The times., 1900-04-01

/ to have Joined The TagaIos and in a fight
my men captured a few prisoners and
! among them the reported deserier. Thev
. put him 10 irons and brought him to me
20 be shot The fellow protested his in
nocence and said he had been captured
and made slave by the insurgents. ! in
vestigaJed his case and secured from some
insurgent officers copy Of an order trans
terring the fellow from one officer to an
4 other. With this paper [ was able to con-
. vince the Macabebes Of their comrades In
. nocence and he was set free and made one
Of the best fighters Of the whole 500.
AFTER ] WIS wounded ! returned to Ma
uila on a gunboat and was in the hospital
Tor several weeks. Just before leaving the
4 island I went out 10 pay of the scouts and
received an enthusiastic welcome They
did not want me 10 leave them and lots Of
them cried as I said good-by ] was deep
ly touched al their devotion. I believe there
are no better soldiers anywhere than those
little Macabebe scouts.
After Lieutenant Barton was wounded
Capt Wilher E Wilder was placed in com
mand OF the Macabebes and they have con
tnued doing excellent work as scouts.
though they have not had the opportunity
10 fight they had while General Lawtuu
was alive and leading the campaigns
against the insurgents. General LaWton
was greatly impressed with these scouts
and had he lived there is reason to believe
that more Of them would have been organ
lied into companies and distributed among
the different commands
Prom their long association with the
Spaniards The Macabebes have become
much better educated than the other tribes
Fully 30 per cent OF them speak Spanish
and many OF them can read and write
/ Their only salvation lies in the success Of
I the American Army in subduing he re-
bellion As a withdrawal OF the troops be-
Z fore the iusurreetion was crushed would
mean an invasion Of the Macabebe country
+ by the Tagale aud the destruction 0f their
homes and crops
plan is said 10 be under consideration
by he War Department 10 raise about
. 600 Macabehe troops and us, them IN all
parts OF LUzon and Ia the other Islands
/ Lieut. Batsou viii be IN Washington Tor
/ several weeks preparing d report of his
3 operations with the scouts and when that
. Is finished if the wound in his foot has
. healed be Will probably be sent back to
Manila with orders 10 raise and equip a
regiment from the heroic tribe Lieu
I tenant Bajson is typical cavalry officer
/ about - feet 10 inches in height of spare
/ build but strong and WHY and able 10
T stand the hardships of an arduous cam
T paign He was born in Carbondalc H.
+ and is about thIrty-hyc years old. He en-
] tered the Army AS a private Of The Second
/ Cavalry April =. 1855. and served three
years as private and corporal in Troops
/ u aud O. He became a second lieutenant
/ in The Ninth Cavalry August . 1891 aud
7 first lieutenant Of the Fourth Cavalry July
7 g. 1895. h graduated from the Infantry
and Cavalry School in 1880 and is consid-
cred one of the most efficient officers in
/ the cavalry. He was with General Lawton
al san Juan and El Csney. acting as topo-
graphical officer al both battles scouting in
advance Of the main body OF troops He
went to Manila on General Wheeler stan
in January. 1899. but later Joined his regi-
meut The Fourth Cavalry and afterUard
raised the Macabebe scouts.
The reports received al the Wa Depart
meut o! the campaigns against the l1sur-
gents are very complimentary OF this Off
Ger. He was wounded IN the left foot al
ArluEay while endeayOring 10 find ford
across the river on the other side Of which
900 insurgents were inreuched Going for
ward 10 find a ford mounted on a white
pony. be made conspicuous target al
which the rebels poured a CALLING fire lie
remained IN he open until the ford as
found and though wounded charged with
his men and routed the enemy.
The esteem 10 which be is held by Cen
eral OGs is shown by the follow ing tele-
gram sent 10 the Secretary Of Wai last
4 December and printed in The Evening
I Times December a.
Manila. Dec. l4-Lieuteuam Bat-on
Fourth Cavalry, organized iour large com
uEnios OF Magabebc scouts: had advance OF
Lawtol'- troops and attended Young
cavalry northwestern LuZoB BatsOU lead
iuR with conspicuous gallantTy in ceveral
hard fought engagements. on November
- was seriously wounded in the foot; am
putstion probably necessary. Can he not
I receive majority 10 some STAFF corps Us Ie-
ward for efficient services. OTIS