ans low. But the victory
was ours, and soon the followers of Old Glory were wading or swimming
the river, while the engineering corps set to work to repair the
damage done to railroad and bridge, so that the armored and baggage
cars might pass through.

The cry was now, "On to Calumpit!" which town lies on the Calumpit
River, and is divided into two parts by another stream, called the Rio
Grande. It was found that the insurgents had practically deserted the
lower half of the town, but had intrenchments on the upper bank of the
Rio Grande which were even more formidable than those taken on the
Bagbag. Here the rebels had also a Maxim and other guns, and it seemed
as if for once the advance of the Americans was thoroughly blocked.
Numerous good positions along the south bank of the river were held by
our troops, but it looked as if they could not get over the stream
without a tremendous loss of life.

It is said that the opportunity makes the man, and in this instance
the saying proved a true one. With the soldiers under General Wheaton
were the Twentieth Kansas Volunteers, who had already made a record
for themselves at Malolos and elsewhere, as related in a previous
volume of this series. They were commanded by Colonel Frederick
Funston, a man comparatively young in years and small in stature, but
one who was daring to the last degree, and who had seen much of
fighting and hardships during his adventurous existence. In Cuba,
Funston had fought most valiantly under Garcia for Cuban liberty long
before any interference by the United States.

To Colonel, afterward Brigadier General, Funston belongs the honor of
the passage of the Rio Grande, for it was he who planned what was
done, and he and a score of his fighting Kansans who carried it out.
The daring of the scheme is one which will live long in American
history.

As before mentioned, the bridge was partly broken, but enough
remained for the passage of soldiers who could climb from one iron
cross-section to another. At first it was hoped that a body might go
over the bridge in the dark, raise a great commotion, and cause
the Filipinos a panic. This scheme was tried, but it failed; for the
enemy was on strict guard, and would have shot down the men as
rapidly as they appeared on the bridge.

Colonel Funston then proposed to go down the river bank for a
considerable distance, build rafts, and, by means of a stout rope,
ferry some of the best of his men across the s