USA > South Dakota > History of South Dakota, Vol. I > Part 51
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Pasig river. As the gun was let down from the gun boat to a small boat in which Harting was standing, the little boat was overturned and he was drowned.
On March 25th at daybreak the First and Third Battalions were formed in a skirmish line, the left, under Allison, resting on the sunken road and the right under Stover. Howard's battalion was about four hundred yards in the rear as a reserve. The command was given to advance and the skirmish line and reserve had moved forward about one thousand yards when a heavy fire was opened upon them in front. A few of the men paused as if to fire, and Colonel Frost saw the distance was too great for the Springfield rifles with which his men were armed to be of service, so he ordered Musician Allen to sound "Forward, march." The men obeyed and marched forward steadily, with the Manser bullets whistling about their ears, until they were in range of the enemy, when they were ordered to fire. After three volleys Colonel Frost ordered another advance. This time the advance was continuous, the men firing as they walked and halting now and then to take deliberate aim. Moving on with inexorable firmness, the force walked right over the Filipino trenches, shooting every dusky defender in sight, and continued to march steadily onward to a road some miles to the northwest of San Francisco Del Monte, where it had been ordered to halt and reform. Dur- ing the entire distance the Filipinos kept up a fire as they gave way, burning the Nipa huts as they retired. This country was the most favor- able for defense over which the regiment ever passed, the lava beds and jungles afforded every opportunity for the enemy to conceal themselves. Frequently whole companies would be compelled to march quite a distance single file through the jungle and form a line when they got to the other side. A few courageous and well disposed men could have defended the country against a whole regiment.
The brigade reformed on the road, as or- dered, and changed the direction of its march from northeast to north, or nearly so, and moved several miles until another cross road was reached
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when another order was given to halt and reform the brigade. During that march the Filipinos had kept up a desultory fire at long range as they retreated, which was not returned by the South Dakotans, the distance being much too great for the Springfield rifles to be effective.
After reforming, the brigade made a left wheel and marched in a northwesterly direction, receiving a heavy fire as they approached the Tuliahan river. Making no reply, the brigade crossed the river, the South Dakotans leading, and wheeled to the left, moved westward and halted on a ridge facing towards Polo. About dark Colonel Frost received orders to move by the left flank, change direction to the right and close in on an old bridge across the river. The order was executed after dark by men who had then marched and fought more than eighteen miles under a blazing sun, over lava beds and through jungles, without having had scarcely a mouthful to eat. That the men were hungry goes without saying, and the officers were cha- grined when they found themselves halted on the right bank of the Tuliahan river, feeling that they had left a strong position for a weak one. They learned later that the division commander had been forced to change his plans because General Wheaton had taken Malinta when he Ind been ordered to make only a demonstration. The change in direction caused great inconven- ience to the men owing to the fact that the bag- gage train lost its way and failed to come up with provisions. The South Dakotans slept on the ground that night, having had little dinner and no supper and getting no breakfast in the morning.
During the day's march the only casualty suf- fered by the South Dakotans was a severe wound received by Private Walter E. Brown, of Com- pany G. The Filipinos shot too high all the while, and the severest loss of the day was sus- tained by the Fourth Infantry, held in reserve, who had several men hit by the enemy's long range fire. The South Dakotans counted more than one hundred dead Filipinos left on the field where they got in range of the Springfield rifles.
How to supply the regiment with food on
its march was a serious problem to be solved by Quartermaster Burdick. He began by impress- ing into his service every buffalo cart he could find, supplementing his carrying force with Chi- nese coolies. By following Lieutenant Burdick's example, a Kanaka protege of the South Dako- tans got in serious trouble. When the regiment left Honolulu enroute for Manila, three Kanaka stowaways were found aboard. There was no way to get them ashore, so they were adopted into the regiment, along with the goat and other mas- cots. Only the goat's chief employment was to eat "Christian Heralds," distributed by Chaplain Daley, while the Kanakas were put to work in the kitchen. In Manila they had been given re- volvers to protect themselves from the Malay bolos. When one of these youthful adventurers saw the quartermaster forcibly taking possession of carts, he concluded the example was worthy of emulation and proceeded to seize a carametta and native pony, ejecting the driver at the point of a revolver. The driver was an "amigo" and he howled loud and long. The Kanaka was ar- rested for robbery, tried before a military court and sentenced to two years in Bilibid prison, the Luzon penitentiary. The other Kanakas be- haved well. One of them, "George," was the servant of Captain Sessions and became almost invaluable. He was never sick a day, was strong physically and bright mentally. He was on every battlefield where Company B was engaged and helped care for the wounded all along the line, exposing himself with the utmost sangfroid at all times.
