The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-02-11

time specified But that, tuL was IhwtOn'S way
There wore engaged IN III" movement troop
d flour different organihatiuns, the whole cunsltut
Ing Just about n Culunel'S m ~ n regiment
There were q battalion Of the Twenty seventh, ON
81 IA" Twenty ninth, both under Lieut. tol"ll'
Sargeant 81 the Twenty ninth, n disnlountel
troop n l~tckcttS Eleventh Cavalry, n mounted
squadron 81 the same regiment and three troop
Of the Fourth, under Col Iockett, and ! tr"l
81 the Fourth, the pony troop which has beer
IAwtnn'~ rrrsp nal escort IN all his work this sum
mrr, under Lieut. Cecil Stewart Part 81 th'
infantry Ntart"d from la Iona church AMI fafl
81 II from TN. amp lust this side 4 the pumping
station and IN the hills west n SantulHn The
cavalry went from the pumping station aud !
Troop was with i1Wtpn.
According To the plan, as OTIS understood II,
N" Troops were Ia move out from la Iona M
midnight II Monday, the 18Th. That %attetnu N
1t began 81 cloud up and look lii" rain Even
n small rain Is n serious business abol, her" When
a movement ~ troops Is IN contemplate N, ft u
very slight fail IS enough 10 send the streams
ping along hank full IN ~ time They
rS' liz" u burst II anger and are aS soon over H.
Late IN the Afternoon rain began t. fall, but IN n
| dnlIling halt hen rtrd way quite unusual, that made
| the weather SharpS wonder whether n meant
| business ~ not by u o'clock It had settled down
to an apparently steady and determined gait
and Gen. OTIS began o. b Concerned about II
| 4 the dinner table that evening he asked the pin
ions Of his. staff officers and two or three times
left the table 10 go out on the porch at the back
| 81 the palace and tax" u look at the sky. As the
rain continued and grew IN force he became more
| concerned abou, the expedition. and finally told
| Col Harry, the Adiutant General, 10 telegraph
La wtOn suspending the nOyemen Col Barry
srnt n message Al once from the office in The base
nIent Of the palace saying. suspend the move
ment until after the storm Acknowledge"
The General and his staff were slll sitting
in the dining room discussing the storm and
its interference with the plans when General
lawton Ger IN u acknowledge The receipt II
the order To suspend the movement His ap
pea ranc" was such aS to excite the enthusiastic
Animation Of all those who saw him. lie was
Of magnificent stature. almost six feet four, and
AZ lac stood erect saluting Gen Otis, he was the
embpliment Of admirable manly yigur and ac
tiylty. He wore the great white helmet which
was the distinctive mark N his dress in all his
campaign ming His face was bronzed by the
recent exposure u his hard work in the North,
shaded by a slight stubble Of gray beard. \
huge yellow slicker came almost 10 his heels
h. protect him from the rain His brY Nn eyes
flashed as he said 1.-The General that he had come
In person To- aCknOwl ledge the uricr Of Suspension
and Ia ask that it b. rrsCinded OTIS asked if
he did not think that the rain would Interfere
with the success ui the Undertaking aud laWtDn
replied that he did not There Was some further
conversation anu l.dNton SAID he did not think
the rain would continue very long ~ be very
severe. Then he surprised OTIS by saving that
anyway The troops ser" already in motion He
had intended g. leave his house at Z o'clock for
La Iona, hut had been delayed a few minutes
or he would not have been there e. receive the
order Now he would be ready to goat8
II was characteristic OF LAYTON t" start the
troops before the time originally planned His
object always was 10 get there and d. what was
desired. When 1t began 10 rain 1t did not occur
10 him to wait until the storm was over; he simply
went ahead earlier than he had intended. So that
the bad roads should not delay the real business
In hand II was always this way with him.
Gen. Otis told me that he had never seen such
a man for overcoming whatever obstacles he
encountered lie was always ready with some
expedient, and II a movement did not 60 as
II had been planned he sent il al ny in some other
way devised on III" spot and without delay lie
showed that readiness in the first march into
Cavite province in June. The original plan
was 10 send out two columns 20 swing down the
lake road and around Paranaque, but when the
green men In the PaTandque column played out
in the fearful heat ~l.awton Immediately ahand
Oned the lake shore end Of the pr Eramme and
concentrated his force against Paranaque.
