surrendered
to us few days ago, and two companie:
occupy the same. Last night one of oul
boys was found shot and his stomach
cut open. Immediately orders were re-
ceived from General Wheaton to burr
the town and kill every native In sight
which was done to a finish. About
one thousand men, women, and child