The Battle of Bayan and Other Battles Part 3

CAMP VICARS (Mind.), P. I., May 7, 1902.

Announcement:

The troops of the Lake Lanao Expedition have been paraded in order that the following messages may be read to them:

FIRST.

MANILA, May 4, 1902.

TO GENERAL DAVIS:

Order that the following message of the President of the United States be read to every company and troop in your Brigade. It will be published in Division Orders for the information of other commanders, and as a special mark and tribute to the a.s.saulting force of the Battle of Bayan.

(Sgd.) CHAFFEE.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.

WASHINGTON, D. C., May 5, 1902.

TO GENERAL CHAFFEE, MANILA.

Accept for the Army under your command, and express to General Davis and Colonel Baldwin especially, my congratulations and thanks for the splendid courage and fidelity which has again carried our flag to victory. Your fellow countrymen at home will ever reverence the memory of the fallen, and be faithful to the survivors, who have themselves been faithful unto death for their country's sake.

(Sgd.) THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

SECOND.

MANILA, May 4, 1902.

TO GENERAL DAVIS:

Please accept my congratulations for yourself, and express to Colonel Baldwin and all the officers and men engaged in the Battle of May 2, my high appreciation of their bravery, gallantry and soldiery conduct. My congratulations to both officers and men. I sincerely regret the death of some and the wounding of others. Let no comfort be withheld from the latter that can be supplied them.

(Sgd.) GENERAL A. R. CHAFFEE, Commanding Philippines.

THIRD.

CEBU, May 4, 1902.

TO GENERAL DAVIS:

My sincere congratulations to Baldwin, and to the officers and men engaged yesterday. Also to yourself for your energetic and skillful conduct of the whole affair, from first to last. It was necessary to give the Moros a lesson, and it seems to have been done in such a manner that it will not have to be repeated.

(Sgd.) BRIGADIER GENERAL WADE.

FOURTH.

REMARKS OF GENERAL GEORGE W. DAVIS.

SOLDIERS:

Words at my command fail to convey an adequate expression of admiration for the gallantry and self-sacrifice which I saw displayed by the a.s.saulting lines and investing cordon on the 2nd of May. The memory of this sanguinary action will be treasured by all partic.i.p.ants and observers as long as they live. For the 27th Infantry and the 25th Battery of Field Artillery, Bayan will always be an inspiration. At this moment of exaltation and triumph do not forget the vanquished foe, whose persistent gallantry commanded the admiration of all who saw the magnificent defense of their stronghold. A race of men who have been able to make such a fight, and who have turned this wilderness into a garden, have many qualities which if guided right will make them and their posterity valuable citizens. None can doubt who have seen what they have accomplished without the aid which civilized people enjoy. Let no word or act be brought home to the American soldier that discredits or disparages these Moros. Let it be the unremitting effort of every officer and soldier to a.s.sist and elevate them, a sacred duty which is devolved upon the Army, an added burden which must be borne; and every American relies upon our troops to execute this sacred trust.

So far there has been no act of wanton despoilment, injury or insult; let none ever be charged to an American soldier. Our flag is an emblem of freedom and honor, and it remains with you that it shall become such an emblem to the Moros, and ever so remain.

(Sgd.) GEORGE W. DAVIS, Brigadier General, U. S. A., Commanding Seventh Separate Brigade.

FIFTH.

HEADQUARTERS LAKE LANAO EXPEDITION, CAMP VICARS (Mind.), P. I., May 7, 1902.

Announcement:

The commanding officer appreciates the gallantry of his regiment.

The encounter of the 19th, 20th, and 21st of April, ending in the capture of Fort Pualos, and on May 2d in the capture of nine fortified positions and the final overcoming of a most desperate enemy, in a thoroughly equipped fortification known as Fort Pandapatan, where our losses were far greater than those of an ordinary battle, is the initial event in the history of the Regiment, and has set a high standard of valor and courage which will never be lowered as long as the 27th Infantry exists. He also desires to express his high appreciation of the gallantry and devotion to duty of the 25th Battery of Field Artillery, and desires that they consider the foregoing remarks concerning his regiment apply equally to them.

