History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 52

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 998

USA > South Dakota > History of South Dakota, Vol. I > Part 52

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

meyer, Company I; Peter Ryan, Company E; Will May, Company I; George A. Moon, Com- pany C; Corporal Alexander Hardy, Company G; Frank A. Schroeder, Company E; First Lieu- tenant Paul D. McClelland, Company I; Cor- poral William Ammo, Company I; Private Bay S. Nichols, Company K; Corporal Frank E. Wheeler, Company E; Charles H. Jackson, Com- pany M; Guy P. Squire, Company F.

As two-thirds of the casualties were from the Second Battalion, some idea of the warmth of the engagement may be formed. The percent- age of loss of this battalion in this engagement was the greatest of any engagement in the Phil- ippines during the war.

The regiment remained in Marilao during the 28th, the men resting and washing, their clothes and bathing themselves in the river. On the morning of the 29th they started, with the Nebraskans, moving in echelon to the right. probably five minutes in advance of the rest of the brigade. The Filipinos had flooded the rice fields, so that the volunteers marched nearly two miles through mud and water always above their knees, and often above their hips. A heavy fire was expected at any minute, but fortunately the enemy fired only a few shots. On crossing the Santa Cruz river a battalion of Filipinos was seen withdrawing in good order. Colonel Frost ordered the regiment to open fire and the enemy were soon scampering away in thorough dis- order. The South Dakotans then closed in on the railroad track in a column of fours, the Tenth Pennsylvania in front in a skirmish line. After passing the next stream the South Dakotans were deployed and swept over a country about five miles and returned to the railroad near the Guiguinto river. While near the bridge the Filipinos opened a heavy fire and the Pennsyl- vanians deployed and replied. Howard's bat- talion crossed the river under fire and deployed on the right of the Pennsylvanians. Colonel Frost received an order from General McArthur to take the remainder of the South Dakotans and move around a bend in the river and try to take the enemy in flank. The General soon dis- covered that such a move was not practicable and

379

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

recalled Colonel Frost. The two battalions then crossed the bridge and formed a line on the right of Howard's battalion. About dark the enemy's fire ceased and the troops bivouacked on the battlefield.

The South Dakota losses were: Wounded. Privates Knute K. Peterson, John W. Ortman, John P. Rodgers and John Donnelly, of Com- pany L; Corporal Oscar E. Johnson, Company H : Privates Oscar Fallen and Charles E. Theiss. of Company M; Sergeant Frank B. Stevens and Lewis F. Barber, of Company C; Manuel Rick- man, of Company D.

On the morning of the 30th the brigade moved forward from Guiguinto and had ad- vanced about a mile when it received a lively fire. The force pressed on until it received orders to halt in front of Santa Isabel. The South Da- kotans deployed to right of Santa Isabel, when orders came that the artillery would open fire, and after twenty minutes the Nebraskans would move on a line seven degrees west of north. After five minutes more the South Dakotans were to move on the same bearing and the Tenth Pennsylvanians were to follow five minutes later. The South Dakotans took a position about twenty paces behind the Nebraskans and marched according to orders, receiving a long range fire from the Filipinos until Malolos creek was reached. When there the Filipinos could be seen drawn up in battle line in the field be- yond a line of trees fringing the further bank of the creek. The regiment fired several vol- leys into the enemy and moved forward, the Filipinos running to the railroad embankment on the left for shelter. On reaching the railroad on the north side of the creek the South Da- kotans were to wheel to the left while the Ne- braskans were to move one-half mile further and wheel to the left also. The advance of the South Dakotans was so rapid that they crossed before the Nebraskans and opened fire when the rail- road embankment was reached. Here Colonel Frost ordered a left wheel, frequently halting the men to fire. The Filipinos poured in a heavy fire, but were too badly rattled to make it effec- tive. They were afraid to raise their heads high

enough from their entrenchments to take aim, and resorted to the futile method of raising their guns above the entrenchiments and firing at random, nearly always too high. Colonel Frost swung his regiment around and drove the en- emy from their trenches to the woods. As the South Dakotans emerged from a line of trees they saw the Filipino railroad train steaming off toward Calumpit.

His work accomplished, Colonel Frost re- turned his regiment to the railroad track, where he met the Nebraskans coming up just as they were about to execute their left wheel. Receiv- ing some of the fire from the enemy further down the track, Colonel Frost threw his regi- ment in position to reply, when an aide came up from General Hale and said not to fire, as the . Kansas and Montana regiments were entering Malolos.

