before aguinaldo's attempt to enter manila the friendly natives outside the city were suffering from a fatal epidemic of some character, apparently so, judging by the number of caskets taken outside. this continued for several days; one or two caskets every day were allowed to pass out by the guards, although orders were issued to search all boxes, trunks and baggage; yet these caskets were allowed to pass through unmolested for about fifteen days. finally the guard's suspicion was aroused by these frequent burials and it was decided to open a casket, which was packed full of mauser rifles. this ended the funerals outside. this demonstrates the trickery and smuggling schemes of these people.
i have known prisoners to escape by exchanging clothing with their wives, who were permitted to visit their husbands in jail, the man passing out and leaving the woman in prison. a great many prisoners escaped in this way before the scheme was discovered.
dummy guns and soldiers were placed in forts in a manner to deceive americans as to the strength of the works, but the americans were not to be bluffed so easily and this scheme was worthless.
almost the whole american force was on the streets of manila watching and expecting an attack for two weeks before it was made. we were always prepared to fight. we had to keep our clothes on all the time and our guns and belts by our side. i did not have more than fifteen nights' rest from the 20th of january to the 24th of may. frequently we would just get on our bunk when a call to arms would be given; every man would rush out in a hurry and sometimes had to march four or five miles, before stopping, through rain and wind, or whatever weather we might be called out in. there we would stay the balance of the night. if we wanted to lie down we only had one blanket to put on the wet ground. every man had to look out for himself and get the best place he could.
we would only be in a few hours from one march until orders would be received to march to some other dangerous point; it appeared that we were only marched back to the city to take a bath and change clothing, which we needed.
i believe these marches in the night or day, in the hot climate of that country, lying on the wet ground sometimes every night for two weeks, has killed more men than were ever killed by the filipinos. those who never died from the exposure died from the kind of rations they ate out on the lines. it has been a mystery to me how i ever reached america again. i have been through everything and have seen as hard service as any soldier in the philippines, and have eaten as hard grub as any of them ever ate.
i believe the twenty-third had call to arms[pg 32] no less than twenty-five times. every time we thought a fight was on hand and we would see some fun with the filipinos. whenever we got them started to running, which most always was easily done, then the fun was on. we were sent out a great many times to guard some town from the enemy's torch.
company "e," of the twenty-third, was detailed to guard the first reserve hospital in manila and was on duty ten days. the officers feared that enough of the enemy would slip through the lines to enter the hospital and commit many depredations and kill the wounded americans, so we were detailed to guard it and walk the streets and hold up every vehicle of the filipinos and search them for arms and ammunition. this holding up and searching gave the sentries all they wanted to do. all the time we were there on duty we could not leave without permission. we laid about in the hot sun in the day time and at night on the ground. some of the soldiers pulled grass and made beds to sleep on the side of the streets.
the only thing to help pass the time while on this duty was to go through the hospital and look at the wounded, some with arms off, others with a leg gone, while there were men wounded in almost every imaginable way to be living. some would get well when it looked almost impossible for them to recover. i have seen thirty to forty wounded piled in a box car and sent into manila, where they were put on a boat and carried up the pasig river to the hospital. they were taken from the boat and put in a cold place till the [pg 33]doctor puts them on the operating table and handles them like a butcher handling a beef. almost every day women and children were brought in with burned hands and feet, the filipinos burning every town which they thought was about to be captured, and the women and children suffered; doubtless, many were burned to death.
fire is a dangerous resort of the filipino. about one hundred got through the lines into manila and made an effort to burn the city, but the promptness of the americans saved it, only five blocks being burned. the soldiers were kept busy guarding the negroes and keeping them away from the buildings. big stores were burning and the fire department was too poor to save them; the proprietors told the soldiers to go in and get anything they wanted.
