The National tribune., 1901-01-10

! up its eight feet of Shiny mud, only to ind
| that the defenders had fled into the brushy
swamp and disappeared.
At this point my company split, my
| First Lieutenant conducting the first pla-
toon around the trench to the right, and
| my First Sergeant taking the second pla-
| toon around it to the left. L went to the
left also. Our ignorance of the topography
| of the ground over which we were to dd-
vance, growing out of the fact that we had
gone into the trenches after dark the night
before, and had been gi7-en no information
Of what was i'll front OF US, made this
split i'll my company Il permanent one, for
the first platoon continued along the edge
of the swamp as the extreme flank of the
main line advancing north and my diver
sion to the left took me upon the turnpike
leading west to AIalabOn, so that / was
! advancing at right angles with the main
line and the swamp was continually
widening between us, the brush on both
sides cutting off my view.
We were met with heavy fire from the
brush on both sides of the road, by the
FilipinOS retreating towards Malabon from
the trench we had just captured, and by
others behind trenches across the bayou,
constructed so as to pour direct fire
down the road along which we were adj
yancing. We made several rushes, lying
down every 80 yards to fire few yolleys
into the brush bordering the road in our
front, and then jumping up and me king
another rush of 30 yards.
In this way we had worked along dis
lance of 400 yards from the edge of the
swamp, when | finally realized from the
| receding sound of the firing to my right
that the main line was getting farther and
farther away from us. L decided to adj
vance no further, but as we We're doing
important work in engaging the attention
of the strong force on our flank, whose
fire had caused considerable loss to our
main line. | remained there for an hour
longer and kept up the firing.
IN \ TIGHT PLACE.
BY this time there were but a dozen of
us left some having been killed farther
back and others having stopped to aid the
wounded. We lay without any protection
whatever on the open road, an unsoriable
swamp on either hand, in which was a
ridge covered with trees that would have
made a good protection if we could have
reached it. | shall never forget the cool
ness and courage of this little handful of
men, lying there under fire of not less than
200 of the enemy at 4 distance estimated
by us for sharpshoOting at 400 yards. Two
of them in particular lay side by side in
the middle of the road comparing notes as
to distance. allowing for wind special
persons to shoot at, etc, as unconcerned-
ly as though at target practice. The slOp-
ing bank of the pike afforded n little pro-
lection, but not much, as the pike ran per-
fectly straight towards the enemy.
| had here the only sharpshooting l did
during the campaign. One of the men had
been shot through the breast and after
crawling across the road to see him and
making him as comfortable as possible by
spreading his pOncho over him TO protect
him from the terrifcally hot rays of the
sun, his head lying against the bank of the
pike and his feet in the water, took his
gun and belt and went into action with
them.
My attention was especially attracted
by Il Filipino officer, whose head and
shoulders appeared above the trench, and
who was apparently directing the firing.
Telling the man next to me to fire alter
nately with me. we both kept plugging
away at him until he disappeared. Whether
we hit him or he got wise" / never knew.
1t WAS just as we were looking for an
other target that the man who had been
shooting with me raised his canteen to
take a drink, when a Mauser bullet went
through his bent arm near the shoulder
and through the right side of his neck.
L had sent n man back for ammunition,
as our supply was running low, and he
had not yet returned by the time | decided
to get back to the old trench, for l could
see that the men in the swamp were clos
ing in on us, and it was only q matter of
time when my whole party would be wiped
out. had remained as long as could be
of any service in keeping down the flank
fire on the main line, and now the problem
was to get away.
Two men lay dead by the road and two
others were so severely wounded as to re-
quire help TO walk, while | myself had
clip across the stomach that was far from
comfortable. l found that one of the
men, who had bullet i'm his thigh, and
has it there yet for that matter, was able
to walk with little assistance, but the
man shot in the arm and neck had lost so
much blood that he was too weak to stand.
He could walk il he was supported on his
feet. The rest of us could wade in the
mud at the base Of the pike and get partial
protection from it, but this man could not