Hutchinson gazette., 1899-03-30
A FIERCE RESISTANCE.
EilipInoa Strongly Oppose the Advanes
OF tho American TFoopA

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along the railroad from Caloocan 10
the Tuliahah river, was ppwerlcss to
prevent the withdrawal, owlng,t TO the
natural obstacles and the strong oppo-
sitlon, ......,.,...
Iit burning of Malabone ~,
by II o'clock In the morning the
only building Of Importance not do
stroyed In the center Of the town was
a large stone church, but even at noon
frcsh fires were started among the ma
tive huts In the outskirts OF Malabon,
although the General exodus took
place much earlier, Many OF the
rebels sought refuge In the suburbs OF
Navotas and Casag, or were driven In
land by the shells OF tho Helena, Cal
lao, Ningdapan and Loguna de Bay
In the meantime General Wheaton's
brlgrde held the railroad TO the river,
but was unable either TO repair the
bridge which had been destroyed by
the enemy, or to advance, owing TO
opposition and the hills on the other
side.
Tho calculations Of both General
Hale and General Harrison Gray otis,
whose brigades constituted General
MaoArthurs division, were much In
terfcred with by tho character OF the
country in front Of them, and the enc
my was able to take advantage Of this,
80 that the operations against Nova
liches and Polo were delayed, though
the right wing OF the dsvlsion swung
out, sweeping the enemy in north
westerly direction,
General Wheaton's headquarters
we're half mile south Of the river, on
the railroad The opposite bank was
protected by n blockhouse aud In
tgenchments. Occasionally the artil
lery and infanty fred across the
stream, Finally the engineers moved
n construction train up to the bridge,
the iron frame work Of which re-
mained, and began to replace the floor
While this was going on the Second
Oregon regiment crossed the river on
the left and the Twenty-second on the
right, with four companies Of the
Twenty-third infantry supporting the
lntter regiment, A rising, clear
ground stretched away a distance oi
half mile TO Manilta, situated on 1t.
crest.
FIlIplnos Flee
In front OF tho village were strong
Filipino intrenchments, but no Fill
pinos were to be seen, Apparently
they had fed. The Twenty-second
regiment approached dagonally, with
General Wheaton and staff close be.
hind and scouts closely observing the
ground.
When the Americans were within
about 800 yards of the intrenchments,
the Filipinos suddenly vollcyed
heavily. The Twenty-second, which
was holding the center, suffered con.
siderably, but with the oregonians on
the left and the Kansans on tho right
in the woods, the fighting was kept up
for half an hour the Twenty-second
infantry advancing up the slope
through the thick grass under the
hottest fire,
General Wheaton and his staff were
all the time under q rain of bullets.
Colonel Egbert, who was in the thick
est of the fighting, was shot in the
abdomen, He was placed on
stretcher, and an attempt was made
to carry him to the cars, but he died
on the way. ..E b.
1t was a most affecting scene Gen
eral Wheaton, barring his head, said;
"You have done nobly," Colonel
Egbert gasped in reply: ~ must die;
/ am too old"
No Filipinos were found in the
trenches ..s.
Though apparently their force was
much smaller than that Of the Ameri-
cans they had an immense advantage
in position and in opportunity to re-
treat.
General MacArthur's advance guard,
the Third artillery and the Twentieth
Kansas regiment, joined General
Wheaton's brigade shortly after Ma.
linta was taken, approaching along
the Novaliches road westerly.
The soldiers were much exhausted,
and there were several prostrations
from the heat, which was intense.
The dead and wounded were collected
in the shade of the trees and carried
on stretchcrs by Chinese across the
river to the train.
The Third artillery, acting as in.
fantry, with two guns OF the Utah
artillery, and the Kansans had
sharp fight east of Malinta. The
Americans had but slight losses. Five
FilipinoS were found dead and several
were taken prisoners.
General MacArthur's division is ad-
vancing upon Polo along the railroad.
AS the bridge is destroyed and the
river cannot be forded, the advance Is
temporarily checked.
The surgeons from the fleet and the
British cruiser Powerful volunteered