502  Aguinaldd's  pathetic  allusion  to  the  past

The  situation  was  becoming  so  serious  for  the  Americans  that  a  call
for  25,000  more  volunteers  was  earnestly  discussed  at  Washington.  It
was  thought  that  the  levy  should  be  made  at  once,  believing  that
General  Otis  really  required  them,  but  that  he  was  reluctant  to  admit
an  under-estimate  of  the  enemy's  strength.  The  insurgents,  finding  they
were  not  followed  up  (the  rainy  season  was  commencing),  were  beginning
to  take  the  offensive  with  greater  boldness,  attacking  the  Americans  in
the  rear.  The  War  Department,  however,  hesitated  to  make  the  levy
owing  to  the  friction  which  existed  between  the  volunteers  and  tih^
regulars,  but  the  case  was  so  urgent  that  at  the  end  of  Jvme  it  was
decided  to  raise  the   total  forces  in   the  Philippines  to  40,000  men.
