Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-01-16
Americans Showed the
Greatest Calamity.
MARCHED UP A TRAIL
Which Was Thought to be impossible
by the Spaniards--Then the Soldiers
Climbed up a Steep Cliff by the
Aid of Brush.

Manila, Dec. II. via san rraneiseo'
Ian. 16.-The Associated Press cores
pondent with March's battalion, pursuihs
A%cuinaldo through the MOUNTAINS "hmon
Spanish soldiers and writers nave sdlo
were impossible to white men seno'
from Bontoc the following account OF 'ne
fight Of December 2nd. wherein uehera'
Gregorio Pillar was killed:
..T,,a entire march of MARGINS battallon
of the Thirty-third infantry from GahooA
to Cervantes has been a remarkaule q.
nloit. With our depleted companies o.
Cunningham's handful of scouts the COM
mand left Young's eadquarters at an
don on the afternoon of November w.
Narch having received information on
his tourney up the coast which led to the
hetief that AguinaldO had left the COAST
road at Candon for the mountains lhsteau
of going further north as had Deen sup
posed. ~,
This information was confrmeo ny
General Young, who remalneu san+
with one troop of the Third caValry, SEN.
two other troops to occupy Santiago ana
then ordered March's battalion lnto
the mountains after Agulnaldo Inc
men had only 140 rounds of mmunltioh'
no rations and had to live on the country.
The four companies were commanueu w
rCapts. Jenkinson and Davies ana Aleu-
IaHdHJS lOlllRnlIlo oAAo
DAYS hard climbing the command reachsd
a point two miles beyond the village OF
Lingai, where the fight occurred. Ihefe
was a snake-like trail leading up the pre-
cinitous mountain side half way, up
the insurgents had constructed trencHes'
from which they could pour a oeauly n,e
down on the troops advancing up the
lower reaches of the trail or In the valley
below. C~unningham's scouts with Da-
yies' company were in the advance ana
were fired upon first. Jenklnsons COM
-pany went to their support and after eN-
CHANGING a few shots these troops walteo
in the shelter of a hill. The enemy con-
finned their fire and Jenkinson ordered
q charge around a bend in the trail. cap
tain Cunningham and Lieutenant NC
Clelland led the charge and as the men
rushed around the bend they came IN 1uil
view of the insurgents. 200 yards above,
who opened a well directed fire from
trenches and from behind rocks ana trees
Half a dozen of Jenkinson's men fell,
killed or wounded. within a few feet or
each other, some hit in several places:
Their comrades dragged them behind
shelter and March, with the remainder
of the battalion, coming up, the troops
sought what shelter they could, While
March sent twelve sharpshooters to the
tor of a knoll on the opposite side of the
valley overlooking the trenches. These
men made the ascent of the knoll under
heavy fire, but when they reached the top.
their well directed shots had the effect OF
making the insurgents careful not to eS-
pose themselves. March n directed
Tompkins to execute a flank
with his by climbing the sic OF
a hill LOCO feet high on the insurgents
left. Tompkins, with Lieutenant True
and fifty men, made the ascent or tnt
hill. by dragging themselves up with tht
aid of bushes and punches Of grass AM
reaching the rocks above found several
Insurgents there who fired on them, but
were soon put to flight. Tompkins Their
took a position overlooking the entire
rebel force and took them completely by
surprise as they evidently never supposed
that the Americans could climb an al
most vertical hill and flank them out o.
their position.
h mpa on the hill n tn,
shanpshootels on the knoll poured IN {
murderous fire and at the same tim
March, with three companies beloV
charged up the hin, shooting and yelling
The insurgents broke from behind tn
rocks and trenches and every other posi-
tion and fled up the trail and into tn
thick und erbrush and the fight was over
Their force was not large. probabl,
not over 200, but only twenty-five passe,
in retreat over the trail through Augugu
to Cervantes. The remainder were kille'
and wounded or escaped into the brush.
pillars body was found in the roa
where his men had been compelled t
abandon it. The bodies of six others in
Guiding a lieutenant were found but thi
was only a small proportion of their los
for a number We're seen to fall from tn
rocks and mountain side into an inacces
sible abyss below and bloody trails i
every direction showed where the dea
and wounded had been carried into tn
brush. The American loss was two kille
and nine wounded. Part of the BATH
was fought in the clouds, as a heavy mis-
settled over the mountains concealin
the trail. The two American dead wer
buried where they fell and the remainde
of the column moved on in search of tn
hiding place of the Filipino refugee pres
dent"