The report of a rifle rang down the quiet Santa Mesa hill on the night of February 4th. As the flash of the gun died away in the gloom a dusky warrior fell in death and the spark of an insurrection kindled into flame. Almost instantly the belligerent Tagalans rushed down upon the American outposts; the United States forces from Caloocan to Malate swung into line, and the sturdy Anglo-Saxon and the fiery Malay were matched in combat.
The violent clash caused no look of surprise to flutter across the faces of the American soldiers; all knew that the outbreak was coming, all had waited with expectant excitement for the impending conflict. To the intoxicated native victory against the Spanish seemed too certain to be wrested from him by the conquering American; he had long smarted under the goading reflection that "the wreath of the conquerer" had been snatched away at the moment when it seemed almost within his grasp. This bitter knowledge irritated and maddened him, until he only awaited an opportunity to spring at the throat of his imaginary foe and wrench from him what he considered his own. He remembered the long years of wretchedness under Spanish tyranny and oppression. He suspected that his new masters would prove even more overbearing than his late persecutors. He had not forgotten the daring rush for liberty which his ancestors had made. Their blood coursed through his veins and he determined that he would not relinquish the struggle without one last bold dash for the coveted goal.
It was not alone a love for liberty which spurred onward the dark horde which followed the red banner of Aguinaldo. Since 1896 they had striven with their ancient enemy, with the hope that they might tear from[Pg 37] him all his wealth. Their leader had with subtle diplomacy urged on his wary braves with the thought that when they battered down the walls of Manila all that it contained would be theirs to loot and ravage. They loved liberty, but they loved the gold which it would bring still more. So they looked with hungry eyes when they saw the Americano enter the city of their dreams and close the gate against the black hosts who sought entrance to plunder and steal.
During the few months preceding the outbreak the Filipinos had become less friendly to their late allies. "La Independencia," the official organ of the insurgents, frequently came out with loud denunciations against the Americans and called the sullen natives to action against the hated usurpers. It was not an uncommon occurrence to see the walls of public buildings patched over with "proclamos," signed by Aguinaldo, almost openly declaring war against the Americans and asserting the rights of the Tagalans to their independence.
The fourteen blockhouses which had been the Spanish line of defense had been allowed to fall into the hands of the Filipinos, who converted them into a strong offensive and defensive work. When by chance an American strayed beyond these fortifications, the attitude of the native sentries was often violent and abusive. Eventually no soldiers were permitted to go outside of the territory bounded by our outposts, and the Malay line of muskets tightened around the city like the arm of a colossal dragon. Repeatedly there were war alarms, and for several days the men not on duty were kept in barracks. At times the Tagalans at the pumping station shut off the water supply merely as an insolent challenge and an indication of what they were able to do. On certain parts of the line the Filipinos were seen building new intrenchments and reinforcing the old ones.
For several weeks natives had been concentrating around the Santa Mesa, and Lieutenant Webb was sent out to the Nebraska camp with the left platoon of Battery A to strengthen the Nebraska position. The Santa Mesa road was looked upon by the multitude of Aguinaldo as the natural gateway to Manila. It was at the[Pg 38] San Juan Del Monte bridge that they had sought in vain to pound their way into the Spanish lines on many a desperate battle night. One of the Utah guns occupied the very gun pit which had been used by the Castilians as a defense from which their cannon barked back defiance to the onrushing fanatical hordes.
Often there were wrangles between Colonel Stotsenberg and the Tagalan officers regarding the line of outposts which the native forces should occupy. Several times the Colonel averted hostilities by a judicious yielding to minor points. Ultimately at the San Juan bridge a stalwart American sentry and a diminutive Tagalan paced in parallel lines. The Filipinos seemed anxious to aggravate the Americans into an act of hostility, and rigorous orders were issued to prevent such an occurrence. Night after night the native warriors clustered about one end of the bridge and uttered curses at the silent Nebraskan outpost. Before the outbreak actually took place several times our sentries were forced back by a howling mob of drunken Malays.
One native officer was particularly violent. Not a night passed but that he gathered a crowd of inebriated Tagalans and tramped down to the bridge for the purpose of scoffing and hurling vile epithets at the taciturn American posted there. They were encouraged by the lenient and apparently submissive attitude of the Americans whom they had begun to look upon as arrant cowards, who could be wheedled and whipped about as they chose.
