Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1900-01-18
LETTER FRO1 WILL BEADLE.
Many Interesting Things Told.
Condaba p. /. Nov. 81, 1899

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every other day and night. There are
only two companies of us here in this
town and it takes nearly half of the
men to guard all the time. There is
no danger of them black devils getting
into this town and cutting us up with
bolos like they did the Spainards.
They started into fighting Spain with
nothing but bolos, and now / guess
from all can find out from Spanish
prisoners that have been rescued by
our men the nigers would attack the
Spainards at night when they we're all
asleep and kill and capture all of them
and take their guns and then attack
some small towns where there would
only be one and two companies like
there is here. At one time the Insur-
gents had about 5000 Spanish prison
ers and there has been several rescued
by our men aud lots of them have died.
Those Spanish in the natives hands
have surely seen hard time. AT
the present time the natives have about
1000 Spanish prisoners and twenty
eight white soldiers and niggers from
our army.
There is one thing that want
to tell you about. You know
awhile back when so many recruits
came over here there was thirty nine
men came to my company to fill vacan-
cies and to make up for men discharged
on account of wounds. There was one
young man in the bunch about twenty
two years old. He was with the com
pany about one month learning to drill
and to live soldiers life and as soon
as that man returned for duty and did
one guard he got drunk, was put in
the guard house and got sentenced to
six months in the guard house and got
sixty dollars fine. My captain released
him but did not knock off the fine
Well, he was out of the guard house
one day. He went down to the river,
crossed it, deserted and went to the
Insurgent army. Learned by a native
that he was working one of Aggie's big
guns at Tarlace. Oh when that letter
his mother wrote him that came to the
company in today's mail gets back to
her lit was marked if not called for in
ten days return to Mrs. Il. Tugent,
New York City, and it was returned
marked in big red letters, deserted.
what will she say? That will break
ter heart
Well, today is my seventeenth
birthday and l have been in the
army nearly a year. Iweigh about $50
pounds thin dressed. 1 see that the
boys are going to have a fine reception.
i suppose my regiment will get about
as much OF a reception when we get
back as we did when we left. The
tramps in the box cars did not even
come to the doors to see us when our
train passed. You see we are regular
soldiers and every man a soldier to the
back bone. We ask for no praise. We
like the volunteers, raised our right
hand to God and solemnly swore to
stand by Uncle Sam at any and all
times. We got no praise on the south
line when we charged ..the niggers
trenches and took Pasig. There were
some new made graves up on the hill.
We could see the boys wrap them up
in blue blanket and the stars and
stripes wrapped around them and
buried without even wooden box,
and the little volley of krags rang out
override newImade grave, and heard taps
sounded. What did that mean? just
some regular soldier laid to rest. What
credit did we get at the bayonet charge
of the 22nd U. s. Infantry at Malinta
Hill where our brave Colonel Egbert
fell MORALLY wounded and died few
minutes later? Several other men bit
the dust the same day. As / walked
up throughssthe niggcr's trenches on
the hill after the fight who did / see
lying on the ground shot through the
head and dying? He lived half an
hour or so. 1t was my best friend in
the regiment from company i. There
laid the first sargent of company l.
dead, and not ten feet away lay q man
from the South Dakotas with his stom-
ach shot to pieces. The ambulances
were kept busy all night getting the
wounded to the rear. Ii was the day
before that we bad two men shot in my
company, one through the leg and the
other through the chest. They were
simply regulars. You can see by
looking twice at the papers Private
so and so killed at such place" but
unless you look twice couldn't see it,
it is so small. l have read letters
written by some volunteers saying that
Otis was keeping the regulars around
Manila and rushing the volunteers to
the front. can tell you several
instances when they knew there was a
hard fight up that the regulars were
run in at night and the volunteers sent
to the rear as reserve. Such was the
case at Calloolan, the volunteers were
moved out at night from the trenches,
the regulars took their place in the
advance on the natives trench about
eight hundred yards away. The next
day through an open rice field the Bird
U. s. Artillery as Infantry on the
left Of Calloonan and the 22nd on the
right, the 3rd U. s. Inf. on the right
of us and the 9th ARTILLERY strung out
at different points where it was best
needed. have found out from a,Philip-
Pine that was in the fight that there
were 5000 insurgents strung out there
at the town for few miles. They out
numbered us three TO one. / do not
know the loss of the Bird artillery that
was acting as Infantry earring rifles.
They had very heavy loss. There was
some knocked out of their four
companies. They were regulars. You
heard nothing about it. Well, l guess
1 will bring my letter to aclose, hoping
to hear from you soon.