On the morning of March 26th at daylight the battalions of Lieutenant Colonel Stover and Major Howard were placed on the firing line, with Major Allison's battalion in reserve. They moved in a column of fours by the left flank to the rear of the brigade and were deployed, facing north on the right of the Tenth Pennsylvania. The Nebraska regiment was about one thousand yards to the rear, as a reserve to the brigade. The whole regiment formed in column of fours and moved on the Tuliahan river about four miles toward the bay and came out on the great Polo plain, which was about four miles long, in
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the shape of an oval about two miles wide near the center, and entirely surrounded by trees. The railroad ran along the left toward the bay. It was a terrible march through the sun, and the men, having no fresh water, were stumbling and falling from exhaustion and thirst. When it came on the plain near the end of the oval the brigade was formed in battle line facing the bay. As regiment after regiment moved up on the left in skirmish line the South Dakota position was well toward the Polo end of the oval. The Tenth Pennsylvania had swung six companies into line just ahead, topping a slight elevation in the val- ley, where the enemy opened a hot fire on the right from the trees near the center of the oval. The line made a sharp right angle and faced the position of the enemy from where the firing came. This brought the South Dakotas to the crest of a little rise facing a heavy wooded slope where the enemy could be seen heavily en- trenched.
The orders to Colonel Frost were to take the trenches and then execute a left wheel and move on Polo. Before executing the order How- ard's battalion, which had been placed in re- serve at noon, was placed in echelon on the right flank with orders to take care of any enemy that might threaten the right. Colonel Frost then ordered an advance with fixed bayonets, Stover commanding the left, Allison the right, with the Colonel at the center looking after the whole line. The regiment moved forward in quick time and took the first line of trenches, the enemy falling back on another line of breastworks. When the crest of the hill was reached Colonel Frost was about to give the order for a left wheel, as di- rected by his commanding officer, when a heavy fire was poured in from the enemy in front. Deeming it unwise to expose his force to such a strong flank fire, the Colonel ordered an ad- vance, which was made under a heavy fire, com- ing out at a point overlooking a bridge across the Meyacanyan river. The bridge was strongly defended by earthworks on the opposite side of the river. One entrenchment was about fifty yards to the right of the railroad track. while the other trench was about four hundred yards
to the left of the track. Major Allison's battalion moved to the left and joined Lieutenant Stover. Companies K and I were sent by Stover to the left to flank the trench, while Company F, assisted by part of Company G, forced the bridge. The enemy set fire to the bridge and poured a heavy fire to hold the South Dakotans in check until the bridge should be rendered impassable. Sergeant Holman, of Company C, ran forward on the bridge and extinguished the fire, performing one of the most daring acts of the entire war. Lieu- tenant Huntington, of Company F, was first to cross the bridge with part of his men. The re- mainder of Company F, part of C, I and K, the remainder of C and Companies G and L crossed in the order named and drove the Filipinos from the trenches, leaving sixty-seven dead behind their works. The two battalions then formed a line to protect the bridge while the other forces crossed.
Shortly after Colonel Frost had ordered Sto- ver and Allison's battalions to take the trenches beyond the bridge, he saw a force on the right of the railroad track which he mistook for How- ard's battalion. He hurried to them thinking he ' could work around the bend of the river and flank the enemy's trenches from the left. He found they were Nebraskans, and also found the country of such contour that he could not carry out his plan. He returned to the railroad cut and brought the enemy under an oblique fire. He saw two of the Filipinos run and knew that a charge would stampede the others. He accord- ingly ordered Musician Allen to blow a charge and called to the Nebraskans to come across the bridge. They were always ready for a fight and clambered up the bank ; they and the South Da- kotans crossed together. Colonel Frost had just crossed the bridge when he was called back by General Hale, who pointed to some volunteers moving up the track and ordered Colonel Frost to get his men together and move to the right front and clear out the enemy there.