On the night when the signal shot sang out in the darkness and the battle came, the same haughty officer was coming down towards the American line to repeat his abusive conduct, when the sharp voice of the sentry rang out as a warning to halt. He persistently advanced and at the same time launched some vehement Tagalan curses at the outpost. The next instant he lay dead with a bullet through his heart; the report startled the still night air and an insurrection was born.
All that night the thunders of the united American forces in action were wafted to the Cuartel. The natives were so close that some of the bullets pattered against[Pg 39] the walls of the building and some even struck the Hotel De Oriente, nearer town. When the commissary wagons probed their way out to the belligerent front they were fired upon from the houses lining the streets. Every nipa hut in which a private family lived became an arsenal.
The trouble had been anticipated and every officer knew what portion he was expected to defend. Ten minutes after the news arrived in the Cuartel, the heavy guns of Utah rumbled over the streets to different parts of the field.
Those under Major Grant rushed out into the night and were instantly under a vigorous fire near the woods of Caloocan. Captain Wedgewood disappeared in the blackness and took up the appointed position on the Balic Balic road near Sampaloe cemetery. The guns under Lieutenant Seaman dashed out of the barracks and a few moments later their deep bass was added to the Satanic roar. On McLeod's hill surrounded by the Nebraskans two guns under Lieutenant Webb menaced the plain below.
At Santa Mesa the fight began. Three minutes after the opening flash the Nebraskan camp was deserted. As the outposts slowly returned the regiment swept onward to the fray, and soon the angry rattle of the "Long Toms" answered back the viperous "ping" of the Mauser.
The sound of the first shot had hardly ceased echoing upon the hill when the Tagalans, jubilant, confident, flew for the bridge; their onrush was met with a volley from the Nebraskans. Then from Caloocan and Sampaloe the din of multitudinous musketry fired in unison, waved over the hill; then the awful thunder of the guns of the fleet pulverized the enemy's bulwarks at Malate swelled over the plain. Occasionally a lull came in the fight and then as if gathering strength by inaction the tumult broke forth with increased fury. In the darkness it was impossible for the Utah guns to accomplish anything, as the location of the infantry could not be exactly distinguished. So all night the men tugged and toiled to get the pieces in position, that they might take part in the encounter at dawn. The fifth section gun[Pg 40] held a commanding position on the right and the sixth section was stationed directly in front of McLeod's house, from which point it could sweep the enemy's line from Blockhouse No. 7 on the north to the Catholic convent on the south.
Just as the first streaks of dawn dappled the east, the two big guns belched over the plain and the fight began. During the night the relative positions of the opposing forces had not been changed. The maddened Filipinos made a renewed attempt to cross the bridge and penetrate the Nebraska line, that they might gain their coveted goal—the city of their dreams. The aim of the two guns was concentrated upon this point. Twice the Tagalans with frenzied courage charged up the bridge, only to be torn to pieces by the shrieking shells and the deadly bullets. With desperate energy they hauled an artillery piece into position on the bridge, but this was demolished by a single shell from one of our guns.
The position of the artillery became perilous; the insurgents centered a galling fire upon the big guns, with the hope of ridding themselves of this new terror. The leaden missiles rained from three points, Blockhouse No. 7, the bridge and the convent. Every time one of the cannon roared over the hill, she raised a vicious hail of bullets from the enemy. Three minutes after the conflict began Corporal John G. Young received a fatal wound in the lungs. Almost immediately after Private Wilhelm I. Goodman fell dead with a bullet through his brain.
Instantly men rushed in to fill their places, but the position of the gun had become so dangerous that Lieutenant Webb ordered it removed to a more sheltered point, at the north of the house. In the face of a heavy fire the men lifted the piece out of the pit and rolled it to the station designated. This ended the casualty list of the artillery for that day. Both guns now shelled the enemy at Blockhouse No. 7 and the San Juan Del Monte Church, until the two guns under Lieutenant Gibbs came up. The skilled aim of the two gunners and the[Pg 41] superb courage of Lieutenant Webb and Sergeants Fisher and Robinson were greatly commended.
