, 1899-03-28
more manila NEWS
INTERESTING LETTERS FROM w.
E. YELTON AND CHARLES
KNADLER.
Uuder Fire-Mrs. Dreyfus Arrives
How the Boys Of Company F Took
Church-Foraging and Living High

OraSlnS ana LlVlnS High
Mrs. A. E.. Yelton yesterday received
a long and very interesting letter from
her son, First Sergeant w. E. Yelton,
of Company f, Wyoming battalion.
The lelter was dated San Juan Del
Monte. ten miles above Manila, Feb.
is, 1899, Mrs, Yelton kindly permitted
The Republican to make the following
extracts from the letter:
l hope long before this reaches you,
you will have read of the battle and
know that we are all right. We have
had some severe fighting, but / think
the worst is over, at any rate for us, for
where we are now and have been for a
week there is no danger whatever. In
our first real battle last Sunday the
| Wyoming boys did nobly, advancing
across an open field amid g perfect
shower of lead, and never once waver-
ing or hating except to pour a volly
into the enemy. 1t is marvellous that
we were not all killed. All l can says
Is, I'VE were lucky" General King
paid us a great compliment on the man
ner in which we conducted ourselves.
He said he never saw as pretty an adj
vance, or a better firing line. Well, as
it looks now we have got things down
pretty fine, with 5000 insurgents kill
ed, 1000 Of them prisoners and the
balance penned up in places where We
can settle with them at our leisure.
Our loss SO far is 81 killed and 257
wounded. OF course there are small
parties OF insurgents roaming about,
and frequent skirmishes occur, but the
worst fighting is over. We have taught
them a lesson that will last for some
time. We have done in a week what
the Spaniards have not been able to do
In a century, The Fflipinos say we
don't fight fair. because we don't stay
in our own trenches, but come right
over and drive them out of theirs.
We are having the best time at pres
emit that we have had yet, with good
quarters In an old church, and living
on the best the land affords. We have
a great varieryS f fresh meat and vege-
tables. When we want a change, we
just go out and capture a pig or a mess
OF chickens or a water buffalo, and all
kinds of vegetables.
This latest trouble may delay our
homecoming a little, but l hardly think
so, for when the regulars get here !
think they will be amply able to take
care of mister niger. Uncle Sam has
been altogether too lenient with the
rascals, but 1T is different now. Every
time one Of them looks crossways now,
down goes his meat house"
The weather has been fine for the
last two weeks, not a drop OF rain, and
nice and cool at night. Since l have
seen a little OF the interior, 1 think more
of this country than l did. There Is
some fine land here and anything will
grow.
Mrs. Dreyfus arrived a day or two
before we left Cavfte, to join her hus-
band, who is with the Wyoming ar
tillery.
Mr.. Yelton then gives a very graphic
account of the fight, the details Of
which have already been published in
a letter from Lieutenant Coburn. He
states that the boys were unable to re-
ply to the fire much of the time because
the Mauser rifles in the hands of the
Filipinos were longer in range than
the Springfields carried by the Ameri-
can soldiers and describes thus their
advance:
AS We approached, the bullets sung
like hail and We were compelled to lie
fat on the ground and crawl on our
bellies, taking advantage of such pro
lection as the ground afforded, and
halting every few PAGES to pour a volley
into the rascals. The rebels were not
toward San Pedro Macati, where they
made their next stand. This place is
an old church surrounded by stone
walls and would be impossible to take
with a force of Americans behind 1t.
But again the pesky niggers fed before
our boys and we halted here, after being
under fire for Jour hours and having
chased them eight miles. After resting