Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1899-05-04
THE KANSAS BOYS AGAIN.
Col. Funston, Capt. BOltwood and Other
Membors of the Twentieth Distinguish
Themselves mt Calumplt.


Manila, April 26.--Gen. MacArthur's
division fought its way to the Filipino
trenches before Calumpit yesterday,
advancing four miles, mostly through
woods and jungle and crossing the
Bagbag river, This was accomplished
at a cost to the Americans of six killed
and 2s wounded, the First South Dakota
regiment being the heaviest loser.
After fording the river, the South Da-
l1otans pursued the insurgents to the
outskirts of Calumpit but the town
was found to be so strongly protected
that Gen. Macarthur deemed it best to
withdraw the tired fighters and go into
camp for a nights rest before making
the final assault.
The enemy had planned to wreck
our artillery transport train. This at
tempt wasa failure, but span of the
iron railway bridge over the river was
destroyed, hampering the American
transportation for some time. The
Filipinos cut the girders, intending to
havy the structure fall with the train,
but it collapsed prematurely of its own
weight.
The Bagbng river, which is about 100
yards wide at that point, was splendidly
fortified, and the Americans were COM
PEELED to approach an open space from
which the rebels had cleared every OBJ
struction to sight. The bank of the
river, high bluff, was surmounted
with trenches, capped with rocks, loop
holed and partly hidden by bushes.
In the course of an hour the Ameri-
cans had forced passage through the
woods to the open space in front OF the
river, and the artillery, Immediately
on wheeling into the open, began she'll
ing the Filipino trenches.
In the meantime, company X, Twen-
tieth Kansas, led by Capt. Boltwood,
performed one of the most brilliant
achievements of the campaign. The
regiment was being held in reserve,
and company X charged distance of
quarter of mile over a cornfield to
the bank of the river, near the bridge,
where the insurgents, from a trench,
were peppering the armored train,
then about 200 yards down the track.
The company found shelter in ditch.
Col. Frederick Funston called for vol
unteers to cross the river, and the col
Onel himself, Lieut. Ball, a private of
company X, a private of company H.,
Trumpeter Bansfeld and Corporal Fer
guson, of company I, crawled along
the iron girders.
While this was going on the men OF
company X, from the ditch, were fusil-
lading the trenches in the endeavor to
divert attention, but the Filipinos got
the range from trench down the
river and their bullets soon spattered
the water under the structure. Hav-
ing reached the broken span, the small
but valorous party of Americans slid
down the caisson, swan few yards to
the shore and crawled up the bank, the
colonel leading the way to the trenches,
revolver in hand, while the few remain
ing Filipinos bolted
Col. Funston said afterward: 'It was
not much to do. We knew they could
not shoot straight and that our boys
would attend to them while we were
crossing"
The armored car had one man killed
and two wounded. The Kansas regi'
ment had three wounded during the
charge and the Utah light artillery one
killed and two wounded. Most of the
other casualties befell the South Da'
kOta regiments. 1t is difficult to esti'
mate the insurgent losses, but they are
no fewer than 70 killed, many of them
by the artillery.