Shortly before 11 o'clock two Nordenfelt guns under Lieutenant Gibbs arrived at the hill and under the orders of Colonel Smith of the Tennesseeans advanced up the Santa Mesa road. The Tagalans were still in strong force in the woods to the right of the road, and, as the two guns moved forward, they received a pelting fire from this locality.
The guns dashed up the road and swung into action on the bridge. The forces then began an advance up the road, running twenty and thirty yards at a time, supported by the infantry from Tennessee. After a half hour of sharp fighting the Tagalans fled before the cannister and shrapnel of the big guns and the bullets of the Tennesseeans, and thus the hills as far as the Deposito were won. Meanwhile, a battalion of Tennesseeans had deployed out to the left and taken the Deposito, and the two guns were moved to this point.
The Tennesseans left the Nebraskans in charge of the Deposito and disappeared off to the right. Late that night Lieutenant Webb and the fatigued warriors of Santa Mesa joined Lieutenant Gibbs at the Deposito, where they bivouacked with the prospect on the morrow of an advance upon the pumping station, four miles beyond.
The movement upon the pumping station was not easily accomplished; there were several sharp skirmishes on the way. Though the power of the insurgents seemed to have been broken on the previous day, there were some in whom the spirit of resistance was not entirely extinguished and they contested the march of the Americans with vigor. When the move was made on the morning of the 6th the artillery was under the personal command of Major Young. A straggling line of infantry deployed on either side of the road and with the artillery in the rear the forward movement began. Scarcely half a mile from the Deposito the moving column encountered a small body of Tagalans, who opened fire. Once more the angry guns pealed forth in menacing thunder and the terror-stricken natives retreated for[Pg 42] the kind shelter of the bamboo thickets beyond. Two similar skirmishes happened farther up the road. About a mile and a half from the Deposito the mutilated body of Dr. Harry A. Young was found lying by the side of a ventilator. Some distance back the body of his horse had been discovered. Major Young was the first to locate this gory evidence, which mutely told the tragic story of the end of Dr. Young. All the clothing had been rent from the body, a bullet hole was in his forehead, and a bolo wound from the elbow of the left arm to the waist told the tragic story of how he died. The supposition is that the Doctor was surprised on his way to the Deposito, where he had an appointment with Major Young, and took the wrong road, which led him to a grim death in the Tagalan territory. A few minutes later, while the body was being conveyed to Manila, the Major calmly commanded his men in a rush with the enemy, in which eighty of them were killed. This exhibition of splendid courage was ever after an inspiration to the Utahn when he felt like being disheartened.
Gradually the uncoiled infantry line pushed back the recalcitrant natives, and late in the morning the heights above the beautiful Mariquina valley were reached. Here the artillery was placed in position, and, with the Mariquina Church steeple as a target, the town was bombarded. Now and then a shuddering shrapnel was sent shrieking after fugitive bands of Tagalans, who made all haste for the protecting shelter of the mountain on the opposite side of the valley.
From that place they were content to look with dismay upon the death-dealing monsters which frowned from the hill above the bulwarks.
When the first platoon of Battery A, under Captain Wedgewood, sped out into the gloom on the night of the 4th it took up a position in the Balic Balic road near the Cemetario de Sampaloe. All night long the two guns were under a straggling fire from the Filipinos, who at this place held Blockhouse No. 5, about 300 yards to our front, and a diminutive stone church which was located off to the right of our position. The section two gun was placed inside the Cemetario, but that of section one[Pg 43] remained outside, where it was exposed to the enemy's fire.
At 3 a.m. from two points the Malays centered a vicious fusilade upon the artillery, which remained inactive owing to the obscurity of the Tagalan line of defense. No. 1 gun was moved back about 100 yards to a more sheltered station by the cemetery. Just as the first streaks of dawn appeared in the east the two guns blazed toward the blockhouse and the small church, in which were a large number of natives. Simultaneously the Colorado infantry swung into position and with a withering fire slowly advanced upon the enemy. Several well-directed shells sent the Filipinos flying from the blockhouse and a few more accurately trained shots annihilated the little church. As the Tagalans moved from their cover they fell many deep before the blasting volleys of the invincible Coloradoans.
