Pvt. William W. Grayson, standing on the spot where he fired the shot that started the Philippine-American War. Grayson said: About eight oclock, Miller and I were cautiously pacing our district. We came to a fence and were trying to see what the Filipinos were up to. Suddenly, near at hand, on our left, there was a low but unmistakable Filipino outpost signal whistle. It was immediately answered by a similar whistle about twenty-five yards to the right. Then a red lantern flashed a signal from blockhouse number 7. We had never seen such a sign used before. In a moment, something rose up slowly in front of us. It was a Filipino. I yelled Halt! and made it pretty loud, for I was accustomed to challenging the officer of the guard in approved military style. I challenged him with another loud halt! Then he shouted halto! to me. Well, I thought the best thing to do was to shoot him. He dropped. If I didnt kill him, I guess he died of fright. Two Filipinos sprang out of the gateway about 15 feet from us. I called halt! and Miller fired and dropped one. I saw that another was left. Well, I think I got my second Filipino that time.... [LEFT, front-page report in the Freedom, Feb. 16, 1899, published in Manila by the US Army]. The name of the first Filipino fatality of the war was Corporal Anastacio Felix of the 4th Company, Morong Battalion under Captain Serapio Narvaez. The battalion commander was Col. Luciano San Miguel.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 11:47:27 +0000
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