The times., 1900-04-01

port of Their NaIor-A Fine Equip
mcnt OF Oriental Rough Riders.
"The Nacahebes are strong race. faith
ful and loyal. home-loviug and quiet in
disposition. natural born soldiers. and The
ideal nghlius men for campaigns in the
Philippines"
First Lieut. Matthew s Bat~ou. Of The
Fourth United States Cavalry. paid The
above brief tribute TO tine race uf natives
OF the Island OF Luzo8 Who have rendered
such excellent service as scouts With The
American army u the Philippines. Lieu
tenant Baison is uuU in Washington in-
valided home iu consequence of 81 wound
In his left fout received while leading bis
Fighting Na.abebc Scouts as they are
called. against the insurgents u northern
Luzon
The Maoabebes" said Lieutenant Bat
son. are The most intelligent of auy Of
the native tribes Of The Philippines They
reside IN the southern part of Jhe Province
OF Pampauga, about Gfy miles north Of
Manila Their country is about thirty
miles in area. lying south of the Manila
and Dagupan Railroad. and west OF the
Rio Grande and san Fernando Rivers and
extending down 10 the northern part Of
Manila Bay.
There are about 10000 people in The
tribe. and their alcaide or governor. is
Pacia Sauches. an intelligent youug man
about thiIty-fve years OF age. He rules
his people kindly but firmly. and they are
devoted to him. The Nac3bebes were never
in insurrection against Spain. In fact,
2 oO0 OF them were enlisted in the Spanish
army. and their colonel Blanco. is row an
officer IN the Spanish army and was about
leaving for Spain when ] left Manila.
The MaCsbebes are darker IN color than
the Tagalos, being a dark chocolate in
color with high check bones and straight
hair. The men are about FIVE feet four
inches in height and wiry little fellows
who can outstrip a cavalry horse on the
march and 1--we of the country as they 90
Along.
Enlisted i'm the service.
When ] accompanied General Lawton I
on an expedition into Pampauga Province 1
last spring we found the Macabebes Tight 1
ing the Tagalos, who were rowing their F..
country plundering the natives and burn /.
ing the villages The Macsbebes welcomed .
our troops. furnished them with what I
provisions were TO be had. and swore allie .
glance TO the United States. They have
remained loyal ever since.
When the campaign into northern
Iuzou was being planned in August Of
last year. ] suggested to General Lawton
that the Macabebes be enlisted as scouts.
He approved Of the plan. ami General
Otis gave the necessary permission and
issued orders for the arms and clothing
20 be turned over 10 me.
In September 7 raised the first company
Of Nacabebe scouts. uniforming them in
khaki trousers. blue gingham shirt. and
bamboo hats with blue bands. on which
were brass eagles They were given the
cavalry cdrbine and O web cartridge belt.
and finer lot of rough-and-ready fighters
never saw
In the first campaign they proved Of
such great value that / was given orders
10 organize more companies. / raised $40
men 100 of whom we're sent TO General
Macarthur and the remainder Z retained
as an advance guard for General LaWtOu
division which started through northern
Luzon. In the first days march through
the wilderness these Mscabebes made
thirty three miles in the rain. over the
widest country ] have ever seen. They
carried their own provisions IN canoes. and
V
were placed on the backs o. unsrm-d
Naoabehes who kept up with the armed
scouts In the whole campaign the Maca-
bebes carried their own rstions and Tough,
their way as they went along.
Gen s B NJ Young with his Third
Cavalry. were with LaWtou. bur he Macl-
bebes uuts,ripped them. ana with three
ponies was hardly able tC Keep mp with
them.
..--b. ,fs.,l.sl,-- ,,-ero not 1nI, Gphrfng
for the United States flag but for their
own country as the insurgents were TAX
iug every opportunity 20 ourn their homes
aud murder their families. And how they
did fight,
''Wc acted ss an advance guard and also
as nankers for Lswton's column. and
though many ambuscades were laid for us.
the Nacabebes never failed TO discover
them and by the time the main column
came up the insurgents position vas well
known and the tight was over in very
brief time Besides acting as an advance
and A. nankers ] made frequent eNcur-
sions to each side OF the main column, and.
with my scouts we broke up many rowing
bands OF insurgents which were preyiuE
upon the peaceable natives
Good AT Close Fighting.
While the Macabcbes were fairly good
shots it was at hsnd-to-hand fighting that
they encelled. Creeping through he cane
brakes. taking advantage o. every tree,
hollow. and even bunches Of wild grass.
they would glide forward rapidly. firing
as they advanced. and when within a hun
dred yards Of the entrenched insurgents
would dash up with q yell snd begin a
hsnd-t hand battle with the enemy.
They were armed only with the cav
IL a. kthf he o.
los. spears and knives, but the Macabebes
had the grit and would win every time. ]
have seen them charge three times their
number Of eutreuehed insurgents and have
never seen them defeated As a sample Of
their fighting I saw 8 little Macsbebe a
corporal named Dsmian Maria XIII three
N sureeuts in one trench all Of " hom were
httac king with knives and boios. il was at
lihutad near ArayHt. in Pampauga Prov
lnoe. The insurgents numbered SOC while
there were only 2O9 Macabebes. The scouts
charged and scrambled over the breast
works into a deep trench. As Maria landed
IN the trench he found three Insurgents
waiting for him The first one he shot in
the breast. he knocked the second one
down With the barrel OF his rifle shot tho
third n The head. and then turned and
shot the second one who had arisen and
attacked him with bolo. BE left them
lying and started in pursuit OF other FIJI
ipluos who had become panic stricken and
bed
They Gave No Quarter.
In their drst Gghts The Macsbebes took
no prisoners; every Tsgslos who did not
escspe by flight was left dead IN the
trenches They would argue ths, there
j ]