The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-09-21
OUR WAR IN THE EAST
FEATURES or SOME OF THE REGENT
 FIGHTING.

The Taking of Columbia, an Insurgent
 stronghoId--A spaniard's Happy Re-
 lease from Dreadful Captivity-Inter.
 esting Incidents and Adventures.
 Following is another highly interest,"
 ing extract from a letter from Lieuten-
 ant William M. Copp, Sixth United
 States artillery, concerning the hostli-
 ties in the Philippine Islands and tell
 ing of some hot brushes in those far
 off islands between our forces and the
 natives. Lieutenant Copp is Yale
 graduate and is a grandson of the late
 Caleb Maltby of this city, who was a
 noted business man and capitalist. Lieu
 tenant Copps father, Colonel William
 A. Copp. a New York lawyer, is Yale
 man also and won honors in the civil
 war. He resides al Belie Haven, Green
 wich.
 On Board Napindan, Laguna de Bay,
 July 31.-On our expedition of the 18th
 inst, six hundred of the Twenty first
 infantry marched from Morons to
 Pellila, the town we captured, while we
 lowed the three troop of cavalry. This march was about twenty miles and very trying one as the mud and wa ter was often knee deep, and it took two days to make it. They did not think it wise to march back, so they occupied
 Pellila for the night while we brought the cavalry back on the Cascoes, then returned to Pelila with the Cascoes and AI, nrI l,,, T nine government horses with them, one q large American horse; the others na- tive. There was no way for us to take the horses, as the men made a double load for us, so they herded them in a building, and on the 23d an order came for me to go to Pellila and get them, taking q platoon of twenty-four men from Company l, Twentytirst infantry under Lieutenant Bumpus. As we had light Cascoe in tow we made fine time and were soon In sight of the town. After smelling the place thoroughly we landed the infantry and l took twelve of my men. We had hardly got we'll into the town when a man came to- wards us holding up his hands, He proved to be Spanish soldier. He said he was captured over two years ago by the natives. All prisoners were given the choice of fighting with them or be- coming servants. He chose the latter. He was in a terrible condition. He saw the servant of the insurgent colonel who was occupying the town when we came in sight with the two hundred troops and expecting five hundred more. Seeing our small force the colonel said he would soon have the guns of the and the Sordte shells began to burst they dropped everything and started to run, ordering him to run, too. He ran a few steps, then fell and began to groan, pretending to have been hit. They were too badly frightened to stop to see. so he got away. By the way, as to the fate of the horses, they took them upon the mountain which rises abruptly from the town and ate them the very day our troops pulled out, so very naturally We did not get them <
 We have taken Columbia, the insur- gent stronghold on the lake. We start ed on the 18th inst, at S:3O D, m, On
  up on the Louise. His wife and son and two members of the peace commis- sion were on board. The general gave me my orders, viz, to start at S;30, towing three troops of the Fourth cav airy and one company of the Twenty third infantry. The Caste was to follow two hundred to four hundred yards be- hind with the other five companies Of the Twenty-frst infantry. I was to proceed to a certain point In the lake and there wait for the other half of the expedition that was coming up from Manila under command of General Hall. We expected to meet the Manila outfit, consisting of the Washington volunteers and one battery of the First with two field pieces. At mid night we anchored at the point of meet ing designated in the orders The plan being to steam over to Colombo so as to land just before daybreak and take them by surprise. Well we waited un- til two o'clock, and then the others not showing up, got up anchor and steamed to ward the Pasig river, up which they had to come to get into the lake. They lid not show up till the following after noon at two. They had hard time in the river owing to the rains the lake having risen twelve feet. causing cor rise in the river, and as most | If the country through which it flows is Hat, the whole country is flooded and | .he channel hard to find and the native pilots are very unreliable. They had native piloa, When they finally joined l IS General all came aboard my boat | md it was decided to attack at once, al- hough as we had been in sight of the l ,ity all day we could not hope to sur prise them
 The town is back about three quarters of a mile from the water. When I came. here several weeks ago | he water was low and there was quite long stretch of rice paddles and | ields and then came the bamboo growth and then the city. There were renches right by the waters edge rom which they fired on us as we went ,ast; now rice fields and trenches are covered alike with water which eX- ends up to the bamboo, IL was d nasty | ,lace to land. The enemy were con ealed in the bamboo and began firing Two men of the 4th Cavalry were killed while getting off the Cascoes and a lumber wounded, and we were a tar ret for them. We finally got them To- ated and drove them back The igthing went on for two days. On the light of the 26th Gen. Hall and a lot if other officers slept on board We