while the fire department was doing all it could to save the city and sneaking filipinos were hindering the department all they could by cutting the hose. they would assemble in crowds and then the hose was cut; every one caught in this act was shot down on the spot. six or seven were thus punished that night. it was an exciting time and looked as if manila would be burned in spite of all our efforts to save her. the twenty-third regiment did guard duty all night on the west side of the city. the enemy, failing to burn manila, fired a little bamboo village outside; the bursting bamboos could be easily heard by us. the noise was just like that of guns and the filipinos took advantage of this noise to shoot at us in the city. they would get behind the light of the burning village and when an [pg 34]american could be seen in the light of the burning houses in manila he was shot at. this was kept up all night. our great trouble was to distinguish between the noise of the bursting bamboos and the report of a mauser rifle. the noise of bursting bamboos could be heard three and four miles, some of them not much unlike a six-inch gun, and the reports from a burning bamboo village was almost a reproduction of a battle and would last several hours.
after guarding the burning district of the city all night we returned to guard duty at the hospital. orders were received to march to the firing line at san pedro macati. we marched there on the first day of march and stayed till the tenth. we were in trenches at the front; our provisions were more than half a mile at the rear and details were made out each day to bring up provisions to the men in the works. these details were fired at in going and coming by the filipinos, but their fire was ineffective, owing to their distance from us, until the detail neared the trenches, where the distance was not so great, and it was very dangerous. some were wounded.
a man behind the works could not get out for a few minutes' exercise without being fired at, and if he did not get under cover soon they would get him. i have seen many men shot that way; they thought the filipinos could not shoot. i have seen some fine marksmen among them. they could do some good shooting until they became excited and fled for some place of safety.
i have seen squads of filipinos come near our trenches and open fire on us. a squad of[pg 35] americans with their arms would jump out of the trenches and start towards them and they would soon disappear like so many frightened deer. i was in a squad of soldiers who ran three filipinos for two miles. they were shot at several times, but got away.
we were out ten days and had two engagements; we had a very hard time on this excursion. water was hauled two miles and a half on a two-wheeled vehicle, in old vessels holding four or five gallons. by the time we could get to the kitchens about half of it would be spilled.
buffaloes were used like oxen in this country. they were much larger, however, of a dark brown color and very easily frightened. when one started to run away no man could hold it. i have seen them run as fast as a good horse. their horns were of immense size and flat, considerably extended. they generally did not turn aside for smaller objects when running away. on one occasion i saw one run against a stone building, knocking himself down. he arose and ran on as fast as before. those that run at large will get in the water where it will cover them and stand with their noses out for half a day.
the fourth day out at san pedro macati we had a bush skirmish and some hard fighting for about two hours.
this was my first fighting and i have to confess to being a little frightened this time, but kept my nerve on all other occasions. we ran them back from the trenches and out of sight. they were not to be seen even by the aid of field glasses any more that day. we could not estimate[pg 36] the number of killed, as they left none on the field.
the first sergeant of my company was slightly wounded in the chest by a spent ball, from which he recovered in a few days. i was near him and heard the bullet strike him; it almost felled him. this was the first soldier i saw wounded.
the way the bullets were coming i thought every one of us would be killed, but no one was shot except the one just mentioned. out-posts were always stationed two hundred yards or more from camp every night, or in front of our trenches, to prevent a night attack. if the enemy started through our picket lines they were fired on by the pickets, who would then rapidly fall back to our lines of trenches. this out-post duty is very important and very dangerous, especially when the sneaking filipinos were in the community.
many nights the americans would be aroused from their slumbers by the enemy's attacks and efforts to surprise them, and we would lie in our trenches and fire on them till they left. the enemy would be stationed on an opposite hill and they would sometimes get very close to our out-posts, who could see them moving about and talking and hear them walking in the leaves and underbrush. our sentinels had orders not to fire on them unless they made an attack, when the sentinels fired and got back into the trenches as quickly as possible to escape being killed by our own men.
they violated the custom of the white flag frequently. a party of six or eight would leave their lines with a white flag and advance a little[pg 37] and wave the flag. a party of americans would start to meet them.
every time the americans stopped the filipinos stopped. they tried to get our men as near them as possible and when they thought they could get our men no nearer they would seize their rifles, which they would have concealed behind them, and fire on our soldiers. their scheme evidently was to kill all the officers they could, but they only succeeded in killing two, as far as came to my knowledge. after a few attempts of this kind they were fired on regardless of their white flag scheme.
