Show UTAH MEN IN BATTLE captain richard W young has writ f ten another interesting letter from manila I 1 camp dewey near manila july 31 1898 since writing you last we have had some excitement thursday night along toward morning I 1 was awakened by general greenes aide L efflin flin who handed me a written order from the general to get two of my guns guna ready to go up into the trenches at 8 the next morning and to take half of the battery men with me I 1 learned from mr efflin that the eighteenth infantry and a batt battalion aAlon of the colorado boys were to go 90 with us we were ready on time although the excitement of the order and the uncertainty of the object of our visit prevented my sleeping very much the rest of the night we put about 35 men on each gun having previously put ropes on them and you would have laughed to see a light battery usually the dashing arm of the service go 90 up a muddy road with 36 35 men pulling it laboriously along when we got up there we found two insurgent guns just where great big old fashioned guns were great big old fashioned guns guna shooting a round cannon ball about six inches in diameter they put some ropes on these guns and dragged them back out of the enclosure eno efie losure and put our two in their places it made the natives stare to see two great big guns replaced with two much smaller ones they did not understand that the modern rifle cannon is much superior to th old we had a most uncomfortable location the natives had been around there for some time and the place stunk most sickeningly the water was in every depression it lies about 12 inches below the surface and so rises into every hole the earthwork we were stationed behind was about 10 feet thick and at the rear was sustained by bamboo poles sunken in the ground behind which were placed pieces of wicker work made of this held up the earth to the desired height about six feet through I 1 it t all were two embrasures embra narrow behind and gored out in front so the guns could be traversed around from side to side monday the fight has occurred we occupied our new positions ns on the new lines dug by the colorado boys boya two or three night since yesterday morning early fortunately captain Captai nN grants two guns were taken forward yesterday morning to a position pogi tion on the other side aide of the church all was comparatively ively quiet yesterday there where a few shots now and then when somer some of our men unnecessarily exposed themselves but there was a sort of calm that preceded the storm of last we made some very comfortable housea for the men around the guns i 1 remained up there until about 5 in the ithe evening and left lieutenant gabbs in charge tor for the night the main part ot of the battery and men being in camp dewey at 1130 last night I 1 was awakened by the most infernal racket rac ket I 1 ever heard there was an incessant roar of small arms punctured with the discharge every second almost of some heavy cannon the whole camp was wa up immediately we knew our boys boy were in for it to what extent we did not know bugles began to sound sou nd the call to arms we had our limbers and caissons chaissons cais sons loaded with shot and shannel and the terrible noise of the battle continued it was beyond all question the he most infernal noise I 1 ever heard an aide of general greens greena went through throng it our camp and told us to await aawar orders the infantry fired past and soon choked up the narrow road down this road was a veritable rain of lead men fell in every regiment the sea beach vas wa swept shrapnel and small arms arins we waited in the impenetrable darkness and rain for orders men soon be egan to run through camp they vere were terror stricken one shout ed turu turn out the guard bring on all the ammunition we him and found out he had no orders but was simply stampeded another man came running down the road and when halted by an offic officer er and asked where he W was going said the first verg sergeant bant had seat merit him for a drink of water this was two and a half miles from the scene of battle then came the reports that the utah batteries were knocked out wiped out that the trenches had been in entered by the spanish and all our nien men killed it was a most fearful experience we could not have taken more ammunition up the roads the infantry clogged them up and it would have been suicide to take one fair hinder chest full of ammunition ammuel alon up tigh such a fusillade fusi lade A single ball would have exploded the whole 32 pounds se sides we were under orders to ref remain tain in camp after two hours of fearful suspense the end came then we hurried our ammunition forward 40 of boys taking two limbers for two and amit one half miles through mud a fiot deep they got there safely and thank god found the boys all sound in n my iny battery lieutenant gibbs bacr hada it ivantch atch on his thumb and pot leaver ins son had a trifling abras abrasion ton on h 0 iab domen caused by a mauser fcC uHei which first struck a wheel and glAm glanced ded into his blue shirt through that and then along his stomach and coming to a at stop p I 1 inside side his shirt i most narn narrow vv escape cap the infantry boys were not