Aguinaldo issued his manifesto declaring himself commandant of the Philippines and asserting that General Otis was a usurper. On that night Smith was on sentinel duty near Block House No. 4 when he was approached by two Filipino soldiers. Just as they were passing one
Colonel A. S. Frost
of them made a vicious slash at him with a bolo. Smith dodged so as to escape the full weight of the blow, but received a bad wound in the face. Instantly he brought his rifle into position and shot the nearest Filipino dead, and with another shot seriously wounded the other.
For the next three weeks the situation was strained and nerve-trying. The South Dakotans were on outpost duty and under orders to sleep in their clothes. Finally on February 4 came the clash of open war. The battle began almost in front of the South Dakota outpost, and our men were instantly under fire and continued in the hottest of the fight for eighteen hours, during which Privates McCracken of Company H and Lowes and Green Colonel A. S. Frost
