Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-28
NOT YET ENTRAPPED
Strategic Movem mt to Pocket the FilpinOs
Not Wholly Successful,
MOVE SHIFTS INTO CHASE AND A RETREAT
Twelve Miles Separate Main Opposing
Forces, but Full of Difficulties.
MOVE SHIFTS INTO CHASE AND A RETREAT
AGUINALoo GETS OUT OF DEwErS RANGE
Mondays Fighting Completes Record o.
seventy-Two Hours Battle.
NOT LIKE CIVILIZED WARFARE, HowEvEF
Army omcers Are Satisfied that the
Rebels Are Manufacturtng Their
own Ammunition, which They
Waste ProdiRiously.

Own Ammunition, Wbtch ihes
Waste ProdiRiously.
WASHINGTON, March 27-The third day
of the fighting north of Manila brought NJ
tie Of decisive character from Which war
department officials could judge what the
final outcome CT this movement would De-
In all official quarters the most intense in
terest prevailed, but there was no excite
ment and none of that anxiety and tension
shown during the memorable days of last
summer when the decisive blows were being
struck at Santiago.
Early in the day General Otis cabled the
War department brief dispatch summing
UP the situation. 1t disclosed that severe
fighting was going on today with out forces
advanced as far north as Mariloa while the
summer when the decisive blows we're being
driven back with considerable slaughter.
This. and the press dispatches, satisfied
the officials that the strategic movement or
entrapping the insurgents between our
lines, had not been as successful as de-
signed and that the move had now shifted
to retreat by Aguinados forces and
pursuit by our troops. The nsurgent re-
| treat toward Maolos was slow and dogged
and advantage was taken of one after an
other of lines of intrenchments, the burn
ing of bridges and the interrupting of COM
muncation. General Otis dispatch, al
though received early today, was sent Mon
day evening, Manila time, and summed up
the work OF three days. That the fighting
| would proceed into the fourth day was
shown by his closing sentence:
"The column will press on in the morn
| ing"
Pursuit and Retreat.
| This refers to Tuesday. The engagement
| has now shaped itself so that 1t is looked
upon as more of u chase than the execu-
| tion of strategic movement.
| With the American base advanced to Mari
loa and the insurgent base forced back TO
Malolos, the main bodies of the two op-
| posing forces are about ten or twelve miles
apart. This could be quickly covered in a
| forced march under fair conditions but 1t is
twelve miles of innumerable difficulties and
! obstacles which our troJps must caver ha-
| fore they rearn the >lsurgent stronghold.
! 1t is expected that the engineers with Mac
| Arthur are hastily repairing the burned
| bridges. This will permit the artillery to
! be taken forward as well as the infantry
| columns.
! 1t is expected that every mile of the
! distance to Malolos will be contested by
! the insurgents, for General Otis reports that
| ~ Is IL Slrelcn OF country covered with the
| intrenchments thrown up during the last
| three months. Our men, therefore. must ad-
vance slowly, repairing the roads as they
| go, and at the same time they must fight
their way through wel-made rebel intrench-
| ments. Serious as the work is there is no
lack of confidence among officials here, as
to the outcome of the campaign.
| Malolos is the insurgent capital. where
the assembly has been sitting and the insur-
gent government has been in operation.
Ont of Range of Dewey's Guns
1t represents more to the insurgents than
any other place in the Philippines and little
| doubt is entertained that they will make
a desperate stand there.
The tactics of Aguinado are taking him
gradually beyond the range of Admiral Dew
! eys guns. While the insurgents were at
Malabon on Saturday they were within a
mile of the water front and easily within
range of the fleet. But as they have moved
| northward they have gradually moved away
| from the bay. Malolos is about seven miles
back from the bay, although there are shall
| low estuaries which would permit light
! draugLt boats to get within a mile or two
The duration of the battle is beginning
to attract the attention of army strategists
as it is very important element in deter
|
| plies of ammunition and stores and the
spirit of the army Tho first blow was
| struck before daybreak last Saturday and
| the fighting continued all that day, again
| on Sunday and now on Monday. The re-
ports show little night fighting, except in
repulsing an insurgent attack Saturday
| night.
Seventy-Two Hours Fighting.
With today the fighting had lasted seventy
two hours. Judged by the standards of great
battles, such as Waterloo, Plevna and others
| mentioned by army authorities, this is a
long and intensely arduous engagement But
the hghting about Manila is quite different
from the standards of civilized armies and
1t Is running brush conflict with only
! occasional issues between organized bodies
of troops. Some of the battles of the civil
war lasted many days, notably the battle OF
the Wilderness and the fighting about Rich
mond.
In speaking of the element OF endurance
General Sternberg said today that he had
gone for seven days in the continuous fight
ing around Richmond without renewing the
supplies originally issued before the fighting
began. The main question in these long
continued fights is to have all supplies
| stores, etc, kept abreast of the fighting
force, so that there may be no exhaustion
In this respect all the reports Of the fighting
above Manila are most gratifying to the au-
| thorities here, in showing that the quarter
master, commissary, medical and signal
stores are well up with our fighting lines
The belief is expressed at the War depart
ment that the Filipinos are manufacturing
| the ammunition that is being used with such
recklessness When General Greene was in
| the Philippines he went to the Filipino
camps and remained some time among them.
/ His report to the president shows that the
Filipinos obtained quite a large supply of
arms and ammunition when Dewey captured
Cavite and that they had heretofore obtained
a supply of Remington and Mauser rifles.
FiIipinos Making Ammunition.
General Greene also found that the Fill
pinos had established factory for the manu-
facture OF ammunition for these rifles and
the factory probably still is in operation and
furnishing sufficient supply to the insurg-
| ents.
A short time ago the Zealandia and Puebla
left San Francisco with the Ninth infantry
bound to Manila. BY April four transports