so fortunately fortun ort 10 were killed and forty were wounded them the funerals of the de dead ad were held yesterday and were of df course very sad and d touching ceremonies the wounded now lie in tents in camp and are receiving the attention of of the hospital and medical departments A I 1 the battle was follows as the Penn pennsylvania sylvani regiment or more erly a battalion of it under of major culbertson Culbert Bon was stai stationed toped along the american trenches VA oa baet side of a monastery formerly la A efte building now riddled wast ang aaa shell holes back a half matiy 0 of ak go were the supports con consisting sistInO of a odra eom pany of the third united stated ram lery armed with the krar rifles by the way the spanish troops as a rule are much better armed chaft we are they have a mauser rifle a rifle of german make which is one of the best rifles made it Is however in no way superior to our krag jorgen sen both are magazine guns but the only troops with us having the krag jorgensen guns are the regulars four corp companies anies of the eighteenth infantry land ana two companies of the third artillery the pennsylvania colorado nebraska and california regiments have the old springfield those mauser bullets do have an ugly sound as they ping through the air or clip orf off the tops of trees or blades of grass within a few feet or our head two guns guna of our battery and two of captain grants were also in the trenches ours on the right his on the left As good luck would have it we had bad moved our guns from the insurgent position in the rear of their new resting places the morning before the engagement ga and captain grant had taken up two of his guns I 1 had very carefully concealed my guns by putting thatches in front of the embra faures or holes through which the guns protrude and I 1 and all of us are quite convinced that the spanish were taken wholly by surprise when my two guns opened on thern them they supposed they were still in the rear in the old insurgent position and that Is where they got fooled to their cost we believe captain grant had taken no means to conceal his embrasures embra although they were in fact partly hidden and grow feels assured that the spanish believed that the only guns they would have to deal with were the two on the left for that reason they kept a thin line in front of the left wing putting most of their men on our side in order to avoid the guns there had been skirmish fire during the day between be tween ithe sharpshooters but nothing no serl serious ous about 5 in the afternoon I 1 had gone up on a porch on the third floor of the monastery with captain grant and lieutenant kragen buhl third artillery we crawled out to abo the end of the porch where we had a splendid plen did view of the spanish lines I 1 had bad just left them and had crawled up the rear slant of the ithe roof to the gable 1 I had seen colonel hale in the same excellent position in the morning when the spaniards began firing like sin I 1 dont know whether it was wais at us or not if so nothing no thing came very close but bult grant and krayenbuhl Kragen buhl made a 9 bee line tor for the atal staircase rease and from thence down into the trenches but for me escape was not quite so easy so 00 I 1 made up my mind to stay on the athe roof until things looked more encouraging there I 1 remained to tio the immense enjoyment of the boys in the trenches below for about half an hour and then I 1 sneaked peaked down pretty cose to the staircase and got glat down in a hurry 1 I assure you As a matter of fact we have bave all been where the bullets fly ever since ince we came A bullet cornea comes through camp once in a while A man was shot in the leg by one yesterday ay morning to return to the battle all was comparatively silent until 1130 the boys were crouching behind the earth works most of those bel belonging nging to the battery being asleep under the canvas shelter belter I 1 constructed for them then there amse from the spanish lines a sheet of flame our boys say ay there were at lea least of the enemy their guns guna back in their lines joined in and the ark land and rainy algat disagreeable enough under any circumstances was made hideous by the flight of messengers of death the enemy came out of their earthworks earthworms earth works with the evident intention of throwing our right flank which was supposed to be in charge of the insurgents but which in fact wes was most woefully weak and unprotected the pennsylvania boys valiantly returned the fire rising up over the to de liver their shots and loading under cover clover when things grot got intolerable lieutenant gibbs gabbs let drive with one of our pieces knocking out the temporary cover too to the embra embrasures athis was to followed 1 by lieutenant grow anthe on the west they fired shrapnel shells each containing bullets right into the ene mys flashes fla shea lieutenant krayenbuhl Kragen buhl says that each shot short left a gap in the Sparil spanish sh lines the pennsylvania boys fired so rapidly that before long they were almost without ammunition then for a time things looked extremely blue the spaniards seemed it have an inexhaustible supply and their firing kept up