Evening star., 1899-04-19
CAPTURED BY THE FILlPINOS
Party of American Sailors Ambushed by the
Insurgents.
Excitement Over Dispatch From
Admiral Dewey-Lieut. Gilmore
One of Those Taken.

Late yesterday afternoon the following
cable message from Admiral Dewey was
received at the Navy Department:
MANILA, April IS.
Secretary of the Navy. Washington:
The Yorktown visited Baler, Luzon, east
coast of LuZon. ?. l., April r. for the pur-
pose of rescuing and bringing away the
Spanish forces, consisting of eighty SOL
diers three officers and two prvates which
were surrounded by 400 insurgents. Some
of the insurgents armed with Mauser rifles
by natives. Lieut.. ]. c. Gilmore,
while making ambushed, were fired
upon and captured. Fate unknown. as in
surgents refused to communicate after
ward. The following are missing: The Of
fcer previously referred to. Chief Quarter
master w. Walton. Coxswain J. Ellsworth
Gunner's Mate H. ]. Hygard Sailmaker's s
Mate Nendgit, Seamen w. H Rynders and
G. w Woodbury., Apprentices d. W. A.
Venville. ]. Peterson. Ordinary Seamen F.
Brisolese, o. B. Mcdonald. Landsmen L.
T Edwards F. Anderson, ]. Dillon and c.
A. Morrissey.
(Signed) DEWEY.
The dispatch from Admiral Dewey caused
much excitement in naval circles. 1t was
received late in the day. and considerable
de'ay was occasiOned by the blindness of
some of the cipher words. 1t was impossi-
Bile to completely decipher it, and the as
terisks indicate the unintelligible words.
The Captured Party.
Lieut.. ]. C. Gilmore the officer referred
to as captured, is well known in Washing
ton, having been stationed here for some
time. ard his wife and family living here.
He was born in Philadelphia July 10. 1854.
and was appointed a naval cadet from
Arizona in September, 1871. He reached
his present grade of lieutenant in 1891.
His main service has been on the Mononga-
10la Marion NJ
chias, besides considerable service on
boards. just wear ago he reported to
the St Paul, then commissioned as an
auxiliary cruiser, and served on that ves-
sci, under Capt Sigsbee, throughout the
war January II he was ordered to the
hospital ship SOlace. which was about to
sail for Manila, and arrival there was
assigned by Admiral Dewey to the York
town.
The others mentioned in the admiral; dis
patch are shown by the naval records as
follows:
William Walton. chief quartermaster. en-
listed ChefOO. China; born Mannheim Ger
many; relatives none.
John Ellsworth. coxswain. enlis-ed Mare
relatives.
Lyman Paul Edwards iands-nan. enlisted
at Mare Island. Cal; born Peru. Ind: rtxt
of kin. L. b. Edwards. father Mexico.
John Dillon. landsman. enlisted at Hon
olulu; born Galway. Ireland; next of kin
George Cavener. Honolulu. Hawaii.
Paul Fandoit sailmakers mate enlisted
At Mare Island. Cal: born. France; next of
kin. P. Vandoit, father, San Luis Obispo,
Cal
Charles Albert Morrissey. iandsman. en-
listed Mare Island. Cal; born Columbus.
Neb.: next of kin, Mrs. ]. c. Morrissey
Lincoln. Neb-
Ora B. Mcdonald. ordinary seaman, en-
listed at Mare Island, Cal; born Carmel
Valley. Cal; next of kin, P. Mcdonald
father, Monterey Cal.
William H. Rynders, coxswain. enlisted
at Mare Island, Cal; born Amsterdam.
Holland: next of kin. Mrs NJ H. Nyhous
cousin. 80 Connecticut street, San Francis
CO. Cal
Silvio Brisolese, landsman enlisted at
San Francisco; born San Francisco. Cal:
next of kin. Licolo Brisolese, father, .2i1
Mission street, San Francisco, Cal
Albert Peterson, apprentice, third class,
enlisted San Francisco Cal; born Oakland,
CAL kin. Louis Peterson, 1015 Sd street,
Oakland Cal.
Orrison Welch Woodbury.. seaman. en-
listed Gloucester. Mass: born Lynn. Mass:
Maple street. Lynn, Mass.
Denzel George Arthur Nenville. appren-
uce, second class, enlisted Mare Island,
Cal; born Dudley, England: next of kim E.
Marsh Sellwood, Oregon.
Fred. Anderson. landsman enlisted New
York. N Y: born Buffalo. n. Y; next of
kin. Christiana Anderson, mother, 256 Bris-
toll street. Buffalo. y. Y.
Edward j. Nygard gunner's mate third
class. enlisted at New York, N Y: born
Warsaw. Russia: next of kin. Sophia Ny
gard, wife, 1851 Atlantic avenue, Brooklyn,
y. Y.
The Location of Bnier.
Baler is on the east, or Pacific ocean, side
of Luzon. about eighty-five miles in a
straight line overland, east by north from
Manila. By water it is about six hundred and
fifty miles around the northern end of
Luzon and about six hundred around the
southern end. The town sets back from the
coast few miles. a small bay of the same
name on the coast Is little known. 1t offers
a bad anchorage, exposed to all the winds
and sea from the Pacific ocean.
Baler is the capital of Ell Principe prov
lnce- IL mas a population OF 19l1 and under
Spanish rule was the residence of the gov
ernor of the province and a small force of
gendarmerie. In order to communicate with
Manila by land it is necessary to go TO
BomSabong by horseback or in a ham
mock carriage. making laborious journey
of three days. during which neither shelter
nor provisions can be found.
The First Americans Captured
The loss of the fifteen men from the
cruiser Yorktown as prisoners in the hands
of the FiIipinos breaks a record for recent
years. During the entire Spanish-American
war not an American soldier sailor, ex-
cept the Merrimac's crew, was captured.
No American soldier or sailor had pre-
ylously been captured in the Philippines
IhOuSh several We're temporarily taken,
they managed to escape within a few hours
IN each case and rejOin their comrades
The men captured from the Merrimac in
Santiago harbOr June 3 1S.,S included Lieu
tenant Hobson and seven others.
The navy heaviest loss during the war
was as Cardenas. Cuba. May IL. 1898, when
Ensign Worth Bagley and four other men
OF the torpedo boat Winslow were killed
and five were wounded.
AS Is well known, no American was killed
In Dewey's famous victory in Manila bav
May ], lStS, but eight Were slightly wound
ed In the battle of July , in which
Cervera fleet was destroyed, the American
wounded.
Besides these, ships Of the navy engaged
in blockade and other work during the war
had occasional slight losses.
COMMENT ON Philippine pRoRIEu