Battle of Marilao River, March 27, 1899

Colorized photo of Filipino POWs at Marilao

General Pantaleon Garcia (RIGHT) came down from Dagupan, Pangasinan Province, by train with about 1,000 riflemen and 4,000 bolomen, and took positions at Marilao.

On March 27, 1899, seven US regiments assaulted Garcia's entrenchments. The 1st South Dakota Volunteers and the 3rd US Artillery, acting as infantry, were thrown forward.

The South Dakotas charged across an open space on the east of the railway to the edge of some woods. They lost 10 killed and 11 wounded, including 3 lieutenants.

The 3rd US Artillery charged on the edge of the railroad and lost 2 killed and 7 wounded.

On the left the Filipinos in a trench east of the Marilao river offered a stubborn resistance. But they were soon forced to retreat.

Overall, American losses were 14 killed and 65 wounded. Filipino losses were 90 killed and 30 taken prisoner.

1st Nebraskans resting along the railroad line near Marilao, March 27, 1899.

The Atlanta Constitution, in its March 28, 1899 issue, reports stiff resistance put up by the Filipinos

Americans Close In On Malolos, March 29-31, 1899

Bocaue burns

On March 29, Brig. Gen. Arthur C. MacArthur, Jr. advanced to Bocaue, and at 11:45 am he advanced toward Bigaa (now Balagtas), and at 3:15 pm he turned toward Guiguinto, 3 1/2 miles (6 km) from Malolos. There was some fierce fighting in the afternoon.  Troops crossed the river at Guiguinto by working artillery over the railroad bridge by hand and swimming mules against fierce resistance.

Original caption: "For the Stars and Stripes! Death in the ranks of the Kansans" [Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon]

Original caption: "A 'hot time' on the firing line -- the famous 20th Kansas in action". [Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon]

Filipinos in their trenches

Americans carrying a dead comrade from the battlefield, somewhere in Central Luzon Island, 1899.

Original caption: "Work of the Kansas boys." A Kansas soldier wrote, "The country won’t be pacified until the niggers are killed off like the Indians." [Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon Island]

Ellis G. Davis, Company A, 20th Kansas Volunteers:

"They will never surrender until their whole race is exterminated. They are fighting for a good cause, and the Americans should be the last of all nations to transgress upon such rights. Their independence is dearer to them than life, as ours was in years gone by, and is today. They should have their independence, and would have had it if those who make the laws in America had not been so slow in deciding the Philippine question. Of course, we have to fight now to protect the honor of our country but there is not a man who enlisted to fight these people, and should the United States annex these islands, none but the most bloodthirsty will claim himself a hero. This is not a lack of patriotism, but my honest belief."

Original caption: "Burial of the enemy." [Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon]

Cpl. Robert D. Maxwell, Company A, 20th Kansas Volunteers:

"Sometimes we stopped to make sure a native was dead and not lying down to escape injury. Some of them would fall as though dead and, after we had passed, would climb a tree and shoot every soldier that passed that way. Even the wounded would rise up and shoot after we passed. This led to an order to take no prisoners, but to shoot all."

American soldiers fording a river. Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon.

Troop B, 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment, crossing over pontoon bridge somewhere in Central Luzon. The troop commander was 1Lt. Samuel Rutherford. Photo was taken in 1899.

American troops are conveyed upstream into the interior of Luzon by an armored steam launch, navy boats, and "cascos" (Filipino house boats), 1899.

US troops taking guns across the Bigaa River on the bridge constructed by their engineering battalion

March 29, 1899: 20th Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment in action against Filipinos at Bigaa

March 29, 1899: Wounded Filipino POWs at Bigaa, Bulacan Province

March 29, 1899: American soldiers bringing Filipino POWs across the Bigaa River.

March 29, 1899: Filipino prisoners at Bigaa, Bulacan Province

Issue dated March 29, 1899

American author J.D. Givens's caption: "Carrying tenderly those who have tried to slay us". American soldiers load a wounded Filipino POW onto a train. [Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon]

American photographer's caption: "Died in action. These words are simple, but they speak volumes. They tell the sublimest act of one's life; of his death for his country. The view of the battle field strewn with dead. The central figure is that of a hero as he died defending his country's honor". [Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon]

20th Kansas Volunteers attend to a wounded comrade. [Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon]

US troops returning with their dead and wounded. [Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon]

Americans conveying their dead from the battlefield. [Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon]

Americans transporting a wounded Filipino. [Photo was taken in 1899, somewhere in Central Luzon]

13th Minnesota Volunteers, 1899

Original caption: "This is an army supply train en route to Malolos. The wagons are hauled by a species of buffalo peculiar to the Philippines. It is a patient animal somewhat livelier than the American ox. It does the hard labor of the islands." Photo was taken in late March 1899.