intermittently gibbs cut his shrapnel at zero so it would explode in the gun and let them have lit right and left grow followed suit just at the critical critler 1 moment up came the reserves under lieutenant kragen buhl they came through the mud at a double time with their bugles blowing they filed into ahe he trenches and were received with a hearty cheer by the boys immediately the commands load rea ready 17 11 aim and fire were heard and the regulars regula re rose above the works and poured volley after volley into in to the almost victorious spaniards then th e n u up came other regulars third artillery rt li lery p ithen the ColD colorado rado boys and some california company and the spaniard concluded he had had enough and treated retreated re after two hours hard haird contest cont esit we do not know how many were killed among them but it must have been a considerable number they were out of their trenches we were in ours and we had our cannon right against their lines you should hear the praises bestowed on the utah boys it is frequently stated that we saved the day that the spanish would have been too much for our infantry without the protection of our guns we fired cannon shots during the engagement one provoking feature of the affair was the shooting into our batteries and trenches by some california companies the latter went into the insurgent abandoned trenches behind us and must have mistaken our lines ahead for the spaniards and let us have a volley or two apparently without killing anyone however at the earliest moment we sent up two limbers full of ammunition to each battery it took 20 men to pull each limber but the boys went through the mud with a right good will in constant danger of their lives captain grant and I 1 also went up into the lines as soon as we learned that general oreene areene had nothing else tor for us to do nelson went with me yesterday lieutenant webb took gibbs place and again last night the firing started the wind was the other way and we did not hear so well but our lines were much stronger and were in command of colonel mccoy of colo rado a splendid and efficient made up his mind to let the spaniards stand off and do all the firing the they y wished so long as they did not come coma into our camp and reserve his force until it was really necessary and not needlessly expose a man I 1 do not believe we fired a pun gun several wounded have been brought in however and I 1 am very anxious to hear from lieutenant webb lieutenant Venant LIe webb came and with him the good news that only one of our men had bad suffered A stalwart fellow from colorado was shot through the head he was aiming over the top of the aar apet when an ugly little mauser went through his open eye and on through his head WW when his eye was closed you could not see where he was hit several others were wounded in the colorado regiment the attack was like that of the night before A strong infantry fire and the fire of a number of at guns the Span spaniards tards have bave the range perfectly and drop shells in our lines with fearful accuracy lieutenant critchlow was assisting in the aiding of one of grants guns when a shell came through the embrasure struck the frame of the gun knocked it au and exploded it fortunately no one W was hurt though pieces flew in all dt dl erections lons ions lieutenant webb did not are in fact we had day before yesterday as aa yesterday the strictest orders not to ta fire unless the enemy came out of hia big trenches so last night when the at tack was repeated just as before we did not fire a shot though the infantry poured out or bullets the spanish alm aim is splendid nothing saves us ua but the entrenchments the monterey monitor has not arrived yet dewey it seems must have her before he starts in there to be some apprehension that the german fleet which is strong will resent the he bombardment of the town and that our lc admiral will have the dutchmen also to fight so he wants his strong vessel he has no armored armo reds ship here but tw monterey is one of the most powerful bowerm warships afloat more anon I 1 munt post this A GENERAL ORDER OP OF i the following is the general order ot of commendation and thanks issued by command of general greene headquarters second brigade U S expeditionary forces i camp dewey near manila 1 aug 1 1898 1 general orders no 10 the brigadier general commanding desires to thank the troops engaged 3 last night for the gallantry and displayed by them in 14 repelling such a 1 vigorous attack by largely superior sup eilar 1 forces of the spaniards a not an inch of ground was yielded 43 by the tenth regiment pennsylvania infantry and batteries A and B 8 artil artillery lerry stationed in the trenches tatt aba battalion third united states 3 try moved forward to their support H through a galling fire with the utmost intrepidity the courage and steade ness shown by all in their first engage ment are worthy of the highest corn com mend atlon the dead will be burled buried with proper honors under the supervision of regimental and battalion commanders at t g 0 clock today in the yard of the convent near Marl Mari caban by command of brigadier general greene W G BATES assistant adjutant gereral Ge peral |