The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-05
THE AIR is FREE.
But That Is All,
Says Sully, Of the
Philippines.
WORCESTER BOYS LETTER.
Has Fought His Way
From Manila to
Malolos.

Private David Sullivan, Battery K,
Third artillery, writes from Malolos.
philippine Islands, that he expects to
return to Worcester in a month The
letter is dated June 15 and follows in
part:
BY the time this reaches you 1 will
be on the water, and steering for Wor-
cester. My discharge will be handed
me July 10, after a year of service
here, during which 1 have participated
in four skirmishes, including the as
sault and capture of Manila. NV bat
terry vas engaged in continuous 1ght
from Feb. until March 81, and during
mat time we were in the heat of eight
nara battles, among which We're the
capture of Laloma, Feb. 5; Coolocan,
Feb. 10; Malabon, March Is. and Ma
lnta the day following; Polo and other
towns the next week, and the capture
OF Malolos March 81, which marked the
end of the campaign.
AFTER the capture of Coolocan we
lay IN trenches for five weeks in a
screening sun during the day. and re-
pulsed almost nightly attacks by the
insurgents. During the attack on Ma
loIos, which we now occupy, we never
once rested during six days of contin-
uous fighting. The loss was heavy with
the Third artillery The charge led
across an open field for mile At the
other end the insurgents had thrown
up splendid trenches, and the moment
we came in view they commenced to
NOV us down. They stood well within
their trenches, and made no move to
retreat until we were within so yards
of them.
Some idea of the fierceness of the
lighting may be gained from the state
ment that the Third artillery alone, in
less than one hour, lost 20 killed and
81 wounded. In the four batteries here
the total artillery loss is 81 killed and
103 wounded. The loss of the entire
army of the Philippines is reported to
be 479 dead and 1000 wounded.
I'VE are at present doing outpost
duty in Malolos, and the intention is
to remain here until the close of the
rainy season. The rain has begun to
fall nightly, and will soon begin to
come in torrents night and day. We
are living in typical Philippine nuts.
matched with rice straw and are
nightly expecting an attack from the
blacks, who surround us by thousands.
They were, for time, allowed to en-
now it appears they had hidden thou
sands of rifles before they evacuated,
and the natives are armed both within
and without the city. They are treach-
erous and have attacked our men I'M
der white flag.
Fighting has almost entirely ceased
here, but on the southern line of at
tack there occurred yesterday one of
the bloodiest battles of the campaign.
The American loss was 2S killed and
1879 wounded while the blacks lost 300
killed and double that number received
wounds. Our forces captured eight
smooth bore cannon and 200 Remington
rifles and took 200 prisoners. Let there
be no underestimate of the bravery of
the Philippine soldier AS soon as a
man is killed, there is always another
black to seize his rife and continue
fighting until he in turn falls.
'They are well equipped with Maui
ser and Remington rifles In my opin-
ion, it will cost the life of many brave
soldier of Uncle Sam before the cam
paign is ended. 1t will take two years
to destroy their army, and after that
will come in my opinion, an almost
endless guerilla warfare in the jun
giles, with every inch of which the ma
tives are acquainted and where hey
know how to fight as none others do.
There is little prospect of peace
for two years so think the soldiers on
duty here Since Feb. we have been
constantly engaged and have control of
only one-fourth of the island. Then
comes the island of Mandano, juA as
large as this and just as hostile and as
thickly populated. Add to this the
knowledge that there are 100 of the is
lands. and it strikes me the contract
of pacificaton is a big one. The ma
tives toe, are extremely cunning. They
own a lovely country, and no true
American can blame them for defend
ing it.
around Malolos, where we. are now
stationed the country ie ideal. Any
thing can be grown that grows IN
earth. When peace is once estah-
lished, it will be a magnificent oppor-
tunity for investment. The natives
receive $4 in gold month for labor,
and Cinnamon work for even less than
that. Tobacco, rice, sugar, coffee or
hemp plantations can be bought for a
song, and the man with capital Will
have a glorious field open to him when
peace is restored. The climate is good,
despite reports to the contrary. 1t is
warm, to be sure, but the air is free
from malaria and beautiful. have
been here over a year and have not
known a sick day. The flowers and the
forests are grand and many Of the
women are visions of loneliness.