Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1899-06-21
ARMY In BIG BATTLE.
FIERCEST ENGAGEMENT OF THE
FILIPINO WAR
Las Pinas, Near Manila, the Scene of
Hard Fighting Natives Offer Stub
born -.esistance-H Heavy Losses In
fiicted on Both Sides.


A terrific battle with the Filiplnos was
fought at Las Pinas Tuesday morning,
Lawton's entire force of 5000 men being
engaged with large number of strongly
ntrenched rebels. The fight continued
all day, and toward evening the rebels
had taken up 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 in
surgents opening fire from a masked bat
terry below Las Pinas. The Filipinos had
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 shell fred by the
Filipinos dropped and burst in the camp
of the Fourteenth Infantry. Only one
man, private, was struck by fragments
of the she'll. He was seriously wounded.
General Lawton quickly led a recon-
noisance with two companies of the TWEEN
ry-irst 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 a mile and half it encoun-
tered an overwhelming force of Filipino
regulars and hot engagement at close
range, directly between the masked bat
terry ind the bay, followed. So heavily
were General Lawton's men outnumbered
that they were forced to retire. They
rallied, howe yer, and by a sharp dash
succeeded in carrying the enemy's first
position. This left an open space to the
left, and heavy flank fire was poured in
on the Americans, compelling them to re-
treat to cover again.
The range was so close and the accu-
racy of the Filipinos SO good that two
officers and nineteen men of the detach-
ment we're wounded. The American
troops dropped back out of range of the
Filipino fire and summoned a battalion of
the Ninth Infantry to re-enforce them.
AT the same time battalions of the
Twelfth and Fourteenth Infantry were
sent forward along the road.
Americans Fall Into a Trap.
The companies of the Twenty-frst regi-
ment, skirmishing along the beach, with
amigo guides, found apparently a handful
of the enemy, who retreated. The men of
the Twenty-hrst followed and suddenly
the enemy opened a terrific fire on the
troops from the sides and the rear. The
soldiers withdrew to the waters edge,
finding what cboltar thav nonl1 nd
picked off rapidly.
After their ammunition was nearly ex-
hausted the companies of the Twenty first
retreated, but Gen. Lawton dashed down
and rallied the men. A little group made
desperate stand, Gen. Lawton, Maj.
Starr and Lieuts. Donovan and Sonnelly
taking rifles from the wounded men and
firing at the enemy, bringing down some
of the rebel sharpshooters from a tree.
Finally their cartridges were all gone and
they were forced to break through the
enemy's flank, 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
mists arising from the enemy's smokeless
powder. 1t was impossible to estimate the
number of Filipino dead. There were
many dead bodies in the fields the Ameri-
cans traversed.
This battlefield, incidentally, was for
merly the scene of several of the greatest
struggles between the Spaniards and the
Filipinos. The Zapote was considered i'm
pregnable and hundreds of Spaniards and
Filipinos have been killed while fighting
over the same bridge in former contests
for its possession. In June, 1897, Gems.
Pho del Pillar and Trias turned the scale
of war on the side of the Filipinos by de-
serting 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 Lawton was in ac-
ton, and heavy fighting took place all
along the line. The battle was apparent
ly the most severe one that the American
soldiers i'm the Philippines have been en-
gagged in.
Gen. Otis seems to have been oyersan-
gline when he reported that Gen, Law
tons gallant capture of Las Pinas and
Paranaqua on Saturday had broken the
resistanc- of the insurgents in the PROV
ince 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 aud wounded at
thirty, but an Associated Press dispatch
sent later says the American loss is con-
seryatiyely estimated at sixty.