The result Of his talk With Otis was that he
won his point and was permitted TO 60 on with
the movement lie left his house at o o'clock
and went out by way of La Iona t. SEE that the
infantry from there were going all right. lie
pushed on by them and struck the trail that leads
up this side Of the river from Mariquina. There
he turned south and met the cavalry which he'd
started from the. pumping statil N, on time. The
plan was that all the columns should join in front
Of San Mateo on this side Of the river just at day
light Then the cavalry under Lockett was To-
go on 10 the north and cross The river. swinging
down on the right flank Of the insurgents. When
their fire was heard the infantry was 10 r. in
for a frontal attack. The rain held heavily all
the night and the morning broke gray and thick
The different columns joined without the insur
gents having discovered their approach, and it
Viit tihViN 'hh' tu's "'hi " N'iHlh'NlS
SURPRISED.
The country on the west side or the river where
our men were Is rough and billy. The valley
varies from half a mile a. a mile in width, with
rugged bluffs. The flats are rice fields. Some
times the river is close 10 the western hills and
sometimes on the other side q the valley. Just
in front Of San Mateo II lies about IN the middle,
and the troops In order 10 attack in front had 10
move down from the hills and cross the rice fields
made soggy and heavy hy the rain. The cavalry,
screened by the hills. started north "a cross above
The tpun fT thA flank attack The infantry
waited in the hills. Lockett found difficulty in
crossing because the river had been swollen into
a food. 1t took him some time 10 get across,
and IawtOn grew impatient to begin, So he sent
the infantry in without waiting for loCkett, The
river was running bank fun II IL only about
nifty yards wide, but was very swift, and IN some
places deep. The insurgents were taken quite
by surprise. They had been in the houses in the
town, but when they IA the Americans coming
they ran for their trenches. and began n lively
fire from them and from the huts. our men went
straight at the crossing but found the river directly
in front Of the town too deep and swift. lapton
started personally To direct a Movement by the
right flank tua point further down the river where
he thought u crossing nigh, he effected. Several
memhcrs II his staff were with him. All were
diSmounted, their horses having been left in the
hills under cover. II was then about O'Clock.
With Iawton were Major Rogers, Major lee,
Capt King, Capt Sewell, Lieut. Fuller and Lieut.
Breckinrldge Of the staff. They were scattered
Breckenridge were near the General For almost
the first time since his coming 10 the Philippines
there were no newspaper men with Iawton. He
had personally discouraged them from going
with him, saving that the movement WAS Of no
Importance and that there would w. no news as a
result Of IT, Beside he expected 10 he back in town
in n very few days Al the correspondents were
expecting q big movement in 'aylto province
under lavton, and were preparing Ia accom-.
pany him. So he was taken at his word, and this
was accepted Ms just u preliminary fceler without
special significance. only one correspondent was
with the expedition, and he was III another part u
the field Al this time. As laNton walked down the
river Lieut. Breckenridge who was behind him,
was hit IN the right arm The bullet penetrated
the arm and went into the right side, spinning
BreCkinTldge completely around before he fell
The fire was from MauSerS al a range oi not more
thon 300 yards. Our men were IN plain sight If
the insurgents
When Breckenridge fell lawton turned and
walked back 10 hun. King took the wounded
mans head On his lap, aud Fuller ran to look for
a doctor. breckenridge thought he had a mortal
wound, but he was very plucky and told the Gen
eral that II was nothing much, at the same time
asking him 10 I've careful Of himself, as they were
IN good range aud sight II the enemy. Fuller
came back without having found the surgeon.
doctor. MeHnw hile lawtun aud Rogers were
trying To get Brecklnrldge into a place 81 shelter,
and doing what they could for hin. King found
Ir lSa riSley and brought him back tu IIrpCk
inrldgr with some hospital corps men and a lit
ter. laNton had picked out n place further back
toward the hills where there was n gOnd rice dixie,
behind which the wounded man would he compHra
tN ely safe from further injury, and ~ soon as tho
surgeon was ready he directed that Brcckinriisr
w. taken there, pointing out the place himself
The place where they had all brn up to that time
had seemed 10 hn very good, but WAS in reality a
death tran II WAS gully " hirh they thought at
first ran across The line II lire, but they found " hen
IN II that II was directly IN the line with a gang
II insurgents Who were keeping up a hot IRE
straight down H.
As soon as Iawton was satisfied that Brock
iurllph would bp we'll cared for ne turmoil upl