As the natives fled from the church, the artillery turned its attention to Blockhouse No. 4, 1700 yards distant, and while the South Dakotans made a wonderful charge they demolished this wooden bulwark. Next the big guns were ordered to shatter Blockhouse No. 6, but before they could be brought into play against this point the insurgents had disappeared into the woods with the swift-moving Colorado infantrymen hard on their track. On the 6th the platoon was moved to a position left of Blockhouse No. 7. On this part of the line it remained until March 23rd, when it was ordered to Caloocan to take part in the fierce engagement at that point when the whole line charged the enemy's works on March 25th.
The damage inflicted on the natives of Sampaloe was very considerable. Over a hundred bodies were buried there and in many a battered form could be seen that ripping course of a shrapnel. General Hale personally praised the work of Sergeants Emil Johnson and W.E. Kneass, who were in immediate charge of the two rifles.
The guns of Battery B took a position on the left of the line to the south of Caloocan on the night of the war alarm. Second Lieutenant Seaman went out on[Pg 44] the Caloocan road with one 3.2 gun. Major Grant left the Cuartel with three 3.2-inch guns, and after leaving one at Bilibid Prison took the remaining two up the rugged Bulum Bugan road as far as Lazaro Hospital. Emplacements were made under a spattering fire from the enemy at this point, facing the Chinese Hospital and the Binondo Cemetery, in both of which places the Tagalans were strongly lodged. Only an occasional shot blazed towards the enemy during the night, but from a commanding position the artillery fire began at dawn with destructive and terrifying results. Besides driving the sturdily-intrenched Tagalans back, the Utah attack entirely covered the simultaneous advance of the Tenth Pennsylvania and South Dakota infantry.
The advance of the slowly-moving regiment was irresistable and the natives fell back from their position after a stubborn fight. All that day the Malay resisted the American advance with fanatical frenzy. The artillery moved forward at the same moment, but many times was delayed by burning huts. After an advance of about 400 yards they again joined the infantry line, but they had arrived at a conspicuous and dangerous position on the road, where for thirty minutes they fought desperately in the open under a heavy fire from the Filipino intrenchments. It was here that Major Bell of General McArthur's staff rode up and requested Major Grant to move up beyond the Chinese Hospital, where the Tagalans in a fierce engagement were inflicting heavy damage on the infantry. Almost at the same moment Colonel Wallace sent word that a company of the Tenth Pennsylvanians had been cut off to the left, and Lieutenant Critchlow was sent with one gun up the Leco road to its assistance. The remaining guns tore the woods in front of the advancing infantry and cleared the way for the Pennsylvanians and South Dakotans, so that the right wing advanced at this point almost without a casualty. Still towards Caloocan the artillery advanced with the musketeers, and beyond the Cemetery Church the big guns shelled the woods to the left of La Loma in front of the advancing Third United States Artillery (infantry) and Twentieth Kansas. Just when the[Pg 45] Tagalans were fleeing, bleak with terror, from the artillery shells; when Colonel Funston, like a young Jove, was pounding his way irresistibly up from the left, and when everything looked auspicious for an easy dash into Caloocan, word came from General MacArthur that the firing should cease. The spires of Caloocan were then almost in view, and there is an opinion that had General MacArthur not feared that the line would grow too thin by a further advance Funston would have taken Caloocan that night, with many railway cars and many supplies, and with the saving of many lives which went out on the next advance when the Filipinos had had time to bulwark themselves behind their wonderful intrenchments.
On the same day the guns were moved to a position close to La Loma Church. Later two Nordenfelt guns arrived, one of Battery A, and were stationed first at Blockhouse No. 3 and afterwards east of La Loma Church and in front of the left battalion of the South Dakota infantry. These were commanded by Lieutenant Critchlow.
Meanwhile Lieutenant Seaman withstood a destructive fire on the Caloocan road. Early in the fight he was reinforced at the suggestion of the division commander by the addition of another gun. Major Young took personal command of the Nordenfelt which arrived there late that night. Frequently in the encounter the natives rushed up to within 150 yards of our position, from which they went reeling back before the awful thunder of the big guns. At times the powder-begrimed Utahns were in advance of the main line, carrying death into the very teeth of the foe. So fierce was the conflict that Major Young had the gun manipulated in short reliefs, and this shortened the casualty list of our organization. Corporal Wardlaw and Private Peter Anderson sustained wounds while serving their pieces in this manner. The natives trained two big guns on our position and fired fifteen ineffective shots from them. Next day the two guns supported the Kansas troops in their advance upon the Filipino intrenchments and Blockhouse No. 1. As the swift-moving column charged the enemy's[Pg 46] line the two rifles tore great gaps into this wooden structure and plowed furrows into the wonderfully-constructed earthworks. When the insurgents had fled before the deadly volleys of the Kansans one gun was stationed at the blockhouse and the other at the Binondo Cemetery. Here they remained until February 10th, when they took part in the demonstration against Caloocan.
