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May 17, 2008

American fury in the Philippines. I / Mariquina

Captain Worrick later took twenty men and dislodged a lot of
sharpshooters that had gathered a little over a mile north of the
Deposito. He had a brief engagement, in which his men saw several
victims of their excellent shooting, which terminated in the rout of
the enemy again. Another move on the Mariquina Road was made March 6th
by Captain Barber, aided by Lieutenant Murphy commanding one Hotchkiss
gun. The captain's men did not discover the enemy until close upon an
outpost in light trenches. The greeting was a few Mauser volleys at
very close range, which were fortunately without serious results to
the Americans. After arranging his men to meet these sharpshooters, a
rapid advance was commenced that bore the outpost back on the main
body. The Filipinos had a commanding position on a ridge beyond the
range of the Springfields. Company K, under Captain Worrick, was sent
to the aid of Company G. Lieutenant Murphy got his Hotchkiss in play,
with apparent effect on the Filipinos. They had begun to shrink from
the accurate fire, when the Hotchkiss broke down, so that it had to be
taken from the field as useless. The two companies then made a general
forward movement that culminated in defeat for their foes after eight
hours of successive fighting. Privates Eide and Stanton of Company G,
who had been detailed with one of the Gatling guns, tried to join the
command during the fighting and were both wounded. After resting a day
Companies G and K moved against Mariquina Village, dispersing all
opposition in that vicinity and burning what remained of that populous
place.

Title: The official records of the Oregon volunteers in the Spanish
war and Philippine insurrection,
Author: Oregon. Adjutant-General's Office.

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