Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 August 1899 — REBELS FULL OF FIGHT. [ARTICLE]

REBELS FULL OF FIGHT.

Repeated Drubbing* by American Sol* diera Not Effective. A press dispatch from Manila sent by way of Hong Kong gives views and statements not appearing in the official cables. It is stated, that the Filipino rebels appear to retain much more of a fighting spirit than might be expected after their recent San Fernando experiences and General Lawton’s drubbings dn the south. After giving up San Fernando with a feeble struggle they intrenched themselves at Angeles, working .for several days, and impressing noncbmjbatants into the work, thus saving the armed men for fighting. They engaged ■Lieutenant Colonel Smith's regiment and the artillery warmly for four hours, making one of the most stubborn resistances |of the But the Americans are Indebted to the usual poor marksmanship of the Filipinos as well as to their own ■strategy for their small losses. In the Province of Cavite, where it was supposed the rebels had been scattered and demoralized beyond recuperation, they have assembled an army of several thousand men, distributed among the important towns from the lake to the bay. After the San Fernando engagement the rebels attempted to deter the Americans from a further advance northward by menacing the railroad communications. Several hundred of General Pio del Pilar's men crossed the Rio Grande between the American outpost towns and threatened Baliuag, Quingua and other places with small American garrisons, while during Sunday and Monday nights smaller bands tried to tear up the railroad tracks at several points between Bigaa’and Malolos. Re-enforcements of American troops, however, were sent along the railroad from Manila to Ban Fernando, while the forces at Baliuag and Quingua sallied out against General Pio del Pilar’s men and the rebels were easily driven away. In brushes between these Filipinos and the Americans during three days the Americans lost several men, while the Filipinos’ loss was heavy. Of these operations the press correspondent was permitted to send only an inadequate dispatch, dictated verbatim by Major General Otis. The censor writes stereotyped official phrases and adjectives into the dispatches, tending to magnify the opposition. General Otis says newspapers are not public institutions, but private enterprises, and the correspondents are only here on sufferance. The American troops have l>een withdrawn from all that part of the country which was half cleared of rebels in the expedition of the Americans in June last. The rebels have returned to San Mateo, which was abandoned for the third tim* after its recent capture.