Show SERGEANT HINES headquarters battery B utah id artillery cuartel quartel de malsic P 7 I 1 a 10 1898 1 I am very proud at aft ta atna have the opportunity unity of writing a few lines 11 nes in a foreign land aak a strange and I 1 must confess i a L s degraded race we now a watt awat tl message which calls us back to ito land we love so well I 1 need 1 relate all that we have gone mhd since we reached these island iala aida more able authors than myself 41 already done that suffice it for xa say that we came we saw vie we mastered the great ties of the mighty deep and the ous difficulties in tan landing landd cUng ng due 4 to tr acted storms blowing high through which it was waa necessary to t the small boats which afforded tac means of embarking disembarking dis the a ana its supplies this great task itaskas a privations privat lons dons and hardships of a ca c during the rainy miny seasons in the lowlands were accomplished J als by all the troops in a writ spirit of bierly ay fortitude which has at all during these days of trial given ato a most praiseworthy name among jn ngu atlon tiona of the world t the memorable attack by large jezior forces of the spaniards on 21 aug ast 1st not an inch und nd was yielded by the utah bata and B who were stationed in trenches on those dates and to be er of one of these batteries is ysreal an honor as any young amer ft could desire ads spoken or written cannot ex sst the terrors of margod war God only 11 the roar of the cannon and ry the crash of arms the fage the laying down of life for batry and above all the victory won e boys lay behind the earth works asbe e memorable night only two hun yards from where the thirsty ards were waiting wail wad ting the time had thor the enemy to strike a blow say sunday july 31 the khe flower of r spanish span ish army marched ough the gates of the city to reen re en the outposts and man the forts bithe earthworks earthworms earth works on our front all day hr sharpshooters had been picking at outposts jut posts and men at work on our at 1115 p m the fire aed d upon our right and ten mink later the whole line was ablaze it the fire of musketry ash was it lightning no the of thunder Is pleasant but the of an eight inch can you thirty foot steel rail coming agh h the air at the rate of 1680 feet lebond ond and making about twenty n revolutions per minute and then i imagine that rail striking about I 1 teet feet away on the top of a breast and filling your eyes full of mud fix a hard matter to describe the 14 while in mid air and the light sa a shell but the above will give n idea of high lite life in the phililp the shells were falling thick and the very earth beneath our shoe ler er trembled as if in contact with y crater the smoke was grow every second our little in bt B t looking muzzle loaders looked ably sly through the embrasures embra they growing impatient as well as the H who manned them the time went ardly until the command came to y fire every man stepped into the yiema with the adr aar of a veteran as band jand composed as it if on dress pal pai every man meant to fight till the t drop of blood ceased to flow in his our right and left were the evanta boys and the keystone keyston q se joan call well be proud of her regiment one glance down the kne rench ments was a spectacle never fe forgotten it was one long stream lire sinking deep in our breast 9 and tearing massive holes came jl shells belle and solid shot from the en through the embrasures embra came users as as bees in a hive t a man flinched le ie in 1 n the hottest of the fight the yur our embrasure was carried away solid shot we cleared that em lre re under a shower of lead with losing ng a man it was a miracle X sometimes think that the mort have bave charmed lives at the hour nabat bat the enemy had left their in ants and were advancing on us pame me so close to giving us a hand id 4 that some of our boys id they could hear enough span spam 0 last them a lifetime every man r left was waa down to his last round unit lon orders came down the bayonets and be in readiness intoe a charge we were fighting W hold bold our ground not to drive back here te ds where the utah g artillery won for the baby of america a golden crown tor for every taw raw recruit that left her fertile soil fought mke like an old soldier veterans of the late war can well be proud of their children the boys showed their staying qualities and while the infantry on our left was quiet and waiting for the charge OUT our little guns were doing their deadly work swinging her muzzle from one side of the embrasure to the other we sent our compliments ats to the men that we had come so far to tn see in the form of shrapnel and percussion shells re and ammunition came but the battle was won streaks of light in the east warned us that day was fast and it was a welcoming sight eight for the boys drenched and chilled as they were yet they stood by their guns ready to respond at a moments notice but our midnight friends lay low in their blood spanned trenches from this time on manila was practically ours and when on the lath of august we made the combined naval and land assault on the defense the enemy held out but fifty minutes it was a grand sight when the colorado regiment went over our entrenchments and advanced on manila then within thirty minutes old glory glo ry was waving in the noon breezes over the old port fort I 1 am proud to be on ants of the army who have not come as despoilers and oppressors but as the instruments of a strong free government whose purpose are beneficial and which has declared de claired itself in this way the champion cham plon of those oppressed by spanish misrule now that it dt is over we are anxious to receive word to nehome coa come home so far I 1 have been very fortunate having advanced to la the rank of first sergeant in place of louis B eddy who held the position when we left utah this makes me the highest non cloned officer in my battery I 1 had hoped to be able to say at this time that all were well and happy but on the of last month corporal wm Q anderson who was detailed at cavite while on duty in trying to stop a quarrel between one of our boys who was killed and some natives was shot through the breast causing a very painful and dangerous wound at this writing surprising to all he is improving very slowly and it idour is our greatest hope that he will recover the rest of the college boys are doing well especially corporal robert who now ranks as sergeant aavang to driendl be kindly adly remembered to my logian friends A am respectfully P F T HINES first sergeant battery B utah artillery manila P I 1 logan nation |