The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-05-30
HIS FIGHT IN SWAMPS
Wichita Boy Tells of His First
Fight in JungIes.
SLAUGHTERED 1O4 NATIVES
Nine Days March in the Sun
Brings Thoughts of Home.

interesting letter from her brother Sam
uel, a Wichita boy. who is corporal in
Company A, Fortieth United States vol
unteers, in which he tells of his first ex-
perience in war. He also tells Of Albert
Wideck, an Ell Dorado boy being wound
ed. The letter is dated at Dapitan, and
the following are extracts:
II received yours of January IS, some
time ago. when We were at DAFT, on the
southeast part OF Luzon, and was very
glad, in deed, to hear from you. also
got jim and Mas letter. It was the first
mail had got for about two months.
I'VE left Manila February Il, and sailed
south and landed February 20 in San
Miguel bay, on the southeast coast of
LuzOn- The same afternoon we marched
ten miles TO a place called Libmanon
and there we had our first battle. There
were only two companies, A and B OF
the Fortieth in it, but we licked them in
just one hour and five minutes. II was
just $50 in the evening when the fight
commenced and just dark when 1t ended,
and it made me think of that song "JuSt
as the Sun Went Down" In our COM
pany only two men were wounded, none
killed. Albert Widick Of FL Dorado
was one of the wounded. In Company
c and several were wounded Lieuten-
ant Gallagher, our battalion adjutant,
was shot through, the stomach and died
in two days. The fighting was done in
rice field and the rice was Up to our
breasts. The enemy was behind fences
and buildings in the edge OF town but
could not hit flock of barns. Next day
came the worst job of the whole busi-
ness. and that Of burying the dead ne
groes. We found 104 and buried them.
The engineers corps came there two days
later and buried 15s more, and the For
ty-fffth regiment buried IS more the next
day; so you can see what $50 men did to
100 of them Afterwards we went TO
Nueva Cacares, ten miles southeast, and
took that place without any trouble. We
stayed there two days and then came a
long, tiresome march. We were to go to
place called San Jose, forty-f1ve miles
southeast Between Nueva Cacares and
San Jose is a large mountain Com
panies A and B were to go around the
north side and Companies and D the
south. 1t was the intention of the Of
fcers TO reach San Jose the third day
at noon. but 1t took A and companies
five days. You have read STANLEY in
Africa" 50 you can judge how It Is to
be lost in the jungles OF a. tropical forest
on the side of mountain, with nothing
to eat. At noon of the fifth day we met
the enemy behind stone breastworls.
with two cannons. We just sailed in and
licked them in about thirty minutes, but
it was dear fight for US. In Company
r two men were killed and one wound
ed Company a did not lose a maa
Twenty-eight Of the enemy were killed.
The next day we met Companies c and
D. and we were the happiest lot of men
you ever saw. They had reached San
Jose two days before and had started out
to hunt us. We reached San Jose at noon
and that night went on to the sea It
was too rough to load that night, so we
waited until morning. There was more
trouble-a volcano, forty-fve miles away
had blIrsted in the night and il was just
raining ashes and the ships captain
would not sail. By noon It got so dark
I could not see man ten feet from me
and we ate dinner by lamplight. About
4 o'clock it cleared up enough for Us 70
sail. Next morning we arrived again In
San Miguel bay, where we got some ra-
tons, and then went sixty miles north
east to Daet, where we landed Com
panies c and D. Companies A and 3
went forty miles further on to Mambu-
lao and marched back to Daet
''All our baggage was unloaded at Daet
and we expected TO stay there but in
about a week General Bell came and gave
orders to get ready to go to the island
Of Mindanao. We left Daet on the pa |
Of March and went on the ships again |
ana there we got our first mail since |
leaving Manila We arrived here April |
/. and I think we will stay here until |
we are ordered home.
Company A IS here by Itself and we |
are having our long needed rest for two |
months, and chasing around over noun |
tains and swamps was beginning 70 tell l
on US. There are no bridges and We had /
to wade the rivers, and cur clothes were 1
wet all the time. We have nice quarters /
here, cots to sleep on and nothing much |
to do but hunt sea shells. have got a /
few and viii send you some soon.
1.-The people here are better than those /
AZ Luzon. They wear clothes and have |
more common sense The weather is a 1
little hotter. but would rather stay /
here At Dapitan than a Manila I think /
we flavs done All of the fighting We are |
going 20 90 and an not sorry. Well |
as 1t Is about dinner tine will saw /
on'' on this. Write soon and often
Your brother SAM