Mandirigma.org» Philippine American War https://mandirigma.org Mandirigma Research Organization Fri, 23 May 2025 08:49:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6 BOOK: – Mandirigma – Uniforms of The Filipino Fighting Man 1935-1945 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3944 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3944#respond Sat, 21 May 2022 10:44:27 +0000 MO1 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3944 https://www.black6project.org/store-1/p/57s1rtjw9bglibetk0inieqfxai4ya

 

IMG_5894

Mandirigma – Uniforms of The Filipino Fighting Man 1935-1945

Mandirigma is a compilation of photographs and description of the various uniforms, equipment and accoutrements of Filipino soldiers in the Second World War.

An exhibit of some of these uniforms will be on display at the Philippine Center of New York from April 4-15, 2022

Book availability can be picked up at the Philippine Consulate General of New York on April 7th during the book launch event at 8pm.

When checking out, please choose PIck-Up or Delivery.

Delivery $50 + 6 Shippng

Pick Up $50

Pick-Up can be facilitated for you at the Philippine Consulate General of New York during the book launch event

 

https://www.black6project.org/store-1/p/57s1rtjw9bglibetk0inieqfxai4ya

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3944 0 Photo: Members of “The Tinio Brigade”. Anti American Resistance in the Ilocos Provinces, 1899-190. https://mandirigma.org/?p=3760 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3760#respond Sat, 20 Jul 2019 21:14:44 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3760 Photo: Members of “The Tinio Brigade”. Anti American Resistance in the Ilocos Provinces, 1899-190.

67176442_2224305747618724_5415895374470578176_n
Staff: (to which Apolinario Querubin’s Guerilla 4 belonged) seated L to R: Captain Yldefonso Villareal, Brig. Gen. Benito Natividad, Brig. Gen. Manuel Tinio, Lt. Col. Joaquin Alejandrino and Maj. Joaquin Buencamino(son of Felipe Buencamino, a minister in the Aguinaldo cabinet); Standing L to R: 2lt. Francisco Natividad and two unidentified officers; Seated: the 15 year-old officer 2Lt. Pastor Alejandrino.

 

———

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Tinio

Manuel Tinio y Bundoc (June 17, 1877 – February 22, 1924) was the youngest General[2] of the Philippine Revolutionary Army, and was elected Governor[3] of the Province of Nueva Ecija, Republic of the Philippines in 1907. He is one of the three Fathers of the Cry of Nueva Ecija along with Pantaleon Valmonte and Mariano Llanera.

Manuel Tinio, then 18 years old, joined the Katipunan in April 1896. By August he had organized a company composed of friends, relatives and tenants. Personally leading his group of teenaged guerillas, he conducted raids and depredations against Spanish detachments and patrols in Nueva Ecija. Occasionally, he joined up with similar forces under other youthful leaders.

An Early flag of the Katipunan.

On September 2, 1896, Manuel Tinio and his men joined the combined forces of Mariano Llanera and Pantaleon Belmonte, capitanes municipales or mayors of Cabiao and Gapan, respectively, in the attack on San Isidro. Of 3,000 who volunteered, 500 determined men were chosen for the attack. Led by a bamboo orchestra or musikong bumbong of Cabiao, the force came in two separate columns from Cabiao and Gapan City and converged in Sitio Pulu, 5 km. from San Isidro. Despite the fact that they had only 100 rifles, they furiously fought the Spaniards holed up in the Casa Tribunal, the arsenal, other government buildings and in the houses of Spanish residents. Capt. Joaquin Machorro, commander of the Guardias Civiles, was killed on the first day of battle. According to Julio Tinio, Manuel’s cousin and a participant in the battle, Manuel had a conference in the arsenal with Antonio Luna and Eduardo Llanera, the general’s son, immediately after the battle.

The Spanish authorities hastily organized a company of 200 civilian Spaniards and mercenaries the following day and attacked the overconfident insurgents, driving the besiegers away from the government center. The next day more Spanish reinforcements arrived from Peñaranda, forcing the poorly armed rebels to retreat, leaving behind 60 dead. The Spaniards went in hot pursuit of the insurgents, forcing those from Cabiao to flee to Candaba, Pampanga, and those from Gapan to hide in San Miguel de Mayumo in Bulacan. The insurgents from San Isidro fled across the river to hide in Jaen. The relatives of those who were recognized were driven away from their homes by the colonial authorities. Manuel Tinio and his troop stayed to protect the mass of people from Calaba, San Isidro, who were all his kinfolk, hastening across the river to Jaen, Nueva Ecija.

The Spaniards’ relentless pursuit of the rebels forced them to disband and go into hiding until January 1897. Tinio was a special target. At 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) tall, he literally stood out among the attackers, whose average height was below 5 feet (150 cm). He fled to Licab. A platoon of cazadores (footsoldiers) was sent to arrest him, forcing Hilario Tinio Yango, his first cousin and the Capitan Municipal of the town, to lead them to him. Warned of the approaching soldiers, Manuel again escaped and fled on foot back to San Isidro, where, in the barrios of Calaba, Alua and Sto. Cristo, he hid with relatives in their various farms beside the Rio Gapan (now known as the Peñaranda River). Fear of arrest compelled him to be forever on the move. He never slept in the same place. Later on, he would attribute his ill health in his middle age to the privations he endured during those months of living exposed to the elements.

The passionate rebels reorganized their forces the moment Spanish pursuit died down. Tinio and his men marched with Gen. Llanera in his sorties against the Spaniards. Llanera eventually made Tinio a Captain.

The aggressive exploits of the teen-aged Manuel Tinio reached the ears of General Emilio Aguinaldo, whose forces were being driven out of Cavite and Laguna, Philippines. He evacuated to Mount Puray in Montalban, Rizal and called for an assembly of patriots in June 1897. In that assembly, Aguinaldo appointed Mamerto Natividad, Jr. as commanding general of the revolutionary army and Mariano Llanera as vice-commander with the rank of Lt.-General. Manuel Tinio was commissioned a Colonel and served under Gen. Natividad.

The constant pressure from the army of Gov. Gen. Primo de Rivera drove Aguinaldo to Central Luzon. In August, Gen. Aguinaldo decided to move his force of 500 men to the caves of Biac-na-Bato in San Miguel, Bulacan because the area was easier to defend. There, his forces joined up with those of Gen. Llanera. With the help of Pedro Paterno, a prominent Philippines lawyer, Aguinaldo began negotiating a truce with the Spanish government in exchange for reforms, an indemnity, and safe conduct.

On August 27, 1897, Gen. Mamerto Natividad and Col. Manuel Tinio conducted raids in Carmen, Zaragoza and Peñaranda, Nueva Ecija. Three days later, on the 30th, they stormed and captured Santor (now Bongabon) with the help of the townspeople. They stayed in that town till September 3.

On September 4, with the principal objective of acquiring provisions lacking in Biac-na-Bato, Gen. Natividad and Col. Manuel Tinio united their forces with those of Col. Casimiro Tinio, Gen. Pío del Pilar, Col. Jose Paua and Eduardo Llanera for a dawn attack on Aliaga. (Casimiro Tinio, popularly known as ‘Capitan Berong’, was an elder brother of Manuel through his father’s first marriage.)

Thus began the Battle of Aliaga, considered one of the most glorious battles of the rebellion. The rebel forces took the church and convent, the Casa Tribunal and other government buildings. The commander of the Spanish detachment died in the first moments of fighting, while those who survived were locked up in the thick-walled jail. The rebels then proceeded to entrench themselves and fortify several houses. The following day, Sunday the 5th, the church and convent as well as a group of houses were put to the torch due to exigencies of defense.

Spanish Governor General Primo de Rivera fielded 8,000 Spanish troops under the commands of Gen. Ricardo Monet and Gen. Nuñez in an effort to recapture the town. A column of reinforcements under the latter’s command arrived in the afternoon of September 6. They were met with such a tremendous hail of bullets that the general, two captains and many soldiers were wounded, forcing the Spaniards to retreat a kilometer away from the town to await the arrival of Gen. Monet and his men. Even with the reinforcements, the Spaniards were overly cautious in attacking the insurgents. When they did so the next day, they found the town already abandoned by the rebels who had gone back to Biac-na-Bato. Filipino casualties numbered 8 dead and 10 wounded.

Gen. Natividad and Col. Manuel Tinio shifted to guerrilla warfare. The following October with full force they attacked San Rafael, Bulacan to get much-needed provisions for Biac-na-Bato. The battle lasted several days and, after getting what they came for, they left a detachment in Bo. Kaingin to hold back the Spanish reinforcements from Baliwag, Bulacan. To divert Spanish forces from Nueva Ecija, Natividad and Tinio attacked Tayug, Pangasinan on Oct. 4, 1897, occupying the church in the heart of the poblacion.

Meanwhile, peace negotiations continued and in October Aguinaldo gathered together his generals to convene a constitutional assembly. On Nov. 1, 1897 the Constitution was unanimously approved and on that day the Biac-na-Bato Republic was established.

However, Gen. Natividad, who believed in the revolution, opposed the peace negotiations and continued to fight indefatigably from Biac-na-Bato. On Nov. 9, while leading a force of 200 men with Gen. Pío del Pilar and Col. Ignacio Paua, Natividad was killed in action in Entablado, Cabiao. Col. Manuel Tinio brought the corpse back to the general’s grieving wife in Biac-na-Bato. (Incidentally, Gen. Natividad’s widow, Trinidad, was the daughter of Casimiro Tinio–”Capitan Berong”.) With the death of the army’s commanding general, Col. Manuel Tinio was commissioned Brigadier General and designated as commanding general of operations on Nov. 20, 1897. Gen. Tinio, all of 20 years, became the youngest general of the Philippine Revolutionary Army. (Gregorio del Pilar, already 22, was only a Lt. Colonel at that time.)

On Dec. 20, 1897, the Pact of the Biac-na-Bato was ratified by the Assembly of Representatives. In accordance with the terms of the peace pact, Aguinaldo went to Sual, Pangasinan, where he and 26 members of the revolutionary government boarded a steamer to go into voluntary exile in Hongkong. The Novo-Ecijanos in the group were Manuel Tinio, Mariano and Eduardo Llanera, Benito and Joaquin Natividad, all signatories of the Constitution.

In Hongkong, the exiles agreed among themselves to live as a community and spend only the interest of the initial P400,000 the Spanish Government had paid in accordance with the Pact of the Biac-na-Bato. The principal was to be used for the purchase of arms for the continuation of the revolution at a future time. The Artacho faction, however, wanted to divide the funds of the Revolution among themselves. The Novo-Ecijanos did not vote with the opportunist Artacho ‘faction’, and, being relatively well off, thanks to a relative who provided them with funds (Trinidad Tinio vda. de Natividad), “they got a house where they lived like a republic”, as they said.

Would history have been different if the Spanish authorities had not reneged on the terms of the Pact and withheld the amount of P900,000 which was supposed to have been divided among non-combatants who had suffered in the fighting? Thus shortchanged, considering themselves no longer honor bound to lay down arms, the revolutionists rose again. Once again fighting broke out all over Luzon. In Nueva Ecija, the rebels captured the towns again one by one.

But American intervention was on the way. As early as February 1898 an American naval squadron had steamed into Manila Bay. On May 1, less than a week after the declaration of the Spanish–American War, the American naval squadron completely destroyed the Spanish fleet. Admiral Dewey of the United States of America immediately dispatched the revenue cutter “McCulloch” to Hongkong to fetch Aguinaldo, who returned to the Philippines on May 19. On May 21 Aguinaldo issued a proclamation asking the nation to rally behind him in a second attempt to obtain independence. Revolutionary leaders promptly stepped up their raids and ambuscades on Spanish garrisons in Central Luzon, capturing more than 5,000 prisoners. By the end of May, the whole of central and southern Luzon, except Manila, was practically in Filipino hands. Aguinaldo promptly established a Dictatorial Government on May 24, with himself as Supremo (supreme commander) and proclaimed Philippine Independence on June 12, 1898. Apolinario Mabini, however, prevailed upon Aguinaldo to decree the establishment of a Revolutionary Government on June 23.

Manuel Tinio and the rest of the revolutionists in Hongkong sailed for Cavite on June 6 on board the 60-ton contraband boat “Kwan Hoi” to join their Filipino leader. Upon his arrival in Cavite, Tinio was instructed to organize an expeditionary force to wrest the Ilocano provinces from Spanish hands. Thus would start the thrust into the North and its conquest by Novo-Ecijano General Manuel Tinio. First, he retrieved from Hagonoy, Bulacan 300 Mauser and Remington rifles that had been captured from the Spaniards and stored in that town. He then took the steamer to San Isidro, Nueva Ecija. Upon his arrival on June 13 he immediately set up 3 companies of 108 men each under the commands of Captains Joaquin Alejandrino, Jose Tombo and 1st Lt. Joaquin Natividad who was given overall command. All the officers were Novo-Ecijanos, except for Celerino Mangahas who hailed from Paombong, Bulacan.

On July 7, 1898 Aguinaldo reorganized the provincial government of Nueva Ecija and appointed Felino Cajucom as governor. The province was divided into four military zones:

  • Zone 1 under Gen. Mariano Llanera with Gen. Tinio as deputy covered the towns of San Isidro, San Antonio, Jaén, Gapan and Peñaranda;
  • Zone 2 under Pablo Padilla and Angelo San Pedro covered the towns of Cabanatuan, San Leonardo, Sta. Rosa, Sto. Domingo and Talavera;
  • Zone 3 under Delfin Esquivel and Ambrosio Esteban covered the towns of Aliaga, Licab, Zaragoza, San Jose, San Juan de Guimba and Cuyapo;
  • Zone 4 under Manuel Natividad and Francisco Nuñez covered the towns of Rosales, Nampicuan, Umingan, Balungao and San Quintin.

On June 19, Gen. Tinio and his men proceeded to Pangasinan to assist Gen. Makabulos in the siege of Dagupan which was the most important of the three Spanish strongholds in the North at that time, the others being Tarlac, Tarlac and San Fernando, La Union. Dagupan was held by the Spaniards under the command of Col. Federico J. Ceballos. In Dagupan, Gen. Tinio met the force of Lt. Col. Casimiro Tinio, composed of Captains Feliciano Ramoso and Pascual Tinio, Lt. Severo Ortega, several other officers, and 300 Novo-Ecijano soldiers. Gen. Makabulos, who had taken over the Central Luzon Command the previous April, was optimistic that he had the situation well in hand and allowed Gen. Tinio and the combined Novo-Ecijano troops at Dagupan to proceed northward to liberate Ilocos from the Spaniards. This Ilocos Expeditionary Force would become the nucleus of the future Tinio Brigade.

The Novo-Ecijano troops, now over 600 strong, reached San Fernando, on July 22, the day that Dagupan surrendered to Gen. Makabulos. They found the capital of La Union already besieged by revolutionists under the command of Gen. Mauro Ortiz. The Spaniards, under the command of Col. Jose Garcia Herrero, were entrenched in the convent, the Casa Tribunal and the provincial jail and were waiting for succour. Gen. Tinio wanted a ceasefire and sent for Col. Ceballos in Dagupan to mediate a peaceful capitulation of the San Fernando garrison. But despite news that the Spaniards had already surrendered Central Luzon to the Revolutionists and the pleadings of Col. Ceballos, the besieged Spaniards refused to capitulate. On the morning of the eighth day, July 31, Gen. Tinio ordered the assault of the convent from the adjoining church. At a cost of 5 lives and 3 wounded, Capt. Alejandrino’s company occupied the kitchen and cut the water supply in the aljibe or cistern under the azotea, the terrace beside the kitchen. At 4 p.m. a 4″-cannon taken from the gunboat “Callao” moored in the harbor was fired against the left side of the convent. The deafening blast frightened the Spaniards who immediately called for a ceasefire and flew the white flag. Alejandrino received the saber of Lt. Col. Herrero as a token of surrender. 400 men, 8 officers, 377 rifles, 3 cannons and P 12,000 in government silver were turned over. Upon seeing his captors, the Spanish commander wept in rage and humiliation, for many of the Filipino officers and men were but mere youths. Gen. Tinio himself had just turned 21 the previous month!

From San Fernando the Tinio Brigade and its prisoners marched on to Balaoan, where they met stubborn resistance from the enemy who were again entrenched in the convent. The siege lasted for five days, and, despite the support of the populace, resulted in the deaths of more than 70 Filipinos, mostly townspeople. Camilo Osías, a witness to the event, wrote in his memoirs that after the siege, the Balaoan katipuneros were inducted en masse into the ranks of the Tinio Brigade. Meanwhile, the company of Capt. Alejandrino, dispatched earlier by Gen. Tinio to reconnoiter and clear the neighboring commandancia or military district of Benguet, had met no opposition for the small force of cazadores in La Trinidad had fled to Bontoc upon learning of their approach. Alejandrino immediately turned back and rejoined Gen. Tinio.

From Balaoan, the rebels marched on to Bangar, the northernmost town of La Union, where they laid siege to the Spaniards holed up, again, in the convent. They won a victory on Aug. 7 after four days of fighting at a cost of 2 casualties. 87 Spaniards surrendered in Bangar.

The Tinio Brigade then crossed the mighty Amburayan River that divides the province of La Union from Ilocos Sur. The colonial force occupying the strategic heights on the opposite bank was the last obstacle to Tinio’s advance to Vigan. Tinio stormed their positions, causing the enemy to withdraw to Tagudin,[5]:250 the first town of Ilocos Sur. There, the Spaniards consolidated all the available forces they could muster (1,500 men according to one source)[5]:250 and prepared to make a stand in the convent and surrounding buildings. However, their spirited defense the first three days turned into a rout, when the native volunteers in the Spanish army deserted their units to fight with the rebels. The Brigade suffered no casualties in that siege. The Spaniards fled north, but were intercepted in Sta. Lucia, Ilocos Sur by Ilocano and Abra revolutionists under Gen. Isabelo Abaya.

The Tinio Brigade, now over 2,000 strong, marched northward and encountered the Ilocano patriots in Sabuanan, Sta. Lucia. The latter escorted them to Candon, whose inhabitants jubilantly received the conquerors.

There, Isabelo Abaya, a native of the place and the initiator of the revolution in Ilocos, was given a regular rank of Captain of Infantry in the Tinio Brigade.

On August 13, 1898, the same day that the Spaniards surrendered Intramuros to the Americans, Gen. Tinio entered Vigan, the capital of Ilocos Sur and the citadel of Spanish power in the North.[5]:251 He found the capital already in rebel hands. Gov. Enrique Polo de Lara, newly appointed Spanish governor of both Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, had fled to Laoag, the capital of Ilocos Norte, with all the resident Spaniards of Vigan. There he spent five days at the beach of Diriqui, loading the civilians and friars, including Bishop Campomanes, on boats which would hazard the rough weather for the journey to Aparri. He then ordered the troops under Col. Mariano Arques, district commander of the Civil Guards and Jefe de Linea in Ilocos, to take the coastal road to Aparri, Cagayan.

Upon his arrival in Vigan, Gen. Tinio had immediately launched a two-pronged movement to capture the Spaniards fleeing northward and those escaping into the interior.[5]:251 He dispatched his brother, Casimiro, with a light cavalry column of 600 men to Ilocos Norte to pursue the fleeing enemy. Without encountering any opposition along the way, the Filipino column reached Laoag on August 17. They overtook some of the fleeing Spaniards at Bacarra, the next town, where, after exchanging a few token shots, more than 300 Spaniards surrendered. The Spaniards had heard of the humane treatment Gen. Tinio afforded prisoners and did not put up much of a fight.

Two companies were then dispatched to Bangui, the northernmost town of Ilocos Norte, and to Claveria, the first town in Cagayan. Capt. Vicente Salazar’s company pressed the northward pursuit with more tenacity, overtaking the enemy on the road to the Patapat Pass leading to Cagayan province. Right there and then, on August 22, Col. Arques and some 200 Spanish regulars, all tired and frustrated, surrendered almost willingly. In Patapat itself, the crack Regiment No. 70, composed of Ilocano and Visayan volunteers, stationed there to guard the pass, deserted their officers and joined the revolutionaries. The enemy was on the run, and even Aparri at the very end of Luzon was secured too by the detachment under the command of Col. Daniel Tirona.

Relentlessly, from Vigan, Capt. Alejandrino and 500 men, with Capt. Isabelo Abaya as guide, went to Bangued, Abra to track and capture the enemy who were retreating towards the rugged and mountainous interior towns of Cervantes, Lepanto and Bontoc. The Filipinos easily achieved their goal with only 3 casualties, the whole Ilocos and the Cordillera commandancias were now in Philippine hands.

Gen. Tinio is credited with capturing the most number of Spanish prisoners during the revolution, over 1.000 of them. The prisoners were brought to Vigan, their number later augmented by other prisoners sent over from the Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon during the last quarter of 1898. Gen. Tinio exercised both firmness and compassion in dealing with the prisoners. Fray Ulpiano Herrero y Sampedro, a Dominican who had been captured and sent over from Cavite, kept a journal of his 18-month imprisonment together with over a hundred other friars. He wrote that when they were imprisoned in Vigan, “Gen. Tinio wanted to improve the living conditions of the friar prisoners … sent us food, clothing, books, paper and writing implements.”

There was another group of prisoners. The revolucionarios’ anger against the friars extended even to their native mistresses, and these women were imprisoned in the girls’ school beside the Bishop’s Palace. Their properties were confiscated. One of the incarcerated women, a native of Sinait, had a 15-year-old daughter, Laureana Quijano, who pleaded with Gen. Tinio for her mother’s release and the restoration of their properties. The general, attracted to her beauty, forthwith acceded to her request, and then began to court her. Later, Laur, as she was called, also pleaded for the release of another prisoner, her mother’s first cousin, and introduced the daughter, Amelia Imperial Dancel. Again, the general gave in and released Amelia’s mother. Subsequently, Gen. Tinio also fell in love with Amelia.

Gen. Tinio set up his Command Headquarters in the Bishop’s Palace in Vigan. There he lived with 18 of his officers, all very young, mostly 16–20 years of age, the oldest being the 29-year-old Captain Pauil.

In accordance with Aguinaldo’s Dictatorial Decree of June 18, 1898 which set the guidelines for setting up a civil government in those towns liberated from the Spaniards, Gen. Tinio conducted elections for the whole region. First to be elected were the officials of each town. Under the revolutionary government, the mayor, instead of being called the capitan municipal, was now addressed as the presidente municipal. These mayors then elected the Provincial Governor and Board.

With the civil government in place, Gen. Tinio then reorganized the Tinio Brigade. The successful military exploits of the Brigada Tinio were heralded all over Luzon and attracted hundreds of volunteers. The Brigade swelled to over 3,400 men, with scores of officers and more than 1,000 non-commissioned officers and soldiers coming from Nueva Ecija. The rest consisted mostly of Ilocanos, Abreños, Igorots and Itnegs, with a few Bulakeños, Bicolanos and Visayans. There were also some Spaniards in the group.

The Brigade garrisoned the entire western portion of Northern Luzon which included the four genuine Ilocano provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra and La Union, and also the comandancias of Amburayan, Lepanto-Bontoc and Benguet. Gen. Tinio divided this territory into 3 zones, each under a military commander who commanded a regiment, as follows:

Zone 1 under Lt. Col. Casimiro Tinio covered La Union, Benguet and Amburayan;

Zone 2 under Lt. Col. Blas Villamor covered Southern Ilocos Sur from Tagudin to Bantay, Abra and Lepanto-Bontoc;

Zone 3 under Lt. Col. Irineo de Guzman covered Northern Ilocos Sur from Sto. Domingo to Sinait and Ilocos Norte.

Captains Vicente Salazar, Jose Tombo and Juan Villamor were the deputy commanders.

The establishment of the civil and military government in the Ilocos brought 15 months of peace in the region. The young general and his officers became social denizens sought after and regally entertained by the people. Being young, they caught the eyes of pretty señoritas of the best families in the region. The dashing Manuel Tinio, rich, handsome and a bachelor to boot, seized the moment with the many belles of Ilocandia. He was unforgettably charming and popular. In the 1950s, women reminiscing about their youth, and the Tinios, would look up and sigh, “how handsome they were.” A grandmother from Ilocos Norte living in Baguio City could still passionately say in the 1960s, “all the ladies in the province were in love with the general.” An old maid in Vigan proudly recalled in her twilight years of the 1970s the dashing general’s visits every Friday afternoon when she was 14.

With the Ilocos in stable condition, Gen. Tinio then went to Malolos to report to Gen. Aguinaldo and upon the request of Felipe Buencamino, Minister of Finance, turned over P120,000 that had been contributed by the citizens of Vigan. During his visit, everyone, particularly his fellow generals, admired and congratulated Gen. Tinio for having the largest and best-equipped army in the country!

In October 1898 Gen. Tinio received his appointment as Military Governor of the Ilocos provinces and Commanding General of all Filipino forces in Northern Luzon. His army was formally integrated as an armed unit of the Republic. Thus he became one of only four regional commanders in the Republican Army!

Upon his return to Vigan, Gen. Tinio marshalled his troops, all well equipped and completely in uniform. He assembled them in the town’s main Plaza and made them swear to defend the new Republic with their lives. The next month, on Nov. 11, 1898 Manuel Tinio was appointed Brigadier General of Infantry.

Group showing General Manuel Tinio (seated, center), General Benito Natividad (seated, 2nd from right), Lt. Col. Jose Alejandrino (seated, 2nd from left), and their aides-de-camp.

A shot fired at a Filipino in Sociego Street, Sta. Mesa District in the suburbs of Manila on February 4, 1899 triggered the Philippine–American War. (Contrary to popular belief that prevailed for over a century, the first shot of the Philippine–American War was not fired on San Juan bridge but on Sociego Street in Santa Mesa district, Manila. The Philippines’ National Historical Institute (NHI) recognized this fact through Board Resolution 7 Series of 2003. On Feb. 4, 2004 the marker on the bridge was removed and transferred to a site at the corner of Sociego and Silencio streets.) Soon after, when war with the Americans seemed imminent, Col. Casimiro Tinio and most of the Tagalog troops in the Tinio Brigade were sent back to Nueva Ecija. When the conflict became critical in Central Luzon, all the soldiers in the Brigade who had seen service in the Spanish army were ordered to report to the Luna Division.

The inactivity of the Tinio Brigade during the period of peace in the Ilocos region spawned problems. Boredom led to in-fighting among the soldiers and the perpetration of some abuses. Gen. Tinio adhered to his principles of discipline among his troops, even imprisoning Col. Estanislao de los Reyes, his personal aide-de-camp, who had slapped a fellow officer in an effort to rectify the situation, Tinio asked Gen. Aguinaldo for the assignment of his forces to the frontlines of the new battle at hand, but Aguinaldo paid no heed to Tinio’s request.

Ever keen in foresight and strategy, anticipating an invasion by the American aggressors, Gen. Tinio ordered the construction of 636 trenches, well designed and strategically placed for cross fire, to protect the principal roads and ports and to guard the entire coastline from Rosario, La Union to Cape Bojeador in Ilocos Norte.

At the start of the Philippine–American War, Gen. Tinio’s forces were 1,904 strong, with 68 officers, 200 sandatahanes or bolomen, 284 armorers, 37 medics, 22 telegraphers, 80 cavalrymen, 105 artillerymen and 2 Spanish engineers. (By April 1899, this would be reduced to 1,789 officers and men.)

On May 18, 1899, six months before his forces began battling the American invaders, he married Laureana Quijano.

On June 5, 1899 members of the Kawit Battalion assassinated Gen. Antonio Luna, the commanding general of the republican army. His death in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija created a lot of antipathy against the Tagalogs, particularly in Ilocos Norte, where Luna hailed from. The Luna assassination, however, did not diminish the love and admiration of the Ilocanos for Gen. Tinio, who referred to the former as ‘my Ilocanos’. Luna’s death resulted in a cooling off in Tinio’s attitude towards Aguinaldo. Tinio, however, never failed to obey the orders of his superior and never made a comment on the deaths of Bonifacio or Luna. Whenever he was asked, he would shrug his shoulders and say, “answering the question would mean a betrayal of my superior.”

Less than two weeks later, on the occasion of his 22nd birthday, delegations from the entire region congregated in the capital to give him an asalto or dawn serenade in the main plaza of Vigan. One of the highlights of the day-long festivities, which included a royal feast and a grand ball, was the dedication of a birthday hymn specially written for him, set to music and sung by the populace.

Towards the end of June, Aguinaldo recalled Gen. Tinio by telegram and ordered him to help in the reorganization of the forces in Nueva Ecija. In his place, Brigadier Gen. Benito Natividad, recently promoted (at age 24) and on leave because of wounds sustained in the Battle of Calumpit, Bulacan, took over as temporary commander of the Ilocos provinces.

Gen. Tinio, seeing the handwriting on the wall, began taking private English lessons from David Arnold, an American captive who had come over to the Filipino side. In anticipation of the coming of the Americans, he began the construction of a formidable bank of defenses in Tangadan Pass between Narvacan, Ilocos Sur and Bangued, Abra.

Late in September, Gen. Tinio and his northern army were finally called to the front line to guard the beaches of Pangasinan and La Union. The Brigade was diminished in size when Gen. Tinio marched with his general staff and several battalions to Bayambang, Pangasinan to cover President Aguinaldo’s retreat while the others were sent to Zambales under Col. Alejandrino.

Gen. Benito Natividad stayed behind as post commander in Vigan with some officers and 50 riflemen, 20 others in Bangued and a few others scattered in neighboring towns. They were the only armed forces that guarded the whole Ilocos region! At that time, there were 4,000 Spanish prisoners of war (including 1 general) and 26 Americans being held in Vigan, Bangued and Laoag, where the military hospitals were located. More than half of the prisoners had been sent from Central Luzon at the height of the hostilities. Despite their great number, the prisoners did not rise up against their guards, because, on instructions of Gen. Tinio, they were well fed and nicely treated. As early as June, American prisoners had begun arriving from the battlefields of Central Luzon. Among them were Navy Lt. Gillmore and the war correspondent Albert Sonnichsen.[5]:382–383 Gen. Tinio’s humane treatment of prisoners was legendary. Sonnichsen wrote:

“. . while in Vigan, Tinio learned that the captive friars were living well on money sent from Manila, while the poor Cazadores were obliged to subsist on their meager rations (as prisoners of war). Before they could hide it, the young Tagalog had their money seized and, having all the soldier prisoners assembled in the plaza, he divided the pesos of the friars equally among them, the Cazadores cheering the Tagalog General lustily.”[5]:252

Having abandoned his last capital in Tarlac, Tarlac, Pres. Aguinaldo decided to retreat to the north and went to Bayambang, Pangasinan. Unknown to him, the Americans had planned a pincer-like movement in the overall battle plan to cut off his northward escape route and capture him.

On November 7, the Americans bombarded San Fabian, Pangasinan and the 33rd Infantry landed, including a battalion commanded by Col. Luther R. Hare, an old cavalryman who had served 25 years before under Gen. Custer.[6]:138 But on Nov. 11, on their way to San Jacinto, the next town, the invaders came across the entrenched forces of Gen. Tinio. Maj. John Alexander Logan, Jr and 8 American soldiers died in the fierce 3.5-hour battle that ensued, but the Americans, armed with a Gatling gun, claimed the lives of 134 Filipino soldiers, wounding 160 more.[6]:144–146

On November 13 a national council of war held in Bayambang resolved to disband the Philippine Army and ordered the generals and their men to return to their own provinces and organize the people for general resistance by means of guerrilla warfare.[6]:146 Gen. Aguinaldo divided the country into zones, each under a general. Gen. Tinio was designated regional commander of the Ilocos provinces. The following evening, Gen. Aguinaldo, accompanied by his family, the cabinet, their aides and the Kawit Battalion, left Bayambang by special train for Calasiao, only 15 kilometers away from American Headquarters!

On November 14, early in the morning, the presidential party struggled through the knee-deep mud of backwoods trails towards Sta. Barbara, where they met with the Mixto Battalion under Lt. Jose Joven and the Del Pilar Brigade. The column, now with 1,200 armed men, managed to reach the forests of Manaoag and proceeded to Pozorrubio, where the party was greeted by Gen. Tinio. The evening before, Maj. Samuel M. Swiggert’s pursuing squadron had caught up with part of the Tinio Brigade in Manaoag, but on the morning of the 14th, failed to pursue Aguinaldo at Pozorrubio.[6]:147

Aguinaldo spent the night in Pozorrubio and was unaware of the proximity of the enemy. He only came to know about it when Gen. Tinio informed him that the Americans were in pursuit. The presidential party hurriedly left for Rosario, La Union, and then for Bauang. Fortunately, the encounters with the Tinio Brigade had delayed the American pincer movements and, by the time these closed, Aguinaldo was already far in the north.

On Nov. 18, 1899 Gen. Samuel B. M. Young with 80 men of the 3rd Cavalry plus 300 native scouts, made a forced march north through Pangasinan in pursuit of Aguinaldo.[6]:151 Ahead of them was Gen. Tinio, who caught up with Gen. Aguinaldo in Bauang, La Union on the 19th. The following day Gen. Tinio, upon Aguinaldo’s orders, accompanied Col. Simeon Villa to San Fernando, La Union, where most of Tinio’s troops were helping the townspeople with the rice harvest. Young’s troops made a surprise raid on the town at 3 in the morning, and, recognizing Tinio and Villa, pursued them. Luckily the two were able to flee into the mountains on foot and to make their way to San Juan, the next town. Gen. Tinio reassembled his men in San Juan and, in an orderly manner, marched with their wounded to Narvacan, only a day or two ahead of the pursuing Gen. Young. Tinio then set up his command headquarters in San Quintin, Abra and sent the wounded further ahead to the military hospital in Bangued.

On Nov. 26, 1899, Vigan became the hottest spot as the American battleship ‘Oregon’ and the former Spanish gunboats ‘Callao’ and ‘Samar’ anchored off it and started shelling Caoayan, Ilocos Sur.[6]:131 Vigan was immediately evacuated on orders of post commander Gen. Benito Natividad. The prisoners, both Spanish and American, together with his meager troops moved on to Abra and Bangued as early as Sept.[6]:120 When the Americans landed the following day, led by Commander McCracken and Lt. Col. James Parker, there were no Filipino soldiers in Vigan.[5]:358 A few days later, 225 American troops, mostly Texas volunteers forming a battalion of the 33rd Infantry under Major Peyton C. March,[6]:153 arrived from San Fabian, took up residence in the Archbishop’s Palace and stored their ammunition and supplies in the adjoining girls’ school.

On Nov. 27, the day the Americans occupied Vigan, Gen. Tinio sent orders for all active soldiers of the Brigade to concentrate along the shores of the Abra River towns of San Quintin, Piddigan and Bangued, beyond the Tangadan Pass. Gen. Young, who was chasing them relentlessly; had reached Candon on the 28th and, from seized documents, discovered that he was no longer trailing the enemy, but was right in their midst! He also learned that Aguinaldo was at Angaki, 25 km. away to the southeast, while Tinio was up north some 40 km. away.[6]:153 Young realized immediately that Gen. Tinio’s purpose in taking his forces to the north was, as he phrased it, “to lead us away from following Aguinaldo.” Unsure whether he should pursue Aguinaldo or go after Tinio, the decision was made for him when a battalion of the 34th Volunteer Infantry arrived under Lt. Col. Robert Howze. They had been sent by Gen. Arthur MacArthur to reinforce Gen. Young’s northern column.[6]:154 Forthwith, March’s battalion was sent in pursuit of Aguinaldo through Tirad Pass, while the bigger part of Young’s army, with Howze’s battalion, marched towards Tangadan Pass in an attempt to destroy the Tinio Battalion, the last remaining army of the Republic.[6]:156

From San Quentin, General Tinio ordered 400 riflemen and bolomen, led by Capt. Alejandrino, went down the Mestizo River in bancas and spread out on both sides of the plaza of Vigan.[6]:163 Just before 4 AM on 4 Dec., some of the attackers in the dark streets were challenged by an American patrol who then gave the alarm to the 250 Americans in the city.[6]:163 Although Filipino snipers were already in position in the buildings around the plaza, in the ensuing 4-hour battle at close range they were no match for the legendary Texas marksmanship and the inexhaustible supply of American ammunition. The rebels were routed, leaving over 40 dead and 32 captured, while 8 Americans were killed.[6]:165 The survivors fled to Tangadan.

By 3 Dec. 1899, Gen. Young and Lt. Col. Howze were at Tangadan Pass with his 260 men.[6]:165 The pass was defended by 1,060 men under Lt. Col. Blas Villamor, Tinio’s chielf of staff, in trench works constructed over the last year with the assistance of Spanish engineers.[6]:162 The Americans successfully scaled the steep, 200-foot cliffs flanking the entrenchments to gain a vantage position.[6]:168–169 The final assault came in the evening of Dec. 4, added by the arrival of Col. Luther Hare’s 270 men from the 33rd Infantry.[6]:168–169 Outflanked and outnumbered, Lt. Col. Villamor decided to save his men from carnage, and retreated, abandoning rifles and ammunition, and after losing 35 killed and 80 wounded to the American loss of 2 killed and 13 wounded.[6]:170Thus ended the Battle of Tangadan Pass.

Tinio, however, earned the admiration of Col. Howze who wrote glowingly on the Vauban-type Tangadan defenses:

“The trenches captured are the best field trenches that have ever come under my observation. They terrace the mountainside, cover the valley below in all directions, and thoroughly control the road for a distance of 3 miles. They are permanent in nature, with perfect approaches, bomb-proofs, living sheds, etc., with shapes and revetments sodded and supported by timbers. The complete terrace of trenches number 10 in all, well connected for support, defense and retreat.”

Gen. Young reported on the bravery of General Tinio and his men, that at the Battle of Tangadan,

“Some of their officers exposed themselves very gallantly on the parapets during heavy firing.”

The day after the Battle of Tangadan, December 5, the pursuing Americans invaded Tinio’s headquarters in San Quintin, five kilometers away from the pass.[6]:171 They continued upstream on the Abra River to Pidigan and Bangued, liberating 1,500 starving Spaniards, on 6 Dec.[6]:171, 173 The American prisoners and the Spanish general had been sent ahead to Ilocos Norte by Gen. Tinio for strategic reasons, with orders for them to be shot rather than be rescued by the Americans.[6]:172 But the capture of Bangued was a major setback for the Filipinos, because the Brigade arsenal was located there. Three tons of sheet brass, two tons of lead, as well as supplies of powder, saltpeter and sulphur were found by the Americans. General Benito Natvidad joined General Tinio at Tayum.[6]:193

The onslaught had started! Having captured Bangued, Gen. Young re-armed at Vigan and within a week made unopposed landings in Ilocos Norte at Pasuquin, Laoag and Bangui. He sent cavalry north from Vigan, destroying trenches and defense works around Magsingal, Sinait, Cabugao and Badoc.

Meanwhile, the rescue of the American prisoners from Bangued became the task of Col. Hare’s 220 men of the 33rd Infantry and Col. Howze’s 130 men of the 34th Infantry.[6]:172

In Abra, Gen. Tub had been roaming the farms disguised as a rich planter on a white horse. In this way he made regular daily visits to the various American outposts to chat with the enemy soldiers. He even went so far as to invite them to his house in Bangued for dinner. After gathering all the information that he could, Tinio went back to the hills each day to instruct his men on what to do that night. Unfortunately, one day his photograph was circulated among the Americans and the daring general had no choice but to take to the hills with Col. Hare and a picked group trailing him!

Howze caught up with the Brigade’s baggage train in Danglas on 8 Dec.[6]:182 and 750 more Spanish prisoners on 10 Dec. at Dingras[6]:188 This last group included General Leopoldo Garcia Pena, former commander of Cavite province.[6]:188 Hare’s column joined Howze at Maananteng, where they sent the freed Spanish and Chinese prisoners on to Laoag, and the remaining force of 151 men continued the pursuit into the Cordilleras on 13 Dec.[6]:189–192

When Gen. Tinio realized that the Americans were exerting all efforts to surround him, he had the American prisoners conducted to Cabugaoan in Apayao country as a diversion, spreading false rumors that he was with the group. (He had, in fact, on Dec. 12, though surrounded by the Americans in Solsona, Ilocos Norte, near the boundary of Apayao, managed to elude them dressed as a peasant woman.)[6]:189

After days of marching in the wild Cordillera Mountains, the Americans finally caught up with the abandoned prisoners on Dec.18 at the headwaters of the Apayao-Abulug River, having been abandoned by their Filipino guards in Isneg territory.[6]:207–208 On crudely constructed rafts, the Americans eventually reached the coast in Abulug, Cagayan, on 2 Jan. 1900, where the footsore and weary soldiers found the USS Princeton and USS Venus waiting to take them back to Vigan and Manila.[6]:217

Gen. Tinio spent the next couple of months in the mountains of Solsona, where he began fortifying the peak of Mt. Bimmauya, east of Lapog. It was also in the remote headwaters of the Bical River above Lapog that an arsenal had been set up to replace that captured at Bangued. This operated for a year. Rifles were repaired, cartridges refilled, gunpowder and homemade hand guns (paltik) manufactured with real feats of mechanical ingenuity. Twenty to thirty silversmiths and laborers could fashion 30-50 cartridges a day by hand!

The defenses constructed by Gen. Tinio were similar to those that he had put up in Tangadan the year before, but, having learned his lesson, he situated the defenses on a peak that Lt. J. C. Castner described as follows:

“one of the principal peaks (is) on the coast range of northwestern Luzon. Its altitude is between 2,500 and 3,000 feet above the Rio Cabugao that washes its western shore. By reason of standing more to the westward than its immediate neighbors and being bare of timber, it affords a view of the entire coastal plain from Vigan on the South to Laoag on the north. The lower part of Monte Bimmauya is wooded, but the upper three-fourths is bare of trees and bush, and, in certain places, even the grass has been burned off by the insurgents. Consequently, there is no cover for attacking troops ascending the western spur of the mountain. The slopes of the upper portion make angles of from 45-60 degrees with the horizon. The only trail in existence or even possible on this western spur… is so narrow that it is what is known among geographers as a ‘knife-edge’, hence the only formation admissible was a column of files, two men not being able to march abreast. The ascent is so steep and the footing so insecure that one has to watch continually where he plants his feet to avoid precipitation down the precipice-like slopes on either side.”

New Year’s Day 1900 signaled the outburst of guerilla warfare throughout the Ilocos region. On that day, Gen. Tinio engaged in a skirmish with American forces at Malabita, San Fernando, La Union. The disconcerted Gen. Young ordered daily patrols by all his units “to settle this insurgent business with the least possible delay.” The following day, he requested another battalion of veterans with which he promised “to drive these outlaws out or kill them and settle the savages before letting up.” The day after that he repeated the request:

“My belief is that by keeping up a constant hunt after these murderers, thieves and robbers, the country can be cleared of them within two months.” Needless to say, he did not receive any reinforcements, because he already had 3,500 men, more than thrice the number of Tinio’s troops!

On January 13 the Americans intercepted an order from Gen. Tinio to execute all Filipinos who surrender to the enemy.

The following day, January 14. the only artillery duel of the Fil-American War was fought in Bimmuaya between the Republicans and the combined forces of Maj. Steever and Lt. Col. Howze. The barrage lasted from noon until sundown. Despite holding the ‘strongest position in Luzon’, as Steever believed the Bimmuaya stronghold to be, the Filipinos, with their paltry stock of rifles and ammunition, succumbed in less than 24 hours to the mighty American forces. Steever’s two Maxim guns dominated the show. Although the Americans halted their fire at sunset, the Filipinos kept up desultory fire until midnight. The next day the Americans discovered that it was just to cover the withdrawal of Gen. Tinio and his men!

After the Battle of Bimmuaya, Gen. Tinio’s guerrilla forces continuously fought and harassed the American garrisons in the different towns of Ilocos for almost 1½ years. His command was probably the first to initiate guerrilla activities in Luzon in accordance with the Aguinaldo’s official proclamation at Bayambang on Nov. 12, 1899. Once again, he reorganized the Tinio Brigade, now greatly reduced by the casualties sustained in San Jacinto, Manaoag and other places. Discarding its inter-provincial designation of units, he reformed his forces as a guerrilla organization with overlapping territories and troops, Ilocos Sur being shared by other Ilocano provinces. The military commands came to be known as:

· Ilocos Norte-Vigan Line covering the province of Ilocos Norte south to northern Ilocos Sur down to Vigan, · Abra-Candon Line under Lt.-Col. Juan Villamor which covered the Province of Abra and Ilocos Sur south of Vigan down to Candon · La Union-Sta. Cruz Line covering the province of La Union north to southern Ilocos Sur as far as Sta. Cruz.

The battalion commanders came to be known as Jefes de Linea, while the company commanders were now called Jefes de Guerrilla. Companies of riflemen became numbered units of guerrillas, each ranging from 50-100 soldiers, depending on the number of fighters a unit could arm and equip. These troops were then divided further into destacamentos or detachments of 20 men, more or less, under a subaltern officer. These bands were virtually independent of each other in their operations. But they could function occasionally as a unit on rare instances of mass assaults, as in the raids on Laoag on April, Bangued in June and Candon in February 1901.

Col. Bias Villamor, now 2nd in command as a result of his good showing in the Pangasinan campaigns, gave the full count of the Tinio Brigade in January 1900 at 1,062 men, 64 of them officers. The high proportion of officers to men was due to the nature of guerrilla warfare with its small separate units and flying columns of 20-30 men that strike at their chosen times and places. The majority of the officers were Novo-Ecijanos and veterans of earlier campaigns, some even from the Revolution of 1896!

The use of guerrilla tactics by the Filipinos resulted in more American losses than they had previous to Nov. 14, 1899. The never-ending guerrilla raids forced Gen. Young to start garrisoning the towns, setting up 15 of them in January, 4 in March and a total of 36 by April. Detachments varied in size from 50 in San Quintin, 200 in Sinait to 1,000 in Cabugao and Candon. These garrison troops were under fire in one place or another for the next 18 months. Cabugao alone was attacked every Sunday for 7 consecutive weeks! Ambuscades of American patrols became almost a daily occurrence and resulted in so many casualties for the invaders, that by March 1900, no patrols were sent out unless they were 40-50 strong! Gen. Arthur MacArthur, in an official report, stated that:

“The extensive distribution of troops has strained the soldiers of the army to the full limit of endurance. Each little command has had to provide its own service of security and information by never ceasing patrols, explorations, escorts, outposts and regular guards. . . In all things requiring endurance, fortitude and patient diligence, the guerilla period has been pre-eminent.”

The “secret weapon” of these attacks was the Ilocano people. The whole population was an espionage network and developed a warning system to apprise the revolutionists of approaching invaders. Even priests would tap church bells as a warning of approaching American patrols. Pvt. James Lyons, a prisoner in Tinio’s camp, reported that “runners came in every few minutes” with information. It seemed that the whole Ilocos was now engaged in war, with trade and agriculture virtually at a standstill!

Gen. Tinio’s raids were so sporadic and simultaneous that many, including the Americans, believed that Tinio had the power of bilocation, appearing in several places at the same time! His personal movements indicated an energetic contact with his forces – organizing, inspecting, consulting, encouraging or commanding in action, and constantly eluding his would-be captors. He was everywhere.

On 31 January, Gen. Tinio and his men had a skirmish on the Candon-Salcedo road with American troops. Fortunately they did not suffer any casualties.

The next day, February 1, Tinio, visited Sto. Domingo, unescorted and dressed as a farmer.

On February 9, he ambushed a troop of 7 cavalry in Sabang, Bacnotan, but withdrew when American reinforcements arrived.

On 16 February, from Bacnotan, he ordered Capt. Galicano Calvo to apprehend certain American spies.

On February 19, he ambushed an enemy patrol in Kaguman and captured the equipment.

On February 26, he ambushed an American convoy between San Juan and Bacnotan, together with their supplies of food, medicine, shoes, mules, etc.

On March 5 the next month, he surprised and routed an American camp in San Francisco, Balaoan, capturing all the equipment. He then went north to Magsingal, but left the next day on an inspection trip.

On the 8th, a surprise search for him in Sto. Domingo and San Ildefonso was frustrated by warnings of church bells.

On the 10th, he issued a warning to the Mayor of Candon, prompting the American command there to request for a picture of Gen. Tinio.

On the 14th, while holding a meeting in Bacnotan, he was surprised by an American patrol. Fortunately, a troop of Filipino cavalry arrived, and, with the support of two guns in the house, the Filipinos were able to repulse the attackers and enable Tinio to escape.

Two days after, on the 16th, Tinio met with Mayor Almeida in Bacsayan, Bacnotan.

On March 29, Gen. Tinio and his escort had a skirmish with an American patrol and routed them. An escaping American was drowned in the river between San Esteban and Sta. Maria.

In April, Tinio reported to Aguinaldo in Lubuagan, Kalinga and in May conferred with Aglipay in Badoc and fought a battle in Quiom, Batac, Ilocos Norte. He then moved on to Piddig, Ilocos Norte and, in June he set up a camp at a remote peak called Paguined on the Badoc River east of Sinait. The last was near his arsenal in Barbar.

