Filipinos Surprised

FILIPINOS SURPRISED.

Not Expecting MacArthur's Boys in Blue to Strike Them Where They Did.

LOOKED FOR ATTACK ELSEWHERE

Engagement Was rather Costly to the United States Troops.

Ten Killed and Seventeen Wounded Is the Casualty Record-Move Made to Secure a Better base-Rebels Continue Their Usual tactics-Bad Country to Fight Over-MacArthur Unearths an Amigo Massacre Plot and Squelches the Same.

  Manila, Aug. 10.-The fight at San Fernando cost the United States the heaviest loss of any one battle since the war began. The casualties were ten killed and seventeen wounded in the five hours that the battle lasted. The enemy was driven in the direction of Angeles. The Americans covered five miles in the first five hours and at 2 o'clock had advanced six miles along the railway, stretching on each side of it for two miles and resting at night three miles from Angeles, which will be made the northern base of op-erations, instead of San Fernando, where a garrison of 600 men has been left. The Filipinos were suprosed, ex-pecting the American forces to move against Tico. They followed their usual tactics of holding their trenches until they became too warm and then re-treating in disorder. They are now falling back westward toward Poric.

     Was hard Country for Marching

  The Twelfth and Seventeenth regi-ments had the sharpest engagements. The country our troops passed over is covered with rice fields and bamboo thickets, the hardest possible ground for marching. The mud in places was knee deep. Angeles is one of the rich-est towns north of Manila and is con-sidered to be a better base of opera-tions than San Fernando. The forces at San Fernando consisted of the Iowa regiment, the Twelfth regiment, Pell's new Thirty-sixth regiment, a battalion of the Sixteenth regiment, troop E, of the Fourth calvary, and fifteen guns. The movement had been planned for some times, but was delayed by rains. Finally, two days of sunshine dried the rice fields sufficiently to permit of the attempt.

    Rebels Made It Unpleasant 

  The Americans' position had long been unpleasant. The rebels almost surrounded San Fernando and fired nearly nightly into the town, the Americans not replying except on ex-treme provocation. It was necessary to keep 500 to 600 men on outpost duty con-stantly. Captain Deems, with a provost guard, Tuesday night captured a noted Filipino fakir, with several aliases, who, by means of ventriloquism, has persuaded the natives the he has su-pernatural powers. He raised much money, ostensibly for the insurrection, which he kept for himself. Our sol-diers surrounded his house and cor-raled thirty Filipinos. Many others es-caped.