Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1899-06-23
in BIG BATTLE.
FlERcEsr ENGAGEMENT OF THE
FILIPINO WAR.

eteHCe0u ENHANCEMENT OF I'll
FILIPINO WAR.
Las Plnas, Near Manila, the Scene OF
Hard ighting-Nattves Offer t stub.
born Resistance-Heavy Losses In.
6icted on 10th Sides.
A terrific battle with the Filipinos was
fought at Las Pinas Tuesday morning,
Lawton's entire force Of 1900 men being
engaged with a large number Of strongly
intrenched rebels. The fight continued
all day, and toward evening the rebels
had taken up n position but 500 yards to
the rear OF the point where the engage
ment opened. The insurgents fought
doggedly, and on several occasions at
tempted to assume the offensive. At one
time they tried to turn the Americans
left flank, but failed.
The first real artillery engagement since
the war in the Philippines began occur
red during the morning through the i'm
surgents opening fire from a masked bat
terry below Las Pinas. The Filipinos had
q smooth bore and q number of one
Founders. They were answered by six
guns from the First artillery, and within
a few minutes the gunboat Helena and
the monitor Monadnock Joined in with all
their guns. The second she'll fred by the
Filipinos dropped and burst in the camp
of the Fourteenth Infantry. Only one
man. q private. was struck by fragments
OF the she'll. He was seriously wounded.
General Lawton quickly led a recon-
Hoisance with two companies Of the Twen-
ty~first infantry. The Filipino artillery
was some distance back from the beach,
and Lawton led his men between it and
the water front, being hidden by the
brush. When the detachment had pro-
ceeded about n mile md q half it encoun-
tered an overwhelming force Of Filipino
regulars and u hot engagement at close
range. directly between the masked bat
terry and the bay, followed. So heavily
we're General Lnwton's men outnumbered
that they were forced to retire. They
rallied, however. and by a sharp dash
succeeded in carrying the enemy's first
position. This left an open space to the
left. and a heavy flank fire wa poured in
on the Americans, compelling them to re-
treat to cover again.
Ihe range was so close n the accI-
racy of the Filipinos SO good that two
officers and nineteen men Of the Ietach-
AASuS were WOUuUeus 1ue AufGtlCdu
troops dropped back out of range Of the
Filipino fire and summoned a battalion Of
the Ninth Infantry to reinforce them.
At the same time battalions of the
Twelfth and Fourteenth Infantry we're
sent forward along the road.
Americans Fall Into a Trap.
The companies Of the Twenty-irst regi-
ment. diminishing along the beach, with
l oHiOn pstslno fD,,nI on4o o%A = L---aa.
Of the enemy, who retreated. The men Of
the enemy opened a terrific fire on the
troops from the sides and the rear. The
soldiers withdrew to the waters edge,
finding what shelter they could, and were
picked off rapidly.
After their ammunition was nearly ex-
hausted the companies of the Twenty-frst
retreated, but Gen. Lawton dashed down
and rallied the men. A little group made
a desperate stand, Gen. Lawton, Mai.
Starr and Lieuts. Donovan and Sonnelly
taking rifles from the wounded men and
firing at h enemy, bringing down some
OF the rebel s~harpshOoters from q tree.
Finally their cartridges were all gone and
they were forced to break through the
enemySs dank, carrying the wounded to
the main body of the troops.
After firing in volleys for a short time
the Americans were ordered to fire when
and where they could see the enemy. 1t
was every man for himself and the best
the men could do was to aim at the faint
mistax arising from the enemy's smokelcss
powder. 1t was impossible to estimate the
number Of Filipino dead. There were
many dead bodies in the fields the Ameri-
ans traversed.
This battlefield. incidentally, was for
merly the scene Of several Of the greatest
struggles between the Spaniards and the
Filipfnos. The Zapote was considered i'm
p%regnablc and hundreds of Spaniards and
Fflipinos have been killed while fighting
over the same bridge in former contests
for its possession. In June, 1897, Gems.
Pho del Pillar AID Trias turned the scale
Of war or the side Of the Filipinos by de-
serttng the Spanish army there on the eve
Of a decisive battle. carrying native mi-
litia With them and thereby breaking the
chain of defense around Manila.
In the afternoon the whole American
force under General I.awton wa in &C
ton, and heavy fighting took place all
along the line. The battle was apparent
~ the most severe n that the American
soldiers in the Philippines have beer en-
gagged In.
Gen. Otis seems to have been oversan-
guine when he reported that Gen. Law
toms gallant capture of Las Hnas and
Paranaqua on Saturday had broken the
resistance OF the insurgents In the prov
incc OF Cavite. Tuesdays engagement
between the Filipinos and Lawton's forces
in spite of the aid given by warships seems
to have resulted in the heaviest Ameri-
can loss suffered since the beginning of
the outbreak. Gen. Otis Official dispatch
places the loss in killed and wounded at
thirty, but an Associated Press dispatch
sent later says the American loss is con-
servatively estimated at sixty.
Telegraphic Brevittea
Scurvy prevails to an alarming extent in
Alaska.
Said tint Imam mill 4.. 4a.A.i-n-