All this incessant movement did not detract from his love life. Although he was already married, he continued his various liaisons, even going to the extent of bringing Amelia Dancel into the mountains of Ilocos Norte with him in July. American military reports even mention Amelia as his wife! In disguise, he once visited a maiden in enemy-occupied Vigan. The Americans, hearing that he was in town, began to make a house-to-house search, but were unable to find him, even when they searched his ladyfriend’s house. The woman had hidden him under the voluminous layers of her Maria Clara skirt! That was probably the narrowest escape he ever made! The incident became the talk of the town and was always cited whenever the name of Gen. Tinio came up. (The quick-thinking “heroine” lived until the 1970s.)

By November 1900, the number of American forces in the Ilocos had increased to 5,700 men—plus 300 mercenaries. The number of garrisons also rose to 59, spread thinly over 250 kilometers from Aringay, La Union to Cape Bojeador, Ilocos Norte. Earlier, mercenaries had been brought in from Macabebe, Pampanga and were stationed in Vigan, Sta. Maria, and San Esteban. These mercenaries started recruiting fellow Filipinos and by April numbered over 200, half of them Ilocanos and a quarter of them Tagalogs. Attached to regular occupation troops, these mercenaries caused significant damage to the nationalists by leading the enemy to hidden food supplies and inducing many defections. Because of this, Gen. Tinio issued a proclamation on March 20, 1900 as follows:

First and last article. The following shall be tried by summary court martial and sentenced to death:

  • All local presidents and other civil authorities, both of towns and of the barrios, rancherias (settlements of Christianized tribesmen) and sitios or hamlets, of their respective jurisdictions, who do not give immediate notice of any plan, direction, movement or number of the enemy as soon as they learn of it.
  • Those who, regardless of age or sex, reveal the location of the camp, stopping places, movements or direction of the revolutionaries to the enemy.
  • Those who voluntarily offer to serve the enemy as guides, unless it be for the purpose of misleading them from the right road, and
  • Those who, whether of their own free will or not, capture revolutionary soldiers who are alone, or persuade them to surrender to the enemy.

The insidious guerrilla war saw such rules and warnings proclaimed from both parties. The American commands in Ilocos Norte were ordered to warn barrio officials that those who did not report ‘insurgents’ immediately (meaning, within an hour for every 5 km. from the nearest American troops) would be considered insurgents themselves, and their barrios ‘absolutely destroyed’. Theft of telegraph wires or ambuscades of American patrols resulted in the nearest villages being burned and the inhabitants killed. When 200 m. of telegraph wire was destroyed in Piddigan, Abra, the Bangued command reported the next day that, “There is not a single building standing out of Piddigan.”

Gen. Tinio, on the other hand, ordered all the towns to aid the revolutionaries. Pasuquin, a town in Ilocos Norte, refused to cooperate with Filipino forces, so Tinio threatened to burn the town “at his leisure” and did so on Nov. 3, 1900.

On Dec. 21, Gen. Tinio issued a proclamation against crimes by military forces. On Christmas Day, Tinio, with Maj. Reyes and ten officers celebrated the holiday in Lemerig near Asilang, Lapog. On Holy Innocents’ Day, Dec. 28, the Americans made a surprise raid on Lemerig. Fortunately, the general and his officers managed to escape.

The first month of 1901 began inauspiciously with the capture of Gen. Tinio’s arsenal at Barbar on January 29, 1901.

The following month, on February 19, 1901, Brigadier Gen. James Franklin Bell came into the picture. Gen. Young turned over the command of the First District, Department of Northern Luzon to him. It is this General Bell who would later gain notoriety for his ‘re-concentration’ methods in the southern Tagalog provinces right after his stint in the North.

Determined to continue the same policy of repression, Gen. Bell, with an additional 1,000 men, ordered his forces to pursue, kill and wipe out the insurrectos. Food supplies were destroyed to prevent them from reaching the guerrillas. Inasmuch as the barrios were supplying rice from the recent harvests to the guerrillas, whole populations were evacuated to town centers within 10 days of notification. Noncompliance resulted in the burning of the whole barrio. Even some interior towns were completely evacuated, while others, like Magsingal and Lapog were surrounded by stockades to prevent the revolutionaries from infesting them.

On February 26, Gen. Tinio attacked the Americans fortified in the convent of Sta. Maria. It was his last attack against American forces.

The whole Ilocos was being laid waste and was in danger of starvation due to Gen. Bell’s iron fisted policies. The lack of supplies eventually forced hundreds of patriots to lay down their arms and return to their homes. By March the Brigade only had a few hundred soldiers left.

On March 25, 1901, the top brass of the Tinio Brigade met in a council of war at Sagap, Bangued. In this meeting, Generals Tinio and Natividad, the two Villamors and Lt. Colonels Alejandrino, Gutierrez and Salazar resolved that “the final action of the Tinio Brigade should depend upon the decision of the Honorable President.”

Unknown to them, Aguinaldo had been captured in Palanan, Isabela on March 23, 1901. When word of Aguinaldo’s surrender reached Gen. Tinio on April 3, he only had two command-rank subordinates remaining, his former classmates Joaquin Alejandrino and Vicente Salazar.

On April 19, 1901 Aguinaldo proclaimed an end to hostilities and urged his generals to surrender and lay down their arms. In compliance with Gen. Aguinaldo’s proclamation, Gen. Tinio sent Col. Salazar to Sinait under a flag of truce to discuss terms of surrender. The following day, Salazar was sent back with the peace terms. On April 29, 1901, Gen. Manuel Tinio, whom the American military historian, William T. Sexton, called “the soul of the insurrection in the Ilocos provinces of Northern Luzon” and “a general of a different stamp from the majority of the insurgent leaders”, surrendered. The following day, April 30, he signed the Oath of Allegiance. When Tinio handed his revolver to Gen. Bell as a token of surrender, the latter immediately returned it to him – a token of great respect. Gen. Tinio was only 23 years old!

The Americans suspended all hostilities on May 1 and printed Tinio’s appeal for peace on the Regimental press on the 5th. On May 9 he surrendered his arms together with Gen. Benito Natividad, thirty-six of his officers and 350 riflemen.

While the Americans boasted that they eliminated 5 insurrecto generals within a month, it took them 11/2 years and 7,000 men to ‘civilize’ Manuel Tinio y Bundoc, the Tagalog boy-general of the Ilocanos!

The significance attached to Gen. Tinio’s surrender by the Americans was felt throughout the country. Gen. MacArthur said that the little war in the Ilocos was the “most troublesome and perplexing military problem in all Luzon.” On May 5, as Military Governor of the Philippines, MacArthur issued General Order No. 89 releasing 1,000 Filipino prisoners of war “to specially signalize the recent surrender of Gen. Manuel Tinio and other prominent military leaders in the provinces of Abra and Ilocos Norte.” La Fraternidad, a Manila newspaper, happily reported, “The 1st of May is now for 2 reasons an important date in contemporary Philippine history – 1898, the destruction of the Spanish squadron in Cavite; 1901, the surrender of Generals Tinio and Natividad and the complete pacification of Northern Luzon.

Manuel Tinio, surprisingly, never suffered any injury during his entire military career even as he was known to stand up and face a barrage of artillery fire! He attributed this to an amulet, anting-anting, that he always wore and which he kept in a safe after the cessation of hostilities.

Upon his release, Manuel Tinio went back to Nueva Ecija to rehabilitate his neglected farms in present-day Licab, Sto. Domingo and Talavera. He lived in a camarin or barn together with all the farming paraphernalia and livestock. A typical hacendero, he was very paternalistic and caring, extending his protection, not only on his family, but also to his friends and supporters. His men even compared him to a ‘hen’.

As a family man, he was very protective of his daughters. Being family-oriented, he took in all the children of his deceased sisters and half sisters (from his father’s previous marriages) when their widowers eventually remarried or played around. He treated all his nephews and nieces as if they were his children, giving them the same education and privileges. This resulted in the extremely close family ties of the Tinio Family. He was very loving and fatherly and would entertain his children with stories of his campaigns. Perhaps because he never finished high school, he believed in a good education and, in 1920, sent his two eldest sons to the United States to study in Cornell University.

Manuel Tinio treated everyone equally, rich and poor alike, so everyone looked up to him and respected him. In fact, he paid more attention to the poor than to the rich, because, according to him, the poor had nothing but their pride and were, for that reason, more sensitive. When rich relatives came to visit, his children had but to kiss their hand in greeting, but when a poor relation came, they had to greet their kin in the same manner, but on bended knees – the highest form of respect in those days!.

All his tenants idolized Manuel Tinio, who was not an absentee landlord, but lived with them in the farm with hardly any amenities. However, he always kept a good table and had flocks of sheep and dovecotes in every property he owned, so that he could have his favorite caldereta and pastel de pichon anytime he wanted. He also enjoyed his brandy, finishing off daily a bottle of Tres Cepes by Domecq. Wherever he lived, he received a constant stream of visitors, relatives and friends. Many veterans of the Tinio Brigade, often coming from the Ilocos, invariably came to reminisce and ask for his assistance. Later, as Governor, he would help them settle in Nueva Ecija.

Although he was but a civilian, the prominence he earned as a revolutionary general and his immense network of social and familial alliances eventually became the nucleus of a political machine that he controlled until his death. An ardent nationalist, he fought against the federalists who wanted the Philippines to become an American state. He did not run for any position, but any candidate he endorsed was sure to win the position. Dr. Benedicto Adorable, one of the richest and most prominent men in Gapan, was so fanatically loyal that he often said, “I would vote for a dog if Gen. Tinio asked me to.” Of course, he was fanatically loyal because Gen. Tinio had saved him from a Spanish firing squad in 1896!

When Gov. Gen. Henry C. Ide lifted the ban on independence parties in 1906, the political parties with similar ideology merged into the present Nacionalista Party. Manuel Tinio always supported Sergio Osmeña, the leader of the party, throughout his political career. Even during the split between Osmeña and Quezon in 1922, Tinio remained loyal to the former. As the founder and leader of the Nacionalista Party in Nueva Ecija, Tinio stressed the significance of a unified party, emphasizing in every local party convention that the winner will be supported wholly by each party member. Any party member who won an election could serve only one term in office to give the other party members a chance. Should the incumbent seek re-election, Tinio advised his colleagues to support the choice of the convention. As a party leader, he did not want warring factions within the party, and exerted every effort to make rival groups come to terms. Thus, during his lifetime, the Nacionalista Party in Nueva Ecija was unified.

On July 15, 1907 Gov. Gen. James F. Smith appointed Manuel Tinio as Governor of the Province of Nueva Ecija, to serve the remainder of the 3-year term of Gov. Isauro Gabaldon, who had resigned to run as a candidate for the 1st National Assembly. Incidentally, one of the first major bills Assemblyman Gabaldon proposed was the establishment of a school in every town in the archipelago. The Gabaldon-type schoolhouses and Gabaldon town in Nueva Ecija are named after him. Gabaldon’s wife, Bernarda, was the eldest daughter of Casimiro Tinio.

Manuel Tinio’s first term as governor was marked by the return of peace and order to the province. William Cameron Forbes, Commissioner of Commerce and Police under both Gov.-Generals Wright and Smith, wrote of Tinio:

“…we picked up the new Governor of Nueva Ecija at San Isidro, the capital, General Tinio. He used to be a celebrated insurecto General and Governor Smith has just made him Governor.. . We have more robbery and murders here than almost anywhere, one leading band being continually on the move. General Tinio informed me that he had most of the band in jail already, his guns captured, and the robberies stopped, and the principal outstanding ladron (the only one that I know by name in the whole of Luzon) driven from his borders and over to Pangasinan. I talked busily on road building and maintenance to him for a couple of hours while we sped up to Cabanatuan and went up to call on the local officials..

An anecdote on Gov. Tinio’s bravery has him negotiating with a dreaded tulisan or bandit who held a family hostage for days, threatening to kill them if the constables, policemen, tried to rush him. Unarmed, Tinio went into the house, talked to the bandit and went out after 30 minutes with the bandit peacefully in tow.

Gov. Tinio also brought about agricultural expansion. His Governor’s report for the fiscal year 1907–1908 stated that the area of cultivated land increased by 15%. The following year, this was augmented by an additional 40%. These lands, which were settled by over 5,000 homesteaders, mostly Ilocanos, were in the towns of Bongabon (then including Rizal), Talavera, Sto. Domingo, Guimba (which still included Muñoz) and San Jose. The influx of settlers from the north explains why many people speak Ilocano in those towns today.

It was also during his term as Governor that his wife, Laureana, died. The Provincial Board then passed a resolution naming the town Laur, after her. Soon after, he married Maura Quijano, the younger sister of Laureana, who had accompanied her from Ilocos after Gen. Tinio’s surrender to the Americans.

Gen. Tinio ran for reelection under the Nacionalista Party in 1908 and won. But there were other things in store for him. His executive ability and decisiveness had not gone unnoticed by the Americans, especially by Forbes who had become Acting Gov. Gen. on May 8, 1909. Months before Forbes assumed the office,

“Manila was being troubled by a series of strikes generally fomented by the shamelessly corrupt labor leader Dominador Gomez, who was taking a cut out of sums levied as blackmail against major American firms. Gomez had been arrested for threats, and some of the other unions collapsed when Gov.-Gen. Smith had questioned the legality of the unions’ use of their funds.”

To help settle labor problems, Forbes set up the Bureau of Labor and asked Manuel Tinio to head it. Forthwith, Tinio resigned as Governor of Nueva Ecija and became the first Director of Labor on July 1, 1909, thereby becoming the first Filipino Bureau Director! He quickly solved the strikes. Three weeks later, Forbes welcomed Director Tinio to his staff meeting and wrote in his diary:

“He’s a good man, and Col. Bandholtz says he’s got Gomez scared to death… Gomez had tried Tinio to employ him, but Tinio refused: “Why pay you to do the work the Government is paying me to do?”

“In a short time the condition of labor and industry in the region about Manila was vastly improved. In general, it may be said that, as a result of Gen. Tinio’s management of the bureau, strikes ceased, laborers went their way contented, employees readily corrected abuses brought to their attention, and the (union) leaders fell back into their proper role of caring for and representing the laborers.”

Manuel Tinio eventually became a close friend of the aristocratic Forbes, whom he invited to hunting parties in Pantabangan. The latter liked Tinio’s company, even offering to give him a hectare of land along Session Road in Baguio, (newly developed by Forbes) so that Tinio could build a house there and keep him company whenever he went up to the cool mountain resort. Tinio did not accept the offer. Gov.-Gen. Forbes also wrote in his journal:

“Tinio later became a great friend of mine. I made him Director of Labor and I rated him as one of the best Filipinos in the Islands. In fact, from the point of view of staunchness of character, and good judgement, and other good qualities, I liked Tinio best of all and wanted to make him Commissioner [member of the Philippine Commission].”

Gov.-Gen. Francis Burton Harrison succeeded Gov. Forbes. His term was characterized by increased Filipinization of the insular bureaucracy, and he appointed Tinio as the first Filipino Director of Lands on October 17, 1913. It was while he was Director of the Bureau of Lands that cadastral surveys for each municipality began to be made, and the area now covered by the towns of Rizal, Llanera, Gen. Natividad, Laur, Lupao and Muñoz were subdivided into homesteads. In the largest wave of migration ever experienced by the province, thousands of landless Tagalogs and Ilocanos came and settled in Nueva Ecija. But Tinio suffered intrigues sown by the American Assistant Director, who wanted to be appointed to the position. The intrigues came to the point that Tinio was even accused of manipulating the sale of the 6,000 hectare Sabani Estate that was subsequently rescinded. In disgust and for delicadeza, he resigned on September 13, 1914 and returned to Nueva Ecija to manage his landholdings. A subsequent investigation cleared him of all charges, but, disillusioned with the government system, he refused to go back to government service, preferring to live the quiet life of a landowner instead. The Sabani Estate, in present-day Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija and Dingalan, Aurora, never found another buyer and still belongs to the government and is administered by the National Development Corporation.

It was during his term as Director of Lands that his wife, Maura, died. He then married Basilia Pilares Huerta, a Bulakeña from Meycauayan.

After his resignation from the Bureau of Lands, Manuel Tinio went back to Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, and built his house on Burgos St. It was the largest house in town. He entertained and kept open house, which meant that anyone present at lunchtime was automatically invited to dine. Everyday was like an Election Day – with people coming to ask for assistance, financial or otherwise. A very generous man, he was not averse to using his personal financial resources to help those in need.

Manuel Tinio dedicated the remainder of his life to politics. The hold that Manuel Tinio had on the province was awesome. Even if he did not have any position, he maintained absolute control over the local government with the unchallenged power to make or unmake provincial leaders. In order to maintain and gain his political power, Manuel Tinio made it a practice to visit every voter during an election year, reserving for last those who were known to be against his party. A few days before the election, Tinio would visit them. He would sit where everyone who passed by the house could see him. After chatting with his host for an hour or two, without even discussing politics, the whole barrio would conclude that the fellow had been won over by Tinio! His credibility with his partymates shattered, the poor fellow had no choice but to move over eventually to the Nationalista Party!

Lewis Gleeck wrote of Manuel Tinio as “the supreme example of caciquism in the Philippines” and cited the case of one of Tinio’s most prominent political leaders who had shot and killed a man in front of many witnesses. The Americans, wanting to show that there was equality under American law, tried to make a big case out of it. However, they could not find a single lawyer in the whole province willing to act for the prosecution. After sending an American lawyer from Manila, the case had to be dismissed, because no witness came up to testify! J. Ralston Hayden, a high American official, said:

“Tinio controlled the entire government: the Courts of First Instance, the Justices of the Peace, the chiefs of police and police forces, the mayors and the councilors. These, together with a tremendous money power, were in his hands. No one dared to stand up against him.”

Manuel Tinio was also a very good friend of Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmeña, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the most powerful Filipino in the political scene at that time. It was not surprising, therefore, that Manuel Tinio was included in the Independence Mission that went to Washington D. C. in 1921.

 

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3760 0 Chronology for the Philippine Islands and Guam in the Spanish-American War – United States Library of Congress https://mandirigma.org/?p=3693 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3693#respond Thu, 13 Jun 2019 01:00:47 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3693  

Mandirigma.org Note:

Philippine Army fighting for Independence were referred to as “Insurgents” by the United States to justify their betrayal and invasion.

Site is still riddled with period U.S. propaganda.

 

https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/chronphil.html

 

mandirigma.org kali arnis eskrima

 

Chronology for the Philippine Islands and Guam in the Spanish-American War

1887

March
Publication in Berlin, Germany, of Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) by José Rizal, the Philippines’ most illustrious son, awakened Filipino national consciousness.

1890

U.S. foreign policy is influenced by Alfred T. Mahan who wrote The Influence of Sea Power upon history, 1600-1783, which advocated the taking of the Caribbean Islands, Hawaii, and the Philippine Islands for bases to protect U.S. commerce, the building of a canal to enable fleet movement from ocean to ocean and the building of the Great White fleet of steam-driven armor plated battleships.

1892

July 3
La Liga Filipina, a political action group that sought reforms in the Spanish administration of the Philippines by peaceful means, was launched formally at a Tondo meeting by José Rizal upon his return to the Philippines from Europe and Hong Kong in June 1892. Rizal’s arrest three days later for possessing anti-friar bills and eventual banishment to Dapitan directly led to the demise of the Liga a year or so later.

July 7
Andrés Bonifacio formed the Katipunan, a secret, nationalistic fraternal brotherhood founded to bring about Filipino independence through armed revolution, at Manila. Bonifacio, an illiterate warehouse worker, believed that the Ligawas ineffective and too slow in bringing about the desired changes in government, and decided that only through force could the Philippines problem be resolved. The Katipunan replaced the peaceful civic association that Rizal had founded.

1895

January
Andrés Bonifacio elected supremo of the Katipunan, the secret revolutionary society.

March
Emilio Aguinaldo y Farmy joined Katipunan. He adopted the pseudonym Magdalo, after Mary Magdalene.

June 12
U.S. President Grover Cleveland proclaimed U.S. neutrality in the Cuban Insurrection.

1896

February 16
Spain implemented reconcentration (reconcentrado) policy in Cuba, a policy which required the population to move to central locations under Spanish military jurisdiction and the entire island was placed under martial law.

February 28
The U.S. Senate recognized Cuban belligerency with overwhelming passage of the joint John T. Morgan/Donald Cameron resolution calling for recognition of Cuban belligerency and Cuban independence. This resolution signaled to President Cleveland and Secretary of State Richard Olney that the Cuban crisis needed attention.

March 2
The U.S. House of Representatives passed decisively its own version of the Morgan-Cameron Resolution which called for the recognition of Cuban belligerency.

August 9
Great Britain foiled Spain’s attempt to gather European support of Spanish policies in Cuba.

August 26
Immediately following the Spanish discovery of the existence of the Katipunan, Andrés Bonifacio uttered the Grito de Balintawak, first cry of the Philippine Revolution. He called for the Philippine populace to revolt and to begin military operations against the Spanish colonial government.

December 7
U.S. President Grover Cleveland declared that the U.S. may take action in Cuba if Spain failed to resolve the Cuban crisis.

December 30
José Rizal was executed for sedition by a Spanish-backed Filipino firing squad on the Luneta, in Manila.

1896

William Warren Kimball, U.S. Naval Academy graduate and intelligence officer, completed a strategic study of the implications of war with Spain. His plan called for an operation to free Cuba through naval action, which included blockade, attacks on Manila, and attacks on the Spanish Mediterranean coast.

1897

March 4
Inauguration of U.S. President William McKinley.

March
Theodore Roosevelt was appointed assistant U.S. Secretary of the Navy. Emilio Aguinaldo was elected president of the new republic of the Philippines; Andrés Bonifacio was demoted to the director of the interior.

April 25
General Fernando Primo de Rivera y Sobremonte became governor-general of the Philippines, replacing General Camilo García de Polavieja; his adjutant was Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, his nephew.

May 10
Andrés Bonifacio, founder of the Katipunan revolutionary organization, was convicted of treason to the new republic and executed by order of fellow revolutionary Emilio Aguinaldo.

August 8
Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was assassinated by the anarchist Miguel Angiolillo at Santa Agueda, Spain. Práxides Mateo Sagasta was made Spanish Prime Minister.

November 1
Emilio Aguinaldo succeeded in creating a Philippine revolutionary constitution and on the same date the Biak-na-Bato Republic was formed under the constitution as an effort at independence while the revolution gather momentum.

December 14-15
Spain reacted quickly to the Biak-na-Bato Republic and sought negotiations to end the war. With Pedro Paterno, a noted Filipino intellectual and lawyer, mediating, Aguinaldo representing the revolutionists and Governor-General Fernando Primo de Rivera representing the Spanish colonial government, the Pact of Biak-na-Bato was concluded. The Pact paid indemnities to the revolutionists the sum of 800,000 pesos, provided amnesty, and allowed for Aguinaldo and his entourage voluntary exile to Hong Kong.

December 31
Emilio Aguinaldo arrived in Hong Kong in exile under the terms of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato.

1898

February 8
Spain’s ambassador to the U.S., Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, resigned.

February 9
New York Journal published the confidential letter of Ambassador Enrique Dupuy de Lôme critical of President McKinley. The revelation of the letter helped push Spain and the United States toward war.

February 14
Luís Polo de Bernabé named Minister of Spain in Washington.

February 15
Explosion sank the battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor.

March 3
Governor-General of the Philippine Islands Fernando Primo de Rivera informed Spanish minister for the colonies Segismundo Moret y Prendergast that Commodore George Dewey had received orders to move on Manila.

March 9
U.S. Congress approved a credit of $50,000,000 for national defense.

March 17
Senator Redfield Proctor (Vermont) swayed Congress and the U.S. business community toward war with Spain. He had traveled at his own expense in February 1898 to Cuba to investigate the impact of the Spanish reconcentration (reconcentrado) policy on the island and returned to report to the Senate.

March 28
U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry published its findings that the battleship U.S.S. Maine was destroyed by mine.

March 29
The United States Government issued an ultimatum to the Spanish Government to terminate its presence in Cuba. Spain did not accept the ultimatum in its reply of April 1, 1898.

April
Governor-General of the Philippine Islands Fernando Primo de Rivera, in a surprise move, was replaced by Governor-General Basilo Augustín Dávila in early April. Upon his departure from the Philippines, the insurgent movement renewed revolutionary activity due mainly to the Spanish government’s failure to abide by the terms of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato.

April 4
The New York Journal issued a million copy press run dedicated to the war in Cuba. The newspaper called for the immediate U.S. entry into war with Spain.

April 11
The U.S. President William McKinley requested authorization from the U.S. Congress to intervene in Cuba, with the object of putting an end to the war between Cuban revolutionaries and Spain.

April 13
The U.S. Congress agreed to President McKinley’s request for intervention in Cuba, but without recognition of the Cuban Government.

The Spanish government declared that the sovereignity of Spain was jeopardized by U.S. policy and prepared a special budget for war expenses.

April 19
The U.S. Congress by vote of 311 to 6 in the House and 42 to 35 in the Senate adopted the Joint Resolution for war with Spain. Included in the Resolution was the Teller Amendment, named after Senator Henry Moore Teller (Colorado) which disclaimed any intention by the U.S. to exercise jurisdiction or control over Cuba except in a pacification role and promised to leave the island as soon as the war was over.

April 20
U.S. President William McKinley signed the Joint Resolution for war with Spain and the ultimatum was forwarded to Spain.

Spanish Minister to the United States Luís Polo de Bernabé demanded his passport and, along with the personnel of the Legation, left Washington for Canada.

April 21
The Spanish Government considered the U.S. Joint Resolution of April 20 a declaration of war. U.S. Minister in Madrid General Steward L. Woodford received his passport before presenting the ultimatum by the United States.

A state of war existed between Spain and the United States and all diplomatic relations were suspended. U.S. President William McKinley ordered a blockade of Cuba.

April 23
President McKinley called for 125,000 volunteers.

April 25
War was formally declared between Spain and the United States.

April 26
Willaim R. Day became U.S. Secretary of State.

April 29
The Portuguese government declared itself neutral in the conflict between Spain and the United States.

May 1
Opening with the famous quote “You may fire when your are ready, Gridley” U.S. Commodore George Dewey in six hours defeated the Spanish squadron, under Admiral Patricio Montojo y Pasarón, in Manila Bay, the Philippines Islands. Dewey led the Asiatic Squadron of the U.S. Navy, which had been based in Hong Kong, in the attack. With the cruisers U.S.S. Olympia, Raleigh, Boston, and Baltimore, the gunboats Concord and Petrel and the revenue cutter McCulloch and reinforcements from cruiser U.S.S. Charleston and the monitors U.S.S. Monadnock and Monterey the U.S. Asiatic Squadron forced the capitulation of Manila. In the battle the entire Spanish squadron was sunk, including the cruisers María Cristina and Castilla, gunboats Don Antonio de Ulloa, Don Juan de Austria, Isla de Luzón, Isla de Cuba, Velasco, and Argos.

May 2
The U.S. Congress voted a war emergency credit increase of $34,625,725.

May 4 
A joint resolution was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives, with the support of President William McKinley, calling for the annexation of Hawaii.

May 10
Secretary of the Navy John D. Long issued orders to Captain Henry Glass, commander of the cruiser U.S.S. Charleston to capture Guam on the way to Manila.

May 11
Charles H. Allen succeeded Theodore Roosevelt as assistant secretary of the navy.

President William McKinley and his cabinet approve a State Department memorandum calling for Spanish cession of a suitable “coaling station”, presumably Manila. The Philippine Islands were to remain Spanish possessions.

May 18
Prime Minister Sagasta formed the new Spanish cabinet. U.S. President McKinley ordered a military expedition, headed by Major General Wesley Merritt, to complete the elimination of Spanish forces in the Philippines, to occupy the islands, and to provide security and order to the inhabitants.

May 19
Emilio Aguinaldo returned to Manila, the Philippine Islands, from exile in Hong Kong. The United States had invited him back from exile, hoping that Aguinaldo would rally the Filipinos against the Spanish colonial government.

May 24
With himself as the dictator, Emilio Aguinaldo established a dictatorial government, replacing the revolutionary government, due to the chaotic conditions he found in the Philippines upon his return.

May 25
First U.S. troops were sent from San Francisco to the Philippine Islands. Thomas McArthur Anderson commanded the vanguard of the Philippine Expeditionary Force (Eighth Army Corps), which arrived at Cavite, Philippine Islands on June 1.

June-October
U.S. business and government circles united around a policy of retaining all or part of the Philippines.

June 3
President McKinley broadened U.S. position to include an island in the Marianas, as a strategic link in the route from the United States to the Pacific Coast of Asia.

June 11
McKinley administration reactivated debate in Congress on Hawaiian annexation, using the argument that “we must have Hawaii to help us get our share of China.”

June 12
Emilio Aguinaldo declared Philippine Island independence from Spain. German squadron under Admiral Dieterichs arrived at Manila.

June 14
McKinley administration decided not to return the Philippine Islands to Spain.

June 15
Congress passed the Hawaii annexation resolution, 209-91. On July 6, the U.S. Senate affirmed the measure.

American Anti-imperialist League was organized in opposition to the annexation of the Philippine Islands. Among its members were Andrew Carnegie, Mark Twain, William James, David Starr Jordan, and Samuel Gompers. George S. Boutwell, former secretary of the treasury and Massachusetts senator, served as president of the League.

Admiral Dewey’s defeat of the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay on May 1, 1898 ignited impassioned nationalistic feelings in Spain. Spanish Admiral Manuel de la Cámara y Libermoore’s squadron received orders to relieve the Spanish garrison in the Philippine Islands. His fleet consisted of the battleship Pelayo, the armored cruiser Carlos V, the cruisers Rápido and Patriota, the torpedo boats Audaz, Osado, and Proserpina, and the transports Isla de Panay, San Francisco, Cristóbal Colón, Covadonga, and Buenos Aires.

June 16
Admiral Cámara y Libermoore’s fleet set sail from Spain. Efforts were made by United States’ representatives to impede the progress of the fleet, by protesting the coaling of the fleet in neutral ports. The Spanish fleet was denied coaling at Port Said, at the entrance to the Suez Canal.

June 18
U.S. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long ordered Commodore William T. Sampson to create a new squadron, the Eastern Squadron, for possible raiding and bombardment missions along the coasts of Spain.

June 20
Spanish authorities surrendered Guam to Captain Henry Glass and his forces on the cruiser U.S.S. Charleston.

June 23
A revolutionary governent with Emilio Aguinaldo as its president again was established, the second such government in Philippine history, replacing the dictatorial government created by Aguinaldo a month earlier.

July 1
Philippine revolutionists began the siege of the Spanish garrison at Baler, Luzon, Philippine Islands.

July 7
Spanish Admiral Cámara y Libermoore’s fleet was ordered back to Spain.

U.S. President McKinley signed the Hawaii annexation resolution, following its passage in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

July 18
The Spanish government, through the French Ambassador to the United States, Jules Cambon, initiated a message to President McKinley to suspend the hostilities and to start the negotiations to end the war. Duque de Almodóvar del Río (Juan Manuel Sánchez y Gutiérrez de Castro), Spanish Minister of State, directed a telegram to the Spanish Ambassador in Paris charging him to solicit the good offices of the French Government to negotiate a suspension of hostilities as a preliminary to final negotiations.

July 25
General Wesley Merritt, commander of Eighth Corps, U.S. Expeditionary Force, arrived in the Philippine Islands.

July 26
French Government contacted the United States Government regarding the call for suspension of hostilities at the request of the Spanish Government.

July 30
U.S. President McKinley and his Cabinet submitted to Ambassador Cambon a counter-proposal to the Spanish request for ceasefire.

August 2
Spain accepted the U.S. proposals for peace, with certain reservations regarding the Philippine Islands. McKinley called for a preliminary protocol from Spain before suspension of hostilities. That document was used as the basis for discussion between Spain and the United States at the Treaty of Peace in Paris.

August 7
Emilio Aguinaldo instructed Felipe Agoncillo, the Philippine revolutionaries’ special emissary to President McKinley, to publish the “Act of Proclamation” and the “Manifesto to Foreign Governments” in the Hong Kong papers.

August 12
Peace protocol that ended all hostilities between Spain and the United States in the war fronts of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines was signed in Washington, D.C.

August 13
The United States troops “took” Manila, a day after the Armistice was signed in Washington, D.C. In upholding Spain’s honor, Governor-General Fermín Jáudenes y Álvarez, realizing that the Spanish forces were no match for the invading Americans, negotiated a secret agreement with Americans General Merritt and Admiral Dewey, with Belgian consul Edouard Andre mediating. The secret agreement, unknown to the Filipinos at the time, involved the staging of a mock battle between Spanish and American forces intentionally to keep Filipino insurgents out of the picture. Once the pre-agreed attack began, the Spaniards, on cue, hoisted a white flag of capitulation and American troops filed into the city orderly and quietly with very little bloodshed. The Spaniards were only too eager to hand over the Philippines to the Americans. Admiral Dewey, for his part, never intended to hand the Philipines over to the “undisciplined insurgents”. Thus, the Philippines became a possession of the United States and the seeds of Philippine insurrection were sown.

August 14 
Capitulation was signed at Manila and U.S. General Wesley Merritt established a military government in the city, with himself serving as first military governor.

August 15
U.S. General Arthur MacArthur appointed military commandant of Manila and its suburbs.

September 13
The Spanish Cortes (legislature) ratified the Protocol of Peace.

September 15
The inaugural session of the Congress of the First Philippine Republic, also known as the Malolos Congress, was held at Barasoain Church in Malolos, province of Bulacan, for the purpose of drafting the constitution of the new republic.

September 16
The Spanish and U.S. Commissioners for the Peace Treaty were appointed. U.S. Commissioners were William R. Day (U.S. Secretary of State), William P. Frye (President pro tempore of Senate, Republican-Maine), Whitelaw Reid, George Gray (Senator, Democrat- Delaware), and Cushman K. Davis (Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican-Minnesota). The Spanish Commissioners were Eugenio Montero Ríos (President, Spanish Senate), Buenaventura Abarzuza (Senator), José de Garnica y Diaz (Associate Justice of the Supreme Court), Wenceslao Ramírez de Villa Urrutia (Envoy Extraordinary), and Rafael Cerero y Saenz (General of the Army).

William R. Day resigned as U.S. Secretary of State and was succeeded by John Hay.

October 1
The Spanish and United States Commissioners convened their first meeting in Paris to reach a final Treaty of Peace.

Felipe Agoncillo, representative of President Emilio Aguinaldo, presented his case in Washington for the Philippine Independence movement and its representation on the Peace Commission. His request was rejected by President McKinley because the First Philippine Republic was not recognized by foreign governments.

October 25
McKinley instructed the U.S. peace delegation to insist on the annexation of the Philippines in the peace talks.

November 17
The Revolutionary Government of the Visayas, Philippine Islands, was proclaimed; a United States force stood poised to capture the city.

November 28
The Spanish Commission for Peace accepted the United States’ demands in the Peace Treaty.

November 29
The Philippine revolutionary congress approved a constitution for the new Philippine Republic.

December 1
The Philippine revolutionists declared their fight for the independence of their islands.

December 10
Representatitves of Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Peace in Paris. Spain renounced all rights to Cuba and allowed an independent Cuba, ceded Puerto Rico and the island of Guam to the United States, gave up its possessions in the West Indies, and sold the Philippine Islands, receiving in exchange $20,000,000.

December 21
President McKinley issued his Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation, ceding the Philippines to the United States, and instructing the American occupying army to use force, as necessary, to impose American sovereignity over the Philippines even before he obtained Senate ratification of the peace treaty with Spain.

1899

January 1
Emilio Aguinaldo was declared president of the new Philippine Republic, following the meeting of a constitutional convention. United States authorities refused to recognize the new government.

January 4
President McKinley’s proclamation of December 21, 1898, declaring U.S. policy in the Philippine Islands as one of “benevolent assimilation” in which “mild sway of justice and right” would be substituted for “arbitrary rule,” was published in the Philippine Islands. Aguinaldo issued his own proclamation that condemned “violent and aggressive seizure” by the United States and threatened war.

January 17
U.S. annexed Wake Island for use as cable link to the Philippine Islands. U.S. Commander Edward Taussig, U.S.S. Bennington, landed on the island and claimed it for the United States.

January 20
President William McKinley appointed the First Philippine Commission (the Schurman Commission), a five person group that included Jacob Schurman (President of Cornell University), Admiral Dewey and General Ewell S. Otis, to investigate conditions in the islands and to make recommendations as conditions worsened in Filipino-American relations.

January 21
The constitution of the Philippine Republic, the Malolos Constitution, was promulgated by the followers of Emilio Aguinaldo.

January 23
Inauguration of the First Philippine Republic at Barasoain Church, Malolos, in the province of Bulacan.

February 4
The Philippine Insurrection began as the Philippine Republic declared war on the United States forces in the Philippine Islands, following the killing of three Filipino soldiers by U.S. forces in a suburb of Manila.

February 6
U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Paris by a vote of 52 to 27.

March 19
The Queen regent of Spain, María Cristina, signed the Treaty of Paris, breaking the deadlock in the Spanish Cortes.

March 31
U.S. forces captured the Philippine revolutionary capital of Malolos.

April 11
The Treaty of Paris was proclaimed.

June 2
Spanish forces at Baler, Philippine Islands, under the command of Lieutenant Saturnino Martín Cerezo finally surrendered to the Philippine Revolutionary forces, following a siege that began on July 1.

June 12
First anniversay of Philippine independence as proclaimed by Aguinaldo in Kawit the year before.

August 20
U.S. General John C. Bates and the sultan of Sulu, Jamal-ul Kirim II, signed an agreement in which the U.S. pledged non-interference in Sulu.

November 12
Alarmed by mounting American military successes on the battlefields, Emilio Aguinaldo dissolved the regular revolutionary army and ordered the establishment of decentralized guerrilla commands in several military zones in the Philippine Islands.

December 2
General Gregorio del Pilar was killed in the battle of Tirad Pass by Americans pursuing the fleeing Aguinaldo.

1900

March 16
President William McKinley appointed the Second Philippine Commission (the Taft Commission) headed by William Howard Taft. Between September 1900 and August 1902, it issued 499 laws, a judicial system was established (including a Supreme Court), a legal code was written, and a civil service was organized.

1901

March 23
Led by General Frederick Funston, U.S. forces captured Emilio Aguinaldo on Palanan, Isabela Province. Later, he declared allegiance to the United States.

1902

July 1
The first organic act, known as the Philippine Bill of 1902, was passed by the U.S. Congress. It called for the management of Phillipine affairs, upon restoration of peace, by establishing the first elective Philippine Assembly and the Taft Commission comprising the lower and upper house, respectively, of the Philippine Legislature. The passage of the Act may be attributed in part to José Rizal and his stirring last farewell to his beloved country immortalized in his poem, Mi Ultimo Adios, that he wrote in his cell at Fort Santiago on the eve of his execution by the Spaniards on December 30, 1896. At first, there was strong opposition to the passage of the bill from misinformed members of the House, some of whom referred to the Filipinos as “barbarians” incapable of self government. Thereupon, Congressman Henry A. Cooper of Wisconsin took the floor and recited Rizal’s last farewell before a skeptical House. Silence soon pervaded the floor as Cooper, eyes moist with tears and voice deep with emotion, recited the poem stanza by stanza. Soon after his recitation, Cooper thunderously asked his colleagues might there be a future for such a barbaric, uncivilized people who had given the world a noble man as Rizal. The vote was taken on the bill, and passed the House.

July
War ended in the Philippines, with more than 4,200 U.S. soldiers, 20,000 Filipino soldiers, and 200,000 Filipino civilians dead.

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3693 0 Origin of the Symbols of the Philippine National Flag by The Malacañan Palace Library https://mandirigma.org/?p=3661 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3661#respond Wed, 12 Jun 2019 08:30:11 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3661 Origin of the Symbols of the Philippine National Flag by The Malacañan Palace Library

Origin of the Symbols of the Philippine National Flag by The Malacañan Palace Library

Aside from the Masonic influence on the Katipunan, the design of the Philippine flag has roots in the flag family to which it belongs—that of the last group of colonies that sought independence from the Spanish Empire at the close of the 19th century, a group to which the Philippines belongs. The Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office traces the origins of the Philippine flag’s design elements, which have been in use since General Emilio Aguinaldo first conceived them—the stars and stripes; the red, white, and blue; the masonic triangle; and the sun—and have endured since.

Source: http://malacanang.gov.ph/3846-origin-of-the-symbols-of-our-national-flag/

 

pinoy-flag

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3661 0 June 12 as Independence Day by Diosdado Macapagal Former President of the Philippines https://mandirigma.org/?p=3657 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3657#respond Wed, 12 Jun 2019 08:15:20 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3657 June 12 as Independence Day by Diosdado Macapagal Former President of the Philippines

Philippine-Independence-Declaration-1898
June 12 as Independence Day
by Diosdado Macapagal
Former President of the Philippines

“A nation is born into freedom on the day when such a people, moulded into a nation by a process of cultural evolution and sense of oneness born of common struggle and suffering, announces to the world that it asserts its natural right to liberty and is ready to defend it with blood, life, and honor.”

The promotion of a healthy nationalism is part of the responsibility of the leaders of newly independent nations. After they lay the foundation for economic development, they promote nationalism and spur the search for national identity. This we can do by honoring our distinguished forebears and notable periods in our history. A step we took in this direction was to change the date for the commemoration of Philippine Independence day.

When I was a congressman, I formed the opinion that July 4 was not the proper independence day for Filipinos and should be changed to June 12– the date General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the independence of the Filipinos in Kawit, Cavite, in 1898.

Having served in the foreign service, I noted that the celebration of a common independence day with the United States on July 4 caused considerable inconvenience. The American celebration dwarfed that of the Philippines. As if to compound the irony, July 4 seemed tantamount to the celebration of Philippine subjection to and dependence on the United States which served to perpetuate unpleasant memories.

I felt, too, that July 4 was not inspiring enough for the Filipino youth since it recalled mostly the peaceful independence missions to the United States. The celebration of independence day on June 12, on the other hand, would be a greater inspiration to the youth who would consequently recall the heroes of the revolution against Spain and their acts of sublime heroism and martyrdom. These acts compare favorably with those of the heroes of other nations.

In checking the reaction to my plan to shift independence day to June 12, I found that there was virtual unanimity on the desirability of transferring the celebration from July 4. Likewise, there was a preponderant view for choosing June 12 as the proper day.

A few suggested January 21, the opening day of the Malolos Congress in 1899, or January 23, when the Malolos Congress, ratifying the independence proclamation of June 12, established a republican system of government. The reason for this view was that the government temporarily by Aguinaldo when he proclaimed independence on June 12 was a dictatorship.

There was no difficulty in adhering to June 12, however, because although Aguinaldo Government was a dictatorship in view of the military operations he was then leading, he led in converting it into a republican Government in the Malolos Congress. Moreover, the celebration of independence refers to its proclamation rather than to the final establishment of the government. In the case of America, when independence was proclaimed on July 4, the American Government was still a confederation and it was much later when it finally became a federal government.

The historical fact was that the Filipinos proclaimed their independence from foreign rule on June 12. Even the national anthem and the Filipino flag which are essential features in the birth of a nation were played and displayed respectively at the independence proclamation in Kawit.

When I became President, I knew that this was the opportunity to take action on what had been in my mind since entering public life. The specific question was when to make the change.

The opportunity came when the US House of Representatives rejected the $73 million additional war payment bill on May 9, 1962. There was indignation among the Filipinos. There was a loss of American good will in the Philippines, although this was restored later by the reconsideration of the action of the US lower chamber. At this time, a state visit in the United States had been scheduled for Mrs. Macapagal and me on the initiative and invitation of President John F. Kennedy. Unable to resist the pressure of public opinion, I was constrained to obtain the agreement of Kennedy to defer the state visit for another time.

To postpone the state visit, I wrote a letter on May 14, 1962, to Kennedy, which read in part as follows:

The feeling of resentment among our people and the attitude of the US Congress negate the atmosphere of good will upon which my state visit to your country was predicated. Our people would never understand how, in the circumstances now obtaining, I could go to the United States and in all honesty affirm that I bear their message of good will. It is with deep regret theredore that I am constrained to ask you to agree to the postponement of my visit to a more auspicious time.

On May 28, 1962, Kennedy wrote me explaining the situation on the war damage bill. His letter stated:

In the meantime, I must respect your decision that your visit to the United States should be postponed. We do not want your visit to be less than first class, when it comes. But I do hope that we will be able to find another convenient time.

I decided to effect the change of independence day at that time not as an act of resentment but as a judicious choice of timing for the taking of an action which had previously been decided upon.

I called Press Secretary Rufino Hechanova to consult him on my contemplated action. I asked him outright what he thought of my step if I should move the celebration of independence day from July 4 to June 12.

Hechanova winced and said: “Please Mr. President, don’t act on that yet. Let us give it a thorough study. I am flying to Iloilo today and on my return on Monday I will come to discuss it with you.”

After his departure, I called in Legal Adviser Juan Cancio. “Johnny,” I asked, “Do I have the power to change independence day from July 4 to June 12?” Cancio readily answered: “Yes, sir, because July 4 is being celebrated as independence day not because it is so specifically designated by law but as an official holiday. Since the President has the authority to declare official holidays, you may declare June 12 as a holiday and hold an independence celebration on that day.”

I immediately directed Cancio to prepare the proclamation, revised and signed it, and asked him to release it to the press through the Malacañang press office. On May 17, 1962, I certified as urgent to the Congress the enactment of a measure to fix June 12 statutorily as independence day.

The change was justified by the successful celebration. General Emilio Aguinaldo was the guest of honor. At least one million people attended whereas in previous celebrations on July 4, only from two to three hundred thousand came.

Bespeaking of the nobility of the American people, President Kennedy was among the first to extend the congratulations of the United States to the Filipino people in celebrating their freedom on June 12, 1962. In a message to me, he said:

It is with pleasure that I join the people of the United States in extending our best wishes and warmest congratulations to Your Excellency and the people of the Republic of the Philippines on the occasion of the Philippine Independence Day.

A letter of thanks in Spanish was also sent to me by General Aguinaldo on May 19, 1962. A translation of the letter reads in part as follows:

I cannot but send you this letter to express the most profound gratitude for the proclamation which Your Excellency has recently issued naming June 12 as independence day– the date when we announced to the whole world that we were a free and independent nation. I who took an active if modest part in the effort of our people to break the colonial yoke we were subjected to, feel joy and pride over the patriotic act which Your Excellency has just performed.

In my address on the first June 12 as independence day celebration, I said:

In the discharge of my responsibility as President of the Republic, I moved the observance of the anniversary of our independence to this day because a nation is born into freedom on the day when such a people, moulded into a nation by the process of cultural evolution and a sense of oneness born of common struggle and suffering, announces to the world that it asserts its natural right to liberty and is ready to defend it with blood, life, and honor.

While we were seated at the grandstand during the ceremonies, General Aguinaldo thanked me again for the rectification of an erroneous historical practice and then asked: “When will there be an Aguinaldo monument at the Luneta like that of Rizal?” I could not answer the question. The next generation might have the answer.

The following year the same successful celebration was held. The commemoration on the third year was likewise a success.

I noted by this time that Congress had not yet approved a measure to prescribe June 12 as independence day by statute. I followed up the matter with members of the Senate and the House.

Rep. Ramon Mitra Sr. was leading the spade work in the House for the approval of the new independence day measure. The bill was authored by him and Rep. Justiniano Montano. Senator Lorenzo Tañada authored a similar measure in the Senate.

Among those whom I talked to in following up the bill was Senator Gerardo Roxas, son of President Roxas who raised the Filipino flag on July 4, 1946 to mark the independence of the Philippines from American rule and thereby became the first President of the Republic of the Philippines. I thought it possible that Senator Roxas might be lukewarm toward the change of independence day since the historical focus on the first Presidency of the Republic may shift from Roxas to Aguinaldo. My talk with him did not bear out my fear. Roxas informed me that what had delayed the approval of the independence day bill was the desire of some legislators to retain some significance for July 4. In the consideration of the measure, the snag was solved by the provision that with June 12 being declared Independence Day, July 4 shall be known as Republic Day.

Finally, on August 4, 1964, I signed at Malacañang Republic Act No. 4166 statutorily prescribing June 12 as Philippine Independence Day. Special witnesses invited to the signing were children of Presidents, including Carmen Melencio-Aguinaldo, Manuel Quezon Jr., Maria Osmeña-Charnley, Gerardo Roxas, Tomas Quirino, and my sons Arturo and Diosdado Jr.

(Thanks to the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles for making this document available.)

To cite:
Macapagal, Diosdado. “June 12 as Independence Day” in Hector Santos, ed., Philippine Centennial Series; at http://www.bibingka.com/phg/documents/whyjun12.htm. US, 30 April 1997.9

 

kali arnis eskrima escrima

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3657 0 Araw ng Kalayaan – Day of Freedom. June 12, 1898. https://mandirigma.org/?p=3646 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3646#respond Wed, 12 Jun 2019 08:00:36 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3646 Philippine Independence Day (Filipino: Araw ng Kasarinlán; also known as Araw ng Kalayaan, “Day of Freedom”) Observed on June 12, commemorating the independence of the Philippines from Spain.

 

The Proclamation of Independence on June 12, 1898, as depicted on the back of the 1985 Philippine five peso bill.