The next three days Major Grant's three guns did nothing except to fire occasionally at some enthusiastic Filipino sharpshooters. On the 11th a general advance was made by the Montana and the Kansas infantry and the Third United States Artillery. The artillery force consisted of two guns under Lieutenant Seaman on the hill to the left, two guns under Lieutenant Fleming of the Sixth United States Artillery on the railroad, Lieutenant Critchlow with two Nordenfelts at Blockhouse No. 2, and Grant with three 3.2-inch B. and L. rifles at La Loma Church. The prearranged signal for the attack was to be a bombardment by the navy accompanied by a similar action by Major Young's artillery force. The big guns pounded shell against the native defenses, and sent shrapnel singing into the woods surrounding the town, and under the somewhat ineffectual, but loudly-thundering labors of the fleet the infantry column hurried forward, and the Tagalans gradually swayed back. As the enemy retreated the aim of the guns was directed higher and several of these iron messengers went crashing into the town. Some remarkably good work was performed by our gunners on this day. It is said that a small body of Filipinos could be seen reinforcing the intrenchments at the gate of the Caloocan Cemetery. A Utah gunner saw this, and turned his piece on the gate and shortly after a shell shuddered through the air on its 2600-yard journey. When the smoke cleared away, gate, Filipinos and war weapons strewed the ground for many yards.
Major Bell with a flanking column of Montanas deployed through a ravine on the right. Suddenly a long, rope-like column of natives whipped out of the fringe of the woods and quickly coiled around the company.[Pg 47] Major Young saw the predicament in which the Americans were placed, and soon the murderous shells fell in the midst of the column, which broke into fragments and disappeared the way it had come. The next day Major Bell was lavish in his praise of the batteries, and several British officers who were watching the progress of the fight complimented the gunners on their expert and effective gunnery.
During the attack on Caloocan Lieutenant Seaman followed with the infantry as far as the flames from the burning houses would permit and pulled the gun through Caloocan to a position on the Kansas line. On the 11th guns were moved to a position on a hillside near the residence of Mr. Higgins near Caloocan at a place where he commanded the causeway between Caloocan and Malabon. At this point the two guns were joined by a platoon of the Sixth Artillery and a 3.6 mortar under Corporal Boshard of Battery B.
Gibbs' section
LIEUT. GIBBS' SECTION AT FT. MACARTHUR.
At this time Utah soldiers on different parts of the line manned thirty-two pieces of artillery, including 3.2-inch B.L. rifles, Hotchkiss revolving cannon, Hotchkiss mountain guns, Maxim Nordenfelts captured from the Spanish, Mortars, Colt's rapid-fire (Browning's) gun, a[Pg 48] navy field piece, navy six-pounder and Gatling guns of various calibers.
After Caloocan was taken possession of by the troops scarcely any fighting was indulged in until March 25th, when an advance was made. Except for occasional incursions into the enemy's territory for the purpose of driving back harassing sharpshooters there was a practical cessation of hostilities at the waterworks. At this time the line over which our guns were stationed extended from Malabon to Mariquina. At Caloocan a severe engagement occurred on the 23rd of February. A large force of insurgents came rushing down from the hill towards our outposts and finally established themselves within 150 yards of the American lines. It was during this period that some of them were able to penetrate the American position and steal their way into Manila to take part in the burning of the Tondo district. This band was under the leadership of a bold and gallant chief named Zandico. While Tondo was disappearing in flames and sharp hand-to-hand skirmishes were taking place between these Filipino desperadoes and the American police a furious altercation was going on between the darkly-outlined bulwarks of the two armies. During this attack sixty men of the Kansas and Montana regiments alone were killed and wounded.