Dec. 10, 1899: Apolinario Mabini Is Captured

When the Filipino-American war broke out and Aguinaldo's government became disorganized, the paralytic Apolinario Mabini, who headed Aguinaldo's cabinet until May 7, 1899, when he was replaced by Pedro Paterno, fled to Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija Province, carried in a hammock. He was captured there by the Americans and Macabebe Scouts on Dec. 10, 1899.

Page 1

He was imprisoned in Fort Santiago (ABOVE) from Dec. 11, 1899 to Sept. 23, 1900. He continued agitating for Philippine independence after his release. He rejected offers to serve in the colonial government, and also refused to take the oath of allegiance to the American flag. He resided in a small nipa house in Nagtahan, Manila, earning his living by writing for the local newspapers.

Mabini's virulent article in El Liberal entitled "El Simil de Alejandro" caused his rearrest.

On Jan. 16, 1901, he was deported to Guam, together with other Filipino patriots. When queried by the U.S. senate on why the paralytic had to be removed from the Philippines, Brig. Gen. Arthur C. MacArthur, Jr., cabled: "Mabini deported: a most active agitator; persistently and defiantly refusing amnesty, and maintaining correspondence with insurgents in the field while living in Manila, Luzon, under the protection of the United States; also, for offensive statement in regard to recent proclamation enforcing the laws of war. His deportation absolutely essential."

Original caption: "Loading prisoners for Guam", 1901.

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His exile in Guam afforded Mabini the time to write his memoirs, La Revolucion Filipina.

Burning of the cholera-stricken Farola ("lighthouse") section of Tondo district, Manila, 1902.

Meanwhile, in March, 1902, a ship from Hongkong arrived in Manila carrying cholera. Soon after, the first cases of cholera surfaced. This first wave of infection lasted until February 1903.

Issue of January 27, 1903, Page 3

In Guam, Mabini's failing health filled him with concern that he might die on foreign soil. He then decided to take the oath of allegiance to the United States - a condition for his return to the Philippines.

Apolinario Mabini in Guam, 1902

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Mabini was taken to Manila from Guam on the U.S. transport Thomas on Feb. 26, 1903, and took the oath before the Collector of Customs. The Americans offered him a high government position but he turned it down. To the Americans' discomfiture, he resumed his work of agitating for independence.

Apolinario Mabini in Manila. Photo was probably taken on Feb. 26, 1903 when Mabini returned from exile and took the oath of allegiance to the United States.

The second wave of the cholera epidemic struck in May of that year. Mabini, who had returned to hisnipa house in Nagtahan, Manila (ABOVE), contracted the disease, after consuming large amounts of unpasteurized carabao's milk.

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On May 13, 1903, he passed away; he was 2 months and 10 days short of his 39th birthday. [The cholera epidemic ended in February 1904; in two years, 109,461 infected people died, 4,386 of which were in Manila.]

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Monument to Apolinario Mabini in Guam

Dec. 19, 1899: General Henry Lawton dies at San Mateo

Maj. Gen. Henry W. Lawton on Novaliches Road on his way to San Mateo

Maj. Gen. Henry W. Lawton was the highest-ranking U.S. military officer to be killed in action in the Philippine-American War. He was the only general awarded the Medal of Honor during the American Civil War to die in combat and the first serving general killed outside of North America. 

He was born on March 17, 1843 in Manhattan, Ohio. He received the Medal of Honor for heroism at Atlanta on Aug. 3, 1864 during the US Civil War. In the spring of 1886, he led US troops into Mexico in pursuit of the Apache Chief, Geronimo, who surrendered on Sept. 3, 1886.

When the Spanish American War broke out in 1898, Lawton was sent to Cuba in command of the 2nd division of the 5th Army Corps, distinguishing himself in El Caney and backed up Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders in their charge on San Juan Hill.

However, he was tormented by chronic depression and alcoholism. After smashing the interior of a saloon and personally assaulting the local police chief, Lawton quietly returned home. The government fabricated a cover story of tropical illness. His career potentially in ruins, he begged President McKinley for a second chance. 

On Jan. 19, 1899, he was ordered to command the 1st division of the 8th Army Corps in the Philippines.

General Lawton at his office in Manila.

On March 10, 1899, he arrived in Manila on the transport Grant with 42 officers and 1,716 men.

General Lawton's residence along the Pasig River in Manila. Photo was taken from thePuente de Ayala("Ayala Bridge"), 1899.

General Lawton and Mrs. Mary Craig Lawton, with their children: Louise (Elise), Manly (the "Little Captain"), Frances (Allison) and Catherine (Kitty). Photo taken in Manila a few months before the general's death.

