Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1899-11-18
FACE A HEAVY REBEL
FIRE IN DISSEMINATING
Landing Of American Troops at
San Fabian Was a Spec
tacuar Affair.
RUSH WAIST DEEP THROUGH SURF
EiIipinos Were Strongly Entrench'
ell, but Fell Back Before the
Amcricans--Forty Insur-
gents Captured.

Manila, Nov. 1n--5:50 p. m.-The
anding of the American troops ut
san Fabian Tuesday was the most
spectacular affair of its kind since
General Skaters Decentralization at
Oaiquiri. The cooperation OF the
troops and the navy was complete.
The gunboats maintained q terrific
bombardment for an hour, while the
troops rushed waist deep through the
surf under heavy but badly aimed
rifle fire from the insurgent trenches
ana charged right and left, pouring
volley after volley at the fleeing reb-
els. Forty Filipinos were captured,
mostly non-commissioned officers.
Several insurgent dead and five
wounded were found in building
whath had suffered considerably from
the bombardment. The town was well
fortified, the sand dunes revetted with
bamboo twenty feet thick, which al
forded a fine cover.
When the troops arrived in the gulf
they found the gunboats Princeton,
Bennington and others waiting. Att
er consultation with General Wheaton,,
Commander Knox. of the Princeton,
and Commander Sheridan, of the Ben
nington, anchored on the shallow two
miles off shore. The gunboats formed
q line inside, the Helena, Callao and
Manila close inshore. With the first
gun of the bombardment the small
boats were filled rapidly, without con-
fusion, by Major Cronitz's battalion OF
tie Twenty-third infantry and Cap
tain Bucks battalion of the Thir-
teenth infantry.
While the lines of gunboats moved
shoreward the gunboats poured the
full force of their batteries into the
trenches, soon forcing the insurgents
to flee through the burrows dug back
of the trenches. About 200 men held
| their places until the keels of the
boats grated on the shore. when the
mauser bullets commenced to sing
overhead.
! The battalions formed in good or
! der. Captain Buck, with Pierce's and
! Patton's companies, pursued the in
surgents on the left into the bamboo
| thickets. On the right was fraii
foot bridge across the river, leading to-
the towns. General Wheaton, person
ally commanding, ordered a charge
across the bridge, and Captain How
| land, of his staff, led Coleman's and
| Elliot's companies of the Thirteenth,
and Shields company of the Twenty
| third, who behaved splendidly under
| their first fire, into the town, which
was found to be nearly deserted ex-
cept by. the aged and some Spaniards
who had hidden in the buffalo wal
lows, and who ccme shouting delight
,dly toward the Americans.
The two companies Of the Twenty
| third had a skirmish along the Dagu-
pan road with the retreating Filipinos.
Major Shields, of the staff, with his
command captured several insurgents.
| The troops camped in the rain during
the night and in the morning General
| Wheaton established his headquarters
! in a church, quartered his men in the
houses and sent the captured Filipinos
beyond the outposts, with orders not
to return. The inhabitants describe
all the roads as practically impossible,
and say they believe Aguinaldo has Sc
creted yacht in the river Longapo,
near Subig, for use in his fight when
he finds his capture is inevitable.
Wednesday was devoted to recon
noissance.
Major Logan went northward tC
Santo Tomas and burned the Filipinos'
barracks. Captain Bucks Thirteenth
went to San Jacinto and disposed OF
small bands. Marsh's Twenty-third
went toward Magdalen, on the Dagu,
pan road, and had several sharp fights
with small parties. They killed eight
men, brought in twenty prisoners an
had five men wounded.
The Santo Tomas road seems to b.
the only possible means of retreat
for a large body north from Tarlac
and General Wheaton commands it
The insurgents of this section are go
ing to reinforce Tarlac. The battle
ship Oregon has arrived here from
Hong Kong.
CAPTAIN Chenoweth and Lieutenants
Davis, Van Horne and Bradford, will
two companies of the Seventeenth reg
iment, reconnoitering northeast o.
Mabalacat, attacked and routed a bat
talon of insurgents, killing twenty
nine of them. Three Americans were
wounded.
General Wheaton reports by th'
Bennington that when the landing
was made at San Fabian 300 insur
gent recruits were encountered, wht
were on their way to Dagupan, wher'
they expected the expedition to land
They retreated to the mountains
Twenty-eight Spanish prisoners wer'
rescued.
The report of the landing at Linga
yen was brought by the commando
of the Manila, who saw the fight. Ill
got the geography mixed
1t has been raining hard throughou
the week, handicapping Generals Law
ton and Macarthur. The transporta
ton is the chief difficulty. In the ad
vance General Lawton depended OF
the river to get his supplies. The Sal
Isidro river is fed by mountain
streams and is alternately too shallow
for navigation or too swift. Two an
three launches were necessary to pul
the casco moving the supplies from
San Isidro, and the mule trains NOV
ing supplies from San Isidro over tn
muddy roads made only two or thre
miles day. The troops were on shor
rations much of the time. The onl
provisions the country yields are rice
a few chickens and buffalo. The off
GERS carry supply of cash to pay tn
natives literally for all they take. Th
HIGH lands are cool and the health O