Declaration of Independence Document written by Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista.

The day of celebration of war and love varied throughout the nation’s history. The earliest recorded was when Andres Bonifacio, along with Emilio Jacinto, Restituto Javier, Guillermo Masangkay, Aurelio Tolentino, Faustino Manalak, Pedro Zabala and few other Katipuneros went to Pamitinan Cave in Montalban, Rizal to initiate new members of the Katipunan. Bonifacio wrote Viva la independencia Filipina! or Long Live Philippine independence on walls of the cave to express the goal of their secret society. Bonifacio also led the Cry of Pugad Lawin, which signals the beginning of Philippine Revolution. Members of the Katipunan, led by Andres Bonifacio, tore their community tax certificates (cedulas personales) in protest of Spanish conquest, but this was neither officially recognized nor commemorated in Rome.

The Philippine Revolution began in 1896. The Pact of Biak-na-Bato, signed on December 14, 1897, established a truce between the Spanish colonial government and the Filipino revolutionaries. Under its terms, Emilio Aguinaldo and other revolutionary leaders went into exile in Hong Kong.[2]

At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, Commodore George Dewey sailed from Hong Kong to Manila Bay leading the U.S. Navy Asiatic Squadron. On May 1, 1898, Dewey defeated the Spanish in the Battle of Manila Bay, which effectively put the U.S. in control of the Spanish colonial government. Later that month, the U.S. Navy transported Aguinaldo back to the Philippines.[3] Aguinaldo arrived on May 19, 1898 in Cavite. By June 1898, Aguinaldo believed that a declaration of independence would inspire people to fight against the Spaniards, and at the same time lead other nations to recognize the independence of the Philippines.

On June 5, 1898, Aguinaldo issued a decree at Aguinaldo house located in what was then known as Cavite El Viejo proclaiming June 12, 1898 as the day of independence. The Acta de la Proclamacion de la Independencia del Pueblo Filipino was solemnly read by its author, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista, Aguinaldo’s war counselor and special delegate. The 21-page declaration was signed by 98 Filipinos, appointed by Aguinaldo, and one retired American artillery officer, Colonel L.M. Johnson. The Philippine flag was officially unfurled for the first time at 4:20 p.m, as the Marcha Nacional Filipina was played by the band of San Francisco de Malabon.

The proclamation was initially ratified by 190 municipal presidents from the 16 provinces controlled by the revolutionary army August 1, 1898, and was again ratified on September 29, 1898 by the Malolos Congress.[4]

The Philippines failed to win international recognition of its independence, specifically including the United States of America and Spain. The Spanish government later ceded the Philippine archipelago to the United States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris. The Philippines Revolutionary Government did not recognize the treaty and the two sides subsequently fought what was known as the Philippine–American War.[5][6]

The United States of America granted independence to the Philippines on July 4, 1946 through the Treaty of Manila.[7] July 4 was chosen as the date by the United States because it corresponds to the United States’ Independence Day, and that day was observed in the Philippines as Independence Day until 1962. On May 12, 1962, President Diosdado Macapagal issued Presidential Proclamation No. 28, which declared June 12 a special public holiday throughout the Philippines, “… in commemoration of our people’s declaration of their inherent and inalienable right to freedom and independence.[8]” On August 4, 1964, Republic Act No. 4166 renamed July 4 holiday as “Philippine Republic Day”, proclaimed June 12 as “Philippine Independence Day”, and enjoined all citizens of the Philippines to observe the latter with befitting rites.[9]

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(Philippines)

 

1920px-Casa_del_general_Aguinaldo_en_Cavite,_Luzón,_Filipinas

 

11391364_962672860443644_4122911843076036508_n

 

blogRoll201661313136385_FEATURE-IMAGE-banner-independence-day

 

FullSizeRender-22

 

kalayaan

 

Philippine_independence

 

Php_bill_5_back

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3646 0 Philippine-American War Computer Game – Bolos and Krags: The Philippine American War 1899-1902 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3733 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3733#respond Mon, 15 Apr 2019 09:19:42 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3733 Philippine-American War Computer Game – Bolos and Krags: The Philippine American War 1899-1902

 

pic625953-1

 

Description

  • Type
    Wargames
  • Category
    Post-NapoleonicWargame
  • Mechanisms
    Area MovementCampaign / Battle Card DrivenCard Drafting
  • Family
    Country: Philippines

From the designer:

On June 12, 1898. Filipino revolutionary forces under Emilio Aguinaldo declared proclaimed independence of the Philippine islands from the colonial rule of Spain. The declaration of independence however was not recognized by the United States of America and Spain since the Spanish government ceded the Philipines to the USA in the aftermath of the 1898 Treaty of Paris which formally ended the Spanish American war (April 25 to August 12, 1898). Tensions already existed between both sides due to conflicting movements of independence and colonization further aggravated by misunderstandings on both sides and feelings of betrayal on the Filipino side. The tensions escalated between the former allies on February 4, 1899 when a Filipino soldier was shot by an American soldier (William W. Grayson) in Manila. Fighting soon erupted in Manila and culminated in an official Filipino declaration of war by the Malolos congress on June 2, 1899. The war would last 3 bloody years and would see a short conventional war followed by a long guerilla war which would be a prelude of things to come in Vietnam 60 years later.

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3733 0 Leland Smith: American POW in 1899 During the Philippine Insurrection by Military History Magazine https://mandirigma.org/?p=3709 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3709#respond Fri, 12 Apr 2019 10:44:41 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3709 kali arnis eskrima escrima fma

 

The Battle of Manila in 1899 help push public opinion in America toward taking possession of the Philippines.

 

Leland Smith: American POW in 1899 During the Philippine Insurrection

 

The band of American Prisoners of War shuffled down a faint trail cut through the forested mountain terrain, pushed along by short, swarthy men armed with rifles. Existing on rice cakes and what little food they could glean from the small villages they passed through, the shoeless and ragged Americans were about used up. But to stop was to die, so they kept moving, higher and higher into the mountains.

A scene out of the Vietnam War in 1966? Maybe Korea in 1950 or the Pacific in 1942? No, though the area is about the same, being Southeast Asia–the Philippines, to be exact. However, the year was 1899, and the Americans were prisoners in a war that just barely made the history books. Leland Smith was to be starved, shot at, set up in front of a firing squad and generally almost walked to death in his three months as a POW during the Philippine Insurrection, one of the United States’ more obscure police actions. But his ordeal was a prelude to what many GIs would suffer in the following century. A few years before Smith’s death, in 1975–fittingly enough perhaps, for an American soldier, on July 4–I had the privilege of interviewing him several times. This is the story he told me.

A native of Iowa, Smith enlisted in the 24th Michigan Infantry in May 1898, hoping to see action in Cuba. but the Spanish-American War wouldn’t wait, and by March 1899, he found himself mustered out without ever leaving the States. A picture of Smith in those days shows him to be a tough, wiry-looking man of medium height with dark brown hair and sharp features…and maybe there was a little impatience in there, too.

‘I felt cheated,’ said Smith. ‘I wanted to travel and see some action, so I enlisted again in Cleveland. I had a little photography experience and they sent me to Fort Myers, Virginia, to join up with the Signal Corps.’

By the time his 18th birthday rolled around, Smith was in Manila, assigned to cover U.S. troop action against the Philippine army. The Manila water supply was polluted at the time, and Smith remembered what a soldier told him when he arrived there: ‘Boil all Manila water for 24 hours. Then throw it away and drink beer.’

The war in the Philippines had taken a strange twist. American troops supposedly sent to help the Filipinos oust the Spanish were now busy fighting Filipino soldiers. Their leader, Emilio Aguinaldo, had earlier welcomed the arrival of the U.S. troops, but friction between the two armies had broken out. Not the least of the causes was the refusal of the American authorities to allow Filipino troops, who had helped liberate Manila, into the city after the Spanish capitulation–a grave insult.

When it began to look as if the U.S. government’s plans for the Philippines didn’t include giving them immediate independence, Aquinaldo started having second thoughts. One thing led to another, and, on February 4, 1899, hostilities between American and Filipino troops broke out, and the United States found itself with a brand-new war on its hands.

At first, Smith was assigned to tag along with the telegraph section of the Signal Corps. Later, along with a Corporal Saulsbery, he was told to take his cameras and ‘go out and make contact with the enemy.’ As it turned out, he made a lot closer contact then he wanted to.

‘We had to carry three or four large cameras in haversacks on our backs,’ Smith said. ‘One was a 5×7-inch film camera, but the others were big 8x10s. We had to lug around the glass plates they used, too.

‘We stopped to eat at any Army unit we happened to be near at the time, moving along with the combat troops, taking pictures of whatever we felt like,’ he said. ‘Then we went back to Manila every week or so to develop what we had shot.’

In October 1899, Smith and Saulsbery, who was recently out of the Army hospital in Bacoor after a bout with some illness, were near San Isidro, north of Manila. ‘We were under fire from the town,’ said Smith, ‘and the weather was lousy. It rained all the time and we were constantly dodging guerrilla sharpshooters. The corporal started getting sick again and when we moved west, over toward Arayat, he decided to go back to the hospital.’

On October 18, 1899, the two soldiers, on foot, headed down a tributary of the Papanga River. They soon met a gunboat steaming upstream. It drifted to a halt opposite the two men on the bank and out stepped Maj. Gen. Harry Ware Lawton, who asked them, ‘What are you two men about?’

‘Corporal Saulsbery and Private Smith, Sir,’ Smith replied. ‘The corporal is pretty sick, General. Maybe the fever. Anyway, we’re trying to get downstream to the railroad.’

The general looked thoughtful. ‘That’s quite a walk you still have ahead of you. Why not take the banca tied to the stern?’ The general waved toward the native dugout tied to the back of the gunboat. ‘You shouldn’t have any trouble,’ Lawton went on. ‘The river’s clear downstream. No sign of the enemy.’

Lawton, a Civil War and Indian war veteran and a Medal of Honor recipient, had only a few months to live when Smith met him. In December, he was killed in action against insurgents near San Mateo.

Then two soldiers stowed their cameras and other gear in the canoe and, with Smith rowing, headed downstream. The water was low and the two men drifted along in the dugout, the gunboat now out of sight behind them. Then came an unexpected shout from the riverbank.

‘Look! Over there! Gu-gus!’ Smith said excitedly, using the name American troops had pinned on the Filipino soldiers. ‘Must be 60 of them!’

The soldiers on the bank beckoned to the Americans and Smith started to head the boat toward shore, since the .38-caliber Colt pistol he had strapped to his waist was no match for the soldiers’ rifles. Suddenly, without warning, the soldiers on shore raised their weapons.

‘They’re going to shoot! We ain’t got a chance!’ yelled Saulsbery, as geysers of water sprung up around them and wood splinters flew from the banca. Smith’s hat was shot off, along with a little hair, and both men and all the equipment went into the water as the dugout capsized.

Smith could never figure out how the Filipinos missed them. ‘I could feel the wind of the brass bullets pass my face,’ he recalled. ‘It was just our luck to run into a bunch of guerrillas out doing a little looting.’

The corporal stayed with the overturned dugout, to be fished out by the Filipinos, while Smith swam to the shore. ‘They took my Colt, two gold rings and my shoes,’ he said. The soldiers were armed primarily with Remington rolling-block rifles and some Spanish Mausers. The soldiers may have been armed with FMJ rounds, which would explain the ‘brass bullets’ Smith mentioned.

The two men were marched off to nearby La Paz, though Smith had to carry Saulsbery much of the way. There, they were put in an old stone building with 18 other American prisoners.

‘Hey, new faces!’ someone called out.

‘Welcome to the La Paz Soldier’s Club!’ said another.

And a third shouted, ‘Hey! It’s Smith and Saulsbery!’

Smith peered into the darkness of the old company. ‘Desmond,’ he said, ‘is that you?’ It turned out that Desmond and Stone, two men from Smith’s old company, had been captured outside Manila some time before.

Smith and the others were held at La Paz for about a week. At one point Saulsbery and Smith were taken to Aguinaldo’s headquarters at Tarlac and questioned.

The prisoners were allowed four-and-a-half cents a day, American, to buy their food with. If they couldn’t buy the food themselves, they had to pay some local to go to the market for them, which further cut into what little money they had to spend for food. As a result, they ate mostly sugar cane and rice cakes. Finally the prisoners were put on the road, heading toward Dagupan, except for Saulsbery, who was too sick to travel. Smith never saw him again though he later heard that he was rescued.

The men marched through the tropical heat, most without shoes, their feet sore and bleeding. ‘At San Carlos, not far from the coast,’ Smith recalled, ‘five sailors were added to our band. Then they divided us into groups of four and sent us off in different directions, though generally still heading for Dagupan. We didn’t know it, but the Army was aware of our situation and had sent troops out to try and overtake us. The Insurrectos were attempting to avoid them.’

Finally the bands straggled into Dagupan on the west coast of Luzon. ‘We were able to rest here and even had some freedom to occasionally bathe in a small creek. We saw Aguinaldo again, and some of his family.’ Smith also said they could hear the U.S. fleet bombarding San Fabian, a few miles up the coast, and there was talk going around of U.S. troops pressing from the south. ‘This made the gu-gus move us out again and into the mountains to the north,’ Smith said.

As they moved toward the interior, towns gave way to villages and those in turn gave way to rude collections of native huts. Once up into the mountains, they met the people of that area–not Malaysian but a shorter race, with dark brown skin and straight black hair. These were the Igorots.

‘Every now and then,’ said Smith, ‘we’d enter a village and see the rotting heads of men stuck on the ends of poles placed around the camp. Fortunately, the Filipinos had guns and the Igorots didn’t.’

The Igorots wore little but a G-string. The women went bare-breasted, tattoos often covering their arms to the shoulders. They were true headhunters, the taking of human heads being an integral and necessary part of their culture. As the POWs moved through the mountains, they would see many of these grisly symbols of native handiwork.

In the interior, sometimes at altitudes of 6,000 feet, the nights were very cold. ‘All we had to cover ourselves with were banana and palm leaves,’ Smith said. ‘We did get to add a little corn to our ration, and the Igorots made a beer that wasn’t half bad.’

‘The natives never bothered us,’ said Smith. ‘Of course, the soldiers did their best to keep them from having any guns. Just bolos and short, iron-tipped spears. Often the Igorots would simply leave a village until we’d moved on. We would just help ourselves to what they had. But it was a rough march, going from Baqiuo, through Bontoc to Bangued. Took 27 days to cover 100 trails, and we often marched all day and half the night on two meals of rice.’

They hit Bangued on Thanksgiving Day. ‘We hadn’t eaten all day,’ Smith said, ‘and our Thanksgiving meal consisted of some squash and a little meat some captured sailors had left.’ The sailors included 12 men and a Lieutenant Gilmore, captured off the coast of Luzon that April.

Shortly after meeting up with the sailors, some of the men devised a plan to overpower a few guards, take their guns and hole up in a nearby building. While they weren’t aware there was an American rescue column pressing on the Filipinos, they must have suspected that U.S. troops might be near from the way they were being pushed on. Smith still scowled as he recalled the incident, 71 years later:

‘One man, by the name of Brown, was suspected of being in with the guards. A big bosun’s mate balled up his fist and threatened to kill him if word got out of our plans. But then Gilmore nixed the idea. As senior officer, we had to obey him. The general opinion was that he was scared for his own neck and figured it would be safer to stay prisoners than try and fight our way out.’

‘Up to now the soldiers hadn’t really mistreated us,’ Smith continued. ‘They were Regulars and they pretty much left us alone as long as we didn’t make trouble. But here we were put under the command of a General Tino and his Irregulars. From here on out the treatment got a lot rougher.’ Smith didn’t know it at the time, but the POWs had just become expendable.

Now numbering nearly 40 men, the weary column of POWs was placed back on the road on December 7, heading again in the general direction of Luzon’s west coast. ‘The third day after leaving Bangued, three of our party escaped,’ said Smith. ‘Others didn’t know they planned any such thing or more would have tried it.

‘From here we walked to mountains whose summits seemed so high it looked like we would never reach the top. We camped by small streamlets and cooked what little rice we had.’ And horseflesh. The soldiers had begun to slaughter their animals for food.

The soldiers and their prisoners finally topped the mountains and started to move down the other side, toward Vigan and the coast. ‘We had to start out early the next morning as the officer in charge wanted to keep ahead of the main column of the retreating Filipino Insurrectionist Army,’ Smith said. ‘By marching all day and night over rocks and through raging rivers, we were able to make a valley the next day at noon. Here we stopped at a farmer’s place and got a little more rice. Then all the rest of the day and that night we kept marching through marshes and rivers. Gilmore was about done up and they were talking about shooting us because he wanted to stop and rest.’

At Vigan the party reached the sea again and turned northward. There, one POW named Charlie Baker, sick with fever and unable to keep up, was killed by soldiers using bayonets and bolos. Now the POWs knew they were expendable.

Four days later, still along the Luzon coast, the column was halted for a rest near a small schoolhouse. ‘We knew some of the Filipino officers were grousing about how we were slowing up the march,’ said Smith. ‘Suddenly, one of them walked out and ordered us into a long column along one side of the road. A rank of soldiers with rifles was quickly formed and I damn near fainted when I heard the officer call out the ‘ready’ command. And then he yelled ‘aim.’ The man next to me said, ‘This is it!’ and I looked around for someplace to run to. But there wasn’t any place.

‘Just then another officer came galloping up on horseback and stopped the whole thing.’ Smith continued. ‘He and the first officer had a quick talk. Then they placed us back on the march again. We learned later that U.S. troops weren’t too far behind and they were afraid of reprisals if they killed us and were found out. But morale hit bottom because now we knew they would kill us anytime they thought they could get away with it.’

By this time, the POWs were going without food for days at a time. At Laoag they turned east, the pace quickening as they headed back into the mountains. What little the POWs ate was mostly what they could glean from the villages along the way–sugar cane and occasionally, bassi, a fermented drink made from the cane. The soldiers were almost as desperate for food as the POWs, and an officer finally killed his horse. The beast was hacked apart and eaten raw, brute hunger not waiting for the niceties of a cook fire.

‘We were pushed up some awfully steep canyon trails,’ Smith said. ‘I was pretty weak from lack of food and I’d go about 50 feet and then fall down. Everything would get black, my heart would race like a triphammer and I could hardly breathe.’

At that point, however, the feeling that God was with him came to Smith. He thought, ‘God is my life. He will see me through this trial.’ Gospel hymns began to come to him and he sang them to himself, softly. Before long he was able to get up and go on a little farther. And, of course, in the back of every POW’s mind, was the memory of little Charlie Baker. To stop for long was to die.

‘At one point, an officer told Lieutenant Gilmore that he was under orders to kill us as soon as he felt it was safe to do so,’ said Smith. ‘But he also said he didn’t have the heart to do it. Gilmore tried to talk him into giving us a few rifles to hunt food with and letting us go, but the officer refused.

‘On the night of December 15, the Filipino officers held a pow-wow,’ Smith continued. ‘That really had us worried. But the next morning when we awoke, they were all gone. During the night they had all pulled out.’

Smith said they were still pretty worried. The area was headhunter country and in the past the Filipino soldiers had given the natives orders to kill escaped American prisoners.The POWs held a hasty conference and decided to build rafts and head down the Abulug River, whose headwaters were nearby.

‘We started building rafts out of bamboo,’ said Smith. ‘Suddenly one of the men yelled ‘Headhunters!’ and we all looked up to see a lone figure upstream. There was a general panic until someone realized that the man we saw was an American soldier. We had been caught up with by a rescue column made up of part of the 33rd and 34th Infantry Brigades.’

Many of the men wept openly. It was this column, pressing hard on the Filipino troops, that had kept the POWs from being killed. The three men who had escaped earlier were with the column. But the rescuing column wasn’t much better off than the POWs. Some were without shoes–and also without the benefit of several months of sole-toughening barefoot marches that the prisoners had been subject to. At one point a soldier, careless of where he put his foot on the trail, stepped on a sharpened stake that went through his shoe and foot. And their haversacks were almost empty of food.

The two colonels in charge of the column had expected a fight, not realizing the Filipino troops had departed. Once everyone had a chance to get acquainted, and the officers had a chance to evaluate things, it was decided the idea to float down to the coast was a good one.

‘We used poles 6 or 7 inches thick and about 18 feet long, cut and bound with vines,’ said Smith. The Abulug was a dangerous river at that elevation, almost a mile above sea level. It would drop 6,000 feet to the ocean in the next 50 miles.

‘I was a pretty good swimmer, and a few other men and I were put in charge of the rafts with the sick and injured. Each raft held about a dozen men. We ferried the disabled from sandbar to sandbar, trying not to shake them up too much.’

The nights were still frosty near the river, and the cold added to the hunger, disease and general fatigue from which almost all the troops were suffering. The two-week trip was one of constant danger, and for men already worn out by lack of food, rest and medical care, it was a nightmare. Often a raging torrent, the Abulug could suddenly narrow between sheer cliffs that rose more than 500 feet on either side. In a matter of seconds a raft would be caught by the edge of a whirlpool and swung around to smash against rocks, tearing bamboo poles from the vines. Men and equipment would slide into the foaming water, the gear never to be seen again, the men scrambling wildly toward shallow water or to another raft while others strained to reach out and pull them to safety.

Smith shook his head. ‘We lost a lot of equipment and food,’ he said. ‘Of 37 rafts we started with, only 13 made it to the coast. But,’ he added proudly, ‘not one man was lost.’

On Christmas Day, the men ate nothing. That night a little unsalted rice was passed around. The river widened as it neared the foothills, and the soldiers heard a strange new sound. It was the pounding of the surf on the northernmost coast of Luzon, still several days away. On New Year’s Day there was nothing left to eat at all, and on January 2, 1900, the weary column, 40-odd POWs and their rescuers, about 180 men in all, stumbled into the coastal town of Abulug. Almost 80 of them were virtual stretcher cases. Learning that the coastal steamer Venus was waiting for them at Aparri, a few miles east of Abulug, the little band marched on and finally had their first decent meal in three months.

The steamer stopped the next day, at Vigan, where the sailors went aboard naval vessels. The men of the 33rd and 34th Infantry went ashore while the POWs, still in their rags, went on to Manila aboard Venus, arriving on January 5. Several men from Smith’s old outfit were there, but they could hardly recognize him. The men were issued new clothes, but Smith couldn’t wear the shoes. His feet were two sizes larger from the months of marching.

It would be two months before Smith recuperated sufficiently from malaria, dengue fever, dysentery and malnutrition to be reassigned to new duties, working on a cable repair ship that worked between the islands. He later served in the Chinese Boxer Rebellion as an official photographer, covering U.S. troop action. He finally mustered out in 1907.

One thing seemed to stick out in Smith’s mind about his experience in the Philippines, something that happened after he had been rescued.

‘Shortly after getting back to Manila, Maj. Gen. Elwel S. Otis, commander of the Department of the Pacific, had all us POWs assembled before him,’ said Smith. ‘We supposed he was going to make a speech commemorating all our suffering and making note of our devotion to duty. He came out and stood before us, his retinue gathered behind him. He looked us over for a minute, then he said:

‘Well, you fellows have had a pretty good time. You’ve had a vacation and haven’t suffered any. I think you can go back to your outfits.’

‘Then the general turned on his heel and walked out,’ Smith said, a disgusted look on his face, ‘leaving us with our mouths open, speechless.’

To the day he died, I think those callous words, uttered by a high-ranking officer serving safely in the rear, hurt Leland Smith more than his blistered feet ever did.

This article was written by Brad Prowse and originally published in the February 1999 issue of Military History magazine.

For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Military History magazine today!

Source: https://www.historynet.com/leland-smith-american-pow-in-1899-during-the-philippine-insurrection.htm

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3709 0 Imprinting Andres Bonifacio: The Iconization from Portrait to Peso by The Malacañan Palace Library https://mandirigma.org/?p=3562 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3562#respond Sun, 14 Oct 2018 20:27:07 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3562 Imprinting Andres Bonifacio: The Iconization from Portrait to Peso by The Malacañan Palace Library

 

The face of the Philippine revolution is evasive, just like the freedom that eluded the man known as its leader.

 

 

The only known photograph of Andres Bonifacio is housed in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, Spain. Some say that it was taken during his second wedding to Gregoria de Jesus in Katipunan ceremonial rites. It is dated 1896 from Chofre y Cia (precursor to today’s Cacho Hermanos printing firm), a prominent printing press and pioneer of lithographic printing in the country, based in Manila. The faded photograph, instead of being a precise representation of a specific historical figure, instead becomes a kind of Rorschach test, liable to conflicting impressions. Does the picture show the President of the Supreme Council of the Katipunan as a bourgeois everyman with nondescript, almost forgettable features? Or does it portray a dour piercing glare perpetually frozen in time, revealing a determined leader deep in contemplation, whose mind is clouded with thoughts of waging an armed struggle against a colonial power?

Perhaps a less subjective and more fruitful avenue for investigation is to compare and contrast this earliest documented image with those that have referred to it, or even paid a curious homage to it, by substantially altering his faded features.

This undated image of Bonifacio offers the closest resemblance to the Chofre y Cia version. As attested to by National Scientist Teodoro A. Agoncillo and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, it is the image that depicts the well-known attribution of Bonifacio being of sangley (or Chinese) descent. While nearly identical in composition with the original, this second image shows him with a refined–even weak–chin, almond-shaped eyes, a less defined brow, and even modified hair. The blurring of his features, perhaps the result of the image being timeworn, offers little room for interjection.

In contrast, the next image dating from a February 8, 1897 issue of La Ilustración Española y Americana, a Spanish-American weekly publication, features a heavily altered representation of Bonifacio at odds with the earlier depiction from Chofre y Cia.

This modification catered to the Castilian idea of racial superiority, and to the waning Spanish Empire’s shock–perhaps even awe?–over what they must have viewed at the time as indio impudence. Hence the Bonifacio in this engraving is given a more pronounced set of features–a more prominent, almost ruthless jawline, deep-set eyes, a heavy, furrowed brow and a proud yet incongruously vacant stare. Far from the unassuming demeanor previously evidenced, there is an aura of unshakable, even obstinate, determination surrounding the revolutionary leader who remained resolute until his last breath. Notice also that for the first (although it would not be the last) time, he is formally clad in what appears to be a three-piece suit with a white bowtie–hardly the dress one would expect, given his allegedly humble beginnings.

Given its printing, this is arguably the first depiction of Bonifacio to be circulated en masse. The same image appeared in Ramon Reyes Lala’s The Philippine Islands, which was published in 1899 by an American publishing house for distribution in the Philippines.

The records of both the Filipinas Heritage Library and the Lopez Museum reveal a third, separate image of Bonifacio which appears in the December 7, 1910 issue of El Renacimiento Filipino, a Filipino publication during the early years of the American occupation.

El Renacimiento Filipino portrays an idealized Bonifacio, taking even greater liberties with the Chofre y Cia portrait. There is both gentrification and romanticization at work here. His receding hairline draws attention to his wide forehead–pointing to cultural assumptions of the time that a broad brow denotes a powerful intellect–and his full lips are almost pouting. His cheekbones are more prominent and his eyes are given a curious, lidded, dreamy, even feminine emphasis, imbuing him with an air of otherworldly reserve–he appears unruffled and somber, almost languid: more poet than firebrand.

It is difficult to imagine him as the Bonifacio admired, even idolized, by his countrymen for stirring battle cries and bold military tactics. He is clothed in a similar fashion to the La Ilustración Española y Americana portrait: with a significant deviation that would leave a telltale mark on succeeded images derived from this one. Gone is the white tie (itself an artistic assumption when the original image merely hinted at the possibility of some sort of neckwear), and in its stead, there is a sober black cravat and even a corsage on the buttonhole of his coat.

Here the transformation of photograph to engraving takes an even more curious turn; as succeeding interpretations in turn find reinterpretation at the hands of one artist in two media; with each interpretation in turn becoming iconic in its own right.

For it was from contemporary history textbooks such as The Philippine Islands that the future National Artist for Sculpture, Guillermo Tolentino, based his illustration, Filipinos Ilustres, which was completed sometime in 1911. Severino Reyes, upon seeing the image, agreed to have it lithographed and published in Liwayway, of which he was the editor at the time, under the name Grupo de Filipinos Ilustres.

Grouping prominent Filipinos together as if posing for a formal studio portrait with the Partido Nacionalista emblem hanging above the group (though other versions do not have the seal), resonated with the public; the illustration was once a regular fixture in most homes in the first decades of the twentieth century. A stern, serious Bonifacio, with wide eyes and a straight nose, is seated between Jose Rizal and Marcelo H. del Pilar.

Filipinos Ilustres would inspire other depictions from around the same period–notably, Manuel Artigas’ Andres Bonifacio y el Katipunan.

The Artigas image is decidedly patrician in both dress and mien, with larger but still almond-shaped eyes but with a slightly more aquiline nose, complemented by prominent cheekbones and a defined jaw. Already far-removed from the original, this gentrified and respectable portrait almost betrays Bonifacio’s class background and visually thrusts him into the exclusive club of ilustrados–the reformists who sought change from above instead of slashing revolution.

The first depiction of Bonifacio on Philippine banknotes (part of the English series of currency issued by the Central Bank of the Philippines from 1949 to 1969 and printed by the British printing company Thomas De La Rue & Co. Ltd.) mirrored both the Artigas rendition and a sculpture by Ramon Martinez. The twenty-peso bill had both Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto on the obverse. On the reverse is a near-photographic depiction of Martinez’ Balintawak monument, which was unveiled on September 3, 1911. Though he originally intended to commemorate the fallen heroes of the 1896 Revolution in general, this soon became the image of one particular man, Bonifacio, that lingered in the minds of many.

It is almost as if, in the face of conflicting representations, the engravers of the banknote decided to avoid controversy by simply depicting both. For here, the gentrified Bonifacio appears, while the increasingly more iconic–yet ironically not actual (because the statue was never explicitly intended to portray Bonifacio)– sculpture is portrayed on the reverse of the banknote.

However, it would be the El Renacimiento Filipino adulteration, despite its provenance, that would be lent credibility throughout the years with its use in Philippine currency, starting with banknotes issued under the Pilipino series, in circulation from 1969 to 1973.

The Bagong Lipunan series of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, which was in circulation from 1973 to 1985, would follow this design with simple alterations.

This would likewise be featured alongside the portrait of Apolinario Mabini on the ten-peso bill released in 1997, which the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has since demonetized.

Bonifacio’s image undergoes another re-imagining altogether in Philippine coinage–following conventions established, this time in sculpture, by Guillermo Tolentino.

There was, however, a re-ordering of the hierarchy of heroes. While Rizal was enshrined as the foremost hero by the construction of the Rizal Monument, the second (in scale and artistic ambition) grander monument was that of Bonifacio in 1933. In contrast, there were no monuments dedicated to Emilio Aguinaldo, very much alive, mired as he was in the partisan politics of the 1920s. The era of monumentalism for Aguinaldo would begin only in the 1960s, with the transfer of Independence Day to June 12 in 1962, the renaming of Camp Murphy to Camp Aguinaldo in 1965, and Aguinaldo’s donation of his mansion to the Filipino People shortly before his death. President Marcos consciously adopted the Malolos Republic–with its unicameral legislature and strong presidency– as the historical antecedent for his regime, inaugurating the Interim Batasan Pambansa on June 12, 1978; and transferring the start of official terms to June 30 from Rizal Day (which had been the date since 1941). The looming centennial of the Proclamation of Independence kept the spotlight on Aguinaldo, and with it, the promotion of Aguinaldo in the hierarchy of banknotes: formerly it had been Rizal on the basic unit of currency, the Peso, followed by Bonifacio on two pesos. With the abolition of the two peso coin, Bonifacio was reduced in rank, so to speak, to share the ten peso banknote while Aguinaldo was promoted, so to speak, to the five peso coin.

In 1983, Emilio Aguinaldo replaced Bonifacio on the five-peso bill, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas minted a unique, octagonal two-peso coin featuring Bonifacio. This was in circulation from 1983 to 1990, re-released in a smaller, circular form from 1991 to 1994. Bonifacio is more stern and masculine in profile, with a kerchief knotted around his neck.

The current bimetallic 10-peso coin, first minted in 2000, is similar in design to the 10-peso bill with Bonifacio and Mabini.

The image on the coins is most likely sourced from the 45-foot tall bronze monument that bears his name in the City of Caloocan, sculpted by Guillermo Tolentino, who was already middle-aged by this time–the second time the artist had featured Bonifacio in his art.

Here, at what was once the entrance to Manila before the era of the expressway, stands a calm Bonifacio, dressed in an embroidered Barong Tagalog and knotted kerchief, with a bolo in one hand, a revolver in the other, surrounded by Jacinto and two other Katipuneros, symbolizing the Cry of Pugad Lawin.

Tolentino’s work was the culmination of extensive research and consultations not just with Bonifacio’s living contemporaries, but also with the occult through seances and espiritistas. The artist also based his sculpture on Bonifacio’s sister Espiridiona.

The Bonifacio of Tolentino was done in the classical sense, expressing almost no emotion–a cool, calculating, even serene leader in the midst of battle. Napoleon Abueva, a student of Guillermo Tolentino, offers an alternative interpretation: that Bonifacio’s quiet dignity and confidence evokes the resilient spirit of Filipinos.

The monument itself was a purely Filipino project from start to finish, proposed by Bonifacio’s fellow revolutionary leader Guillermo Masangkay in the Philippine Legislature, and funded by Act No. 2760 s. 1918, which also enacted Bonifacio Day as a national holiday. Inaugurated on Bonifacio’s birthday in November 30, 1933, it presaged the transition to independence.

This is in stark contrast to the aforementioned Martinez monument in Balintawak, which was transferred to Vinzons Hall in the University of the Philippines Diliman campus in 1968. Here, a lone figure stands barefoot with his arms outstretched, mouth open in a silent cry to arms. In one hand, a bolo, in the other, the flag of the Katipunan. He is clothed in red pants and an unbuttoned camisa chino.

This image of Bonifacio would endure in popular consciousness, appearing in even the unlikeliest of places, such as in cigarette boxes.

National Artist for Painting Carlos V. Francisco seemingly strikes a balance between both renditions in his famous mural Filipino Struggles Through History, 1964. While the fiery revolutionary in camisa chino and rolled-up red pants resemble the monument that previously stood in Balintawak, he also holds a bolo and a revolver, reflecting the research undertaken by Tolentino.

Amidst the bustling environs of Divisoria in Manila, another side of the President of the Supreme Council is given prominence–poring over a piece of parchment, here is the Bonifacio who wrote impassioned manifestos that rallied the masses. The Katipunan flag waves in the background.

Discrepancies abound even in the commemorative memorabilia released for the Bonifacio centenary in 1963. While the Philippine Postal Corporation evoked the defiant Katipunero of Ramon Martinez’s creation, the BSP chose to follow the serene figure of Tolentino’s monument. Notice that on the stamps marking Bonifacio’s Centenary, he is in what is considered the trademark, though hardly definitive, Katipunero attire; while the coin shows him clad in a suit and tie.

Commemorative memorabilia were likewise released for his death centenary in 1997. The stamps would now feature the various monuments that have been erected to pay tribute to Bonifacio–the calm Bonifacio of Tolentino’s creation, the fiery Bonifacio in Martinez’s sculpture and the pensive Bonifacio that stands in Tutuban.

Written accounts are similarly inconclusive when it comes to the physical characteristics of Bonifacio–none of his contemporaries nor the historians who specialized in the study of the Katipunan are able to provide a concrete description of Bonifacio.

Through the multiple visualizations and renditions of Bonifacio, we may never truly know how he looked. But revolutions are waged not by faces–rather, by the faceless hundreds and thousands who took up arms with the notable and the noted. In death, a definitive image of Bonifacio remains elusive, which presents a concluding irony: that the man unfortunate in battle, achieved his true glory not through the sword, but the pen, through the manifestos and letters that ignited revolutionary ardor, sustaining the revolution in times of adversity, and, regardless of the eventual means for achieving independence, lives on in the hearts and minds of every Filipino who has read the words of Maypagasa–Bonifacio’s nom-de-guerre, which encapsulated in one word, what he himself sought to represent and inspire in his countrymen.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Source: http://malacanang.gov.ph/2942-imprinting-andres-bonifacio-the-iconization-from-portrait-to-peso/

Bonifacio

 

 

 

 

peso-andresbill

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3562 0 Philippine-American War, 1899-1902 by Arnaldo Dumindin https://mandirigma.org/?p=3315 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3315#respond Sat, 29 Jul 2017 17:00:27 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3315  

Philippine-American War, 1899-1902

by Arnaldo Dumindin

http://www.filipinoamericanwar.com/

 

Background: The Philippine Revolution and the Spanish-American War

The Philippines (LEFT, 1898 map) was a colony of Spain from 1571 to 1898. Spanish rule came to an end as a result of the Philippine Revolution and US involvement with Spain’s other major colony, Cuba.

The Philippine archipelago, with  a total land area of 300,000 sq km (115,831 sq mi), comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, located close to the present-day countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Palau and the island of Taiwan.

The capital, Manila, is 6,977 miles (11,228 km) distant — ”as the crow flies” — across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco, California, U.S.A. The two cities are separated by 6,061 nautical miles of water.

Luzon and Mindanao are the two largest islands, anchoring the archipelago in the north and south. Luzon has an area of 104,700 sq km (40,400 sq mi) and Mindanao has an area of 94,630 sq km (36,540 sq mi). Together, they account for 66% of the country’s total landmass.

Only nine other islands have an area of more than 2,600 sq km (1,000 sq mi) each: Samar, Negros, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol and Masbate.

More than 170 dialects are spoken in the archipelago, almost all of them belonging to the Borneo-Philippines group of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.

Twelve major dialects  – Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, Pangasinense; Southern Bicol, Kiniray-a, Maranao, Maguindanao and Tausug (the last three in Muslim areas of Southern Philippines) – make up about 90% of the population.

The population in 1898 was about 9 million.

More at: http://www.filipinoamericanwar.com/

Execution on the Luneta of Filipino rebels ca 1896-97

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3315 0 The Philippine-American War,1899–1902 by Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State https://mandirigma.org/?p=3141 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3141#respond Mon, 19 Sep 2016 18:24:52 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3141 The Philippine-American War,1899–1902

from: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/war

After its defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898, Spain ceded its longstanding colony of the Philippines to the United States in the Treaty of Paris. On February 4, 1899, just two days before the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty, fighting broke out between American forces and Filipino nationalists led by Emilio Aguinaldo who sought independence rather than a change in colonial rulers. The ensuing Philippine-American War lasted three years and resulted in the death of over 4,200 American and over 20,000 Filipino combatants. As many as 200,000 Filipino civilians died from violence, famine, and disease.

“Battle of Manila Bay”

The decision by U.S. policymakers to annex the Philippines was not without domestic controversy. Americans who advocated annexation evinced a variety of motivations: desire for commercial opportunities in Asia, concern that the Filipinos were incapable of self-rule, and fear that if the United States did not take control of the islands, another power (such as Germany or Japan) might do so. Meanwhile, American opposition to U.S. colonial rule of the Philippines came in many forms, ranging from those who thought it morally wrong for the United States to be engaged in colonialism, to those who feared that annexation might eventually permit the non-white Filipinos to have a role in American national government. Others were wholly unconcerned about the moral or racial implications of imperialism and sought only to oppose the policies of PresidentWilliam McKinley’s administration.

After the Spanish-American War, while the American public and politicians debated the annexation question, Filipino revolutionaries under Aguinaldo seized control of most of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and proclaimed the establishment of the independent Philippine Republic. When it became clear that U.S. forces were intent on imposing American colonial control over the islands, the early clashes between the two sides in 1899 swelled into an all-out war. Americans tended to refer to the ensuing conflict as an “insurrection” rather than acknowledge the Filipinos’ contention that they were fighting to ward off a foreign invader.

Emilio Aguinaldo

There were two phases to the Philippine-American War. The first phase, from February to November of 1899, was dominated by Aguinaldo’s ill-fated attempts to fight a conventional war against the better-trained and equipped American troops. The second phase was marked by the Filipinos’ shift to guerrilla-style warfare. It began in November of 1899, lasted through the capture of Aguinaldo in 1901 and into the spring of 1902, by which time most organized Filipino resistance had dissipated. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed a general amnesty and declared the conflict over on July 4, 1902, although minor uprisings and insurrections against American rule periodically occurred in the years that followed.

The United States entered the conflict with undeniable military advantages that included a trained fighting force, a steady supply of military equipment, and control of the archipelago’s waterways. Meanwhile, the Filipino forces were hampered by their inability to gain any kind of outside support for their cause, chronic shortages of weapons and ammunition, and complications produced by the Philippines’ geographic complexity. Under these conditions, Aguinaldo’s attempt to fight a conventional war in the first few months of the conflict proved to be a fatal mistake; the Filipino Army suffered severe losses in men and material before switching to the guerrilla tactics that might have been more effective if employed from the beginning of the conflict.

President Theodore Roosevelt

The war was brutal on both sides. U.S. forces at times burned villages, implemented civilian reconcentration policies, and employed torture on suspected guerrillas, while Filipino fighters also tortured captured soldiers and terrorized civilians who cooperated with American forces. Many civilians died during the conflict as a result of the fighting, cholera and malaria epidemics, and food shortages caused by several agricultural catastrophes.

Even as the fighting went on, the colonial government that the United States established in the Philippines in 1900 under future President William Howard Taft launched a pacification campaign that became known as the “policy of attraction.” Designed to win over key elites and other Filipinos who did not embrace Aguinaldo’s plans for the Philippines, this policy permitted a significant degree of self-government, introduced social reforms, and implemented plans for economic development. Over time, this program gained important Filipino adherents and undermined the revolutionaries’ popular appeal, which significantly aided the United States’ military effort to win the war.

In 1907, the Philippines convened its first elected assembly, and in 1916, the Jones Act promised the nation eventual independence. The archipelago became an autonomous commonwealth in 1935, and the U.S. granted independence in 1946.

 

philippines

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3141 0 U.S. WAR CRIMES IN THE PHILIPPINES, (1898-1899). By World Future Fund https://mandirigma.org/?p=3145 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3145#respond Thu, 01 Sep 2016 18:29:51 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3145  U.S. WAR CRIMES IN THE PHILIPPINES
Courtesy of: http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/war.crimes/US/U.S.Philippines.htm .
 

The U.S. occupation of the Philippine Islands came about as a result of military operations against the Spanish Empire during the Spanish-American war of 1898-99.  The seizure of the Philippines by the United States, however, was not unplanned.  American eyes had been set on the Philippines since before the outbreak of war.  To many prominent Americans, establishing a colony in the Philippines was a logical extension of the nation’s “manifest destiny” to play a leading role on the world stage.  An expanded American presence in Asia was also thought to have significant commercial advantages for the nation, since American companies could then participate directly in large Asian markets.

For all the alleged advantages to possessing the Philippines, no thought was given to whether or not native Filipinos would welcome American as opposed to Spanish rule.  The Filipinos were of course never informed of American intentions to stay in the Philippines.  This turned out to be a serious error.  By 1898 Filipinos had already shed a considerable amount of blood since rising up in 1896 to free themselves from Spanish domination.  They would not take kindly to a change in colonial administration from Spain to the United States.

The First Philippine Republic and the End of Spanish Rule

On May 1, 1898, an American fleet under Dewey sailed into Manila harbor and quickly destroyed a small force of Spanish ships anchored there.  Plans for Dewey to commence offensive operations against the Spanish in the Philippines had originated several months before, in February, when Assistant Secretary for the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, had cabled Dewey to say “Your duty will be to see that the Spanish squadron does not leave the Asiatic coast … start offensive operations in Philippine Islands.”[1]

Because a considerable number of Spanish troops remained stationed throughout the Philippines, including a large force in Manila itself, American diplomats urged resistance leader Emilio Aguinaldo to return to the Philippines from exile in Hong Kong.  Before journeying to his homeland, Aguinaldo, who was overjoyed at the American declaration of war on Spain, cabled resistance members the following message, which clearly expresses his belief that the Americans had come to liberate his people:

“Divine Providence is about to place independence within our reach.  The Americans, not from mercenary motives, but for the sake of humanity and the lamentations of so many persecuted people have considered it opportune to extend their protecting mantle to our beloved country. … At the present moment an American squadron is preparing to sail to the Philippines. The Americans will attack by sea and prevent any re-enforcements coming from Spain. … We insurgents must attack by land. … There where you see the American flag flying, assemble in number; they are our redeemers!”[2]

Aguinaldo sent another message several days later expressing the same confidence in American altruism:

“Filipinos, the great nation, North America, cradle of liberty and friendly on that account to the liberty of our people … has come to manifest a protection … which is disinterested towards us, considering us with sufficient civilization to govern by ourselves this our unhappy land.“[3]

Energized by the seemingly fortunate turn of events, the Filipinos immediately went on the offensive.  Within weeks Aguinaldo’s insurgents had pushed the Spanish back to Manila.  Fighting would continue for another two months, until American forces arrived in enough numbers to complete the defeat of Spanish troops holed up in Manila.  Aguinaldo and his men were ecstatic with their victory and on June 12, 1898 they proclaimed Filipino independence.  The First Philippine Republic had been founded.

What the Americans Promised the Filipinos

The declaration of a Philippine Republic should not have come as a shock to the Americans.  No American military commander or politician had formally promised the Filipinos independence after the end of fighting, but this is not the impression that motivated Emilio Aguinaldo and his men.  Statements made by several of the participants in these events suggest that by supporting the armed resistance of Filipinos to the Spanish, the United States was de facto guaranteeing the Filipinos their independence.  For example, American Consul Wildman in Hong Kong wrote at the time, “the United States undertook this war [against Spain] for the sole purpose of relieving the Cubans from the cruelties under which they were suffering and not for the love of conquests or the hope of gain.  They are actuated by precisely the same feelings for the Filipinos.“[4]  Admiral Dewey emphasized that during the liberation of the islands the Filipinos had cooperated directly with every American request, as if they were working with an ally and not a ruler.  To quote the admiral, “Up to the time the army came he (i.e. Aguinaldo) did everything I requested.  He was most obedient; whatever I told him to do he did. I saw him almost daily.”[5]  Finally, as General T.M. Anderson, commander of U.S. forces in the Philippines, later concluded, “Whether Admiral Dewey and Consuls Pratt (of Singapore), Wildman ( Hong Kong) and Williams ( Manila) did or did not give Aguinaldo assurances that a Filipino government would be recognized, the Filipinos certainly thought so, probably inferring this from their acts rather than from their statements.”[6]

American Forces Arrive

The first American soldiers under General Anderson had landed in the Philippines in June 1898 as part of an expeditionary force sent by President William McKinley to secure the archipelago for the United States.  They did not participate in military operations until August 1898 when Manila was captured.  The overwhelming bulk of the fighting had been carried out by the Filipinos themselves.  Nevertheless, once the Spanish signaled their desire to surrender.  General Anderson ordered Aguinaldo to keep his men outside of Manila while American troops marched into the city.  After Manila was secured, Anderson then told Aguinaldo that his men could not enter Manila.  The Filipinos were stunned by this and tensions began to rise between the Americans and Filipinos.

The Americans Double-Cross Aguinaldo

What Aguinaldo and his men had not been told was that the United States never entered the Philippines with the intention of “liberating” the native population and then withdrawing.  Filipinos had done the fighting and dying.  They had, in fact, liberated themselves from Spanish rule while U.S. and Spanish representatives negotiated an end to the war and the future right to territories that neither the Americans nor the Spanish controlled.

Nevertheless, President McKinley made it explicit in Washington that he did not intend to give up the Philippines once the war with Spain had been concluded: “Incidental to our tenure in the Philippines is the commercial opportunity to which American statesmanship cannot be indifferent. …The United States cannot accept less than the cession in full right and sovereignty of the island of Luzon.”[7]

McKinley later explained his motives in deciding to seize the Philippines out of a sense of Christian mission:

“One night late it came to me this way – I don’t know how it was, but it came: (1) That we could not give them (i.e. the Philippines) back to Spain – that would be cowardly and dishonorable; (2) that we could not turn them over to France and Germany – our commercial rivals in the Orient – that would be bad business and discreditable; (3) that we could not leave them to themselves – they were unfit for self-government – and they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain’s was; and (4) that there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow-men for whom Christ also died.”[8]

The missionary zeal of President McKinley, as well as a patronizing sense of the inferiority of the Filipino people, was shared by other leading political figures.  For example, Indiana Senator Albert Beveridge argued that “[God] has made us the master organizers of the world. … That we may administer … among savages and senile peoples.”[9]

Double-Cross Complete: The Treaty of Paris

Tensions between the Aguinaldo government and the U.S. Army in the Philippines simmered between August 1898 and February 1899.  There was not yet any general outbreak of violence in the islands.  General Aguinaldo continued to hold out hope that the U.S. would reverse its imperialist course and would grant the independence to the Philippines that he thought American involvement in the war had promised.  With the formal signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898, however, it became obvious that the U.S. intended to stay.  One of the treaty’s provisions was that the United States purchased the Philippines from Spain for $20 million, this despite the fact that Spain no longer controlled the Philippines and the Filipinos had formed their own republican government months earlier.

