The Saint Paul globe., 1899-03-22
ARE BORN FIGHTERS
THE MEMBERS OF THE THIR.
TEENTH MAKING RECORD
AT MANILA
CALLED OLD RELIABLE THERE

l
| Which Some of Them Have Been
Lucky Enough to Be Able to Get
IntO-FilipinOs Are Brave, Nu-
merOus and TreacherOus.
| The mail from Manila yesterday
| brought number of interesting letters to
| ST. Paul. The following was written to
| a friend of his in St. Paul by G. A.
O'Reilly. young attorney of this city:
| Manila, P. l., Feb. 10. 1S99.-Im a true
prophet; also a somewhat tired one just
| at present 1t is off, or rather COM
menced on Saturday, at 93O p. M Ne
| braska fired the first shot. After that
! shot all the arguments pro and con.
nexation or let-aloneation. Imperialism
! or non-eXpansion, protectorate or Philip
pineate (terms are supposed to be origi-
| nab were lost sight of here and can have
no place at home. The question now is:
| Can we whip them?" l answer aff1rma-
| lively.
| From the very first it has been evident
| that American volunteers are not only
ready to enlist, but are ready and able
| to fight And how they did fight! I
| think it Is perfectly safe to say that in
many respects the fighting was the most
| wonderful in history
In the first place our line was about
fifteen miles long. Our forces could not
| be stronger than 1900. The enemy cer-
| tainly outnumbered US to 1; and let any
man who thinks they are not brave enc
mics recover from that benighted condi-
| ton as soon as he can. Otherwise he'll
! be very unpopular in the future. The
t line was simply line of skirmishers.
with intervals of about two PAGES be-
| tween men and
ABSOLUTELY NO SUPPORT
All of our artillery were up on the fir
| Ing line; the enemy repeatedly masSing a
different points all along the line; coun-
try practically unknown; the enemy
armed with modern arms, with ammunI-
| ton to throw away. And still, in the face
| of all this, hardly foot of ground was
lost It's wonderful. The guns time and
again became so hot from firing that to
| touch the barrel meant burn. Cart
| ridges left in the chambers went off from
| the heat The enemy came up in many
| cases until within a few hundred feet OF
| the line, and when they were driven back
! they fell to the ground and crawled back,
| firing as they went.
1t was hot, very hot. Those Mausers
| are such rapid affairs, and they make
! smoke and no flash to speak Of 1t is
| hardly possible to locate them But when
| an insurgent does become visible he goes
| down in hurry. The craftsmanship of
our fellows is marvellous. The country
| fought over is composed largely Of irri
gated rice fields. fortunately for US dry
| at present. Extending across these fields
| at intervals of perhaps fifty yards are lit
| tie ridges about one foot in height. Be-
| hind these were found the bodies of the
| through
| head. Our fellows advanced by ruShes,
| dropping behind these ridges for protec-
| ton. The enemy adopted -
THE SAME TACTICS, >o.
only they went back instead of forward,
| That they made a stand at each ridge
may be seen from the fact that behind
each ridge can be seen hundreds of emp
! ty shells. In some cases were found lit
tie heaps of loaded shells ready for use.
| The number of guns found small.
| 1t seems that they were never in too
great hurry to get these. In no case
| have Mausers been found al these places.
| These are used by sharpshooters and are
| we'll looked after.
Our loss has been small considering
| all things. About seventy-five dead and
| 200 wounded Of course there will be
more. The native loss is very 1arge-out
of all proportion with ours. Some place
| it as high as 10000. / think it some
| thing less than this. They lie all over
the country. and the town too. for we've
| not been idle here. The poor devils have
| bravery an excellent substitute; what
ever it may be it causes them to do
| things the field which are sublime.
For instance, an officer who was among
| those who were charged by the Kansas
| men, and who could easily have retreated.
wrapped the colors around his body and
| surrounded by a half dozen of his men
was
SHOT FULL OF HOLES
The captured flag had six holes In it.
| During this charge some OF the men in
the advance used their bayonets on the
natives. One Of our men who had
escaped from the hospital the day before
dubbed his rifle and used it for the pur-
pose of Draining two of the natives. whom
he met. ShaFpshooters are our greatest
source of danger. They are located be-
hind trees, bushes, etc. In many cases
they are located in the heavy treetops
1t is almost an impossibility to- dislodge
them. They are there to stay and stay
they do until they are shot out One of
these, shot last night, had three rifles
strapped to his body.
Another of them laid on his back under
tree. His arms were extended above
his head In perfect firing position. His
rife had evidently been taken from his
! dead hands. In another place two sharp
shooters were Sprawled out across each
other both shot through the head. Most
of these were shot through the head,
showing the wonderful accuracy of our
fellows aim. The only fact that has
KEPT OUR DEATH RATE DOWN
IS that the officers make the men take ad-
vantage Of all natural protection afforded
by the country passed through.
Since the 18th of August the relative
merits of Springields. and Krag-Jorgen-
sens have been discussed and no very
definite conclusions arrived It, To a per-
son, however, who has witnessed the ter
rible volleys Of those 'old Springfields'
and the awful rush of lead that follows it
seems that the moral effect accompanying
the discharge Is perhaps the greatest in
ducement offered the enemy to retreat,
and a feature which, for this campaign at
least, places them ahead of the smaller
bore guns.
Smokeless powder is new being used in
our guns and this obviates the most dis
agreeable feature of the Springields
We have not gone out as a regiment
yet. We are still the provost guard and
Cen Hughes refuses absolutely to allow
us to go or be replaced. The boys are
wild. We also received orders to stay in
quarters. How well this order was
obeyed may be seen from the fact that
at one time there were only sixteen at
quarters or who were not on the firing
| line. One Kansas company, K. whose
own strength is 86 men when full, had
14o men in line.
Another Kansas company had thirty