Lawton captured Santa Cruz, Laguna Province and San Isidro, Nueva Ecija Province during his first three months. On June 10, 1899, he began his Cavite campaign which pushed the Filipino line far back from Manila on the south. In October 1899 a successful campaign against the main force of Aguinaldo began.

Lawton's position is marked by a star

Contemporary satellite photo of the site of the Battle of San Mateo (Courtesy of Macky Hosalla)

On Dec. 19, 1899, he faced the men of Gen. Licerio Geronimo at San Mateo, Morong Province. Lawton's force consisted of Troop I of the Fourth Cavalry, 2nd and 3rd Squadrons of the Eleventh Cavalry U.S.V., and one battalion each of the 27th Infantry Regiment U.S.V. and 29th Regular Infantry Regiment.

Lawton believed in leading from the front, continuing a style he had employed since his years in the Civil War. His subordinates were constantly worried that he needlessly exposed himself to hostile gunfire, but Lawton refused to observe from the rear, or to take cover.

At about 9:15 am, General Lawton was walking along the firing line within 300 yards of a small Filipino trench, conspicuous in the big white helmet he always wore and a light yellow raincoat. He was also easily distinguishable because of his commanding 6'3" stature.

The Filipinos directed several close shots which clipped the grass nearby. His staff officer called General Lawton's attention to the danger he was in, but he only laughed.

Place near San Mateo where General Lawton was killed

Suddenly Lawton exclaimed:

"I am shot!" and fell dead into the arms of a staff officer.

Bonifacio Mariano Street (shortened to "B. Mariano St.") in San Mateo, Rizal Province, named in honor of the Filipino who fired the shot that killed General Lawton. (Photo courtesy of Macky Hosalla).

Bonifacio Mariano was credited with the kill. A street in San Mateo was named in his honor.

At 11:00 am, the Americans successfully crossed the river and drove the Filipinos from San Mateo. Thirteen Americans were wounded; the US Army reported 40 Filipinos killed and 125 wounded.

San Mateo Battle Marker (Photo courtesy of Macky Hosalla). The marker is located inBarangay Bagong Silangan, formerly a barrio of San Mateo and now a part of Quezon City. The inscription in Filipino reads: "LABANAN SA SAN MATEO: Sa pook na ito noong umaga ng Disyembre 19, 1899 naganap ang isang makasaysayang labanan ng Digmaang Filipino-Amerikano sa pagitan ng pangkat ni Licerio Geronimo, Dibisyong Heneral ng Hukbong Panghimagsikan ng Rizal kasama ang kanyang buong pangkat ng mga manunudla na tinawag na Tiradores de la Muerte at ang pangkat Amerikano sa pamumuno ni Komandante Heneral Henry W. Lawton na binubuo ng isang batalyon ng ika-29 na Impanteriya, isang batalyon ng ika-27 Impanteriya, isang kabayuhan at isang di-kabayuhang iskwadron ng ika-11 Kabalyeriya. Napatay sa labanang ito ng pangkat ni Heneral Geronimo si Heneral Lawton, isa sa pinakamataas na opisyal na militar ng mga Amerikano sa Digmaang Filipino-Amerikano."

Before his death, Lawton had written about the Filipinos in a formal correspondence, "Taking into account the disadvantages they have to fight against in terms of arms, equipment and military discipline, without artillery, short of ammunition, powder inferior, shells reloaded until they are defective, they are the bravest men I have ever seen..."

Gen. Licerio Geronimo: Nemesis of General Henry Lawton

Gen. Licerio Geronimo commanded the Filipino force that killed Maj. Gen. Henry Ware Lawton at the battle of San Mateo on Dec. 19, 1899.

Sampaloc district, Manila, birthplace of General Licerio Geronimo. Photo taken in 1898.

Gerónimo was born to Graciano Geronimo and Flaviana Imaya in Sampáloc district, Manila on Aug. 27, 1855. (LEFT, Geronimo in 1904, pic courtesy of David Banaghan).

His father hailed from Montalban, Morong Province (now Rodriguez, Rizal Province) and his mother was a native of Gapan, Nueva Ecija Province.

When he was nine, he lived with his grandfather in a farm in San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan Province. At 14, he joined his father in Montalban where he helped in farm chores. Due to poverty, Geronimo did not enjoy the benefits of formal education. But he learned how to read and write with the help of a friend who taught him the alphabet.

He married twice; his first marriage to Francisca Reyes ended with her death. His second wife was Cayetana Lincaoco of San Mateo, who bore him five children. He earned a living by farming, and by working as a boatman on the Marikina and Pasig rivers, transporting passengers to and from Manila.

Geronimo was recruited into the secret revolutionary society Katipunan by his godfather, Felix Umali,alguacil mayor of barrio Wawa, Montalban.