Thus ended the campaign on Malolos. The regiment went into camp on the railroad, near Malolos, where it remained for twenty-four days. The battalions were sent alternately about one-half mile to the front to bivouac as outpost. The men were compelled to sleep on the ground with their clothes on and be ever on the alert. the Filipinos firing on them nightly. During the day detachments were sent out frequently to make reconnoiance. This was a dangerous kind of duty always, yet was eagerly sought for by the officers and men, and scarcely a detachment went out without having a brush with the en- emy.

April IIth the Minnesota regiment was at- tacked at Guiguinto by a strong force of Fili- pinos and the colonel sent an urgent appeal to Brigadier General Hale for reinforcements. Hale ordered Frost to send half of the First South Dakota. Major Howard was accordingly dis- patched with six companies, but arriving too late to participate in the fight. The next time the monotony of constantly watching an annoying and elusive enemy was broken was Sunday, April 23d. During the day Major Bell, chief of the scouts, went out with a force to make a re- connoisance. At Quingua, about six miles from Malolos, he was attacked by a large force and

380

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

practically surrounded and in imminent danger of being captured or cut to pieces. He sent for reinforcements and the Nebraskans and one bat- talion of the Iowans were hurried forward. Col- onel Stotsenberg, of the Nebraskans, had just reached the field with the men when he ordered a charge. Before he had gone more than a dozen yards he fell with a bullet through his heart. His regiment rushed on and carried the enemy's trenches in gallant style, but with heavy loss to themselves. The Filipinos retreated to the far side of the Bayolas river, where they had more trenches and were prepared to make a stubborn resistance. About five o'clock General Hale or- dered up the First South Dakota. The regiment reached the battlefield about dark and bivouaced behind the walls of a large church. As the first streaks of dawn appeared in the heavens the men were ordered to form in a column of files and marched toward the Bayolas river. The first file halted about fifty yards from a bamboo foot bridge, the Filipinos opening a heavy fire from the opposite bank. Brigadier General Hale ordered two pieces of artillery in position, one near the bridge and the other about one hundred yards down the river. After about twenty shots had been fired from the two pieces, the Southi Dakotans were ordered to advance. Captain Brockway, with Company F, led the advance across the bridge, expecting to meet a heavy fire. But the enemy had evidently been demoralized by the artillery fire and made only a feeble re- sistance. The regiment formed a skirmish line and advanced a half mile and covered the cross- ing of the other troops and trains.

In the engagement the killed were: Corporal Oscar E. Johnson and Privates Charles Stultz and Mortimer Bowen, of Company H; Privates Harlow DeJean, David C. Dean, Company L; James A. Lizer, Company K. Wounded, Cor- poral Charles P. Greene and Private Hall Weiss, Company G; Axal Sjoblom, Company L; Ser- geant Charles L. Butler, Company B.

When all were across the brigade moved for- ward, two battalions of the South Dakotans on the right and one in support, two battalions of the Nebraskans on the left and one in support,

and the Iowa regiment in reserve about one thou- sand yards in rear, marching in a column of fours in the road. As the South Dakotans approached the town of Pulilan they received a heavy firc from what appeared to be a V-shaped trench, or redan, about two hundred yards in front. The men dropped to the ground and poured in several effective volleys, when Colonel Frost ordered an advance. Just as the men were starting, the colonel received word that the artillery had come up and would open fire, and therefore ordered a halt, which was obeyed by all except Compa- nies H, L and G, under command of Captain Englesby, who failed to hear the order. These companies charged the trenches in front of them and rushed to the top of the earthworks before the Filipinos had time to retreat. Officers shot the enemy with revolvers and the privates opened on them with the less rapid, but more deadly, rifles. Thirty-eight Filipinos were killed and thirty-nine rifles were captured in this trench, the latter being remarkable, as the Filipinos had in nearly all cases saved their rifles from cap- ture. It was a gallant charge and inflicted a heavier loss on the enemy than was known to have been sustained before, except in a few fights.