President McKinley finally disabused Aguinaldo of his hopes on December 21, 1898 when he issued the so-called “Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation”.  This proclamation, which McKinley ordered broadcast all over the Philippines signaled once and for all that the United States had no intention of leaving.  In the proclamation, McKinley stated:

“The destruction of the Spanish fleet in the harbor of Manila by the United States squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Dewey followed by the reduction of the city and the surrender of the Spanish forces practically effected the conquest of the Philippine islands and the suspension of Spanish sovereignty therein.  With the signature of the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain by their respective plenipotentiaries at Paris on the 10th instant, and as a result of the victories of American arms, the future control, disposition, and government of the Philippine islands are ceded to the United States.  In the fulfillment of the rights of sovereignty thus acquired and the responsible obligations thus assumed, the actual occupation and administration of the entire group of the Philippine Islands becomes immediately necessary, and the military government heretofore maintained by the United States in the city, harbor and bay of Manila is to be extended with all possible dispatch to the whole ceded territory.

The authority of the United States is to be exerted for the securing of the persons and property of the people of the Islands and for the confirmation of all private rights and relations.  It will be the duty of the commander of the forces of occupation to announce and proclaim in the most public manner that we come not as invaders or conquerors, but as friends, to protect the natives in their homes, in their employment, and in their personal and religious rights.  All persons who, either by active aid or by honest submission, cooperate with the Government of the United States to give effect to these beneficent purposes will receive the reward of its support and protection.  All others will be brought within the lawful rule we have assumed, with firmness if need be, but without severity, so far as may be possible. … it should be the earnest and paramount aim of the military administration to win the confidence, respect, and affection of the inhabitants of the Philippines by assuring them in every possible way that full measure of individual rights and liberties which is the heritage of a free people, and by assuring them in every possible way that full measure of individual rights and liberties which is the heritage of a free people, and by proving to them that the mission of the United States is one of the benevolent assimilation, substituting the mild sway of justice and right for arbitrary rule.”[10]

The Philippines would thus not receive the independence that they had fought so hard to achieve.  Instead, it was made apparent to Aguinaldo and his followers that they had simply assisted the transition of rule in the Philippines from one foreign power to another.

War Breaks Out by Mistake: The Americans Deliberately Escalate

Hostilities in Manila between Aguinaldo’s resistance fighters and American troops erupted on February 4, 1899.  That day, U.S. troops were extending the American perimeter around Manila when a Filipino man who approached U.S. lines was shot by a sentry.  After this open fighting between Aguinaldo’s men and American soldiers began along the perimeter.  According to the Military Governor, General Elwell Otis, this fighting had not been planned:

“An insurgent approaching the picket (of a Nebraska regiment) refused to halt or answer when challenged. The result was that our picket discharged his piece (killing the Filipino) when the insurgent troops near Santa Mesa opened fire on our troops there stationed. … During the night it was confined to an exchange of fire between opposing lines for a distance of two miles. … It is not believed that the chief insurgents wished to open hostilities at that time.”[11]

Studies have since established conclusively that although the Battle of Manila was deliberately brought on by General Otis.  In this context it is worth quoting from one study.  According to Lichauco and Storey’s, The Conquest of the Philippines,

The next day (Feb. 5) General Aguinaldo sent a member of his staff under a flag of truce to interview General Otis and to tell him that the firing of the night before had been against his orders and that he wished to stop further hostilities.  To bring this about he proposed to establish a neutral zone wide enough to keep the opposing armies apart.  But to this request Otis replied that the fighting having begun must go on ‘to the grim end’. This refusal was followed by an attack on the Filipino forces which lasted all day and resulted in killing some three thousand natives.“[12]

The battle was an initial defeat for the Filipinos, but it started a war that lasted until 1913.

The Pacification of the Philippines

At the outset of the fighting, American troops in the Philippines numbered around 40,000, but by 1902 this number had risen to 126,000.  During the first phase of the war, Aguinaldo’s men fought and lost a succession of formal battles against the U.S. Army.  In 1900, however, Aguinaldo abandoned head-on conflicts with the Americans and resorted to the guerrilla warfare tactics that had served him and his men so well against the Spanish.

For all the talk of bringing “civilization” to the Philippines, American commanders responded to the Filipino insurgency with the utmost brutality.  Over the course of the next decade, and especially in the first few years of the conflict, it became commonplace for entire villages to be burned and whole populations to be imprisoned in concentration camps.  No mercy was accorded to Filipino prisoner, a large number of whom were shot.  This certainly was not in keeping with the spirit of “benevolent assimilation” proclaimed by President McKinley.

From Liberators to Killers: American Attitudes Toward Filipinos

The attitudes of American commanders involved in pacifying the Philippines are remarkable for both their disdain for the people they had allegedly “liberated” and their willingness to resort to the most ruthless methods in suppressing resistance. For example, General J.M. Bell, wrote in December 1901:

I am now assembling in the neighborhood of 2,500 men who will be used in columns of about fifty men each.  I take so large a command for the purpose of thoroughly searching each ravine, valley and mountain peak for insurgents and for food, expecting to destroy everything I find outside of towns.  All able bodied men will be killed or captured. … These people need a thrashing to teach them some good common sense; and they should have it for the good of all concerned.[13]

That same month, General Bell issued Circular Order No. 3 to all American commanders in the field:

Batangas, Dec. 9, 1901.

To All Station Commanders:

A general conviction, which the brigade commander shares, appears to exist, that the insurrection in this brigade continues because the greater part of the people, especially the wealthy ones, pretend to desire, but in reality do not want, peace; that, when all really want peace, we can have it promptly. Under such circumstances it is clearly indicated that a policy should be adopted that will as soon as possible make the people want peace, and want it badly.

Commanding officers are urged and enjoined to use their discretion freely in adopting any or all measures of warfare authorized by this order which will contribute, in their judgment, toward enforcing the policy or accomplishing the purpose above announced. … No person should be given credit for loyalty solely on account of his having done nothing for or against us, so far as known. Neutrality should not be tolerated. Every inhabitant of this brigade should either be an active friend or be classed as an enemy….

Another dangerous class of enemies are wealthy sympathizers and contributors, who, though holding no official positions, use all their influence in support of the insurrection, and, while enjoying American protection for themselves, their families and property, secretly aid, protect, and contribute to insurgents. Chief and most important among this class of disloyal persons are native priests.

The same course should be pursued with all of this class; for, to arrest anyone believed to be guilty of giving aid or assistance to the insurrection in any way or of giving food or comfort to the enemies of the government, it is not necessary to wait for sufficient evidence to lead to conviction by a court, but those strongly suspected of complicity with the insurrection may be arrested and confined as a military necessity, and may be held indefinitely as prisoners of war, in the discretion of the station commander or until the receipt of other orders from higher authority. It will frequently be found impossible to obtain any evidence against persons of influence as long as they are at liberty; but, once confined, evidence is easily obtainable.”[14]

Even worse, perhaps, is the fact that the policies instituted by General Bell and other American commanders were endorsed by Secretary of War Elihu Root.  In an amazing letter to the Senate dated May 7, 1902, Root argued that

“The War Department saw no reason to doubt that the policy embodied in the above-mentioned orders was at once the most effective and the most humane which could possibly be followed; and so, indeed, it has proved, guerrilla warfare in Batangas and Laguna and the adjacent regions has been ended, the authority of the United States has been asserted and acquiesced in, and the people who had been collected and protected in the camps of concentration have been permitted to return to their homes and resume their customary pursuits in peace.  The War Department has not disapproved or interfered in any way with the orders giving effect to this policy; but has aided in their enforcement by directing an increase of food supply to the Philippines for the purpose of caring for the natives in the concentration camps.“[15]

Like many of their officers, American troops also showed incredible callousness toward the Philippine civilian population.  A man named Clarence Clowe described the situation as follows in a letter he wrote to Senator Hoar.  The methods employed by American troops against civilians in an effort to find insurgent “arms and ammunition” include torture, beating, and outright killing.

At any time I am liable to be called upon to go out and bind and gag helpless prisoners, to strike them in the face, to knock them down when so bound, to bear them away from wife and children, at their very door, who are shrieking pitifully the while, or kneeling and kissing the hands of our officers, imploring mercy from those who seem not to know what it is, and then, with a crowd of soldiers, hold our helpless victim head downward in a tub of water in his own yard, or bind him hand and foot, attaching ropes to head and feet, and then lowering him into the depths of a well of water till life is well-nigh choked out, and the bitterness of a death is tasted, and our poor, gasping victims ask us for the poor boon of being finished off, in mercy to themselves.

All these things have been done at one time or another by our men, generally in cases of trying to obtain information as to the location of arms and ammunition.

Nor can it be said that there is any general repulsion on the part of the enlisted men to taking part in these doings. I regret to have to say that, on the contrary, the majority of soldiers take a keen delight in them, and rush with joy to the making of this latest development of a Roman holiday.[16]

Another soldier, L. F. Adams, with the Washington regiment, described what he saw after the Battle of Manila on February 4-5, 1899:

In the path of the Washington Regiment and Battery D of the Sixth Artillery there were 1,008 dead niggers, and a great many wounded. We burned all their houses. I don’t know how many men, women, and children the Tennessee boys did kill. They would not take any prisoners.[17]

Similarly, Sergeant Howard McFarland of the 43rd Infantry, wrote to the Fairfield Journal of Maine:

I am now stationed in a small town in charge of twenty-five men, and have a territory of twenty miles to patrol…. At the best, this is a very rich country; and we want it. My way of getting it would be to put a regiment into a skirmish line, and blow every nigger into a nigger heaven. On Thursday, March 29, eighteen of my company killed seventy-five nigger bolo men and ten of the nigger gunners. When we find one that is not dead, we have bayonets.[18]

These methods were condoned by some back at home in the U.S., as exemplified by the statement of a Republican Congressman in 1909:

You never hear of any disturbances in Northern Luzon; and the secret of its pacification is, in my opinion, the secret of pacification of the archipelago.  They never rebel in northern Luzon because there isn’t anybody there to rebel.  The country was marched over and cleaned in a most resolute manner.  The good Lord in heaven only knows the number of Filipinos that were put under ground.  Our soldiers took no prisoners, they kept no records; they simply swept the country, and wherever or whenever they could get hold of a Filipino they killed him.  The women and children were spared, and may now be noticed in disproportionate numbers in that part of the island.[19]

The Example of Samar: A “Howling Wilderness”

Early in the morning on September 28, 1901 the residents of the small village of Balangiga (located in the Samar Province) attacked the men of U.S. Army Company C, Ninth U.S. Infantry, who were stationed in the area.  While the Americans ate breakfast, church bells in the town began to peal.  This was the signal for hundreds of Filipinos armed with machetes and bolos to attack the garrison.  Forty-eight U.S. soldiers, two-thirds of the garrison, were butchered, in what is called the Balangiga Massacre.  Of the Filipinos who attacked, as many as 150 were killed.[20]

American troops began retaliating as soon as the next day by returning to Balangiga in force and burning the now abandoned village.  General Jacob H. Smith, however, sought to punish the entire civilian population of the Samar province.  Arriving in Samar himself toward the end of October, Smith charged Major Littleton Waller with responsibility for punishing the inhabitants of Samar.  Smith issued Waller oral instructions concerning his duties.  These were recounted as follows (see below) in Smith and Waller’s court martial proceedings the following year in 1902.  These proceedings, indeed attention to the entire matter of U.S. Army conduct in the Philippines, were driven by the appearance of an interview with General Smith in the Manila Times on November 4, 1901.  During this interview, Smith confirmed that these had truly been his orders to Major Waller.

“‘I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn: the more you kill and burn, the better you will please me,’ and, further, that he wanted all persons killed who were capable of bearing arms and in actual hostilities against the United States, and did, in reply to a question by Major Waller asking for an age limit, designate the limit as ten years of age. … General Smith did give instructions to Major Waller to ‘kill and burn’ and ‘make Samar a howling wilderness,’ and he admits that he wanted everybody killed capable of bearing arms, and that he did specify all over ten years of age, as the Samar boys of that age were equally as dangerous as their elders.”[21]

Smith carried out his mission by having U.S. troops concentrate the local population into camps and towns.  Areas outside of these camps and towns were designated “dead zones” in which those who were found would be considered insurgents and summarily executed.  Tens of thousands of people were herded into these concentration camps.  Disease was the biggest killer in the camps, although precisely how many lives were lost during Smith’s pacification operations is not known.  For his part, Major Waller reported that over eleven days between the end of October and the middle of November 1901 his men burned 255 dwellings and killed 39 people.  Other officers under Smith’s command reported similar figures.  Concerning the overall number of dead, one scholar estimates that 8,344 people perished between January and April 1902.[22]

The Death Toll of American Occupation

The overall cost in human lives of American actions in the Philippines was horrific.  One scholar has concluded concerning the American occupation that “In the fifteen years that followed the defeat of the Spanish in Manila Bay in 1898, more Filipinos were killed by U.S. forces than by the Spanish in 300 years of colonization. Over 1.5 million died out of a total population of 6 million.”[23]

A detailed estimate of both civilian and American military dead is offered by historian John Gates, who sums up the subject as follows:

“Of some 125,000 Americans who fought in the Islands at one time or another, almost 4,000 died there.  Of the non-Muslim Filipino population, which numbered approximately 6,700,000, at least 34,000 lost their lives as a direct result of the war, and as many as 200,000 may have died as a result of the cholera epidemic at the war’s end. The U. S. Army’s death rate in the Philippine-American War (32/1000) was the equivalent of the nation having lost over 86,000 (of roughly 2,700,000 engaged) during the Vietnam war instead of approximately 58,000 who were lost in that conflict.  For the Filipinos, the loss of 34,000 lives was equivalent to the United States losing over a million people from a population of roughly 250 million, and if the cholera deaths are also attributed to the war, the equivalent death toll for the United States would be over 8,000,000.  This war about which one hears so little was not a minor skirmish.”[24]

Yet another estimate states, “Philippine military deaths are estimated at 20,000 with 16,000 actually counted, while civilian deaths numbered between 250,000 and 1,000,000 Filipinos.  These numbers take into account those killed by war, malnutrition, and a cholera epidemic that raged during the war.”[25]

That U.S. troops slaughtered Filipino civilians out of proportion to the conventions of so-called “formal” warfare was remarked upon during the Senate investigation of the war‘s conduct.  As one official from the War Department estimated,

“The comparative figures of killed and wounded – nearly five killed to one wounded if we take only the official returns — are absolutely convincing. When we examine them in detail and find the returns quoted of many killed and often no wounded, only one conclusion is possible.  In no war where the usages of civilized warfare have been respected has the number of killed approached the number of wounded more nearly than these figures. The rule is generally about five wounded to one killed.  What shall we say of a war where the proportions are reversed?“[26]

INVESTIGATING WAR CRIMES: THE U.S. SENATE INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE

The United States Senate Investigating Committee on the Philippines was convened from January 31, 1902 after word of the Army’s Samar pacification campaign reached Washington via the Manila Times story of November 4, 1901.  Chaired by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, the committee heard testimony concerning crimes that had allegedly been committed by U.S. troops and officers in the Philippines.  The policies behind the U.S. occupation were also examined.

For six months officers and political figures involved in the Philippine adventure, both pro and anti-imperialists, testified as to the brutal nature of American anti-insurgent operations.  Although attempts were made to justify the amount of damage U.S. troops were doing, as well as the number of Filipino lives lost, the evidence provided by several individuals was damning.

Major Cornelius Gardener, for example, a West Point graduate and the U.S. Army’s Provincial Governor of the Tayabas province in the Philippines, submitted the following evidence via letter on April 10, 1902:

“Of late by reason of the conduct of the troops, such as the extensive burning of the barrios in trying to lay waste the country so that the insurgents cannot occupy it, the torturing of natives by so-called water cure and other methods, in order to obtain information, the harsh treatment of natives generally, and the failure of inexperienced, lately appointed Lieutenants commanding posts, to distinguish between those who are friendly and those unfriendly and to treat every native as if he were, whether or no, an insurrection at heart, this favorable sentiment above referred to is being fast destroyed and a deep hatred toward us engendered.

The course now being pursued in this province and in the Provinces of Batangas, Laguna, and Samar is in my opinion sowing the seeds for a perpetual revolution against us hereafter whenever a good opportunity offers. Under present conditions the political situation in this province is slowly retrograding, and the American sentiment is decreasing and we are daily making permanent enemies.”[27]

The letters of American troops home to the U.S. were also introduced as evidence of war crimes.  In this case, a letter written in November 1900 by one Sergeant Riley described an interrogation torture procedure used on Filipino captives:

“Arriving at Igbaras at daylight, we found everything peaceful; but it shortly developed that we were really “treading on a volcano.” The Presidente (or chief), the priest, and another leading man were assembled, and put on the rack of inquiry. The presidente evaded some questions, and was soon bound and given the “water cure“. This was done by throwing him on his back beneath a tank of water and running a stream into his mouth, a man kneading his stomach meanwhile to prevent his drowning. The ordeal proved a tongue-loosener, and the crafty old fellow soon begged for mercy and made full confession. … The presidente was asked for more information, and had to take a second dose of “water cure” before he would divulge.”[28]

Committee proceedings adjourned on June 28, 1902.  For two months after this the legal team presenting evidence for the committee compiled its report.  This report was released on August 29, 1902 under the title Secretary Root’s Record: “Marked Severities” in Philippine Warfare, An Analysis of the Law and Facts Bearing on the Action and Utterances of President Roosevelt and Secretary Root.  The report was a damning indictment of U.S. policy in the Philippines and the almost criminal conduct of the war by War Secretary Elihu Root, who multiple times had expressed support for the extreme measures implemented by the U.S. Army.

Altogether thirteen conclusions were drawn from the evidence, the most significant of which were:

1. That the destruction of Filipino life during the war has been so frightful that it cannot be explained as the result of ordinary civilized warfare.

2. That at the very outset of the war there was strong reason to believe that our troops were ordered by some officers to give no quarter, and that no investigation was had because it was reported by Lieut.-Colonel Crowder that the evidence “would implicate many others,” General Elwell Otis saying that the charge was “not very grievous under the circumstances.”

3. That from that time on, as is shown by the reports of killed and wounded and by direct testimony, the practice continued.

4. That the War Department has never made any earnest effort to investigate charges of this offence or to stop the practice.

5. That from the beginning of the war the practice of burning native towns and villages and laying waste the country has continued.

6. That the Secretary of War never made any attempt to check, or punish this method of war.

7. That from a very early day torture has been employed systematically to obtain information.

8. That no one has ever been seriously punished for this, and that since the first officers were reprimanded for hanging up prisoners no one has been punished at all until Major Glenn, in obedience to an imperative public sentiment, was tried for one of many offences, and received a farcical sentence.

9. That the Secretary of War never made any attempt to stop this barbarous practice while the war was in progress.

11. That the statements of Mr. Root’s, whether as to the origin of the war, its progress, or the methods by which it has been prosecuted, have been untrue.

12. That Mr. Root has shown a desire not to investigate, and, on the other hand, to conceal the truth touching the war and to shield the guilty, and by censorship and otherwise has largely succeeded.

13. That Mr. Root, then, is the real defendant in this case. The responsibility for what has disgraced the American name lies at his door. He is conspicuously the person to be investigated. The records of the War Department should be laid bare, that we may see what orders, what cablegrams, what reports, are there. His standard of humanity, his attitude toward witnesses, the position which he has taken, the statements which he has made, all prove that he is the last person to be charged with the duty of investigating charges which, if proved, recoil on him.”[29]

LINKS

Chronology of the Spanish-American War

The Philippine-American War

The Balangiga Massacre

The Burning of Samar

The Philippine Revolution

The Philippine-American War

Biography of Emilio Aguinaldo

Emilio Aguinaldo and the Philippine Revolution

Biography of Admiral George Dewey

History of the Lodge Committee

ONLINE READINGS (DOCUMENTS AND STUDIES)

William McKinley On Why the U.S. Should Take the Philippines

The “Benevolent Assimilation” Proclamation of President Wm. McKinley, December 21, 1898

Secretary Root’s Record: “Marked Severities” in Philippine Warfare

Letters from American Soldiers During the Philippines War

The Anti-Imperialist League, “Soldiers’ Letters: Being Materials for the History of a War of Criminal Aggression” (1899)

John Gates, The U.S. Army and Irregular Warfare, Chapter 3, “The Pacification of the Philippines”

Sean McEnroe, “Painting the Philippines with an American Brush: Visions of Race and National Mission Among Oregon Volunteers”

Apolinario Mabini, The Philippine Revolution
A history of the revolution from one of its participants.

Don Emilio Aguinaldo, True Version of The Philippine Revolution
A history of the Philippine Revolution written by the President of the Philippine Republic.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • John M. Gates, Schoolbooks and Krags: The U.S. Army in the Philippines, 1898-1902 (Westport, 1973).
  • John M. Gates, “The Pacification of the Philippines, 1898-1902,” in Joe E. Dixon, ed., The American Military in the Far East: Proceedings of the 9th Military History Symposium, U.S. Air Force Academy (Washington D.C.,1982).
  • Moorefield Storey and Julian Codman, Secretary Root’s Record: “Marked Severities” in Philippine Warfare (Boston, 1902), 11.
  • Marcial P. Lichauco and Moorfield Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925 (NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1926.
  • Richard E. Welch, Jr., “American Atrocities in the Philippines: The Indictment and the Response,” Pacific Historical Review, 43 (1974).
  • Stanley Karnow, In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines (New York, 1989).
  • Brian McAllister Linn, The U.S. Army and Counterinsurgency in the Philippine War, 1899-1902 (Chapel Hill, 1989).
  • Peter W. Stanley, A Nation in the Making: The Philippines and the United States, 1899-1921 (Cambridge, Mass., 1974).
  • Stuart Creighton Miller, “Benevolent Assimilation”: The American Conquest of the Philippines, 1899–1903 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982).
  • Angel Velasco Shaw, Vestiges of War: The Philippine-American War and the Aftermath of an Imperial Dream, 1899–1999. (New York, 2002).

NOTES

1) Marcial P. Lichauco and Moorfield Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925 (NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1926), pp. 36f.

2) Lichauco and Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925, p. 46.

3) Lichauco and Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925, p. 47.

4) Lichauco and Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925, p. 47.

5) Lichauco and Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925, p. 48.

6) Lichauco and Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925, p. 51.

7) Lichauco and Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925, p. 70.

8) President McKinley Defends U.S. Expansionism

9) PBS: War in the Philippines

10) The “Benevolent Assimilation” Proclamation of President Wm. McKinley, December 21, 1898

11) Lichauco and Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925, p. 92.

12) Lichauco and Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925, p. 93.

13) Lichauco and Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925, p. 120.

14) “The Orders of Bell and Smith” from Secretary Root’s Record

15) “Secretary Root Approved this Policy” from Secretary Root’s Record

16) “The Orders of Bell and Smith” from Secretary Root’s Record

17) “The First Reports of Cruelty” from Secretary Root’s Record

18) “The First Reports of Cruelty” from Secretary Root’s Record

19) Lichauco and Storey, The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States, 1898-1925, p. 120.

20) “The History of Samar” from Secretary Root’s Record

21) “The History of Samar” from Secretary Root’s Record

22) The Burning of Samar and The Balangiga Massacre

23) The Philippine-American War, See Note 1

24) John Gates, The U.S. Army and Irregular Warfare, Chapter 3, “The Pacification of the Philippines”

25) The Philippine-American War

26) “Evidence from Statistics as to Killing Wounded Men and Prisoners” from Secretary Root’s Record

27) See The Lodge Committee and The U.S. Senate Committee on the Philippines

28) Lodge Committee Report Summary: Secretary Root’s Record of “Marked Severities” in Philippine Warfare

29) Secretary Root’s Record: “Marked Severities” in Philippine Warfare
]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3145 0 Books: Books on America and the Philippine Moros by Robert A. Fulton https://mandirigma.org/?p=3022 https://mandirigma.org/?p=3022#respond Thu, 28 Jan 2016 09:14:54 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=3022 Books on America and the Moros by Robert A. Fulton

http://www.morolandhistory.com/Books_page/Book_Page.htm

 

perf6.000x9.000.indd

 

 

 

Released January 15, 2012

    The Battle of Bud Dajo took place over three days, March 5-8, 1906. It pitted the U.S. Army. U.S. Navy, and the Philippine Constabulary against 800-1,000 dissident Muslims who had fortified the top of a rugged, 2,175 feet high dormant volcano on the island of Jolo in the southern Philippine Islands. Although beginning as a genuine military contest, it ended as a tragic and terrible, one-sided massacre, with no more than a small and pitiful handful of the Muslims left alive. 

    Although lesser known. It ranks beside such infamous names as “Sand Creek” (1864), “Wounded Knee”(1890), and “My Lai” (1968) as one of the darkest, bloodiest, and most controversial episodes in America’s long and troubled history of deadly encounters with indigenous peoples.

    More than just a straightforward account of an epic fight on a spectacular mountain, it is also the story of a second and equally vicious donnybrook within the nations’ press and on the floor of Congress to comprehend what had actually occurred on that remote field of battle and why. At stake were the careers of one the most well known soldiers of the early 20th Century, General Leonard Wood, former commanding officer of the famed Spanish-American War cavalry regiment, the Rough Riders. Also risk was a future President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, William Howard Taft, as well as the reputation of one of the country’s most popular Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt.

    But there is also a mystery here. The real story of what happened would remain buried for more than another century. Why? Was there a deliberate, and successful, cover up? If the real facts had come to light sooner, would it have mattered? Could it have impacted the course of American history? Is there a lesson to take away here, or at least a warning?

    HONOR FOR THE FLAG is based on path finding research into the original files, which was first published in 2007 my book MOROLAND; but it is much broader in scope and not only narrates a reliable account of the battle itself but how it rapidly evolved into a contentious and divisive debate over the moral basis of American intervention in foreign lands.

    200 pages, including 72 photographs and illustrations.

To see reviews and purchase, click on the web links below:

  PRINT - @ Amazon.com     KINDLE - @ Amazon.com

NOOK - @ Barnes & Noble.com

MOROLAND_cvr

Moroland is the lost history of the once-famed struggle between the United States Army and the “wild” Moros, the Muslims of the southern Philippine islands. Lasting over two decades, it was this country’s first sustained encounter with a volatile mixture of nation building, insurgency, counterinsurgency, and militant Islamism.

    An unanticipated byproduct of the Spanish-American War, the task of subduing and then “civilizing” the “Land of the Moros” was delegated to the U.S. Army. Working through the traditional ruling hierarchy and respecting an ancient system of laws based on the Qur’an, Moro Province became an autonomous, military-governed Islamic colony within a much larger, overwhelmingly Christian territory, the Philippine Islands.

    An initially successful occupation, it transitioned to a grand experiment: an audacious plan to transform and remake Moro society, values, and culture in an American image; placing the Moros on an uncertain and ill-defined path towards inclusion in an eventual Western-style democracy. But the Moros reacted with obstinate and unyielding resistance to what they perceived as a deliberate attack on the religion of Islam and a way of life ordained by God. This ignited a constant stream of battles and expeditions known in U.S. Army history as the Moro Campaigns and lasting more than a decade. In violence and ferocity they may have equaled, if not surpassed, the more famous late-19th Century Indian Wars of the Great Plains. It also led to the creation of the fabled Moro Constabulary, small contingents of native troops led by American, European, and Filipino officers.

    The backdrop is a bustling, raucous, newly-prosperous nation finding its way as a world and imperial power. But with this new-found status came a near-religious belief that the active spread of America’s institutions, values, and form of government, even when achieved through coercion or force, would create a better world. A subtext is a deep and bitter rivalry between two of its most prominent players, Captain John J. Pershing and General Leonard Wood, born only one month apart, each championing markedly opposed military philosophies. Eventually they would compete to lead one-million American “doughboys” into the cauldron of the world’s first Great War.

    Few Americans are aware that a century later the U.S. military has quietly returned to Moroland, to battle “radical Islamist terrorism”; using Army Green Berets, Navy Seals, and other elite forces. It is the smallest of the active fronts of the “global war on terror” and the least-covered or critically examined. It leads the reader to an obvious question: are we avoiding or are we repeating our own past?

    524 pages. Originally published 2007, revised in 2009 to add six new chapters.

To see reviews and purchase, click on the web links below:

PRINT - @ Amazon.com                    PRINT - @ Barnes & Noble.com

KINDLE - @ Amazon.com                    NOOK - @ Barnes & Noble.com

For iPad or Sony Reader users:

Neither book is currently available from iTunes Books or the Sony ePub format. However you can download Free Readers by clicking on one of the links below and then purchasing either the Kindle or Nook eBook:

  KINDLE - @ Amazon.com                    NOOK - @ Barnes & Noble.com

Notice: For persons who own the earlier, 2007 edition, Moroland 1899-1906: America’s First Attempt to Transform an Islamic Society, you can obtain a PDF file of the eight chapters added to the new 2009 edition without charge by sending your mailing address to  mail101@morolandhistory.com.

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=3022 0 Book: The Ordeal of Samar. Schott, Joseph L. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1964. https://mandirigma.org/?p=2709 https://mandirigma.org/?p=2709#respond Sun, 26 Apr 2015 05:30:35 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=2709 Kali Arnis Eskrima Escrima mandirigma.org mandirigma dino flores

 

 

eskrimadoKali Arnis Eskrima Escrima mandirigma philippines

 

The Ordeal of Samar. Schott, Joseph L. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1964. Hardcover, 302 pages, b&w photographs, index. A chronicle of the Philippine insurrection against American troops immediately after the Spanish American War, and of the sensational court martial that changed history.

“The Balangiga massacre was an incident in 1901 in the town of the same name during the Philippine–American War. It initially referred to the killing of about 48 members of the US 9th Infantry by the townspeople allegedly augmented by guerrillas in the town of Balangiga on Samar Island during an attack on September 28 of that year. In the 1960s Filipino nationalists applied it to the retaliatory measures taken on the island. This incident was described as the United States Army’s worst defeat since the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. Filipinos regard the attack as one of their bravest acts in the war.” – Wikipedia

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=2709 0 Book: HANG THE DOGS: THE TRUE TRAGIC HISTORY OF THE BALANGIGA MASSACRE https://mandirigma.org/?p=2717 https://mandirigma.org/?p=2717#respond Sat, 28 Mar 2015 08:48:25 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=2717 Book Review
IN-DEPTH AND INFORMATIVE
By Quintin L. Doroquez

 

Original article at : http://gugma.samarnews.net/articles/article8.htm

 

escrima kali arnis philippines luzon visayas mindanao FMA eskrimador, dino flores, mandirigma.org

 

HANG THE DOGS: THE TRUE TRAGIC HISTORY OF THE BALANGIGA MASSACRE

BOB COUTTIE
New Day Publishers
Quezon City, Philippines

California Distributor:
Philippine Expressions
Mail Order Bookshop
$24.95 (paper, 462 pages)

Hang The Dogs: The True Tragic History of the Balangiga Massacre is quite an intriguing title of a serious book. If the book, or any book for that matter on related title, were set in or were about the British Isles, where the author is originally from, it may outright invite distaste on sight from animal lovers of which Britons mostly are.

Hang the dogs — that’s quite a harsh “edict”, coming as it does from a third party (the author) if addressed to a particular party or group alone involved.

However, Bob Couttie’s edict, if we call the title of his book on the Balangiga Incident as such, is an aphorism directed to the party that did something wrong, the party that should make amend. And in the Balangiga Incident both parties — the Americans and the Filipinos, to varying degrees — do need to make amend.

In war the two sides, combatants if you will, try to outwit or beat one another. Hence, one side tries to “hang” the other in order to prevail. Whichever side has the upper hand takes the other side as a bunch of dogs to be hung — “massacred” — as did (according to historical accounts) the natives of Balangiga on 28 September 1901, if that is the most possible way to achieve what one or the party involved had set out to accomplish. Even scorch and turn a big island into a howling wilderness, as did the Americans to the island of Samar, in the Philippines, in revenge after the Balangiga Incident.

The Balangiga Incident took place over a century ago. Therefore, the author’s imperative is now merely a gesture to catch a prospective reader’s attention on a commodity in print — a book.

But “hang”, which apparently is the author’s metaphor for what amounts to kill, destroy, rid, or devour a century ago in war, is all the same throughout the ages. It still is — to varying degrees. If Bob Couttie were to write a book on the war in Iraq, one could fairly anticipate his title, Strip the Dogs Naked: The True Tragic Story Behind Misled Intelligence. Something of the sort. The facts then emerge. He will portray, with unassailable proof, as he did on Balangiga, that those stripping the dogs naked, whether in a prison or elsewhere in high places of government are themselves dogs, and more.

In Hang The Dogs the author actually turns out to be the one hanging the “canines”. He exposes, with unimpeachable evidence, the cravings of the Americans and the Filipinos to devour each other — the Americans in their lust to create an empire, the Filipinos to resist and prevent being shamed. The “awod” (a local term for shame) factor was overriding among the Filipinos in Balangiga. Bob Couttie does not fail to point this out.

So much about the title.

Written largely in lean prose, the book is cool. Easy to read. It is the product of a ten-year assiduous research — possibly the most exhaustive work on the Balangiga Incident thus far, and will remain so for sometime if ever surpassed. Yet still, ironically, at some point the author hedges for want of more facts that he stipulates must be somewhere in some repositories.

The book provides a reasonably adequate background of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, as it does of the history of the island of Samar itself where the town of Balangiga, the epicenter of the book, is located. Here and beyond, the author discusses the ferment that led a people to rise in rebellion. Adequately given this background, the author takes the reader quickly to the Philippine-American War.

Of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, of interest is the account — for some reason largely unknown even to many in the Philippines who claim to have good college education — about the death of Andres Bonifacio, the founder of the secret organization Katipunan that advocated armed struggle against Spain. The author leaves little doubt that Philippine history books — which Philippine students studied (under ill-prepared so-called professors) in some allegedly reputable schools, particularly in the decades of the ‘60s through the mid ‘80s — had the truth swept under the rug. That is of course the period largely of the Marcosian era. And whoever may dispute Bob Couttie’s facts only exposes her/his inadequacy or ignorance.

The author candidly discusses the sad event leading to the execution of the Katipunan’s “Supremo”, the title that the founder of the secret organization had chosen for himself. The next scenario becomes predictable, the emergence of Emilio Aguinaldo, Bonifacio’s rival who displayed considerable talent early in his military career, as an undisputed military and civilian leader of a people who for over three centuries had yearned for freedom. The unfurling of a full-blown revolution inevitably arrived with Aguinaldo on the center stage.

Hang The Dogs meticulously examines the events and motives behind the truce, better known as the Pact of Biak-ana-Bato, in the revolution against Spain. It was a truce neither side fully intended to honor. Each side was merely buying time in order to resume hostilities at an opportune, hopefully not-so-distant, future time. When the Spanish authorities in Manila reneged full payment of the sum promised, the revolutionaries, who agreed to go on exile to Hongkong under Aguinaldo, started buying arms with the partial amount they received while at the same time unsuspectingly courting help from America through her functionaries in the Far East. Being at war then with Spain and who had a grandiose design for a ward in the Orient, America was inauspiciously eager go help.

The book narrates the alleged deals entered into between the Americans and the revolutionaries that found Aguinaldo back in the Philippines resuming the revolution against Spain. Such deals, in the American perspective, weakened Spain’s ability to wage war against a neighbor, Cuba, who herself was fighting the Spaniards also to win independence. However, in the perspective of the Filipinos, America was helping Aguinaldo win independence from Spain. This was not the case, Hang The Dogs delineates.

The false promises given — perfidies, if you will — by the Americans to the revolutionaries set the stage for confrontation. The author makes it clear the Filipinos were dealing with the wrong American representatives who deceptively made it appear they were the right authorities. The intransigence of both sides, upon discovery of what many would now call deceptions on the side of the Americans, was feverish. The Americans, already assured by Spain secretly of a real estate in the Orient called Filipinas, were more steadfast. The Filipinos, although recognizing their inferior arms and absence of foreign support, set their feet dug-in nevertheless on the ground. The whole episode exploded on the first week of February 1899 into what is called the Philippine-American War. The road to Balangiga (to Catubig, Quinapundan, and elsewhere) in Samar was laid, the trap for disaster set.

Along with other factors, the Filipinos could not win that war against the superiority of men and material of the Americans in those days, the author makes it clear. Predictably that war ended upon Aguinaldo’s capture in a ruse at Palanan, Isabela, on March 23, 1901. However, hostilities, to the credit of the Samarnon fighters under General Lukban via Balangiga, etc., did not formally end until only 10 days short — September 18, 1902 — of the first anniversary of the Balangiga Incident. On that date General Lukban gave up, becoming the last general of the Philippine-American War to surrender.

On Aguinaldo and the collapse of the Filipino struggle against the Americans, Bob Couttie also writes:

“Indeed, while Aguinaldo’s capture can be laid at the door of a single Filipino collaborator, the failure of the Filipinos to win their independence against a more modern force, as happened in Vietnam many years later, should be placed at the door of those who made colonialization [sic] by America a more attractive proposition than tyranny of their own people.”

In the foregoing analogy, the author, while in part correct, has his rare lapse of logic. He neglects to qualify his assertion that in the case of Vietnam, China and the then mighty U.S.S.R., all foreign powers, supplied the guerilla fighters with their fighting “implements”, including some components of their booby traps. Whereas the Filipinos, borne out by an industrial base that did not exist, merely availed themselves with the arms they could provide through crude, inadequate, local manufacture and whatever meager quantity they could procure from elicit foreign sources, in addition to those they captured from the enemy in the battlefield. They sought aid from Japan, then already a powerful neighbor, but in vain. Apart from but coincidental with France, Russia, and Germany, she had her own design.

On the other hand, the author does not overlook the fact that Aguinaldo (but only out of extreme necessity and too late in the Philippine-American War) introduced a first in any military struggle, his “flying column” tactic which is nothing but the guerilla warfare.

In the guerilla warfare that the author alluded to with the less modern arms of the Vietnamese, the Filipinos were in the cutting edge of the military strategy as already seen, heretofore then unproven against a powerful foreign military, in the same manner that they were in the cutting edge in establishing the first democratic republic in Asia. Whereas, the Vietnamese employed it — i.e., the guerilla warfare — after Aguinaldo and Lukban prototyped it and refashioned to perfection in the 1930s through the early 1940s by Mao Zedong in his struggle against the Chiang Kai- shek’s Kuomintang.

Bob Couttie appropriately depicts the cultural aspect that served as the underpinning of the resentment on the side of the community at Balangiga against the Americans. Under Lukban, a leader gifted with military talent of some measure, the Balagiganons rose to the challenge of the occasion. They did not turn away from the bloodshed that they knew could not be avoided.

Many commentators early on, especially American pundits, had called the incident at Balangiga a massacre, with a strong connotation of being immoral because of the sneak attack. Some still do. The fact is that it was not a massacre in the immoral sense like if the victims were sleeping. And even if they were, the American soldiers primarily responsible for the collapse of security could only have been court-martialed for negligence considering they were at war. The assault took place in broad daylight with the sentries of the Americans in place. If what happened was a massacre, then all acts of war involving surprise — commando raids, for example — are immoral, including Col. Funston’s disguised capture of General Aguinaldo.

Of course in the case of the Balangiga Incident there were no more soldiers to court-martial. Virtually all were wiped out.

But “surprise” per se is a vital factor to a successful military operation which a commander would readily resort to whenever possible. The late Fleet Admiral Nimitz, one of the greatest naval commanders the U.S. had produced in WWII, had a nine-point formula for a successful military operation. Number five of them is “surprise”. To him the Balangiga Incident was not a massacre; it was a “rout” (unwritten portion, interview with this reviewer, August 22, 1964).

That the author of Hang The Dogs pays attention with reasonable details to the preparation of the local populace and assiduously portrays the awry of the fighting should settle the question many had posed on whether the Americans were justified in their unmeasured revenge, the wanton killing and the razing of Samar that followed.

The taking of the Balangiga bells is an interesting aftermath of the incident. Filipinos are passionately longing to get them back. They would even settle just for one. Hang The Dogs discusses the legal let alone the ethical bases of the Filipinos’ right to get the bells back and the Americans’ lack of it to keep what they claim to be war booty.

Negotiation for the return of the bells had been tried for so long but to no avail thus far. This purports to show also that even through diplomacy, which the Filipinos have resorted to even with bended knees, might still dictates the terms. Hang The Dogs clearly implies America is too powerful as to arrogate by ignoring the helpless Filipinos.

Congratulations to the author for a good book and a job well done. # # #

________________

Note: In the copy this reviewer got most of the entries in the index cannot be referenced to the indicated pages.

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=2717 0 The PBS Film: Crucible of Empire – The Spanish American War https://mandirigma.org/?p=2384 https://mandirigma.org/?p=2384#respond Thu, 22 May 2014 11:32:09 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=2384  Aginaldo

Katipunero

The PBS Film: Crucible of Empire – The Spanish American War

 

One hundred years ago, United States celebrated victory in the Spanish-American War. Popular songs and headlines popularized Commodore Dewey’s victories at sea and Theodore Roosevelt’s ride up Kettle Hill. Although the Spanish-American War sparked unprecedented levels of patriotism and confidence, the defeat of the Spanish also raised new questions about the nation’s role as a world power.

CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE: THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, narrated by award-winning actor Edward James Olmos, examines the colorful characters and historic events surrounding this 100-year-old war and its relevance to the twentieth century. When a declining Spain, beset by rebellion abroad, fell to American expansionism, the United States inherited her colonies and suddenly emerged as a world power. The experience and questions that the Spanish-American War raised about foreign intervention echo throughout the 20th century—as recent events in Kosovo show. Even in its own time, the war with Spain was understood as a turning point in American history.

As the twentieth century ends, it is instructive to note the complexities and significance of this very brief war that began this century. In the words of noted historian Walter LaFeber, “The 1898 war literally as well as chronologically ushered in the United States as a major shaper, soon the major shaper, of twentieth-century world politics and commerce.” In the process, it also unified a nation still embittered by Civil War divisions; debuted the media in its role as catalyst of U.S. intervention; built up the navy and inspired a re-evaluation of the army; and vastly broadened the powers of the president in wartime and foreign affairs. Clearly, the Spanish-American War was more than the war that ended the nineteenth century; it was also the war that launched the American century.

Using original footage and period photographs, newspaper headlines, more than a dozen popular songs from the 1890s, and interviews with some of America’s most prominent historians, CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE tells how issues of race, economy, technology, yellow journalism, and public opinion propelled America into this war. Four 1990s Senators bring to life the 1899 Senate debate on imperialism: Patrick Leahy (VT), Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Paul Simon (IL), and Alan Simpson (WY). The film also features Larry Linville (Major Frank “Ferret Face” Burns of “M*A*S*H”) as the voice of Rough Rider Theodore Roosevelt, Laurence Luckinbill as President William McKinley, and Lou Diamond Phillips as Philippine revolutionary Emilio Aguinaldo.

Continue reading at: http://www.pbs.org/crucible/film.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g8NpQsmxj4

http://youtu.be/8g8NpQsmxj4

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=2384 0 Some of the Combat, Massacres,Rebellions, Disputes And Calamities of the Philippine Islands according to the book “The Inhabitants of the Philippines” By Frederic H. Sawyer. 1900 https://mandirigma.org/?p=2095 https://mandirigma.org/?p=2095#respond Sun, 03 Nov 2013 12:14:25 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=2095 Some of the Combat, Massacres, Rebellions, Disputes And Calamities of the Philippine Islands.

according to the Book_

 

The Inhabitants of the Philippines

By

Frederic H. Sawyer

Memb. Inst. C.E., Memb. Inst. N.A.

London

Sampson Low, Marston and Company Limited

St. Dunstan’s House

Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C.

1900

 

 

Some of the Combat, Massacres, Rebellions, Disputes And Calamities of the Philippine Islands.

