The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-02-07
the American lines after promising TO
90 to the houses OF friends and remain
there.
Ia-fnrrn XnIr1

the American iiUtS dllci piULiiSAAS -
90 to the houses OF friends and remain
there
Charges of Western Volunteers
Another intensely exciting incident
occurred during the engagement The
Washingtons and ldahos and Com
panies X and NJ of the CalifOrnians
made charges across the rice fields be-
tween Paco and Santana, in the face OF
a terrific fusilade. The ground, to-day,
over which they passed is covered with
dead and wounded natives. The former
are being buried in groups Of five or
six about where they lie, and the latter
are being brought to the hospital. 1t
was at this stage of the fighting and at
CsloOcan that the Filipinos suffered
their heaviest losses.
The Fourteenth Regulars were in a
particularly tight place near Stngalon,
and Col. Duboce was compelled TO rush
past them with the reserve in order to
prevent the regulars from being cut
OF. In the last line twelve men were
killed before the rebels retired.
Both sides cheered frequently during
the engagement. The American "hur-
rahs" were almost invariably met by
derisive ''vivas" Among the natives
the Igorrotes were specially noticeable
for their bravery, about 700 of these
naked savages facing artillery fire with
their bows and arrows.
How the Fighting Began.
Owing to the area embraced in the
scene of Sundays engagement, a semi
circle of fully seventeen miles. details
regarding individual fighting have been
extremely difficult to obtain. So far as
can be gathered, the brush commenced
at 8:45 on Saturday evening, by the
firing of Nebraska sentry at Santa
Mesa upon Filipinos who were delib-
erately crossing the line, after repeated
warnings, with the evident purpose of
drawing our fire.
The first shot from the American
sentry was evidently accepted as a pre-
arranged signal, for it was followed
almost Immediately by terrific flu
sillade along the entire Filipino line on
the north side of the Pasig River.
The American OutpoSts returned the
fire with such vigor that the Filipino
fire was checked until the arrival of re-
endorsements.
All the troops in the vicinity were
hurried out and the Filipines ceased
firing for half an hour while their own
re-enfOTcements came up.
At 10 o'clock the fighting was re-
sumed, the American firing line con-
sisting of the Third Artillery, the Kan
sas and Montana Regiments, the Min
nesOta Regiment, the Pennsylvanians,
the Nebraskans, the Utah Battery. the
Idahos, the Washingtons, the Califor-
mans, South Dakota and Colorado Vol
unteers, the Fourth Cavalry, North
Dakota Volunteers, Sixth Artillery, and
OufIeenJ0 Infantry.
The Filipinos concentrated their
forces at three points, Caloocan, Santa
Mesa, and Galingatan, and maintained
an intermittent fusfllade for some
hours.
Encmy's Artillery Fire Silenced.
They brought artillery into action at
Galingatan, at 10:30, but only one gun
annoyed the Americans to any ap-
! preciable extent, a howitzer on the
road beyond Santa Mesa. The Third
! Artillery silenced the Galingatan bat
terry by firing two guns simultaneously,
which was followed Immediately by
volleys from the infantry.
At midnight there was a lull in the
firing, lasting until 3:45 a. m, when
the whole Filipino line reopened fire.
The Americans poured a terrific fire
into the darkness for twenty minutes
and then there was another lull until
daylight, when the Americans gener-
ally advanced.
During the night, in response to Rear
Admiral Dewey's signals flashed across
from Cavite, the United States cruiser
Charleston and the gunboat Concord
stationed at Malabon, poured a deadly
fire from their secondary battery into
the Filipino trenches at Caloocan.
After daylight the United States
double-turret sea-going monitor Mo
nadnock opened fire off Malate and
kept shelling the Filipino's left flank
while the other vessels shelled the
enemy's right flank for several hours.
! By 10 o'clock the Americans had ap
parently completely routed the enemy
and had taken the villages Of Paiaw
pong, Santa Mesa, Paco, Santana, SaI
Pedro, Macorte, Pandocan, and Pasai
had destroyed hundreds OF native huts
and had secured possession of the
water main and reservoir, a distance o.
over six miles
The Tennessees Joined the firing line
at 10 o'clock on Sunday morning anC
assisted in capturing Santa Mesa.
Due TO AMERICAN AGGRESSION.