The San Francisco call., 1899-04-11
Fatal Blow Struck at Insur-
gent Supremacy on
Laguna de Bal.
LAWTON'S MEN WIN
They Are Booked to Follow the
Flying Natives Around
to Cavite.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

IN town of Santa Cruz, the
modern capital OF La
guna province and the most i'm
portant place on Laguna de Bal,
is now in the hands OF the Amer
leans, who captured the town
this morning.
The expedition under command of
Brigadier- General Lawton, which
started from San Pedro Macate Satur-
day evening to attack the rebels at the
southern end Of Laguna de Bal and to
capture Santa Cruz. a hotbed of insur-
gents. did not reach Laguna de Bal un-
til midnight The expedition, which
consisted Of eight companies of the
Fourteenth Infantry, three companies
Of the Fourth Cavalry, four companies
each Of the First North Dakota and the
First Idaho Volunteers. two mountain
guns and 200 sharpshooters selected
from the Fourteenth Infantry and the
North Dakota and Washington Volun-
teers. was conveyed in fifteen native
lighters. which were towed by seven
tugs. The lighters were heavily laden.
and considerable difficulty was expert
enced in navigating the Pasig River,
the boats frequently running aground.
After the expedition reached the head
of the river, which has its source in the
Laguna de Bal, it was decided TO wait
until daylight on Sunday before pro-
ceeding across the lake
AS soon as the sun rose another start
was made, the string Of tugs and cas-
cos moving off with the army gun
boats Laguna de Bal, Napidan and
Oeste IN the lead.
a neary rain storm set in soon after
the start and the boats became some
what scattered and at o'clock a halt
was made for half an hour to allow
them to get together again. While the
fotilla was waiting General Lawton
boarded the Laguna de Bal and held a
conference with the officers aboard of
her. The rain was accompanied by
very little wind, which was a fortunate
circumstance, as had the lake been
rough it would have been extremely
dangerous for the heavily laden cas-
cos.
The boats We're soon collected and the
expedition continued its voyage south
ward. At 9 o'clock a dense fog set in,
shutting out all view Of the land This
compelled another halt until the fog
lifted sufficiently to allow the pilots to
distinguish the shore marks.
Finally the expedition got within five
miles of Santa Cruz where another
stop was made and the battalion com
manders were signaled to go aboard
the Laguna de Bal to receive final in
structions. While these instructions
were being given an insurgent steamer
was discovered two miles south of the
place where the expedition was lying,
but was not molested
At 1 o'clock a reconnaissance of the
insurgent positions was made by the
gunboats. the Napidan examining the
center. or Santa Cruz, while the La
gunA de Bal reconnoitered to the north
of the town and the Oeste to the south.
At half-past l the Napidan which had
worked TO the southwark, opened fire
on the rebels. who were holding a posi-
tion four miles south Of the town The
fire had continued but a very short
time when hundreds of rebels could
be seen rushing in the direction of
Santa Cruz. They made no attempt to
reply to the American fire, but seemed
only intent upon getting out of range
Of our guns. Many Of them took to the
hills with such eagerneSs as 10 excite
derision among our troops.
The sharpshooters accompanying the
expedition were particularly anxious to
get ashore, and when the order was
aiUpv for fbaYy1 m 1orI 1,1c+{11-
They went ashore under the protection
Of the guns Of the Napidan, which
thoroughly shelled the woods in the
vicinity Of the place selected for the
landing. The sharpshooters were fol-
lowed by two battalions Of the Four
teenth Infantry, under Captain Has
brouck, and together attacked the
scattering enemy. The sharpshooters
proved themselves worthy Of their
reputation. They picked off the Fill
pinos with precision and dispatch
whenever opportunity offered And the
rebels were not long in discovering they
were affording targets for marksmen
whose shots meant death. and took ad-
vantage of every natural shield to pro
tect themselves in their retreat.
A battalion of the North Dakota
Regiment, under Major Fraim, and a
battalion Of the Idaho Regiment.
commanded by Captain Linck, were
ordered to land after the other detacb-
ments had gone ashore. They were
at once deployed as slirmishers on the
left flank of the troops who were
marching toward Santa Cruz from the
south. The only opposition met with
was from small bodies of insurgents
who were in ambush at different places
along the route.
Meanwhile the Laguna de Bal was
attacking the rebels at the entrance of
the river. Darkness was approaching,
and the Americans Were still two miles