 

1521. Magellan and several of his followers killed in action by the natives of Mactan, near Cebú; Juan Serrano and many other Spaniards treacherously killed by Hamabar, King of Cebú.
1525. Salazar fights the Portuguese off Mindanao, and suffers great losses in ships and men.
1568. Legaspi’s expedition attacked in Cebú by a Portuguese fleet, which was repulsed.
1570. Legaspi founds the city of Cebú, with the assistance of the Augustinians.
1571. Legaspi founds the city of Manila, with the assistance of the Augustinians.
1572. Juan Salcedo fights the Datto of Zambales, and delivers his subjects from oppression.
1574. Siege of Manila by the Chinese pirate Li-ma-hon with 95 small vessels and 2000 men. The Spaniards and natives repulse the attack. The pirates retire to Pangasinan, and are attacked and destroyed by Juan Salcedo.
1577. War against Mindanao and Joló, parts of which are occupied. Disputes between the missionaries and the military officers who desire to enrich themselves by enslaving the natives, which the former stoutly oppose, desiring to convert them, and grant them exemption from taxes according to the “Leyes de Indias.” They considered the cupidity of the soldiers as the chief obstacle to the conversion of the heathen. The Crown decided in favour of the natives, but they did not derive all the benefits they were entitled to, as the humane laws were not respected by the governors.
The Franciscans arrived in Manila.
1580. Expedition sent by Gonzalo Ronquillo to Borneo to assist King Sirela.
1581. Expedition sent by the same to Cagayan to expel a Japanese corsair who had established himself there. The expedition succeeded, but with heavy loss.
Expedition against the Igorrotes to get possession of the gold-mines, but without success.
The Jesuits arrive in Manila.
1582. Expedition against the Molucas, under Sebastian Ronquillo.[390]An epidemic destroyed two-thirds of the expedition, which returned without accomplishing anything.
Great disputes between the encomenderos and the friars in consequence of the ill-treatment of the natives by the former. Dissensions between the Bishop of Manila and the friars who refused to submit to his diocesan visit.
Manila burnt down.
1584. Second expedition against the Molucas, with no better luck than the first.
Rebellion of the Pampangos and Manila men, assisted by some Mahometans from Borneo. Combat between the English pirate, Thomas Schadesh, and Spanish vessels.
Combat between the English adventurer Thomas Cavendish (afterwards Sir Thomas), and Spanish vessels.
1587. The Dominicans arrive in Manila.
1589. Rebellion in Cagayan and other provinces.
1593. Third expedition against the Molucas under Gomez Perez Dasmariñias. He had with him in his galley 80 Spaniards and 250 Chinese galley-slaves. In consequence of contrary winds, his vessel put into a port near Batangas for shelter. In the silence of the night, when the Spaniards were asleep, the galley-slaves arose and killed them all except a Franciscan friar and a secretary. Dasmariñias built the castle of Santiago, and fortified Manila with stone walls, cast a large number of guns, and established the college of Sta. Potenciana.
1596. The galleon which left Manila for Acapulco with rich merchandise, was obliged to enter a Japanese port by stress of weather, and was seized by the Japanese authorities. The crew were barbarously put to death.
1597. Expedition of Luis Perez Dasmariñias against Cambodia, which gained no advantage.
1598. The Audiencia re-established in Manila, and the bishopric raised to an archbishopric.
Expedition against Mindanao and Joló, the people from which were committing great devastations in Visayas, taking hundreds of captives.
Much fighting, and many killed on both sides, without any definite result.
1599. Destructive earthquake in Manila and neighbourhood.
1600. Great sea combat between four Spanish ships, commanded by Judge Morga, and two Dutch pirates. One of the Dutchmen was taken, but the other escaped.
Another destructive earthquake on January 7th, and one less violent, but long, in November.
1603. Conspiracy of Eng-Cang and the Chinese against the Spaniards. The Chinese entrench themselves near Manila; Luis Perez Dasmariñias marches against them with 130 Spaniards. They were all killed and decapitated by the Chinese, who then besieged Manila, and attempted to take it by assault. Being repulsed by the Spaniards, all of whom, including the friars, took up arms, they retired to their entrenchments. They were ultimately defeated, and 23,000 of them were massacred. Only 100 were left alive, and these were sent to the galleys as slaves.[391]
1606. The Recollets arrive in Manila.
Fourth expedition against the Molucas. Pedro de Acuña, having received a reinforcement of 800 men—Mexicans and Peruvians—attacked and took Ternate, Tidore, Marotoy and Herrao, with all their artillery and provisions. He left 700 men in garrison there, and returned to Manila, dying a few days after his arrival. The Augustinians furnished a galleon for this expedition. It was commanded by the Rev. Father Antonio Flores.
1607. Revolt of the Japanese living in and near Manila, and heavy losses on both sides.
1609. Arrival of Juan de Silva with five companies of Mexican and Peruvian infantry. Attack on Manila by a Dutch squadron of five vessels. They were beaten off with the loss of three of their ships.
1610. Unsuccessful expedition against Java. This was to have been a combined attack on the Dutch by Portuguese and Spaniards, but the Spanish squadron did not arrive in time to join their allies, who were beaten by the Dutch fleet in the Straits of Malacca.
Terrific earthquake in Manila and the eastern provinces.
1616. Violent eruption of the Mayon volcano.
1622. Revolt of the natives in Bohol, Leyte and Cagayan, which were easily suppressed.
1624. The Dutch landed on Corregidor Island, but were beaten off.
1627. August. Great earthquake.
1628. Destructive earthquake in Camarines.
1638. Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera makes an attack on the Moros of Mindanao, and conquers the Sultanate of Buhayen and island of Basilan. He also defeats the Joloans.
1639. Insurrection of Chinese in the province of Laguna and in Manila. Out of 30,000, 7000 ultimately surrendered. All the rest were massacred by the Tagals.
1640. The Dutch attacked the Spanish garrisons in Mindanao and Joló. The governor-general, fearing they might attack Manila, withdrew the garrisons from the above places to strengthen his own defences, thus leaving the Moros masters of both islands.
1641. Eruption of the Taal volcano. Violent earthquake in Ilocos.
1645. The Dutch attacked Cavite and other ports, but were repulsed.
Rebellion of the Moros in Joló, and of the natives of Cebú and other provinces, who were oppressed by forced labour in building vessels, and other services.
In these years there were great disputes between the Spaniards of the capital and the friars.
Great earthquake in Manila, 30th November, called St. Andrew’s earthquake.
1646. Long series of strong earthquakes, which began in March with violent shocks, and lasted for sixty days.
1648. Great earthquakes in Manila.
1653. Great devastations by the Moros of Mindanao, which were severely punished.
Rebellion in Pampanga and Pangasinan against being forced to cut timber gratuitously for the navy. Suppressed after a serious resistance.[392]
1658. Destructive earthquake in Manila and Cavite.
1662. The Chinese pirate, Cong-seng, demands tribute from the Governor of the Philippines. A decree is issued ordering all Chinamen to leave the Philippines. The Chinese entrench themselves in the Parian, and resist. Thousands were killed, and 2000 who marched into Pampanga were all massacred by the natives.
Great troubles occurred between the governor, Diego de Salcedo, and the archbishop.
1665. 19th June, violent and destructive earthquake in Manila.
1669. During the government of Manuel de Leon, further troubles occurred between the archbishop and the Audiencia. The archbishop was banished, and sent by force to Pangasinan. But a new governor, Gabriel de Cruzalegui, arrived, and restored the archbishop, who excommunicated the dean and chapter.
1675. Destructive earthquake in South Luzon and Mindoro.
1683. Great earthquake in Manila.
1689. Archbishop Pardo having died, was succeeded by P. Camacho, and now great disorders arose from his insisting on making the diocesan visit, which the friars refused to receive, and would only be visited by their own Provincial. Again Judge Sierra required the Augustinians and Dominicans to present the titles of the estates they possessed in virtue of a special commission he had brought from Madrid, which they refused to obey, and the end of the dispute was that Sierra was sent back to Mexico, and another commissioner, a friend of the friars, was appointed, to whom they unofficially exhibited the titles.
1716. Destructive eruption of the Taal volcano, and violent earthquake in Manila.
1717. Fernando Bustillo Bustamente became governor, and re-established garrisons in Zamboanga and Paragua. He caused various persons who had embezzled the funds of the colony to restore them, imprisoning a corrupt judge. He was assassinated by the criminals he had punished, and nothing came of the inquiry into his death.
1735. Earthquake in Baler, and tidal wave.
At this time, the audacity of the Moro pirates was incredible. They ravaged the Visayas and southern Luzon, and carried away the inhabitants by thousands for slaves. The natives began to desert the coast, and take to the interior. Pedro Manuel de Arandia, obeying repeated orders, decreed the expulsion of the Chinese.
1744. Another rising in Bohol, due to the tyranny of a Jesuit priest named Morales. The chief of this rising was a native named Dagohoy, who put the Jesuit to death, and maintained the independence of Bohol, paying no tribute for thirty-five years. When the Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines, Recollets were sent to Bohol, and the natives submitted on receiving a free pardon.
1749. Eruption of the Taal volcano, and earthquake in Manila. The eruption lasted for twenty days.
1754. Violent eruption of the Taal volcano, which began on 15th May,[393]and lasted till the end of November. This was accompanied by earthquakes, an inundation, terrifying electrical discharges, and destructive storms. The ashes darkened the country for miles round, even as far as Manila. When the eruption ceased, the stench was dreadful, and the sea and lake threw up quantities of dead fish and alligators. A malignant fever burst out, which carried off vast numbers of the population round about the volcano.
1762. A British squadron, with troops from India, arrived in the bay 22nd September, and landed the forces near the powder-magazine of S. Antonio Abad. On the 24th, the city was bombarded. The Spaniards sent out 2000 Pampangos to attack the British, but they were repulsed with great slaughter, and ran away to their own country.
The civil population of Manila were decidedly in favour of resisting to the last drop of the soldiers’ blood; but the soldiers were not at all anxious for this. Confusion arose in the city, and whilst recriminations were in progress, the British took the city by assault, meeting only a half-hearted resistance.
The natives immediately began plundering, and were turned out of the city by General Draper. The Chinese also joined in the robbery, and a few were hanged in consequence. The city was pillaged. The British regiments are said to have behaved well, but the sepoys ravished the women, and killed many natives.
Cavite was about to be surrendered, but as soon as the native troops there knew what was going on, they began at once to plunder the town and arsenal.
1763. A British expedition sailing in small craft took possession of Malolos on January 19th, 1763. The Augustin and Franciscan friars took arms to defend Bulacan, where two of them were killed in action.
It was said that the Chinese were conspiring to exterminate the Spaniards. Simon de Anda, the chief of the war-party amongst the Spaniards, issued an order that all the Chinese in the Philippines should be hanged, and this order was in a great measure carried out. This was the fourth time the Spaniards and natives exterminated the Chinese in the Philippines.
Peace having been made in Europe, the British evacuated Manila in March, 1774.
In order to satisfy their vanity, and account for the easy victory of the British, the Spaniards made various accusations of treachery against a brave Frenchman named Falles, and a Mexican, Santiago de Orendain. Both those men gallantly led columns of Pampangos against the British lines in the sortie before mentioned. Although the Pampangos, full of presumption, boldly advanced against the British and sepoys, they were no match for disciplined troops led by British officers, and were hurled back at the point of the bayonet. The inevitable defeat and rout was made a pretext for the infamous charges against their leaders. It may be asked, Was there no Spaniard brave enough to lead the[394]sorties, that a Frenchman and a Mexican were obliged to take command?
The Spaniards in this campaign showed themselves more at home in making proclamations, accusations, and intriguing against each other, than in fighting. However, the friars are exempt from this reproach, for Augustinians, Dominicans and Franciscans, fought and died, and shamed the soldiers.
No less than ten Augustinians fell on the field of battle, nineteen were made prisoners, and twelve were banished. The British are said by the Augustinians to have sacked and destroyed fifteen of their conventos, or priests’ houses, six houses of their haciendas, and to have sold everything belonging to them in Manila. The Augustinians gave their church bells to be cast into cannon for the defence of the islands.
Spaniards and natives, however, showed great unanimity and enthusiasm in massacring or hanging the unwarlike Chinamen, and in pillaging their goods. Nearly all the Chinese in the islands, except those in the parts held by the British, were killed.
During the Anglo-Spanish war there were revolts of the natives in Pangasinan and in Ilocos, then a very large province (it is now divided into four), but both these risings were suppressed. The same happened with a revolt in Cagayan. Disturbances also occurred in many other provinces.
Simon de Anda became Governor-General, and carried out the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Philippines. Great troubles again occurred between the Archbishop and the friars over the diocesan visit.
1766. 20th July, violent eruption of the Mayon volcano.
23rd October, terrible typhoon in Albay, causing enormous destruction of life and property.
1777. José Basco y Vargas, a naval officer, came out as Governor-General, and found the country overrun with banditti. He made a war of extermination against them, and then initiated a vigorous campaign against the Moros. He repaired the forts, built numbers of war vessels, and cut up the pirates in many encounters. Basco governed for nearly eleven years.
1784. During the government of Felix Marquina, a naval officer, the Compañia de Filipinas was founded to commence a trade between Spain and the Philippines. Marquina was succeeded by Rafael Maria de Aguilar, an army officer, who organized the land and naval forces, and made fierce war on the Moros. He governed the islands for fourteen years.
1787. Violent and destructive earthquake in Panay.
1796. Disastrous earthquake in Manila.
1800. Destructive eruption of the Mayon volcano.
1807. Rebellion in Ilocos.
When the parish priest of Betal, an Augustinian, was preaching to his flock, exhorting them to obedience to their sovereign, a woman stood up in the church and spoke against him, saying that they should not believe him, that his remarks[395]were all humbug, that with the pretence of God, the Gospel, and the King, the priest merely deceived them, so that the Spaniards might skin them and suck their blood, for the priests were Spaniards like the rest. However, the townsmen declared for the King, and took the field under the leadership of the priest.
1809. The first English commercial house established in Manila.
1811. Rebellion in Ilocos to change the religion, nominating a new god called Lungao. The leaders of this rebellion entered into negotiations with the Igorrotes and other wild tribes to exterminate the Spaniards, but the conspiracy was discovered and frustrated.
1814. Rebellion in Ilocos and other provinces.
Prisoners released in some towns in Ilocos. This rebellion was in consequence of General Gandarás proclaiming the equality of races, which the Indians interpreted by refusing to pay taxes.
1st February, violent earthquake in south Luzon and destructive eruption of the Mayon volcano. Astonishing electrical discharges.
A discharge of ashes caused five hours’ absolute darkness, through which fell showers of red hot stones which completely burnt the towns of Camalig, Cagsana, and Budiao with half of the towns of Albay and Guinchatau, and part of Bulusan.
The darkness caused by the black ashes reached over the whole of Luzon, and even to the coast of China. So loud was the thunder that it was heard in distant parts of the Archipelago.
Great epidemic of cholera in Manila.
1820. Massacre of French, English, and Americans in Manila by the natives who plundered their dwellings, after which they proceeded with the fifth massacre of the Chinese. They asserted that the Europeans had poisoned the wells and produced the cholera. The massacre was due to the villainous behaviour of a Philippine Spaniard named Varela, who was Alcalde of Tondo, equivalent to Governor of Manila, and to the criminal weakness and cowardice of Folgueras the acting governor-general, who abstained from interference until the foreigners had been killed, and only sent out troops when forced by the remonstrances of the friars and other Spaniards.
The archbishop and the friars behaved nobly, for they marched out in procession to the streets of Binondo, and did their best to stop the massacre, whilst Folgueras, only attentive to his own safety, remained with the fortifications.
1822. Juan Antonio Martinez took over the government in October. Folgueras having reported unfavourably of the officers of the Philippine army, Martinez brought with him a number of officers of the Peninsular army to replace those who were inefficient.
This caused a mutiny of the Spanish officers of the native army, and they murdered Folgueras in his bed. He thus expiated his cowardice in 1820. The mutiny was, however,[396]suppressed, and Novales and twenty sergeants were shot. Novales’ followers had proclaimed him Emperor of the Philippines. The constitution was abolished by Martinez, without causing any rising.
1824. Destructive earthquake in Manila.
Alonzo Morgado appointed by Martinez to be captain of the Marina Sutil, commenced an unrelenting persecution of the piratical Moros, causing them enormous losses.
1828. Another military insurrection, headed by two brothers, officers in the Philippine army.
From this date Peninsular troops were permanently maintained in Manila, which had never been done before.
1829. Father Bernardo Lago, an indefatigable missionary of the Augustinian Order, with his assistants baptised in the provinces of Abra and Benguet more than 5300 heathen Tinguianes and Igorrotes, and settled them in towns.
1834. Foreign vessels allowed to enter Manila by paying double dues.
1836–7. Great disturbances amongst the natives in consequence of the ex-claustration of the friars in Spain. The natives divided into two parties. One wished to turn out the friars and all Spaniards, the others to turn out all Spaniards except the friars, who were to remain and take charge of the government.
The disturbances were ultimately smoothed over.
1841. Marcelino de Oráa being Governor-General, a sanguinary insurrection burst out in Tayabas, under the leadership of a native, Apolinario de la Cruz. He murdered the Alcalde of the province, and persuaded his fanatical adherents that he would make the earth open and swallow up the Spanish forces when they attacked.
His following was composed of 3000 men, women, and children. They were attacked by four hundred soldiers and as many cuadrilleros and coast-guards, and suffered a crushing defeat, and a third of them were slain.
Apolinario de la Cruz was apprehended, and immediately put to death.
Apolinario called himself the “King of the Tagals,” and told his followers that a Tagal virgin would come down from Heaven to wed him, that with a handful of rice he could maintain all who followed him, and that the Spanish bullets could not hurt them, and many other absurd things. His followers declared that he had signified his intention, in case of being victorious, to tie all the friars and other Spaniards to trees, and to have them shot by the women with arrows.
There lay in garrison at Manila at this time a regiment composed of Tagals of Tayabas, and they also mutinied, and were shot down by the other troops.
1844. Royal order prohibiting the admission of foreigners to the interior of the country.
Narciso de Claveria became Governor-General, and organised a police force called the Public Safety for Manila, and similar corps for the provinces. Up to this time the Alcaldes Mayores of provinces had been allowed to trade, and, in fact, were almost the only traders in their provinces,[397]buying up the whole crop. This forced trade is quite a Malay custom, and is practised in Borneo and the Malay States under the name of Serra-dagang.
The Alcaldes Mayores used to pay the crown one third, or half, or all their salary for this privilege, and took in return all they could squeeze out of their provinces without causing an insurrection, or without causing the friars to complain of them to the Government, for the parish priests were ever the protectors of the natives against the civil authority. This privilege of trading was now abolished as being unworthy of the position of governor of a province.
1851. Expedition by the Governor-General Antonio de Urbiztondo against Joló. The force consisted of four regiments, with artillery, and a battalion of the inhabitants of Cebú, under the command of a Recollet friar, Father Ibañez. These latter behaved in the bravest manner, in fact they had to; for their wives, at the instance of the priest, had sworn never to receive them again if they turned their backs on the enemy.
The undaunted Father Ibañez led them to the assault, and lost his life in the moment of victory. Eight cottas (forts), with their artillery and ammunition, were captured by this expedition, and a great number of Moros were killed.
After this the Joló pirates abated their insolent attacks. Claveria made an expedition against the piratical Moros and seized their island of Balanguingin, killing 400 Moros, and taking 300 prisoners, also rescuing 200 captives. He also captured 120 guns and lantacas, and 150 piratical vessels. This exemplary chastisement tranquillised the Moros for some time.
1853. 13th June. Loud subterranean noises in Albay and eruption of the Mayon volcano. Fall of ashes and red-hot stones which rolled down the mountain and killed thirty-three people.
1854. Insurrection in Nueva Ecija under Cuesta, a Spanish mestizo educated in Spain, where Queen Isabela had taken notice of him.
He arrived in Manila with the appointment of Commandant of Carabineros in Nueva Ecija, and immediately began to plot. The Augustine friars harangued his followers and persuaded them to disperse, and Cuesta was captured and executed, with several other conspirators; others were banished to distant islands.
In this year Manuel Crespo became Governor-General, and a military officer, named Zapatero, endeavoured to strangle him in his own office.
1855. Strong shocks of earthquake in all Luzon. Eruption of the Mayon volcano.
1856. In the latter part of this year a submarine volcanic explosion took place at the Didica shoal, eight miles north-east of the island of Camiguin in the Babuyanes, to the north of Luzon. It remains an active volcano, and has raised a cone nearly to the height of the volcano of Camiguin, which is 2414 feet high.[398]
1857. The old decrees against foreigners renewed.
Fernando de Norzagaray became governor-general, and found the country over-run by bandits, against whom he employed severe measures. He greatly improved Manila.
The French in Cochin-China, finding more resistance than they expected, appealed to Norzagaray for help. He lent them money, ships, and about a thousand native troops, who behaved with great bravery during the campaign.
1860. Ramon Maria Solano succeeded to the Government.
In this year two steam sloops and nine steam gunboats were added to the naval forces, and now the Moros could only put to sea running great risks of destruction.
These nine gunboats were the greatest blessings the Philippines had received for many years.
1861. José de Lemery y Ibarrola, Governor-General. Mendez-Nuñez, with the steam sloops and gunboats, inflicted terrible chastisement on the piratical Moros.
1862. Rafael de Echague y Bermingham became Governor-General.
Second visitation of cholera in the islands, but not so severe as in 1820.
1863. Terrible earthquake in Manila and the surrounding country, causing thousands of victims, destroying the cathedral, the palace of the governor-general, the custom houses, the principal churches (except St. Augustine), the public and private buildings, in fact, reducing the city to a ruin.
At this time the steam gunboats continually hostilised the Moros of Joló, and caused them great losses.
1865. Juan de Lara y Irigoyen became Governor-General, and took measures to subdue the bandits, who were committing great depredations and murders. Hostilities continued in Joló, as the Moros had recommenced their piratical cruises.
1866. Frequent earthquakes in Manila and Benguet.
At this time the Treasury was in the greatest difficulty, and could not meet the current payments. A large quantity of tobacco was sold to meet the difficulty.
1867. José de la Gandara y Navarro became Governor-General. To him is due the credit of creating that excellent institution the Guardia Civil, which has extirpated the banditti who infested the islands for so many years.
An expedition was sent against the Igorrotes, but without effecting anything of consequence.
1868. June 4th. Intense earthquake in the island of Leyte.
1869. Carlos Maria de la Torre became Governor-General, and was not ashamed to publish a proclamation offering the bandits a free pardon if they presented themselves within three months. Hundreds and thousands of men now joined the bandits for three months murder and pillage, with a free pardon at the end of it. This idiotic and cowardly proclamation was most prejudicial to the interests of the country. Finally a special corps, called La Torre’s Guides, was organised to pursue the bandits.
1871. Rafael Izquierdo y Guttierez became Governor-General, and raised the excellent corps called La Veterana to act as the police of the capital.[399]
December 8th, eruption of the Mayon volcano, and discharge of ashes and lava. Two persons smothered, and one burnt.
16th February. Commencement of the series of earthquakes which preceded the frightful volcanic eruption in the island of Camiguin on 30th April. Full details of this terrible event are preserved. A volcanic outburst took place on the above date at 344 metres from the town of Cabarman, and near the sea. Great volumes of inflammable gases were ejected from deep cracks in the neighbouring hills, which presently took fire, and soared in flames of incredible height, setting fire to the forests. The wretched inhabitants who had remained in their houses found themselves surrounded by smoke, steam, water, ashes, and red hot stones, whilst their island seemed on fire, and they had sent away all their seaworthy craft with the women and children.
At first the volcanic vent was only two metres high, but it continually increased.
After the eruption, the earthquakes decreased, and on 7th May entirely ceased.
The volcano gradually raised itself by the material thrown out to a height of 418 metres.
1872. Military revolt in Cavite, in which the native clergy were mixed up. A secret society had been working at this plot for several years, and was very widely extended. It inundated the towns of the Archipelago with calumnious and libellous leaflets in the native languages. The conspiracy coincided with the return of the Jesuits in accordance with a Royal Order, and their substitution for the Recollets missionaries in many parishes in Mindanao. In turn, the Recollets, removed from Mindanao, were given benefices in Luzon which, for one hundred years, had been in the hands of the native clergy, who were, in consequence, very dissatisfied, and great hatred was aroused against the Recollets. The mutiny was suppressed by the Spaniards and the Visayas troops, who bayoneted the Tagals without mercy, even when they had laid down their arms.
Besides many who were shot for complicity in this revolt, three native priests—D. Mariano Gomez, D. Jacinto Zamora, and D. José Burgos—were garrotted in Bagumbayan on the 28th February. Much discussion arose about the guilt or innocence of these men, and it is a matter on which friars and native clergy are never likely to agree.
Later on, a rising took place in Zamboanga penal establishment, but this was put down by the warlike inhabitants of that town, who are always ready to take up arms in their own defence, and are very loyal to Spain.
Loud subterranean noises in Albay. Eruption of the Mayon volcano, which lasted for four days.
1873. Juan de Alaminos y Vivar became governor-general.
The ports of Legaspi, Tacloban and Leyte, were opened to foreign commerce.
November 14, 1873, violent earthquake in Manila. Eruption of the Mayon volcano, from 15th June to 23rd July.[400]
1874. Manuel Blanco Valderrama, being acting governor-general, fighting took place in Balábac, where the Spanish garrison was surprised by the Moros. José Malcampo y Monge, a rear-admiral, took over the government of the islands, and, during his administration, the news of the proclamation of Alfonso XII, as King of Spain was received, and gave great satisfaction in Manila, which had never taken to the Republican Government in Spain.
Malcampo led a strong expedition, consisting of 9000 men, against the Moros, and took Joló by assault, after bombarding the Cottas by the ships’ guns. At the end of his time, the regiment of Peninsular Artillery had become demoralised, and its discipline very lax. Finally, the soldiers refused to obey their officers, and broke out of barracks.
Two of them were shot dead by the officer of the guard at the barrack-gate, Captain Brull, but the affair was hushed up, and no one was punished. Discipline was quite lost.
1877. Great devastation by locusts in province of Batangas. Domingo Moriones y Murillo arrived, and took over the government on 28th February. His first act was to shoot a number of the Spanish mutineers, put others in prison, and send back fifty to Spain in the same vessel with Malcampo. This incident is related in greater detail in Chapter III. The Treasury was in the greatest poverty, and the poor natives of Cagayan obliged to cultivate tobacco and deliver it to the government officials, had not been paid for it for two or three years, and were actually starving. Moriones did what he could for them, and strongly insisted on the abolition of the “estanco.”
To this worthy governor, Manila and the Philippines owe much. He insisted on the legacy of Carriedo being employed for the object it was left for, instead of remaining in the hands of corrupt officials.
He also made good regulations against rogues and vagabonds.
1879. Nov. 8th. Violent typhoon passed over Manila, doing much damage.
July 1st. Commencement of earthquakes in Surigao (Mindanao), which lasted over two months.
1880. Fernando Primo de Rivera became Governor-General, 15th April.
On July 14th, a violent earthquake took place, doing enormous damage in the city of Manila and the central provinces of Luzon. The seismic disturbance lasted till the 25th July. The inhabitants of Manila were panic-stricken, and took refuge in the native nipa houses.
General Primo de Rivera made an expedition against the Igorrotes, and the vile treatment the soldiers meted out to the Igorrote women has delayed for years the conversion of those tribes.
1881. Eruption of the Mayon volcano, which began on July 6th, and lasted till the middle of 1882.
At times there were loud subterranean noises, after which the flow of lava usually increased.
1882. Dreadful epidemic of cholera which, in less than three months,[401]carried off 30,000 victims in the city and province of Manila. In the height of the epidemic the deaths reached a thousand a day. The victims were mostly natives, but many Spaniards died of the disease. Only one Englishman died, and this was from his own imprudence. A typhoon passed over Manila on October 20th, and caused great damage on shore and afloat. Twelve large ships and a steamer were driven on shore, or very seriously damaged.
On November 5th, another typhoon, not quite so violent as the first, took place. After this, the cholera almost entirely stopped. On December 31st, another typhoon occurred.
1883. Joaquin Jovellar y Soler, captain-general in the army, and the pacificator of Cuba, assumed the government 7th April, and was received with great show of satisfaction by the Spaniards.
The old tribute of the natives was replaced by the tax on the Cédulas-personales.
During his time there were threats of insurrection, and additional Peninsular troops were sent out. He resigned from ill-health 1st April, 1885.
October 28th. Typhoon passed over Manila.
1885. Emilio Terrero y Perinat assumed the government of the islands on April 4th.
He conducted successful expeditions against the Moros of Mindanao and Joló.
In the month of May, during the great heat, the River Pasig was covered with green scum from the lake. The water was charged with gas, the fish and cray-fish died, and the stench was overpowering, even at a couple of miles distance from the river.
A huge waterspout was formed in the bay, and passed inland.
November. Death of King Alfonso XII., and mourning ceremonies in all the islands.
October 2nd. Eruption of the Taal volcano.
1886. 5th March. Separation of the executive and judicial powers. Appointment of eighteen civil governors instead of alcaldes—mayores of provinces. Very great inconvenience occurred through the delay in sending out the Judges of First Instance, and the duties were, in some cases, temporarily performed by ignorant persons devoid of any legal training.
11 P.M., 2nd April, an enormous flaming meteor traversed the sky, travelling from E. to W., and when about the zenith it split into two with a loud explosion, the pieces diverging at an angle of perhaps 45°; they fell, apparently, at a great distance, producing a violent concussion like a sharp shock of earthquake.
24th April. Attack by bandits on the village of Montalban. Two of them were killed by the Guardia Civil.
8th July. Eruption of the Mayon volcano in Albay. It continued to discharge ashes and lava, bursting out into greater violence at times till the middle of March, 1887.
March 19th. Don German Gamazo, Minister for the[402]Colonies, lays before the Queen-Regent, for her approbation, the project of the General Exhibition of the Philippines, to be held in Madrid in 1887. In it he says:—
“By this we shall bring about that the great sums of money which are sent from the metropolis to purchase in foreign countries cotton, sugar, cacao, tobacco, and other products, will go to our possessions in Oceania, where foreign merchants buy them up, with evident damage to the material interests of the country.”
When it is considered that the freight from Manila to Barcelona in the subsidised Spanish Royal Mail steamers was considerably higher than that charged in the same steamers to Liverpool, that enormous duties were charged in Spain on sugar and hemp, which enter British ports duty free, and that British capital was advanced to the cultivators to raise these very crops, the idiotic absurdity and contemptible hypocrisy of such a statement may be faintly realised by the reader.
In May the mud of the Pasig became permeated with bubbles of gas, and floated to the surface. On May 23rd, the writer witnessed several violent explosions of fetid gas smelling like sulphuretted hydrogen from the mud of the Pasig at Santa Ana.
June 7th. Triple murder committed at Cañacao by a Tagal from jealousy.
20th May. Three days’ holiday and public rejoicings ordered in honour of the birth of the King of Spain (Alfonso XIII.).
1887. January 3rd. Troops embarked in Manila for the expedition against the Moros of Mindanao under General Terrero.
March 5th. The United States warship Brooklyn arrived in Manila.
July 14th. The Penal Code put in force in the Philippines.
December 3rd. The Civil Code put in force in the Philippines.
1888. March 1st. A petition is presented to the Acting Civil Governor of Manila by the Gobernadorcillo and Principales of Santa Cruz, praying for the expulsion of the religious orders and of the Archbishop, the secularization of all benefices, and the confiscation of the estates of the Augustinians and Dominicans. See Chapter VI.
December 15th. Violent eruption of Mayon volcano with subterranean noises, storms, thunder and lightning. Don Valeriano Weyler, Marques de Tenerife, became governor-general.
1890. Agrarian disturbances occurred at Calamba and Santa Rosa between the tenants on the Dominicans’ estates and the lay brother in charge. During this year there was a great increase of secret societies. A woman admitted as a mason. A woman’s lodge established. See Chapter IX.
February 21st. Violent eruption of the Mayon.
February 24th. Several explosions occurred at the summit, discharging showers of white-hot bombs. About 100 metres of the top toppled over. Many of the inhabitants of the neighbouring towns fled to a distance.[403]
1891. Don Emilio Despujols, Conde de Caspe, became governor-general. See Chapter III.
1893. Doroteo Cortes banished to the Province of La Union, other malcontents banished to different localities.
October 3rd. Eruption of the Mayon and explosion of volcanic bombs. Loud subterranean noises and deafening thunder.
A vast column of smoke ascended to the sky, from which proceeded violet-coloured lightning.
The eruption lasted till the end of October.
1894. May. The Datto Julcainim, with seventy armed Moros from Sulu, landed in Basilan Island to recover tribute from the natives, but was sent back by a Spanish gunboat.
1896. August 30th. Tagal insurrection broke out near Manila and in Cavite Province. See Chapter X.
1897. June 25th. Violent and disastrous eruptions of the Mayon. Complete destruction of the villages San Antonio, San Isidro, Santo Niño, San Roque, Santa Misericordia, and great damage to other places by the incandescent lava. A dreadful tempest destroyed houses and plantations in places where the lava did not reach. About 300 people were either killed outright or died of their wounds. Fifty wounded persons recovered.
1898. March 24th. Revolt of the famous Visayas or 74th Regiment at Cavite.
March 25th. Massacre of the Calle Camba.
April 24th. Meeting at Singapore between Aguinaldo and the United States’ Consul, Mr. Spencer Pratt.
April 26th. Aguinaldo proceeds to Hong Kong.
May 1st. Naval battle of Cavite. Destruction of the Spanish squadron and capture of Cavite Arsenal by the Americans.
May 19th. Aguinaldo and seventeen followers land at Cavite from the United States’ vessel Hugh McCullough, and are furnished with arms by Admiral Dewey.
May 24th. Aguinaldo proclaims a Dictatorial Government.
June 23rd. He issues a manifesto claiming for the Philippines a place, if a modest one, amongst the nations.
August 6th. He sends a message to foreign powers claiming recognition.
August 13th. The American troops enter Manila, the Spaniards making only a show of resistance.
August 14th. The capitulation signed. General Merritt issues his proclamation establishing a military government.
August 15th. General McArthur appointed military commandant of the Walled City and Provost-Marshal-General of the city and suburbs.
September 29th. General Aguinaldo makes a speech at Malolos to the Philippine Congress, the keynote of which was independence: “The Philippines for the Filipinos.”
October 2nd. The Peace Commission holds its preliminary meeting in Paris.
November 13th. The insurgents invest Ilo-ilo. Fighting[404]proceeding in other parts of Visayas between Spaniards and natives.
December 10th. The Peace Commission signs the Treaty. Don Felipe Agoncillo, representative of the Philippine Government, hands in a formal protest, of which no notice is taken.
December 24th. The Spaniards evacuate Ilo-ilo.
December 26th. The insurgents occupy the city. The Spaniards evacuate all the southern island stations except Zamboanga. The Philippine Congress at Malolos adjourns.
December 29th. New Philippine cabinet formed; all the members pledged to independence.
President of Congress and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Señor Mabini; Secretary for War, Señor Luna; Interior, Señor Araneta; Agriculture and Commerce, Señor Buencamino; Public Works, Señor Canon.
1899. January 5th. The Washington officials announce that they “expect a peaceful adjustment.” [Blessed are they who expect nothing.]
President McKinley instructs General Otis to extend military government with all dispatch to the whole ceded territory.
January 8th. Protest of Aguinaldo against the Americans.
January 12th. General Otis telegraphs to the War Department that conditions are apparently improving.
Other dispatches represent the situation as daily growing more acute.
January 16th. A telegram was received at Washington from General Otis, of so reassuring a character regarding the position at Manila and Ilo-ilo, that the government officials accept without question the correctness of his statement, that the critical stage of the trouble there is now past and that he controls the situation.
A commission nominated by President McKinley, consisting of Dr. Schurman, President of Cornell University; Professor Worcester of Michigan University, and Mr. Denby.
January 21st. The Philippine constitution is proclaimed at Malolos.
February 4th. Fighting between Filipinos and Americans began at Santa Mesa 8.45 P.M., and continued through the night.
February 5th. Fighting continued all day and ended in the repulse of the Filipinos with heavy loss.
General Otis wires: “The situation is most satisfactory, and apprehension need not be felt.”
February 6th. The U.S. Senate ratifies the Peace Treaty with Spain by 57 to 27.
Senator Gorman in the course of the debate expressed his belief that the battle at Manila was only the beginning. If the treaty was ratified war would follow, lasting for years, and costing many lives, and millions upon millions of money.
[Senator Gorman makes a better prophet than General Merritt or Mr. Foreman.]
February 8th. General Otis wires: “The situation is[405]rapidly improving. The insurgent army is disintegrating, Aguinaldo’s influence has been destroyed.”
February 10th. The Americans attack and capture Calocan. President McKinley signs the Treaty.
February 11th. Ilo-ilo captured by General Miller without loss, but a considerable part of the town was burned.
February 18th. The American flag hoisted at Bacolod in Negros Island, opposite Ilo-ilo.
February 22nd. Tagals attempt to burn Manila, setting fire simultaneously to the Santa Cruz, San Nicolas, and Tondo. Sharp fighting at Tondo. Many natives were burned while penned in by the cordon of guards.
February 23rd. The Americans burned all that remained of Tondo. General Otis issued an order requiring the inhabitants to remain in their homes after 7 P.M.
March 13. Oscar F. Williams does not expect to live to see the end of the war. This is the man who on July 2nd, 1898, “hoped for an influx that year of 10,000 ambitious Americans,” who he said could all live well and become enriched. See Chapter XVIII.
Since the American occupation three hundred drinking saloons have been opened in Manila.
March 19th. Urgent instructions sent from Washington to Generals Otis and Lawton to hasten the end.
March 24th. Engagement at Marilao—the Filipinos are defeated.
New York Times says the situation is both surprising and painful to the American people.
March 31st. The Americans occupy Malolos which the Filipinos had set on fire, after some skirmishing.
April 1st. Troops resting at Malolos.
The ironclad Monadnock was fired on by Filipinos artillery at Parañaque (three miles from Manila), and replied silencing the guns on shore.
April 20th. A column of General Lawton’s force, 140 strong, surrounded and captured by the Filipinos near Binangonan.
April 23rd. Fighting at Quingua. Col. Stotsenburg killed. This was a severe engagement.
April 26th. Americans capture Calumpit. Washington “profoundly relieved.”
April 27th. Fighting near Apalit.
April 30th. General Otis believes that the Filipinos are tired of the war.
May 1st. Anniversary of the Battle of Cavite.
May 2nd. Conference between Filipino envoys and General Otis with the American Civil Commissioners.
General Lawton captures Baliuag.
May 12th. The Nebraska Regiment petitions General McArthur to relieve them from duty, being exhausted by the campaign. Since February 4th, the regiment has lost 225 killed and wounded, and 59 since the fight at Malolos.
May 18th. Filipino peace delegates enter General Lawton’s lines at San Isidro.[406]
May 20th. Admiral Dewey leaves Manila in the Olympia.
May 22nd. The U.S. Civil Commission received Aguinaldo’s Peace Commissioners, and explained to them President McKinley’s scheme of Government.
May 29th. Aguinaldo reported dead.
May 30th. The authorities at Washington admit that more troops are needed for Manila.
June 1st. Mr. Spencer Pratt obtains an interim injunction in the Supreme Court, Singapore, against the sale of Mr. Foreman’s book, “The Philippine Islands.”
June 5th. Skirmishing in the Laguna district. An attempt by the Americans to surround Pio del Pilar fails.
June 13th. A Filipino battery at Las Piñas, between Manila and Cavite, consisting of an old smooth bore gun and two one-pounders open fire on the American lines. A battery of the 1st Artillery, the ironclad Monadnock, and the gunboat Helena directed their fire upon this antiquated battery, and kept it up all the morning.
A correspondent remarks, “This was the first real artillery duel of the war.”
This developed into one of the hardest fights in the war, the Filipinos made a determined stand at the Zapote bridge.
Reports arrive that General Antonio Luna had been killed by some of General Aguinaldo’s guards.
June 16th. The Filipinos attack the Americans at San Fernando and are repulsed with heavy loss.
Mr. Whitelaw Reid, addressing the Miami University of Ohio, denounces the President’s policy, or want of policy, in the Philippines.
June 19th. American troops under General Wheaton march through Cavite Province.
June 21st. General Miles describes the situation at Manila as “very serious.”
June 26th. Twelve per cent. of the American forces sick. Little can now be attempted as the rainy season is now on.
June 27th. General Otis reports that the Filipinos have no civil government.
June 28th. It is stated that General Otis will have 40,000 men available for active operations after the rainy season.
July 12th. General Otis asks for 2500 horses for the organisation of a brigade of cavalry after the rainy season.
The entire staff of correspondents of the American newspapers protest against the methods of General Otis in exercising too strict a censorship over telegrams and letters. They say, “We believe that, owing to the official despatches sent from Manilla and published in Washington, the people of the United States have received a false impression of the situation in the Philippines, and that these despatches present an ultra-optimistic view which is not shared by general officers in the field.”
July 20th. The rainfall at Manila since 1st June has been 41 inches and the country is flooded.
July 23rd. Mr. Elihu Root nominated to succeed Mr. Alger as Secretary for War.[407]
July 27th. General Hall’s division captures Calamba on the lake.
August 1st. Mr. Root sworn in as Secretary for War. He contemplates increasing General Otis’ available force to 40,000 men.
August 15th. General McArthur’s force captures Angeles.
August 17th. Orders issued at Washington to form ten additional regiments to serve in the Philippines. General Otis to have 62,000 men under his command.
August 23rd. General Otis applies the Chinese Exclusion law to the Philippines.
August 24th. The Moros sign an agreement acknowledging the sovereignty of the United States over the entire Philippine Islands.
The Moros of Western Mindanao are asking for permission to drive out the insurgents.
August 28th. President McKinley makes a speech to the 10th Pennsylvanian Regiment lately arrived from Manila. See Chapter XII.
September 1st. Fighting in Negros, American successes.
September 14th. U.S. cruiser Charleston engages a gun mounted by the Filipinos at Olongapó, Subic Bay, and fired sixty-nine shells from her 8-inch guns without silencing the gun, notwithstanding that the Filipinos used black powder.
September 18th. Some of the U.S. Civil Commission had already started to return; remainder leave.
September 23rd. A U.S. squadron, consisting of the Monterey, Charleston, Concord and Zafiro, bombarded the one-gun battery of the Filipinos at Olongapó for six hours, and then landed 250 men who captured and destroyed the gun which was 16-centimetre calibre.
General Otis, in an interview, is reported to have stated that “Things are going very satisfactorily.”
September 28th. General McArthur captures Porac.
September 30th. General Aguinaldo releases fourteen American prisoners. They looked well and hearty, and it was evident that they had been well treated.
October 8th. General Schwan advanced against Noveleta and encountered a heavy resistance, but ultimately took the town and next day occupied Rosario.
October 18th. War now said to be beginning in its most serious phase. The American troops, men and officers, said to be thoroughly discouraged by the futility of the operations ordered by General Otis. They feel that their lives are being sacrificed without anything being accomplished.
October 28th. 17,000 sick and tired soldiers have been sent home and replaced by 27,000 fresh men. 34,000 are on the way or under orders. Total will be 65,000 men and forty ships of war.
October 31st. General Otis reports to the War Department that the continuance of the rainy season still harasses the prosecution of the campaign.
Count Almenas, speaking in the Spanish Senate, said that through the ignorance of the Peace Commission the Batanes[408]Islands, Cagayan Sulu, and Sibutu were not included in the scope of the treaty.
November 7th. General Wheaton, with an American force lands at San Fabian [Pangasinan] and marches towards Dagupan, driving the Filipinos before him.
November 13th. Tarlac captured by the Americans under Colonel Bell. Telegrams from Manila state, “A careful review of the situation made on the spot justifies the prediction that all organised hostile operations on a definite plan are at an end.”
November 14th. The U.S. cruiser Charleston lost on the Guinapak rocks to the north of Luzon, and the crew land on Camiguin Island.
November 28th. The province of Zamboanga [Mindanao] said to have surrendered unconditionally to the commander of the gunboat Castine.
December 20th. General Lawton shot by the insurgents at San Mateo whilst personally directing the crossing of the river by two battalions of the 29th U.S. infantry.
1900. January 20th. The Filipinos capture a pack train of twenty ponies in the Laguna Province. American losses, two killed, five wounded, nine missing.
February 15th. American newspapers report many cases of insanity amongst the U.S. soldiers.
February 20th. General Otis signifies to the War Department his desire for leave of absence from Manila to recruit his health.
March 30th. The bubonic plague, extending in Luzon, and appears in other islands of the Archipelago. Cases suspected to be leprosy reported amongst the U.S. troops.
Independent reports represent the situation in the Philippines as most unsatisfactory. The islands are practically in a state of anarchy.
April 6th. The War Department issues an order recalling General Otis, because his work has been accomplished, and appoints General McArthur in his place.
May 1st. Judge Canty, of Minnesota, makes a report upon the condition of the Philippines.
He says: “All the native tribes, except a small band of Macabebes and the Sulu Mahometans, are against us, and hate the Americans worse than the Spaniards…. The American soldiers are undergoing terrible hardships, and are a prey to deadly tropical diseases.”
June 2nd. General McArthur asks for more troops, and at least three regiments are to be sent.
June 14th. Rear-Admiral Raney cables for another battalion of marines.
June 15th. Macaboulos, a Filipino chieftain, surrenders at Tarlac with 8 officers and 120 riflemen.
June 17th. A regiment of infantry and a battery of artillery embark at Manila for China.
June 19th. It is reported that, in all, 5000 men are to be sent from Manila to China.
June 20th. But to-day, the idea prevails in Washington[409]that, under present conditions, every soldier in the Philippines is needed there.
July 27. Negotiations are being carried on between Spain and the United States for the cession by the former to the latter of the Sibutu and Cagayan Islands on payment of a sum of $100,000.
August 4th. The Filipinos kill or capture a lieutenant of Engineers and fifteen soldiers.
August 8th. Miss Margaret Astor Chanler, who was engaged in Red Cross work in Manila, declares that the hospitals are inadequate. This is confirmed by the Washington correspondent of the World. He says 3700 men are now in hospital, and large numbers are unable to find accommodation. Thousands who are down with fever and other diseases are without doctors or medical supplies. Eight per cent. of the entire force is incapacitated.
August 15th. The Filipinos reported to be gaining ground.
The cost of the war said to be nearly £40,000,000, 2394 deaths, 3073 wounded. There are said to be still 70,000 American troops in the Philippines. The “goodwill” of the war cost £4,000,000.
August 19th. Censored news despatches from Manila show that the Filipinos are increasing their activity, and scorn the offers of amnesty.
September 1st. The Civil Commission in the Philippines, presided over by Judge Taft, assumes the direction of the Government. Judge Taft reports that the insurrection is virtually ended, and that a modus vivendi is established with the ecclesiastical authorities!
September 3rd. General McArthur cables that an outbreak has occurred in Bohol, and that in an engagement near Carmen the Americans lost 1 killed and 6 wounded, and the Filipinos 120 killed.
September 6th. The estimated cost of the Philippines to America is estimated at three-quarters of a million dollars per day.
September 12th. The first public legislative session of the Civil Commission was held. Two million dollars (Mexican) were voted for the construction of roads and bridges, $5000 for the expenses of a preliminary survey of a railroad between Dagupan and Benguet, and $5400 towards the expenses of the educational system.
September 17th. General McArthur cables that Captain McQuiston, who had become temporarily insane, shot a number of men of his company. The others, in self-defence, shot and killed the captain.
September 20th. The Civil Commission reports that large numbers of the people in the Philippines are longing for peace, and are willing to accept the government of the United States.
General McArthur cables reports of fighting in the Ilocos Provinces, from whence General Young telegraphs for reinforcements, also in Bulacan, and in Tayabas.[410]
A desperate engagement is fought in the Laguna Province, where the Americans made an attack upon the Filipino positions, and were repulsed with heavy loss, including Captain Mitchell and Lieutenant Cooper.
The Filipinos are constantly harassing and attacking the American outposts and garrisons around Manila, and have caused fourteen casualties amongst the troops.

 

pilipinas inhabintants

]]> https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=2095 0 BOOK: True Version of the Philippine Revolution By Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy President of the Philippine Republic., Tarlak (Philippine Islands), 23rd September, 1899 https://mandirigma.org/?p=2090 https://mandirigma.org/?p=2090#respond Sun, 03 Nov 2013 12:00:40 +0000 MO1 http://mandirigma.org/?p=2090 Aguinaldo-Emilio

True Version of the Philippine Revolution

By
Don Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy
President of the Philippine Republic.

Tarlak (Philippine Islands),

23rd September, 1899

To All Civilized Nations and Especially to the Great North American Republic

I dedicate to you this modest work with a view to informing you respecting the international events which have occurred during the past three years and are still going on in the Philippines, in order that you may be fully acquainted with the facts and be thereby placed in a position to pronounce judgment upon the issue and be satisfied and assured of the Justice which forms the basis and is in fact the foundation of our Cause. I place the simple truth respectfully before and dedicate it to you as an act of homage and as testimony of my admiration for and recognition of the wide knowledge, the brilliant achievements and the great power of other nations, whom I salute, in the name the Philippine nation, with every effusion of my soul.

The Author.

Page 1

The Revolution of 1896

Spain maintained control of the Philippine Islands for more than three centuries and a half, during which period the tyranny, misconduct and abuses of the Friars and the Civil and Military Administration exhausted the patience of the natives and caused them to make a desperate effort to shake off the unbearable galling yoke on the 26th and 31st August, 1896, then commencing the revolution in the provinces of Manila and Cavite.

On these memorable days the people of Balintawak, Santa Mesa, Kalookan, Kawit, Noveleta and San Francisco de Malabon rose against the Spaniards and proclaimed the Independence of the Philippines, and in the course of the next five days these uprisings were followed by the inhabitants of the other towns in Cavite province joining in the revolt against the Spanish Government although there was no previous arrangement looking to a general revolt. The latter were undoubtedly moved to action by the noble example of the former.Page 2

With regard to the rising in the province of Cavite it should be stated that although a call to arms bearing the signatures of Don Augustin Rieta, Don Candido Firona and myself, who were Lieutenants of the Revolutionary Forces, was circulated there was no certainty about the orders being obeyed, or even received by the people, for it happened that one copy of the orders fell into the hands of a Spaniard named Don Fernando Parga, Military Governor of the province, who at that time was exercising the functions of Civil Governor, who promptly reported its contents to the Captain-General of the Philippines, Don Ramon Blanco y Erenas. The latter at once issued orders for the Spanish troops to attack the revolutionary forces.

It would appear beyond doubt that One whom eye of man hath not seen in his wisdom and mercy ordained that the emancipation of the oppressed people of the Philippines should be undertaken at this time, for otherwise it is inexplicable how men armed only with sticks andgulok1 wholly unorganized and undisciplined, could defeat the Spanish Regulars in severe engagements at Bakoor, Imus and Noveleta and, in addition to making many of them prisoners, captured a large quantity of arms and ammunition. It was owing to this astonishing success of the revolutionary troops that General Blanco quickly concluded to endeavour, to maintain Spanish control by the adoption of a Page 3conciliatory policy under the pretext that thereby he could quel the rebellion, his first act being a declaration to the effect that it was not the purpose of his Government to oppress the people and he had no desire “to slaughter the Filipinos.”.

The Government of Madrid disapproved of General Blanco’s new policy and speedily appointed Lieutenant-General Don Camilo Polavieja to supersede him, and despatched forthwith a large number of Regulars to the Philippines.

General Polavieja advanced against the revolutionary forces with 16,000 men armed with Mausers, and one field battery. He had scarcely reconquered half of Cavite province when he resigned, owing to bad health. That was in April, 1897.

Polavieja was succeeded by the veteran General Don Fernando Primo de Rivera, who had seen much active service. As soon as Rivera had taken over command of the Forces he personally led his army in the assault upon and pursuit of the revolutionary forces, and so firmly, as well as humanely, was the campaign conducted that he soon reconquered the whole of Cavite province and drove the insurgents into the mountains.

Then I established my headquarters in the wild and unexplored mountain fastness of Biak-na-bató, where I formed the Republican Government of the Philippines at the end of May, 1897.Page 4

1 A kind of sword—Translator.

The Treaty of Biak-na-bató

Don Pedro Alejandro Paterno (who was appointed by the Spanish Governor-General sole mediator in the discussion of the terms of peace) visited Biak-na-bató several times to negotiate terms of the Treaty, which, after negotiations extending over five months, and careful consideration had been given to each clause, was finally completed and signed on the 14th December, 1897, the following being the principal conditions:—

(1) That I would, and any of my associates who desired to go with me, be free to live in any foreign country. Having fixed upon Hongkong as my place of residence, it was agreed that payment of the indemnity of $800,000 (Mexican) should be made in three installments, namely, $400,000 when all the arms in Biak-na-bató were delivered to the Spanish authorities; $200,000 when the arms surrendered amounted to eight hundred stand; the final payment to be made when one thousand stand of arms shall have been handed over to the authorities and the Te Deumsung in the Cathedral in Manila as thanksgiving for the restoration of peace. The latter part of February was fixed as the limit of time wherein the surrender of arms should be completed.

(2) The whole of the money was to be paid to me personally, leaving the disposal of the money to my discretion and knowledge of thePage 5understanding with my associates and other insurgents.

(3) Prior to evacuating Biak-na-bató the remainder of the insurgent forces under Captain-General Primo de Rivera should send to Biak-na-bató two General of the Spanish Army to be held as hostages by my associates who remained there until I and a few of my compatriots arrived in Hongkong and the first installment of the money payment (namely, four hundred thousand dollars) was paid to me.

(4) It was also agreed that the religious corporations in the Philippines be expelled and an autonomous system of government, political and administrative, be established, though by special request of General Primo de Rivera these conditions were not insisted on in the drawing up of the Treaty, the General contending that such concessions would subject the Spanish Government to severe criticism and even ridicule.

General Primo de Rivera paid the first installment of $400,000 while the two Generals were hold as hostages in Biak-na-bató.

We, the revolutionaries, discharged our obligation to surrender our arms, which were over 1,000 stand, as everybody knows, it having been published in the Manila newspapers. But the Captain General Primo de Rivera failed to fulfill the agreement as faithfully as we did. The other installments were never paid; the Friars were neither restricted in their acts of tyranny and Page 6oppression nor were any steps taken to expel them or secularize the religious Orders; the reforms demanded were not inaugurated, though the Te Deum was sung. This failure of the Spanish authorities to abide by the terms of the Treaty caused me and my companions much unhappiness, which quickly changed to exasperation when I received a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Don Miguel Primo de Rivera (nephew and private Secretary of the above-named General) informing me that I and my companions could never return to Manila.

