action long enough to drive the enemy back a few
hundred yards. Again the piece limbered up and rattled over the hard
lava road for a new position. The Tagalans soon centered a murderous
fire from three points upon the big gun as a desperate measure to
annihilate this new terror. A horse ridden by Private Engler was shot
down, but was able to recover himself sufficiently to gain the shelter
of a small gulch a few yards farther on. From its shelter the big gun
pounded over the road to another gulch which had been deserted just a
few minutes previously by a company of Nebraskans. The heavy limber
chest was left at the foot of the hill and on their hands and knees the
men pushed the piece forward until the bore of the gun gleamed down the
slope. A heavy volley answered from the plain below. Ford Fisher said
afterwards that he saw a Filipino sharpshooter behind a rock fire six
times point blank at the gunner as he was sighting the piece. Suddenly
the roar of a cannon tore down the hill. The Tagalans answered it with a
fiendish yell and came steadily onward. The men on the gun worked like
Trojans, but they could not force the Malays back. Just as it seemed as
if the gun would have to retire the tall white figure of Colonel
Stotsenberg could be seen with galloping steed coming up the hill.
Instantly the wavering infantry line tightened. The Colonel's pistol
flashed in the sunlight, and the whole column swung up the eminence to
victory. The voice of the big gun bellowed back its notes of defiance
and the haughty foe fled in terror.

During the encounter Corporal McDonald with a revolving Hotchkiss cannon
performed some excellent service on the right in aiding the Oregon
infantry. Most of the fighting had been done at from 100 to 150 yards
range. The casualty list of the Nebraskans was heavy, and an immense
number of Filipinos was killed. The infantry followed the retreating
natives for three miles.

On the 7th, in conjunction with the river fleet, the guns aided the
Nebraska, Wyoming and Washington infantry in forcing the enemy through
the woods towards Guadaloupe and Pasig Lake. The guns under Captain
Wedgewood shelled the insurgents to the south of San Juan del Monte and
aided the infantry very materially in its advance. The gunboats
hammered the natives on the left bank of the river and sent them
scurrying into the woods beyond Guadaloupe.

It was decided to take the town of Mariquina on the 16th of March, and
Major Youn