Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-03-28
ON THE FIELD
OF BATTLE
Details of the First Brush
With the Filipin0s.
CHARGE ON THE GRAVEYARD
And Utter Rout of the Enemy--Mon-
tana Boys Chased the Savages
Half a Mile.
ON THE GRAVEYARD

Lieutenant E.. S. PaXson, who was
Obliged through sickness to return from
the Philippines, today received an in
teresting letter from his son harry N.
Paxson, who is bugler of Company G.
First Montana infantry and orderly to
Major Cook. Like several other letters
received from the Montana boys, this note
was written on the battlefield after the
first encounter with the Filipinos. The
letter goes to show hat the Montana
soldiers acquitted themselves with credit.
1t is as follows:
Camp Wallace, Feb. Is, 1899.
My Dear Father: It is strange that l
should write my first letter to you on the
battlefield, but it's SO. Saturday, the 9th,
passed quietly enough n l had taken a
shower bath and just crawled into bed
when the order came to tumble into belts
and fill our canteens. We did that quiet
ly, expecting all the time that it was only
another scare, but men came IN from the
guard house and sale that they could
hear the artillery and gunshots toward
our outpost. In a few minutes we We're
sent outside, given arms, extra ammunl-
ton and fell in. Company G was the first
to leave the barracks. We had not gone
far before we could hear plainly the
crack and roar Of battle. After we had
reached the outskirts of town we met
General Macarthur and his staff. We
waited there for an hour, then were final
ly ordered to the front. Down a long
street we went, through the dark. We
could smell powder smoke and that ex-
cited us. On we pressed, past moving ar
tillery and lines of skirmishers, out into
the country. We halted at the Kansas
blockhouse for a while, then all our COM
panieS were ordered out to our own out
most pVcant CnmnlnV G. and we were
given a place in support of the Kansas
firing line.
A whole hour we lay in the trenches.
The firing had ceased. just at 2:50 shots
began on the right of the line, and in a
few seconds it had swept around to us
1--WE were on the left end), and what a
racket they did make! Firing kept up
for an hour. Right in the middle of it
we were ordered up to the line, which we
held until Sunday night.
On Monday morning; we We're ordered
to join the rest of our regiment. AS we
went back over the country it looked very
lonely and forlorn. Every house for
miles around was burned to the ground.
We went into the reserve for about two
hours and then on to the firing line.
Every night for three nights the mig
gers made an attack upon us. The fir
ing ON both sides would be terrific for
about % minutes and then all would quiet
down until the next night.
The day of the 10th, as uck woul
have it, Company G was on the line
again. The day was very quiet. About
2 o'clock we were set to filling leo sacks
with dirt for the entertainments. We had
filled nearly all when the order came to
make an attack Upon Caloocan.
This filled us with joy, for we had been
die quite a while.
Promptly at 8 o'clock the artillery be-
gan to send their cards into the town
and railroad depot.
We advanced with a yell. It must have
looked very impressive to the natives to
see that long line of Americans coming
toward them. We never Wavcred, but
! pressed steadily onward, nothing daunted
by the steady pop of the Mausers.
AS we neared their lines they left their
trenches and retreated to a graveyard.
Some held their ground and waited for
us-I am Major Cook' orderly. Just as
we came III to a clump of bamboo, a
Filipino sharpshooter, not so feet away
fired at us, but his bullet flew harmlessly
by and a few shots from Company L put
several holes in him. The major grabbed
his Mauser and I took off his belt and
bayonet. 1 had his blood OH my hands
for 20 hours afterwards.
/ left him and rejoined the major. The
graveyard is a superb place to stand off
an attack. About two companies of