The El Deposito in San Juan del Monte. Photo taken in 1900.

Geronimo was part of the rebel group that assaulted the El Deposito (water reservoir)and Polvorin(gunpowder depot) in San Juan del Monte on Aug. 30, 1896. He organizedKatipunan forces under his command in the towns of Montalban, San Mateo, and Marikina, all in Morong Province. His forces first served under General Francisco Makabulos in San Rafael, Bulacan and later under General Mariano Llanera during military operations against the Spaniards in San Miguel de Mayumo, Bulacan, and Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija.

Geronimo's base of operations was Mt. Puray in Montalban. Here an assembly was held in June 1897 for the purpose of appointing generals into the various military divisions into which the country was divided. The assembly was presided over by General Emilio Aguinaldo. A Departmental Government of Central Luzon was created and Geronimo was designated division general of the revolutionary army in Morong. [LEFT, Geronimo, probably in the 1910's].

When the Truce of Biyak-na-Bato of Dec. 14, 1897 temporarily brought peace, he retired to his farm in Montalban. After the Americans smashed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, he allowed the Spaniards to assign him as a commandant in the Milicia Territorial, formed to resist the Americans on land.

On May 19, 1898, Aguinaldo returned from exile in Hongkong and resumed the war against Spain. Geronimo deserted the colonial Miliciaand rejoined his revolutionary comrades. On Nov. 28, 1898, he returned to his post as division general of the Philippine army in Morong.

When the Filipino-American War broke out on Feb. 4, 1899, he was appointed by Gen. Antonio Luna as the commanding general of the third military zone of Manila (comprised of Mariquina, San Mateo, Montalban, Novaliches, and other areas northeast of Manila); on July 12, 1900, he was appointed by Gen. Mariano Trias as commander of the fused second and third zones of Manila, and a month later, Morong and Marinduque provinces as well. (The second zone covered Pasig and other areas south and southeast of Manila).

Arturo Dancel (RIGHT, in 1903), a member of the pro-American Partido Federal, convinced Geronimo to surrender; on March 30, 1901 he gave up in San Mateo with 12 officers, 29 men and 30 guns. He initially surrendered to Capt. Duncan Henderson, CO of Company E, 42nd Infantry Regiment of U.S. Volunteers, who presented him to Col. J. Milton Thompson, the regimental commander. Shortly afterward, Geronimo joined the Partido Federal.

New York Tribune Illustrated Supplement, Issue of June 23, 1901, Page 8

New York Tribune Illustrated Supplement, Issue of June 23, 1901, Page 8

Geronimo became one of a handful of Filipinos admitted into the officer ranks of the colonial Philippine Constabulary (PC). He enlisted on June 1, 1902. As a PC Inspector, he successfully brought in former Filipino soldiers roaming the countryside. He was also part of the search party that brought down and killed General Luciano San Miguel on March 27, 1903.

He left the constabulary on May 16, 1904 and returned to work his farm in Barrio San Rafael, Montalban.

Geronimo (LEFT, in his 60's, pic courtesy of Macky Hosalla) died on Jan. 16, 1924. He was 68 years old.Barangay Geronimo, Geronimo Park and General Licerio Gerónimo Memorial National High School in Rodriguez, Rizal, as well as a street in Sampáloc, Manila, were named in his honor.

General Licerio Geronimo Monument, Rodriguez Town Plaza, Rizal Province (photo courtesy of Macky Hosalla). Rodriguez is the current name of the old town of Montalban

The War in 1900-1901: African Americans in the Fil-Am War

Companies from the segregated Black 24th and 25th infantry regiments reported to the Presidio of San Francisco in early 1899. They arrived in the Philippines on July 30 and Aug. 1, 1899. The 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments were sent to the Philippines as reinforcements, and by late summer of 1899, all four regular Black regiments plus Black national guardsmen had been brought into the war against the Filipino "Insurectos." The two Black volunteer infantry regiments -- 49th and 48th -- arrived in Manila on January 2 and 25, 1900, respectively.

African American soldiers of Troop E, 9th Cavalry Regiment before shipping out to the Philippines in 1900. Up to 7,000 Blacks saw action in the Philippines.

African American soldiers of Troop C, 9th Cavalry Regiment, at Camp Lawton, Washington State, before shipping out to the Philippines in 1900

9th Cavalry soldiers on foot, somewhere in Luzon Island.

The U.S. Army viewed its "Buffalo soldiers" as having an extra advantage in fighting in tropical locations. There was an unfounded belief that African-Americans were immune to tropical diseases. Based on this belief the U.S. congress authorized the raising of ten regiments of "persons possessing immunity to tropical diseases." These regiments would later be called "Immune Regiments".

