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One • • Manila and Iloilo Following the twentieth degree parallel of north latitude into the setting sun, the Rio de Janeiro passed the northern end of the island of Luzon and then, turning to the left or port as sailors once called it, steamed down the western side of the island. What a magnificent sight it was and still is. The wonderful shades of green, the lofty fern and tree clad mountain range that rises from the China Sea to heights of over seven thousand feet and extends in an almost unbroken line from the north tip of Luzon to Manila Bay. I shall never forget the thrill it gave me to gaze on that beautiful tropical and, to me, unknown fairyland and realize that on it was a war to which I was going. I didn’t know that the war was already over. As we steamed past the island of Corregidor and entered Manila Bay the first vessel of any description to meet us was a German cruiser. This big ship came alongside and then deliberately steamed completely around us, looking us over in what we all felt to be a highly disapproving manner. Of course at the time we did not know that Germans resented our capture of Manila and that Admiral Dewey had had some unpleasant experiences with them; but this German cruiser was positively insulting in the lordly way she inspected us. A little while later every man on board must have been thrilled when the outline of Dewey’s ships could be seen; then, as we passed Cavite on the starboard side, the rather pathetic sight of the little Spanish vessels that had gone down at anchor came in view.   Reminiscences of Conrad S. Babcock It was shortly after the thirteenth of August when we reached Manila Bay, and until news was brought on board none of us knew that General Merritt’s command had captured the city of Manila, after a short, brisk engagement on August 13, one day after an armistice had been signed in Washington. Neither the Spanish nor American army and navy commanders knew of this. 1 After the then Commodore George B. Dewey brought his small squadron from Hong Kong he sank the smaller group of Spanish warships. It was not much of a contest, for the Spanish put their ships in shallow water so that they would not go down too far. The Independent 8th Army Corps, as the Philippine Islands expedition was called, was a badly clothed and tough looking command. The enlisted men were still wearing the flannel shirts and heavy blue trousers and canvas leggings. Many of the soldiers had cut the sleeves off their shirts above the elbow. Those who had lost their gray felt campaign hats had outfitted themselves with Filipino straw hats. Neither officers nor men wore hat cords at that time. The only decently dressed outfit in the whole command was a four company battalion of the 3rd Artillery (800 strong) commanded by Major William A. Kobbé (W.P. 1862) afterwards a major general. This organization had acquired from somewhere white coats and trousers of light cotton material. I am sure they were the only American enlisted men who did not suffer all day long from the heat of the heavy blue uniforms. Father and the rest of General Merritt’s staff were living in the Spanish ex-governor general’s palace, the Malacañan, on the right bank of the Pasig River. All the Spanish prisoners of war were confined to the old Walled City. I stayed with Father a day, then was ordered to join Light Battery D, 6th Artillery, commanded by my former West Point artillery instructor, Captain A. B. Dyer (W.P. 1873). The battery was quartered just east of the Walled City on Calle Nozaleda. There I found the artillery commander, Major F. C. Grugan, Captain Dyer, First Lieutenant H. L. Hawthorne who had graduated from the Naval Academy in the Class of 1882, served as a cadet engineer in the Navy until October, 1884, then been commissioned .145.206.169] Project MUSE (2024-04-26 04:50 GMT)  Manila and Iloilo a second lieutenant in the 2nd Artillery. He was also a Medal of Honor man, won at Wounded Knee Creek, against the Indians, in 1890. The other officers were Second Lieutenant A. S. Fleming (W.P. 1895), E. D. Scott of my class, and Dr. Quinan, a volunteer medical officer. Wounded Knee was the last...

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