The Worthington advance., 1901-04-05
FUNsTO on s STORY.

FUNSTON'S STORY.
TIE II Ds ring General Tells OF the t;4p-
tire fef fAEuinaldO--A Nell-I4aitl
md Clever Plan.
Ef
Manila. March %. len. Fred Fun.
ston. no on March % captured Gen.
l Emilio Aguinaldo, when interviewed
'rhursdsy made the following state
ment concerning the capture Of the
Filipino leader: 5..@
The confidential agent Of Aguinaldo ar
rived February 8 at Pantabangan, in the
province sof Nueya Ecija, northern Luxon,
With letters dated January II. u and IA.
These letter1#were from Emilio Aguinaldo
and directed. Baldermero Aguinaldo to
take command a Of the provinces Of Central
Luxon, sulylanting Gen. Alejandrino.
Emilio Aguinaldo also ordered that 400
mem - AentEhim as soon as possible, say
Int that the bearer Of the letters would
guide these men to where Aguinaldo was.
II Gen. Funston secured the correspondence
Eof Aguinaldpss agent and laid his plans
accordtngly. Some months previously he
ssseaAs SA4pGuESO5Atue camp OL Tic Au6uI&sSuS
tgeperaatLacuna, incidentally obtaining; La
cuna's seal. official papers and a quantity
sol signed correspondence. From this ma
ftertal Two letters were constructed, osten-
stbly from Lacuna to Aguinaldo. One o.
these contained informal ation as to the prog
ressH Of the war. The other asserted that,
pursuant to orders received from Balder-
meHo Aguinaldo, Lacuna was sending his
best companyt to President Emilio Agui-
naldp.F Il sEE d .'*
His plans completed and approved, Gen.
Funston came to Manila and organized his
expedition. selecting Is Macabebes. all ot
whom spoke Tagalog 1luent1y. Twenty
wore tnsurgent uniforms, and the others
the dress Of Filipino laborers. This Maca-
bebe company. armed with 80 Mausers,
IL RemingtoEs and ten Krag-Jorgensens.
was commanded BY Capt. Russell r Haz-
zard. of the Eleventh United States volun-
teer cavalry. With him was his brother.
Lieut.. Oliver p. M. Hazard. Of the same
regiment. Capt. Harry w. Newton, Thir-
ty-fourth infantry, was taken because
Of his familiarity with Casiguran bay.
and Lieut.. Burton j. Mitchell Fortieth
infantry. went as Gen. Funston's aid
These were the only Americans accompany-
ing the leader of the expedition. With the
Macabebes were four ex-insurgent officers,
one being Spaniard and the other three
Tagalos, whom Gen. Funston trusted i'm
plicitly. Gen.: Funston and the officers
wore plain blue shirts and khaki trousers.
They carried each half blanket, but
wore no insignia of rank. The Macabebes
were carefully instructed to obey the or
ders of the four ex-insurgent officers.
On the night of March 8 the party en-
barked on the United States gunboat viclks-
burg. It was originally intended to take
cascoes from the island of Polillo and to
drift to the mainland; but storm arose
fhrao nf he
plan was abandoned. At two a. m, March
II. the Vicksburg put her lights out and ran
inshore Is miles south of Casiguran, prov
ince of Principe. The party landed and
marched to Casiguran. The Americans
had never garrisoned this place, and the in
habitants are strong insurgent sympa
thizers. Having arrived there, the ex-in-
surgent officers, ostensibly commanding
the party, announced that they were on
the way to join Aguinaldo between Pauto-
bang and Baler, that they had surprised
an American surveying party and that
they had killed number. capturing five.
They exhibited Gen. Funston and the other
Americans as their prisoners.
The tnsurgent presidente of Casiguran
believed the story. Two of the Lacuna let
ters. previously concocted, were forward
ed to Aguinaldo at Palanan, province of
Isabella. Gen. Funston and the others were
kept imprisoned for three days, surrep-
titiously giving orders at night. On the
morning of March II, taking a small guam
90-mile march to Palanan. The country
is rough and uninhabited, and provisions
could not be secured. The party ate small
shell fish, but were almost starved. Wad-
ing swift rivers, climbing precipitous
mountains and penetrating dense jungles.
they marched seven days and nights, and
on March q had reached a point eight
miles from Palanan. They were now SC
weak that it was necessary to send to Agui.
naldos camp for food. Aguinaldo DIS
patched supplies and directed that the
American prisoners be kindly treated, but
not be allowed to enter the town.
On the morning of March q the advance
was resumed. The column was met by the
staff officers Of Aguinaldo and q detach-
mentof Aguinaldo's body guard, which was
ordered to take charge of the Americans.
While one Of the ex-insurgent officers con-
versed, with Aguinaldos. aid, another, q
Spaniard, sent a courier to warn Gen. Fun
stOr, and the rest who: with II Macabebes,
were about an hour behind. Having re-
ceived this warning Gen. Funston avoided
Aguinaldo's detachment and Joined the
column, avoiding observation. The Taga-
los went ahead to greet ,Aguinaldo and the
column slowly followed, finally arriving at
Palanan. Aguinaldo's! household troops,
so men in neat uniforms Of blue and white,
and wearing straw hats, lined up to receive
the newcomers. Gen.. Funston's men
crossed the river in small boats, formed on
the bank and marched to the right: and then
in front of the insurgent grenadiers This
Tagalos entered the house where Aguinal-
do was.
Suddenly the Spanish officer. noticing
that ,Aguinaldo's aid was watching the
Americans suspiciously, exclaimed: "Now,
Macabebes, 60 for Them The Macabebes
opened. fire. but their. aim was rather in
effective, and only. three insurgents, were
killed. The rebels returned the fire. On
hearing the firing. Aguinaldo. who evident
ly thought his men were merely celebrate
ing the arrival of reenforcements, ran to
the window and Shouted: ''Stop that fool
ishness; quit wasting ammunition
Hilario Placido. one of the Tagalog ofi-
GERS and n former insurgent major, who
was wov1kd in the lung by the fire of the
Kansas; nent at the battle of Caloocan.
threw ns around Aguinaldo. exclaim-
ing: are prisoner Of the Ameri-
Col 81 E6n Villa, Aguinaldo's chief of
staff. Maj Alambra and others attacked
the men who were holding Aguinaldc.
Placido shot Villa in the shoulder. Alam-
bra jumped out of the window and attempt
was drowned. Five other insurgent off,
GERS fought.fo a few minutes and then
fed. making their escape. =
When the firing began Gen. Funston as
sumed command and directed the attack
on the house. personally assisting in the
capture Of Aguinaldo. The insurgent
bodyguard fled, leaving 20 rifles. Santiago
Barcelona the insurgenti treasurer, sur
rendered without resistance.
dously excited, but he calmed down unde~
Con FnnRtnn'S aRSurarce that he would bes