The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-03-04
HOLSTERS SEE SERVICE
MANY INDIANIANS ARE IN THE
EIGHTEENTH U. s. INFANTRY.
That Regiment Has Done Duty on
Panay IsIand-A Tedious Wait Fol-
lowed by Active Movements.
of the Indianapolis Journal.

Correspondence of the Indianapolis Journal.
| CAPIZ, Panay Island via Iloilo, p. l.,
Jan. 22.-Nearly eight months ago 10 re-
| cruits for the Eighteenth Infantry landed
| at Iloilo from the affiliated Morgan City.
A large proportion of them were Indiana
men, not a few being from Indianapolis.
| In the succeeding two months several hun
| dred men that had enlisted in 1898 for the
| Spanish war were discharged under &c. o.
NO." and their places were filled with new
men. many from Indiana. so that there
| are now several hundred Hoosiers in the
| Eighteenth Regiment Of United States In
| fantry. Readers of the Journal may there
| fore have some interest in an account Of
what has been accomplished since then, up
| to and including the campaign that has
| just about ended
| When recruits began arriving last May
/ eight companies of the Eighteenth Infan-
| try, with regimental headquarters under
| command of Colonel Van Valzah were sta
toned at Jaro, the other four companies,
| together with the Tennessee Volunteers
and Battery G. Sixth Light Artillery being
| at noilo. Jaro was the real frontier and
| fighting line and the troops there were ex-
| pected to protect Iloilo, where was located
| neaQQuarIerS
| gade, Eighth Army Corps, the official
| source from which all the troops on
| Negroes, Cebu and other Visayan islands
| were operated, cable connections with them
| and General Otis's quarters at Manila hav-
| ing been opened. 1t was just at the begin
ming of the so-called rainy season Git rains
here about every month, but the heaviest
| downpour runs from June to November.)
| Quite a large portion of the recruits had
seen some service in the volunteer service
the previous summer, some of them get
| ting to Cuba, but the most of them know
ing no more about army life than was
learned in the Southern camps in 1898.
| After two or three weeks drilling In the
| essential movements of company forma-
lions, they were turned over for company
duty and at once entered the hard and try
ing duties that were being performed by
the veterans. Two whole companies were at
| that time doing guard duty in Jaro, one,
known as interior guard, patrolled the city
at nights and kept tho Inside posts What
was known as the outpost guard had a
long line of pickets along the Jaro river,
which ran parallel to the right of Jaro. as
| we'll as on various roads leading out into
the enemy's territorya Night after night
and day after day the men kept a vigilant
|
would try to steal into the lines. When
they were detected the sentries blazed
away at them. A shot on outpost
would bring a corporal of the guard
hurrying up to Investigate, while
the men in the guard thacks would tumble
out of hammocks. sling on their belts and
be ready to fight of any large parties that
might be trying to steal upon the city.
Most of the time # rained constantly.
Sentries, two together. would sit in the
darkness protected somewhat from the
steady downpour by slight shelters, en-
deavoring to keep the rifles on their knees
dry under dripping rubber ponchos. while
their weary eyes pierced the darkness for
the faintest shadow that might indicate a
"khakiak' Soldier for Filipino) was crawl
ing toward them. Now and then word
or two would be exchanged in low tone,
but silence was the rule, as the slightest
whisper might indicate to a boloman where
to thrust out and find a bloody lodging
place for his long, sharp bolo. A spark
from cigar or a cigarette would have
been an equally dangerous signal to the
brown-skinned foe. and the only solace was
a huge bite of plug" And while thou
sands of dogs in the deserted town behind
them howled and a million frogs croaked
the weary, rain-soaked men sat and fumed
under the incessant ''buz-z-z-u-p" buzz
z-z-u-p!' OF the most fiendish and blood
thirsty mosquitoes the world produces, not
barring the production of ice-bound Alaska
But relief came after two hours of 1t, and
the weary sentinels were at liberty to
stretch down for four hours, or until an
alarm called them out into the darkness
In each tour of guard the sentry had eight
hours on post out of twenty-four. Then
there was one day in barracks devoted to
cleaning guns, washing clothes, resting
etc, before his company's turn interior
guard. After that was over there came
three or four days 'in,' during which there
was only fatigue duty, and on mornings
when there was lull in the downpour one
hours drill with the company.
A MONOTONOUS LIFE.
But on off days, while the quarters
were as comfortable as might be desired
there was little to amuse Mails were few
and far between. Magazines and news.
papers were read time and again before q
new supply was received, and the patient
fellows found little to break the monotony
aside from cards. When our troops bonn
| DdTueQ anu CdpluTeQ llOllO the priests a
Jaro declared they would never cross the
Iloilo bridge-a point beyond which the
Spanish dared not venture. When on the
next morning, therefore, wild messengers
suddenly covered the two miles between
the bridge and Jaro and spread the new:
that the "Americanos were coming, the
natives were terribly frightened. Priest:
went among them and advised them tc
flee for their lives, asserting that neither
man. woman nor child would be spared
but prisoners would be shot down, the ole
and helpless murdered and the womer
subjected to rapine. So when our troop:
forced back the khakiak army through
Jaro across the river the town was found
deserted. people leaving everything be
hind. The monastery was taken for the
principal barracks, and here five com
| panies were quartered others going into
some of the vast palaces OF the nativ;
grandees. These quarters were comfort
ably furnished with beds, chairs, mirror.
and even pianos from the deserted homes
The exodus of the natives left the sol
diers in solitary possession OF the towr
| for months before the timid natives began
F returning. A few of the most venturesom,
| found that they were free from bruta
| treatment and fin three or four months
l every deserted house was filed and tn,
Mi cd h,rS dz H.,