The National tribune., 1900-08-16

As soon as a regiment arrives in the
Philippines it does not always so out on
the firing line, but ordinarily takes the
place of some regiment which has been
doing garrison duty at n seaport city
or town. Then, when other regiments ar
rive. the method of pushing the older reg
iments into the interior continues. In
this way the regiments which have had
longest service, and which are acclimated,
are nearer the opposing forces Of the en-
envy, and the newer regiments are get
ting used to it on the seacOast.
The regiment to which the writer be
longs arrived at Iloilo last November and
performed effective guard duty for sew
eral weeks. while the older regiments
were pushed out into the field after the
enemy. About the latter part Of Novem-
ber. however, it was found that the en-
emy had concentrated ut Balantang, less
than two miles from llOilO, and that the
column which had gone out after the in
surgents was way up in the interior. This
gave the Stay-at-homcs their first oppor-
tunity.
1t midnight on Nov. 20. 1899, we
formed at Iloilo. about 2,00O strong, and
forLed several rivers to get in the rear of
the InSurScnt line at Balantang. When
at the flank of the enemy, their outpost
discovered our presence and opened FIRE.
1t was then about daylight, and we could
see forms of the foe rising at different
points, where they had been sleeping, and
began firing. We opened fire on the In
surgent bar1icadcs by company firing at
first, but it finally dropped to fire at will.
RATTLE ROYAL.
l have always locked back upon this
fight as Il battle royal, for the reason that
the several important results so deSira-
BILE in n battle were obtained in this one.
In olden times it was evidently estimated
that the results of big battle We're of
far-reaching effect only when many men
were killed or wounded. or in accordance
to the distance to which the routed army
was made to retreat; but in these modern
times the results of a battle are looked
upon differently. In the battle of Balan-
tang the results We're: First, the enemy
was completely routed and sent to the
hills without much loss on our side: sec
ondly. the ranks of the enemy Were so
demoraliZed that they were never again
formed. These results are far more eff
fective in the long run than the kind fol
lowing battle III which the losses on both
sides are great. At Balantang about 40
men on our side were killed or wounded,
and the number of the enemy killed was
not more than 100, or perhaps less. One
officer and several Of our men died on
the field, and some of the men Who were
on the list of wounded We're injured by
tripping over bad places in the ground. In
this battle at Balantang there We're no
important frontal attacks, such as the
English and Beers have, but when once
the enemy was started toward the rear
there was no turning back. The Insur
gents held their position at the trenches
for about 80 minutes, during which time
great many of them stood on top of the
earthworks, firing at our advancing lines
as fast as they could load and fire.
The native army had held this position
for several months, during which time they
had been hard at work erecting barri-
cades and digging trenches, all of which
were very good in plan and in engineer
ing design. But these trenches were of
little use to the rebels as soon as the
American charge began. The American
advance had been well planned and was
carried out as designed. The writer had
position at the extreme left of a skirmish
line which extended over about one mile
of level ground, and the appearance of
this line as it alternately advanced. halt
ed to fire, or went forward by rushes in
sections, was the best military picture