The National tribune., 1901-01-10
BATTLE OF MALABON.
CONTINUED from first page

| intervals nearly all night. No reply was
made to this. and most of the men SLEPT
without awakening, but it spoiled the
slumber of few who We're spending Their
first night in the trenches-men who sooI
got so used to these night attacks that lit
tie short of Il dynamite explosion would
disturb them at night unless on duty.
l learned afterwards that the E'ilipinos
at that time had the utmost confidence
that it was impossible for the Americans
, to capture their formidable defenses, and
it was the resistless charge of the Oregons
the next day which made them finally
realize that they could not stand up
against us in battle, and led to the famous
order of Aguinaldo, few days later, for a
change of tactics, by which the Filipinos
should never attempt to hold Il position
against Il determined attack. but should re-
tire in good season and take up another
position further back. 1t was always our
opinion that this order was unnecessary.
| Morning came and with it the brief
preparations for the fight.
The entire Oregon regiment had gone
| into the line in the place of the Kansas
boys, who We're moved farther to the right
and took a prominent part in the fight, and
on the right of the OregonS was a bat
talon of the 22d L. S. Inf, while the Sd
u. $. Inf. was held as a reserve. This was
Wheaton's Brigade My own company
was the left of the Third Battalion, and
WIS, tutEtlOlt Oh lnt eAlTtillt ltlt
of the entire army, my left resting on the
edge of the swamp, across which lights
cleaned i'll Malabon, q little more than a
mile distant.
In my front, and a little to the left of
the corner of my trench, was the nearest
trench of the enemy, not more than 100
yards distant. and situated in the swamp,
just across tile turnpike road, leading
| through the swamp TO the broken bridge,
which cut off entrance TO Malabon.
| was specially warned to look out for
sharpshooters from this trench, and eau
toned my sentinels 10 keep down out of
sight. About midnight | made an inspect
| ing tour, and found the sentinel in the
angle of the trench standing bold upright,
with his entire head ard shoulders ex-
posed and distinctly to be seen i'll the
moonlight. l ordered him down again, and
| had scarcely done so when there was Il
volley from the trench in the swamp, that
swept over ours, and would probably have
brought him down without orders if | had
| been but q minute later.
l then turned my attention to one of the
men who was swearing awfully, even from
the ARMY standard, and telling what he
| wished might be done TO the blankety-
! blank niggers that wouldn't let decent
white man sleep. l had to order him to
lie down again and keep still, as he was
| waking up the whole company, and he
geance in the morning. How much of his
fierceness and dash the next day was due
to his broken rest of the night before no
one cab tell.
| THE EARLY REyEILLE.
| 1t wanted an hour to daylight when the
| bugles rang out the reyeille and the army
was aroused. Already fires were blazing
at intervals in the shelter of the trenches
where the company cooks were making
coffee and frying little bacon. If the
| enemy had been ignorant before of any
thing unusual on foot, this early reyeille
would have been ample notice that some
| thing was coming that morning.
By the time roll had been called and
breakfast eaten daylight had come for the
darkness lifts almost like a curtain in the
| tropics. A careful inspection of arms and
equipments followed, and every man was
provided with $50 rounds of ammunition,
a pretty heavy load OF the Springfield vari-
| ETY., and then we We're ready for what
might happen.
The plan of battle was for Macarthur
| to set his entire line of 10000 men in mo-
ton, beginning on the extreme right and
making q grand circle or turn to the left,
with the hope of driving the insurgents to-
wards the bay and inclosing them in Mala-
bon, or at least getting them under the fire
of the warships in the bay The fight was
the vi the tAlTtDle
right, who moved forward at daylight, and
cut off a portion of the insurgents from the
main body and drove them eastward into
the Maraquina hills, and held them there.
THE MAIN BATTLE OPENS.
Almost at the same time the right of the
main line began its forward and turning
movement by advancing from its position
across the open towards the woods in
which the enemy were concealed. In a few
minutes they were under heavy fire from
the woods, and replied to it as they ad
yanced.
Once started the line never stopped IN
til it had covered six or seven miles and
captured every trench south of the river in
that portion of the field and in some
places had forced the crossing of the river
itself. 1t was the most trying kind of
fighting, though the losses were not ex
tremely heavy, owing to the bad marks
manship of the natives. 1t was a continu-
Gus advance under heavy fire from a con-
cealed enemy, who never exposed himself
and always ran whenever there was
danger of his fire being effectively re-
turned.
You can do almost anything with troops
that have a chance to strike back at the
enemy, but when they move steadily for
ward for six hours, under an almost con-
slant fire from an invisible enemy, they
give an VI toufdSt
| that shows the quality of the volunteer
army in the Philippines to have been of
the very best. Too much praise cannot be
given these men who We're fighting so gal
iantly and periodically thousands of miles
| from home, and after their enlistments had
expired.
The advance thus taken up by the
Nebraskas, South Dakotas, Kansans and
Sd Artillery was soon joined in by the
Montanas, the brigade of Wheaton still
remaining in position as the pivot of the
movement.
Up TO this time not a shot had been
! fired from the Oregon trenches We had
| remained in readiness for three hours,
! listening to the sounds of conflict on our
| right, and Judging Of the success of the
! movement by the gradual shifting of the
steady rattle of musketry farther and far
| ther to the front and the movement of the
| fight in our direction as regiment after
regiment went into action. Soon the three
guns of the Utah battery, that stood in the
trenches in front of Caloocan, began she'll
| ing the woods in front of the Montana and
Sd Artillery positions, as those Organiza-
| tons advanced across the open field in
front of them. They also threw n few
shells into the timber opposite the right of
our line, but not shell had been thrown
against the heaviest of the enemy's de-
! lenses, opposite our center and left, where
my company was stationed, when the or
der came for us 10 advance to the assault
| We We're, therefore. compelled to move TO
| the attack without the assistance of the mr.