The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-03-27

7
brigade, composed of the Second Ore
gon regiment and the Twenty second
and Twenty third infantry, stretched
out along the railroad from Ca1oocan
to the Tuhahan river, was powerlesS to
prevent the withdrawal owing to the
natural obstacles and to the strong op-
position. A column of smoke at day
break was the first intimation of the
enemyS intentions, but others followed
at various points, all soon blending in
d dense balloon shaped cloud. The
flames of the burning rice mills and
large buildings could be plainly seen
from Caloocan, despite the strong sun
light.
By II o'clock in the morning the only
building of Importance not destroyed
in the center of the town was a large
stone church, but even at noon fresh
fires We're started among the native
huts in the outskirts of Malabon, al
! though the general exodus took place
much earlier. Many of the rebels
sought refuge in the suburbs NavotaS
and Casag, or were driven inland by
the shells of the Helena, Callaom,
Ningdapan and Laguna de Bay.
In the meantime General Wheaton's
brigade held the railroad to the river
but was unable either to repair the
bridge, which had been destroyed by the
enemy, or to advance, owing to the op
position and the hills on the other side.
OPERATIONS DELAYED.
The calculations of bc5a General Hale
and General Harrison Gray Otis, whose
brigades constituted General MacAr-
thurs division. were much interfered
with by the character of the country
in front of both, and the enemy was
able to take advantage of this, so that
f, the operations against Novaliches and
Polo were delayed, though the right
wing of the division swung out, sweep
ing the enemy in a northWesterly di-
rection.
General Wheaton's headquarters last
night was half mile south Of the river,
on the railroad. The opposite bank was
protected yesterday by blockhouses and
entertainments. Occasionally the artil-
lery and infantry fired across the
stream. Finally the engineers moved
a construction train up to the bridge,
the iron framework of which remained,
and began to replace the floor. While
this was going on, the Second Oregon
regiment crossed the river on the left
and the Twenty second on the right,
with four companies of the Twenty
third infantry supporting the later
regiment. A rising clear ground
stretched away a distance Of half mile
to AIalinta, situated on its crest.
In front of the village We're strong
Filipino intrencllmeslts. but no Filipinos
were to be seen. Apparently they had
fed. The Twenty-second regiment ap-
preached diagonally. with General
Wheaton and his staff close behind and
scouts closely observing the ground.
A DEADLY VOLLEY.
When the Americans were within
about 300 yards of the entertainments
the Filipinos suddenly volleyed heavily.
The Twenty second, which was holding
the CENTER suffered considerably, but
with the Oregons on the left and the
Kansans on the right, in the woods, the
fighting was kept up for half an hour,
the Twenty infantry advancing
up the slope through the thick grass
under the hottest fire.
General Wheaton and staff were all
the time under a rain of bullets. Colo
mel Egbert who was in the thickest Of
the fighting, was shot in the abdomen.
He was placed on Stretcher and an
ATTEMPT was made to carry him to the
cars, but he died on the way. 1t was a.
most affecting scene General Wheaton,
barring his head, said: You have done
nobly." Colonel Egbert gasped in reply:
Il must die; l am too Old
No Filipinos were found in the trench
es Though apparently their force was
much smaller than that of the Amer
leans, they had an immense advantage
in position and opportunity to retreat.
General MacArthur's advance guard,
the Third artillery and the Twentieth
Kansas regiment, joined General Whea-
toms brigade shortly after Malinta was
taken, approaching along the Nova
leches road westerly.
The soldiers We're much exhausted,
and there were several prostrations
from the heat, which was intense The
dead and wounded were collected in
the shade of the trees and carried on
stretchers by Chinese across the river
to the train.
After luncheon, General MacArthur's
division advanced toward Polo.
The Second oregon regiment encoun-
tered a thousand Filipinos west of Ma
linta, who were retreating from Mala-
bon. The enemy had taken up a posi-
tion behind four rows of entrenchments,
but was driven out, after an hours
heavy firing. One Oregonian was killed
and five wounded.
UTAH ARTILLERY IN IT.
The Third artillery, acting as infan-
try, with two guns of the Utah artillery
and the Kansans, had a sharp fight east
of Malinta. The Americans had but
slight losses. Five Filipinos were found
dead and several were taken prisoners.
General MacArthur's division is ad-
vancing upon Polo along the railroad.
AS the bridge is destroyed and the river
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