Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-06-08
Fighting FRED FUNSTONIS
EXPECTED TO GIVE EN- THRILLS

his landing, under General Gomez and
later under General Garcia. Both
these men were veterans OF the Ten
Year War, the hopeless struggle for
Cuban independence, which was final
ly closed by United States interven-
ticn. He was given a commission as
captain. IN the fall of Guaimoro, Fun
ston and his gun TOOK an important
part, opening the way in the fortifi
cations through which the victorious
Cubans took the town.
He was made lieutenant colonel In
the Cuban army. Toward the end of
the struggle he was wounded, captur-
cd by the Spaniards, and, wracked by
tropical fever, his recovery was con.
sidered doubtful. <... "A
1t appears that, at the time OF his
capture. he had in his possession an
order for parole from General Garcia
to the president of the Cuban repub-
lie, which had not as yet been honor
ed by the latter official. This, at the
very moment that he was explaining
to the Spaniards that he had come to
surrender, he managed to hide in his
LAOuIDS ~ IuaL OdRtOIS ulu 1AOI
find it. Consequently he was released
by. court martial and sent home. In
the Philippines, though lame from a
gunshot wound, his fighting was as
characteristically terrier-like as ever
He was constantly aggressive and pit
ilessly persistent; but he bora every
hardship himself that he compelled
bis soldiers to undergo and they were
devoted to him. Said one of them.
according to the Tribune, Colonel
Funston is proud of us, and maybe
we are not proud Of him! He is the
best little fighter in the islands He
Is always In the thickest of the fight"
The same paper comments on the diff
ferent accounts of the taking OF Agui-
naldo, and reprints Funston's own ac-
count Of the affair:
General Funston has told the story
in Scribner's Magazine of the cap
ture of Aguinaldo, a story that differs
in an important particular from the
versions eabled to the United States
from Manila. upon the return of the
EVicksburg to Manila. on March 28,
1901, with the hero and his adven.
turGus comrades on board. Colonel
Funston himself did not take part in
The sudden and unlooked-for attack
en- Aguinaldo's body-guard. and the
seizure OF the Filipino leader in his
quarters, as was supposed when the
story was published.
A Manila dispatch dated March %,
1901. purported to give General Fun.
ston's STORY Of the capture Of Agui-
naldo. 1t was a long story, and the
details were evidently supplied by
him. In the retelling they must have
suffered variation from the strict line
OF accuracy. FOR IN the dispatch ther0
occurs this statement:
When the firing began. General
Funston assumed command and di-
rected the attack ON the house, per-
sonaily assisting in the capture OF
Aguinaldo "
Another version printed at the time
says that simultaneously with the
delivery of the volleys' the American
officers rushed into Aguinaldos
house. T.
General Funston has now told us
over his own signature that, before
the American officers came up, the
ingenious tragedy was played to the
end by Lazaro Segovia, the Spanish
secret.service agent, and by Hilario
Placido, the drafted Filipino volun.l
teer who led the masaucrading Maca-
hebes and who seized Aguinaldo as e.
prisoner after Segovia had shot down
two of his staff, the capture being
made In a room Of the house occupied
by Aguinaldo. General Funston
says:
In the meantime we Americans
with our supposed guard had reached
the river, jumped into the banca wait
ing for us and had padded across in
frantic haste. Running up the bank
toward the house, we were met by
Segoyia, who came running out, his
face aglow with exultation and his
clothing spattered with the blood Of
the men he had wounded. He called
out in Spanish 1t is all right We
have him! We fastened into the.
house and introduced myself to-
Aguinaldo, telling him that we were
officers of the American army, that
the men with US were our troops and
not his, and that he was prisoner
of war. He was given assurance that
he need fear no bad treatment. He
said in daEed sort of way, is this
not some joker .....:... 49,. Ese
Two days after AguinaIdo was turn
ed over to General Macarthur at Man
la. Funston was made a brigadiar.1
general by President Mckinley
But while this incident is the most
celebrated of the little generals ca
reer, and earned for him the biggest
material reward, it was by no means
the most thrilling. There follows an
account from Scribner's in Funston's
own words, Of another encounter dur
ing the Filipino insurrection that for
sheer thrills far surpasses it:
For some days previous to this
time-February 5, 19SS-the insur-
gents had almost hourly grown more
insulting in speech and daring in man.
ner. The conflict so soon to occur
had been merely precipitated on Feb
ruary 2 by an insurgent officer, with
lNNa - II