The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-09
HAS HAD some FIGHTING
BANDMASTER HILL WRITES OF
THE FORTY-FIFTH REGIMENTS
EXPERIENCES
WAS RECRUITED IN ST. PAUL
Has Had a Busy Time Since Arriving
Last December Fi1ipinOs
Entitled to No SYM
patty.

! OF the Forty-fifth infantry which left ST
/ Paul last October for the Philippines.
! 1he Forthwith was one of the ten ad-
| dltlonal regiments organized for service
III the philippines, and was very largely
recruited in St Paul. and the entire
] command was mustered at Fort Smelling
I IA ado1tion to the interest attaching t.
! the Forty-hfIn volunteers because of their
geographical birth, many of its OH e4
are Minnesota men, and Wen known in
i 81 Paul. Bandmaster Hin in S letter
says: ~ 49,
suppose you are anxious to know
WI MIa T. We sr nave been doing since we left
/ lot lar OH Manila. 1t would BE- iTnposs-
! bic to relate all the experiences we have
/ met with at this writing. but I will en-
o onae 70 aen you 81 the most important
Go.-sGlned nFe days and nights on Pull
man sieepers. We Were modified at
| 7 Flsco, and pr epaI ed as lapidiy pos
SIDE Tor service in the Philippines This
required about three weeks Leaving
fies-dlo Nov 10 we marched seven miles
IN a down pouring rain, and as we had
! We were all drenched from head to f1ot
and boarded the Senator without a
change OF clothing. All we could do was
TO gr-n and bear it and shiVer uniil The
sun came out, which kept us waiting at
least forty-eI3ht LOUIS. The voyage to
1ofoiu-u required eleven days, a most
c c"n3i+ as tong as 1t should under favor@bke
cCndlCohS. Here | visited ex-Queen
LII palace, which, by the way, is a
very 9eautful structure, surrounded by
a great vaiiety OF tTopicai plants. trees
ana lowers. On The who e. the place is
a Heri!aoie garden spot. Its only objec-
uonab!e feature is d miserable hole near
: the wharf occupied by the Chinese,
i which, by the way, is the dirtiest place
i nave struck yet
We left Honolulu on Thanksgiving
evening, and the rest Of our voyage was
very pleasant. We reached Manila ba9
! which was at that time filed with war
shlps and craft of ali descriptions and
from all countries. We did not disem-
! park Until Dec. D. 50 we had a good Cd
portuGi2ty to see the electric and search
/ lights in the harbor and ty of Manila,
Whicn was indeed a treat to US after be-
ing on the water so long; Before pyo-
! ceeding further l must tell you of a very
rare sight that was our privilege to Wit
ness on the way over. 1t was an active
volcano in Inid-ocean We could not learn
its name, except hat We were informed
that it belonged to Spain.
After disenlbal king Dec. % we assem-
pied at the quartermaster' department,
where We boarded a train on the only
railway in the Philippines, 80 miles long
for Caioocar, nine miles from Manila
Here was fortunate enough TO strike the
cid Third infantry, and the boys gave US
grand reception We all slept in bam-
boo barracks which was quite a novelty
for US About 1879 d. IN. we received
our first baptism of firing. it was one
continual pop. pop, pop from that tine
until clock in the morning, For
tunately this Shooting was done by our
own men, who We're net acquainted with
Inc country Early next morning orders
came to us to march to La Iona church
about three and enc half miles distant
Here the headquarters Of the Forty-f1fth
i We're established and We We're given a
! much desired rest Tor three weeks al
though several companies were cal ed
upon 10 take part in the fight at San
Mateo, a distance of eighteen nj, es from
La Iona, where the Insurgents had
boasted that ii would be impossible for
the Americans to chase them They
{ were chased out with small loss to the
/. Americans and believe Aggy's gang
lost about sixty men.
We left La Iona Jan 2, and marched
! ! back 10 Caloecan. and on Jan. t.aI
! the train for Manila. We marched
through the town to Camp Pasig, five
miles from Mania. After camping on
the camp ground We started for linus,
which was considered as one of the in
surgents strongfolds. Together with two
companies of the Twenty-eighth infantry
ard two pieces of artillery. they We're
driven from strong line of entrench-
ments and Notifications. We thought it
would take four regiments to conquer
them, as there We're several thousand
insurgents in the trenches. which were In
some cases eight feet deep.
One grand thing our American soldiers
Old that day was TO kill u traitor by the
name OF Charles Johnson, from Indiana,
! Who deserted from his regiment-the
Sixth artIllery-to be major in the in
surgent army. When our boys saw him
he was not quite dead. and tried to dis
SN1oS ll9o iOSIltlJ ny replying IN spanish
| to questions asked him. He was we'll
! known by our boys, who forced his
tre2cherous hands from his face and
| asked him to account Tor himself His
dying words We're: Il am Charley John
| son, from Indianapolis"
| mat night the outposts were busy ex-
changing shots with the insurgents, max
/ ing it quite impossible for US to sleep
| and we We're glad that reYeille was at i
| a. m, for we got chance to stretch our
| legs which is impossible in our miser-
able pup tents, especially when two
/ men nave TO occupy one tent after cat
1 ing few hardtacks and bacon, washed
/ down with something called coffee We
! started through the conquered and IN
| conquered territory, pushing along until
| we came to place called Dosmari nus
| the most desolate locality We had encoun-
tered; L was detailed to examine passes
OF the natives who pretended to be
friendly. The first pass / examined I
/ found to be dated 1899, instead of 1900
and when L called the bearers attention
10 It he appeared surprised and returned
4 to the house from which ne came Short
| ~ after shot was fired from the hut
| which struck just in front of nv feet
ana as was not armed, l thought it
/ pest to make my escape as soon as pos
Slple, as some more shots might come
feet.
Our regiment was again ordered to +he
'front.', and the band was left behind
| lew weeks later we Joined the regiment
| thirty miles north, making one of the
been on the island. Bull trains were the
only means of transportation available
We had to wade in water up to orr
necks, necessitaGng our diScardine blan-
Kets, and, IN fact, nearly everything ex-
cept ratlonS and the carts themselves
Our feet were badly swollen and when
we reached the old Spanish barracks we
slept for the first time under a roof
Feb. Is we We're ordered to prepare for
a campaign in the south. Embracing on
the Tartar for Nueva Caceres we ioi,e5
the Eorueth infantry, two companies IF
! the Th1rty-SeYenth and one battery IF
aruliery. When we attempted to land
the insurgents put up a stiff fight hu+
cur boys, after killing 80 took the tow,
with a loss of two Americans killed and
hfteen wounded. Here we found nanerS
belonging to the insurgent general which
enabled us to form very close estimate
! OF the enemys numbers and the extent
| OF their equipment,
! Our regiment has been fighting steadily
1 every day, and, as a result, has cleared
out the insurgents killing a few every
| day, although our officers offer them mar,
! don 1rst. L am satisfied that there only
| remains at this time in the ins1Irgent
! lines a lot of thieves and rascafs who are
! menace to civilization. There may be
/ a Few who are fighting for what thew
| think is right, but they are few indeed
from what see of the prisoners I be-
HeVe that no amount Of good treatment
| or anything else would satisfy them
| They are natural murderers and thieves
| OF the deepest dye. They have no white
mans sympathy, at least in these isl
ands. They are not fighting for free
Com, but under that cloak are killing all
their trap, and, thank God, they are al
most finished in their career and will
soon learn to conform with American
ideas. They have been kept in ignorance
II ID true, by the Spanish. but I do not
consider this an excuse for them to turn
their revenge on Americans whose sole