Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1899-06-14

men in blue and Khaki lay In the mud
and bushes, many of them without any
shelter. for three hours, without n mo-
mems cessation in the firing, pouring
bullets at the enemy as fast as they
ed into continuous roar, which was
different from the skirmish-like rattle
of most of the engagements.
One battalion after another, General
Lawton summoned the reserves from
Las Pinas until only enough troops
were left in the town to prevent the
Filipinos from attacking the Ameri-
cans in the rear. which was feared, as
they were creeping around our left
through the woods. delivering n flank
ing fire. which put a great strain upon
the endurance Of the Americans, who
were laundering in the mud across the
river while on the right the Filipino
sharpshooters. hidden in the trees, were
pepperlng our men. But. thanks to the
poor craftsmanship of the rebels. the
loss was not as great as If the Filipinos
had shot straight.
An army has seldom fought under a
greater handicap or more courageously
than did our regulars. IL majority of
whom were, comparatively speaking,re-
cruits, who could have been pardoned
for retiring In the face of such a fierce
fire from their exposed positions.
MANY WOUNDED.
The Fourteenth Regiment lay to the
right of the bridge and In front of them
was the Twelfth Regiment with the
Ninth on the right and the Twenty-first
up the road, facing the bridge, which
was the key 20 the situation. On the
bridge were the bodies OF two Ameri-
cans, who had attempted to rush
across. and many wounded men were
carried from the open ground before
the bridge.
After firing in volleys for n 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 our men could do was to
aim at the mist made by the smokeless
powder.
COURAGEOUS GENERALS.
General Lawton, though exhausted
by the mornings fight. rallied, by sheer
VIII power. and was the commanding
figure in the battle. He went along the
lines directing and encouraging the
troops
General Wheaton and General Oven
shine were equally courageous. In fact
me Generals wore among the few men
on the battlefield who refused to take
shelter under the hottest fire. The
only approach to the fighting ground
was by q narrow winding road where
the rebel bullets dropped thickly.
wounding several of our men.
BRING UP THOSE GUNS.
At o'clock there was an hours lull
in the fighting. and the artillery SER
geant Salloped back to where two guns
of the mountain battery were waiting
in reserve and shouted:
Bring up those guns"
The sergeant then tumbled exhausted
from his horse.
Twenty wounded men were carried
to a caScoe tnative boaD waiting on
the beach. which was rowed to Paran
aque.
II is impossible at the present time to
estimate the number Of Filipino dead.
There are many dead bodies in the
fields the Americans traversed.
AN OLD BATTLE-GROUND.
This battlefield, incidentally. was for
merly the scene of several of the
greatest struggles between the Span
iards and the F'ilipinos. The Zapote
was considered impregnabie and hun
drcds of Spaniards and Filipinos have
been killed while fighting over the
same bridge in former contests for its
possession. In June, 1897. Generals Pho
del Pillar and General Trias turned the
SSdic VI WIT on the sue OF the fiHplnOS
by deserving the Spanish army there
on the eve of a decisive battle, carry
ing the native militia with them and
thereby breaking the chain OF de-
fence around Manila.
HOTLY ALL DAY.
Manila. June 1910 p m.-The
nghtinS at Las Pinas continued hotly
all day long. General Lawton called
out the whole forces of 1000 men, and
at o'clock he was only able to push
the Insurgents back 500 yards to the
Aapote river, where they are en-
trenched. The insurgents resisted des-
perateiy and aggressively. They at
tempted to turn the left flank of the
American troops. The American loss
Is conservatively estimated at sixty.
AT uayiight to-day the rebels Mt Ca
vie vite Vle1o dropped two shells from q
Dig: smooth bore gun mounted in front
OF me church into the navy yard. The
only damage done was splintering the
top OF the huge shears on the Mole. The
gunboats Callao, Manila and MOSQUITO
then proceeded to dismount the gun.
After breakfast the rebels opened fire
along the beach to Bakoor.
(COntinued on Poo. rTIa,,a,, y