More of Johnson's saga 1900 in the Philippine Islands!!!

As trivial as the details recounted here may seem to the young men and women of today who participated in the second world war, or even those of the first World War, it may be well to restrain any impulse to scoff at the stress placed upon them here. Such would be scoffers are reminded that the Spanish American war and the Philippine war were the first adventures our government had had with overseas expeditions. It is doubtful that our army had ever anticipated such a thing prior to 1896, and coming up so suddenly there was no time for large scale planning. Furthermore, the advanced mechanical and scientific devices which are commonplace today were obscure at that time. Yes, at the beginning of the twentieth century we were still in the horse and wagon days; no motor vehicles, no airplanes, no electric cranes or similar means of expediting labor and travel. There were so few of our people who had visited foreign lands especially the Orient and the afore mentioned activities was a new experience to the whole nation as well as to those immediately concerned. We who participated in this affair were the pioneers and fore runners of all of our later foreign expeditions. And so, just as the methods used in those days may seem crude and antiquated to the soldier of the present day so may the methods of today seem crude at the close of the next century.

The atmosphere at San Fernando was more inviting than that we had found at Caloocan. Here we were quartered in some of the larger buildings in the town, which gave us some relief from the tent shelter accommodation on the sun baked field we had had just left. This was to be our regimental headquarters, with companies spread out along a line of about sixty miles, to garrison towns which had recently been evacuated by the insurgent forces. After a short stay here my company moved to Naguilian, some seven miles south and about five miles inland, near the base of the mountains, and on the trail leading to the mountainous Binguet region. Also, at San Fernando was stationed a portion of the 3rd Cavalry regiment, which branch was the glamour of the armed service in those days. At the time I entered the service the cavalry was considered the most colorful branch of the service and all young soldiers were impressed with the gallant picture cavalrymen made on their mounts especially when in formation. This being my first encounter with the proverbial colorful cavalry, whose exploits on the Western plains and in Cuba had been widely heralded, I could not help but regard them with respectful admiration. But the natives were effected by the sight of these mounted men with even greater awe, because to them, American soldiers were giants and these horses compared to their native ponies were as elephants. Naguilian lay in a fertile valley surrounded on three sides by mountains. The town proper consisted of hardly more than three hundred homes, mostly bamboo shacks, but it was the township of an estimated thirty thousand population in the surrounding area. Its industrial crop was chiefly tobacco aside from crops for local consumption. It was also the gateway to the Benguet gold region, which became quite famous in later years. The town was still partially deserted at the time of occupation by my company, since inhabitants were to go in hiding when African American soldiers occupied an area. The Spaniards and insurgents and white American soldiers had spread rumour's that African Americans were brutal, atrocious heathens, and in their early contact with us many of these people actually trembled with fear when in our presence. In due time however, this fear of brutality was gradually dispelled; the people came out of hiding and customary trade between soldiers and town folks was established.More to come! The photo is that of part of the medical staff of 48th US Volunteer Infantry taken in 1900. Just a reminder Johnson recounted his story almost 70 years after serving in the Philippine island's. To me as a historian it is very important to hear history from those that lived it!

Regards Anthony Powell