while at san pedro macati the first colorado volunteers would go out and sleep all night on the hill-top. some one was killed, or wounded, every night this was done. but few americans were killed before the advance was made on the enemy. a strong post was taken and many filipinos killed and captured. ninety were captured in one little bamboo village of a dozen houses. this was the morning of march tenth. that evening orders were received to return to manila. we had been in the trenches the greater part of the ten days at san pedro macati, and had two engagements, one the fourth and one the tenth of march.
we set out on the return to manila late in the evening of march tenth. we had a march of six miles to make. a heavy rain drenched the soldiers, reaching the walled city of manila about eleven o'clock that night.
after a few days' rest company "e" of the twenty-third went up the pasig river on cascos[pg 38] to laguna de bay, a distance of fifty miles from manila. this is a body of fresh water twenty miles wide and sixty miles long, and deep enough to float a large steamer.
a gun boat, which stayed there in the bay, and of the same name, was boarded by a part of our soldiers and steamed up the bay for the purpose of capturing santa cruz. we had to go up in front of the town in full view of the filipinos, who saw the approach of the gun boat and left in haste for the mountains.
our boat grounded and we had to wade out a distance of two hundred yards. the bottom of the lake was uneven and by the time land was reached we were wet from running into holes of deep water. on reaching land a line of skirmishers was formed and the town was entered without any trouble. but one filipino was seen. he was almost frightened to death. with the aid of field glasses we could see filipinos on the mountains. when we left they returned, but before going we burned some large buildings in which supplies were stored, mostly rice and sugar. we returned to the gunboat and cascos late that evening.
captain grant, of the gunboat, wanted to go about thirty miles up the bay from santa cruz. we made the run in three hours. it was a very bright moonlight night. the objective point was reached about eight o'clock. on getting very close to shore an old priest was seen on the dock waving a big white flag, which he continued to wave until we landed. captain pratt took an interpreter with him and learned from the old[pg 39] man that everything there was all right. he informed captain pratt that he thought the town would be bombarded if not surrendered without it. there was a fine church at this place; the town was built of bamboo. a few stores and about four hundred filipinos were there. the filipinos had gone to the mountains while we were landing, but returned when the old priest rang the church bell as a signal that all was well. we were preparing to sleep in their bamboo houses, but captain pratt, fearing some treachery, ordered us to the cascos and gunboat to sleep, but as we were wet and muddy large camp fires were built where we could dry and eat our salmon and hard tack before going on the boats.
we had had some hard service for four days and felt very much like sleeping, but the boats rolled and plunged until we could not sleep. we were in a dangerous place. had all the filipinos who came into that place that night been around they could have given us a hard fight, and possibly have killed us, but, fortunately, they did not appear to have any arms. next morning two cascos were loaded with captured wood and we left this place to go down and across the lake to take another town.
our boats were anchored two miles out and an armed detail sent out in a small launch to reconnoitre. it was found to be too strong for our forces. a strong fort and almost three thousand filipinos were in the town. we remained in front of this place until the next morning watching for aguinaldo's gunboats. he had four in[pg 40] the bay. one had been captured. just before dark one of these gunboats was sighted coming around the point of an island. it was going into port, but seeing our boats it turned back. we made no effort to pursue this vessel, as our boat was slow of speed and night was coming on. nothing more was seen during the night and next morning we went down the lake to the pasig river, which is the lake's outlet. going down the river about five miles we awaited orders from manila.
we were out on this expedition for ten days, part of this time on the laguna de bay and the remainder in the pasig river.
we had a good time after starting back towards manila, but little to do and less to care for. while awaiting orders on the river we consumed a great deal of time hunting chickens and ducks. these were very plentiful and easily caught. we fared well on these every day for a week. we also killed all the hogs that were necessary to supply our wants, and there were plenty of them. the first ones were killed by lieutenant franklin, who took a rifle out one evening and was gone almost an hour. at last he returned with two fat pigs which he had shot. we expected to enjoy eating them the next morning as they had to be dressed and cooked. next morning our hopes and expectations of a good meal were exploded by finding that the pigs were spoiled. after that we profited by that experience and always ate our hogs as soon as they could be prepared. the trouble about keeping fresh meat there was the hot, moist [pg 41]climate. this would soon spoil it, especially if not dressed immediately after being killed.