The work of the sharpshooters showed the watchful alertness of the enemy. Whenever one of these riflemen espied a piece of American anatomy there was a report and a still messenger of death went skimming through the air. Frequently one of the large guns had to be employed to repress the zeal of one of these ubiquitous Malays. While repairing a breach in the gun pit Lieutenant Seaman received a wound in the leg, Corporal Southers was shot in the hip and Private Hill sustained a serious wound in the back.
About this time existed as remarkable a truce as was ever patched up between belligerent forces. Some Filipino statesmen came down from Malabon to see Aguinaldo, and as they carried a flag of truce firing from our side ceased. The natives signified their desire to talk and Colonel Funston and Major Young went half[Pg 49] way to meet them. The Tagalans then made known their proposition, which was that there should be no firing between the two forces at that point for a period of ten days. Colonel Funston assented. This was directly in front of the Kansas line. The insurgents rigidly adhered to their promise, and while the Springfields and Mausers were angrily barking in the vicinity of the railroad track no messenger of war sped across the space in front of the Kansans.
The four guns under Lieutenant Gibbs and Webb lifted to a commanding position on the hill above the waterworks, menaced the valley below. Frequently they boomed from the mountains as a warning to the curious natives down on the wide plain of the San Mateo. The encounters which took place between the Americans and the Tagals at this place are illustrative of the peculiar mode of warfare carried on by the natives. Not a few times our forces made invasions in the enemy's country at Mariquina under the protection of the guns and drove his army into the foothills on the opposite side of the valley, only to find him back in his old position before nightfall with his camp fires piercing the gloom of the valley as darkness settled in.
These successive defeats seemed to have no power in dampening the ardor of the ducky warriors of the plains. They continued to make invasions on the American territory, and frequently waylaid belated American troops. Up to March 25th the infantry force was not sufficiently large to hold the country which had been taken. Four times the town of Mariquina was captured in this style. Finally, by some peculiar decision of fate, a battalion of Coloradoans descended into the valley and after dislodging the enemy set fire to the hideous nipa huts. Thereafter fewer skirmishes occurred in this locality. The white and shining church steeple arose above the blackened ruins as a ghostly monument of the work of war.
About four days after the occupancy of the waterworks by the American troops Colonel Stotsenberg with a small body of the infantry scoured the Mariquina plain, but though he met with some heated skirmishes[Pg 50] and drove the enemy back, there was no visible results from his excursion. The artillery was first used in an advance on February 17th, when the two Nordenfelt guns were taken down the Mariquina road by Lieutenant Gibbs. None of the Utah men were hurt on this occasion, although the natives fought stubbornly at short range and several men and officers of the Nebraska regiment were wounded. Meanwhile General Montenegro, known as one of the fiercest Filipino chiefs, had congregated his forces in the woods southwest of the pumping station towards Pasig Lake and Cainta. A plan was formed for surrounding the insurgents and the Nebraska and Washington infantry and the two Maxim Nordenfelts took part in the engagement. The artillery worked with the Nebraskans and shelled the woods. Then there was a simultaneous advance from two sides by the regiments. The Washingtons did their work well and the shells from the guns were effective, but for once the Nebraskans failed in their usual dash and came up too late to cut off the retreat of the enemy and prevent his escape.
gun at pumping station
GUN AT PUMPING STATION FIRING ON MARIQUINA.
Again on the 24th the two Nordenfelts under Lieutenant Webb moved down the Mariquina road, and did[Pg 51] excellent work in aiding the Nebraskans to drive the natives back towards San Mateo. The B. and L. rifles from the hill fired into bodies of natives to the left of Mariquina Church on this occasion, and the death roster of the insurgents for that day was very great. A revolving Hotchkiss under Corporal Hesburg, located close to the Deposito, also inflicted severe damage on the natives. Still the enemy at this point was alert and aggressive. The next day Major Mulford went scouting with a small force to the right of Mariquina. Soon after he reached the valley he was completely surrounded by the insurgents. Then the big guns on the hill sent bursting shells fast into the Filipino ranks and soon they retired stubbornly into the woods. Several of Major Mulford's men were killed or wounded, and he stated afterwards that the Utah guns had saved himself and party. This skirmish proved that the natives were gathering there in a larger and more formidable force, and this circumstances led to the burning of Mariquina. All night the flames from the bamboo huts and old Spanish mansions illumined the valley, and when the troops descended the next morning they found that all the south and the greater part of the north end of the city were entirely destroyed.
