The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-04-21
MAI. GEN. ANDERSON HERE.
HE DESCRIBES THE CAMPAIGN
ABOUT MANILA.
Hero of Two Wars Whose Service in
Manila Covers the Period of Military
Operations there.

Major General Thomas M. Anderson
arrived today on the America Maru en-
route to the United States to take COM
mand of military department there.
General Anderson's orders to return
to the United States were sent in jan
uary before the fighting with the in
surgents began and at a time when it
was thought in the United States that
there would be no more fighting. The
orders however did not reach him un-
til after the fighting had begun and he
did not leave until he had accomplish
ed the part assigned him in the plan
of campaign, the opening up of the
Pasig river, dividing the insurgent for
ces and driving those south of the Pa
sig to the Businesses of the back coun-
try.
General Anderson passed through
here in command of the first expedition
to Manila. He left Manila March 26th,
so that his service there covers the en-
tire period of military operations in
the Philippines. Speaking of the fight
ing which began in February he says:
while there seems to have been a
feeling in the United States during the
months before the fighting began,
that there would be no fighting, we
who were there felt that there would
be. Our orders during this period were
to act on the defensive, to conciliate,
to be patient, and to try and. get the
Filipinos to understand that rour in
tentions were neither hostile nor ty-
rannical. This we did to the best of
our ability. 1t was hard at times. We
submitted to many annoyanceS, to at
tacks, and to conditions that tried tenn
pers. But it was difficult to make the
Filipinos understand that we did not
come SIMPLY to take the place of the
Spaniards and oppress and overtax
them as the Spaniards had. Cqmpara-
lively few of the Filipinos speak Span
ish, or read it, most of them using Ia
gallo, and it was hard to get a presen-
tation of our intentions to them, and
then to convince them of the good faith
of what we profeSsed. The result was
that the Filipinos believing we in
tended to oppress them as the Span
iards had, gave themselves up to no
tions of independence and driving the
Americans out. And so the fighting
came.
The plan of campaign was to divide
and bisect the insurgent forces, by an
advance to the east from Manila along
the Pasig river to Laguna de Bay, and
open up the river and Laguna de Bay,
which is a sort of lake, for the gun
| boats that we made, cutting off that
part of the forces south of this line
| from those north of it. Then 1t was
| proposed to again divide or bisect the
| insurgent forces to the north by ad-
Vancing along the line of the railroad
running north to Dagupan.
ITO my division was assigned the
first part of this plan. We advanced
along the river capturing the three
principal villages between Manila and
| Laguna de Bay, driving the insur-
! gents back into the country We clear
! ed the river and the lake, and one
brigade advanced along the lake to
the southeast for about fifteen miles
| ~ o1nn IA .io
region of insurgent forces by March
22nd or 23rd, when 1 turned over my
! command to General LaWton.
| THE second part of the plan was
then undertaken. Most of the men in
the division I had commanded were
| transferred to the north and the ad-
vance along the line of the railroad be-
| gan. This object of this was not so
much to capture the insurgent capital
Malolos, for we knew Aguinaldo would
simply establish himself somewhere
| else, as to clear the region of insurgent
, forces, and to open up that line of
railroad and control it. This had been
practically accomplished when 1 left.
| The insurgents were driven out of the
strip of territory between the railroad
| and Manila bay, and pushed back
from Manila in all directions. What
the next move will be 1 cannot say. 1t
will depend a good deal on what the
insurgents themselves do"
General Anderson went to the war
a colonel of a regiment of regulars
and brigadier general of volunteers
He returns brigadier general in the
regular army and a major general OF
volunteers. He is accompanied by his
wife and daughters, his son, Lieuten-
ant Anderson, who gained distinction
at Santiago, and Lieutenant Allen, his
son in law.