on the ninth day of this expedition about twenty-five men went out on a hunt for porkers. six very good-sized ones were secured by this party, to which i belonged. another expedition went duck hunting and bagged eighty fine ones. great numbers of chickens were everywhere in the woods and towns. they belonged to the natives. a party of soldiers caught fifteen of these while the hogs and ducks were being secured. these three parties returned about the same time loaded with the spoils of the chase.
the cooks tried to please every one and set us at dressing our game. they cooked every hog, chicken and duck for dinner that day. there were about ninety men in this company. this was one of the last three days out on this expedition of ten days. the other seven were very rough and hard ones for us.
one night some of the men made a new arrangement about sleeping. the day had been hot and clear and the open air was desirable to sleep in where we could enjoy the full benefit of a nice cool breeze which was blowing. the deck of the gunboat we thought an ideal place to spend the night. we were very sleepy. this spot was free from mosquitoes and we were preparing for a fine rest. captain grant looked out on deck at our positions and said: "boys, look out up there tonight. it rains here in this country sometimes." the sky was almost cloudless and we thought nothing of rain.
about two o'clock i awoke, thoroughly drenched,[pg 42] and the rain falling as fast as i ever saw it in my life. any one who has not seen it rain in a hot country has an inadequate idea how hard a tropical rain really is. my blanket was perfectly wet and the water was standing on one side of me in a pool. it took me so by surprise that i was bewildered. finally i decided to leave that place and seek shelter. i wrung the water out of my blanket and groped about in the inky darkness and went into the engine room, where i stayed until morning. that drenching rain seemed to affect all who were exposed to it and resulted in severe colds in every instance. the twenty-fourth of march we were about fifteen miles from manila, up the pasig river, awaiting orders. the pasig river is deep and wide, large steamers being able to traverse its waters. a strong under current made swimming difficult and dangerous.
observing some soldiers across the river at a deserted bamboo village i decided to go over to them. i set out and swam till tired. looking back i discovered that i was about half way across the river. i swam until i was almost too exhausted to raise one hand above the other. i could not tell whether i was moving or not, except, perhaps, down stream.
i was in a critical condition, but did not give up nor get excited. had i done so i believe that i would have drowned. i know of about twenty soldiers who were drowned while trying to swim across the pasig river.
by struggling with all my strength i succeeded in getting across. i did not know how i could get back without swimming and i decided not[pg 43] to try that. i was very exhausted and rested and planned a long time. finally i found a piece of plank and getting on that i went across all right. this experience was sufficient for me, and after that i never went into water too deep to wade.
we left our river post and went into manila. on the way down the river we met with an accident that might have been fatal to about fifty men. a casco had been captured in the laguna de bay, and about fifty men, including myself, went on board the captured vessel and were being towed into manila by a launch. our vessels had to pass under the bridge of spain. the captured boat was too high and in attempting to pass under the bridge the whole top of the casco was torn off, timbers and fragments of the broken vessel were flying in every direction, and it looked as if the men could not escape these missiles. i was in the stern and thought that half of the men on deck would be knocked out into the water and possibly drowned. quicker than it takes to tell it, i was lying on my back in a close, narrow place where there was just enough room for me to wedge into. the casco was being pulled to pieces against the bridge and as it went farther under the bridge the rudder beam was pushed around over me with such force that it left grooves in a piece of timber not more than an inch above my face. it was that piece of timber that saved me from being crushed to death.
after the excitement had subsided a little i found that i had been struck on one side and hurt, but only slightly. the launch tore loose[pg 44] from the casco and before it could again be fastened another accident threatened us. several large sailing vessels lay at anchor along the river and the casco was about to run into them. this accident was avoided and we were landed and marched into the walled city of manila.