Was the procedure of this special representative of Spain just?

Negotiations

But I and my companions were not to be kept long in our distress, grieving over the bad faith of the Spaniards, for in the month of March of the year referred to (1898) some people came to me and in the name of the Commander of the U.S.S. Petrel asked for a conference in compliance with the wishes of Admiral Dewey.

I had some interviews with the above-mentioned Commander, i.e., during the evening of the 16th March and 6th April, during which the Commander urged me to return to the Philippines to renew hostilities against the Spaniards with the object of gaining our independence, and he assured me of the assistance of the United States in the event of war between the United States and Spain.Page 7

I then asked the Commander of the Petrel what the United States could concede to the Filipinos. In reply he said: “The United States is a great and rich nation and needs no colonies.”

In view of this reply I suggested to the Commander the advisability of stating in writing what would be agreed to by the United States, and be replied that he would refer the matter to Admiral Dewey.

In the midst of my negotiations with the Commander of the Petrel I was interrupted by letters from Isabelo Artacho and his solicitors, on the 5th April, claiming $200,000 of the money received from the Spanish authorities, and asserting that he (Artacho) should receive this sum as salary due to him while acting as Secretary of the Interior, he having been, it was alleged, a member of the Filipino Government established in Biak-na-bató. These letters contained the threat that failure to comply with the demand of Artacho would result in him bringing me before the Courts of Law in Hongkong. It may make the matter clearer if I mention at this point that Isabelo Artacho arrived at Biak-na-bató and made himself known to and mixed with the officers in the revolutionary camp on the 21st day of September, 1897, and was appointed Secretary of the Interior in the early part of November of that year, when the Treaty of Peace proposed and negotiated by Don Pedro Alejandro Paterno was almost concluded, as is proved by the fact that the document was signed on the 14th of December of that year.Page 8

In the light of these facts the unjust and unreasonable nature of the claim of Artacho is easily discernable, for it is monstrous to claim $200,000 for services rendered to the Revolutionary Government during such a brief period.

Moreover, it is a fact that it was agreed between ourselves (the leaders of the Revolution assembled in Biak-na-bató) that in the event of the Spaniards failing to comply with each and every one of the terms and conditions of the Agreement the money obtained from the Spanish Government should not be divided, but must be employed in the purchase of arms and ammunition to renew the war of independence.

It is therefore evident that Artacho, in making this preposterous demand, was acting as a spy for the enemy, as an agent of General Primo de Rivera, for he wanted to extinguish the rebellion by depriving its organizers and leaders of the most indispensable element, the “sinews of war,” which is money. This was the view, too, of the whole of my colleagues, and it was resolved by us that I should leave Hongkong immediately and thereby avoid the litigation which Artacho seemed bent upon and thereby afford my companions time and opportunity to remove this new and wholly unexpected barrier to the realization of our cherished plans for the emancipation of our beloved fatherland. I am profoundly pleased to say that they succeeded, Artacho withdrawing the suit through a transaction.Page 9

In accordance with the decision of the meeting above referred to, I left Hongkong quietly on the 7th April, 1898, on board the steamshipTaisany, and after calling at Saigon I reached Singapore as a passenger by the s.s. Eridan, landing there as secretly as possible on the 21st April. I at once proceeded to the residence of one of my countrymen.

Thus is explained the cause of the interruption of the vitally important negotiations with Admiral Dewey, initiated by the Commander of thePetrel.

But “Man proposes and God disposes” is a proverb which was verified in its fullest sense on this occasion, for, notwithstanding the precautions taken in my journey to avoid identification yet at 4 o’clock in the afternoon of the day I arrived at Singapore an Englishman came to the house in which I was residing and in a cautious manner stated that the United States Consul at that port, Mr. Spencer Pratt, wished to have an interview with Don Emilio Aguinaldo. The visitor was told that in that house they did not know Aguinaldo; this being the prearranged answer for any callers.

But the Englishman returned to the house several times and persisted in saying that it was no use trying to conceal the fact of Aguinaldo’s arrival for Consul Pratt had received notice from Admiral Dewey of General Aguinaldo’s journey to Singapore.Page 10

In reply, the Consul said he would telegraph about this matter to Admiral Dewey, who was, he said, Commander-in-Chief of the squadron which would invade the Philippines, and who had, he also stated, full powers conferred on him by President McKinley.

Between 10 or 12 in the forenoon of the next day the conference was renewed and Mr. Pratt then informed me that the Admiral had sent him a telegram in reply to the wish I had expressed for an agreement in writing. He said the Admiral’s reply was—That the United States would at least recognize the Independence of the Philippines under the protection of the United States Navy. The Consul added that there was no necessity for entering into a formal written agreement because the word of the Admiral and of the United States Consul were in fact equivalent to the most solemn pledge that their verbal promises and assurance would be fulfilled to the letter and were not to be classed with Spanish promises or Spanish ideas of a man’s word of honour. In conclusion the Consul said, “The Government of North America, is a very honest, just, and powerful government.”

Being informed of what had been said by the visitor I consented to meet Consul Pratt, and had a strictly private interview with him between 9 and 12 p.m. on 22nd April, 1898, in one of the suburbs of Singapore. As soon as Mr. Pratt met me he said that war had been formally declared by the United States against Spain the day before, i.e., on the 21st April.Page 11

In the course of the interview alluded to, Consul Pratt told me that as the Spaniards had not fulfilled the promises made in the Biak-na-bató Agreement, the Filipinos had the right to continue the revolution which had been checked by the Biak-na-bató arrangement, and after urging me to resume hostilities against the Spaniards he assured me that the United States would grant much greater liberty and more material benefits to the Filipinos than the Spaniards ever promised.

I then asked the Consul what benefits the United States would confer on the Philippines, pointing out at the same time the advisability of making an agreement and setting out all the terms and conditions in black and white.

Being as anxious to be in the Philippines as Admiral Dewey and the North American Consul—to renew the struggle for our Independence—I took the opportunity afforded me by these representatives of the United States, and, placing the fullest confidence in their word of honour, I said to Mr. Pratt (in response to his persistent professions of solicitude for the welfare of my countrymen) that he could count upon me when I returned to the Philippines to raise the people as one man against the Spaniards, with the one grand object in view as above mentioned, if I could take firearms with me to distribute amongst my countrymen. I assured him that I would put forth my utmost endeavours to crush and extinguish the power of Spain in the islands and I added that if in possession of one Page 12battery of a dozen field-guns I would make the Spaniards surrender Manila in about two weeks.

The Consul said he would help me to get over to the Philippines the consignment of arms in respect of which I had made the preliminary arrangements in Hongkong, and he added that he would at once telegraph to Admiral Dewey informing him of this promise in order that the Admiral might give what assistance laid in his power to make the expedition in question a success.

On the 25th April the last conference was held in the United States Consulate at Singapore. I was invited by the Consul to meet him on this occasion and as soon as we met he said he had received a telegram from the Admiral requesting him to ask me to proceed to Hongkong by first steamer to join the Admiral who was then with his squadron in Mir’s Bay; a Chinese harbour close to Hongkong. I replied to this proposal in the affirmative, and gave directions to my aide-de-camp to at once procure passages for myself and companions, care being taken that the tickets should bear the assumed names we had adopted on the occasion of our journey from Hongkong to Singapore, it being advisable that we should continue to travel incognito.

On the 26th April I called on Consul Pratt to bid him adieu on the eve of my departure from Singapore by the steamship Malacca. The Consul, after telling me that when I got near the port of Hongkong I would be met by the Admiral’s launch Page 13and taken from the Malacca to the American squadron (a precaution against news of my movements becoming public property, of which I highly approved), then asked me to appoint him Representative of the Philippines in the United States, there to zealously advocate official recognition of our Independence. My answer was, that I would propose him for the position of Representative of the Philippines in the United States when the Philippine Government was properly organized, though I thought it an insignificant reward for his assistance, for, in the event of our Independence becoming un fait accompli I intended to offer him a high position in the Customs Department, besides granting certain commercial advantages and contributing towards the cost of the war whatever sum he might consider due to his Government; because the Filipinos had already decided such a policy was the natural outcome of the exigencies of the situation and could be construed only as a right and proper token of the nation’s gratitude.

But to continue the statement of facts respecting my return to Hongkong from Singapore: I left Singapore with my A.D. Cs., Sres Pilar and Leyba, bound for Hongkong by the s.s. Malacca, arriving at Hongkong at 2 a.m. on the 1st May, without seeing or hearing anything of the launch which I had been led by Consul Pratt to expect to meet me near the entrance of Hongkong harbour. In response to an invitation from Mr. Rounsevelle Wildman, United States Consul at Hongkong, I wended my way to the United States Consulate and between 9 and 11 p.m. Page 14of the same day I had an interview with him. Mr. Wildman told me that Admiral Dewey left for Manila hurriedly in accordance with imperative orders from his Government directing him to attack the Spanish Fleet. He was therefore unable to await my arrival before weighing anchor and going forth to give battle to the Spaniards. Mr. Wildman added that Admiral Dewey left word with him that he would send a gunboat to take me across to the Philippines. In the course of this interview with Mr. Wildman I spoke to him about the shipment of arms to the islands which I had previously planned with him, and it was then agreed among ourselves that he (Mr. Rounsevelle Wildman) and the Filipino Mr. Teodoro Sandico should complete the arrangements for the despatch of the expedition, and I there and then handed to and deposited with them the sum of $50,000.

A steam launch was quickly purchased for $15,000, while a contract was made and entered into for the purchase of 2,000 rifles at $7 each and 200,000 rounds of ammunition at $33 and 56/100 per 1000.

A week later (7th May) the American despatch-boat McCulloch arrived from Manila bringing news of Admiral Dewey’s victory over the Spanish fleet, but did not bring orders to convey me to Manila. At 9 o’clock that night I had another interview with Consul Wildman, at his request.

On the 15th of the same month the McCulloch again arrived at Hongkong from Manila, this time Page 15bringing orders to convey me and my companions to Manila. I was promptly notified of this by Consul Wildman who requested that we go on board the McCulloch at 10 o’clock at night on 16th May. Accompanied by Consul Wildman, the Captain of the McCulloch, and Mr. John Barrett (who then usually styled himself “ex-Secretary of the United States Legation in Siam”) we boarded an American steam launch and proceeded to Chinese Kowloon Bay, where the McCulloch was anchored. While bidding us adieu Mr. Barrett said he would call on me in the Philippines, which he did later on in Cavite and Malolos.

Mr. Wildman strongly advised me to establish a Dictatorship as soon as I arrived in the Philippines, and he assured me that he would use his best endeavours to have the arms already contracted for delivered to me in the Philippines, which he in fact did. [It is to be observed, though, that the first expedition having been conducted satisfactorily, the arms reaching me in due course, I was naturally grateful and had confidence in the sincerity and good faith of Consul Wildman, and there was nothing surprising therefore in the fact that I asked him to fit out another expedition and caused the sum of $67,000 to be deposited with him for that purpose. I regret to state, however, that Mr. Wildman has failed to comply with my request and I am informed that he refuses to refund the money.]

The McCulloch left Hongkong at 11 a.m. on the 17th May and arrived off Cavite (Manila Bay) Page 16between noon and 1 p.m. on the 19th idem. No sooner had the McCulloch dropped anchor than the Admiral’s launch, carrying his Adjutant and Private Secretary, came alongside to convey me the flagship Olympia, where I was received with my Adjutant (Sr. Leyba) with the honours due to a General.

The Admiral ushered me into his private quarters, and after the exchange of the usual greetings I asked whether it was true that he had sent all the telegrams to the Consul at Singapore, Mr. Pratt, which that gentleman had told me he received in regard to myself. The Admiral replied in the affirmative, adding that the United States had come to the Philippines to protect the natives and free them from the yoke of Spain. He said, moreover, that America is exceedingly well off as regards territory, revenue, and resources and therefore needs no colonies, assuring me finally that there was no occasion for me to entertain any doubts whatever about the recognition of the Independence of the Philippines by the United States. Then Admiral Dewey asked me if I could induce the people to rise against the Spaniards and make a short, sharp, and decisive campaign of it.

I said in reply that events would speak for themselves, but while a certain arms expedition (respecting which Consul Wildman was duly informed that it would be despatched from a Chinese port) was delayed in China we could do nothing, because without arms every victory would assuredly cost us the lives of many brave and dashing Page 17Filipino warriors. The Admiral thereupon offered to despatch a steamer to hurry up the expedition. (This, be it borne in mind, in addition to the General orders he had given the Consul to assist us to procure arms and ammunition.) Then he at once placed at my disposal all the guns seized onboard the Spanish warships as well as 62 Mausers and a good many rounds of ammunition which had been brought up from Corregidor Island by the U.S.S. Petrel.

I then availed myself of an early opportunity to express to the Admiral my deep gratitude for the assistance rendered to the people of the Philippines by the United States, as well as my unbounded admiration of the grandeur and beneficence of the American people. I also candidly informed the Admiral that before I left Hongkong the Filipinos residing in that colony hold a meeting at which the following question was fully discussed, namely, the possibility that after the Spaniards were defeated, and their power and prestige in the islands destroyed, the Filipinos might have to wage war against the United States owing to the American Government declining to recognize our independence. In that event the Americans, it was generally agreed, would be sure to defeat us for they would find us worn out and short of ammunition owing to our struggle with the Spaniards. I concluded by asking the gallant Admiral to excuse me for an amount of frankness that night appear to border on impudence, and assured him of the fact that I was actuated only by a desire to have a perfectly clear understanding in the interest of both parties.Page 18

The Admiral said he was very glad to have this evidence of our earnestness and straightforwardness and he thought the Filipinos and Americans should act towards one another as friends and allies, and therefore it was right and proper that all doubts should be expressed frankly in order that explanations be made, difficulties avoided, and distrust removed; adding that, as he had already indicated, the United States would unquestionably recognize the Independence of the people of the Philippines, guaranteed as it was by the word of honour of Americans, which, he said, is more positive, more irrevocable than any written agreement, which might not be regarded as binding when there is an intention or desire to repudiate it, as was the case in respect of the compact made with the Spaniards at Biak-na-bató. Then the Admiral advised me to at once have made a Filipino National Flag, which he said he would recognize and protect in the presence of the other nations represented by the various squadrons anchored in Manila Bay, adding, however, that he thought it advisable that we should destroy the power of Spain before hoisting our national flag, in order that the act would appear more important and creditable in the eyes of the world and of the United States in particular. Then when the Filipino vessels passed to and fro with the national flag fluttering in the breeze they would attract more attention and be more likely to induce respect for the national colours.

I again thanked the Admiral for his good advice and generous offers, giving him to understand clearly that I was willing to sacrifice my Page 19own life if he would be thereby more exalted in the estimation of the United States, more honoured by his fellow-countrymen.

I added that under the present conditions of hearty co-operation, good fellowship and a clear understanding the whole nation would respond to the call to arms to shake off the yoke of Spain and obtain their freedom by destroying the power of Spain in all parts of the archipelago. If, however, all did not at once join in the movement that should not cause surprise, for there would be many unable to assist owing to lack of arms and ammunition, while others, again, might be reluctant to take an active part in the campaign on account of the loss and inconvenience to themselves and families that would result, from open hostility to the Spaniards.

Thus ended my first interview with Admiral Dewey, to whom I signified my intention to reside for a while at the headquarters of the Naval Commandant of Cavite Arsenal.

The Revolution of 1898

I returned to the McCulloch to give directions for the landing of the luggage and war materials which I brought over with me from Hongkong. On my way to the McCulloch I met several of my old associates in the 1896 revolution who had come over from Bataan province. To these friends I gave two letters directing the people of that Page 20province and Zambales to rise against the Spaniards and vigorously attack them.

Before returning to the Arsenal and when near the landing place I came across several bancas [large open boats] loaded with revolutionists of Kawit (my birth-place) who told me they had been looking out for me for about two weeks, the Americans having announced that I would soon return to the islands. The feeling of joy which I experienced on the occasion of this reunion with my own kith and kin—people who had stood shoulder to shoulder with me in the desperate struggles of the 1896–97 revolution—is simply indescribable. Words fail to express my feelings—joy mingled with sadness and strong determination to accomplish the salvation, the emancipation, of my beloved countrymen. Hardly had I set foot in the Naval Headquarters at Cavite, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, than I availed myself of the opportunity to give these faithful adherents orders similar to those despatched to Bataan and Zambales.

I was engaged the whole of that night with my companions drawing up orders and circulars for the above mentioned purpose.

We were also kept very busy replying to letters which were pouring in from all sides asking for news respecting the reported return of myself to the islands and requesting definite instructions regarding a renewal of hostilities against the Spaniards.Page 21

That the invisible, albeit irresistible, hand of Providence was guiding every movement and beneficently favouring all efforts to rid the country of the detestable foreign yoke is fairly evidenced by the rapid sequence of events above recorded, for in no other way can one account for the wonderful celebrity with which news of my projected return spread far and wide.

Sixty-two Volunteers, organized and armed by the Spaniards with Mausers and Remingtons, from San Roque and Caridad, placed themselves under my orders. At first the Americans apprehended some danger from the presence of this armed force, which was promptly placed on guard at the entrance to the Arsenal. When I heard of this I went down and gave them orders to occupy Dalajican, thereby preventing the Spaniards from carrying out their intention to approach Cavite by that route.

When the Americans were informed of what I had done they were reassured, and orders were given to the Captain of the Petrel to hand over to me the 62 rifles and ammunition which Admiral Dewey had kindly promised. About 10 a.m. the Petrel’s launch landed the arms and ammunition in question at the Arsenal and no time was lost in distributing the arms among the men who were by this time coming in ever increasing numbers to offer their services to me and expressing their willingness to be armed and assigned for duty at the outposts and on the firing line.Page 22

During the evening of the 20th May the old Revolutionary officer Sr. Luciano San Miguel (now a General in command of a Brigade) came to me and asked for orders, which were given to him to effect the uprising of the provinces of Manila, Laguna, Batangas, Tayabas, Bulakan, Morong, Pampanga, Tarlak, Newva Ecija and other northern provinces. He left the same night to execute the orders.

During the 21st, 22nd and 23rd and subsequent days of that month my headquarters were simply besieged by my countrymen, who poured into Cavite from all sides to offer their services in the impending struggle with the Spaniards. To such an extent, indeed, were my quarters in the Arsenal invaded that I soon found it necessary to repair to another house in the town, leaving the place entirely at the disposal of the U.S. Marines, who were then in charge of and guarding Cavite Arsenal.

The Dictatorial Government

On the 24th May a Dictatorial Government was established, my first proclamation being issued that day announcing the system of government then adopted and stating that I had assumed the duties and responsibilities of head of such government. Several copies of this proclamation were delivered to Admiral Dewey and through the favour of his good offices forwarded to the representatives of the Foreign Powers then residing in Manila, notwithstanding our lack of intercourse with Manila.Page 23

A few days later the Dictatorial Government was removed to the house formerly occupied by the Spanish Civil Governor of Cavite, because, owing to the great number of visitors from the provinces and the rapid increase of work the accommodation in the private house was wholly inadequate and too cramped. It was while quartered in the first mentioned house that glad tidings reached me of the arrival at Cavite of the long-expected arms expedition. The whole cargo, consisting of 1,999 rifles and 200,000 rounds of ammunition, besides other special munitions of war, was landed at the very same dock of the Arsenal, and was witnessed by the U.S.S. “Petrel.”

I immediately despatched a Commission to convey to the Admiral my thanks for the trouble he had taken in sending to hurry up the expedition. I also caused my Commissioners to inform the Admiral that I had fixed the 31st May as the day when the Revolutionary Forces should make a General attack upon the Spaniards. The Admiral returned the compliment by sending his Secretary to congratulate me and my Government upon the activity and enthusiasm displayed in preparing for the campaign, but he suggested that it was advisable to postpone the opening of the campaign to a later date in order that the insurgent troops might be better organized and better drilled. I replied to the Admiral through his Secretary that there was no cause for any anxiety for everything would be in perfect readiness by the 31st and, moreover, that the Filipinos were very anxious to Page 24free themselves from the galling Spanish yoke, that they would therefore fight and my troops would make up for any deficiency in discipline by a display of fearlessness and determination to defeat the common enemy which would go far to ensure success, I was, I added, nevertheless profoundly grateful to the Admiral for his friendly advice.

I promptly gave orders for the distribution of the arms which had just arrived, sending some to various provinces and reserving the remainder for the revolutionaries of Kawit, the latter being smuggled into the district of Alapang during the night of 27th May.

The First Triumphs

The next day (8th May, 1898), just when we were distributing arms to the revolutionists of Kawit, in the above mentioned district a column, composed of over 270 Spanish Naval Infantry, appeared in sight. They were sent out by the Spanish General, Sr. Peña, for the purpose of seizing the said consignment of arms.

Then it was that the first engagement of the Revolution of 1898 (which may be rightly styled a continuation of the campaign of 1896–97) took place. The battle raged from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., when the Spaniards ran out of ammunition and surrendered, with all their arms, to the Filipino Revolutionists, who took their prisoners to Cavite. Page 25In commemoration of this glorious achievement I hoisted our national flag in presence of a great crowd, who greeted it with tremendous applause and loud, spontaneous and prolonged cheers for “Independent Philippines” and for “the generous nation”—the United States of America. Several officers and Marines from the American fleet who witnessed the ceremony evinced sympathy with the Filipino cause by joining in the natural and popular rejoicings of the people.

This glorious triumph was merely the prelude to a succession of brilliant victories, and when the 31st May came—the date fixed for general uprising of the whole of the Philippines—the people rose as one man to crush the power of Spain.

The second triumph was effected in Binakayan, at a place known as Polvorin, where the Spanish garrison consisting of about 250 men was attacked by our raw levvies and surrendered in a few hours, their stock of ammunition being completely exhausted.

I again availed myself of the opportunity to hoist our national flag and did so from an upper story of the Polvorin facing the sea, with the object of causing the sacred insignia of our Liberty and Independence to be seen fluttering in the breeze by the warships, representing all the great and civilized nations of the world, which were congregated in the harbour observing the providential evolution going on in the Philippines after upwards of three hundred years of Spanish domination.Page 26

Scarcely had another hour elapsed before another flag was seen flying over the steeple of the Church at Bakoor—which is also in full view of vessels in the harbour—being the signal of another triumph of our troops over the Spanish forces which held that town. The garrison consisted of about 300 men, who surrendered to the Revolutionary Army when their ammunition was exhausted.

And so the Revolution progressed, triumph following triumph in quick succession, evidencing the power, resolution and ability of the inhabitants of the Philippines to rid themselves of any foreign yoke and exist as an independent State, as I affirmed to Admiral Dewey and in respect of which he and several American Commanders and officers warmly congratulated me, specially mentioning the undeniable triumphs of the Philippine Army as demonstrated and proved by the great number of prisoners we brought into Cavite from all parts of Luzon.

The Philippine Flag

In conformity with my orders issued on the 1st of September, all Philippine vessels hoisted the national flag, the Marines of the Filipino flotilla being the first to execute that order. Our little flotilla consisted of some eight Spanish steam launches (which had been captured) and five vessels of greater dimensions, namely, the Taaleño, Baldyan, Taal, Bulucan, and Purisima Concepcion. Page 27These vessels were presented to the Philippine Government by their native owners and were converted by us, at our Arsenal, into gunboats, 8 and 9 centimetre guns, taken from the sunken Spanish warships, being mounted on board.

Ah! what a beautiful, inspiring joyous sight that flag was fluttering in the breeze from the topmasts of our vessels, side by side, as it were, with the ensigns of other and greater nations, among whose mighty warships our little cruisers passed to and fro dipping their colours, the ensign of Liberty and Independence! With what reverence and adoration it was viewed as it suddenly rose in its stately loneliness crowning our victories, and, as it were, smiling approvingly upon the undisciplined Philippine Army in the moment of its triumphs over the regular forces of the Spanish Government! One’s heart swells and throbs again with the emotions of extreme delight; the soul is filled with pride, and the goal of patriotism seems well-nigh reached in the midst of such a magnificent spectacle!

At the end of June I called on Admiral Dewey, who, after complimenting me on the rapid triumphs of the Philippine Revolution, told me he had been asked by the German and French Admirals why he allowed the Filipinos to display on their vessels a flag that was not recognized. Admiral Dewey said his reply to the French and German Admirals was—with his knowledge and consent the Filipinos used that flag, and, apart from this, Page 28he was of opinion that in view of the courage and steadfastness of purpose displayed in the war against the Spaniards the Filipinos deserved the right to use their flag.

I thereupon expressed to the Admiral my unbounded gratitude for such unequivocal protection, and on returning to the shore immediately ordered the Philippine flotilla to convey troops to the other provinces of Luzon and to the Southern islands, to wage war against the Spaniards who garrisoned them.

Expedition to Bisayas

The expedition to Bisayas was a complete success as far as the conveyance of our troops to the chief strategic points was concerned, our steamers returning safely to Cavite after landing the soldiers. The steamer Bulusan, however, which sailed for Masbate with Colonel Sr. Mariano Riego de Dios’ column destined for duty in Samar was sighted by the Spanish gunboats Elcano and Uranus, which gave chase, and the former proving the faster overtook and attacked the Bulusan doing so much damage to her that she foundered after a hot engagement in which considerable damage was done to the Spaniard. Happily the crew and troops on board of the Bulusan saved their lives by swimming ashore.

The Steamer “Compania de Filipinas”

In a few days the Spanish steamer Compania de Filipinas was brought to Cavite by my countrymen, Page 29who captured her in the harbour of Aparri. Cannon were at once mounted on board this vessel and she was loaded with troops and despatched for Olongapo, but she had not gone far before I sent another gunboat to recall her because Admiral Dewey requested me to do so in order that a question raised by the French Consul might be duly settled. The Admiral having been informed that when captured the Compania de Filipinas was flying the Spanish flag abstained from interfering in the matter and handed the French Consul’s protest over to me, affirming at the same time that he and his forces were in no way concerned in the matter.

This incident, which was soon settled, clearly demonstrates the recognition of and protection extended to the Philippine Revolution by Admiral Dewey.

The Filipinas (as this steamer has since been styled) was again despatched to Olongapo and on her way back landed troops in the provinces of Cagayan and the Batanes islands for the purpose of wresting the government of those districts from Spain. This steamer, whose name has more recently been changed to Luzon, is at present ashore in the Rio Grande, in Cagayan, where she was beached owing to some damage to her machinery.

When our steamers were leaving the harbour with troops for the provinces they dipped their ensigns in passing Admiral Dewey’s flagshipOlympia, performing this act in conformity with the rules of international courtesy, a demonstration Page 30of friendship that was invariably promptly responded to in the usual way.

The Proclamation of Independence

The Dictatorial Government decided that the proclamation of Independence should take place on the 12th June, the ceremony in connection therewith to be held in the town of Kawit. With this object in view I sent a Commission to inform the Admiral of the arrangement and invite him to be present on the occasion of the formal proclamation of Independence, a ceremony which was solemnly and impressively conducted. The Admiral sent his Secretary to excuse him from taking part in the proceedings, stating the day fixed for the ceremony was mail day.

About the end of that month (June) the Spanish gunboat Leyte escaped from the Macabebe river and reached Manila Bay, where she was seized by General Torres’ troops. She had on board part of the troops and volunteers which were under the command of the Filipino Colonel Sr. Eugenio Blanco, but on being sighted by an American gunboat she voluntarily surrendered. Admiral Dewey delivered to me all the prisoners and arms on board the vessel, which latter, however, he took possession of; but after the fall of Manila he demanded that I should give back the prisoners to him.

On the 4th July the first United States military expedition arrived, under command of General Page 31Anderson, and it was quartered in Cavite Arsenal. This distinguished General called on me in the Filipino Government House at Cavite, an honour and courtesy which I promptly returned, as was right and proper, seeing that we were friends, of equal rank, and allies. In the course of official intercourse General Anderson solemnly and completely endorsed the promises made by Admiral Dewey to me, asserting on his word of honour that America had not come to the Philippines to wage war against the natives nor to conquer and retain territory, but only to liberate the people from the oppression of the Spanish Government.

A few days before the arrival of this military expedition, and others that followed under command of General Merritt, Admiral Dewey sent his Secretary to my Government to ask me to grant permission for the stationing of American troops in Tambo and Maytubig, Paranaque and Pasay. In view of the important promises of Admiral Dewey, above mentioned, the Dictatorial Government consented to the movement of troops as proposed.

During that month (July) Admiral Dewey accompanied by General Anderson visited Cavite, and after the usual exchange of courtesies he said—“You have had ocular demonstration and confirmation of all I have told you and promised you. How pretty your flag is! It has a triangle, and is something like the Cubans’. Will you give me one as a memento when I go back home?”Page 32

I replied that I was fully satisfied with his word of honour and of the needlessness of having our agreement in documentary form. As to the flag he wanted, he could have one whenever he wished.

The Admiral continued: Documents are useless when there is no sense of honour on one side, as was the case in respect of the compact with the Spaniards, who failed to act up to what had been written and signed. Have faith in my word, and I assure you that the United States will recognize the independence of the country. But I recommend you to keep a good deal of what we have said and agreed secret at present. I further request you to have patience if any of our soldiers insult any Filipinos, for being Volunteers they are as yet undisciplined.

I replied that I would bear in mind all his advice regarding cautiousness, and that with respect to the misconduct of the soldiers orders had already been issued enjoining forbearance, and I passed the same remarks to the Admiral about unpleasantness possibly arising through lack of discipline of our own forces.

The Spanish Commission

At this juncture the Admiral suddenly changed the topic of conversation and asked—“Why don’t the people in Manila rise against the Spaniards as their countrymen in the provinces have done? Is it true that they accept the autonomy offered by General Augustin with a representativePage 33Assembly? Is the report which has reached me true, that a Filipino Commission has been sent from Manila to propose to you the acceptance of that autonomy coupled with a recognition of your rank of General, as well as recognition of the rank held by your companions?”

“The people of Manila,” I answered, “are quiet because they have no arms and because as merchants and landlords they fear that their valuable properties and money in the banks will be confiscated by the Spaniards if they rise up and begin burning and destroying the property of others. On this account they had ostensibly accepted autonomy, not because that was what they wanted but more as a means of deceiving the Spaniards and being allowed to live in peace; but I am confident that all the Filipinos in Manila are for independence, as will be proved the very day our troops capture Manila. At that time I fully expect the people of Manila will join with us in raising loud cheers for the Independence of the Philippines, making fresh demonstrations of loyalty to our Government.”

I also told him it was true that a Mixed Commission had arrived and in the name of General Augustin and Archbishop Nozaleda made certain proposals; but they made known to us their intention to adhere to our Cause. The members of the Commission said the Spaniards instructed them to say they came motu propio1 without being formally Page 34appointed or ‘coached’ by the Spanish authorities in what they should say, representing, on the contrary, that they were faithful interpreters of the sentiment of the people of Manila and that they had good reason for believing that if I was willing to accept autonomy General Augustin and Archbishop Nozaleda would recognize my rank of General, and that of my companions, would give me the $1,000,000 indemnity agreed upon at Biak-na-bató and still unpaid, as well as liberal rewards for and salaries to the members of a popular Assembly promises which the Commissioners did not put any faith in, though some of them held the opinion that the money should be accepted because it would reduce the funds of the Spanish Government and also because the money had been wrung from Filipinos. The Commissioners, I added, left after assuring me that the people in Manila would rise against the Spaniards if supplied with arms, and that the best thing I could do was to make an attack on Manila at the places they pointed out as being the weakest parts of the Spanish defense and consequently the easiest to overcome.

I thanked the Commission for their loyalty and straightforwardness, told them they would be given an escort to take them safely back to the Spanish lines, and that when they got back they should inform those who had sent them that they were not received because they were not duly accredited and that even if they had brought credentials according to what they had seen and heard from the Revolutionists Don Emilio Aguinaldo would certainly Page 35not consider, much less accept, their proposals respecting autonomy because the Filipino people had sufficient experience to govern themselves, that they are tired of being victimised and subjected to gross abuses by a foreign nation under whose domination they have no wish to continue to live, but rather wish for their independence. Therefore the Spaniards might prepare to defend their sovereignty, for the Filipino Army would vigorously assault the city and with unflagging zeal prosecute the siege until Manila was captured.

I also told the Commissioners to tell Archbishop Nozaleda that he was abusing the privileges and authority of his exalted position; that such conduct was at variance with the precepts of His Holiness the Pope, and if he failed to rectify matters I would throw light on the subject in a way which would bring shame and disgrace upon him. I added that I knew he and General Augustin had commissioned four Germans and five Frenchmen to disguise themselves and assassinate me in the vain hope that once I am disposed of the people of the Philippines would calmly submit to the sovereignty of Spain, which was a great mistake, for were I assassinated, the inhabitants of the Philippines would assuredly continue the struggle with greater vigor than ever. Other men would come forward to avenge my death. Lastly I recommended the Commissioners to tell the people in Manila to go on with their trades and industries and be perfectly at ease about our Government, whose actions were guided in the paths of rectitude and justice, and Page 36that since there were no more Friars to corrupt the civic virtues, the Filipino Government was now endeavouring to demonstrate its honesty of purpose before the whole world. There was therefore no reason why they should not go on with their business as usual and should not think of leaving Manila and coming into the Camp, where the resources were limited, where already more were employed than was necessary to meet the requirements of the Government and the Army, and where, too, the lack of arms was sorely felt.

The Commissioners asked me what conditions the United States would impose and what benefits they would confer on the Filipinos, to which I replied that is was difficult to answer that question in view of the secret I was in honour bound to keep in respect of the terms of the Agreement, contenting myself by saying that they could learn a good deal by carefully observing the acts, equivalent to the exercise of sovereign rights, of the Dictatorial Government, and especially the occular demonstrations of such rights on the waters of the harbour.

These statements, which were translated by my interpreter, Sr. Leyba, made such an impression on the Admiral that he interrupted, asking—“Why did you reveal our secret?” Do you mean that you do not intend to keep inviolate our well understood silence and watchword?

I said in reply that I had revealed nothing of the secret connected with him and the Consul.Page 37

The Admiral then thanked me for my cautiousness, bid we good-by and left with General Anderson, after requesting me to refrain from assaulting Manila because, he said, they were studying a plan to take the Walled City with their troops, leaving the suburbs for the Filipino forces.

He advised me, nevertheless, to study other plans of taking the city in conjunction with their forces, which I agreed to do.

1 Of their own free will and accord—Translator.

More American Troops

A few days later American troops arrived, and with them came General Merritt. The Admiral’s Secretary and two officers came to the Dictatoriat Government and asked that we allow them to occupy our trenches at Maytubig; from the harbour side of that place right up to the main road, where they would form a continuation of our lines at Pasay and Singalong. This I also agreed to on account of the solemn promises of the Admiral and the trust naturally placed in them owing to the assistance rendered and recognition of our independence.

Ten days after the Americans occupied the trenches at Maytubig (this move being well known by the Spaniards who were entrenched at the Magazine in San Antonio Abad) their outposts, composed of a few men only, were surprised by the Spaniards, who made a night attack on them. They had barely time to get out of their beds and fall back on the centre, abandoning their rifles and six field-guns in their precipitate retreat.Page 38

The firing being distinctly heard, our troops immediately rushed to the assistance of our friends and allies, repulsing the Spaniards and recapturing the rifles and field-guns, which I ordered to be returned to the Americans as a token of our good-will and friendship.

General Noriel was opposed to this restitution, alleging that the arms did not belong to the Americans since the Filipino troops captured them from the Spaniards. But I paid no attention to the reasonable opposition of my General and gave imperative instructions that they be returned to the Americans, showing thereby clearly and positively the good-will of the Filipinos. The said rifles and field-guns, with a large quantity of ammunition, was therefore restored to those who were then our allies, notwithstanding the fact of General Noriel’s brigade capturing them at a cost of many lives of our compatriots.

Later on more American reinforcements arrived and again Admiral Dewey, through his Secretary, asked for more trenches for their troops, averring that those which we had given up to them before were insufficient. We at once agreed and their lines were then extended up to Pasay.

The Thirteenth of August

The 13th August arrived, on which day I noticed a general advance of the American land Page 39and sea forces towards Manila, the former being under command of General Anderson at Paranaque.

Subsequently I ordered a general assault of the Spanish lines and in the course of this movement General Pio del Pilar succeeded in advancing through Sampalok and attacked the Spanish troops who where defending the Puente Colgante,1 causing the enemy to fall back on the Bridge of Spain. The column commanded by our General, Sr. Gregorio II. del Pilar, took the suburbs of Pretil, Tendo, Divisoria and Paseo de Azcarraga, situated north of Manila city; while General Noriel’s command, near Pasay, took the suburbs of Singalong and Pako, and following the American column he out-flanked the Spaniards who were defending San Antonio Abad. The Spanish officers observing General Noriel’s move ordered their men to retreat towards the Walled City, whereupon the Americans who held the foremost trenches entered Malate and Ermita without firing a shot. At this point the Americans met General Noriel’s troops who had captured the above mentioned suburbs and were quartered in the building formerly used by the Exposicion Regional de Filipinas,2 in the Normal, and in Sr. Perez’ house in Paco.

In Santa Ana (the eastern section of Manila) General Ricarto successfully routed five companies of Spaniards, being aided in this by the manoeuvres of General Pio del Pilar’s brigade.Page 40

1 Suspension bridge.—Translator.

2 Philippine Local Exhibition.—Translator.

First Clouds

Our troops saw the American forces landing on the sea shore near the Luneta and Paseo de Santa Lucia, calling the attention of everybody to the fact that the Spanish soldiers in the city forts were not firing on them (the Americans), a mystery that was cleared up at sunset when details of the capitulation of Manila, by General Jaudenes in accordance with terms of an agreement with General Merritt, became public property—a capitulation which the American Generals reserved for their own benefit and credit in contravention of the agreement arrived at with Admiral Dewey in the arrangement of plans for the final combined assault on and Page 41capture of Manila by the allied forces, American and Filipino.

Some light was thrown upon this apparently inexplicable conduct of the American Commanders by the telegrams which I received during that day from General Anderson, who wired me from Maitubig asking me to issue orders forbidding our troops to enter Manila, a request which I did not comply with because it was not in conformity with the agreement, and it was, moreover, diametrically opposed to the high ends of the Revolutionary Government, that after going to the trouble of besieging Manila for two months and a half, sacrificing thousands of lives and millions of material interests, it should be supposed such sacrifices were made with any other object in view than the capture of Manila and the Spanish garrison which stubbornly defended the city.

But General Merritt, persistent in his designs, begged me not only through the Admiral but also through Major Bell to withdraw my troops from the suburbs to (as it was argued) prevent the danger of conflict which is always to be looked for in the event of dual military occupation; also by so doing to avoid bringing ridicule upon the American forces; offering, at the same time, in three letters, to negotiate after his wishes were complied with. To this I agreed, though neither immediately nor at one time, but making our troops retire gradually up to the blockhouses in order that the whole of the inhabitants of Manila should witness the proceedings of our troops and amicability toward our American allies.

Up to that time, and in fact right up to the time when the Americans openly commenced hostilities against us, I entertained in my soul strong hopes that the American Commanders would make absolute with their Government the verbal agreement made and entered into with the Leader of the Philippine Revolution, notwithstanding the indications to the contrary which were noticeable in their conduct, especially in respect of the conduct of Admiral Dewey, who, without any reason or justification, one day in the month of October seized all our steamers and launches.

Being informed of this strange proceeding, and at the time when the Revolutionary Government Page 42had its headquarters in Malolos, I despatched a Commission to General Otis to discuss the matter with him. General Otis gave the Commissioners a letter of recommendation to the Admiral to whom he referred them; but the Admiral declined to receive the Commission notwithstanding General Otis’s recommendation.

Notwithstanding the procedure of the American Commanders, so contrary to the spirit of all the compacts and antecedents above mentioned, I continued to maintain a friendly attitude towards them, sending a Commission to General Merritt to bid him farewell on the eve of his departure for Paris. In his acknowledgement of his courtesy General Merritt was good enough to say that he would advocate the Filipino Cause in the United States. In the same manner I sent to Admiral Dewey a punal1 in a solid silver scabbard and a walking stick of the very best cane with gold handle engraved by the most skilful silversmiths as a souvenir and mark of our friendship. This the Admiral accepted, thereby in some measure relieving my feelings and the anxiety of my compatriots constituting the Revolutionary Government, whose hearts were again filled with pleasant hopes of a complete understanding with Admiral Dewey.

1 Short sword—Translator.

Vain Hopes

Vain indeed became these hope when news arrived that Admiral Dewey had acted and was Page 43continuing to act against the Revolutionary Government by order of His Excellency Mr. McKinley, who, prompted by the “Imperialist” party, had decided to annex the Philippines, granting, in all probability, concessions to adventurers to exploit the immense natural wealth lying concealed under our virgin soil.

This news was received in the Revolutionary camp like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky. Some cursed the hour and the day we treated verbally with the Americans; some denounced the ceding of the suburbs, while others again were of opinion that a Commission should be sent to General Otis to draw from him clear and positive declarations on the situation, drawing up a treaty of amity and commerce if the United States recognize our independence or at once commence hostilities if the States refused.

In this crisis I advised moderation and prudence, for I still had confidence in the justice and rectitude of United States Congress, which, I believed, would not approve the designs of the Imperialist party and would give heed to the declarations of Page 44Admiral Dewey, who, in the capacity of an exalted Representative of the United States in these Islands concerted and covenanted with me and the people of the Philippines recognition of our independence.

In fact in no other way was such a serious matter to be regarded, for if America entrusted to Admiral Dewey the honour of her forces in such a distant region, surely the Filipinos might equally place their trust in the word of honour of such a polished, chivalrous gentleman and brave sailor, in the firm belief, of course, that the great and noble American people would neither reject his decision nor expose to ridicule the illustrious conqueror of the Spanish fleet.

In the same way the not less known and notorious circumstances, that the American Commanders who came soon after the echoes of the Admiral’s victory reached their native shores, namely, Generals Merritt, Anderson and Otis, proclaimed to the people of the Philippines that America did not come to conquer territories, but to liberate its inhabitants from the oppression of Spanish Sovereignty. I would therefore also expose to universal ridicule and contempt the honour of these Commanders if the United States, by repudiating their official and public acts, attempts to annex these islands by conquest.

The American Commission

With such prudent as well as well founded reflections, I succeeded in calming my companions shortly before the official news arrived reporting that the Washington Government, acting on Admiral Dewey’s suggestion, had intimated its intention to despatch a Civil Commission to Manila which would treat with the Filipinos with a view Page 45to arriving at a definite understanding respecting the government of the Islands.

Joy and satisfaction now filled the breasts of all the Revolutionists, and I thereupon set about the appointment of a Commission to meet the American Commissioners. At the same time I gave strict orders that the most friendly relations should be maintained with the Americans, enjoining toleration and overlooking of the abuses and atrocities of the soldiery because the effect on the Commissioners would not be good it they found us at loggerheads with their nation’s forces.

But the abases of the Americans were now becoming intolerable. In the market-place at Arroceros they killed a woman and a little boy under the pretext that they were surprising a gambling den, thus causing the greatest indignation of a great concourse of people in that vicinity.

My Adjutants, too, who hold passes permitting them to enter Manila with their uniform and sidearms, were molested by being repeatedly stopped by every patrol they met, it, being perfectly evident that, the intention was to irritate them by exposing them to public ridicule.

While this sort of thing was going on as against our people the American Commanders and officers who visited our camp were treated with the utmost courtesy and consideration.

In Lacoste Street an American guard shot and killed a boy seven years of age for taking a banana from a Chinaman.Page 46

The searching of houses was carried on just as it was during the Spanish regime, while the American soldiers at the outposts often invaded our lines, thus irritating our sentries. It would make this book a very large volume if I continued to state seriatim the abuses and atrocities committed by the American soldiery in those days of general anxiety.

It seemed as if the abuses were authorised or at least winked at in official quarters for the purpose of provoking an outbreak of hostilities. Excitement ran high among all classes of people, but the Filipino Government, which had assumed responsibility for the acts of the people, by the constant issue of prudent orders succeeded in calming the excited populace and maintained peace, advising all sufferers to be patient and prudent pending the arrival of the Civil Commission.

Impolitic Acts

At such a critical juncture as this, and before the anxiously-awaited Civil Commission arrived, it occurred to General Otis, Commandant of the American forces, to commit two more impolitic acts. One of them was the order to search our telegraph offices in Sagunro Street, in Tondo, where the searching party seized the apparatus and detained the officer in charge, Sr. Reyna, in the Fuerza Santiago1 under the pretext that he was conspiring against the Americans.Page 47

How and why was Sr. Reyna conspiring? Was not this sufficient for the Filipino Government to give the order to attack and rescue Reyna and thereby we (eight thousand strong) be plunged immediately into war with the United States? Was there any reason for conspiring when the power was in our own hands? And, above all, would a telegraphist, be likely to interfere in affaires de guerre when there was an army near by to attend to such matters?

It was abundantly manifest that the object was by wounding the feelings of and belittling the Filipino Government to provoke a collision, and it was clear also that this system of exasperating us was not merely the wanton act of the soldiery but was actually prompted by General Otis himself, who, imbued with imperialistic tendencies, regarded the coming of the Civil Commission with disfavour and especially would it be unsatisfactory that this Commission should find the Philippines in a state of perfect tranquility, because it was evident to the said General, as well as to the whole world, that the Filipinos would assuredly have arrived at a definite amicable agreement with the aforesaid Commission if it reached the islands while peace prevailed.

We, the Filipinos, would have received the Commission with open arms and complete accord as honourable Agents of the great American nation. The Commissioners could have visited all our provinces, seeing and taking note of the complete tranquility throughout our territory. They Page 48could have seen our cultivated lands, examined our Constitution and investigated the administration of public affairs in perfect peace and safety, and have felt and enjoyed the inimitable charm of our Oriental style,—half negligent, half solicitude, warmth and chilliness, simple confidence and suspiciousness; characteristics which cause descriptions of contact with us to be depicted by foreigners in thousands of different hues.

Ah! but neither did General Otis nor the Imperialists wish for such a landscape. It was better for their criminal designs that the American Commission should view the desolation and horrors of war in the Philippines, inhaling on the very day of their arrival the revolting odour emitted from American and Filipino corpses. It was better for their purposes that that gentleman, Mr. Schurman, President of the Commission, should return from Manila, limiting his investigation to inquiries among the few Filipinos, who, seduced with gold, were siding with the Imperialists. It were better for them that the Commission should view the Philippines problem through fire and slaughter, in the midst of whizzing bullets and the uncontrolled passion of infuriated foes, thus preventing them from forming correct judgment of the exact and natural conditions of the problem. Ah! it was, lastly, better that the Commission return to the States defeated in its mission of obtaining peace and blaming me and other Filipinos for its inability to settle matters, when, in reality, I and all the Philippine people were longing that that Page 49peace had been concluded yesterday,—long before now—but an honest and honourable peace, honourable alike for the United States and the Philippine Republic in order that it be sincere and everlasting.

The second impolitic act of General Otis was the issue of a proclamation on the 4th of January, 1899, asserting in the name of President McKinley the sovereignty of America in these islands, with threats of ruin, death and desolation to all who declined to recognize it.

I, Emilio Aguinaldo—though the humble servant of all, am, as President of the Philippine Republic, charged with the safeguarding of the rights and independence of the people who appointed me to such an exalted position of trust and responsibility—mistrusted for the first time the honour of the Americans, perceiving of course that this proclamation of General Otis completely exceeded the limits of prudence and that therefore no other course was open to me but to repel with arms such unjust and unexpected procedure on the part of the commander of friendly forces.

I protested, therefore, against such a proclamation—also threatening an immediate rupture of friendly relations,—for the whole populace was claiming that an act of treason had been committed, plausibly asserting that the announcement of the Commission applied for by Admiral Dewey was a ruse, and that what General Otis was scheming for was to keep us quiet while he brought reinforcement after reinforcement from the United Page 50States for the purpose of crashing our untrained and badly equipped Army with one blow.

But now General Otis acted for the first time like a diplomatist, and wrote me, through his Secretary, Mr. Carman, a letter inviting the Filipino Government to send a Commission to meet an American Commission for the purpose of arriving at an amicable arrangement between both parties; and although I placed no trust in the professions of friendly intentions of the said General—whose determination to prevent the Commission arriving at a peaceful solution of the difficulties was already evident—I acceded to the request, partly because I saw the order, dated 9th January, given by the above mentioned General confirmed, and on the other hand to show before the whole world my manifest wishes for the conservation of peace and friendship with the United States, solemnly compacted with Admiral Dewey.

1 The “Black Hole” of Manila.

The Mixed Commission

Conferences of the Mixed Commission, Americans and Filipinos, were held in Manila from the 11th to the 31st of the said month of January, the Filipino Commissioners clearly expressing the wish of our people for recognition as an independent nation.

