t being centered on
Guadaloupe. Meanwhile Wheaton advanced his troops on the right to
Patteros and along the Pasig. The advance to Guadaloupe began along the
river with the gunboat in the vanguard. Two insurgents partially
concealed in the bushes on the banks were taken prisoners and turned
over to the Twenty-third Infantry. Sunken cascos, loaded with rock, were
frequently encountered, but the boat avoided them with only a little
delay. Generals Anderson and Wheaton moved up from the right and the
gunboat started up the stream. Near the Mariquina river they met with a
fierce fire from both sides of the stream but no one on the boat was
injured. Two Filipino launches were noticed but they got away. A casco
was found in which were the clothing of some Filipino officer and men.
The wearers had escaped.

On the day following there was a brisk engagement at Pasig in which the
town was bombarded with good effect, some thirty of the enemy being
killed, while the remainder were sent flying in all directions.

Nothing of interest occurred until Wednesday, March 15th, when a casco
manned by natives was chased down the river. She was overhauled but not
until her crew had jumped overboard and swam ashore. The "Laguna de Bay"
raised a white flag for the purpose of investigating, but the insurgents
instead of recognizing it pivoted a sharp small rim fire upon the boat
which answered with a heavy rain of shell and shrapnel.

Two days later an expedition, led by the gunboats, headed for Morong on
the opposite side of the lake. Lieutenant Webb with a Gatling and
twenty-four men went ashore to make a reconnoissance. This small
detachment was followed by three infantrymen under Captain Pratt. Upon
the advance of the Americans the enemy retreated quickly across the
plain and disappeared in the shades of the mountains beyond. One
thousand bushels of rice and three cascos were captured at this place
and a letter from General Pilar directing a general advance on Pasig was
also found. But few inhabitants remained in the town and upon
questioning them it was learned that the Filipinos had several large
launches on the Pagsanyan river.

Major Grant had long been working to interest General Lawton in favor of
an expedition against Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is situated on the eastern
shores of the lake just behind the point of a mountain which juts out
into the water. She is the agricultural center of all the rich land on
the eastern side of the