SNYDER, OCTOBER 2, 1899

HDQRS. UNITED STATES TROOPS, SUBDISTRICT OF CEBU,
Cebu, P. I., October 2, 1899.

The ADJUTANT GENERAL,
Visayan District and First Separate Brigade, Eighth Army Corps, Iloilo.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of operations under my command since reaching Cebu.

In obedience to instructions from the commanding general Visayan district, I arrived in Cebu on the transport Indiana on September 18, 1899. On this ship were noncommissioned staff and band and the Third Battalion (Companies H, I, K, and M), Nineteenth Infantry, ordered to take station on the island, and headquarters and five companies of the First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, en route to Manila from Iloilo.

There was also on board the El Cano, in the harbor, three companies of the First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, which were to take the place of the Nineteenth Infantry on the Indiana.

The morning of the 18th I spent with my adjutant and quartermaster in searching for quarters for my companies. Having determined as far as practicable, by inquiry of those on the ground, the condition of affairs on the island, I arranged to visit on the following morning the troops in the field. I was accompanied on this trip by Col. Gracey Childers, First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry; Lieut. Col. Thomas R. Hamer, Thirty-seventh U. S. V. Infantry; Capt. William P. Evans, Nineteenth Infantry, commanding Third Battalion, Nineteenth Infantry; my adjutant, and First Lieut. George D. Moore, Nineteenth Infantry. I found the position to be as follows:

On the hills of Bocaue the insurgents occupied a number of detached forts and intrenchments, covering thoroughly all approaches; from A to O (see accompanying sketch) the enemy's front was about 4 miles, along the crest and slope of very steep hills.

The position A, about 2,000 yards from the nearest fortification of the enemy, was occupied by Captain Pendleton, Twenty-third Infantry, with detachments of the Sixth and Twenty-third Infantry and First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, with one gun and detachment Sixth Artillery. As to the armament and number of the enemy, reports were conflicting and estimates varied widely. They had six or eight guns, supposed to be old braes smoothbores, in position but their effectiveness was questionable.

After studying the situation, I decided to reenforce the command at A with all troops that could be spared from Cebu for an attack and demonstration in front, while Captain Evans, Nineteenth Infantry, with three companies of his battalion should proceed to Guadalupe and thence by trail up the Guadalupe Valley to the rear of the enemy's position.

Details were to arranged and at 6 a. m., September 21, I and my staff officers with Company K, Nineteenth Infantry, Lieut. W. W. Fiscus commanding, left Cebu for the position marked "A". Colonel Childers, with available men of First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, followed.

Captain Evans, Nineteenth Infantry, with his three companies, H, K, and M, proceeded up the Guadalupe road.

Having arrived at A, the various positions of the enemy and the details of attack were explained to the commanding officers, and the afternoon of September 21 camp was formed at the foot of the hill marked "A", from which the attack was to be made the following morning.

For details of the movements, attention is invited to the inclosed reports of Colonel Childers, Captains Evans and Pendleton, and Major McGuire. While none of the enemy was captured, they were compelled to leave behind their guns and many papers relating to military affairs.

Captain Evans made a successful march through a country which had never been traversed by our forces, and the insurgents were driven from a position which they had taught the natives to believe impregnable, and from which their flag could be seen from the ships in the harbor as well as from the town of Cebu.

Our loss was 1 man killed and 4 men wounded. The estimated loss of the enemy varies from 40, our estimate, to 300, which is the estimate among natives in Cebu. One of the insurgent leaders, Lopez, was among the killed.

Companies I and K, Nineteenth Infantry, were left in the captured positions to examine the vicinity, destroy the forts, and obtain all passible information of the future operations of the enemy.

Captain Pendleton with detachments of Sixth and Twenty-third Infantry, with gun detachment Sixth Artillery, were left at A.

The following troops were engaged:

Officers. Men.
Sixth Infantry, detachments Companies A and C, 2, 49
Twenty-third infantry, detachments Companies A and K, 2, 89
Nineteenth Infantry, Third Battalion, Companies H, I, K, M, 17, 300
Sixth Artillery, detachment Battery G, , 10
First Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, detachment of all companies, 28, 289
Hospital corps, 4, 10

Total, 53, 747

Very respectfully,

SIMON SNYDER,
Colonel Nineteenth Infantry, Commanding.

Return of casualties in "A" column, action at mountains near Cebu on September 22, 1899.

No. Name. Rank. Co. Regiment or corps. Nature of casualty. Action or Engagment Place. Action of engagement date. Remarks.

1. William M. Hawley, Pvt, A, 6th U.S. Inf., Shot through the heart, Sept. 22 1899, Died instantly
2. James Conway, Pvt, A, 6th U.S. Inf., Shot both legs above knee, Sept. 22 1899, Serious
3. John H. Norton, Pvt, A, 6th U.S. Inf., Shot through right arm, Sept. 22 1899, Painful
4. George W. Arthur, Pvt, C, 6th U.S. Inf., Shot through both legs above knee, Sept. 22 1899, Serious