The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1899-09-21
SPANS PAGE OF GLORY.
HANDFUL OF MEN HELD A CHURCH
AGAINST A HORDE OF FlLlPlNos.
Da'er's Heroes Worthy to Rank with the
Cld and with Lycurgus--Heid Out For
337 Days, Feeding on Bats and Snakes.
and Rejecting All Terms of Surrender.

| Cld and with Lycurgus-Held out Fc
| 337 Days, Feeding on Bats aud Snake
| and Rejecting All Terms of Surrender
Hollow-eyed and exhausted, th
| remnant of the Spanish garrison a
Baler has arrived in Manila They fin
themselves heroes, for the word O
their plucky fight has gone out to th
world. They have endured sieg
such as few troops in history have en-
dured. They have starved, and man,
OF their comrades accepted honorabl,
death rather than an inglorious sur
render. Thirty-one came back, in
cluding Lieutenant-who is th
lion OF the hour-and surgeon
Twenty mine are enlisted men, bu
they rank as heroes. The suffering.
they endured were terrible aud tn,
odds against them were great. But
for more than year they held bach
the insurgent forces, and at last won
from them such admiration that the
garrison was allowed to march out
With all the honors OF war. 1t was
this for which they had fought, a.
they had long given up the hope ol
being rescued or relieved
Baler is little town on the east
coast of Luzon. There is the least
bit Of a bay there. The Baler River
flows into tho bay. Just before il
reaches the tide water it makes a
turn around hill, and this high
ground shuts the town out Of sight
from the bay and sea. 1t was around
this bend that Lieutenant Gilmore
and his boat crew with rapid fire guns
from the Yorktown were captured by
the insurgents. At that time it was
made known to the world that Span
ish garrison had been left by the con
luered nation and apparently had
been forgotten by its Government
The history of the siege is rs fol-
lows:
A garrison of flfty-one officers and
men was in Baler when the insur-
rection broke out against the Spanish.
But the soldiers were able to hold
their own and live in the barracks for
some time. AS the insurgents pro-
gressed and grew in strength strong
force was sent before Baler and an at
tempt made to capture the Spaniards.
The Spaniards were under the COM
mand of Captain Don Enrique de las
Morenas y Fossi, with two Second
Lieutenants, Don Juan Alonzo v
Zayas and Don Saturnino Martiz
Cerezo and Medico Don Rogelis Vigil
de Quinones. On the Captains order
all ammunition and supplies were
taken into the church, and on June
81, 1898, the little garrison took
refuge in that strong edifice The
stone floors were pulled up and the
material SO obtained was used in
barricading the windows and doors.
The belfry was fortified and used as
place from which to carry on sharp
shooting while the soldier was pro,
tected from the insurgent fire by an
extemporized stone wall with port
holes. The insurgents suffered
severely from this method of warfare
and attempted on many occasions to
dislodge the Spaniards. The first
attempt was in August
The siege had been thoroughly laid
in the meantime. Trench building
was carried on under cover of dark
ness until the insurgents had two rows
of trenches surrounding the church.
From the nearest trench charge was
made on the church. 1t was at the
time the Spaniards were preparing
their evening meal aud the kettle of
soup was bubbling over the fire in the
court. The call to arms brought the
little garrison to its post, but not be-
fore the insurgents were under the
walls and battering at the doors.
They were so close that they were
safe from the Spanish guns and were
shouting in anticipation of victory as
they hammered against the great
door, the side door and windows.
Captain Fossil made tour OF inspeo-
ton, aud in doing so passed the kettle
of boiling soup. He hurried on his
rounds and saw that his stronghold
was fast giving way under the blows
of his enemies When he again
entered the court two soldiers were
with him. They were directed 20
pick up the kettle OF soup and hurry
to the balcony leading to the window
over the great door. The stones that
were piled before the window as a
barricade were torn down aud the sash
was thrown open. The besiegers sup
posed that parley was wanted and
ceased their battering, stepping back
to see what was going on. The kettle
was poised ON the window sill and
then its steaming contents were spilled
upon the besiegers. There was q cry
of pain as the scalding liquid fell upon
the upturned faces and bare shoul-
ders below. Those that were un-
touched ran away, and their less for
tunate fellows writhed and staggered
toward their trenches. Volley after
volley followed them as they ran, and
when darkness fell they had retrcated
to the farthest trench, defeated in their
attempt to force the stronghold OF the
Spaniards.
The suffering was terrible. Pro-
visions ran low. From the start the
garrison was put on short rations,
which were reduced as time went on
until the soldiers aud officers were
compelled to live on rats aud mice,
of which there seemed TO be plenty in