After a few shots from the artillery, the First Battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel Stover, was thrown forward and the entire line swept through the village and then wheeled to the left and moved towards Calumpit. In the afternoon. when within four miles of Calumpit, a dense jungle was encountered through which as many as two companies had to march in single file by winding paths to reach the opposite side. There the regiment was reformed, the Iowas coming up on right. Just as the line reformed the Fili- pinos opened fire from strong trenches about eight hundred yards in advance. The First Bat- talion, under Lieutenant Colonel Stover, and the Third, under Captain Englesby, were ordered to fall to the ground and return the enemy's fire. Colonel Frost ordered pauses in the fire several times in order that he might judge its effect upon the enemy's fire. Finding that the fire from the trenches had slackened, he ordered the two bat-

381

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

talions to charge. The men advanced over the eight hundred yards intervening, firing as they went. When the enemy's trenches were reached they had been abandoned by means of "get-a- way" trenches ; eleven dead Filipinos were found. The regiment bivouacked then for the night, hav- ing marched and fought from about four o'clock in the morning. The men were utterly exhausted and scarcely able to get supper. The Filipinos took good care to provide for safety in retreat. Leading back from their fortifications to the jun- gle was always one or more trenches which would protect them from their assailants' fire dur- ing retreat.

Chaplain Daley came up with a big batch of mail from home. The boys kindled fires along the trenches and read their letters, their weari- ness disappearing and their spirits being cheered by the messages from loved ones in South Da- kota.

On the morning of April 25th the brigade moved forward with the South Dakotans in the center, the Iowans on the right and the Ne- braskans on the left. The march was slow, fre- quent changes of direction being made. About noon the force had approached within several hundred yards of the Bagbag river and received a sharp fire from the enemy, who lay in strong trenches on the opposite side. In fact, it was the most strongly entrenched position encoun- tered during the entire campaign, the Filipinos having covered their trenches with railroad irons and curved sections of boiler iron. There was also a "get-a-way" trench, found leading from all Filipino entrenchments, showing that they ex- pected to retreat and with the smallest possible exposure. General Hale found the river unford- able in front of the South Dakotans and Colonel Frost was ordered not to attempt to cross it, but to move his regiment forward and engage the enemy while the Nebraskans found a ford in order to cross and make a flank attack. Stover's and Howard's battalions were moved in skir- mish line to the bank of the river, where they laid themselves down and opened fire on the enemy's trenches at a distance of not more than seventy- five yards. Captain Englesby, with the Third

Battalion, was held in reserve about four hun- dred yards in the rear, though in a position much exposed to the fire of the Filipinos.

As the battalion approached the river bank, Corporal Breed, of Company B, who was almost directly in front of Colonel Frost, was shot. The Colonel seeing him fall, asked him if he was hurt much, and was raising a canteen to give him a drink when the heroic young man said, "It's only a scratch, Colonel," seized his gun and ran forward to the first clump of bushes near the river, where he fell again, gasped a few mo- ments and. died. He had been shot through the heart and the display of vitality was of the most remarkable on record.

The South Dakotans lay on the bank under a terrific fire from the Filipino trenches, which was returned with a will until word was received that the Nebraskans had . crossed the river and were about to attack the enemy in flank and that the fire must cease. It was some time before the Nebraskans began to move and the Fili- pinos fire was poured in with increased accuracy. To keep the rifles silent under a heavy and fatal fire from the enemy at close range is one of the hardest duties soldiers are ever called upon to perform, but the South Dakotans did it.

The Nebraskans attacked after the South Da- kotans had been lying on the river bank under fire for more than an hour and a half, and were soon seen driving the Filipinos from their trenches and the battle was over. During the battle Lieutenant Colonel Stover, who had con- ducted himself with the utmost gallantry throughout the entire campaign, was overcome by heat and was disabled until May 6th, when he rejoined the regiment at San Fernando. During the fight at the Bagbag river there were many instances of gallantry. Colonel Frost said his point of observation was a narrow one, but that Captain Sessions and Lieutenant Hawkins, of Company B, who were in the center immediately in front of him, deserved special commendation for the coolness they displayed in exposing them- selves through the action and in keeping their men under perfect control, and that Major How- ard and Lieutenant Jennings displayed admirable

382

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

nerve in coming down the line under fire to where he was standing to ascertain his wishes. He mentioned these instances because they came un- der his immediate observation.

