The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-06-06
BUTTE NEWS.
LETTERS FROM MANILA
Grand Record of the Montana
Regiment
ON THE FAMOUS MARCH
It Shows What Can Be Achieved by the
Volunteers-Veterans Could Not
Have Accomplished
More
IN THE FAMOUS MARCH

Yesterdays mail from Manila
brought many interesting letters from
the Montana soldiers. Among them
were couple from Corporal Wilmer
B. Brinton of b company, to his par
ents in this city. They are exceed
lngly interesting as they give n de-
scription of the Montana regiments
part in the fighting from the begin
ming of the campaign against Malalos,
up to Calumpit, together with cons d.
cradle other interesting informal. IN.
Corporal Brintons first letter is dated
April 26. In it he says:
AT last 7 am back in Manila again,
but, alas, it is not to stay. I am at
the regimental hospital with dysen cry,
but it is not serious and ] expect to be
out on the lines again in few days.
I am going to try and write you a short
description of our famous march TO
Aguinaldos much-vaunted impreg,a-
BILE stronghold, and the capital OF the
crazy Filipino republic.
Late on the evening Of the gath We
were relieved by The 22d infantry, reg
ulars, and marched to the La Iona
church, where we relieved the 10th
Pennsylvania's, who wer3 sent 20 the
right of us. We stayed here over night
and at daybreak we were up ana had
breakfast and all ready to start out with
200 rounds of ammanl:iJl and twenty
four hours rations in our havprsatFs.
The 4th infantry regulars relieved us
and then we formed line as follows:
iJ1i rt,-,r
were on the extreme left, then came
the Kansas, Montana, Pennsylvania,
South Dakota and Nebraska. The 3rd
artillery formed a sort of a pivot so
that when the right end swung around
the South Dakotas and the Nebraskas
had to travel over considerable ground
Between the Montana's and the Penn
sylvania's We're two guns of the Utah
battery and two guns of the 9Th artil-
lery and Colts automatic rapid-ire
from the gunboat Helena
THE country to be gone through was
a difficult one and it's natural obstacles
had been taken excellent advantage of
by the insurgents, who had constructed
row upon row of the most formidable
breastworks and trenches. In the bat
tie of Saturday, March 25th, the Mon
tana boys took an active and leading
part, and displayed courage, valor and
endurance of the highest order. For
years to come the work of this regi-
ment last Saturday, and also at Calico
can and various other towns, will be
pointed out as an example of what can
be achieved by volunteers. No Veter-
ans of Wellington or Napoleon or Grant
could have done better.
mo one can possibly conceive the
heroic bravery of the LIST Montana on
these occasions unless he has walked
over the battleields, over insurgent
trenches one after: another, through the
thickets and jungles, over open
stretches where, for 800 yards, the boys
faced steady rain of bullets, and up
to the final insurgent lines, which con-
sisted really of fort with stone loop
holes, This is not an exaggeration It
is not half the truth. The whole truth
concerning the regiment will not be
written. No one saw it all, and de-
scriptiOns of those rushes through fields
where the air was fairly charged with
pulsing lead would hardly be believed.
Why was the regiment not anrihilated?
God only knows. There is an old say
ing that it takes a ton of lead to kill
a soldier. The natives are phenomen-
ally poor marksmen. This fact and a
favoring Providence saved the Mon
tanas-as 1t did other regiments-from
destruction. The insurgents with re-
peating Mausers, threw torrents of
leaden hail at our lines at random
some bullets must find a victim.
"Coi. Kessler should be proud of his
regiment, the Eighth army corps
should be proud of this record, and the
good people of the state of Montana
can words express how they feel? Peo-
pie of Montana, your sons have this
day proved that their blood is like that
shed at Thermopylae and Bunker Hill
the blood of heroes.
Saturday night we canned just off