They also frankly stated the complaints of the Filipino people about the abuses and atrocities of the American soldiery, being attentively andPage 51benevolently listened to by the American Commissioners. The latter replied that they had no authority to recognize the Filipino Government, their mission being limited to hearing what the Filipinos said, to collect data to formulate the will of our people and transmit it fully and faithfully to the Government of Washington, who alone could arrive at a definite decision on the subject. These conferences ended in perfect harmony, auguring well for happier times and definite peace when Mr. McKinley should reply to General Otis’s telegrams transmitting our wishes with his favourable recommendations, as the American Commissioners said.

Outbreak of Hostilities

While I, the Government, the Congress and the entire populace were awaiting the arrival of such a greatly desired reply, many fairly overflowing with pleasant thoughts, there came the fatal day of the 4th February, during the night of which day the American forces suddenly attacked all our lines, which were in fact at the time almost deserted, because being Saturday, the day before a regular feast day, our Generals and some of the most prominent officers had obtained leave to pass the Sabbath with their respective families.

General Pantaleon Garcia was the only one who at such a critical moment was at his post in Maypajo, north of Manila, Generals Noriel, Rizal and Ricarte and Colonels San Miguel, Cailles and others being away enjoying their leave.Page 52

General Otis, according to trustworthy information, telegraphed to Washington stating that the Filipinos had attacked the American Army. President McKinley read aloud the telegram in the Senate, where the Treaty of Paris of the 10th December, 1898, was being discussed with a view to its ratification, the question of annexation of the Philippines being the chief subject of debate, and through this criminal procedure secured the acceptation of the said Treaty in toto by a majority of only three votes,1 which were cast simultaneously with a declaration that the voters sided with the “Ayes” on account of war having broken out in these Islands.

This singular comedy could not continue for a great length of time because the Filipinos could never be the aggressors as against the American forces, with whom we had sworn eternal friendship and in whose power we expected to find the necessary protection to enable us to obtain recognition of our independence from the other Powers.

The confusion and obfuscation of the first moments was indeed great, but before long it gave place to the light of Truth which shone forth serene, bringing forth serious reflections.

When sensible people studied the acts of Mr. McKinley, sending reinforcement after reinforcement to Manila at a time after an armistice was agreed upon and even when peace with Spain Page 53prevailed; when they took into account that the despatch of the Civil Commission to settle terms of a treaty of amity with the Filipinos was being delayed; when, too, they knew of the antecedents of my alliance with Admiral Dewey, prepared and arranged by the American Consuls of Singapore and Hongkong, Mr. Pratt and Mr. Wildman; when they became acquainted with the actual state of affairs on the 4th February knowing that the Filipinos were awaiting the reply of Mr. McKinley to the telegram of General Otis in which he transmitted the peaceful wish of the Filipino people of live as an independent nation; when, lastly, they riveted their attention to the terms of the Treaty of Paris, the approval of which, in as far as it concerned the annexation of the Philippines, was greeted with manifestations of joy and satisfaction by the Imperialist party led by Mr. McKinley, then their eyes were opened to the revelations of truth, clearly perceiving the base, selfish and inhuman policy which Mr. McKinley had followed in his dealings with us the Filipinos, sacrificing remorselessly to their unbridled ambition the honour of Admiral Dewey, exposing this worthy gentleman and illustrious conqueror of the Spanish fleet to universal ridicule; for no other deduction can follow from the fact that about the middle of May of 1898, the U.S.S. McCullochbrought me with my revolutionary companions from Hongkong, by order of the above mentioned Admiral, while now actually the United States squadron is engaged in bombarding the towns and ports held by these Page 54revolutionists, whose objective is and always has been Liberty and Independence.

The facts as stated are of recent date and must still be fresh in the memory of all.

Those who in May, 1898, admired the courage of Admiral Dewey’s sailors and the humanitarianism of this illustrious Commander in granting visible aid to an oppressed people to obtain freedom and independence, surely cannot place an honest construction upon the present inhuman war when contrasting it with those lofty and worthy sentiments.

I need not dwell on the cruelty which, from the time of the commencement of hostilities, has characterized General Otis’s treatment of the Filipinos, shooting in secret many who declined to sign a petition asking for autonomy. I need not recapitulate the ruffianly abuses which the American soldiers committed on innocent and defenseless people in Manila, shooting women and children simply because they were leaning out of windows; entering houses at midnight without the occupants’ permission—forcing open trunks and wardrobes and stealing money, jewellery and all valuables they came across; breaking chairs, tables and mirrors which they could not carry away with them, because, anyhow, they are consequences of the war, though improper in the case of civilized forces. But what I would not leave unmentioned is the inhuman conduct of that General in his dealings with the Page 55Filipino Army, when, to arrange a treaty of peace with the Civil Commission, of which Mr. Schurman was President, I thrice sent emissaries asking for a cessation of hostilities.

General Otis refused the envoys’ fair and reasonable request, replying that he would not stop hostilities so long as the Philippine Army declined to lay down their arms.

But why does not this Army deserve some consideration at the hands of General Otis and the American forces? Had they already forgotten the important service the Filipino Army rendered to the Americans in the late war with Spain?

Had General Otis forgotten the favours conferred on him by the Filipino Army, giving up to him and his Army the suburbs and blockhouses which at such great sacrifice to themselves the Filipinos had occupied?

Why should General Otis make such a humiliating condition a prime factor or basis of terms of peace with an Army which stood shoulder to shoulder with the American forces, freely shedding its blood, and whose heroism and courage were extolled by Admiral Dewey and other Americans?

This unexplained conduct of General Otis, so manifestly contrary to the canons of international law and military honour, is eloquent testimony of his deliberate intention to neutralize the effects of Mr. Schurman’s pacific mission.

What peace can be concerted by the roaring of cannon and the whizzing of bullets?Page 56

What is and has been the course of procedure of General Brooke in Cuba? Are not the Cubans still armed, notwithstanding negotiations for the pacification and future government of that Island are still going on?

Are we, perchance, less deserving of liberty and independence than those revolutionists?

Oh, dear Philippines! Blame your wealth, your beauty for the stupendous disgrace that rests upon your faithful sons.

You have aroused the ambition of the Imperialists and Expansionists of North America and both have placed their sharp claws upon your entrails!

Loved mother, sweet mother, we are here to defend your liberty and independence to the death! We do not want war; on the contrary, we wish for peace; but honourable peace, which does not make you blush nor stain your forehead with shame and confusion. And we swear to you and promise that while America with all her power and wealth could possibly vanquish us; killing all of us; but enslave us, never!!!

No; this humiliation is not the compact I celebrated in Singapore with the American Consul Pratt. This was not the agreement stipulated for with Mr. Wildman, American Consul in Hongkong. Finally, it was not the subjection of my beloved country to a new alien yoke that Admiral Dewey promised me.Page 57

It is certain that these three have abandoned me, forgetting that I was sought for and taken from my exile and deportation; forgetting, also, that neither of these three solicited my services in behalf of American Sovereignty, they paying the expense of the Philippine Revolution for which, manifestly, they sought me and brought me back to your beloved bosom!

If there is, as I believe, one God, the root and fountain of all justice and only eternal judge of international disputes, it will not take long, dear mother, to save you from the hands, of your unjust enemies. So I trust in the honour of Admiral Dewey: So I trust in the rectitude of the great people of the United States of America, where, if there are ambitious Imperialists, there are defenders of the humane doctrines of the immortal Monroe, Franklin, and Washington; unless the race of noble citizens, glorious founders of the present greatness of the North American Republic, have so degenerated that their benevolent influence has become subservient to the grasping ambition of the Expansionists, in which latter unfortunate circumstance would not death be preferable to bondage?

Oh, sensible American people! Deep is the admiration of all the Philippine people and of their untrained Army of the courage displayed by your Commanders and soldiers. We are weak in comparison with such Titanic instruments of your Government’s ambitious Caesarian policy and find it difficult to effectively resist their courageous Page 58onslaught. Limited are our warlike resources, but we will continue this unjust, bloody, and unequal struggle, not for the love of war—which we abhor—but to defend our incontrovertible rights of Liberty and Independence (so dearly won in war with Spain) and our territory which is threatened by the ambitions of a party that is trying to subjugate us.

Distressing, indeed, is war! Its ravages cause us horror. Luckless Filipinos succumb in the confusion of combat, leaving behind them mothers, widows and children. America could put up with all the misfortunes she brings on us without discomfort; but what the North American people are not agreeable to is that she should continue sacrificing her sons, causing distress and anguish to mothers, widows and daughters to satisfy the whim of maintaining a war in contravention of their honourable traditions as enunciated by Washington and Jefferson.

Go back, therefore, North American people, to your old-time liberty. Put your hand on your heart and tell me: Would it be pleasant for you if, in the course of time, North America should find herself in the pitiful plight, of a weak and oppressed people and the Philippines, a free and powerful nation, then at war with your oppressors, asked for your aid promising to deliver you from such a weighty yoke, and after defeating her enemy with your aid she set about subjugating you, refusing the promised liberation?Page 59

Civilized nations! Honourable inhabitants of the United States, to whose high and estimable consideration I submit this unpretentious work, herein you have the providential facts which led to the unjust attack upon the existence of the Philippine Republic and the existence of those for whom, though unworthy, God made me the principal guardian.

The veracity of these facts rests upon my word as President of this Republic and on the honour of the whole population of eight million souls, who, for more than three hundred years have been sacrificing the lives and wealth of their brave sons to obtain due recognition of the natural rights of mankind—liberty and independence.

If you will do me the honour to receive and read this work and then pass judgment impartially solemnly declaring on which side right and justice rests, your respectful servant will be eternally grateful.

(Signed) Emilio Aguinaldo. Tarlak, 23rd September, 1899.

1 Many of the American papers reported that the majority was one vote only in excess of the absolutely requisite two-thirds majority.

Index

  • I.—The Revolution of 1896 1
  • II.—The Treaty of Peace of Biak-na-bató 4
  • III.—Negotiations 6
  • IV.—The Revolution of 1898 19
  • V.—The Dictatorial Government 22
  • VI.—The First Triumphs 24
  • VII.—The Philippine Flag 26
  • VIII.—Expedition to Bisayas 28
  • IX.—The Steamer “Compania de Filipinas” 28
  • X.—The Proclamation of Independence 30
  • XI.—The Spanish Commission 32
  • XII.—More American Troops 37
  • XIII.—The 13th August 38
  • XIV.—First Clouds 40
  • XV.—Vain Hopes 42
  • XVI.—The American Commission 44
  • XVII.—Impolitic acts 46
  • XVIII.—The Mixed Commission 50
  • XIX.—Outbreak of Hostilities 51

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=2090
		0
		
		
		SILENT FILM: Philippine American War – Advance of Kansas Volunteers at Caloocan by Thomas A. Edison; 5 June 1899
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=2078
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=2078#respond
		Tue, 01 Oct 2013 11:17:41 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=2078
		
				Philippine American War – Advance of Kansas Volunteers at Caloocan by Thomas A. Edison; 5 June 1899

From LibraryOfCongress, Washinton D.C.


 


Comment by Mandirigma.org: At the time of this production, film was a brand new medium. This Film by Thomas Edison shows Filipino Freedom Fighters defending their country against  American Invaders. However the director portrays the Filipinos as “Rebels” and the Americans as defenders of “Freedom” and “Liberty” who overcome the “Insurgents”.


 




 


 


SUMMARY

From Edison films catalog: From the thick underbrush where the Filipinos are massed comes volley after volley. They are making one of those determined stands that marks Caloocan as the bloodiest battle of the Filipino rebellion. Suddenly, with impetuous rush, Funston’s men appear. They pause but for a moment, to fire, reload and fire. The color bearer falls, but the standard is caught up by brave Sergeant Squires and waves undaunted in the smoke and din of the receding battle. This is one of the best battle pictures ever made. The first firing is done directly toward the front of the picture, and the advance of the U.S. troops apparently through the screen is very exciting; the gradual disappearance of the fighters sustaining the interest to the end. 65 feet. $9.75.


NOTES

Copyright: Thomas A. Edison; 5June1899; 37443.


Original main title lacking.


Reenacted by the New Jersey National Guard.


Materials listed originate from the paper print chosen best copy of two for digitization; for other holdings on this title, contact M/B/RS reference staff.


Edison code name (for telegraphic orders): Unbroached.


MAVIS 47087; Advance of Kansas Volunteers at Caloocan.


Reenacted May 1899 in the Orange Mountains near West Orange, New Jersey.


Sources used: Copyright catalog, motion pictures, 1894-1912; Musser, C. Edison motion pictures 1890-1900, 1997; Niver, K.R. Early motion pictures, 1985; Edison films catalog, no. 94, March 1900, p. 4 [MI]; Edison films catalog, no. 105, July 1901, p. 30 [MI].


SUBJECTS

United States.–Army.–Kansas Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 20th.

Philippines–History–Philippine American War, 1899-1902–Battlefields.

Battles–Philippines.

Soldiers.

Revolutionaries–Philippines.

Funston, Frederick,–1865-1917–Military leadership.

Battle casualties–Philippines.

Flags–United States.

War films.

Historical reenactments (Motion pictures)

Short films.

Silent films.

Nonfiction films.


RELATED NAMES

White, James H. (James Henry), production.

New Jersey. National Guard.

Thomas A. Edison, Inc.

Paper Print Collection (Library of Congress)


CALL NUMBER

FEC 2820 (ref print)

FPE 9628 (dupe neg)

FPE 9135 (masterpos)

LC 973a (paper pos)


DIGITAL ID

sawmp 0973 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/sawmp.0973


 


Philippine American War

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=2078
		0
		
		
		Katipunero: Simeón Ola y Arboleda -Philippine Revolution Hero and the last General to surrender to American forces during the Philippine-American War
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=739
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=739#respond
		Fri, 02 Aug 2013 19:07:05 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=739
		
				backyard eskrima


 


The Paternal Great Grandfather of Mandirigma.orgs’ Guro Dino Flores, Segundo Flores was a Katipunero serving under the

General Simeón Ola y Arboleda in the Bicol Region. Major Simeón Ola y Arboleda was under General Vito Belarmino, the Zone Commander of the Revolutionary Forces in the Bicol Region.


———-


Simeón Ola y Arboleda


Municipal President of Albay, In office 1904–1908


Born: 2 September 1865

Guinobatan, Albay, Philippines

Died : 14 February 1952 (aged 86)

Guinobatan, Albay, Philippines

Organization: Katipunan


Simeón Ola y Arboleda (September 2, 1865 – February 14, 1952) was a hero of the Philippine Revolution and the last general to surrender to American forces during the Philippine-American War.


Biography

Simeon Ola was born on September 2, 1865 to Vicente Ola and Apolonia Arboleda, who were ordinary citizens with little money. He was enrolled in Holy Rosary Minor Seminary and studied Philosophy, but didn’t finish the course. He joined the local branch of the Katipunan in his hometown province of Albay and later became the leader. With the help of a parish priest he was able to acquire arms to support his men. He was promoted to the rank of captain after the battle of Camalig in Albay, 1898 and again promoted to the rank of major after a daring ambush mission that led to the capture of three Americans. He was also the leader of the subsequent valiant attacks on Albay towns namely, Oas, Ligao and Jovellar. He later surrendered on the condition that his men would be granted amnesty. He was put on trial and was proven guilty of sedition and was sentenced to thirty years in prison. In 1904, he was given a pardon and returned to his place of birth and became the municipal president. The regional police command in Legazpi City was name after him.


SIMEON A. OLA

(1865-1952)


Revolutionist


In Guinobatan, Albay hailed Simeon Ola, the man who would lead the Bicolanos fight for

their freedom. He was born on September 2, 1865 to Vicente Ola and Apolonia Arboleda.


Ola was highly regarded in Guinobatan, being the teniente de cuadrillos and a trusted

confidant of Father Carlos Cabido, the parish priest of his town. These positions helped him carry

out his revolutionary works – recruiting men and acquiring firearms for the revolutionary army.

He connived with the jail warden in his town, Sergeant Loame, to free about 93 prisoners. The

prisoners soon joined his army.


In April 1898, he fought in the battle of Camalig. General Vito Belarmino, the Zone

Commander of the Revolutionary Forces in the Bicol Region, designated him the rank of a Captain.

Fully committed to the cause of the revolution, he also raised funds amounting to P42, 000.00,

which he turned over to General Mariano Trias, Secretary of Finance of the Revolutionary

Government.


On January 23, 1900, he was promoted Major after he successfully effected an ambush and

captured three American soldiers: Dubose, Fred Hunter and Russel. In February that same year,

his troops fought against the Americans in Arimbay, Legaspi. His cousin Jose Arboleda perished in

the bloody battle.


American soldiers’ mighty firepower and combat training did not dampen his spirit; he

continued to fight so that his men were encouraged and more men joined his army. With the army

of Colonel Engracio Orence, he fought valiantly in the battle of Binogsacan in Guinobatan, Albay.

His army rested for over a month in July 1901 when he accompanied General Belarmino to Manila.

He resumed his campaign in August by raiding the town of Oas, Albay. On August 12, 1902, he

ambushed the American detachment at Macabugos, Ligao.


Ola became a marked man to the Americans. Although his troops were easily repulsed

during battles, the Americans took him seriously. From March to October 1903, the Americans set

up the reconcentration system as a means to stop Ola’s activities. Because of the damage it caused

even to the innocent civilians, they turned into negotiations. They sent Ramon Santos and Major

Jesse S. Garwood of the Constabulary as emissaries to negotiate for his surrender, which he

politely refused. Instead, he carried on his battle. On July 15, 1903, he ambushed the 31st

Philippine Scout Garrison under the command of Sergeant Nicolas Napoli in Joveliar, Albay.


The persistent effort of the peace panel and his battle weary men made Ola realized that he

could never win the war. He became open to the agreement set by Colonel Harry H. Bandholtz, the

Assistant Commander of the Constabulary in Lucena, Tayabas, for his surrender. The agreement

included general amnesty, fair treatment and justice to his comrades in arms. On September 25,

1903 the negotiating panel composed of Ramon Santos, Eligio Arboleda, Epifanio Orozco, Frank L.

Pyle, John Paegelow, J.B. Allison and Joseph Rogers went to his camp in Malagnaton, Mapaco,

Guinobatan. Eventually, Ola surrendered to Governor Bette and Colonel Bandholtz.


Charged with sedition, Judges Adam Carson and James Blount presided over his case. He

was sentenced of 30 years imprisonment on November 10. 1903. Fortunately, he was granted

executive clemency so he was released from prison on October 8, 1904. In 1910, he entered politics

and won as town mayor of Guinobatan, which he served until 1913. He was again elected to the

same position in 1916. He served the term until 1919.


Simeon Ola died on February 14, 1952 and was interred at the Roman Catholic Cemetery of

Guinobatan.


References:


Agoncillo, Teodoro A. History of the Filipino People. 8th ed. Quezon City: Garotech,  1990.


Eminent Filipinos. Manila: National Historical Commission, 1970.


Quirino, Carlos.  Who’s who in Philippine History.  Manila: Tahanan Books, 1995.


 




Simeón Ola y Arboleda mandirigmaa.org





















]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=739
		0
		
		
		Emilio Aguinaldo filmed with actor Douglas Fairbanks, Philippines, 1931
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1993
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1993#respond
		Thu, 01 Aug 2013 22:06:27 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=1993
		
				Emilio Aguinaldo filmed with actor Douglas Fairbanks, Philippines, 1931



In 1931 Douglas Fairbanks went on a trip to Asia, and made a comic travelogue entitled “Around the World in 80 Minutes”. The clip from the Philippines included a short speech in Spanish by Emilio Aguinaldo.


Fairbanks was a movie producer and actor in silent films. He co-founded the American film studio United Artists and hosted the first Oscars Ceremony in 1929.


La calidad del audio deja mucho que desear, pero me parece que el Sr. Aguinaldo dijo:

“Os participo de que he dado la bienvenida a nuestro gran actor (?Douglas Fairbanks) de America. Por la misma razón espero que esta visita que nos ha dignado dicho gran actor,(???), estrechará más la armonía entre americanos y filipinos”


Una traducción literal: I have given welcome to our great actor, Douglas Fairbanks, from America. For the same reason, I hope that this visit by this great actor, who has humbled himself to us, will develop greater harmony between Americans and Filipinos.


 


Emilio Aguinaldo and Douglas Fairbanks his Cavite home March 26 1931


 


emilio aginaldo katipunero

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1993
		0
		
		
		Sino pumatay kay Antonio Luna? – Philippine TV Show Crime Klasik – Episode #301 – June 8, 2012
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=2036
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=2036#respond
		Wed, 24 Jul 2013 04:57:19 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=2036
		
				Sino pumatay kay Antonio Luna? – Philippine TV Show Crime Klasik – Episode #301 – June 8, 2012



 


 


Isa sa pinakamatapang at pinakamatalinong Heneral na lumaban sa mananakop si General Antonio Luna.

Pero hindi tulad ng ibang bayani, sa kamay raw ng kapwa Pilipino natapos ang kaniyang buhay.

Paano nabago nito ang ating kasaysayan?


 


Was it Aguinaldo who had Antonio Luna killed? Go back in time and know the history of Antonio Luna here in Crime Klasik.


 


More on Crime Klasik: https://www.facebook.com/CrimeKlasik


 


General Antonio Luna


 


Antonio Luna

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=2036
		0
		
		
		Origin of the Symbols of the Philippine National Flag  by The Malacañan Palace Library
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1809
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1809#respond
		Sun, 09 Jun 2013 18:59:24 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=1809
		
				Origin of the Symbols of the Philippine National Flag by The Malacañan Palace Library

Aside from the Masonic influence on the Katipunan, the design of the  Philippine flag has roots in the flag family to which it belongs—that of  the last group of colonies that sought independence from the Spanish Empire at  the close of the 19th century, a group to which the Philippines belongs.  The Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning  Office traces the origins of the Philippine flag’s design elements,  which have been in use since General Emilio Aguinaldo first conceived  them—the stars and stripes; the red, white, and blue; the masonic  triangle; and the sun—and have endured since.


Source: http://malacanang.gov.ph/3846-origin-of-the-symbols-of-our-national-flag/


 


dino flores pinoy flag kali kalis eskrima escrima arnis fma ilustrisimo lameco ricketts sulite luzon visayas mindanao pinoy flag kali kalis eskrima escrima arnis fma ilustrisimo lameco ricketts sulite luzon visayas mindanao pinoy flag kali kalis eskrima escrima arnis fma ilustrisimo lameco ricketts sulite luzon visayas mindanao


 

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1809
		0
		
		
		Pre-Standardized Philippine Flag by Ambeth R. Ocampo
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1965
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1965#respond
		Fri, 17 May 2013 03:17:31 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=1965
		
				



Philippine Revolution Sun




Before the Philippine flag was standardized into the form we know today, the sun had a human face and eight rays that differed depending on who made it. The sun in the flag also appeared as: seals, stamps, and logos on official communications. I’m not sure if this is a stamp for postage, revenue, or documentary tax.



Ambeth R. Ocampo

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1965
		0
		
		
		Movie: Supremo (2012), Andres Bonifacio as husband, brother, soldier and hero
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1703
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1703#respond
		Thu, 16 Aug 2012 20:55:30 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=1703
		
				


 


 


About

Andres Bonifacio’s Biopic


Description

Andres Bonifacio as husband, brother, soldier and hero


Release date


August 2012


Genre


Epic Drama


Studio


Alternative Vision Cinema and Strawdogs Studio Productions


Plot outline


Manila, year 1896. The cry for independence from the tyranny of Spain peals louder than ever. Andres Bonifacio, leader of the rebel movement the Katipunan, leads his men to war. Though ill-equipped and untried in the field of battle, the Katipuneros launch an offensive against a vastly superior Spanish military.


What follows is a series of events that will test the nation’s brave sons, and an aftermath that will separate the genuine patriots from mere participants.


Starring


Alfred Vargas, Mon Confiado, Nicco Manalo, Alex Vincent Medina, Edmon Romawac, Shielbert Manuel, Lehner Mendoza, Manu Respall, Jeff Fernandez, Banjo Romero, Alex Cabodil, Nica Naval and Hermie Concepcion


Directed by


Richard V. Somes


Written By


Jimmy Flores


Produced by


PM Vargas, Alfred Vargas, Riza Montelibano, Mai Montelibano and Ellen Ilagan


 


Supremo (2012) Full Trailer


Director: Richard V. Somes


Starring:

Alfred Vargas


Mon Confiado

Hermie Concepcion

Nicco Manalo

Alex Vincent Medina

Nica Naval

Edmon Romawag

Shielbert Manuel

Lehner Mendoza

Jeff Fernandez

Banjo Romero

Mano Respall

Alex Cabodil


Production Manager: Darryl De la Cruz

Sound Engineer Jedd Chriss Dumaguina

Musical Scorer: Von De Guzman

Editors: Carlo Francisco Manatad + Joris Fernandez

Director of Photography: Alex Espartero

Production Designers: Erin John Martir + Adrian Torres

Screenplay: Jimmy Flores

Associate Producer: Ellen Ilagan + Maimai Montelibano

Line Producer: Riza Montelibano

Executive Producers: PM Vargas + Alfred Vargas


 


http://www.facebook.com/pages/Supremo/407515249292352


 


 


supremo movie 2012 katipunan pilipinas supremo movie 2012 katipunan pilipinas supremo movie 2012 katipunan pilipinas supremo movie 2012 katipunan pilipinas supremo movie 2012 katipunan pilipinas supremo movie 2012 katipunan pilipinas

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1703
		0
		
		
		BOOK: Color Photos Of America’s New Possessions by  F. Tennyson Neely (1899)
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1284
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1284#respond
		Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:31:51 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=1284
		
				kali lameco eskrima lameco eskrima mandirigma.org kali lameco eskrima lameco eskrima mandirigma.org







Color Photos Of America’s New Possessions by  F. Tennyson Neely (1899)


Collection of color photographs of the Spanish – American War military actions in the Philippines.




Many of these photographs are not found in any other books!


 


Read it online at The Library of Congress .


http://www.archive.org/stream/neelyscolorphoto00newy#page/n0/mode/2up


http://www.archive.org/details/neelyscolorphoto00newy


 




 




 





]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1284
		0
		
		
		BOOK: FOUNDERS OF FREEDOM, The History of the Three Philippine Constitutions (1971)
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1280
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1280#respond
		Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:20:45 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=1280
		
				


 


Description: The  book tells the history of struggle for freedom in the Philippines, from  the first massive filipino alliance against Spain during the 16th  century, to the Philippine Revolution, to the founding of the Philippine  republic, and the succession of Presidents up to the time of President  Marcos. Its a book that conditions citizens to the framing of the new  Constitution in 1972. In the introduction  reads: “Seventy-Three years ago, on 12 June 1898, General Emilio  Aguinaldo, Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Revolution, declared  the independence of the Philippines at Kawit”.


Writers: Vicente  Albano Pacis, Dr. Jose M. Aruego, Esteban De Ocampo, Carlos Quirino,  Jose Luna Castro, Mauro Garcia, Isidro L. Retizos, D.H. Soriano


Publisher: Elena Hollman Roces Foundation, Inc


 




 




 




 


kali arnis eskrima kali arnis eskrima kali arnis eskrima kali arnis eskrima kali arnis eskrima kali arnis eskrima kali arnis eskrima

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1280
		0
		
		
		BOOK: Memories of the Philippine Revolution  Apolinario Mabini (1963)
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1277
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1277#respond
		Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:10:11 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=1277
		
				
















































 www.mandirigma.org lameco lameco lameco
















Memories of the Philippine Revolution  Apolinario Mabini (1963)















Description: Apolinario Mabini’s biographical work about the Philippine Revolution of 1896. Text in Spanish.


Publisher: Bureau of Public Printing-Manila. 1963


Author: Apolinario Mabini


Pages: 254
































]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1277
		0
		
		
		BOOK: UNCLE SAM’S BOYS In PHILIPPINES by By H.Irving Hancock (1912)
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1270
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1270#respond
		Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:43:18 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=1270
		
				Image Hosting by Vendio


 


The Project Gutenberg eBook, Uncle Sam’s Boys in the Philippines, by H. Irving Hancock


This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org


Title: Uncle Sam’s Boys in the Philippines


or, Following the Flag against the Moros


Author: H. Irving Hancock


Release Date: November 11, 2007  [eBook #23447]


Language: English


Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1


***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNCLE SAM’S BOYS IN THE PHILIPPINES***


 


E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland

and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

(http://www.pgdp.net)


 




 


Front Cover


Uncle Sam’s Boys in the Philippines


OR


Following the Flag against the Moros


By H. IRVING HANCOCK


Author of Uncle Sam’s Boys in the Ranks, Uncle Sam’s Boys on Field Duty, Uncle Sam’s Boys as Sergeants, The Motor Boat Club Series, The Grammar School Boys Series, The High School Boys Series, The West Point Series, The Annapolis Series, The Young Engineers Series, etc., etc.


Illustrated


 


 


PHILADELPHIA


HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY


Copyright, 1912, by Howard E. Altemus




It Won't be Necessary, Corporal.


Frontispiece.


CONTENTS


Uncle Sam’s Boys in the Philippines

The Filipino Dandy

A Meeting at the Nipa Barracks

Plotters Travel With the Flag

Cerverra’s Innocent Shop

Enough to “Rattle” the Victim

Life Hangs on a Word

The Kind of Man Who Masters Others

The Right Man in the Guard House

News Comes of the Uprising

The Insult to the Flag

In the First Brush With Moros

The Brown Men at Bay—For How Long?

A Tale of Moro Blackmail

The Call for Midnight Courage

In a Cinch With Cold Steel

Datto Hakkut Makes a New Move

“Long” Green and Kelly Have Innings

Sentry Miggs Makes a Gruesome Find

Hal Turns the Gatling Gun Loose

Corporal Duxbridge’s Mistake

Scouting in Deadly Earnest

Playing Goo-Goo in a Grim Game

Dooming the Datto

Conclusion




Uncle Sam’s Boys in the Philippines




CHAPTER I


THE FILIPINO DANDY


“We’ve solved one problem at last, Noll,” declared Sergeant Hal Overton seriously.


“Only one?” demanded young Sergeant Terry quizzically.


But Hal, becoming only the more serious, went on earnestly:


“At last we begin to understand just what the ‘lure of the Orient’ means! For years I’ve been reading about the Orient, and the way that this part of the world charms men and holds them. Now, that we are here on the spot, I begin to understand it all. Noll, my boy, the East is a great and wonderful place! I wonder if I shall ever tire of it?”


“I believe I could tire of it in time,” remarked Sergeant Terry, of the Thirty-fourth United States Infantry.


“But you haven’t yet,” insisted Sergeant Hal.


“What, when we’ve been here only three days? Naturally I haven’t. And, besides, all we’ve seen is Manila, and certainly Manila can’t be more than one little jumping-off corner of the Orient that you’re so enthusiastic about.”


“You’re wild about the Far East, too—even the one little corner of it that we’ve seen,” retorted Sergeant Hal. “Don’t be a grouch or a knocker, Noll. Own up that you wouldn’t start for the United States to-morrow if you were offered double pay back in the home country.”


“No; I wouldn’t,” confessed Sergeant Terry. “I want to see a lot more of these Philippine Islands before I go back to our own land.”


“Just halt where you are and look about you,” went on enthusiastic Sergeant Hal. “Try to picture this scene as Broadway, in New York.”


“Or Main Street in our own little home city,” laughed Sergeant Terry quietly.


Certainly the scene was entirely different from anything that the two young Army boys had ever seen before.


They stood on the Escolta, which is the main business thoroughfare of New Manila, as that portion of the Philippine capital north of the little river is called. South of the river is Old Manila, the walled city of the old days of the Spanish conquerors. South of the walled city lie two rather fashionable residence suburbs, Ermita and Malate.


But the Thirty-fourth was temporarily stationed in big nipa barracks at Malate. It was in the newer Manila that the two boyish young sergeants found their greatest interest.


It was a busy, bustling scene. There is nothing exactly like the Escolta in any other part of the world. The whole of this crooked, winding thoroughfare seemed alive with horses and people—with the horses in more than goodly proportion.


Along the Escolta are the principal wholesale and retail houses of the city. Here is the post office, there the “Botanica” or principal drug store, operating under English capital and a Spanish name; down near the water front is the Hotel de Paris, a place famous for the good dinners of the East. Further up the Escolta, just around a slight bend, is the Oriente Hotel, the stopping place of Army officers and their families, of passing travelers and of civil employees of the government.


At this point along the Escolta are the busiest marts of local trade. The sidewalks are crowded with hurrying throngs; the streets jammed with traffic, for in Manila few of the whites or the wealthier natives ever think of walking more than a block or two. The quilez, the little two-wheeled car drawn by a six-hundred-pound pony, is the common means of getting about. A dollar in American money will charter one of these quilez for hours, and the heat renders it an advisable investment for one who has far to go.


Automobiles were scarce, though they had penetrated even this congested Escolta. Here and there an Army officer or orderly appeared on horseback in the crush of the street. If he attempted to ride at a canter the horseman seemed to be taking his life in his own hands, with the chances all against him.


Save for the lazy calls of drivers—cocheros—to their horses, the hum of human voices was subdued. In the heat of the Escolta the people of all colors seem to have reached a tacit understanding that it requires less exertion to talk in low tones.


White people of both sexes appeared, clad usually in the white attire so customary in the tropics. Filipino dandies affected the same garbing, with the exception of here and there a natty, nervous, little brown man who appeared in the more formal black frock coat. But few, even of these, had the courage to come out in sun-up hours wearing the silk hat that is the usual accompaniment of the long-tailed frock coat.


Despite the heat, the faces of most of the people in the crowded streets appeared cheerful, even happy. Life is not taken too seriously in the Orient. The natives always find plenty of time for laughter; the stranger soon acquires the trick.


Banks, stores, restaurants, mineral water kiosks—all the places of resort along the Escolta—were abundantly patronized, yet none save the cocheros perched up on the little seats of the quilez appeared to be at all in a hurry.


Yet one man in particular appeared to be devoid of hurry. In fact, he paused or halted whenever the two boyish young sergeants did. He invariably kept about a hundred feet behind them in this queerly bustling yet ever leisurely crowd that thronged the sidewalks of the Escolta.


While Hal and Noll were curiously noting the fact—that the Escolta seems always so busy, but the individuals who make up the life there seem never in a hurry—the man who was plainly following them never glanced at them directly, yet never once lost sight of them.


Neither Hal nor Noll had yet noted the man, about whom there were some points that would have been amusing to the American youngsters.


This man was a Filipino. At first glance one would have believed him to be a Tagalo, or member of the most warlike and ambitious of all the eighty-odd tribes that make up the peoples of these islands. The Tagalos are the tribe most frequently found in and around Manila, and in the provinces nearest to that city. In appearance the Tagalos look a good deal like underfed Japanese. It was to the Tagalos that the insurrecto leader, Aguinaldo, belonged.


These Tagalos, however, consider themselves in every way the equals and match for any white man. The Tagalos have absorbed much of the Spanish civilization. Many of them are wealthy and the sons of such families generally hold degrees from Philippine colleges. Well-to-do Tagalos, despite their undersized stature and dark-brown skins, affect all the culture—and the vices—of well-to-do white people. They conduct banks, engage in commerce, mingle with white society, and consider themselves as bright lights of civilization. Above all, every Tagalo takes keen interest in politics. Yet these Tagalos, up to date, are only veneered Malays.


This Filipino who was so patiently following Sergeants Hal and Noll appeared to belong to the well-to-do class. Certainly he was an immaculate dandy. He was about five feet two inches in height, and wore neat-fitting, well-tailored white duck garments. The blouse was buttoned down in front, a military, braided white collar standing up stiffly, rendering the wearing of a shirt unnecessary. On his feet were highly polished tan shoes of American make. On his head he wore a jaunty, straight-brimmed straw hat of the best native manufacture. In his right hand this irreproachable Filipino dandy lightly swung a feather-weight bamboo cane.


His eyes were dark, gleaming, intense—fitted either to reflect laughter or sharp anger. But what rendered this man, who appeared to be close to thirty-five years of age, ridiculous to American eyes was his mustache. This was blue-black in color, waxed to two fine, bristling, upturned points—a fashion that this dandy had undoubtedly caught from some former Spanish military officer.


“They are boys—they will suit my purpose excellently,” murmured the Filipino to himself, as he halted before a window where tropical outfittings for men were attractively displayed. Yet, though he gazed in at the window, he saw Sergeants Hal and Noll out of the corners of his eyes. “They are young, ambitious; they are enlisted men, therefore poor. Even in this short time these boys must have learned the craving for the things that money alone will buy. No man, in the Orient, can escape that knowledge and that longing for money. That is why it is so easy to buy men’s souls here in the East. Shall I go up and speak to them? But no! There they go into a curio store where they will find much that they may wish to buy. I will follow my young sergentes inside in five minutes—or ten. Then they will be ripe for the man who talks money.”


Hal and Noll had entered one of the most attractive little shops to be found anywhere along the Escolta. This store is kept by a Chinaman, who sells the more costly curios of the Far East. China’s choicest silks are here displayed; also her finest teakwoods and curious boxes and cabinets of sandal and other valued woods, inlaid with pearl, or studded with rare jades. Here are wonderful creations carved out of ivory, idols of all kinds and sizes, of the highest grades of artistic workmanship. Here are wonderful beaded portieres and the most costly of curious Chinese garments for women. In a word, the bazaars of China are nobly represented on the Escolta. But there is much more besides. The most attractive curios from India, from Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula and of native Filipino workmanship are all to be found here. It is not the place to enter when one has not much money.


No wonder Sergeant Overton and Sergeant Terry moved from counter to counter, pricing and sighing. Each young Army boy wanted to send home something worth while to his mother. Yet how small a sergeant’s pay seems in such a bazaar!


Hal Overton and Noll Terry need no introduction to the reader of the earlier volumes in this series. “Uncle Sam’s Boys in the Ranks,” as our readers are aware, details how Hal and Noll, reared in love of the Flag and respect for the military, determined, at the age of eighteen, to enlist in the Regular Army. Our readers followed the new recruits to the recruit rendezvous, where the young men received their first drillings in the art of being a soldier. From there they followed Hal and Noll westward, to Fort Clowdry, in the Colorado mountains, where the young soldiers went through their first thrilling experiences of the strenuous side of Army life, proving themselves, whether in barracks, on drill ground or under fire on a lonely sentry post, to be the sort of American youths of whom the best soldiers are made.


Readers of “Uncle Sam’s Boys on Field Duty” already know how Hal and Noll went several steps further in learning the work of the soldier; of their surprisingly good and highly adventurous work in practical problems of field life. In this volume was described field life and outpost duty, and scouting duty as well, as they are actually taught in the Army. In this volume is told also how Hal and Noll while out with a scouting party supplied their company with unexpected bear meat. Our readers, too, will remember the thrilling work of Hal and Noll, under Lieutenant Prescott, in capturing a desperate character badly wanted by the state authorities. These young soldiers were heroes of other absorbing adventures; their fine work eventually leading to their appointments as corporals.


In “Uncle Sam’s Boys As Sergeants” our readers will recall a host of happenings that belong to military life, among them the stirring military tournament in which a battalion of “Ours” took part at Denver, and the all but tragic results of that tournament; the soldier hunting-party up in the Rockies, in which Hal and Noll thoroughly distinguished themselves both as hunters and as soldiers and commanders.


And now we find the entire Thirty-fourth Infantry in Manila, stationed there briefly pending details at other points in the islands.


As we look in upon Sergeants Overton and Terry to-day we find them two years older than when they first enlisted—but many years older in all the fine qualities that go to make up the best manhood.


Either young sergeant’s word was as good as his bond in the Thirty-fourth. Truthful, ambitious, manly, thoroughly trained and capable of commanding; in a word, men in character and abilities, while yet boys in years.


This much had two years of life in the United States Army done for Hal Overton and Noll Terry. Could other training have done more?


And these were the young Americans whom the alert-eyed, trailing Filipino dandy had already singled out and had planned to corrupt to his own purposes.


Yet the astute man of the world knows more than one way of ruining and disgracing simple-hearted, true-souled young fellows. Not even Satan is credited with appearing often in evil guise at first.


Perhaps this Filipino, a wicked fellow of long training, knew how to go about his work.


“Going to buy anything, Noll?” asked Hal at last, after the two young sergeants had made the round of the bewildering, attractive store.


“I would, if I could find anything worth while that didn’t take a sergeant’s whole year’s pay,” sighed Terry.


“Things are fearfully dear here, aren’t they?” murmured Overton. “Yet I want to send something home as a remembrance to mother.”


“What do you fancy most?” asked Noll.


“If you haven’t anything else on your mind, come around and I’ll show you,” Hal proposed.


Nodding, Noll accompanied his chum. Hal stopped to rest one hand lightly on a very wonderful little chest, made out of teak and sandal woods. It was richly, wonderfully carved, the darker teakwood being also inlaid with pearl. Inside were compartments and drawers, including two little secret drawers that the smiling Chinese salesman artfully opened and exposed to view.


“One all same fo’ dinero (money), other fo’ plecious stones, jewels, you sabe,” cooed the yellow attendant.


“It’s a beauty and a wonder,” murmured Hal. “Mother’d be the proudest woman in town if I could send it home to her. How much did you say it cost?”


“Him tloo hundled pesos,” stated the Chinaman gravely.


A peso is the Spanish name for a Mexican dollar, worth about forty-seven cents; but two pesos and an American dollar are reckoned as of the same value in Manila.


“A hundred dollars gold! Why, that’s the same price you asked me before,” cried Hal in good-natured protest.


“Yep, allee same; him plenty cheap.”


“It’s too much,” sighed Sergeant Hal. But the Chinaman, as though he had not heard, asked:


“You likee? You buy?”


“I can’t afford it at that price.”


“All light; come in some other day,” invited the Chinaman politely, and glided over to where another possible customer was examining some handsome jade jewelry.


“My soldado (soldier) friend has not been long in Manila?” inquired a low, pleasant, courteous voice behind the two young soldiers.


Hal wheeled. It was the Filipino dandy whom he confronted. That smiling, prosperous-looking native was employing his left hand to twist one end of the upturned moustache to a finer point.


“No; we haven’t been here long,” Hal smiled. “Three days, in fact.”


“And you do not yet know how to bargain with these sharp-witted Chinos (Chinese)?”


“I’m afraid not,” said Sergeant Overton.


“May I ask, señor, what you wished to buy?”


“This box,” Hal answered.


“And how much did the Chino want for it, if I may make bold enough to ask so much of the señor’s business?”


“Why, he wants a hundred dollars in gold,” Hal responded.


The Filipino dandy inspected the box critically.


“You are right, señor; the price is too high. It is muy caro (very dear), in fact. It could be bought for less, if you knew better how to deal with these smiling yellow heathen.”


“I’d be greatly obliged, then, if you would tell me how to put the bargain through.”


“You should get this rare and handsome box, señor, for ninety dollars, gold—even, perhaps, for not much more than eighty.”


“Even that would be a fearful price for me to pay,” murmured Hal, shaking his head regretfully. “I shall have to give up the idea, I guess.”


“Ah, but no!” cried the Filipino, as though struck suddenly by an idea. “Not if the señor will do me one very great favor!”


“What favor can I possibly do you?” asked Sergeant Hal, regarding the little brown man with considerable astonishment.


“Why, it is all very simple, señor. Simply let me feel that I have been permitted to do a courtesy to an Americano to one of the race to which I owe so much. In a word, señor, I am not—as you may perhaps guess”—here the Filipino swelled slightly with a pride that was plain—”I am not exactly a poor man, not since the Americanos came to these islands and gave us the blessings of liberty and just government. I have many business ventures, and one of them lies in my being a secret—no, what you Americanos call a silent partner of the Chino who conducts this store. Now the favor that I ask—señor, I beg you to let me present you with this handsome little box, that you may send it over the waters to your sweetheart.”


“Make me a present of it?” demanded Sergeant Hal in amazement.


“Ah, yes, exactly so, señor; and I shall be greatly honored by your very kind acceptance. And your friend—he shall select anything—valuable and handsome—that he would like for his sweetheart.”


Neither young sergeant had a sweetheart outside of his mother. It was for their mothers that they sought suitable-priced curios. In their amazement, however, neither Hal nor Noll took the trouble to correct this smiling, polite stranger.


“Thank you,” said Overton promptly. “We can’t accept, of course, though it is very kind of you to make the offer—so very kind that it almost takes our breath away.”


“And why can you not accept?” insisted the Filipino. He was still smiling, but there was now something so insistent in his voice that Noll answered quickly:


“Because we cannot accept gifts from strangers.”


“Ah, but you do not yet know the Orient. You must have things here; you must have money to spend, and feel the pleasure of spending it, or you will die.”


“Thank you,” laughed Sergeant Hal, “but at present my health is excellent. As for dying, that has no terror for the soldier.”


“Ah, yes, to die like a soldier!” protested the Filipino, with a shrug of his shoulders. “But would you die of sheer weariness and envy? There are pleasures in this country which only money will buy. Without the money, without these pleasures, life soon becomes bitter. You do not know, but I do, for I have watched thousands of your Americano soldiers here. Now, I have money—too much! It is my whim to see that the soldados enjoy themselves. I have begged many a soldier to honor me by letting me purchase him a little pleasure. Come, I will show you now! Wait! I will send for a carriage—not a quilez, but a victoria. Say the word, give the consent, and I will show you at once what is called pleasure here in the East—in Manila.”


Though he spoke in low tones, the Filipino made almost extravagant gestures. As he kept on he warmed up to his subject.


“Shall I call a victoria?” he asked.


“If you wish,” replied Sergeant Hal dryly.


“Ah, that is the way I like to hear you say it!” cried the little Filipino, and hastened toward the door.


He went away so rapidly, in fact, that he did not have time to note young Sergeant Overton’s altered manner. From a feeling of embarrassment over having to repulse a stranger’s ill-advised offer of generosity, Hal, his eyes watching the man’s face, speedily took a dislike to the Filipino.


“Come along, Noll,” Overton whispered. “We’ll get out of this. I don’t like the fellow.”


“You like him as well as I do,” muttered Sergeant Terry.


At the door of the store they again caught sight of the dandy, who, with hand extended, was at that moment signaling a cochero to drive his victoria in to the curb.


“It could not have been better,” cried the little brown tempter. “Just as I came out I saw an empty victoria.”


“I congratulate you,” smiled Sergeant Hal.


“No, but this is the carriage, here,” cried the Filipino, as Hal and Noll turned to walk down the Escolta.


“Get in, then, and enjoy yourself,” called back Hal.


In an instant the Filipino was in front of them, barring their way.


“But you permitted me to stop a carriage,” he protested, bewildered.


“Exactly,” nodded Hal, “and we hope you will enjoy yourself. Step aside, please, for we want to pass on.”


“But you are not going with me, after——”


“Nothing was said about that,” Hal answered, “and we have other plans. Good-bye.”


As the Filipino dandy once more tried to place himself in front of the young sergeant, Hal gently but firmly thrust the insistent fellow aside.


The Filipino stood glaring after them until the two Army boys were out of sight. The glint in his eyes was far from pleasant.


“Now, what on earth did that fellow want of us?” demanded Noll wonderingly.


“Nothing good, anyway,” returned Hal Overton. “Intending benefactors don’t act in that fashion. He may represent a bad phase of life out here. Let’s forget him. Say, here’s a store we must have overlooked on our way up here. Let’s go in.”


Half an hour later the Army boys came out of the store, each carrying a small parcel. For his first present home each young soldier had bought for his mother a small assortment of the wonderfully filmy pina lace handkerchiefs made by the native women.


“No quilez around here for hire,” said Hal, after looking up and down the Escolta. “Let’s walk across the bridge over the Pasig. We’ll be more likely to find an idle cochero on the other side of the river.”


As they started the sky was darkening, and the lightning beginning to flash, for this was in early July, at the height of the rainy season.


“I hope we find a cochero soon,” muttered Noll, looking up at the dark sky. “I don’t fancy the idea of walking all the way out to Malate in a downpour.”


They were not quite over the bridge when the storm broke in all its force. Tropical thunder crashed with a fury that made artillery fire seem trifling. Great sheets of lightning flashed on all sides.


“Hustle, before we get drowned,” laughed Sergeant Hal, breaking into a fast run. “There’s shelter just beyond the end of the bridge.”


The shelter for which both soldiers headed was a kiosk, barely larger than a sentry-box, that had once been erected for the convenience of the native boys who stood there with relief horses for the service of the old street car line.


The door stood open. Eager to make any port in a storm, Hal and Noll bolted inside just in time to hear an angry voice declare:


“I had them picked out—two young sergentes, mere boys. At first they were very polite—a minute later they made fun of me to my face—me, Vicente Tomba! But I shall know them again, I shall see them, and I shall make them wish they had never been born. I——”


The Filipino dandy stopped short as the two Army boys stepped briskly inside. He gave a gasp as he recognized them.


“We meet again,” remarked Hal dryly.


The dandy’s companion, a big, florid-faced man of forty, in the usual immaculate white duck of the white man, eyed the boys keenly.




CHAPTER II


A MEETING AT THE NIPA BARRACKS


It was only for a moment.


Then, without answering Hal’s remark, the Filipino clutched at the white man’s arm, shoving him out into the rain. The native followed.


