Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-02-16

Narrative of Sergeant George L. Doe
Of co. I. t"rd Inf. L. :. V. of events
that transpilcd from the time his
detachment was first attacked at
Borcngan, Samar. through his cap
tivity by Insurgent General Tukoan
until his release nine months Iatcr:
About / o'clock on the morning Of
March the detachment of eight men of
CO |. i3rd Inf. /. :. V left at
Korcngan. Samar, as a garrison. We're
attacked by about 80 bclomen and
nine rillcmeu. 81. Megno Arenis aud
his two sons. armed with Rcmingtols.
l. iTiirnOs and over 100 Chinlmen
armed with spears and bolos. and hlv-
ing three brass cannons. assisted Us in
defending the town. The attack was
kept up until it was light and then.
under a heavy fire from the American
soldiers. the insurgents Withdrew.
Number Of insurgents killed unknown.
but large quantities Of blood found in
different places indicated that many
|EerC hit. No more attacks were
made that day. bat the next morhing
about o'clock the attack was re-
reWed by about 500 insurgents with
81 rifles and three pieces of artillery
They opened fire about o'clock and
kept up vollcY firing until about 3
o'clock in the afternoon. our loss iur-
ing this time was one Chinaman
killed ard four wounded. 1t is certain
that many insurgents We're killed. as
We We're firing in broad daylight, and
al from 50 to 1C0 yards, and We We're
all good shots.
About > O'Clock in the afternoon we
took to boats and left the town. 5olne
in a southeastern direction. My crew
| consisted of Ferdinand W. Meyer,
Corporal Fred ". Allen, 34 Cinnamon
ana myself. besides thc sick ana
wounded Chinamen. All Of us were
crowded into dugout about 40 feet
in length and having two masts.
Among the crew We're three krags, one
cannon ana Il number Of spears ana
knives. As I could speak no Spanish
or Nisayan and the Chinos and
Filipinos could speak no English it
was very difficult to make my direc-
tions understood. \ short time aiter
we started we stopped on a small
island and got some cocoanuts to cat.
as we had had nothing for 36 hours.
the. boat | commanded became sonar
ated from the others, which We never
saw again. About , y. M. after tray
cling. as near rs we could tell. about
- or 10 miles. having favora bic
Wind al the time, our boat struck y
coral reef and capsized in the surf. AS
We had removed our belts and all un-
necessary clothing during the night
wear ana with only one bayonet ana
belt in the party. Private Meyer not
having removed his sidearmS. The
boat having been capsiZed in the surf
about a ha!f mile from shore the sick
ana wounded Chinos were all drowned.
an the rest Or the party reaching shore
safely. After stopping for a few min
ut"s to rest We started fer the town OF
Sanar. as one Of the C'hinos said ne
| had been there Before and that it was
Il friendly town. The short journey
to Sdnan was a very difficult one as it
was dark and the trail was unknown to
any Of the party. As we came out on
thc beach across the river from the
! town il was light enough for us to be
seen. and some natives Immediately
ran into the town and reported that a
party of unarmed Americans were
| coming. ! was at the head Of the
! party. Corporal Allen with me. dno
Private Meyer behind. as his feet were
so sore that he could not walk we'll ana
| had to have Il Chino on each side OF
| him to help him along. For TINS fea-
son he was probably 500 yards IN the
| rear of us. As we proceeded along the
| beach We We're met by party of .rom
! 80 to POO holomen. who Immediately
proceeded to tie the arms ot Cofpoidl
! Alien ana myself and the Chimes VINO
were with us with hemp ropes. tying
our arms so far back that they were
| soon much swollen and became very
! black from the blood not circulating.
! one Chino demonstrated. saying ne
was much amego" He was told once
| to keep quiet. and on making 1ufther
! protestations the natives became en-
ragged and struck him across the 'irIllS
with a bolo. cutting them through %
the bone and then tying them BACK.
I In this condition he marched II days
until his arms nearly fell Off.
As soon as the rest of the thiiioS
/ saw us being tied they started TO run
They We're Immediately pursued by Ii'e
bolomen. who began killing them d9
| fast as they could oVertake ti'th''
! Private Meyer could not run. ms lCe'
! being TOO sore and 50 he drew III
! bayonct ANA attempted to defend MN
! self He was struck four times with d
: bnlo. once across the top of his Hidu'
( twice on the side of his head ana oIice
/ across the neck. which practicdhy
! severed his head from his body Aoou.
! - Chinos were Killed here. Corpofd'
| Allen and myself reached across pe
: hind our backs and shook hands WIN
! each other and said. good bye" as we
y expected nothing but that we shouiu
be Immediately put to death. foi
tunately they spared us and took u
from here across the river into ti'e
town. and from there across ano-Hei
river. and finally confined us II
cave Here we We're searched an
everything we had taken from w.
even to the brass buttons on oui