Colonel Frost ran up the track after those troops, supposing them to be Howard's men. When he overtook them he found they were an- other force of Nebraskans. Just at that moment
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a force of Filipinos opened fire from the left. Colonel Frost asked for the ranking officers of the Nebraskans, when a captain stepped forward and saluted. Frost ordered him to charge the trenches of the enemy on the left. He saluted and said, "Very well, sir." As he began forming his line for a charge a Nebraska major ran up and asked, "What in h-1 are you going to do?" The captain replied, "I shall take the trench by Colonel's Frost's order," and he took it in a most gallant manner.
Colonel Frost then moved to the right and joined his forces and they were charging the strongest earthworks of the Filipinos. The enemy were quickly dislodged and the soldiers lost all semblance of military order as they chased and shot the Malays. It was like hunt- ing jackrabbits. Every time a Filipino sprang from a hiding place a Springfield cracked and a dusky warrior fell.
While the regiment was halted and the hos- pital corps were taking care of the wounded, a fire was opened from some Nipa huts about seven hundred yards in front. Adjutant Lien asked and was granted leave to take twenty men and drive out the sharpshooters. He routed the en- emy out and set fire to the buildings and re- turned to the command. Chaplain Daley, who was always with the men during the engage- ments, had just come from the side of Private Fred. C. Lorensen, who had fallen, as it was thought mortally wounded, in the hard struggle Company L had had among the lagoons before crossing the Meycauayan bridge. Besmeared with mud and wet with perspiration, he hurried to reach his regiment, crossing the bridge in advance of the Nebraska troops, five of whom fell before they could reach protection behind the railroad grade. A few minutes later Brig- adier General Hale was slightly wounded in the foot. Shouting to the Chaplain, who had now reached the South Dakotans, he called him to him. "Are you the chaplain of the South Da- kotans?" he said. Saluting, he answered, "I am." "Give my compliments to Colonel Frost yonder on the field, and say, as soon as the enemy is driven out of sight, and the field seems to be
clear, he is to recall his men and take them back across the Meycauayan bridge to bivouac for the night ; for they must have food and .rest." But fully an hour of hot skirmishing ensued. When all was quiet the Colonel led his men backward toward the bridge, but had not gone a mile be- fore an orderly from General Hale counter- manded the order, and asked him to return to his former position and throw out a skirmish line. It was now after nine o'clock at night and the regiment had marched and fought since early morning with no breakfast, no dinner, no sup- per, and but very little supper the night before. Quartermaster Burdick finally succeeded in bringing light rations on pack ponies that night between twelve and three o'clock, with a fuller supply a few hours later. The men had little rest for they must be ready for instant action throughout the night. Frost ordered Major Howard, whose batallion Frost ordered Major Howard, whose battalion had been placed in echelon on the right flank, to attack the enemy on the right, where they were holding a line of rifle pits commanding the ad- vance of the regiment. The course of the bat- talion in this movement necessitated their cross- irg the river several times on account of its wind- ing course, but the enemy was finally driven out without any casualties, except a slight wound in the shoulder suffered by Captain Englesby.
This movement took the . battalion about three-quarters of a mile away from the line of march, which was regained after the engage- ment, but the balance of the regiment had dis- appeared. Major Howard bivouacked his men, who were soaked to the skin and covered with mud, when they were allowed to undress and build fires to dry their clothing, and then left them in command of Captain VanHouten, the senior captain, and rode on ahead to find the regiment. He found and reported . to Colonel Frost after the skirmish line had been thrown out for the night at about nine o'clock. The wagon train had lost its way in the jungle and had not arrived with reserve supplies of ammu- nition and rations, and on hearing this Howard volunteered to go back and find them. He left
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the line about ten o'clock and rode until two o'clock before locating the wagon train, which had lost the road and had finally gone into camp in the woods. He aroused Captain Burdick, who soon had the wagons under way, and the re- serve supplies were brought up to the line in time for distribution early in the morning. How- ard then returned to his command and after an hour's sleep started on with his battalion and re- joined the regiment.
