The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1901-01-03
BATTLE QE MALABON.
tContihsei1 ff.m first pagc.>

against determined assaif,s, and this 5
another reash wtE- he builds it in the
woods, so that he can have cover while
u OF the aT miisgilR dpo / miles of trenches
havc seen in Luzon. have never seen any
III the open, except where il was abso-
iutely necessary fSsto build them TO pro
-ect the crossing of Il river.
The onySs 5mpsthey ever defended a
french up testhespsi,it Of personal contact
| was near Santa. Anna, on the morning
after their attack, upon Manila, when the
| Washingtons and IdahOs We're driving
| them from their investing lines around the
city. In. all their, warfare with the Span
| lardS they had never seen an earthwork
! taken by assault. Such an idea had never
occurred to them. and they did not realize
that the despised Americanos would have
The reckless hardihood to attempt such a
thing, for at that time they had mistaken
the American. carelessness and good ma
ture for lack of military courage and real
fy despised us as fighters.
THE BAYoNET LESSON.
The volunteers advanced, yelling like
Comanche Indians, and the Filipinos
| pumped lead in their direction in the aim
less way 1 have described. and also yelled
| in their shrill voices, expecting every mo-
|
and call it a good fight, according to inn
memorial CUSTOM. They did not realize
| their error till it was too late. With in
| creased yellS the advancing lines broke
into a run and rushed over the trenches,
bayoneting and shooting everyone within
reach or sight. That trench was a perfect
| slaughter pen. 1t was q lesson in the
American style of fighting they never for
got, and from that time on no Filipino
| trench was ever held against an assault
| long enough for the bayOnet to come into
play. The Springfield bayonets were such
nuisance in tripping up the men, catch
ing in the thick brush and pOking them in
the stomach when lying down to fire, that
most OF them were thrown away L do
not think there We're dozen bayonets on
| the firing line of the Oregon regiment Il
week after we took the field. There was
absolutely no chance to use them. When
| the Americans began to yell the Filipinos
took it for sign that the terrible charge
was coming, and it was Il signal for them
to seek safer quarters. | remember an in
cident at San Rafael while with Lawton's
column on his campaign to San Isidro. Our
battalion came into collision with n Fill
pinO force concealed in q stretch of timber
browning a hill 1000 yards distant, with
no cover under which to approach to the
attack. Our Major did not like the idea of
advancing under. fire so long distance
any execution, and SO he had an inspira-
ton. He thought he would test the range
of the American yell.
Turning to his trumpeter, he ordered
him to sound the charge, and the entire
battalion sprang to its feet and began TO
run in the direction of the enemy, yelling
at the top of their lungs. That settled it.
The Filipinos took TO their heels and the
fight was over. We. learned then that the
American yell had 4 longer range in Luzon
than the old Springfield, which a thought
full War Department had given us to pit
against the superb. Iauser.
A5RAcE OF LIARS.
The natural inference drawn from these
remarks upon thesi Filipino style of fight
ing is that he is al coward and has no
fighting qualities at all but this would not
be entirely correct. 1.-THE Filipino is quick
tempered and not adverse to fighting, and
wIthal has an exaggerated idea of his own
prowess, even after all his lickings by the
Americans. lie is boastful to the point of
disgust, and withal an unmitigated liar
His word is absolutely worthless even in
the simplest matter, and when there
seems to be no reason. at all why he should
not tell the truth This penchant for
boasting, and this universal and incurable
habit of lying. render all the accounts the
Fiipinos, from AgHinaldo down, have
given of their military successes against
the Spanards, before the Americans cap
tured Manila, and their relations to the
Americans and agreements and conversa-
tons with our commanding officers, abso-
lutely untruthful and worthless, and the
wonder is that any sensible American citi-
zen accepts them for truth against the
positive denial of our own officers, whose
lives are proof of their loyalty and honor.
As l said, the Filipino is quick tempered
and pugnacious, but not combatiye in the
Anglo-SaxDn sense. He is ready enough
to bring on a fight. and to keep it up in his
own style of ambush and cut-and-run but
he will not, and cannot, fight it out in
regular give-and-take style. One Ameri-
can with club could put to flight dozen
of them armed with just the same kind of
clubs, but the fight would not be over
when they ran, for they would sneak back
on him, when he was resting from his eX-
ertions, and whack him ON the head before
he knew they were there.
1t is no disgrace for them to run, for
that has been their style of fighting for
ages. Consequently, it is impossible to
infiict n crushing defeat upon them, for
they do not feel whipped, as we should I'M
der similar circumstances, and get to-
gether again for another fight from some
safe ambush or fortified position. They
have the quality Of persistence highly de-
veIoped. They are stubborn in their Sc
cretive way to a wonderful degree. This
is the reason why they have prolonged the
struggle long after there was any possible
show for them to accomplish anything
more than to annoy the Americans and
render the country unsettled and unsafe
to foreigners. This persistence and stub
bornness, and their peculiar military in
stincts and habits, render them adopts in
guerrilla fighting and give promise of
continuation of that sort of resistance to |
American authority for a long time to
come. AS to making American soldiers |
out Of them, l have little confidence in |
their use against white troops. They can |
be drilled and disciplined to fire volleys. |
and even to stand up against an attack, |
but when the crisis comes their instincts, |
inherited from generations of bush fight |
ing ancestors, will assert themselves and |
they will run.
| have often found it difficult to recon- |
Gle my knowledge of the utter laziness |
and purposelessness of the Filipinos with |
the great ingenuity and excessive toll re- |
quired to construct the miles upon miles |
of splendid intrenchments that almost grid |
iron the Island OF Eiuzon. | have seen a |
continuous 1fiia aof intrenchments lining |
the Rio Grandt.id de Pampanga for 16 miles. |
from which not a shot was fired, and |
have seen nifty other trenches absolutely |
artillery proofiics6 far as our three-inch |
guns were concerned, which were either |
abandoned befoftel .bur advancing lines |
came within iiriHe range, or very soon
ana Efaye been puzzled to I'M
derstand why they would go on putting
49,. 4 4