Many Black newspaper articles and leaders supported Filipino independence and felt that it was wrong for the US to subjugate non-whites in the development of a colonial empire. Some Black soldiers expressed their conscientious objection to Black newspapers. Pvt. William Fulbright saw the U.S. conducting "a gigantic scheme of robbery and oppression." Trooper Robert L. Campbell insisted "these people are right and we are wrong and terribly wrong" and said he would not serve as a soldier because no man "who has any humanity about him at all would desire to fight against such a cause as this." Black Bishop Henry M. Turner characterized the venture in the Philippines as "an unholy war of conquest". 

African American soldiers during the Philippine-American War in undated photo.

Many Black soldiers increasingly felt they were being used in an unjust racial war. One Black private wrote that “the white man’s prejudice followed the Negro to the Philippines, ten thousand miles from where it originated.”

The Filipinos subjected Black soldiers to psychological warfare. Posters and leaflets addressed to "The Colored American Soldier" described the lynching and discrimination against Blacks in the US and discouraged them from being the instrument of their white masters' ambitions to oppress another "people of color." Blacks who deserted to the Filipino nationalist cause would be welcomed.

One soldier related a conversation with a young Filipino boy: “Why does the American Negro come to fight us where we are a friend to him and have not done anything to him. He is all the same as me and me the same as you. Why don’t you fight those people in America who burn Negroes, that make a beast of you?”

Another Black soldier, when asked by a white trooper why he had come to the Philippines, replied sarcastically: “Why doan’ know, but I ruther reckon we’re sent over here to take up de white man’s burden.”

The Black 24th Infantry Regiment marching in Manila. Photo taken in 1900.

One of the Black deserters, Private David Fagen of the 24th Infantry, born in Tampa, Florida in 1875, became notorious as "Insurecto Captain". On Nov. 17, 1899, Fagen, assisted by a Filipino officer who had a horse waiting for him near the company barracks, slipped into the jungle and headed for the Filipinos' sanctuary at Mount Arayat. The New York Timesdescribed him as a “cunning and highly skilled guerilla officer who harassed and evaded large conventional American units.” From August 30, 1900 to January 17, 1901, he battled eight times with American troops.

Brig. Gen. Frederick Funston put a $600 price on Fagen's head and passed word the deserter was "entitled to the same treatment as a mad dog." Posters of him in Tagalog and Spanish appeared in every Nueva Ecija town, but he continued to elude capture.

Hunters with indigenous Aetas, circa 1898-1899

On Dec. 5, 1901, Anastacio Bartolome, a Tagalog hunter, delivered to American authorities the severed head of a “negro” he claimed to be Fagen. While traveling with his hunting party, Bartolome reported that he had spied upon Fagen and his Filipina wife accompanied by a group of indigenous people called Aetas bathing in a river.

Page 1, issue of Dec. 9, 1901

The hunters attacked the group and allegedly killed and beheaded Fagen, then buried his body near the river. But this story has never been confirmed and there is no record of Bartolome receiving a reward. Official army records of the incident refer to it as the “supposed killing of David Fagen,” and several months later, Philippine Constabulary reports still made references to occasional sightings of Fagen.

The Indianapolis Freeman, issue dated Oct. 14, 1899, features Edward Lee Baker, Jr., an African-American US Army Sergeant Major, awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Cuba. Founded in 1888 by Edward C. Cooper, it was the first Black national illustrated newspaper in the US.The article at right, included in this issue although datelined Aug. 18, 1899, describes the movements of the 24th Infantry Regiment while campaigning in the Philippines.

A Black newspaper, the Indianapolis Freeman, editorialized in December, 1901, "Fagen was a traitor and died a traitor's death, but he was a man no doubt prompted by honest motives to help a weakened side, and one he felt allied by bonds that bind."

The Scranton Tribune, Page 1

During the war, 20 U.S. soldiers, 6 of them Black, would defect to Aquinaldo. Two of the deserters, both Black, were hanged by the US Army. They were Privates Edmond Dubose and Lewis Russell, both of the 9th Cavalry, who were executed on Feb. 7, 1902, before a crowd of 3,000 at Guinobatan, Albay Province.

Black and white American soldiers with Signal Corps flag

Nevertheless, it was also felt by most African Americans that a good military showing by Black troops in the Philippines would reflect favorably and enhance their cause in the US.

The sentiments of most Black soldiers in the Philippines would be summed up by Commissary Sergeant Middleton W. Saddler of the 25th Infantry, who wrote, "We are now arrayed to meet a common foe, men of our own hue and color. Whether it is right to reduce these people to submission is not a question for soldiers to decide. Our oaths of allegiance know neither race, color, nor nation."

