The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-03-23
War Scenes in the Far
Philippines.
LANDING AT SAN FABIAN
A Stirring Account Of General Whea-
toms Expedition to the linga-
yen Gulf Country

The following account OF General
wheaton's expedition to the Lingayen
gulf is from William Dinwlddies spe-
cial correspondence OF Harper's Week
ly. One Uf the striking photographs
used to illustrate the text Is reproduc-
ed herewith by the Advertisers half
tone processes:
Aguinaldo hastened the footsteps of
his retreating army until they were
ON the dead run, when General Wheat
ON landed 1000 men at the strategic
point on Lingayen Gulf known as San
Fabian. The ex-President and now
declared Dictator was in imminent
danger OF being cut of entirely, by
Lawton and Young on one side and
Wheaton on the other, from the great
tobacco valley OF the north where he
hoped to keep up the game Of hide-and-
go-seek Indefinitely.
Wheaton's landing was superb. II 10
difficult to imagine combination in
cruel war where the purely technical
military elements were carried out
with greater precision and decisive
ness and yet with picturesqueness
which appealed strongly to the senses
of the onlooker. The military man
would have declared unhesitatingly
that the movement exhibited what can
be done by Americans in the science
of war" but the less-schooled corre-
spondent, with aesthetic ideas OF his
own and a camera, would haye quite
as positively insisted that IT was an eX-
ample of the "art of war" and high
art at that.
1t was not until November 6 that
Wheaton sailed out or Manila harbor,
~ a 4..s.V
the north line at Angeles fully month
before with the understanding that he
would take command of such an eXpe-
dition in few days. While the delay
was long enough to allow the news to
sift through the army that some move
on Dagupan was contemplated, It was
rather a success as secret movement
-compareh with many OF the previous
advances, shrouded In mystery only
at the Palace, but known in detail TO
every officer in the line and half or
the enlisted men. In this case not an
Official order was sent General Wheat
ON, not a telegraphic orGer relating TO
the expedition was put on the wire,
and In fact the General himself was not
informed positively of the date OF sail
ing until forty-eight hours before the
transports, crowded with soldiers, left
the bay.
In anticipation OF the event, General
Wheaton, however, had carefully Sc
lected his stan, and Captain Day his
chief quartermaster, and his commits
sary, Lieutenant Bashe OF Cuban fame.
had worked out on paper all possible
contingencies and knew where they
could lay their hands instantly on
transportation, ordnance supplies, and
Subsistence, so that, when the time
came, they executed the remarkable
performance of fitting out an eXpedl
tion by water down to the last detail,
loaded everything aboard transports,
had tugs lighters, and cascOs for dis
embarking, and were moving toward
their destination within two days OF
the time Of notification.
The morning papers of November 8
advertised the clearance OF the trans
port Sheridan for NagasaKi. Japan. and
the smaller steamer Francisco Reyes
for Iio Ilo and Cebu. To mystify the
native spies who lurk among the ma
tive labOrers at the Qulrtermasters
Department, every box and parcel for
the Sheridan was marked for some
place in America. and those for the
Reyes bore legends of lo Ilo and Ce-
bu. SO completely fooled and irrtated
thereby were the Spanish crew on this
latter boat, that they refused to work
for few minutes after they learned
where we were going, and had to be
urged to their duties gently by the
American soldiers.
The expedition consisted of the Thir-
ty-third Infantry, which had Just ar
rived from the United States, under
Colonel Hare, and the Thirteenth Reg
ular Infantry, which fought at SantI- /.
ago and lost one-fourth of its men in .
the brilliant charge OF San Juan, un-
der Colonel Bisbee. Two field guns
and two Gatlings We're all the artillery |
which could be spared at the start, but |
General Otis had promised to send up
some sOOn-eXpected dynamite guns.
There were 100000 rounds OF Krag am |
munitlOn in boxes on board and 100000 .
rounds in the belts OF the men; the .
Gatlings had to their credit 100000 .
rounds OF forty-hye caliber, and there .
was ample shell and shrapnel for the .
field guns. A hundred thousand field .
rations for the soldiers, and 10000 COO
lie rations for 200 Chinese, represent /
ed the food supply. The hospital .
corps went furnished with supplies for .
a field hospital OF fifty beds, but they .
were short of trst-aid bandages, eX-
oept those each man is supposed to
carry.
BY the time breakfast was over on |
the morning of November T. twenty |.
six hours after starting, the expedition |
was rounding the southern headland |
OF the wide-mouthed Gulf OF Lingayen,
100 miles north of Manila. The navy
vessels Helena and Manila had raced
off two days before to communicate
with the Charleston, Bennington and
Princeton, and the little Samar and
Callao, all OF which were doing patrol
duty along the coast and In the gulf.
II was not until In the afternoon
that the outlines OF our ships came into
view from the south. Every officer
crowded forward on the lower deck
and eagerly watched the ships and
shore grow In size. General Wheaton
stood on the bridge nervously tapping