The record-union., 1899-03-27
.ASACRAMENTAN UNDER FIRE
GRAPHIC STORY OF THE BAT
TIE LAST MONTH.
How the Fiipinos Were Whipped
BY the Boys That Wear
the Blue.

DR.. w. w. Macfarlane of this city is
In receipt of the following weh-written
letter from his son Wallace, who IS
Hospital Steward with one of the army
corps now operating near Manila, de-
scribing the battle of February 4th and
9th. The writer is well known in Sac
ramento, where he pursued his calnne
as druggist. He writes:
Manila. P. l., Sunday, Feb. 10, 80.
NY Dear Father: / got your letter
several weeks since, and would have
written you in time to catch the last
mail, but about that time l had good
deal to attend to besides writing let
ters. OF course you have read every
thing in the papers about the big fight
that has been going on for the past
fifteen days. l guess there has been
more actual "scrapping" during that
time than in all the Spanish-American
war together
was in one battle and one slsirmish
and formed very intimate acqualn-
tance with the sound of Mauser and
Remington bullets. The fighting began
on Saturday night, February 4th, al
about o'clock Well, that night and
Sunday and Sunday night we camped
on the parade ground In full war paint
but not until Monday did the Twenty
third get a chance to do business with
the rebels.
On Monday at noon four companies
our Surgeon and three Hospital Corps
men and myself left the garrison and
marched about ten miles northeast
from town, making a half-circle, with
the water works as our objective point
The insurgents had had possession OF
that place for several days and cut off
the city's water supply.
Part Of the territory we covered had
been gone over by the Nebraska outfit
that forenoon, and the thoroughness
with which they had done their work
was in evidence at every hand, being
plainly demonstrated by smoldering
piles that had once been native shacks
and dead rebels. When Sherman said
War is hell" he surely knew what he
was talking about, for q more desolate
looking country than that which fmme-
diately surrounds Manila would be
hard to find-ruin, devastation and
haven't fairly started yet.
Well, to continue about our trip that
Monday afternoon. We threw out
sl1irmish lines on each side of the road
and there was continual firing as single
double and squads of rebels were
jumped in the brush and canefields.
Toward night we found that we had
quite a bunch of Them on the go ahead
of us. but were hardly prepared for
what we ran into later on.
AT just o'clock Git was pitch dark
We came to a pretty deep cut leading
to the brow of a hill, with dense tan
gle of brush, bamboo and canefields on
each side. We of the Hospital Corps
were, of course, in the rear, and when
a soldier fell out, completely dofie ur
by the long march and heat, we were
just preparing to raise the litter on
which he had been placed, when ping!
Zip" and the fun was on.
The insurgents, numbering 800, had
ambushed US and We're strongly in
trenched just over the hill. Well, fol-
about twenty minutes such shooting
never was heard and the way the bull
let's knocked dirt over your first-born
there was rice field on each side of
the road just before the brush began
and l got behind one of the dykes they
have for holding water.
During a momentary lulf in the firing
I raised my head a little, my hat being
off, and a Mauser bullet went right
through my hair. Finally our fire got
too hot for them, and they skipped out
l forgot to say that the fellow who
was on the litter concluded the middle
of the road was no place for PopuIist
or anybody else at that moment, and
he disappeared, to be seen no more till
morning
One man fell into an old WELL and
he came up to where the hospital outfit
was stationed in the cut about O'Clock
wet as a rat and nearly frozen (the
nights are chilly now.
We stayed right where we were that
night, as we didn't know the country
nor what else we might run into. The
Major posted a rear guard to prevent
the enemy flanking us. in case they got
that notion, and during the night hap
pened to be awake and hear, Halt.
who's there?" "Filipino." came the
answer, and then "bingl bing." Then
l heard American no sable Filipino,'
By the time I got there he was with
the rest of the good Filipinos, shot
through the heart and through the
lungs. It's remarkable how fast man
can shoot with the Krag-J -Jorgenson
when he knows how to use it. This
fellow was evidently Sharpshootel
who had been up 81 tree, and in trying
to make sneak through our lines had
his light put out
Tuesday we were reinforced by one
company of the Second Oregon and two
companies of Nebraskans, and pro-
ceeded on our rabbit drive. We went
through the town of Mariquina. but
every soul had gone to the hills before
we got there, and as we had orders
not to burn any more we didn't disturb
the place. l should judge it contained
20,000 people when they were at home
During the day l guess our skirmish-