The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1899-04-08


has received letter from William Moran,
formerly Of The News Tribune force and
now with the First Washington regiment
ir the Philippines. in which the writer
| tells of some of the fighting done against
| the Filipinos. The letter is as follows:
"At last we have taken the plugs ,t't
of our guns muzzle and have been Siver,
| The chance we have craved for the past
| month. We have killed, wounded and
captured the mower Of the Spanish army,
the majority of 1000 of Aguinaldo's fol-
lovers falling before the archaic i1ut
death-dea!ing Sprmgtields in the hands of
| men that know how to shoot. l suppose
| there are as many different accounts OF
| the late battles and skirnIishes here in
| American papers as there are islands in
the Philippine group. l will endeavor to
give you as correct an account Of the ba t.
tie on Sunday, Feb. as can be obtained.
"At 9 p. m. Saturday, Feb 4, a sentry
| at the Nebraska camp on the extreme left
of the American line shot Filipino SOL
| dicr for refusing to halt. That opened
| the ball and for Is minutes the firing was
| hot and heavy. From that time until 8
| in the morning very little firing was done.
! At that time the insurgents again opened
up on the Nebraska boys, extending their
operations to Pandacan. where two com
panies of the First California were sta
| toned. Troops were rushed to reinforce
them and all along the line the American
forces were strengthened. 1t was at this
| time that our detachment arrived on the
! firing line. The firing on Pandacan seemed
| to be a signal to the entire insurgent
. army for they opened up a furious fire on
| the entire American line. l was by this
time behind a trench 800 yards from
blockhouse No. -, where my company
| was. did not realize how horribly stern
! the whole thing was until the stentorian
voice of Capt. Forston shouted the order:
"'With ball cartridge, load; to the left
of that building; fire low, three volleys'
"IIell seemed to have let loose all lis
furies. After the first volleys the bull
! leLs flew over our heads fast and thick.
We thanked heaven for one thing-they
didn't have our range. The various regi-
| ments of the Eighth army corps We're sta
toned as follows: Brig. Gen. OvcrshEs:
| on the right of the firing line with the
Fourteenth United States infantry Fourth
United States cavalry, light battery CT
the Sixth artillery and First Tennessee;
! in the center, Brig. Gen. King with the
First Washington, First Idaho, four com
panies of the First California and the
! light battery of the Third artillery; on
Nebraska, First California, First Mon
! lama, four companies of the First Cali
TO, MIA and the Utah light battery.
| know very little Of the operations on the
left so will leave that part out.
"All along the line the Two armies were
separated by a small branch Of the Pasg
river. At blockhouse No. II is 4 bridge
and up to the time the firing commenced
sentries from the American and insurgent
forces were on the opposite sides OF the
about an hour before the blockhouse Was
alta cked. The insurgent guard was never
j taken off He walked his post until the
first volley from the blockhonsc and then
he fell all shot to pieces. He was there
still when we crossed the bridge on Sun
Company 3 opened first from the block
house Company with no protection
whatever began firing. The insurgents
seeing the position of Company A, poured
wonder to me that the whole company
was not wiped out. AS it was three were
killed and Is wounded, about 10 slightly.
The destructive fire of Company B in the
! blockhouse and trenches outside con-
tributed a great deal toward saving Com
pany A from destruction.
"From the time we arrived OH the line
until daylight, about three hours, seemed
an age, but finally the welcome light came
and We were better able to see what to
Il charge on the insurgents. Eight com
panies Of Washington, four of Idaho ana
four of California, charged across the
bridge driving the insurgen's into santa
Anna, two miles away. TO the left Of the
road were two Hotchkiss guns of The
enemy. These We're captured by Com
% ny Ii, First Washington, but that com
pany did not take the precautlon or plac-
/! ing a guard over them. But the FIRST
Idaho did and now they have the nerve
| to claim the honor Of the capture. Santa
Anna was taken, which was an insursent
stronghold and every native nut was
burned At 10 o'clock the charge and cap
ture of the knoll ! spoke of in anothe:
| letter took place. A little later the Ten
nessee volunteers and Fourteenth regu-
lars took another stronghold on the right
| of the line and the battle Of Feb. was
I overs
.:rhc Washingtons were moved to Santa
Anna, where we had weeks rest.
1--WE have had the misfortune to pc
| brisaded with the First California and
consequently they were on, The line with
us the day of the battle. One of their
number edits the Daily American, pub
lished here, and according to his account
! a person not acquainted with the situation
] would think the California line extended
from Pandacan to Fort Malate, about six
| miles. They have claimed the credit VI
! king Santa Anna, making the grand
stand play Of carrying their flag into the
ION the right Of the line at p. m:
Sunday the First Tennessee and the
| Fourteenth infantry made a brilliant
! charge, taking Il strong position held ny
| the enemy. Col. Smith, commanding the
| Tennesseeans, fell dead Of apopleXy While
| endeavorinS to restrain his lmpetuons
! southerners 1t was in this charge that
the Fourteenth lost heavily.
"In the first charge, made by zen.
| Kings brigade, after the river was
crossed, the general ordered an advance
by rushes, which means to run SNORT
| way and lie down and fire, but the boys
| wouldn't stand for it. When he saw IL
was useless to restrain them he shouted
"'Well, damn it, go ahead. Give them
hell and taking his hat off, he gave
veil and Jumped in front of the Washln3-
ton line, leading the way to Santa anna
GAS | said before we had a weeks rest
and were sent out into the field again or
FEB. u, six miles to the right of Santa
Anna. Here we are confronted by an un'
known number of insurgents. we are
MOI strong enough to drive them out anc
| are merely acting on the defensive NJ
| battle has been fought but a skirm!sf
occurs every day. My company has beer
lucky in securing an old stone convent fo1
| qua rters while the rest of the boys nave
to sleep in trenches.
II have secured all kinds of insurgen
munitions of war-a Mauser rihe two
ma chetes, a set Of side arms, etc:
"Give my regards to the boys. Yours;
"P. Sits lots Of fun to fight-behin'
trenches"
Towne to be There.
NEW YORK, April 7.-Eugene V