(Sgd.) F. D. BALDWIN, Colonel, Comd'g 27th Infantry.

SERMON ON "COURAGE."

Following is a copy of the admirable sermon preached by Chaplain George D. Rice of the 27th Infantry, to the troops of the Lake Lanao Expedition, on the Sunday following the battle of Bayan:

"I am going to speak to you to-day on courage, and how I saw it displayed on May 2d, while you were engaged in open combat with the Moros.

"There was a time when I thought that true courage was the absence of fear. But after witnessing the battle of this week I have seen that which has caused me to think differently now, because you demonstrated to me on that day that true courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquest of it. Surely, yours was the highest order of courage.

"I recollect when 'E' Company came to re-enforce. I turned and watched three men in skirmish line coming through the tall gra.s.s under heavy fire from the fort. They knew they were coming into the thickest of the fire, but the interval in that line was correct, every piece right, no shouting or noise of any sort. Simply a perfect line of determined men coming up to take part.

"'Tis more than courage, I thought. It is order, it is discipline and coolness. And the wounded! Such courage! One man struck in the leg. We would help him to the rear; but no, he could crawl and refused help.

Another hit in the right arm, and he laughed. Then a bullet struck his left arm and he only smiled and said: 'They did not treat me like this in the Panay campaign.'

"Lieut. Wagner was shot in the stomach and leg, and said to me: 'My only regret is to leave the fort with my work unfinished.' I saw one soldier whom I supposed was dead, I pulled a shelter-half over him; just then a soldier came running by. An officer shouted, 'Where are you going?' 'My ammunition is all gone,' replied the man. I saw the shelter-half move.

In a moment my supposed dead man was sitting upright. He removed his belt containing a few cartridges and gave it to the soldier. I wish I could remember this man, but there were twenty or thirty dead and wounded near there, and they were doing brave and unexpected things like this all the time.

"Brave Vicars fell, mortally wounded, leading 'F' Company. Lieut.

Jossman had hardly time to a.s.sume command when he, too, was shot, leaving 'F' Company without an officer, yet his finely disciplined company held its line perfectly. A bullet struck Captain Moore in the head, and as he rolled into one of the ditches he was heard to say, 'Do not retreat.' I saw a wounded soldier making a n.o.ble effort to get out of the line of fire. Who would help him? 'I'm going to help that man if I die for it,' I heard someone say, as the man repeatedly tottered and fell, with a terrible wound in his side. I looked, and in a moment brave Lieut. Bickham, tall and strong, was facing the numerous shot and sh.e.l.l to save his man, and he succeeded. A bullet pa.s.sed through Major Scott's hat, grazed his head, and brought the Major to his knees, but this officer remained on the line.

"During that awful fight I saw officers and men leave their positions in front of those terrible portholes for two reasons only--either because wounded or to get more ammunition.

"There were hundreds of instances of heroism occurring about that fort.

When Lieut. Fulmer called for volunteers to scale the walls, dozens of men responded. Lieuts. Hawkins and Wilson performed n.o.ble service, and were a credit to themselves and their regiment. Battalion Adjutant Drum, with his face smeared with powder and the dust of battle, was as cool as he was courageous. Captains Phillips, Rogers, Lyons and Hutton were with their respective commands, encouraging their men and doing excellent service.

"It was surely a high order of courage that caused Sgt. Graves to swing himself over the outer stockade of Binidayan when the fanatic Moro and his knife could be seen above. It was courage of the most G.o.dly type that took Corporal McGoveren down into the trenches to prop up the heads of wounded men and give them water, while fighting, biting, dying Moros occupied the same trenches. It was kingly courage on the part of Corpl.

Keeler, who, when shot in the leg, refused help, and said to me, 'I can get to the rear alone, sir; help someone else.' It was courage of the Christian soldier that inspired Sergt. Major Ingold and Sergt. McCarthy, both wounded, to speak words of hope to their comrades.

"The courage displayed by the Moros was very different. The Moros were caught in a trap. They knew it, and they fought the desperate fight of their lives. You can drive a mouse into a corner like this, and he, too, will turn. Bravery through necessity is not the true courage which comes of Christ.