Part 10 (1/2)
”San Rafael will soon be ours,” said one of the officers of the staff
”See, the ene!” he cried enthusiastically
At thatan order from General Otis The order read that the coluat until supplies could be forwarded from Malolos A shadow fell over the commando's face Another victory was at hand--but orders were orders, and ents were left in possession of the field They thought the A forced back on account of a heavy loss, and went alreat victory for the Filipino cause
CHAPTER XI
THE CROSSING OF THE RIO GRANDE RIVER
”For gracious' sake, what did ant to retreat for?” demanded Ben, as soon as the co distance The young captain had been at the very front of the firing line, and had seen that complete victory was only the work of a quarter of an hour or less
”Orders froeneral headquarters,” replied the ry, too,” he added
”We could have whipped them with ease”
”So we could, captain, but--” And Major Morris finished with a shrug of his shoulders which ood deal
”I don't believe General Otis would have given such an order had he been here to see as going on,” continued Ben, earnestly
”Well, we're ordered back to Angat, and that is all there is to it
The ar the supplies!” et all the supplies ant as we go along” And Ben was rather inclined to agree with him
There was no help, however, for the turn in the situation; and with crestfallen faces the soldiers moved still further back and went into temporary camp Only a few had suffered, and the wounded ones were promptly cared for by the hospital corps
”And how do you feel?” asked Gilbert, as he came up to see Ben ”Does the wound hurt still?”
”It itches, that's all,” answered Ben ”But this retreat--”
”Makes one feel sore all over, doesn't it?” finished the young Southerner ”Ito round up any of these rebels, we can't do it by falling back and waiting for supplies”
Impatient as they were, however, the troops had to wait for two days before anotherthis tie quantities, that there ht be no more delays in the future
In the meantime the troops under General MacArthur were by no ades, that of General Hale on the right wing, and that of General Wheaton on the left wing Of these troops the first advance was by some men of the Fourth Cavalry, ent forward to reconnoitre the ene the early ents opened a heavy fire which the Americans returned with difficulty, as the rebels ell concealed by the tall grass and their intrenchments To aid the cavalry a number of other troops were hurried forward, also several field-pieces; and in the end the Filipinos were forced from their position, with a heavy loss In this battle the A the killed was Colonel Stotsenburg, coallantly leading his men, was shot down in the final rush upon the eneua the whole of General Hale's brigade ua River to Pulilan Here no resistance was encountered, and after a brief rest the brigade pushed on toward Logundi That toas not yet reached when the advance guard reported a breastwork across the le on the east
”Never o ahead anyhow!” shouted the soldiers of the Nebraska regio ahead they did, with the South Dakota and Iowa troops beside the their advance The fight at the earthworks was a fierce one, so to surrender even when they knew they were beaten; and as a consequence ht otherwise have been spared to theundi, the Quingua and the Bagbag rivers join in flowing into the Calu but a short distance away, and at this point General Hale's command reunited with that of General Wheaton, which had co the tracks from Malolos without difficulty General Wheaton had with him the troops from Montana and Kansas, so with two aruns and six-pounders
It was soon discovered that the rebels had built strong breastworks in a se and the western bank of the Calumpit Rivers, and had injured the railroad track for a distance of several hundred yards, and also the bridge spanning the river As the approach to both rivers was largely an open one, how to dislodge the Filipinos became a serious problem
”Forith the armored cars!” was the cry, and they were rushed ahead as far as the torn-up condition of the railroad tracks ad for half an hour followed, in which one of the batteries on the highway also took part The aients were seen to be pouring fro too hot to hold theround, and when the troops on foot advanced they opened a blistering fire which laid not a few Americans low But the victory was ours, and soon the followers of Old Glory ading or swi corps set to work to repair the daage cars h