Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-02-07
AGoN-ILLo,s FLIGHT.
OUR FORCES At MANILA.
Otis Has 1886 Men and Dewey
Eight Warships.

|
Herald)
Manila is defended by 1856 officers and
men. under the command of Major-Gen-
eral Otis. and eight vessels OF war, COM
manded by Rear-Admiral Dewey.
Three thousand men. under the COM
mand Of Brigadier-General Miller, ana
! three warships are at lilo, ready to
occupy that city as soon as word Is re-
| ceiyed.
This is an official statement which /
| obtained. showing the strength OF the
American forces in the Philippines.
The number Of troops General Otis has
at Manila does not comprise his entire
| command. The entire strength Of the
| aruy is p $40 officers and men, but lib
| are III, under arrest. or 50 employed that
! they cannot be counted as a part Of his
! fighting strength.
DEWEY'S FIGHTING SHIPS.
Rear-Admirai Dewey's force at Manila
is small, but it includes two monitors
the Monadnock and Monterey-the erul-
sers Olympia, Boston, and Charleston, the
| auxiliary cruiser Buffalo, the gunboats
Callao, Manila, and BarcelO, and the sup
ply-ship Culgoa.
Besides these ships there are en- route
| to Manila the battleship Oregon, the gum
boats Helena, Bennington, Castine,
Princeton, and Yorktown, the collier
| Scinda, and the distilling-ship Iris. The
| Zafiro and Nanshin, now at Hongkong,
will return Immediately TO Manila. The
supply-ship Solace is expected to leave
| Hampton Roads, Va. tomorrow for Ma
Mia and the Yosemite will leave within
| a few weeks. There are three vessels at
uoilo-the Baltimore, Concord, and Pc
trel-sent to that port to assist the army
in case Of an attack upon General Mil
! ler's troops.
According to the latest War Depart
ment statement OF the station of troops
/ there were at Manila:
COMMANDS IN DETAIL.
Company a, Engineer Battalion; Troops
| c, +, G, l, X, and l., Fourth Cavalry;
| Batteries G., II, X, and l., Third, and ID
| and c. Sixth Artillery; Batteries 4 and
| y, California, and a and b, Utah Artil-
/ lery; the First Wyoming Battery, the
| Fourteenth. Eighteenth, and Twenty
| third Infantry; First California, First
! Colorado. First Idaho. Filty-hrst Iowa,
/ Twentieth Kansas, Thirteenth Minnesota.
| First Montana, First Nebraska, First
| North Dakota, Second oregon, Tenth
| Pennsylvania, First South Dakota, First
Tennessee, First Washington, and First
! Wyoming Infantry regiments.
The transport Grant, which sailed from
| Gibraltar on Friday for Port said has on
| beard the Fourth Infantry and Companies
| Il. l.. and VI of the Seventeenth Infantry.
/ Tie Morgan City left San Francisco Oh
| January 18th, with one-half Of the Twen-
! tieth Infantry. The Scandia has gone
with the remainder Of the Twentieth. The
| Senator and Ohio are transporting the
rH 10. urrff -
I The Sherman sailed r. few days ago from
/ New York with the Twelfth Infantry and
! Companies ID. II. X, and l. Of the Seven
| teenth. and the Sheridan will leave New
! York on Friday with the Third Infantry
and Companies A, -, f., and G. Of the
Seventeenth Infantry. Troops at Iloilo
are on board the transports Arizona,
Newport, and Pennsylvania
AGUINALDO'S ARMY.
General Aguinaldo has a regular army
of 5000 men near Manila, but this force
| can be readily increased 10 a large num-
Der by conscription Of Filipinos Of mill
tary age"
This statement was made 20 me this
| afternoon by Sxto Lopez, secretary OF
| the Philippine Junta I'm this city.
"As matter OF fact" he continued, L
| do not believe a battle has occurred be-
| tween General Aguinaldos forces and the
| American troops. ii there has been a
combat it is due TO the action Of General
| Otis in attempting to occupy positions
| held by the Filipinos. The Fiipinos have
the highest regard for the Americans and
| the nation, and they certainly have not
attacked the American troops
INSURGENTS AT ILOILO.
How many troops occupy Iloilo" I
asked.
II do not know, as they are not part
Of the regularly constituted forces was
! the answer.
"Have the Fnipinos an ample supply OF
arms and ammunition
II can't answer that question, because
7 do not know. But / have heard of no
shipments to the islands since the occu-
nation Of Manila The Abbey's cargo,
which was seized by direction or Rear
| Admiral Dewey, was ordered before hos
tilities ceased. As to the report that the
| British Governor at Hongkong suppressed
a ihbustering expedition, intended for
| the support Of General Aguina'do, That is
untrue and was put out by the enemies
| Of the Filipinos 10 injurc them.
1t is Senior Lopez's understanding tnat
| Aguinaldo is at Maialos. When l asked
| him if AguinaldO was employed in making
| preparations for an attack upon the
American forces, he declared he did not
so understand it; that he was engaged IN
| preserving peace and order throughout
Luzon; in forming a government, and III
getting ali the machinery of that gov
| eminent into operation.
! MAKEUP OF AGUINALDOS FORCE.
Major General +. v Greene, IN his
memorandum to the Peace Commission,
stated that on August 9th Aguinaldo es-
tmated his force at 10000 organized into
/ a regular army. .
| "What was in evidence around Mania
he continued, varied from 1000 10 lo'oJe.
! They were composed Of young men ana
boys. some as young as - years. Thelr
| arms have been obtained from various
sources. and they are partly Mausers ana
partly Remingtons. They have used their
ammunition freely, and the supply IS now
rather short. They have no artillery and
| no cavalry.
IF they attack the American army
| they Will certainly be driven back 10 the
! hills and reduced 10 a petty guerilla war
| fare: and while these guerilla bands
might give some trouble so long as their
ammunition lasted, yet with our navy
| guarding the coasts and our army pur-
suing them on land, IL would not be long
before they were reduced 10 subsection. "