The killed were Corporal Henry Breed, Com- pany B, and Privates Guy Jones and Charles E. Peterson, of Company H. The wounded were Lieutenant Walter S. Doolittle, of Company G; Sergeant Oliver C. Lapp and Privates Herbert A. Putnam, Charles Wagner and William H. Harrison, of Company I; Corporal Christ Myhre and Private Thomas H. Coleman, of Company E; Quartermaster Sergeant Antone Jurich and Private James H. Davis, Company L; Corporal William K. Reaman, Company F; Sergeant Ar- thur W. Swenson and Corporal Hammond H. Buck and Privates James A. Gibbs, Robert Haw- kins and Frank Goebel, of Company B; Privates Roy .E. Ranous and Don J. Ranous, of Company K.

At night, after the battle, the regiment moved by the left flank and bivouacked at the junction of the Juinga and Calumpit rivers. On the morning of the 26th the regiment crossed the Calumpit river and was stationed on the Bagbag river to the rear, the right resting on the railroad track. By this time the Montana and Kansas regiments had entered Calumpit and the Fili- pinos were firing at them from trenches north of the Quingua and Calumpit rivers. On the passed over or struck the ground near the South Dakotans, but no loss was suffered.

General McArthur, having encountered less resistance in Calumpit than he expected, ordered Colonel Frost on the 27th to hold the railroad bridge. One battalion was placed on the north bank and the other two battalions on the south bank and the regiment remained there until May 2d, when it formed a part of a force sent out under General Hale to reinforce General Law- ton. The force marched to Pulilan where the men bivouacked in a heavy rainstorm which drenched everything and rendered rest impossi- ble. A sick Spaniard was found there who said about two hundred Filipinos had been killed at Pulilan in the advance of April 24th. "Why," he said, "they found thirty-eight dead Filipinos

in one trench." He referred to the deadly work done by Companies H, L and G in their charge on the redan, or V-shaped trench, where thirty- eight Filipinos were killed in the trench and thir- ty-nine rifles captured.

During the night General Hale received word that Lawton was not in need of reinforcements, and when morning arrived the brigade was marched back to Calumpit, and the South Dako- tans bivouacked north of the Rio Grande de la Pampauga near Apalit Station on the railroad. When day dawned the brigade moved forward on Santo Tomas, the South Dakotans in reserve. As the brigade neared Santo Tomas river, the Iowa regiment at the head of the column deployed and moved to the attack. The artillery also moved up and opened fire. After a sharp interchange of shots the Nebraskans were deployed on the right of the Iowas and moved forward in their usual intrepid manner to the attack. After the firing had been kept up for about thirty minutes, the South Dakotans were ordered to the right to protect it from a threatened attack. Here came one of the most terrible marches of the war. The men had been exhausted by the heat and bad water and long marches already endured. Ma- laria had its grip on most of the men, while many in the ranks were weak from diarrhoea and stomach trouble. Abrasions on the skin, caused by marching through jungles and bogs, had become loathsome sores, covering the legs of the men from their knees down. Hands, arms, necks, faces and heads were sore wherever a scratch had been received. In this weakened condition the men marched to the right, as or- dered, crossing dense swamps and wading bogs and streams, where the water and mud were al- ways above their knees and often above their hips. The men actually pulled themselves through the deep mud, step at a time. The swamp grass reached above their heads and a vertical sun shot down its unbearable heat upon the sweltering, suffering men. Many of them fell down in the mud with sunstroke, others stopped on tufts of grass, unable to drag themselves longer. After about a mile of. this fearful march, Colonel Frost saw dry ground and gathered his

383

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

exhausted force on it. Less than three hundred men of all the regiment had got through the swamp. A small force of Filipinos were seen about a mile away on the right, but the men were too nearly worn out to attack. Meanwhile the Nebraskans had crossed the Santo Thomas river and were now seen driving the enemy from their trenches and the fight was over.

The regiment rested for about two hours and then moved down to the railroad where the Iowa regiment was found waiting. The river was forded and the South Dakotans ranged them- selves on the right of the Nebraskans and the brigade marched forward about a mile, the First Battalion marching through a swamp almost as bad as that on the other side of the river. At last bivouac ground was reached and the men had to hustle for themselves. They soon had fires and Nipa shelters, eating their hard-tack and drinking their coffee with some comfort, though they were compelled to sleep on the ground in line of battle, while rain fell in torrents nearly all night. The morning showed three hundred four men on duty. The only casualty suffered from Filipino bullets was a wound received by Private Robert J. Van Hook, of Company K.

