The Dickinson press., 1899-05-27
Uur Manila letter.
In the hills near Pasig,

-
Uur Manila Letter.
In the hills near Pasig,
April 7, 81.
EDITOR PRESs:-Shortly after l wrote
you last, we moved up in the hills above
San Pedro Mocati. There we have been
doing duty ever since. We have sent out
scouting parties every day and had two
or three engagements with the rebels.
April lst we had a morning encounter
with them in which Lieut.. Baldwin Co.
III" and Corporal Byran Co. I'D" and
private Morgan of Co. I'D" were wounded.
They have organized a sh~arpshooter's
corps consisting of four men and a nom
commissioned officer from each Co.
Lieut.. Gruschus is the officer command
ing the s~harpshooters of our regiment.
The five men from Jul Co. are Corporal
VIM. Thomas, privates Patrick Hussey,
Frank Summertield, Thomas Sweeney
and Fred Anderson. Each Co. has been
issued IL Krag-Jorgensen rifles; five of
these are given to the sharpshooters, so
they are we'll armed.
There is one expedition organized to
go up the lake and into the interior some
where; it will consist of two battalions
18TH infantry, l battalion Idahos, bat
talon North Dakotas, 2 Troops of the
4th Cavalry, battalion sharpshooters
and 2 guns OF the mountain battery. We
expect to be gone about 10 days. The
expedition will be under Maj. Gen. Law
ton and Brig. Gen. King. We expect to
attack first the own Of Santa CRUZ on
the OnDosite side Of the lake
Saturday, April Sth. We received
definite orders about the middle of the
forenoon, that we would start on our cx-
petition at : p. m. to-day. 1t rained last
night, and was very dismal this morning
We packed up and were all ready to
move Immediately after dinner. Each
mar took with him his rubber blnnkct,
or poncho, 200 rounds of ammunition,
and two days travel rations. The N. ID.
battalion under Maj. Frame was loaded
on three cascoes. We went on board at
San Pedro Macati about 3 p. m. and
started up the river being towed by a
launch. Several of the officers and men
of the Ist battalion we're there to see us
off. Capt. Aud did not start with us; so
Lieut.. Osborn was in command of Ak" Co.
We reached the lake 4 little after dark,
~ any AliASilo oaAo "a W PooS
the night as best we could.
Sunday, April 9th. We spent the night
on the cascoes drifting around near the
source of the river. We started across
the lake this morning at daybreak and
arrived opposite Santa CRUZ about 4 p.
m. 1t rained a good deal during the day
and the lake was rough, but no one on
our cascoe was sick.
The u,Dhnotc cholle1 the uoOdc colth
of the town and we landed at 500 p. m.
The N. ID. battalion on the left of the
line. We then made a cleft turn" form
ing d skirmish line a mile and Il half long.
1t was a grand sight to see the line
swing around and advance across the
open country towards the woods. They
had not gone far before they were Unto
it" in good shape. But darkness put an
end to the fight and our line halted. OK
Co. was sent to support the mountain
battery. We went back to the cascoes,
ate some bareback and coffee, which
Skeene who is acting Or. M. Sergt, had
prepared for us, and Started across the
swamp in the dark, with the annon We
had a hard tramp Juggling the guns along
over the swampy rice fields, where it
was almost impossible for a man to walk.
We could % reach the lines; so camped
along the edge Of the swamp for the
night, thoroughly tired out.
Monday, April 10. The advance vas
commenced before we could get break
fast. Co. "K" went t 0 the right with the
guns along the road. The and platoon
under Sergt. Freeman, marched along
the road with the battery, and the Isl
platoon advanced in line Of skirmishers
to the right of the road. 1t was a mean
country to go through so we could not
caught up with them before the charge
many dead niggers and some wounded
house, we could not get him to come out
so one Of the men finished him. We
caught up to the battery Just at the en-.
rest.
All this time the small gunboats on the
lake were pouring shot and shell into the
charge ordered. Forward went the line
on a run. every man yelling like a Conan
che Indian. General Lawton led the
The insurgents fled across the open field
| llOl Ill vi lOWll d1O WClC llUWCu uOWl ny
our men some Of them riddled with bull
lets. We rustled something to eat, anc
spent the rest of the day looking arounc
! the town. The Hosp. Corps and theil
assistants worked all day bringing in
and caring for the wounded insurgents
J Several of the men captured rifles, etc
After moo some of US walked out on the
field north of town toward the hospital
The dead and some of the wounded
were lying about, just where they had
fallen in the morning. There were III
dead On the field, $40 killed altogether
They were a horrible sight, all covered
with blood and d%isfgured. Our loss was
2 men, I4th Infy. killed, 2 men l4tt
wounded; n man 4th Cavalry killed
one officer wounded. Several men were
overcome by the heat; three TX" mer
played out, but were all right after a rest
Tuesday, April nth. Left Santa Cruz
early in the morning to take a town neal
there called Pagsaughan. We took with
us two days rations. Lieut.. Smith re-
turned from duty on Gen. Kings staff
and came along with us. Gen. King
went back to Manila sick, Gen. Lawton
remained with US. We marched for a
distance along a nice level road. On eli.
tner size were beautiful pam tree groves
which afforded us shade from the morn
ing sun. But soon the firing commenced
in front, and we had to deploy and dou,
BILE time to get up On the firing line. II
was pretty hard work; som of the men
tagged out, others had to "ditch" some
of their stuff, to keep up. The battery
threw shrapnel along the front and
cleared the woods. We took the tow
without a hard fight, n officer and one
man in the I4th wounded. When we en-.
tered the town John Fisher shot a rebel
who was attempting to cross the river ir
a canoe. We forded the river which il
shoulder deep, went up the hill through
the coacoanut palm groves, and along
the river. We captured six steam
launches and two large cascoes. Lieut.
Osborn, Clark Colburn, and myself
brought one of the cascoes down stream