Although most Blacks were distressed by the color line that had been immediately established in the Philippines and by the epithet "niggers", which white soldiers applied to Filipinos, they joined whites in calling them "gugus". A black lieutenant of the 25th Infantry wrote his wife that he had occasionally subjected Filipinos to the water torture.

Capt. William H. Jackson of the 49th Infantry admitted his men identified racially with the Filipinos but grimly noted "all enemies of the U.S. government look alike to us, hence we go on with the killing."

The Black 24th Infantry Regiment drilling at Camp Walker, Cebu Island. Photo was taken in 1902.

Jan. 6, 1900: US Newspaper Reports Record Incidence of Insanity Among Americans In The Philippines

The Guthrie Daily Leader, Guthrie, Oklahoma, Jan. 6, 1900, Page 1

Jan. 7, 1900: Battle of Imus, Cavite Province

Photo taken in 1900

On Jan. 7, 1900, the 28th Infantry Regiment of US Volunteers, commanded by Col. William E. Birkhimer, engaged a large body of Filipinos at Imus, Cavite Province.

Original caption: "Filipinos firing on the American out-posts, P.I." Photo was taken in 1900, location not specified.

Original caption: "The rude ending of delusion's dream ---Insurgent on the Battlefield of Imus, Philippines."

Four soldiers of Company M, 28th Infantry Regiment of US Volunteers. Photo was taken in 1900. The regiment arrived in the Philippines on Nov. 22 and 23, 1899. It was commanded by Col. William E. Birkhimer.

The St. Paul Globe, St. Paul, Minnesota, Jan. 8, 1900, Page 1

The Americans suffered 8 men wounded, and reported that 245 Filipinos were killed and wounded.

Licerio Topacio, Presidente Municipal (Mayor) of Imus, with two Filipino priests. PHOTO was taken in 1899.

January 14-15, 1900: Battle of Mt. Bimmuaya in Ilocos Sur

US artillery supporting the infantry. Photo taken in 1900, location not specified

On Jan. 14-15, 1900, the only artillery duel of the war was fought in Mount Bimmuaya, a summit 1,000 meters above the Cabugao River, northwest of Cabugao, Ilocos Sur Province. It is a place with an unobstructed view of the coastal plain from Vigan to Laoag. The Americans -- from the 33rd Infantry Regiment USV, and the 3rd US Cavalry Regiment -- also employed Gatling guns and prevailed mainly because their locations were concealed by their use of smokeless gunpowder so that Filipino aim was wide off the mark.

It was believed that General Manuel Tinio, and his officers Capt. Estanislao Reyes and Capt. Francisco Celedonio were present at this encounter but got away unscathed.

Elements of this same 33rd Infantry unit had killed General Gregorio del Pilar earlier on Dec. 2, 1899, at Tirad Pass, southeast of Candon, llocos Sur.

The Battle of Mt. Bimmuaya diverted and delayed US troops from their chase of President Emilio Aguinaldo as the latter escaped through Abra and the mountain provinces. After the two-day battle, 28 unidentified fighters from Cabugao were found buried in unmarked fresh graves in the camposanto(cemetery).

General Tinio switched to guerilla warfare and harassed the American garrisons in the different towns of the Ilocos for almost 1½ years.

January 20, 1900: Americans invade the Bicol Region

In early 1900, during their successful operations in the northern half of Luzon Island, the Americans decided to open the large hemp ports situated in the southeastern Luzon provinces of Sorsogon, Albay and Camarines, all in the Bicol region.

Brig. Gen. William A. Kobbe (ABOVE, in 1900) was relieved from duty on the south Manila line and ordered to seize the desired points. His expeditionary force was composed of the 43rd and 47th Volunteer Infantry Regiments, and Battery G , 3rd Artillery. He sailed on the afternoon of January 18, with the transport Hancock and two coasting vessels, theCastellano and Venus. His command was convoyed by the gunboats Helena andNashviIlle.

On January 20, the Americans entered Sorsogon Bay and took possession, without opposition, of the town of Sorsogon, where Kobbe left a small garrison. They proceeded to the small hemp ports of Bulan and Donsol, at each of which a company of the 43rd Infantry was placed. The expedition then sailed through the San Bernardino Strait to confront the Filipinos at Albay Province.

The main street and cathedral in Legaspi, Albay Province. PHOTO was taken in 1899.

On January 23, at Legaspi, Albay, Generals Jose Ignacio Paua and Vito Belarmino (LEFT) put up a strong resistance against the 47th US Infantry but in the end had to retreat; 7 Americans were wounded, and 50 Filipinos killed and wounded.

On January 24, Virac, Catanduanes Island (then a part of Albay Province), was taken by the Americans without a shot being fired.

On February 8, Tabaco, Albay was captured and on February 23, Nueva Caceres (today's Naga City), Camarines fell.