There was comparative quietude after that until March 6th, when the natives began to resume the annoying fire on the infantry, and an artillery demonstration became imperative. As the insurgent attack came about daylight, the guns under Lieutenant Gibbs bombarded the valley from the hill, driving the enemy northward. Another large force of the Tagalans swept down upon the Nebraskan outposts on the left and a deadly affray commenced. Reinforcements were rushed to the aid of the stricken sentries, who were gradually forced back by the superior numbers of the assaulting party. Sergeant Ford Fisher with the fifth section gun dashed out of the camp to the front. For three-quarters of a mile the diminutive Filipinos horses with which the guns had lately been equipped sped down the ridges under a galling fire. On the brow of the hill the gun whirled into action long enough to drive the enemy back[Pg 52] a few hundred yards. Again the piece limbered up and rattled over the hard lava road for a new position. The Tagalans soon centered a murderous fire from three points upon the big gun as a desperate measure to annihilate this new terror. A horse ridden by Private Engler was shot down, but was able to recover himself sufficiently to gain the shelter of a small gulch a few yards farther on. From its shelter the big gun pounded over the road to another gulch which had been deserted just a few minutes previously by a company of Nebraskans. The heavy limber chest was left at the foot of the hill and on their hands and knees the men pushed the piece forward until the bore of the gun gleamed down the slope. A heavy volley answered from the plain below. Ford Fisher said afterwards that he saw a Filipino sharpshooter behind a rock fire six times point blank at the gunner as he was sighting the piece. Suddenly the roar of a cannon tore down the hill. The Tagalans answered it with a fiendish yell and came steadily onward. The men on the gun worked like Trojans, but they could not force the Malays back. Just as it seemed as if the gun would have to retire the tall white figure of Colonel Stotsenberg could be seen with galloping steed coming up the hill. Instantly the wavering infantry line tightened. The Colonel's pistol flashed in the sunlight, and the whole column swung up the eminence to victory. The voice of the big gun bellowed back its notes of defiance and the haughty foe fled in terror.
During the encounter Corporal McDonald with a revolving Hotchkiss cannon performed some excellent service on the right in aiding the Oregon infantry. Most of the fighting had been done at from 100 to 150 yards range. The casualty list of the Nebraskans was heavy, and an immense number of Filipinos was killed. The infantry followed the retreating natives for three miles.
On the 7th, in conjunction with the river fleet, the guns aided the Nebraska, Wyoming and Washington infantry in forcing the enemy through the woods towards Guadaloupe and Pasig Lake. The guns under Captain Wedgewood shelled the insurgents to the south of San Juan del Monte and aided the infantry very materially[Pg 53] in its advance. The gunboats hammered the natives on the left bank of the river and sent them scurrying into the woods beyond Guadaloupe.
It was decided to take the town of Mariquina on the 16th of March, and Major Young with the left platoon of Battery A shelled the woods to the north and west of the town so effectively that when the infantry forces entered the place they found it deserted.
This ended the fighting in that vicinity until the general advance of March 25th.
guns on railway
UTAH GUNS ON MANILA & DAGUPAN RAILWAY EN ROUTE FOR THE FRONT.
On March 25th began that remarkable advance which never ended until the native forces were driven beyond Calumpit and San Fernando into the hills north of San Isidro and Tarlac. The American forces had long been inactive gathering strength for the difficulties before them, and now that this strength had been mustered they were eager for the fray. The plan was for the commands of Generals H.G. Otis and Hale to swing around to the right and cut off the retreat of the enemy from that quarter, while General Wheaton's brigade was to strike the foe in front and not move forward until the other forces had had sufficient time to straighten out the line. A large body of the insurgents had assembled[Pg 54] at Malabon. The entire preparation had been made for the capture of this force.
Otis's brigade on the left consisted in the order given of the Kansas, the Third Artillery (infantry), and the Montana regiment; in the center was the divisional artillery under Major Young and then troops of the Fourth United States Cavalry, and on the right was Hale's command, containing the Tenth Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Nebraska regiments. The Nebraskans were on the extreme right, while the Kansans formed the pivotal regiment.
