Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1916-12-07
SOLDIER LETTER
FROM TED THOMPSON
J. S. Thompson Received A Letter From
His Son Ted, Who Is With the Soldier
Boys At the Mexican Border

1916.
Dear Dad:-I am back from the
hike" and excepting for feeling Of
WEAKNESS | am none the worse for the
trip, although it was pretty strenu-
Gus and full of grief. | am not sorry
that | was in it, but would not care to
repeat it too often.
We are all glad it is over and when
we where ordered into motor trucks
at Reseca de la Palma, about five
miles out of Brownsville for the re-
turn trip to Llano Grande there was
rejoicing, and we did not envy, in the
least, the troops who were compelled
to walk back. | do not know how our
battle came out but we believe that
the troops in command won. The
Minnesota troops showed up well and
according to Col. Eva bore the brunt
of the fighting. Our first battalion
with Company A leading captured
San Benito, the Brownsville camp and
their supply train and forced them to
abandon their drive towards Llano
Grande. We captured one Company
of Virginia Infantry entirely. One
day think it was last Thursday, was
disasterous to us though. The fight
ing started about 4:30 a. m We had
laid out a line of trenches, across
Palo Alto, which by the way is His
toricaI Ground from the fact of it be-
ing the last stand of the Mexicans on
United States soil during the Mexican
war, when General Taylor, and who
was later President was in command
of the United States forces, these
trenches had been laid out Wednesday
night and we dug them Thursday
morning, before day break, we were
not through digging them, when ord
ers came to take up a new position
and dig more trenches. When you
have only toy shovel about two feet
long and with a ten inch blade and a
short handle, little pick mattOX that
is built for carrying and not digging
and have to dig a trench two feet wide
four feet deep and twelve feet long,
with parapet five feet wide and two
high and a PARADISE the height of
your head when you are in the trench,
you realize it is some job for eight
men with the kind of tools they have,
working two men to shift and each
shift ten minutes duration, it takes
about three-quarters of an hour to
dig it but you have to work lively to
do it in that time We had completed
our trenches and were stretched out
in back of the Paradosa, taking cover
and sleeping for about half an hour
when a field Judge told US that we
were under the fire of a superior force
using machine guns and artillery and
that we should retire, we did and were
brought into a thicket where all the
trees had thorns and all the thorns
were reaching for our sides and find
ing them, then they ''hiked" us across
an open field to reinforce some other
troops and we stuck around in some
more woods, then advanced through
the field, shielded by small rise in
the ground, that is called 'Hill" in
this part of Texas They halted us
there and told us to take cover in the
grass, we did and stayed there until
General Lewis got an idea that the
battle had shifted, l guess it had, all
IIkflLy ~ we "SAS OSASn ~ N~NAAA r.
When we got back to camp Lieuten-
ant Trux told US we were all dead as
we had been under fire of heavy ar
tillery and machine guns in addition
to infantry fire. The white forces got
licked badly that day, General Lewis
himself, shut up couple of brigades
of his own men by ordering artillery
right range thus dropping shells upon
the White forces This was the only
time that we fought or hiked in ac-
coutrement all the other days we car
ried our packs, at the start of march
these weighed around forty pounds,
but by the time we pitched camp they
weighed an even hundred, each man
carries gun, nine pounds, one blan-
ket, five pounds, five tent pins two
pounds, one shelter half, eight pounds
four boxes hard tack, FIVE pounds