Paua (RIGHT, in 1898) surrendered on March 27, 1900 in Legaspi to Col. Walter Howe, Commanding Officer of the 47th Infantry Regiment.

Paua was the only pure Chinese in the Philippine army.

He was born on April 29, 1872 in a poor village of Lao-na inFujian province, China.

In 1890, he accompanied his uncle to seek his fortune in the Philippines. He worked as a blacksmith on Jaboneros Street, Binondo, Manila. 

Paua joined the Katipunan in 1896. His knowledge as blacksmith served him in good stead. He repaired native cannons called lantakas and many other kinds of weaponry. He set up an ammunition factory in Imus, Cavite where cartridges were filled up with home-made gunpowder. [On the side, he courted Antonia Jamir, Emilio Aguinaldo's cousin].

He also taught the Filipinos how to melt metals, including church bells, for the manufacture of arms and bullets. He raised money for the Philippine army, much of it from his fellow Chinese. Paua proved himself in battles against the Spanish at Binakayan, Zapote, Perez Dasmariñas, Salitran, Imus, among others.

On April 26, 1897, then-Major Paua, Col. Agapito Bonzon and their men attacked and arrested Katipunan SupremoAndres Bonifacio and his brother Procopio inbarrioLimbon, Indang, Cavite Province; Andres was shot in the left arm and his other brother, Ciriaco, was killed. Paua jumped and stabbed Andres in the left side of the neck. From Indang, a half-starved and wounded Bonifacio was carried by hammock to Naik, Cavite, which had become Emilio Aguinaldo’s headquarters. The Bonifacio brothers were executed on May 10, 1897.

Paua (LEFT) was the only foreigner who signed the 1897 Biyak-na-Bato Constitution. He was among 36 Filipino rebel leaders who went in exile to Hong Kong by virtue of the Dec. 14, 1897 Peace Pact of Biyak-na-bato.

Emilio Aguinaldo and the other exiles returned to Manila on May 19, 1898. The revolution against Spain entered its second phase.

On June 12, 1898, when Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence in Kawit, Cavite, Paua cut off his queue (braid). When General Pantaleon Garcia and his other comrades teased him about it, Paua said: "Now that you are free from your foreign master, I am also freed from my queue."

[The queue, for the Chinese, is a sign of humiliation and subjugation because it was imposed on them by the Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty. The Chinese revolutionaries in China cut off their queues only in 1911 when they finally toppled the Manchu government.]

On Oct. 29, 1898, Paua was included in the force led by General Vito Belarmino that was sent to the Bicol region; Belarmino assumed the position of military commander of the provinces of Albay, Camarines and Sorsogon.

Paua married Carolina Imperial, a native of Albay; he retired in Albay and was once elected town mayor of Manito. He told his wife and children: “I want to live long enough to see the independence of our beloved country and to behold the Filipino flag fly proudly and alone in our skies.”

His dream was not realized because he died of cancer in Manila on May 24, 1926 at the age of 54.

February 5, 1900: Ambush at Hermosa, Bataan Province

A supply detail from Company G, 32nd Infantry Regiment U.S.V., is ambushed near Hermosa, Bataan Province. PHOTO was taken on Feb. 5, 1900. Source: Archives of the 32nd Infantry Regimental Association

On Feb. 5, 1900, a supply train of Company G, 32nd Infantry Regiment of U.S. Volunteers, was ambushed near Hermosa, Bataan Province. The 11-man detail was commanded by Sgt. Clarence D. Wallace. It was sent from Dinalupihan by the Company Commander, Capt. Frank M. Rumbold, to escort Capt. William H. Cook, regimental assistant surgeon, to Orani. On arrival, the soldiers would report to the commissary officer for rations, which they were to escort back to Dinalupihan. It was while on their return trip that the party was ambushed; 6 Americans were killed. It was one of the deadliest ambuscades of U.S. troops in the war.

Forty-eight hours before this occurrence, detachments of the 32nd Infantry Regiment scouted the country south of Orani, west to Bagac, north to Dinalupihan, and west to Olongapo, without finding any trace of Filipino guerillas. Following the ambush, all American units in the province were directed to exercise extraordinary vigilance on escort and similar duty.

32nd Infantry Regiment headquarters at Balanga, Bataan Province

The regiment, commanded by Col. Louis A. Craig, was based in Balanga, Bataan Province. It posted companies of troops in Abucay, Balanga, Dinalupihan, Mariveles, Orani and Orion, and the towns of Floridablanca and Porac in neighboring Pampanga Province.

