Praised the Volunteers

For Their Bravery in the Philippines.

Brig. Gen. King Talked

And Refuted Some Slanders that the Americans Were the Aggressors.

Brigadier-General Charles King appeared at University hall last evening to address the Students' Lecture Association upon "With the Volunteers at Manila," and the tribute he paid to our citizen soldiery was of the highest character.

He said that with the exception of three regiments of infantry, one light battery and one corps of engineers the entire 20,000 of troops were made up of volunteers. They were the quaintest lot of soldiers when they arrived in San Francisco that was ever seen. The western states, many of them, had no national guard. They had to be taught the very rudiments of soldiery. But in six months time they turned out to be a finely developed, adhesive and admirably trained lot of soldiers. Early in the fall it was evident to [Emilio] Aguinaldo and his followers that they could not become masters of Manila. Gen. [Wesley] Merritt knew that only massacre would result if the insurgents were allowed with arms in the city. The disappointment was so great to them that they commenced throwing up earthworks for defense around Manila. The first brigade, of which he was in command, was confronted with lines of insurgents who could fire from the left, from the front, from the right and from the right rear. The brigade consisted of the 1st Washington, 1st Idaho and 1st California. When the storm broke on that line they were found to be the peers of any regulars. They were the heroes of the first day's fight around Manila, and they were volunteers to a man. The insults to our men had been galling but Gen. [Elwell S.] Otis had said we were not to be allowed to recognize the possibilities of hostilities. Gen. King remarked that he told Gen. Otis it was all he could do to restrain the men. They were being tempted beyond their strength.

In the fight around Manila they stood their ground like veterans of 40 battles. In his brigade, when he gave the word to charge, it was as magnificent a movement as he had ever seen, and the brigade of volunteers had, in 22 minutes, captured everything in sight. He came across a wounded Filipino officer on the battlefield and, dismounting, the insurgent remarked to him:

"I am not so badly hurt in body as in spirit. Whenever we fire at the Spaniards they lay down. When we fire at you, you jump up and run at us."

He testified, he said, as he would before his maker that the Filipinos fired the first shot in the war, and denied that the South Dakota regiment had made the initiation.

"They fell back, step by step," he said, "facing the enemy, and did not fire until after the engagement had been going on at a different part of the lines." 

He stoutly maintained that when the Nebraska sentinel challenged the Filipino officer and three soldiers to halt and raised his gun to his shoulder, the insurgents immediately opened fire on that sentinel and it was, quick as a flash, echoed by 500 guns from hidden Filipinos in the bamboos.

"Old regular as I am," said he in closing, "I count as the most valuable of my long and varied experience the months I spent as an officer with the volunteers in and around Manila."