Gilpin observer., 1900-05-17

surrectos. a force of Spanards consisting
of about fifty people
The commanding officer of the Yorktown
on April H. 1892 sent for me and said
he wished me to take charge of a boat
the following morning, to land this officer
and man, and then to protect them, II
necessary, by a display of force. These
men were to be landed at small cove
to the eastward of the river running past
the town of Baler The commanding Of
fcer directed not to land, but to as
certain the depth of the river at its mouth
ana, If necessary, to make demonstra-
tion to throw the insurrectos off the track
of the two men.
About 4:2o in the morning I left the
ship with the second cutter-the officer
and man as passengers. The boat was
armed with a Colt automatic in the bow
and the crew had their rifles and belts
filled with ammunition. We pulled in un-
der muffled oars, in the darkness, and
landed the officer and man in the cove
After we pulled out of the cove for the
rivers mou... . discovered that a sentry
at one of the numerous stations on the
beach had detected US. l was afraid that
he had also probably seen us landing the
officer and man; so in order to let them
think / had been searching for the mouth
o. the river, I pulled into the river for
about 1000 yards, taking soundings and
maKIng a rough sketch of the stream. l
knew that we would have to sustain the
fire of the insurrectOs coming out, but
trusted to the bow gun to disarrange their
aim. which at best is not good. I was
also of the opinion that this would
to put them off the track of the
landed
The left bank of the river was covered
with high marsh grass in swamp land. and
/ was under the iuD-ession that no ont
posts csuld be there The right bank
was steep and covered with jungle, and
from observation l judged that the insur-
rectos had only their stations the left
bank of the river. AS we neared the end
of the swamp grass, and I Just
about to give the order to return,
rounded bend ard came full an out
post, who hailed us and fired shot. Be
fore l could answer the hail, a volley
was fired at close range-about fifty yards.
The effect of this voley was terrible.
Swo men We're killed instantly, the brains
Vt one being scattered over the boat and
rrew. Another man had the fingers cut
IF his left hand, but stll kept bravely to
his post at the starboard stroke oar. The
itarboard oars We're riddled and most of
them ~nattered. The boat pierced by
the Remington balls and made water
fast AS soon possible after recover
with Colt and rifles The ambush was
SC complete that we could not see at what
to fire. not even the smoke. The second
volley thrSw the Colt out of action by
shattering the box and cutting the load
ing tape. The order given to back
oars, but only very few could be used,
the tide drlfted us in on a sand bank.
Three of the men bravey jumped over
to swim the beat out. but did not
coed, the tide setting us in.
The volleys were now roured in on US
from the left bank, in quick succession.
mcrtally "oundng two men and sesiously
wounding three others, and myself
eighty. At this time l was under the
impression :hat most of the crew were
either wounded er killed, as the bodies
Of the men who were i.lled and mortal
ly wounded had frllcn on the slighte.
men in the boat, in the bottom of which
they We're struggling. The boat was
covered with blJ)d, presenting a fea-fll
sight. The cries of the mortally
wounded. asking me to shoot them and
not allow them to fsll into the hands of
the savages, were Heart rendering AT
the same time there could be seen cor
ing down the right bank a band of
savages-bolo and spear men-wlth
a few Remington rifles l then gave
the order to hois. the white flag. This
was done by cLe of the men. who re-
ceived n ball through the wrist and
dropped the flag.
The firing from the ercmy now came
faster and / thought they intended to
massacre us. so continued our fire. We
were now hailed In Spanish from the left
bank by an officer, saying that II we did
not cease firing and surrender he would
murder US all | then surrendered to him.
IN bp ri In, IL
took us out Of the boat. robbed US. tied
our arms behind our backs with bamboo
thongs and lined u up ON the beach to
be shot. l protested against being shot
with my arms tied, and this alteration,
wsich lasted about i've minutcs probably
saved our lives. They loaded taelr rilles
and were all ready when a Tagal
officer came ort or the bush and ordered
otherwise. We were thea sent aboard
the boat. and after stopping mp the holes
made by the rife balls and pulling the
boat out, proceeded up the river
! now found that OF my crew OF four
teen men two were Killed. two were
mortally wounded and hclplcss. and three
were seriously wounded. We pulled up
the river some distance probably ii
quarter of milc-whcn our i.unrds ran
the boat into shore made us discmbark
and started to march MS Inland to the
town OF Bnlcr We wished to take the
bodies of the dead out OF the boat. but
were not allowed to do SO. Tho bodies Of
the two mortally wounded men we were
allowed TO take out of the boat. place In
the shade and make them ns comfortable
ns possible The officer assured me that
he would send down medical attendance
to them. but In my opinion no medcnl
attendance would have saved them, rs
they were dying as we left. We were
allowed TO carry the seriously wounded
along with US. and we then marched to
tho commandants office and underwent
examination. After the examination we