The Savannah morning news., 1900-11-24
LETTERS FROM PHILIPPINES.
TWO VALDosTA BOYS WRITE OF
THEIR EXPERIENCES.

They We're with Company y of the
Twcnty-ninth Regiment which
was Captured on the Island of
Mnrinduaue-Intcres Advent
ures of the Georgia Boys with
That ComnRnd-EHcItIaE Inca
dents Of Life tn the Army.
Naldosta. Ca, Nov. ain ifs next issue
the Times will print two letters from
members OF Company F. Twenty-uinth
Regiment. which was captured by the in
surgents on the Island Of Martinique.
Philippine Islands. on Sept -. one OF
the letters Is from ouartermaster Barney
Harrcll OF this city. who was in the siege
al Santa Cruz. ana the other h from
Corporal Tom Williams. who was one OF
the captured men.
As these are the FIRST letters that have
come from the boys since the capture.
they arc fun of interest. The letters are
as follows:
Santa Cruz. Martinique. =. /.
oct. H. 1870
My Dear Mother-On Sept II my Can.
tain. Shields, and nfty-one men OF the
company went out on hike" looking
Tor Insurgents. on tho 18Th they were
surrounded IN a large cadyou. had hard
night Tor four hours against overpower-
Ing numbers. hid four killed and several
wounded. among them the Captain Their
ammunition gave out and the entire bofv
was forced 70 surrender.
This left only thirty-nine mon IN the
garrison. and as soon as this was Learned
We proceeded 20 move the government
property TO the church which g. SIR
rounded by q large high wall. The sane
ady one of our company died Of sickness
" hrn nWht caught us W. had m we'd
nearly everything from the comn4ssarv
quarters About . O'Clock o. m. a general
ati'ck was made on us from al four side.
OF the wall ~ once. We returned IRE
ana kept o. up for two hours. when the
enemy hnding they could not gain en-
trance reiterated. a large crowd Of no O.
men killed the president OF the town AMI
TWO Cinnamon friends. They dertroved
the eniite town around Us. causing the
occupants TO leave aud so 10 the noun
tainH. We were cut on from All com
municaiion. The nearest aud only com.
pany on the island. except ~. was ~, n
H-iwo miles across the mountaina We
made several efforts to get them word
OF cur distressing situation but every
friendly native that attempted 10 10 was
seize,i by the enemy and his head prompt
Is cut or.
This lasted FOR fourteen days. being ared
on By the Filipinos day and night The
only thing we could do waa TO wait for a
boat 20 happen along. In the meantime
We had four ~ che best shots in our sauad
stationed Ia the tower OF the church.
where they ala some very effective work
demoraliziuE the enemy considerably
Finally a gunboat came Hteamlng down
the bay ana We siguallcd 10 IL. ana the
following day We had two companies Of
the Thirty-cighth with us Al the pres
cnt time we have eleven companies scour-
ing the Island for our men. none have
been found yet
am assistant post quarterunaster and
did not 20 L. y. Rcnfroe IL assistant In
the hospital and wns left also. An OF che
other men from home were captured. Tom
Williams. Berry Nelson. Repparfi Casgeli.
Henry Haywood. am satisfied Tom VIII
Hams D. alright. as one OF the searching
parties found a banana leaf with his name
on a.
This rs the worst country on earth.
rain. mud. heat insects and malaria
world without end.
Corporal Williams Letter.
Manila T. l.. Oct. l6-I know that you
have heard about our capture on the 18Th
Of last month. / had the good luck not
20 get wounded. Every man OF Us was
captured -Four Of the boys were killed
and five wounded including Cart
Shields. who received a Remington ball
through his shoulder and a Mauser ball
that went In the back Of his neck and
cut q his mouth. knocking out several
OF his teeth and breaking his Jaw bone.
Most Of cur men were captured on the
evening Of the 18th after fighting all day.
Myself Berry Nelson. Rep Caswell and
seven others escaped. but were captured
the next evening about dark
We were trying 20 make our way back
90 Santa Cruz. but were surrounded in a
creek by about i50 Fillpinos and captur-
ed. There were 20 many of them that
we left out guns la the creek and went
out IN the opening with hands upliftel
10 surrender. but they began nring upon
as, 10 We rushed back 10 our guns and
returned the fire. After exchanging shots
FOR some time. one % our Toys fixed up
white flag out of an uniershlrt and
went out on the line with a. Soon
anerwar1 / heard one Of our men call
me and tell me that everything WAS ~
right" recognized the voice a. one OF
the men who was captured the DAY be-
fore, 20 We left our guns IN the creek ami
gave up lie was awful glad 20 see Us
alive. az we had been reported as dead.
The Filipino officers had all they could
DO 20 keep the bolomen from butchering
Us alive after our capture. They were
Just fixing 20 charge and KIN the ias
one % as. when the boy with a nag Of
truce ran out. We were KEEP prisoners
and fed on rice and an occasional piece
OF beef for jast thirty days We AtaAd