New-York tribune., 1903-06-22

At THE BACOLOD FORT
Pershing Describes the Battle
WOrked Ont as Planned.

Washington June 21-Captafn JOHN J. Per-
shing who was in command Of the troops at the
fight at Lake Lanao, In the Philippines. mas
written a letter to friend in the War Depart
ment describing the battle 1t has been shown
to Secretary Root. who authorized its puoiics-
ton. Captain Pershing says
l suppose your mail dispatches have or win
have brought YOU full account OF the Bacoioa
incident in reality the best fight or the MORO
campaign; not 50 many Moros killed as at Bay
according to some sort of system OF course, /
have worked this fight, as L foresaW ion-
ago that it must come and the wnoIe II tni"s'
from the beginning. worked out as planned
First we got behind them, much 70 thelr sur
prise and could post our guns above ana crop
projectiles down into their fort, so that the ar
tilIery fire in this case not all noise. We
had some work and some fighting TO gam thlS
nosition Cnce there it was only question OF
Sitting down deliberately and waiting TO see
what the Moros would do Many got away De-
fore the place was invested thoroughly
FIGHT BEGINS IN FLOOD OF RAIN.
The fight began in the flood of a rainstorm that
lasted till dark and accommodating was dIn-
cult So we did not find all the avenues OF es-
cane until next day and 1 am glad now We
didn't as they had SUCH confidence IN tnls 1or''
which they have been constructing Ior year
side and these escaped during the night The
next day and night We held them fast, however.
tried to get them to surrender. and had Two
talks under flags of truce No. they would fight
it out So there then only to finish IL
I called my officers together and gave eacn
one his work The main obstacle was a deep
ditch 80 feet wide and 40 feet deep, to be
crossed 1t was TO be bridged with fallen trees
and over all a bamboo bridge was laid Every
thing in readiness the assault began In ths
! face of heavy Remington fire from the fort,
the lines advanced against two faces or tne 1ort
putt1ne out of business every Moro that ap-
peared. They could not use their portholes, az
we had battered them to pieces, although We
could not with light field artillery, damage
the earthwork- The lines up to within fifty
wards the bridge was completed by Two com
panies detailed for that purpose. the trees hav-
ing been previously cut and nauled as near AZ
could safely be done
A BLOODY HAND TO HAND FIGHT.
Thirty minutes later the assaulting infantry
swung across and formed line on the bernie and
cIannbered up nearly in line to the top or the
parapet Here they met with kampilan
and kris and a bloody hand TO hand dght oc-
curred-one soldier against two Moros' here. an
other running his Oayonet into fanatic there
MoroS plunging headlong INTO the GeCp d1tcn IN
their impetuOsity and Impetus IL was.
whole. a scene never TO forget Too much can
not be said Of the valOr. the bravery. the couT-
age and cool nerve Of the American soldier.
The majority of those left inside never
reached the top of the parapet- 1t was relief
10 me that none Of our were killed Two d..
will lose an arm each The rest will recover
with honorable scars, but not MANNED. Ir was
the proudest day of my life.
Cholera existed in ali that section, and We did
not examine the interior of the fort until after
it was burned and wet thoroughly through. for
there were all sorts OF underground galleries
and passageways. Some officers in the assault
ing line counted sixty dead one floor and
Moros say there were more than one hundred
killed inside while the list outside has been
growing ever since the battle so that 150 all
told is a conservative estimate
MOROS EXPECTED VICTORY.
have Iabored with these BacoIod Moros for
wear through other MOrOs some of them near
relatives trying 10 convince them of their fool
ishness in thinking of fighting us, but they have
replied in insulting messages, and. In fact. the
whole Iaguna de Lanao has anticipated
verse for us The lesson. Of course. has been "A
savarA one foI them The old Panandungan Ca
sort of Moro title. meaning chief counsellor
soT1athins of that kind--in this case he had more
roVer rhan the SuItanl lost his life. and the
~ them that are left nave sent word that they
want TO be friends We burned nothing but this
main Gotta and a few smaller ones from which
we were fred upon and think the Moros all
see that our purpose is 10 De humane as TAR as
they will permit us
To my mind this practically settles the Lake
Ianao troubles. We. of course. must explore
the eastern portion of the lake for distance
tnat remains Yet unexplored. about ten miles.
I anticipate little trouble there, but there may
be one or two hardheaded old dattoS who Will
nut up their red flags The matter may now be
said 20 be settled There viii never again be
any continued opposition nor any general OF
positicu The sensible ones see that * is useless.
and several of their old panditas (priests) are
TO COLORADO AND CALIFORNIA
Hundreds OF summer resorts Low rates. Thrc'
train service Chicago. Milwaukee * St Paul Rail
way, Sl Broadway.-Adyt