Execution of Filipinos, circa 1900-1901

Four doomed Filipinos --- in leg irons --- are photographed moments before their execution by hanging, circa 1900-1901

The Filipinos were hanged one at a time

American soldiers and sailors, and some Filipino civil officials pose for a "souvenir" photo with the coffins bearing the bodies of the executed men

SIMULTANEOUS HANGING OF FOUR FILIPINOS. Original caption: "The Philippine Islands. Hanging Insurgents at Cavite". Circa 1900.

The U.S. Army executes a Filipino, circa 1900.

The U.S. Army hangs a Filipino, circa 1900.

CLOSE-UP of preceding photo.

Original caption: "Hanging at Caloocan, after the drop". Two Filipino doctors are checking the limp bodies for signs of life. Circa 1900.

Original caption: "American execution of Philippine insurrectionists." PHOTO was taken circa 1900-1901.

CLOSE-UP of preceding photo. The Americans are seen here placing the nooses around the two Filipinos' necks.

War in Bohol, March 17, 1900 - Dec. 23, 1901

US "Bill" Battery outside of barracks in Tagbilaran, Bohol

On March 17, 1900, 200 troops of the 1st Battalion, 44th Infantry Regiment of U.S. Volunteers (USV), led by Maj. Harry C. Hale, arrived in Tagbilaran. Bohol was one of the last major islands in the Philippines to be invaded by American troops. Bernabe Reyes, "President" of the "Republic of Bohol" established on June 11, 1899, separate from Emilio Aguinaldo's national government, did not resist. Major Hale hired and outfitted Pedro Samson to build an insular police force. In late August, he took off and emerged a week later as the island's leading guerilla.

Soldiers of the 44th U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiment at Tubigon, Bohol, 1900.

Company C of the 44th U.S. Volunteers encountered Samson on Aug. 31, 1900 near Carmen. The guerillas were armed with bolos, a few antique muskets and "anting-anting" or amulets. More than 100 guerillas died. The Americans lost only one man.

Chocolate Hills, Carmen, Bohol

A portion of Company G, 19th US Infantry Regiment, starting out for Bohol island from Naga

Two hundred men from the 19th U.S. Regular Infantry Regiment led by Capt. Andrew S. Rowan, West Point Class 1881 (LEFT), reinforced the Americans on Bohol.

On Sept. 3, 1900, they clashed with Pedro Samson in the Chocolate Hills. From then on through December, US troops and guerillas met in a number of engagements in the island's interior, mostly in the mountains back of Carmen. Samson's force consisted of Boholanos, Warays from Samar and Leyte, and Ilonggos from Panay Island. They lacked firepower; most of them were armed simply with machetes.

The Americans resorted to torture --most often "water cure"--and a scorched-earth policy: prominent civilians were tortured; 20 of the 35 towns of Bohol were razed, and livestock was butchered wantonly to deprive the guerillas of food.

Issue of June 18, 1901

In May 1901, when a US soldier raped a Filipina, her fiance murdered him. In retaliation, Capt. Andrew S. Rowan torched the town of Jagna. On June 14-15, 1901, US troops clashed with Samson in the plain between Sevilla and Balilihan; Samson escaped, but Sevilla and Balilihan were burned to the ground.

Original caption: "Burning of native huts."

On Nov. 4, 1901, Brig. Gen. Robert Hughes, US commander for the Visayas, landed another 400 men at Loay. Torture and the burning of villages and towns picked up. (At US Senate hearings in 1902, when Brig. Gen. Robert Hughes described the burning of entire towns in Bohol by U.S. troops to Senator Joseph Rawlins as a means of "punishment," and Rawlins inquired: "But is that within the ordinary rules of civilized warfare?..." General Hughes replied succinctly: "These people are not civilized.")

American soldiers "water cure" a Filipino. Maj. Gen. Adna R. Chaffee, military governor of the "unpacified areas" of the Philippines, 1901-1902, ordered the US Army to "Obtain information from natives no matter what measures have to be adopted." Photo Source: Abraham Ignacio Collection,www.presidio.gov

At Inabanga, the Americans killed the mayor and water-cured to death the entire local police force. The mayor of Tagbilaran did not escape the water cure. At Loay, the Americans broke the arm of the parish priest and used whiskey, instead of water, when they gave him the "water cure". Major Edwin F. Glenn, who had personally approved the tortures, was later court-martialed.

Church in Dimiao, Bohol

On Dec. 23, 1901, at 3:00 pm, Pedro Samson signed an armistice in the convent of Dimiao town. He arrived with 175 guerillas. That night at an army-sponsored fete there were speeches and a dance.

On Feb. 3, 1902, the first American-sponsored elections were held on Bohol and Aniceto Clarin, a wealthy landowner and an American favorite, was voted governor. The Philippine Constabulary assumed the US army's responsibilities and the last American troops departed in May 1902.