r sentinels had orders not to
fire on them unless they made an attack, when the sentinels fired and
got back into the trenches as quickly as possible to escape being killed
by our own men.

They violated the custom of the white flag frequently. A party of six or
eight would leave their lines with a white flag and advance a little
and wave the flag. A party of Americans would start to meet them.

Every time the Americans stopped the Filipinos stopped. They tried to
get our men as near them as possible and when they thought they could
get our men no nearer they would seize their rifles, which they would
have concealed behind them, and fire on our soldiers. Their scheme
evidently was to kill all the officers they could, but they only
succeeded in killing two, as far as came to my knowledge. After a few
attempts of this kind they were fired on regardless of their white flag
scheme.

While at San Pedro Macati the First Colorado Volunteers would go out and
sleep all night on the hill-top. Some one was killed, or wounded, every
night this was done. But few Americans were killed before the advance
was made on the enemy. A strong post was taken and many Filipinos killed
and captured. Ninety were captured in one little bamboo village of a
dozen houses. This was the morning of March tenth. That evening orders
were received to return to Manila. We had been in the trenches the
greater part of the ten days at San Pedro Macati, and had two
engagements, one the fourth and one the tenth of March.

We set out on the return to Manila late in the evening of March tenth.
We had a march of six miles to make. A heavy rain drenched the soldiers,
reaching the walled city of Manila about eleven o'clock that night.

After a few days' rest Company "E" of the Twenty-third went up the Pasig
river on cascos to Laguna de Bay, a distance of fifty miles from
Manila. This is a body of fresh water twenty miles wide and sixty miles
long, and deep enough to float a large steamer.

A gun boat, which stayed there in the bay, and of the same name, was
boarded by a part of our soldiers and steamed up the bay for the purpose
of capturing Santa Cruz. We had to go up in front of the town in full
view of the Filipinos, who saw the approach of the gun boat and left in
haste for the mountains.

Our boat grounded and we had to wade out a distance of two hundred
yards. The bottom of the lake was uneven and by the time land was
reached we were wet from running i