The Topeka state journal., 1903-06-22
PERSHING'S STORY.
Writes Personal Letter Des-
cribing Lake LanaO Fight.

Washington, June 22.-Captain J. J.
Pershing, who was in command of the
troops at the fight at Lake Ianao. in
the Philippines, has written a letter to
a personal friend in the war department
ment describing the battle 1t has been
shown to Secretary Root, who authoriz-
ed its publication. Captain Pershing
says.
Camp Wears, April p, 1903.
suppose your mail dispatches have,
or will have, brought you a full account
of the BaCOlOd incident. in reality the
best fight OF the Moro campaigns; not
SO many Moros killed as at Bayan and
Pandapatan, one year ago, but fought
according to some sort of system OF
course, I have worked on this fight, as
1 fores.aW long ago that it must come,
and the whole thing from the beginning
worked out as planned First we got
behind them, much to their surprise, and
could post our guns above and drop
prOjectiles down into their fort, so that
artillery fire in this case was not all
noise We had some work and some
fighting to gain this position. Once
there. it was only q question of sitting
down deliberately and waiting to see
what the Moros would do. Many got
away before the place was invested
thoroughly
THE fight began in flood Of a rain
noitering was difficult So we did not
hNd all the avenues of escape until
next day and 1 am glad now we did
not. as they had such confidence in this
fort, that they have been constructing
for q year, that they took many wo-
men and children inside and these
escaped during the night They next
day and night we held them fast, how
ever. Tried to get them to surrender;
had two talks under a fiag of truce
No they would fight it out So there
was then only to finish it
I called my officers together and gave
each one his work. The main obstacle
was a ditch 50 feet wide and 40 feet
deep to be crossed. It was to be bridged
with fallen trees and over all a bamboo
bridge was laid Everything was in
readiness and the assault began. In the
face of heavy Remington fire from
the fort the lines advanced agains1 40
faces of the fort, putting out of bust
ness every Moro that appeared. Ihey
could not use their port holes. as We
had battered them to pieces, although
we could not with our light field artll-
lery damage the earthwork-
THE lines up to within so yards the
bridge was completed by two companies
detailed for that purpose, the trees hay
ing been previously cut and hauled as
near as could safely be done Thirty
minutes later the assdulting infantry
swung across and formed line on the
Bernie and clambored up nearly in line
to the top of the parapet. Here they
We're met with kampilan and kris, and
a bloody hand-to-hand fight occurred
one soldier against two Moros here, an
other running his bayonet into tanat-
ic there. MorOs plunging headlong into
the deep ditch in their impetuosity and
impetus 1t was as a whole a scene
never to forget Too much cannot b.
said of the valor, the bravery, the cour-
age and coolness and nerve of the
American soldier. The majority OF
those left inside never reached the top
of the Darapet. 1t was relief TO me
that none of our men were killed Two
will lose an arm each, the rest VIII re-
cover with honorable scars, but not
MANNED 1t was the proudest day OF
my life.
Cholera existed in all that section
and we did not examine the interior OF
the fort until after it was burned and
vet thoroughly through, for there We're
all sorts of underground galleries and
passa geways. Some officers in the as
saulting line counted so dead on one
floor and the Moros say there were
more than 700 killed inside while the
LIST outside has been growing ever since
the battle. so that $50 all told is a con-
servative estimate.
7 have labored with these BacOlod
MorOs for year, through other Moros,
some of them near relatives, trying 10
convince them of their fOOlishness III
thinking of fighting Us, but they nave
replied in insulting messages, and IN
fact the whole Laguna de Lano mas
anticipated a reverse for US The les
son. Of course has been severe one
for them The old Panandungan ca
sort Of Moro title. meaning chlef coun-
selor or something of that kind-1n this
ease he had more power than the sui
tan) lost his life, and the rest of them
that are left have sent word that they
want to be friends We burned nothing
but this main Gotta and a few smaller
ones from which we were hred upon
and I think the MorOs all saw that our
purpose is to be humane as far as they
will permit us.
the Lake LanaO troubles We, of course,
must explore the eastern portion of the
lake for a distance that remains yet
E unexplOred of about ten miles antlcl-
u pate little trouble there. but there may
be one or two hard headed old dattos
who viii put up Their red naSs me
matter may now be said to be settled
There will never again be any continued
h0ppositior nor any general opposition
The sensible ones see that it is useless
and several of their old panditas
I Cpriests) are now preaching the unlVer-
sal brotherhood of man
1T is needless for me to say TO you
that I am gratified at the outcome.
From BacOlod north to Marahui there
were more United States fiags dlsplayeq
in the road ana in rancheriOs than [
supposed existed in all this country. 1
have been here nearly two years right
in and a bout the Moro country, in the
islands nearly four and can but feel
that I have accomplished something. I
think it the largest single success that
has been made in the islands. One year
ago nobody knew nor had seen except
myself the Moro in his native laguna
nor had they any idea of him nor of his
fierce. unconquerable nature. Today we
have crossed the lake and have prae-
tically marched around it. Without the
slIpport and backing of General Davis
and General Sumner I could not have
done this. To them. of course. as com
4 manders belongs the credit. I hope it
Will not fail of appreciation and that
they will be rewarded accordingly"
No Dessert