Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1900-05-04
MIDNIGHT ATTACK.
Corporal Piper Tells How u Part OF
His Company Surrounded the Fill
pInos. killing Five and Capturing 10.

His Company Surrounded the Fill
pInOs. killing Five and Capturing 10.
| SLANG, p. l., PRovINCIA DE CAvtrE.
March 10, 1900.
Since | wrote you last at Santa Rosa all
our hopes of an easy time and good quarters
have been dashed to the ground and we
are in active service in the field once more
We left Santa Rosa and Biuan on Feb
81 and after a two days march over the
worst roads ever made we came to this,
the worst town on the island, where we
relieved the lst battalion of the 10th who
were completely worn out from marching
and fighting.
Slang at one time was one of the largest
! and most prosperous towns in Luzon but
| now it consists of about 300 bamboo
'bahis' or houses and a very large church
surrounded by trenches and Notifications.
This church we use as a guard house,
| quartermaster's store house, officers quar-
ters and anything else we need. The men
are quartered all over town in Filipino
shacks, ten or twelve men in a shack
This has always been a hot bed of insur-
rection and for a number of wears has
been used by Aguinaldo as headquarters
during the rainy seasons.
In 1897 the Spaniards were driven out
of here by a a body of $1,000 "gugues" but
they, the Spaniards, came back the next
month and burned every house in town.
We are called out three or four times every
week to repulse the insurgents who con
gregate outside the town and attack our
outposts, but have never been able to
capture or kill more than two or three of
them at a time as some kind friend @
always gives them warning that we are
coming before we leave town.
We have become rather sick of this kind
of business so last night we adopted
little different method. Thirty men of
company NJ myself included, left town
between six and eight, going out in punches
of two or three and all came together at a
point agreed upon about a mile outside
town at nine o'clock; then we started
toward Talasay, the new Filipino head
quarters in this section, 16 miles away.
We had gone only 6 miles when our scouts
| came back and reported that at little
'barrio" Just ahead there was a whole
company of insurrectos just eating supper,
so we deployed as skirmshers and sur
rounded the place on all sides andclosed in
on them.
AS soon as we came out of the Jungle in
to the open we began firing and they were
the most surprised bunch of ringers it
has been my pleasure to behold.
We captured As prisoners fully armed
with bolos and rifles, killed five and about
20 made their escape.
As there were only 80 of US all told and
we did not know how many more "gugurs"
there might be around in the bushes we
thought best to return to town, which we
did, coming back by different route than
that by which we went out and at five this
morning had safely landed all our prisoners
in the church without a single loss on our
| side.
The colonel was more than pleased with
our nights work as he has been trying to
get his hands on this band for six weeks.
Private Conner, the man who shot a COM
/ rade in Bihan in January, made his escape
from the guard house night before last,
where he was awaiting trial He was
seen by one of our scouts Yesterday, but
when he saw he was discovered, he dove
into the jungle and is still at large. Two
companies are out searching for him. with
orders to bring him in dead or alive, and
unless he succeeds in getting into the in
| surgents hands his time at liberty will be
short
The health of the regiment on the whole
is very good. Out of my company we
have only eight men in the hospital
am feeling fine, as usual, and am heshier
than when | left home The weather here
is cool and delightful, as we are quite high
up in the mountains Just like September
at home, and at night the Thermometer
falls to so or 60. Monkeys and wild
cats are very thick. One can hear the
outposts banging away at them almost
every night, thinking when they hear them
coming through the bushes that they are
'gugues.
The other boys from Brattleboro, Lon.
gull, Tenney and Merrill in company f,
are stationed at lndang, about Is miles
from here. They have seen plenty of fight
ing both there and at Subig Bay, where
they were for two months.
Longuil was over to see me last week
and says they are all well and ENJOYING
themselves.
The general belief here is that Aguinaldo
has left the island as he has not been seen
or heard of for six weeks, but the bush
whacking still goes merrily on, and think
1t will until all of the present generation
are killed off | begin to think that like
the American Indian there is no good
Filipino but dead Filipino" One cannot
tell whom to trust, as was shown by the
result in Negros, of which the president
counselmen and police force were the ring
leaders, and still last October these same
men asked for American protection, and
claimed to be the best of friends to US.
We are being fed very well now, fresh
meat seven days out 10 and fresh bread
every day.
| guess we are elected to stay on the
island our full time, but | hope we shall
not have to go through the rainy season in
this Godforsaken town. If we do, and in
these quarters we will all be sick.
CORPORAL A. V. d. PIPER,
COMPANY NJ, 10TH L. S. VOLUNTEERS.