The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-09
HAS HAD some FIGHTING
BANDMASTER HILL WRITES OF
THE FORTY-FIFTH REGIMENTS
EXPERIENCES
WAS RECRUITED IN ST. PAUL
Has Had a Busy Time Since Arriving
Last December FiIipinoS
Entitled to No SYM
Dathy.

Edward Mullaney, chief engineer at
the state capitol received a letter yes
terday from Bandmaster Thomas Hill,
OF the Forty-ffth infantry, which left st.
Paul last October for the Philippines
Inc Forthwith was one of the ten ad-
dltlonal regiments organized for service
III the philippines, and was very largely
recruited in st. Paul, and the entire
command was mustered at Fort Smelling
IN ADDITION to the interest attaching t
the tOrty-ffua volunteers because of 5hair
geographical birth, many of its on e.
are minnesota men, and we'll known in
81 Paul. Bandmaster Hin in hs letter
says:
suppose you are anxious to know
What *e have been doing siace we Iefc
tor lar oil Mania. 1t Wculd be iInposs-
PIE 10 relate all the experiences we have
met with at this writing. but | will en-
! 0taFor 70 tell You u the most important
ones. The trip from St. Paul to FRISCO
consumed i've days and nights on Pull
! Frisco, and prepaI ed as rapidly as pos
sib.e Tor service il the Philippines This
required about three weeks. Leaving
r ea-dlo Nov. 10 we marched seven miles
III QoWn pouring rain, and as we had
Rot so much as an oYeTco3t 10 protect us
We were all drenched from head to .oL,
ard boarded the Senator without a
change OF clothing. All we could do was
to gr-n and bear il and shiVer until The
sun came out, which kept us waiting at
least Iorty-eI3ht LOUIS. The voyage to
ioHCiu-u required eleven days a most
twice as -Cng as it should under favor bka
cCndlCohS- Here | visited ex-Queen
LII palace, which, by the way, is a
very 9eauufuI ST ucture, surrounded by
great Tailety OF tropical plants trees
ana n1EeIs. On ehe who e. the place is
Veri table garden spot It's only objec-
tioaaoIe feature IS = miserable hole near
which by the way, is the dirtiest place
/ rave struck yet
We left Honolulu on Thanksgiving
evening, and the rest Of our voyage was
very pleasant We reached Manila bay,
which was at that time filed with war
snaps and craft Of all descriptions and
rom al countries. We did not disem-
bark until Dec. %, 30 We had good OPP
loTt UNITY 70 see the electric and search
lights in the harbor and C ty Of Manila
NIlch was indeed treat to US after be-
Ing on the water 50 long. Before prO-
c"eding further / must tell you Of a very
rare sight that was our privilege to Wit
ness on the way over. 1t was an active
volcano IN nid-ocean. We could not learn
its name, except hat We were informed
that it belonged to Spain.
After disenbaI king Dec. % We assem-
bled a the quartermaster department,
where We boarded a train on the only
railway in the Philippines, 80 miles long
for Caioocar, nine miles from Manila.
Here l was fortunate enough TO strike the
old Third infantry, and the boys gave US
grand reception. We ali slept in BAN
bCo barracks which was quite a novelty
Tor US About 1870 d. m we rece we'd
our first baptism of firing. 1t was one
until clock in the morning. For
tunately this shooting was done by our
own men, who were net acquainted with
Inc country Early next morning orders
came to us to march to La Iona church,
about three and Cne-half miles distant
Here the headquarters Of the Forty-ffth
We're established, and We were given a
much desired rest for three weeks. al
though several companies were called
upon TO take part in the fight at San
MateO, distance of eighteen mics from
Boosted that it would be Impossible for
the Americans to chase them Thy
We're chased out with small loss to the
lost about sixty men.
We left La Iona Jan 2, and marched
back TO Caloocan. ard on Jan. tta (
the train for Manila. We marched
through the town to Camp Pasig, five
miles from Mania. After camping on
the camp ground We started Tor Imus
which was considered as one of the in
companies Of the Twenty eighth infantry
| and two pieces of artillery. they were
driven from a strong line of entrench-
| ments and Notifications. We thought it
would take four regiments to conquer
them, as there We're several thousand
insurgents in the trenches, which were In
some cases eight feet deep.
One grand thing our American soldiers
Gid that DAY was TO xiii i traitor by the
name OF Charles johnson, from Indiana,
| Who deserted from his regiment-the
sixth artnlery-tO be a major in the in
surgent army. When our boys saw him
he was not quite dead, and tried to dis
guise his identity by replying in Spanish
! to questions asked him. He was we'll
treach@rous hands from his face and
! asked him to account Tor himself. His
| dying words We're: II am Charley John
! sou, from indianapolis"
That night the OutpOsts were busy ex-
! changing shots with the insurgents, max
| ing it quite impossible for US to sleeD.
| ana we were glad that reYeille was at 4
! a. M, f9r We got chance to stretch our
legs, which Is impossible in our miser-
! able pup" tents, especially when two
men have to occupy one tent after cat
ing few hardtackS and bacon washed
| down with something called coffee We
! started through the conquered and IN
| conquered territory, pushing along until
we came to u place called DosnariDi!s
| the most desoiate locality We had encoun-
! tered. l was detailed to examine passes
or the natives who pretended to be
friendly The first pass I examined |
| found to be dated 1899, instead of 1900
and when L called the bearers attention
/ TO it he appeared surprised and returned
to the house from which he came Short
" after shot was fired from the hut,
! which struck just in front Of my feet
| ana as L was not armed, | thought if
/ best to make my escape as soon as nos
SlDle, as some more shots might come
| feet.
/ Our regiment was again ordered to the
| 'front.' and the band was left behind A
| lew weeks later We Joined the regiment
| thirty miles north, making one Of the
! hardest trips experienced since we have
! been on the island. Bull trains were the
only means Of transportation available.
! We had to wade in water up to our
! necks, necessitatng our discarding bIan-
! kets' and, IN fact, nearly everything ex-
/ cept ratlons and the carts themselves.
! Our feet were badly swollen, and when
! we reached the old Spanish barracks we
/ slept for the first time under a roof.
| rep. 10 we We're ordered to prepare for
! a campaign in the south. Embracing on
| the Tartar for NueYa CaCeres we ioipa5
| the Fortieth infantry, two Companies If
! the Ihlfty-SeYenth and one battery of
| arullery. When we attempted to land
| the insurgents pat up a stiff fight but
cur boys, after killing $50, took the town
| G YIN a loss OF Two Americans killed and
| n1teen wounded. Here we found papers
| belonging to the insurgent general which
! enabled US to form a very close estimate
or the enemy's numbers and the eyten4
| OIL their equipment.
! our regiment has been fighting steadily
every day, and, as a result, has cleare1
| out the insurgents, killing a few every
| day, although our officers offer them ar.
don flrst L am satisfied that there ONLY
| remains at this time in the insIIrgent
a menace to civilization. There NAV be
| few who are fighting for what they
think IS right, but they are few indeed
! From what 1 see of the prisoners I be-
HeVe that no amount Of good treatment
| or anything else would satisfy them
| They are natural murderers and thieves
| of the deepest dye. They have no Whifs
| mans sympathy, at least in these isl.
ands. They are not fighting for free
| dom, but under that cloak are killing al,
1 a x1ToO II