Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1902-01-20
YOUNG hUMBY'S ACCOUNT
One of the Few Survivors of the Mas
sacre of Samar Writes an Ac-
count to His Father.
Thinks it was Worse than the Custer
Massacre, as they Had to Fight
to Get Weapons. ~
Severe Fight and Desperate Struggle
in Boats on the Ocean with the
S Wounded Afterward.

--t
Clifford Melmby, son of old Bill
Mumby of the Buford Tribune, was one
Of the few survivors of the massacre
of a company of American soldiers in
Samar, Philippine Islands, some time
ago. 3and the graphic account of the
massacre, the only one that has been
written by a survivor, appears in the
Buford Tribune:
s A few days ago penned few lines
to you to let you know that was out
of danger for while, at least. I
promised also to give you description
of our recent conflict with the
friendly natives at Balangiga, Sa-
mar. ...e.-
First, Samar is and has been the
hardest of the large islands of the
great archipelago in which to subdue
the insu1rection. Samar is very
mountainous and rugged, with dense
jungles, and supports a fierce tribe of
Indians.
Balangiga is on the southwestern
coast {of, Samar, on a fine harbor, and
at the mouth of small river, the Rio
Balangiga~
Company c of the Ninth infantry
was stationed alone at Balangiga, and
the total strength of the company, in
Guiding officers, on the morning of the
massacre, was seventyfour.
There was no large shacks or nipa
huts in the village, so that the COM
pany was scattered around the plaza in
three of the largest shacks. . The
kitchen and dining room were about
ten PAGES back of the main shack oc-
cupied by the soldiers, and a guard
walked between the dining room and
the quarters and one sentry paced to
and fro in front of the quarters, and
one sentry paced to and fro in front of
the quarters, and at the foot of the flag
staff. Another walked in the rear of
some Sibley tents used as a guard
house prison. Another was at the
officers quarters and the hospital. The
hospital and the officers quarters, by
the way, were in the convent across
the plaza from the soldiers quarters.
On Monday, September 23d, we
rounded up all the natives in the vii
lage and put them to work at clean
ing up the village and putting it in
good sanitary condition, they having
refused to do so of their own accord,
after being notified that it must be
done, as they were burying all the way
from three to eight and ten persons
day, and the village only having a
population of 1,500 people.
Everything went nicely until Satur-
day morning, when the native police.
with number of Indians, gathered in
front of each of the shacks occupied
by our boys. while hundreds of them
had gathered in the stone church dur
ing the night, and others had COM
pletely surrounded the town, intending
that none of us should escape.
We had twelve men on guard, as
usual, and they, according to regula-
tons, had eaten their breakfast a half
hour before the company. Mess call
sounded at $780, and not one of our
men suspected trouble, as the natives
always. sent their women and children
out of harms way before they planned
an attack. But this fatal morning
women worked in their garden spots
right up to the moment. Our men had
just seated themselves at the table
when burly fellow grabbed the rifle
from the shoulder Of Adolph Gamlin,
sentry on Post 2 in front of the mess
room. and before the sentry realized
what was up he was knocked down and
stabbed in the small of the back with
his own bayonet, and cut twice in the
head by bolos.
The. soldiers sprang to their feet and
rushed to their respective quarters, but
the natives had killed all the guards
and reached our rifles before we did,
but we rushed the natives SO quick that
IT was hand -to-hand struggle, the
natives using our rifles as clubs against
our bare fists, and doing us great dam
age with our bayonets. "
As ! reached the top of the back
steps to our quarters, among a crowd
OF natives and our own men, i came
face to face with the native who had
Just taken my own rife from its rack,
and / grabbed the rifle and tried to
twist it from his grasp, but unfor-