Battle
The battle began while Lawton and his men were en route to San Mateo and received fire from Filipinos under the cover of dense jungle and secure trenches in the town. Very few of the enemy were even visible.
Lawton's forces dug in and engaged in a fierce fire-fight. A team of Filipino sharpshooters known as the "Tiradores del Muerte" ("Marksmen of Death") set up position 300 yards (270 m) away. Having shrugged off cautionary warnings from his officers, Lawton walked up and down the line, rallying his men. A sharpshooter shot Lawton and killed him instantly.
The death of their commander was a terrible blow to Lawton's men, who took scores of casualties without successfully retaliating. Part of the reason that they could not dent the enemy positions was that, as a Filipino rifleman fell dead or wounded, a large number of bolomen were ready to take his rifle and keep a steady stream of heavy fire. When they eventually withdrew, it took almost a day to bear Lawton's body through thicket and mud to Manila, for funeral rites at Paco Cemetery. Lawton is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Paye
Famous quotes containing the word battle:
“No battle is worth fighting except the last one.”
—J. Enoch Powell (b. 1912)
“I know no East or West, North or South, when it comes to my class fighting the battle for justice. If it is my fortune to live to see the industrial chain broken from every workingman’s child in America, and if then there is one black child in Africa in bondage, there shall I go.”
—Mother Jones (1830–1930)
“All married couples should learn the art of battle as they should learn the art of making love. Good battle is objective and honest—never vicious or cruel. Good battle is healthy and constructive, and brings to a marriage the principle of equal partnership.”
—Ann Landers (b. 1918)