Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-07-13
|dENL. FUNSTON TELLS Of
| A(UINALDO'S CAPTURE.
GIVES DETAILS OF THE
TIoN THAT ENDED
RESISTANCE.
THOSE FORGED LETTERS
AND now THEY WE'RE USED TO
SECURE ADMIrTANCE TO AGtiN-
AIDo's PRESENCE.

F'AaA We
the facts relating TO the capture OF
A~guinaldo which were made public at
that time. Gen. Funston shows that
his entire plan of the expedition was
submitted to the commanding general
of the department of northern Luzon
and then was sent to Gen. Macarthur,
by whom It was approved. Gen. Fun
ston goes into details concerning the
captured correspondence from Aguin-
aldo and the use he made OF Cecilio
Sagismundo, who had presented himself
t o Lieutenant j, ID. Taylor, of the
Twenty-fourth infantry, with letters OF
Aguinaldo that he was to deliver to
various insurgent chiefs. Gen. Funston
gives the following account of the
forged letters which were used to de-
ceive Aguinaldo:
ION October "a. 1900. while scouting
In the vicinity of Gapan, Nueva Ecija,
had surprised the insurgents chief,
| Laeuna, In his camp and had captured
| among other things, some writing paper
which already bore his headquarters
seal. On this paper W letters were
written TO Aguinaldo over the care
fully forged signatures of Laeuna.
Zone of these letters was dated Feb
ruary "a, 1901. at Bulac, a place in the
mountains east of Panaranda. In II
! n aou,o aaIpou,IaJuad tbo rnnaint nj
A~guinaldols letters of January 13 and
IA, and thanked him for the confrma-
ton of his (Lacuna's) appointment as
brlgadier general. made some time pre-
| viously by ~Alejandrino.
at will be remembered that the let
tiers of Aguinaldo referred 20 had
fallen into our hands. Our letter in
| dnlged in the usual rhetoric employed
by the insurgent chiefs in their cor
~respondenee and gave a glowing ac-
count of the progress Of the campaign
from the standpoint OF Laeuna.
Another letter, supposedly from the
same place, but dated February %, was
| prepared, stating that the writer had
just received a communication from
Baldamero Aguinaldo, ordering him to
send one of his best companies unde" a
reliable chief to Emilio A~guinaldo IN
Isabela.
In accordance with these orders he
was sending this force under Lieuten-
-
ant Colonel Hilario Placido. The lat
ter, he stated, had been captured by
the Americans a year ago and after
his release had lived in Jaen, but re-
Gently had taken to the field again
when ordered to do so by Lacuna. This
was included in the letter, for fear
that Aguinaldo might have heard thai
Placido had been captured by he
Americans and had taken the oath of
allegiance. The letter also stated that
Aguinaldo's courier, Cecilio Siglsmun-
do was with Lacuna and would accom-
pany the column. These two letters
were dictated by me but written by
Segcvia. We were in possession OF a
number Of samples of Lacuna's sigma
ture and had previously succeeded in
executing a very neat forgery OF his
autograph at the end of each one OF
two sheets"
OF the actual capture, General Funs-
ton says:
1.-The Macabebes started up into the
town and we heard a few shots, fol-
lowed by scattered firing. We hastily
crossed the river and running up into
the town found that the Macabebes were
somewhat demoralized and firing wildly
In every direction. They were gotten
under control with some difficulty.
Aguinaldo's guard of about fifty armed
and neatly uniformed men had been
drawn up to receive the reinforcemeits,
and on being fired into broke and ran,
a few OF them returning the fire as they
retreated. Aginaldo, with his officers
had awited in his quarters. Placidc.
and Segovia entered the house to re-
port their arrival, and after a short con-
versation Segovia stepped outside the
house and ordered the Macabebes who
had pust come UP from the river bank
to open fire on the insurgents. who
were standing In line at a distance of
about fifty yards. The Macabebes were
so excited and nervous that their fire
was very ineffective. But two Of the
insurgents were killed, the remainder
in their flight throwing away eighteen
rifles and a thousand rounds of ammu-
milton.
LAS soon as Segovia had given the
order, he ran back into the house and
opened fire on the officers surrounding
Aguinaldo. He wounded Villa and
Alhambra. The latter jumped out OF
the house into the river and was not
seen again. Villa. on being wounded,
surrendered, as did also Santiago Bar
celona, Aguinaldo's treasurer.
The five remaining officers escaped
from the house and swan the river.