Evening star., 1915-09-12

waters edge after their capture by
another boat expedition. The pirates
Of Formosa in the same year. having
murdered shipwrecked American
crew were marked for lesson. In
the face of terrific heat and clever am
bushes the marines. although suffer
ing heavy losses. scattered the pirate
malefactors and destroyed their base
only a year elapsed before the sc+
soldiers were again in deadly connic;
before eastern forts. Korean pirates had
attacked without warning a suryeytnl-
party ON the Salec river. in Korea. ana
the ensuing expedition proved to bo
the biggest job undertaken by the ma
rines in conjunction with the fleet,
since tho civil war. Tho guns Of the
M"uoracy and the ralos paved the way
for the landing. hut at nIEhtfall the
work was unfinished and the force
was rushed ashore under cover OF
darkness and bivouackcd.
This force enjoyed the distinction OF
being the first detachment of Ameri-
can troops to bivouac at night in a
hostile country of the far cast The
Koreans tried to decoy Tilton's battal-
ion of marines with banners so placed
behind a ridge as to indicate the pres
ence of their supposed lines. scout
under cover of volleys. Tilton closed
in. The Koreans held them under their
fire at distance OF 100 yards, but
the marines. rushing by squads. crossed
a deep ravine and climbed up the high
walls of the last interposinG citadel.
BY this time the Koreans were out o.
ammunition and were hurlig stones
down on the invaders. Once inside
breach of the walls made by the Mo-
nocacy's guns the fighting ragged still
more fiercely. Corp. Brown captured
the black and yellow standard OF the
Koreans and their resistance crumbled
The captured ordnance amounted to
more than 500 cannon of different cal
ibers and 240 Koreans were counted
dead in the inner works
The official report of the engagement
credited Tilton's men with being the
first to land and the last to leave, with
leading the storming party and cap
turing the colors.
Seventy-seven years passed before the
sea soldiers of the Mediterranean
squadron again saw active service in
northern Africa. Arab Pasha's fol-
lowers had revolted against British
rule. In Alexandria 200 Europeans
were killed or wounded in the street
fighting that hlazed out The marines
from the Lancaster joined the British
Alexandria after its bombardment.
Col. Littleton w. T. Waller. now in
command of the naval advance brigade
of marines on shore in Haiti. was a
second lieutenant of this detachment.
which saw stirring action in the bazaar
quarter of the city.
Following the Spanish war, Meade
and Waller led their marines in the
legations at Peking. having fought
their way from Taku to Tientsin
against the savage Boxers. Younger
officers won their laurels there and
later in the hardships of the Samar
when Walters punitive col
umns amply avenged the massacre of
Capt. O'Connelrs company of the 9Th
Infantry at Basey.
X j:
Peace reigned for a decade, and then
came the spirited and picturesque cam
paign in Nicaragua, where Pendletons
men not only routed the forces that
Washington had decreed must let go
the reins. and operated the trains OF
the Ferro Carril de Nicaragua and the
lake steamers. but crushed the resist
ance in the great little battle OF Coyo-
tepe hill. Here, it may be remembered.
the bluejackets who formed the sup
ports were forbidden to join In the as
sault because of the betraying targets
of their white uniforms.
The sailormen emptied backing boxes
to daub the offending white and rolled
in the Nicaraguan mud until Pendleton
gave them their orders to join in the
rush. Coyotepe hill had until that time
been a Gibraltar of Central American
and it was a tradition of
Nicaragua that the
force that held Coyotepe held the reins
of government. The defenders had
its natural defensive fea-
lures with wire entanglements. and had
hauled a formidable array of artillery
to it's crest.
Underwood's battery. later to distin-
guish itself anew at Vera Cruz, spray
ed the heights with three inch shell and
shrapnel and up-tore the attacking
force. 1t was here that Private Dur
ward wrote his name on the corps roll
of honor along with those of Quick.
Anthony and O'Bannon.
One section of wire enlargement held
a company helpless under the hre OF
the Nicaraguan artillery at short range.
despite the frenZied attacks of wire cut
ters and bayonets. Durward hacked at
it with his bayonet and tore at 1t with
his bare hands until the company storm
ed through in a final assault. while a
shell tore Durward's head from his
shoulders.
since then the marines, hating peace
as Yaqui hates water. have played Il
leading role They have landed per-
in Santo Domingo and Haiti to
quell the ebullient spirits of those black
fighters until they know the ms and
outs of their squalid ports AS well as
the average New Jersey commute1
knows the meadows.