The losses during the day were, wounded : Captain C. H. Englesby, Company H; Privates Fred W. Barber and Warren E. Crozier, of Com- pany I; Sergeant Hiram A. Pratt, Company F; Private Fred C. Lorencen, Company L; Arti- ficer Arne Hanges, Company K; Private George Bensen, Company C; Private Allen Myers, Com- pany L; Byron F. Hastings, of Company E.
The morning of March 27th opened bright and clear, like nearly all mornings in the tropics during the dry season. It was to be the hardest struggle of the war, for the South Dakotans and the whole state was to be cast in gloom be- cause of brave lives sacrificed, while the whole nation was to pay tribute to South Dakota's valor and discipline. It was the only battle of the war where the newspaper representatives saw the South Dakotans in battle, and therefore the only battle in which Colonel Frost's regiment re- ceived the notice in the public press it deserved. While certain volunteer regiments had received press compliments, some of them deserved and many of them so ridiculously false that they be- came the laughing stock of the regiments who knew the facts, the South Dakotans and Ne- braskans were doing the fighting and sustaining the losses without mention in the newspapers. except to give their surprisingly large lists of dead and wounded.
The South Dakotans were up and had their breakfasts before daylight and were ready for action. Colonel Frost was ordered to form them for an advance guard for the brigade. The Sec- ond Battalion, under command of Major How- ard, was advanced to the firing line; the First Battalion, under Colonel Stover, was formed five hundred yards in the rear, and the Third
Battalion, under Major Allison, was formed five hundred yards in the rear of Stover. The bri- gade commander informed Colonel Frost that he might meet the enemy and that he believed the danger was on the right and to dispose of his force accordingly. Stover's force was placed in echelon behind the firing line, while the re- serve, under Allison, was echeloned behind Stover's force. This disposition made, Colonel Frost informed General Hale he was ready to move. The Colonel was satisfied and went to the rear, but soon returned and directed that Colonel Stover's force be placed in a column of fours on the railroad, which was done. General McArthur then rode up and told Colonel Frost he was to move on the further line of trees which marked Marilao, and if no opposition was en- countered he was to halt, but if his advance was opposed he was to use discretion.
Colonel Frost ordered the musician to sound "Forward, march," and the line advanced, the left moving along the railroad embankment, with the Third Artillery deployed on the left of the track with orders to support the South Dakotas. The line moved forward about eight hundred yards, where a long range fire was opened by the enemy on the left.
The men were halted for a few moments, while the fire was replied to by the artillery. Not considering the fire of much consequence, Col- onel Frost ordered an advance. He, Adjutant Lien and Colonel Frost's orderly, Private Syver- son, were on horseback and had just crossed a dry run, when they received a terrific fire from the line of trees which had been indicated by General McArthur as probably concealing the enemy. The firing of the Filipinos was by volley and, as was afterward learned, came from Agui- naldo's "regulars," men who had served under the Spanish flag and had been drilled by Spanish officers. Colonel Frost ordered his men to lie down and wait for the mountain artillery to open fire from the railroad track. Looking to the left of the track, he saw the artillery had been de- serted and he decided at once that infantry must carry the enemy's position. He ordered Adju- tant Lien to hurry back to Stover and Allison
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and order them to deploy their battalions to the right. The gallant young adjutant turned his horse and galloped over the field amid a perfect hurricane of bullets. He soon saw that Stover and Allison were hurrying their men in posi- tion as Colonel Frost desired. Waving his hand in approval, he turned his horse and started on the run to Colonel Frost's position. He had just passed where Major Warne and the hospital corps were coming up when his horse, a small island pony, gave out and could go no further. Leaping to the ground, Lieutenant Lien at- tempted to lead his horse, but the pony refused to move. He then called to one of the hospital men, "Give my horse a kick and send him on when he gets rested," and turned and ran toward where Colonel Frost was fighting. He had not gone more than twenty yards when he fell, shot through the bowels by a Mauser bullet. Chaplain Daley, who was near, hurried to him and spoke a few words, but the young hero was too near death to reply. In about eight minutes from the time he was hit he was dead. He had just been promoted to the rank of captain, though his commission had not yet reached him. He was brave to rashness, generous to a fault, well educated, gifted both as an orator and writer, and easily the idol of the regiment. He was just twenty-four years old when he was killed.
