Lukban Lukban | Page 70

LUKBAN
rebels fired on the outpost on the bridge for a number of hours . At around midnight , a small group of bolomen made a rush for the stone bridge over the canal , advancing to about 20 yards , until they were driven back .
It was extremely dark as the troops had put out all the lights , hence impossible to find out how many were able to cross the bridge . But Fair knew that some had crossed , so he decided to hold the line than to advance again to the bridge and run the risk of having some slip through to set fire to the town . At daybreak , they found two dead rebels . They learned from an informant that 10 rebels were killed and another 20 wounded The informant also disclosed that another party led by rebel leader Abuke was scheduled to attack from the northeast , but that did not happen . Fair thought his defensive positioning at the bridge gave Abuke the scare . 2
But two nights later , the rebels succeeded in burning a store at the north end of the town . So the next day , Gilmore sent Capt . Spellman to guard a party of men who were supposed to remove the palay and stores from the area . Spellman noticed that the road was full of traps , and that the bridge had all the planking removed from it . Its stringers were likewise so weakened so that any strain would cause it to give way . Spellman remained in the area for two days until all the palay , a quantity of hemp and other goods were removed . Such goods belonged to the town residents , he said .
Four days after that , on June 3 , when two troopers and a native police went on a scouting trip to Caroyman , they were waylaid on the way , wounding one of the soldiers , so that one had to carry him to safety . No one was supposed to leave the town without his permission , Gilmore said . The native policeman got killed . The next day , a secret police who lived across the town was also killed .
On June 8 , a bigger force of insurgents attacked from three sides , the firing lasting for about an hour before they were finally driven off . Nobody was hurt on the American side , but a house at the east end of the town was burned . Gilmore could not get the right estimate of the number of the rebel force . But he said one was captured with his rifle and 30 rounds of ammunition . The captive was forced to tell that the force he belonged to was about 150 strong with 25 guns . There two other parties of about the same strength , the captive added . Two days after , the Americans found two dead insurgents , one in the river and the other in the marsh back of the town . A pouch containing 100 Krag cartridges was also found . Gilmore said the rebels were intending to burn the town because they left behind a number of bamboo containers filled with petroleum and rags .
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