After leaving the battlefield we returned to the camp we had left that
morning. The whole force was almost exhausted by the day's service and
marching was a slow, burdensome task. A great many men lost their
provisions in the battle or in crossing the river. Mine was lost in the
river together with my mess kit, canteen and haversack. Those who were
fortunate enough not to lose their rations of canned beef and hard tack
were enjoying a hasty meal. At this juncture orders from Manila were to
march to Caloocan Church that night, a distance of about twenty-three
miles. It was then getting late in the evening and this march to be made
before camping was not very pleasant news to already footsore and tired
soldiers. Before marching out of sight of our camp men began falling
out. I marched about half an hour and had to fall out of ranks and
straggle along as best I could. My company set out for Caloocan with one
hundred and twenty-eight men, only eighteen of whom marched through that
night. The others were scattered along the route, footsore and worn out.
Many of them pulled off their shoes to relieve their blistered feet and
marched barefooted and carried their shoes in their hands, and, like
myself, stopping almost every hundred yards to rest a few minutes. We
were afraid to stop long at a time. We would have become too sore and
stiff to move.
We continued to move along in this tedious, toilsome way as rapidly as
possible. My party of three were proceeding as best we could. In the
darkness of the night we lost our way by taking the wrong road and went
into a small town, where we found a few white men, one of them a doctor
belonging to the First Regiment of Colorado Volunteers. He made many
inquiries about us and our regiment and asked all about the battle
fought that day. He looked after our welfare by providing us with
shelter and beds, but there was something else we wanted before
sleeping. We were perishing for food and all we had between us was a
small can of bacon, a ten cent United States coin and one small Spanish
coin (a paseado). With these we went out to buy bread. We found a
Chinaman and bought a piece of bread that was so hard we could scarcely
eat it, but we made a very good meal on that and the bacon.
We slept on a good spring bed and I awoke next morning in the position I
was in when I fell asleep. I was so stiff and sore that it was miserable
to have to move. After breakfast we went into Manila and took the
railroad for our command.
A number of soldiers arrived after we did and reported for duty. All the
provisions that I ate on this expedition, which lasted three days, would
not have made more than one good meal. Before my party reported at
Caloocan one of the other two and myself were reported captured by the
Filipinos, or lost. That night we all went back into Manila to resume
guard and patrol duty. Police duty was all done by soldiers until a
force of Macabees was organized. The Macabees are enemies of the
Filipinos, and soon became our allies and were very good soldiers and
police.
Manila has a population of nearly 400,000 people of different tribes and
nationalities. It is the capital of Luzon and the most important city of
the Philippine Islands. The energy and enterprise is due to foreigners.
There are several miles of narrow gauge street railroad and a system of
electric lights.
To mingle with these people it is necessary to know two or three
languages, if not more. Spanish is the prevailing language. Most of the
business men can speak several languages.
The Chinese are the filthiest people there. I have seen hundreds of them
living in their workhouses where a stench was arising too great for a
white man to approach. These filthy people cook, eat and sleep all in
this filthy hole. Their principal food is rice and soup. One dollar of
United States currency will buy enough for one person to live on a whole
month. When the Americans first entered Manila it was very filthy. The
air reeked from the accumulation of filth during the siege of the city.
This made the place a little worse than usual. It took the soldiers
three months to clean out and clear out the streets.
The only thing apparently that kept down a great deal of disease and
death is the continual blowing of the sea breeze.
Those killed in battle outside the city had been carried in and buried
in shallow holes, or probably I would be more correct in saying, about
half covered with earth and left that way for dogs to scratch up and
pull about by the arms and legs.
I have seen dead Filipinos carried out of the hospital, thrown on carts
and carried to the burying ground and handled like dead hogs. They would
be covered a little and left to the dogs. I don't believe I ever looked
towards the place without seeing dogs there eating and pulling the
bodies about.
Hundreds of beggars are to be seen squatted down at all public places
and on the street corners. They do not sit down like Americans. This is
the case with all the natives. They sit in a peculiar, squatting way,
which is positively tiring to any one else but these natives.
The Filipino men wear trousers rolled up high and a long white shirt of
very thin material, the tail hanging out over the trousers like a
sweater. They wear nothing on the feet and most of them wear nothing on
the head. They are not fond of clothing, and many wear very little,
almost going nude. They find a great deal of pleasure in the possession
of a gun and it seems that they are content with a gun, fighting and
running in the mountains. They care little for life and will fight till
killed.
A squad of Filipinos was captured near Manila by some of the Fourteenth
Infantry; when they were approached to give over their guns to the
soldiers they would make a motion like giving up a gun, but instead jump
back and attempt to shoot a soldier. If he succeeded in shooting an
American some other American would shoot the Filipino. Several were
killed in this manner.
When a Filipino is captured his greatest desire is to keep possession of
his gun, and sometimes fight for its possession after being captured.
The Filipinos are a natural race of gamblers; they gamble and trade,
many of them, for a living, refusing to work as long as they can get
anything to eat without working for it. Their principal cause for
idleness is the cheapness of their living, rice and fish being their
principal food. They will catch fish and throw them in the hot sun for
two or three days; they are then taken up and smoked and burned a few
minutes over some coals and chunks, and then eaten.
If any Americans are watching them they will say, "mucho chico wino,"
while eating this delicacy of their indolence and filth. The Filipinos
and native tribes are extremely filthy in their eating, as well as
everything else; they eat almost anything that an American will refuse
to eat.
The Macabees is another negro tribe on the Island of Luzon. They are a
much better people than the Filipinos and more intelligent. This tribe
is hostile to the Filipinos, and fight them whenever an opportunity is
offered.
Two regiments of the Macabees were organized and equipped by the
Americans, and placed in the field against the Filipinos, and they made
very good soldiers.