The artillery designated to take part in the forward movement were two B. and L. rifles, under command of Lieutenant Critchlow; two B.L. rifles of the Sixth United States Artillery, under Lieutenant Fleming, and an automatic gun under command of Ensign Davis of the navy. On the evening of the 24th Lieutenant Fleming's guns were removed from the old intrenchment in front of Fort MacArthur, and were replaced by two B. and L. rifles under Lieutenant Gibbs of Battery A, who had formerly been stationed in front of the Colorado line at Sampaloe. Major Grant at this period was no longer in immediate command of Battery B, as he had been detailed as commander of the river gunboats on February 17th. During the period of waiting the Government mules had arrived and the rifles under Lieutenants Critchlow and Fleming were now equipped for the journey into the jungle.
Few artillery exploits can compare in dash and daring with that performed by Lieutenant Naylor out on the right of the line early in the morning of the 25th. Many brave and reckless deeds with guns at close range were done by artillery forces on other occasions in the Filipino campaign, but it is hardly probable that any field pieces have been rushed so far beyond infantry support as they were on this day before the enemy at San Francisco del Monte.
Lieutenant Naylor's position lay in a sunken road at a point where the lines of the Tenth Pennsylvania and South Dakota regiments joined. For a distance of about 800 yards the road, which had been constructed by the[Pg 55] Spanish, extended toward the Tagalan earthworks. At the point the road abruptly ends, and there is a plat of hard ground. Fifty yards farther on a rude barricade had been erected as a shelter for the native outposts, and a hundred yards in advance of this the enemy's strong line of earthworks widened out across the top of a gently rising eminence. This position had been accurately located several days previously by a reconnoitering party.
Early in the morning the guns moved to the end of the sunken road and began the perilous journey up this narrow defile. With Lieutenant Naylor were Captain Crainbuhl and Lieutenant Perry of General Hale's staff and a detachment of eight men of the Tenth Pennsylvania Regiment under charge of a sergeant. Every one knew the danger that accompanied an expedition of this character, and there was silence as perfect as that of a tomb, save when one of the wheels of the heavy guns rumbled in a rut. A few hundred yards from the camp they crossed a small stream and, as the road broadened at this place, there was ample room to unlimber the pieces. This was done so that there would be no delay when the time for action should come. The pieces were placed in front and the two limbers followed. At the end of the road the squad of infantry deployed as skirmishers to drive back the Filipino sentries. Then the guns were rushed up on the flat; two shells shrieked through the air towards the insurgent intrenchments, which loomed up darkly on the hill, and the bombardment began. At the first bark of the big guns the native outposts fled precipitately for the protection of the heavier works on the summit of the knoll. The roaring monsters now hurled a perfect stream of iron into the place, and after responding feebly for a few minutes the foe retired in haste across the San Juan river towards San Francisco del Monte. The artillery advanced to the stream and sent shells flying after them until it became too hazardous to continue the bombardment, owing to the approach of our troops. Down the causeway over which the Tagalans fled in their mad desire to escape whole squads of Filipinos lay. As the guns had made the advance almost entirely unaided by the infantry it[Pg 56] was purely an artillery charge, and to the artillery belonged the victory. General Hale rode up a few minutes later and personally complimented Lieutenant Naylor upon the ability with which he had handled his men in this successful maneuver.
As the guns were unprovided with mules they were unable to proceed and retired to their former position.
The engagement opened up by Lieutenant Naylor's men on the right found an echoing response from the guns of Lieutenants Critchlow and Fleming. As they were to continue the advance their general course lay along the railroad track, which stretches entirely across Luzon Island from Manila to Dagupan. Just after dawn on the 25th the infantry moved forward about 700 yards ahead of the artillery, which followed the Novaliches road. A strong force of the enemy was encountered heavily intrenched in a position commanding the Novaliches and Malinta roads. The infantry swung into line and attempted to force back the Tagalans, who stubbornly resisted the attack of our column. Two large guns were soon brought into play and the natives gradually retired. An examination later showed that the defenses of the insurgents were remarkably constructed; in some cases the main breastworks were twenty feet thick. The first day's fighting had taught them a lesson by which they had profited.
General MacArthur gave............