Sergeant John A. Anderson with one gun of Battery B and a rifle of the Sixth Artillery was in the flying column of General Lawton, who left a path of ashes around the Pampanga province and finally drove the insurgents from San Isidro with his detachment on the 21st of March and arrived on the same day at Bocaue. The order to march came on the 23rd and the Sergeant was given a position on the left of the Thirteenth Minnesotas. From the brow of the hill above Norzagaray the guns began shelling at 1500 yards. The front line was silenced but at this point the natives made an effort to turn the right flank, and it was necessary to throw many shrapnel into the advancing insurgents column before it turned. The next day Norzagaray was entered after the place had been shelled, and during this slight advance the artillery was in action five times. Colonel Sommers personally commended the detachment on the accuracy of its gunnery and its promptness. On the 25th Ongaut was burned and on the 26th there was an engagement which lasted for some time below Baliuag. San Maguel was taken on the 4th, and on the 13th a few shells were thrown into San Isidro, but the insurgents, after repeated defeats, showed small resistance here and soon retreated.
On the 24th the artillery arrived with the infantry at Candaba, and the detachment remained quartered here until the order arrived for the Utah men to return to Manila. The plan of Lawton's campaign was for his troops to drive the insurgents towards Candaba, where they could be met by the advancing forces under Major Kobbe and the river gunboats. But when General Lawton came down to Candaba there were none but American soldiers there as the insurgents forces had disappeared in the interior.
Shortly after the arrival in Malolos the Utah men were joined by Corporal Dusenbury and two other men of Battery B. They with a revolving Hotchkiss cannon were picked up by General Wheaton early in his advance from Caloocan, and were highly praised by the General for the skill and efficiency they had shown in many dangerous places. General Wheaton showed his appreciation of the work of the guns by attaching several regular and Oregon infantrymen to the pieces, in order that they could be carried over rough places with the greatest possible dispatch.
CHAPTER IV.
No history of the Utah batteries will be complete without a narrative of the exploits of the gunboats. While the land forces performed their duties with great honor and are to be commended in every way possible, it must be remembered that a portion of the men were fighting on the water and did work of such a character that they won especial mention from those in charge when the big guns were hurling death and the Gatlings were barking fire at the opposing army.
At first the proposition of building gunboats was not at all popular with the authorities. Some opposed the scheme on the grounds that it could not be successfully accomplished with the limited means at hand and the rivers of Luzon to contend with. However, later developments attested that those who were the originators of the plan showed greater wisdom than their opponents.
Sometime prior to the breaking out of hostilities between the American forces and the natives General Otis conceived the idea of employing gunboats on the rivers and lakes for the purpose of opening up lines of communication between difficult portions of our own lines. The fact that the rivers were shallow was the one serious objection to the project, but this difficulty was eliminated by the adoption of light draught boats. The nature of the country in the vicinity of Manila and the other towns where the heaviest fighting took place is such that it was apparent to those who were aware of these conditions that this craft might be engaged in protecting the advance of the infantry and artillery; could hold the hostile bands in check until favorable positions could be taken, and be of wonderful service in the campaign.