The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1909-12-30
ln wounded save the susv,ylnx insur-

|1N wounded gave the surviving insure
gents something to think about. s
Today widows AMI oTlsiians maybe seen
wandering about the streets weeping. Yet
no expression OF regret Is heard. Tho
PROFESSIONALS admit their heavy losses and
estimate those OF the enemy at about an
equal number.
Story Of the Fight.
General Chamorro, General Diax, and
General Matuty first faced the nern
The tug Pioneer and Blanca, upon which
were mounted Hotchkiss uns half buried
in sand. steamed up = creek tributary to
the Mico river, upon which the village OF
Recreo Is situated.
For hour they shelled tho village. the
gunners maintaining great accuracy.
zelaya's troops frequently left the trench-
es, and. advancing through the 1nngles.
met the insurgents In hand-to-hand con-.
hicts. These dashes were followed In each
instance by a retreat to the trenches n
q forward movement by the PROFESSIONALS,
who cut the wire entanglements with
their machetes. In these brushes many
were killed or wounded.
General Chamorro, who looks .
typical North American regular trooper.
fought with frenzied vigor. General Dlax
~disdained, as did Chamorro. to take to
cover. Diax walked erect amid q hall Of
bullets. directing the FIRE OF his men, who.
however. he insisted should keep under
cover whenever possible.
When one soldier enthused by the ex-
ample of his commander, fought on his
feet. Diaz turned his pistol upon the mar
and commanded him to get behind q,
stump.
Char1orro Idol Of Men.
Chamorro, who has been fighting for 40
years., is idolized by his men. He swore
cheerfully when his troopers exposed
themselves and good naturedly pushed
them behind cover OF stumps and tangled
underbrush Charnorro was In active COM
mand OF the battle, Estrada having mere
ly laid out the general plan.
AS the evening approached, and the en-
envy still resisted after repeated assaults.
the insurgents wavered from physical ax-
haustion, but their courage never failed.
But for The timely arrival OF General
Mena 1t Is quite possible that the OUT
come Of the battle would have been
wholly different. Indeed at one time the
position of the insurgents was desperate.
Chamorro n Diaz had moved on the
main Notifications at Recreo and Tatum-
bla Hill, and Mena vas under orders to
Mena had moved up the Rama river. but
his 600 men were weak from their march
and failed to effect the expected junction
with the other armies of the insurgents
when the assault began.
Situation Desperate.
They counter roads knee deep with
red clay and overgrown with tropical
plants, through which they cut a way with
their machetes, but their progress was
slow. Chamorro became uneasy and dis
patched a messenger with this urgent
command:
Come quickly, or the day goes against
us!'
And the day was going against the
PROFESSIONALS. The enemy fell on every
side, but Chamerro discerned that at best
he was but holding his line. After dis
adopted the plan OF repulsing the enemy
when they left their trenches, but with
out attempting a further advance.
Mena realized the situation and instead
of satisfying himself by cutting off the
possible retreat of the government
troops, pushed forward for an assault.
How he and his 600 men got through the
intervening two miles Of brush the gem
eral has been unable since to explain.
They seem to have rushed so desperately
that they failed to realize the obstacles
before them.
General Chamorro had been fought to a
standstill and his men were we'll night
exhausted. Over the field telephone Com
mander-in-Chief Estrada was informed
that the situation was desperate and that
while his army was not defeated, vic
tory was not in sight.
Mena Leads Assault.
When the hour was darkest for the
insurgents cheers were heard and pres
emily General Mena and his scratched and
bleeding men emerged from the jingle into
the half-cleared plantation where the bat
tie was being waged.
without stopping for orders, and yelling
at the top of their voices. the reinforce
ing troops swept across the clearing to
the rear Of the enemy and charged the
hill at a point where no machine guns
had been placed.
The movement of Mena served as a sig
nal for a general advance by the three
armies of the insurgents. At a critical
moment the insurgents swept up the hill
in the face of a furious fire. Mena was
the first to reach the summit. At his
heels were his determined soldiers.
The defenders, depending on their rifles
only, were unable to epulse the attackers.
Suddenly abandoning their trenches the
governments troops fell back before
Mena's men, and charged the advancing
armies under Chamorrro and Diaz. Mena
pushed his attack on Gonzales rear.
In 10 minutes 1t was all over, but in
that 10 minutes heavy execution was done.
Scores were killed outright and the
wounded covered the summit Of the hill.
Hundreds of the enemy threw down their
arms and begged for quarter. General
Gonzales. to save needless slaughter, sig
nailed that he surrendered. Nineteen hun
dred prisoners were taken.