The Iowa regiment moved up and entered San Fernando on the 5th without opposition, the South Dakotans entering on the evening of the same day and Colonel Frost was appointed pro- vost marshal. San Fernando is a large inland city where many rich Filipinos had made their homes, and where Aguinaldo had moved his capital after he was driven from Malolos. San Fernando was not a healthy camp and the ner- vous strain on the men and officers was distress- ing. The Filipinos formed a circle half around the city and built entrenchments close to the American lines, from which they kept up a fire almost continually at night and often through the day. The sick list increased at a fearful rate until nearly all the men in the regiment were. unfit for duty. Drs. Warne and Cox did all in their power to alleviate the suffering and to have the regiment relieved from active duty in order to allow the men to recuperate. The government was not suited to sick and debilitated men. It

never is. In order to supply actual necessities Lieutenant Colonel Stover, who returned to the regiment May 9th, opened a personal account with the commissary department and supplied the sick men with more than eight hundred dollars' worth of delicacies necessary to their condition. The men who were thus favored showed their appreciation by reimbursing their benefactor as quickly as pay day arrived.

At San Fernando the services of the South Dakotans were more severe. Worn out, and sick as they were, yet they discharged their duties well until they were nearly all on the sick list, either in the hospitals or in quarters. But a time came when even the sick were not excused from duty. The Filipinos had practically sur- rounded San Fernando and General Otis thought it necessary to make the strongest possible show of fighting men. The army surgeon was sent through the hospitals at Manila to examine the inmates and send those able for duty to the front. Regimental surgeons were not permitted to assist and their reports and advice were ig- nored. He went into the hospitals and had all the patients in each ward, who could stand on their feet, ranged before him. "What's the matter with you," he would ask each one. The answer would be "malarial fever," or "chronic diarrhoea," "wounded in the arm," or whatever the disability might be. "Mark him for duty" came the almost invariable response. Hospital nurses interposed and regimental surgeons pro- tested, but unless it could be shown that the soldier was unable to work, the order was carried out. Among the South Dakotans twen- ty-five were found whom he ordered to report to their regiments at San Fernando. One of them had an unhealed gunshot wound through the lungs and another had a gunshot wound through the arm and shoulder so that he could not raise his left arm. Both of these men were peremp- torily ordered to report for duty. Others of the hapless twenty-five were worse disabled on ac- count of disease than these two mien were from unhealed wounds. They were taken by train to the Bagbag river, the railroad bridge across which had been destroyed by Filipinos. From

384

HISTORY OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

there they walked to Calumpit, a distance of four miles and, utterly exhausted, could go no farther. A regular army surgeon examined them there and reported by wire to headquarters that none of them were capable of doing duty and that it would be impossible for them to go to San Fer- nando on foot, a distance of ten miles. An or- der was wired back to put them on buffalo carts and send them on. When they reached San Fernando most of them were scarcely able to get off the carts and Dr. Warne immediately ordered all of them into the hospital as totally unfit for service.

Other regiments had outrages perpetrated on their sick similar to that experienced by the South Dakotans. One man belonging to the Third Artillery, who had his arm broken by bul- lets in two places, one break being just above the elbow and the other near the shoulder, was or- dered to the front by the same surgeon who went through the South Dakota hospital. The bones had not yet knit and the flesh was unhealed. He could not raise a gun, much less discharge one. He was one of the bravest officers in his bat- tery and tried to obey. When he found his phy- sical strength unequal to the requirements he re- fused to obey, for which he was ordered court- martialed.

From May 5th, when San Fernando was taken, the Filipinos harassed the outposts and prevented the soldiers from resting at night, but it was not until the 25th that an engagement of any moment occurred. Captain Hageman, of Company K, was in charge of the right outpost when he saw the Filipinos advancing to the at- tack. He reported the fact to Colonel Frost, who hastily assembled the regiment and formed a skirmish line behind the fringe of the trees fronting the enemy's lines. No enemy was seen. General Hale came up and made a reconnoisance and saw two Filipino officers advancing on foot. On the right the General saw nothing for cer- tain, but said he believed there were troops moving through the jungle about four hundred yards away. He walked up the road about fifty yards beyond the outpost and came to a turn in the road when he spied two Filipinos, not

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of South Dakota, Vol. I, Part 52

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn Publication date: 1904 Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen Number of Pages: 998

Author: Robinson, Doane, 1856-1946. cn
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 998