Colonel Frost ordered Musician Allen to sound "Forward, march." The men ran forward about fifty yards and dropped to the ground to fire. Colonel Frost ordered Allen to blow "cease firing" and "forward march." The men obeyed with automatic discipline, although the fire from the enemy's trenches was rapid and fatal, many of the volunteers falling, killed or wounded, as the men advanced. The line would march forward in quick time for from fifty to one hundred yards and would then fall down and fire. At about twenty-five yards from the trenches Colonel Frost saw some Filipinos run from the trenches and he immediately ordered Musician Allen to blow a charge. The whole battalion responded gallantly. When D and E companies had nearly reached the river it could 25
be seen that the enemy had deserted the trenches. These companies were ordered to cross the bridge and form a line to the right and flank the trenches further up on the far side of the river, from which a heavy fire came, and were under the personal command of Colonel Frost. Com- panies M and H, under Major Howard, ad- vanced directly on the river, which they reached and crossed, driving the Filipinos out of the en- trenchments before the other two battalions had time to reach the line. The First and Third Bat- talions, under Colonel Stover and Major Allison, especially the latter, owing to the distance they occupied behind the advance guard, had a larger distance to cover in double time in order to reach the line, resulting in a large number being over- come with the heat, among whom was Major Allison. It was thought for a time that he could not recover, but finally did so sufficiently to be sent into the hospital at Manila, and from this point the Third Battalion was under command of Captain Englesby, of Company H.
During the advance the Filipinos had poured in a hot fire from a church in Marilao on the left. When the Filipinos saw the South Dakotans coming, wading and swimming and holding their guns above the water, they ran. Colonel Frost sent Sergeant Major Beck for the mountain howitzer, which had been brought up by some Nebraskans near the bridge. Captain VanHou- ten, of Company D, a man of giant strength and courage in proportion, saw the gun on the wrong side of the river and ran to the men in charge and asked why it had not been taken across the bridge. The lieutenant explained that all the bridge was burned away except the iron girders and that the men could not carry the gun across. The South Dakota captain was angry in earnest. He ordered them to dismount the gun and help him lift it upon his shoulders. This done he car- ried it across the bridge, while some of the men carried the carriage over, fixed the gun in posi- tion and opened fire on the retreating Filipinos with destructive effect. The gun was heavy and the exertion required to carry it across the bridge was almost superhuman. The strain on
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Captain VanHouten was so great that he had to keep his bed for two months and he died from the effects in 1902.
When the regiment reached the trenches, which the Filipinos had deserted, the men were which the Filipinos had deserted, the men were absolutely exhausted, many of them overcome by moved in a column of fours, crossed the river and deployed on the right of the South Dakotans, both regiments lying there until nearly night, when General Hale ordered them to move by the left flank. While General Hale and Colonel Frost were talking, they suddenly observed the Filipinos advancing in a skirmish line and open- ing fire at a distance of about two thousand yards. As the South Dakotans were moving to the left flank the Third Artillery opened fire on the Filipinos, after which the Nebraskans charged, driving the enemy about two miles. Major Howard was then sent out with six com- panies to establish an outpost line in the direc- tion of the enemy, so the balance of the brigade could have what rest was possible on the open ground without being disturbed by a night at- tack of the enemy. The Tenth Pennsylvania was brought up to the left of the First South Dakota and the First Nebraska returned and bivouacked on the right, which brought the brigade into line together again.
The First South Dakota Volunteers lost heav- ily during the day. The killed were: Adjutant Jonas H. Lien ; Lieutenant Sydney E. Morrison, Company E; Lieutenant Frank H. Adams, Com- pany H; Privates James Nelson, Company D; Mathew Ryan, Company D; Harvey Keogh, Company E; Lewis Chase, Company E. The wounded were: Sergeant Charles B. Preacher, Company M (died from wound) ; Benjamin Strobel, Company F; John Stanke, Company E; Sergeant Sydney J. Connell, Company C: Ray Washburn, Company D; Isaac Johnson, Com- pany D; Sergeant Ernest Madden, Company D; Sergeant Arthur A. Northrop, Company E; Musician David Elenes, Company M; Private Matt Schuber, Company M; Peter J. Tierney, Company F; Fred Bunger, Company L; William F. Panke, Company E; Private Homer Stock-
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