The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-09-02
tE@E=13sS ~
Gs=@ExEs&
SATURDAY. SEPTEMBER 1898
PHILIPPINE War Hay Last Two Year.

PHILIPPINE War Hay Last Two Years
From . high military source in the
Philippines comes 8 statement OF the
situation there which seems to sub
stantiate the claims advanced by the
line of the army. that the subJuga'
ton of the islands cannot be accom-
plished with less than $4,000 troops
and perhaps year or two more
fighting. The opinion is expressed
by this officer that loo, 900 will be
needed and two years of active cam
paigning required before the insur-
gents can be completely checked.
The statement is as follows:
"The views of all the officers |
have met, both here and in Luzon,
except those doing duty in Manila,
are directly opposed to the press re-
ports in almost every respect. From
what one sees in the papers the white
dove OF peace is always just about
to light on the land. To the fight
ing man this is not apparent. AS a
matter Of fact we hold nothing in
these islands but what We stand upon
Our possessions are not to be
counted by provinces, islands or
square miles. but actually by acres.
"No one can 60 anywhere outside
OF the intrenohments without great
danger. The lines around Manila
when left were only three miles out
and rifles bullets from the insurgents
actually went through the houses in
the Malate district Of the city. Daily
and hourly the firing from the
trenches conld be heard in the city.
To the north we were holding the
railroad line and a few detached
posts; to the east the line Of the Pa
sig river. Bordering every one Of
these lines are insurgents trenches
and plenty of armed men, and so
close are they that the duty is hard;
one night off duty is as much as one
man can expect.
"The native is not aggressive, but
NO one out here call him coward.
He will not stand q charge. even
when in esrthworks, but he does a
powerful amount of damage Grst and
last before he quits. Then he sim
ply falls backs and goes to work
digging again. The moment We
leave piece of ground it is theirs,
for they swan back upon it. 1t is
true that we can with thousand or
two thousand men go anywhere we
wish. No great force will oppose US.
Every town and village will wave
white flags for the time being, but
when we have passed, the waters roll
in behind and it is as if We had never
been there. The Filipinos are be-
ginning to shoot we'll of late, as our
casualties show. They seem to
show no scarcity of ammunition or
food, and SO far as can see no
signs of giving up.
"All the fighting has been in Lu
zon. not because the other islands
are pacifed, but simply because We
have no men to undertake the sub
jugation of the others. Here at
Ilollo We hold radius of three and
q half miles from the town. We
cannot walk or drive because we are
surrounded. This is the only hold
We have upon the island; indeed,
fight across the bay the enemy hold
possession, so that we hold only half
9 circle. On Negroes we hold only
two points; on Cebu only one, on
many others not foot.
at is hoped here that the fall Of
Aguinaldo's party on Luzon will
mean the giving up of sll the other
islands, but we do not think so.
The insurgents here will simply
turn to bsnditti and must be hunted
down. Speaking broadly, the line
Of the army believes it will take at
least 1000 men and two years
to get even a fairly firm footing.
Once Ne have that, it will take from
$1,000, to 10000 to keep it, besides
squadron of the navy"