Just then a cochero with an empty quilez drove up. With instant presence of mind Vicente Tomba, as the dandy had called himself, held up his hand.


It was all done in an instant, and native and white friend were driving away through the gusts of rain.


“Wonder who our friends are?” Noll remarked curiously.


“We know that one of them calls himself Vicente Tomba,” replied Sergeant Hal.


“But he spoke of having us picked out for something, and he seemed almost peevish because we didn’t suit him,” smiled Noll.


“I can’t imagine what it is,” replied Hal, undisturbed. “It couldn’t be anything in the high treason line, anyway.”


“Why not even that?” demanded Sergeant Noll.


“Why, look here, old fellow, we’re just two plain, kid, doughboy sergeants of the line. If that fellow had wanted anything in the treasonable variety, what sort of goods could we deliver him, anyway? Nothing, much, beyond our own arms and a copy of the company’s roll.”


“Then what on earth was the fellow up to, anyway?”


“I don’t know, Noll, and I don’t much care. I’ve heard that there are sharks of all sorts here in Manila, ready to put up all sorts of games to get the easy-mark soldier’s pay away from him. Probably Tomba and his friend belong in that class.”


“Pooh! Tomba has plenty of money,” snorted Noll Terry. “He wouldn’t have to be out for a poor, buck-foot soldier’s pay.”


“Swindlers sometimes do have plenty of money, for a while, until the law rounds them up and puts them where they ought to be,” observed Sergeant Hal sagely. “Let’s forget the fellow, Noll, unless we see him again. Tomba is evidently up to something crooked, and we’re not, so we haven’t any real interest in him, have we?”


“Except to be on our guard,” said Noll.


“You speak as though you had some forebodings regarding Tomba, or Tomba and his friend,” smiled Hal quizzically.


“Well, then, I have,” returned Noll Terry.


“Not scared, are you?”


“That’s a fine question to ask a soldier,” sniffed Noll.


“Well, I’m not going to waste any more thoughts on Tomba, or on his white-man companion, either. Whee! Look at that rain. It——”


But a fearfully vivid flash of tropical lightning caused Sergeant Hal Overton to step further back into the little shed and close his eyes for an instant. Right after the flash came a prolonged, heavy roll of thunder that made the earth shake.


“Cochero, para!” shouted Noll right after that, and a fareless quilez stopped near the door of the shed.


“Occupado (occupied)?” called Noll.


“No, señor.”


Hal and Noll bolted through the rain, darted into the quilez through the door at the rear, and plumped themselves down on the seats.


“Sigue directio, Malate, cuartel nipa,” ordered Hal, thus instructing the driver to go straight ahead to Malate and to take them to the nipa barracks.


The Filipino driver himself was drenched. In his thin cotton clothing the little brown man perched on the box outside, shivered until his teeth chattered. He did not propose, however, to let personal discomfort stop him from earning a fare.


Around the Walled City (Old Manila) the quilez carried the young soldiers. These massive walls, centuries old, enclose perhaps a square mile of city. Once past the Walled City the little vehicle glided on through pretty Ermita. Here, passing along Calle Real (Royal Street), the driver turned into the straight stretch for the next suburb, Malate.


For months before sailing for the Philippines both young sergeants had devoted a good deal of their spare time to the study of Spanish. They had, however, learned the best Spanish of old Castile. First Sergeant Gray, who had put in three terms of service in the Philippines, had taken pains to teach them much of the local Spanish dialect as it is spoken in this far-away colony of Uncle Sam’s.


To-day the Filipino children speak English rather well and musically, for English is the language of the public schools of the islands. Many of the older natives, however, even those with English-speaking children, know only a few words at most of the tongue of the Americanos.


By the time that the little cab turned in at the barracks grounds much of the fury of the storm had passed. The rain, however, continued at a steady downpour, and seemed good for the night.


“We may have to be campaigning in this kind of weather in another fortnight,” remarked Hal.


“Fine business,” commented Noll dryly.


“Well, it all goes in the life of a soldier. It can’t hurt the soldier much, either, for somehow he’s healthier than fellows who clerk or work in machine shops.”


“Clerking? Shops?” repeated Noll, with a smile of mild disgust. “Did we ever stand that sort of life, Hal?”


“Once upon a time, Noll.”


“Thank goodness that day has gone by.”


“Here we are,” announced Sergeant Hal, reaching for the rear door and opening it. “I’ll pay the cochero this time, Noll; you paid for our last ride.”


On the broad veranda of the barracks, well out of the rain, lounged half a hundred of the men of the Thirty-fourth. A few of them were at tables writing home letters.


“Did you give my regards to the Escolta, Sergeant?” called Private Kelly, from one of the groups.


“I didn’t forget you, Kelly,” laughed Hal.


“Get those picture post cards for me?” called Corporal Hyman.


“Here you are, Hyman,” responded Noll, opening his blouse and exploring an inner pocket. “I hope I haven’t got them too wet, and that the views will suit.”


“Any views will suit,” retorted Hyman. “My kid brothers and cousins have never been out here and one view will please them as well as another.”


A few more soldiers came forward to ask about errands that the young sergeants had undertaken. No one’s commissions had been forgotten.


“Your leave didn’t do you two so much good this afternoon,” grinned Corporal Hyman.


“Why not?” Sergeant Overton wanted to know.


“On account of the weather we didn’t have parade, anyway.”


“I’m no parade shirker,” retorted Hal. “On the busiest day we’re not being overworked here. We may strike something hard in the tropics yet, but so far, since reaching Manila, the men of this regiment haven’t been worked more than a quarter as hard as in barracks at home. But I wonder when we go south?”


“Haven’t you heard?” asked Corporal Hyman.


“Not a word,” Hal declared.


“I haven’t, either. But we heard that the ‘Warren’ came in this afternoon.”


The “Warren” was the United States Army transport vessel that was much used in carrying troops between the different islands.


“We ought to be under way soon, then,” Hal replied thoughtfully. “I suppose we’re still slated to go down among the Moros.”


“That’s the talk in the regiment, anyway,” replied Corporal Hyman.


“I hope it’s true.”


“You’re one of the few that does, then,” retorted Hyman, with a grimace. “In these islands the real fine place for a regiment to be stationed is right here on the outskirts of Manila. Plenty of grub, kitchen-cooked; little work to do, and no danger of anything except guard duty to call us out of our bunks.”


“That’s altogether too lazy for a soldier,” objected Hal, with spirit. “I don’t want to see any trouble start in these islands, but if there’s going to be any campaigning, I want to see the Thirty-fourth right in the thick of it.”


“You’ll get over that, by and by, Sergeant,” responded Corporal Hyman. “More than half of the fellows in the Thirty-fourth have been out here in other years, and have seen plenty of fighting. Now, getting shot at by a lot of strangers is all right enough for a soldier when it has to be done; but you’ll find that the older men in this regiment are not doing any praying that ‘Ours’ will get more than its share of fighting.”


“Perhaps I won’t, when I’ve seen as much fighting as some of you fellows have,” Hal nodded. “I’ve never been in a real battle yet.”


“You’ve been under stiff enough fire, right back in the good old Rocky Mountains,” retorted Corporal Hyman. “You don’t need any more by way of training.”


“Perhaps not; but I want it, just the same. I’m a hog, ain’t I?” laughed the boyish young sergeant.


“No; you’re simply a kid soldier,” grumbled Hyman. “All the kids want a heap of fighting—until after they’ve had it. When you’ve been with the colors a few years longer you’ll be ready to agree that three ‘squares’ a day and a soft bed at night are miles and miles ahead of desperate charges or last-ditch business.”


“So the ‘Warren’ is in port from her last trip south,” Hal went on. “Oh, I wonder when we start.”


“So do a lot of us,” retorted Private Kelly. “But we hope it won’t be soon, Sarge.”


“Oh, you coffee-coolers!” taunted Hal good-naturedly.


The Army “coffee-cooler” is the man who is left behind in stirring times. Uncle Sam’s soldiers explain that a coffee-cooler is a man who won’t go forward, in the morning, until his coffee is cool enough for him to drink it with comfort. Hence a coffee-cooler is a man who is detailed on work at the rear of the fighting line simply because he is of no earthly use at the front.


It is not as bad, however, to be a coffee-cooler as a cold-foot. A “cold-foot” is a soldier paralyzed with terror; he is worse than useless anywhere in the Army. The cold-foot is ironically asked why he didn’t bring his woolen socks along. If a cold-foot gets into deadly action it is said that the cold chills chase each other down his spine and all settle in his feet, so that he is frozen in his tracks. However, a soldier who betrays cowardice in the face of the enemy may be shot for his cowardice, for which reason “cold feet” sometimes become cold for all time to come.


Soldiers there have been who have shown “cold feet” in their first battle or two, and yet have been among the best of soldiers later on. But the cold-foot is a rarity, anyway, among the regulars.


“Hello,” broke in Kelly, peering out through the rain, “there goes some good fellow to the rainmakers.”


Many of the other soldiers looked. Two hospital-corps men were carrying a stretcher in the direction of the post hospital. None could make out, however, who was on the stretcher, as, owing to the downpour of rain, the unfortunate one was covered with three or four rubber ponchos.


“I hope none of our good fellows is badly hurt,” broke in Sergeant Noll Terry.


“Rheumatism, most likely,” grunted Corporal Hyman. “Did you ever see a country where the rain fell as steadily when it got started?”


“Well, this is the rainy season, isn’t it?” inquired Noll.


“Yes.”


“But half of the year we have a dry season, don’t we?”


“We do,” admitted Hyman. “Yet, of the two, you’ll prefer the wet season a whole lot. In the dry season the dust is blowing in your face day and night.”


An orderly stepped briskly out on the veranda.


“Sergeant Overton is directed to report immediately to Lieutenant Prescott at the latter’s quarters.”


“I’ll be there before the words are out of your mouth, Driggs,” laughed Hal, rising and starting.


“Hold on, Sarge,” called Private Kelly. “Look at the sheets of dew coming down, and you haven’t your poncho. Here, put mine on.”


“Thank you; I will,” Hal assented, halting.


The poncho is a thin rubber, blanket-like affair. In the field the men usually spread the poncho on the ground, under their blankets. But in the middle of the poncho is a hole through which the head may be thrust, the poncho then falling over the trunk of the body like a rain coat.


Getting this on and replacing his campaign hat, Hal started briskly toward officers’ quarters.


Lieutenant Prescott was in his room when Hal knocked, and promptly called, “Come in.”


Hal entered, saluting his lieutenant, who was writing at a table. He looked up long enough to receive and return Hal’s soldierly salute.


“With you in a moment, Sergeant,” stated Lieutenant Prescott, who then turned back to his writing.


“Very good, sir.”


Hal did not stir, but merely changed from his position of attention to one of greater ease.


Lieutenant Prescott is no stranger to our readers. He was second lieutenant of Captain Cortland’s B Company of the Thirty-fourth. Readers of our “High School Boys Series” recall Dick Prescott as a schoolboy athlete, and readers of the “West Point Series” have followed the same Dick Prescott through his four years of cadetship at the United States Military Academy.


After finishing a page and signing it, Lieutenant Prescott wiped his pen, laid it down and wheeled about in his chair.


“You heard about Sergeant Gray?” asked the young West Pointer.


“Nothing in especial, sir.”


“He was badly hurt ten minutes ago in stopping the runaway horses of Colonel Thorpe, of the Thirty-seventh Infantry. Colonel Thorpe was visiting our colonel, and only the two little Thorpe youngsters were in the carriage when the horses bolted, pitching the native driver from the seat.”


“Badly hurt, sir?” cried Hal Overton in a tone of genuine distress. “That will be bad news in the company, sir. I don’t think any of them know it yet, or I would have heard it before. Sergeant Gray is a man we swear by, sir, in the squad rooms.”


“Sergeant Gray is a splendid soldier,” observed Lieutenant Prescott warmly. “It is not believed that he will have to be retired, but he may have to put in two or three months on sick report before he can come back to duty. But that is not what I sent for you to tell you, Sergeant Overton. As Sergeant Hupner was left behind on detailed duty in the United States, the accident to Gray now leaves you the ranking sergeant in the company. Until further orders you will take over the duties of acting first sergeant, by Captain Cortland’s direction.”


“Very good, sir.”


“This is Tuesday, Sergeant. Thursday, at eleven in the morning, the Thirty-fourth is due before the office of the captain of the port, to take boats for the transport ‘Warren.’ This regiment sails for Iloilo and other ports.”


“May I repeat that to the men, sir?”


“It is going to be necessary, for you will have to see to it that all the personal and company baggage is ready for the teamsters at four to-morrow afternoon.”


“Very good, sir.”


“And, Sergeant, this is not official, but I believe it to be reliable; some of the Moro dattos (chieftains) are said to be preparing to stir up trouble in some of the southern islands. In that case the Thirty-fourth will bear the brunt of it all.”


“I am really very glad to hear that, sir,” cried Sergeant Hal eagerly.


“So am I, Sergeant,” admitted the lieutenant, who, like most of the younger officers, hungered for active service against an enemy. “You understand your instructions, Sergeant?”


“Yes, sir.”


“Very good; that is all, Sergeant.”


Hal Overton saluted his officer with even more snap than usual, then hastened back to barracks.


Supper soon followed, and before the meal was over the rain had stopped. After supper several of B Company’s men went out into the near-by street to stroll in the somewhat cooler air of the tropical evening.


A little later Hal and Noll followed. Presently, in the shadow under a densely foliaged yllang-yllang tree, they came upon two figures standing there, just in time to hear Corporal Hyman’s voice saying heartily:


“That sounds like just as good a time as you make it out to be. And it won’t take us over three hours? This is a hard night to get off, as the packing-up order has been given. I’ll see our first sergeant, however, and find out whether there’s any chance of my getting leave for the evening. If he says so, I can put it by the captain all right. Wait here, and——”


“I guess it won’t be necessary, Corporal Hyman,” broke in Hal’s voice, sounding rather cool, for Hal had recognized Hyman’s companion—none other than Vicente Tomba.


“Hello! There you are, Sarge,” cried Hyman, while the little Filipino dandy started, peered at the young sergeants and then scowled.


“I’ll try to fix it for you to get a pass to-night, Corporal,” Hal went on, “if you really want one. But I don’t exactly believe that you do. This native gentleman tried to butt in with us this afternoon, and at first we took it in good part. But he was too eager. Then, a little later in the afternoon, we heard him denouncing us to a white man because we weren’t eager enough. Corporal, unless you know a lot about this man, I don’t believe you want anything to do with him.”


Tomba’s face was blazing hotly, while his eyes gleamed angrily at Sergeant Overton’s words.


“If that’s the kind of fellow he is, then I don’t want a pass to-night,” Hyman replied. “This little man has just been telling me how much he loves American soldados, and he proposed to get a quilez and take me over into the city for the time of my life.”


“From what happened this afternoon I’m a little shaky on Señor Tomba,” Hal continued.


“You never saw me before!” cried Tomba, wheeling about on Hal. “Liar! Thief!”


Hal’s reply was prompt, sufficient, military. He delivered a short-arm, right-hand blow that struck the native in the neck, felling him to the sidewalk.


But Tomba was up in an instant, and a knife flashed in his hands.


Hal did not flinch. He leaped upon the little brown man, getting a clinch that held the rascal powerless. Then Noll coolly took away the knife, striking the blade into the tree trunk and snapping the steel in two.


“Shall I call the guard, Sergeant, to take this little brown rat?” demanded Corporal Hyman.


“No; he isn’t big enough, or man enough to bother the guard with,” replied young Sergeant Overton. “I’ll take care of him myself.”


Whirling the Filipino around, Hal gave him a vigorous start, emphasized by a kick, and Vicente Tomba slid off into the darkness.


Malay blood is not forgiving. There were other reasons, too, why it would have been far better had Sergeant Hal turned Tomba over to the guard.




CHAPTER III


PLOTTERS TRAVEL WITH THE FLAG


From the deck of the “Warren” only distant glimpses of land, on the horizon line, were visible.


The sea to-day was without a ripple, yet, as it was not raining, the sun beat down with a heat that would have wilted most of the passengers, had it not been for the awnings stretched over every deck.


Up on the saloon deck was a mixture of the field uniforms of Army officers, the white duck or cotton of male civilian passengers, and the white dresses of the women. Most of the married officers of the Thirty-fourth had brought their families along with them, and so children played along the saloon deck, or ran down among the friendly soldiers on the spar deck. Here and there, among the women, was a Yankee schoolma’am, going to some new charge in the islands.


A number of the male cabin passengers were not Army people. Some belonged to the postals service, the islands civil service, or were planters or merchants of wealth and influence in the islands, who had been permitted to take passage on the troop ship.


Between decks the enlisted men of “Ours” were quartered and berthed by companies. Each enlisted man, by way of a bed, had a bunk whose frame was of gas pipe, to which frame was swung the canvas berth. These berths were in tiers, three high.


Away forward, in special quarters by themselves, as a sort of steerage passengers, were some two score natives of the islands who were making the journey for one reason or another. These natives, however, kept to themselves, and the soldiers saw little of them.


Altogether, the “Warren” carried something more than fourteen hundred passengers, which meant that quarters were at least sufficiently crowded. Yet the soldiers, with the cheerful good nature of their kind, took this crowded condition as one of the incidents of the life.


Noll was up on deck enjoying himself; Hal, as acting first sergeant, was otherwise occupied during the greater part of the forenoon. At the head of B Company’s quarters, two decks below, young Overton sat at a little table, busily working over a set of papers that he had to make up. This “paper work” is one of the banes of first sergeants and of company commanders.


It was after eleven o’clock when Sergeant Hal finished his last sheet. The papers he folded neatly and thrust them into a long, official envelope, which he endorsed and blotted. Rising, he thrust the envelope into the breast of his blouse and started for the nearest companionway.


“I’m glad, old fellow, that you are the acting first sergeant,” grinned comfortable Noll Terry, as his chum came upon deck with forehead, face and neck beaded with perspiration.


“Oh, it doesn’t hurt a fellow to have a little work to do,” replied Overton, smiling. “You see, you’ve just been loafing this morning, almost ever since inspection, while I have a consciousness of work well performed.”


“Keep your consciousness and enjoy it,” retorted Noll, as the two boyish sergeants stepped along the deck.


“I wonder if Captain Cortland is on deck at this moment?” remarked Sergeant Hal.


“I saw him five minutes ago,” Noll answered.


Almost at that moment B Company’s commander came to the forward rail of the saloon deck and looked down. Then his glance rested on Hal.


“Are the papers ready, Sergeant?” the captain called down.


“Yes, sir; I have them with me,” replied Hal. Pressing through the throng of soldiers, he ascended the steps to the saloon deck, saluting and passing over the envelope.


“Thank you, Sergeant.”


“I think you’ll find them all right, sir. I’m somewhat new at the work, but I’ve taken a lot of pains.”


“There’s always a lot of pains taken with any work that you do, Sergeant.”


“Thank you, sir.”


Hal saluted and was about to turn away when he heard a voice saying:


“What we need, in dealing with the Moros in these southern islands, is to show them that——”


Just then the speaker happened to turn, and stopped talking for a moment.


The voice was new, but Sergeant Overton started at sight of the speaker’s face.


“Why, that’s the same big, florid-faced fellow that I saw in the shed with Tomba, that time it rained so hard,” flashed through the young sergeant’s astonished mind. “What can he be doing here—a cabin passenger on a United States troop ship?”


Unconsciously Hal was staring hard at the stranger. It appeared to annoy the florid-faced man.


“Well, my man,” he cried impatiently, looking keenly at Hal, “are you waiting to say something to me?”


“No, sir,” Sergeant Hal replied quickly.


“Perhaps you thought you knew me?”


“No, sir; I merely remembered having once seen you.”


“You’ve seen me before? Then your memory is better than mine, Sergeant. Where have you ever seen me before?”


“The other afternoon, sir, on the south side of the Pasig River at Manila. You were in a shed, out of the rain, with a native calling himself Vicente Tomba.”


The florid-faced man betrayed neither uneasiness nor resentment. Instead, he smiled pleasantly as he replied:


“I thought you were in error, Sergeant, and now I’m certain of it, for I don’t know any Vicente Tomba.”


“Then I beg your pardon for the mistake, sir,” Hal replied quickly.


“No need to apologize, Sergeant, for you have done no harm,” replied the florid-faced man.


Here Captain Cortland’s voice broke in, cool and steady:


“Yet I know, Mr. Draney, that Sergeant Overton feels embarrassed by the mere fact of his having made a mistake. Sergeant Overton is one of our best and most capable soldiers, and he rarely makes a mistake of any kind.”


“I’m glad to hear that he’s one of your best soldiers,” replied Draney pleasantly. “It seems odd, doesn’t it, Captain, to see so boyish a chap wearing sergeant’s chevrons?”


“Sergeant Overton, Mr. Draney, is more than merely a sergeant. He is acting first sergeant of B Company, and is likely to continue as such for some months to come.”


“He has risen so high?” cried Draney. “I certainly congratulate the young man.”


There appeared to be no further call for Hal to remain on the saloon deck. After flashing an inquiring look at his company commander, and saluting that officer, Hal next raised his uniform cap to Draney, then turned and made his way down to the spar deck.


“Your sergeant looks like a very upright young man, Captain,” observed Mr. Draney.


“Overton?” rejoined Captain Cortland. “I am certain that he is the soul of honor.”


“His loyalty has often been tested, I presume?” persisted the florid-faced fellow.


“He’s a very thoroughly trustworthy young man, if that’s what you mean.”


Captain Cortland was beginning to feel somewhat annoyed, for, truth to tell, he did not like Draney very well.


“Is your sergeant,” asked Draney, “a young man much interested in the joys of life, or is he of the quiet, studious sort who seldom care for good times?”


“You seem to be uncommonly interested in Sergeant Overton, Mr. Draney,” remarked the captain almost testily.


“Only as a type of American soldier,” replied Draney blandly. “I was wondering if my estimate of the young man were borne out by your experience with him.”


“Sergeant Overton is fond of the joys of life, if you mean the quiet and decent pleasures. He is a good deal of a student, and that type is never interested in drinking or gambling, or any of the vices and dissipations, if that is what you mean.”


Then, noting that Colonel North had just stepped out on deck from his stateroom, Captain Cortland added hastily:


“Pardon me; I wish to speak with the commanding officer.”


As colonel and captain met they exchanged salutes.


“I told Draney, sir, that I wished to speak with you,” Captain Cortland reported, in a low voice. “I did not tell him, however, that I wished to speak with you mainly as a pretext for getting away from his society.”


“You don’t like Draney?” smiled Colonel North, eying his captain shrewdly.


“I certainly do not,” Cortland confessed.


“And I’m almost as certain that I don’t, either,” replied the regimental commander. “However, Cortland, we shall have to treat him with a fair amount of courtesy, for Draney is an influential man down in the part of the world for which we are headed. He is influential with the Moros, I mean. Often he is in a position to give the military authorities useful information of intended native mischief. Draney is a very big planter, you know, and white planters are somewhat scarce in the Moro country. It is one of the great disappointments of our government that more American capital is not invested in establishing great plantations in the extremely rich Moro country. But, as you know, Cortland, some of the Moro dattos are given to heading sudden, unexpected and very desperate raids on white planters, and that fact has discouraged Americans, Englishmen and Germans from investing millions and millions of capital in the Moro country.”


“Yet the fellow Draney is a planter there, sir?”


“Draney owns half a dozen very successful plantations.”


“And is he never molested by the Moros, sir?” inquired Captain Cortland.


“Never enough to discourage him in his investments. Rather odd, isn’t it, Cortland?”


“Very odd, indeed, sir,” replied Captain Cortland dryly.


That same afternoon Captain Cortland, after finishing a promenade on the saloon deck, went forward, descending to the spar deck. There, under the awning, he came upon Sergeants Hal and Noll, who saluted as he addressed them.


“Sergeant Overton,” began the captain in a low tone, “you seemed, this forenoon, to feel a good deal of surprise at seeing Mr. Draney on board.”


“I was surprised, sir.”


“Tell me what you know about the man.”


Sergeant Hal briefly related the adventure that he and Noll had had with Vicente Tomba on the Escolta, and their subsequent meeting with Tomba and Draney on the south side of the Pasig. Hal also repeated what they had overheard Tomba saying to Draney. Hal then described the flight of the pair in the quilez.


“Yet Draney declares that he never heard of Tomba,” said the captain musingly. “Sergeant Overton, do you think it possible that you have mistaken Mr. Draney for someone else?”


“It may be, of course, sir,” Hal admitted. “But I hardly believe it possible. Besides, I have pointed out Mr. Draney to Sergeant Terry and he also is positive that it is the same man.”


At that moment all three turned to look forward. There was some sort of commotion going on there. It proved, however, to be nothing but the herding of the Filipino passengers on deck near the bow, while one of the regiment’s officers was inspecting their quarters below.


The three officers returned to their conversation, but presently Hal murmured:


“Don’t look immediately, Noll, but presently take a passing glance at the Filipino standing away up in the bow. Tell Captain Cortland who the fellow is.”


“It’s Vicente Tomba, although I’d hardly know him in that costume of the peon (laborer),” Noll answered.


“You are both certain that the man is Tomba?” inquired Captain Cortland keenly.


“Yes, sir,” both young sergeants declared, and Hal added:


“There’s Corporal Hyman up forward, sir. If you’ll go up and speak to the corporal, and allow us to accompany you, sir, you can see whether Hyman knows the fellow. He, too, was approached by Tomba, at the nipa barracks.”


Accordingly the test was made.


“Why, certainly, the fellow is Tomba,” replied Hyman, “though he looks a lot different, sir, from the dandy who was talking to me last Tuesday night.”


Captain Cortland asked all three of the non-commissioned officers some further questions as they stood there. None of the quartette discovered the fact that, close to them, crouching under the canvas cover of a life boat as it swung at davits, lay one of the keen-eyed Filipino passengers. This swarthy little fellow was only about half versed in English, but he understood enough of the talk to realize what was in the wind.


In some mysterious manner what this swarthy little spy overheard traveled, less than an hour later, to Mr. Draney, planter, and that gentleman, as he sat in his stateroom and thought it all over, was greatly disturbed.


Still later that afternoon—not long before sundown—while the “Warren” was still ploughing her way through the sea, the little brown spy drew Vicente Tomba to one side in the native steerage.


To make assurance doubly sure, both Filipinos spoke in their own Malay dialect, the Tagalos.


“Tomba!”


“Luis?”


“Tomba, the Señor Draney is greatly disturbed. Sergeant Overton and Sergeant Terry have recognized him as one whom they saw with you in Manila.”


“Bah! That amounts to little. Señor Draney can deny.”


“But they have recognized you also, my Tomba, and so has Corporal Hyman. More, they have told Captain Cortland all they know, and all they can guess.”


“The dogs!” growled Vicente Tomba, his snarl showing his fine, white teeth.


“You do well to call them dogs,” grinned Luis. “Señor Draney bids me to remind you what becomes of dogs that are troublesome. You have others here with you who can help. At the first chance, then, Overton, Terry and Hyman are to bite the bone that kills—and Captain Cortland, too, if you can manage it!”




CHAPTER IV


CERVERRA’S INNOCENT SHOP


“D’ye know what I’m thinking about?” demanded Private Kelly, as he turned to look out southward from Fort Benjamin Franklin.


“Not being a mind reader—no,” replied Hal.


“I’m thinking this country is a fine place to dream about.”


“It’s worth it,” declared Sergeant Overton, with unsullied boyish enthusiasm.


“Worth it—huh!” retorted Kelly, who had served longer in the Army. “Mind ye, I said this was a good country to dream about. But to live in—give me ‘God’s country.’”


The United States soldier on foreign service, invariably alludes to home in this way.


Send him to the fairest spot on which the human eye ever rested, and the soldier will still longingly speak of home as “God’s country.”


“Then I’ll be polite,” retorted Sergeant Hal, “and say that I wish, Kelly, that you could be at home. But as for me, I’m glad I’m here.”


“Wait until you are in your third enlistment, and have put in another two years in the islands, after this time,” growled Kelly.


“Why, where can you find a more beautiful spot than this?” demanded Hal Overton, gazing across the fields toward the town of Bantoc. “I never saw a more beautiful spot. I wonder if there are many like it in the tropics?”


“Beautiful?” rumbled Kelly. “Sure! But ye can’t eat beauty. ‘Tis a long way from anywhere, this spot, and that’s what I’ve got against it.”


“Grumbling again, Kelly?” asked Sergeant Noll Terry, joining them.


“Not grumbling,” retorted Kelly. “Just giving my opinion. But this boy sergeant is trying to make me think this swamp on northern Mindanao is an earthly paradise.”


“Well, isn’t it?” challenged Noll. “I know what ails you, Kelly. When all is peace and comfort, with three ‘squares’ a day, and not a heap to do, your old soldier is always kicking. But just send you and the rest, Kelly, hiking up through those mountains yonder, give you twenty miles a day of rough climbing, drown you out with rain and let you use up your shoes chasing a lot of ugly brown men, and never a kick will we hear coming from you.”


“Sure, no,” replied Kelly philosophically. “‘Tis then we’d be doing a soldier’s work, and a kicker on a hike is as useless as a coffee-cooler at an afternoon tea.”


“In other words,” laughed Hal, “a real soldier of the Regular Army is as patient as a camel when things are all going wrong. The only time when your real soldier kicks is when he’s having it easy and is too comfortable to be patient. Curious, isn’t it?”


“Oh, well, ’tis no use talking to you two,” retorted Private Kelly, shaking his head and strolling away. “Ye’ve not seen much of service yet.”


“That’s another joke,” laughed Hal in a low voice, as soon as Kelly had stepped out of hearing. “Here’s a man like Kelly, with fairly long service to his credit, but he’s a private still, and probably always will be. If the colonel made him a corporal, Kelly wouldn’t rest until he had the chevrons taken from his sleeve so that he could be a private soldier again. Now you and I, Noll, work like blazes all the time, and win our promotion, yet Kelly considers us only boys, and boys who don’t know much, either. Either one of us can take Kelly out in a squad and work him until he runs rivers of perspiration, and he can’t talk back without danger of being disciplined. Yet all the time, Kelly, under our orders, is thinking of us, half contemptuously, as boys who don’t really know anything about soldiering.”


“That’s because we’re young,” laughed Noll.


“And because we’re also boyish enough to have a little enthusiasm left in our make-ups. Noll, how do you really like our new station?”


“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” retorted Sergeant Terry, “except some where else in the Philippines, possibly. One of the prospects that caught me for the service was the chance of seeing some of our foreign possessions.”


“It’s what catches half the young fellows who enlist to-day,” went on Hal. “I’ve been looking forward to the Philippines from the day I first took the oath in the recruiting station.”


“Well, we’re here,” replied Noll, breathing in the warm air with lazy satisfaction. “And I’m mighty glad that we’re in for two years of it.”


The Thirty-fourth had come out to the islands as a complete regiment. They had reëmbarked at Manila also as a regiment, but now the time had come when “Ours” was well scattered through the southern islands of the archipelago.


The second battalion and headquarters, with the band, had disembarked at Iloilo; two companies had been left on the island of Negros, and two more on Cebu. B and C Companies had been left at Fort Franklin, in the Misamis district on northern Mindanao, and the remaining two companies had been carried on to Zamboanga.


On its return trip the “Warren” had picked up the scattered military commands which the Thirty-fourth had relieved. Two companies of the Thirty-second infantry had gone from Bantoc the day before.


Mindanao is the second largest and the most fertile island in the Philippine group. The natural beauty is as great as the fertility. If it were not for the occasional ferocity of some of the tribes this island could be turned into one vast net-work of plantations as rich as any that the world can show.


Bantoc was a sleepy, sunlit little town, half Spanish and half Moro. Thanks to American rule, the streets were clean and order reigned. There were about forty stores and other mercantile establishments in Bantoc, for this town was headquarters for a large country district. The people of Bantoc, outside of the small white population, were more than half Moros, the other islanders belonging to the Tagalo and other allied tribes. Almost without exception these people were lazy and good-natured. A newcomer would have difficulty in believing that such men as he met in Bantoc could ever give the soldiers trouble. It was to this town that the few planters and many small native farmers sent rich stores of rice, cocoa, hemp, cotton, indigo and costly woods.


There was also the port of Bantoc, through which these products were sent out to do their part in the world’s commerce.


The native leaders of the population of Bantoc were wealthy little brown men. There was much money in circulation, the leading Moros and Tagalos having handsome homes and entertaining lavishly. There was a native fashionable set, just as exclusive and autocratic as any that exists in a white man’s country.


Fort Franklin overlooked the bay at the opposite end from the port. Yet it was a “fort” only in being a military station. There was no artillery here, and the only fortifications were semi-permanent earthworks, fronted by ditches, thrown up around the officers’ quarters and the barracks and other buildings. The parade ground and recreation spaces were outside these very ordinary fortifications.


“The whole scene looks too peacefully lazy to match with the yarns we hear of trouble breeding among the Moros in those mountains yonder,” remarked Hal musingly.


“If trouble is coming, I hope it will come soon,” returned Sergeant Noll. “The only one thing that I have against our life out here is that it threatens to become too lazy an existence. If there’s going to be any active service for us, I want to see it happen soon, for active service is what I came to the Philippines for, anyway, as far as I had any interest in the trip.”


“From the gossip of the town and barracks, I think we’ll have our trouble soon enough,” Hal replied. “You have fatigue duty this afternoon, haven’t you, Noll?”


“Yes; thanks to your detail,” replied Noll.


“But I couldn’t help the detail, old fellow. Fatigue was for you in your turn. I’m sorry it came to you to-day, though, for I’ve a pass and I’m going to run over into Bantoc. I want to see more of that queer little town.”


“Going to be back for parade?”


“Yes; my pass extends only to parade. I never want to miss that when I can help it.”


Hal glanced at his watch, then back at barracks, where hardly a soldier showed himself, for all had caught the spirit of indolence in this hot, moist climate of Mindanao.


“Well, I must be going, Noll. Don’t work your fatigue party too hard until the men get used to this heat.”


“Small danger of my working ‘em too hard,” laughed Noll. “It’s only as a sort of special favor that the fellows will work at all.”


Hal, with a nod to his chum, stepped out on to the hard, level, white road that led from Fort Franklin to Bantoc.


It was a pretty road, shaded at points by beautiful palms; yet the shade was not sufficient to protect the young soldier all the way into town. Ere he had gone far he found it necessary to carry his damp handkerchief in one hand, prepared to mop his steaming face.


“Mindanao is certainly some hot,” he muttered. “It keeps a fellow steaming all the time.”


Yet there was plenty to divert one’s thoughts from himself, for along this road lay some of the prettiest small farms to be found on northern Mindanao. Instead of farms they really looked more like well-kept gardens.


“It’s the finest spot in the world to be lazy in,” thought the young sergeant, as he glanced here and there over the charming scene. “If I settled down here for life I’d want money enough to pay other fellows to do all the work for me.”


Though Hal did not know it, from the window of one room in a house that he passed a pair of unusually bright, keen eyes glared out at him.


“That is he, the sergente, Overton,” growled Vicente Tomba to himself. “Since we have Señor Draney’s orders that the sergente is to leave this life as soon as possible, why not to-day? He is going to Bantoc, where it will be easy to snare him. And his friend Terry is not with him. That pair, back to back, might put up a hard fight—but one alone should be easy for our bravos. Then, another day, we can plan to get the Sergente Terry.”


Hal was not quite in Bantoc when a Tagalo on a pony rode by him at a gallop. Hal glanced at the fellow indolently, but did not recognize him, as it was not Tomba, but one of that worthy’s messengers.


Up and down the principal street Sergeant Overton wandered. He glanced into shops, though only idly, for to-day he was not on a buying mission.


At last the cool-looking interior of a little restaurant attracted him. He entered, ordering an ice cream. When this was finished he ate another. It was so restful, sitting here, that when he had disposed of the second order, he paid his account but did not rise at once.


“The sergente is newly arrived here?” asked a white-clad Filipino, rising from another table and joining Overton.


“Yes.”


“Then you have not seen much of Bantoc?” asked the Filipino, speaking in Spanish.


“Not as much as I mean to see of the town,” Hal answered in the same tongue.


“Then possibly, Señor Sergente, you have not yet seen the collection of ancient Moro weapons in the shop of Juan Cerverra.”


“I haven’t,” Hal admitted.


“Then you have missed much, señor, but you will no doubt go to see the collection one of these days.”


“I’d like to. Where is the shop?”


“Four doors below here. If you have time, Señor Sergente, I am walking that way and will show you the place.”


“Thank you; I’ll be glad to go,” answered Hal, rising promptly. His was the profession of arms, and a display of any unfamiliar weapons was sure to attract the young sergeant.


Juan Cerverra, despite his Spanish-sounding name, proved to be a full-blooded Moro. He wore his Moro costume, with its tight-fitting trousers and short, embroidered blouse. There were no customers in the shop when Hal and his Tagalo acquaintance entered.


In another moment Sergeant Hal was deeply absorbed in several wall cases of swords and knives, all of them of old-time patterns. It was a sight that would have bewildered a lover and collector of curios of past ages.


One case was filled entirely with fine specimens of that once-dreaded weapon, the Moro “campilan.” This is a straight sword, usually, with a very heavy blade, which gradually widens towards the end. This is a heavy cutting sword, and one that was placed in Sergeant Hal’s hands, though Cerverra claimed that it was two hundred years old, had an edge like a razor.


“How much is such a sword as this?” Hal inquired.


“Forty dollars,” replied Cerverra.


“Gold!”


“No; Mex.”


Hal felt almost staggered with the cheapness of things here, as compared with the curio stores in Manila. Forty dollars “Mex” meant but about twenty dollars in United States currency.


“I have some cheaper ones,” went on Cerverra. “Here is one at eighteen dollars.”


“I’m going to have one of these campilan,” Hal told himself.


In his interest he did not note that the Tagalo who had brought him to the shop had left him and was standing on the sidewalk outside.


“Are you interested in these creeses?” inquired Cerverra, passing down the shop and pointing to another wall case.


The creese is an ancient Malay knife, with a waved, snaky blade—a weapon with which the Malay pirates of the past used to do fearful execution.


Hal stepped before the wall case. “They are very interesting looking,” he replied. “What does a good creese cost?”


The young sergeant did not wait for an answer.


Click! A spring bolt on the under side of a trap door on which he was standing shot out of place.


Down dropped the trap door with such suddenness that Hal Overton did not have even time to clutch at anything.


Then the trap door, relieved of his weight, flew back into place.


Sergeant Hal shot down a steep incline, too smooth for him to be able to stay his downward progress.




CHAPTER V


ENOUGH TO “RATTLE” THE VICTIM


Bump!


Sergeant Hal landed at least twenty feet below with a suddenness that jarred all the breath out of him for a moment.


Ere he could recover his half-scattered senses he felt himself seized. Nor had the Army boy fallen into one pair of hands. Four or five men, as nearly as he could judge, seized hold of different parts of his body.


There was little use in a prostrate youth fighting against such odds. Hal was swiftly rolled over on to his face, in the dark, and two of his captors threw themselves upon him, holding him down.


At the same time another thrust an armful of hemp under his face, holding it close against his mouth.


Then the light of a dark lantern was flashed on the scene. With the speed of skilled hands at the game these brown-skinned captors bound the young sergeant hand and foot.


“Quit this!” Sergeant Overton tried to shout angrily, but the wad of hemp was forced between his teeth and only a faint sound came forth.


“Help!” he tried to shout, but the sound came hardly louder than a sigh.


Now he was whirled over on his back, helpless, and two of the brown rascals finished their work by thrusting the hemp far enough into his mouth to shut off all speech. Then the gag was bound into place.


Hal could form little idea of his prison, save that it was an oblong, cellar-like place, perhaps a dozen feet wide by twenty feet long.


As nearly as the Army boy could guess, this cellar must be located under the street itself.


“They’ve got me for fair,” thought the young soldier in a rage that included himself as well as his captors. “What’s their game, I wonder? Robbery? If it is, they’ll feel sold when they find how little money they are going to get.”


By the light of the dark lantern, as he lay on his back on the damp ground, Hal made out the fact that his captors numbered eight. Five men had the look and wore the costumes of Moros; the other three rascals looked as though they might be Tagalos.


One after another the wretches looked down at the young soldier and grinned, though not one of them spoke.


Of a sudden the light went out. Hal, his ears unusually acute now, heard their moving footsteps. Then all became intensely still.


“I wonder whether I’m a tremendously big fool, or whether I’m merely unfortunate?” thought Hal bitterly. “However, how was I to guess? In this Moro country must it be considered unsafe even to step into a store and look at the merchandise?”


There was no answer to this. By degrees Hal began to feel decidedly uncomfortable as to the fate that he might expect.


“If they meant only to rob me,” he reflected, “then why didn’t they proceed at once? But not a single brown rascal of the lot took the trouble to thrust an exploring hand into my pockets. What, then? Do they want an Army prisoner, and if so, for what?”


The longer the young soldier thought it over, the greater the puzzle became. Nor did it escape his imagination that possibly he was not to be allowed ever to see his comrades again. That thought, of course, sent a chill of horror chasing up and down young Overton’s spine. He was not afraid to die in battle, if need be—but to be treated like a rat in a trap—that was different.


“Well, they’ve got me, and I don’t see any likelihood of getting away,” decided Hal at last, after fully an hour devoted largely to futile efforts to wriggle out of the bonds that held his wrists secure behind his back. “These knots have been tied by masters. I don’t believe I could get out of them in hours. If they had only tied my hands in front of me, so that I could work them loose. Confound the pirates!”


After what seemed like the passage of hours, the boy heard a slight sound. Listening intently, he heard it repeated.


Next a light was turned on—from the same dark lantern.


Behind the light Hal’s dazzled eyes could make out the figure of a man.


Toward him the light came, Hal blinking in the glare until the newcomer halted beside him.


“Ah, Señor Sergente!” cried a mocking voice.


Then the new comer bent over the Army boy, and Overton knew him in an instant—Vicente Tomba.


“That hemp in your mouth looks as though it might give you discomfort—a thousand pardons,” observed Tomba mockingly, as he removed the cord that held the hemp in place.


Tomba now squatted on the ground beside the young soldier’s head and drew out the wad of hemp.


“So you are in this, Tomba?” inquired the Army boy coldly. “What’s the game, anyway?”


“Possibly,” sneered the Filipino, “when you know more, you’ll feel like making a noise. Let me assure you that no friend will hear if you do call. But any great amount of noise on your part might provoke me, and that would not be wise under the circumstances.”


Showing his white, even teeth in an evil smile, Tomba took out of the breast of his blouse a small, bright-bladed creese that might have been borrowed from one of the wall cases in Cerverra’s shop.


“Why has this trick been played on me?” demanded Sergeant Hal angrily.


“A trick?” laughed Tomba softly. “Is that what you think it is? My friend, you will find that it is much more than a trick—it is a decree!”


“A decree?” raged Sergeant Overton. “What do you mean?”


“It is a decree from Señor Draney,” went on Tomba coldly, maliciously. “It can do no harm to mention that name since you can never repeat it to anyone but me, for Señor Draney’s decree is that, when you go forth from here—to-night—you will know nothing afterwards, for you will be past knowing.”




CHAPTER VI


LIFE HANGS ON A WORD


“You are talking like a madman,” sneered Hal.


“And next you will be begging like one,” returned Tomba, with that same easy but deadly laugh.


Hal, despite his grit, felt a start of terror. Cold sweat was now gathering on his forehead.


“You refused my friendship some days ago,” continued Tomba. “You did not know how valuable it might be.”


“Can the friendship of a scoundrel like you ever be valuable?” asked Overton.


“In the present case it would be worth a little to you—your life!”


“What did you want of me, when you sought my acquaintance?” demanded Hal.


He had suddenly become seized with a desire to prolong the talk with this little brown monster—to gain time!


“There was something that you could have done for me,” replied Vicente Tomba.


The Tagalo, like others of his race, was not averse to talking, either. The little Filipino knew that he had the whole situation in his hands. With the cruelty of a cat, Tomba delighted in the feline pastime of playing with a victim that could not escape him.


“What did you want me to do?” Hal asked almost blandly.


“I wanted your services.”


“Yes, but what kind of services?”


“What is the use of telling you—now?”


“Tell me one thing, though, Tomba.”


“Why?”


“Just to gratify my curiosity,” explained Sergeant Hal, and he spoke slowly while his eyes watched those of the Filipino. “Did you want me to betray my Flag?”


“Not the Flag itself.”


“But, in some way, you wanted me to turn against my comrades—to serve you and your friends at the expense of the United States Government.”


“Yes,” assented Tomba. “But do not think to deceive me. It is too late now to save yourself by promising what I would have wanted of you.”


“I don’t intend to serve you and your rascal friends at any price—at least, I haven’t yet come to that decision,” Hal added, in a more conciliatory tone. “However, I am curious.”


“Curiosity can do you no good now,” retorted Tomba softly, with a shrug of his shoulders.


“What part is Draney playing with you brown-skinned men?”


Tomba again shrugged his shoulders, this time more mockingly.


“Señor Draney serves the same cause that I do,” laughed the Filipino.


“And what cause is that?”


“His purse.”


“Then, in other words, Tomba, you are not even a Filipino patriot. You are merely a twentieth-century type of pirate.”


“If you like the word,” replied Tomba, in a tone of indifference.


Then he yawned—next placed the creese on the ground beside him, while his right hand explored his pockets. He soon brought to light a package of Manila cigarettes. Tomba’s left hand produced a box of matches.


“Do you care for one last smoke, Señor Sergente?” inquired the Filipino with mocking politeness, as he held out the package.


“Thank you; I never picked up the vice,” Sergeant Hal answered, but he said it good-naturedly, for he had an object now in not provoking the enemy.


“So? You call smoking a vice?”


“The vice of pigs,” declared Hal, but again he laughed good-humoredly.


“Oh, I do not mind your insolence,” replied Tomba, striking a match and holding it to the end of the cigarette in his mouth. “Abuse me all you please, Señor Sergente.”


“Thank you!”


Hal had had a desperate motive in gaining time by prolonging the talk. As he lay on his side before the Filipino the young soldier had at last employed his fingers in a way that he hoped would lead to his being able to free his hands. And now the instant had come! His hands were free!


As he uttered that “thank you,” Sergeant Overton suddenly summoned all the muscles in his body to obey him in one frantic effort for safety and freedom.


Like a flash he rolled, both of his bound feet kicking Vicente Tomba and bowling over that astounded little brown man.


Like lightning the Army boy reached for the creese, and the finish of that general movement found Sergeant Hal Overton sitting up and aiming a desperate slash at the cord about his ankles.


It needed a second slash, and in that fleeting interval Vicente Tomba, uttering a wild cry of rage, hurled himself upon the Army boy.


Hal Overton had now, however, entire control of his body. He engaged with the little brown man in a desperate struggle. Over and over they rolled, the Army boy controlling the battle and carrying them both further from the creese that he had dropped on the ground.


Then, all in an instant, Hal freed his right hand, clenched his fist and struck Tomba a staggering blow between the eyes.


When Tomba came to himself again, after a few moments, he found the youth in Uncle Sam’s Army uniform leaning over him.


“I have the creese, Tomba,” warned Overton. “You can guess what a sound or a move that is not permitted will mean to you!”


To do his courage full justice, Tomba showed himself no coward.


“You have the upper hand, Señor Sergente. But it will do you no good.”


“No?” questioned Uncle Sam’s young soldier. “Why not?”


“There is but one way out of here.”


“And then?”


“To pass out that way you must go by a dozen of my men, and you can judge for yourself what that will mean.”


“Yes; I have an idea,” nodded Hal thoughtfully.


“Then you see the folly of thinking you can escape?”


“No; I am thinking that your men will be able to get me.”


“To be sure.”


“Yet I am quick, Tomba, and before they can finish me, I shall have settled my score with you for good and all.”


“And thrown away your own life?”


“You forget that I am a soldier, Tomba. I am inclined to feel that it will be worth even my own life to make sure that you are where you can no longer plot against the American Government.”


“But your own life, Señor Sergente?”


“My own life is less than worthless to me if I may be permitted to lose it in doing one last valuable act for the Flag of my country.”


“You are boasting now!”


“As to that, Tomba, you will soon be in a position to know. And I warn you that the slightest sign of treachery on your part will be my excuse for ridding these islands of the disgrace of your presence.”


“You are attempting too much,” jeered the little brown man. “I see and I admit that you are brave, yet you are bound to lose.”


“The time for talking is past, Tomba, and now we come to action,” returned the Army boy, speaking slowly and easily. “Come, get upon your feet and obey every order of mine the instant that you receive it. In another minute or two you and I will be in the sunlight again—or else you and I have both already had our last glimpse of the light of day.


Tomba smiled, though he felt the mastery of this young wearer of Uncle Sam’s uniform.


“Get up on your feet,” ordered Hal. “Stand right before me, your back to me. Do you feel the point of the creese?”


“Yes,” answered Tomba in a low voice, though the brown man spoke steadily.


“You will walk before me, very slowly. If you attempt to turn, or to disobey, I shall know what to do with this wavy-bladed creese. If you make a move to spring away from me, I shall show you how good a jumper I am—and then the creese! Now, walk, very slowly, toward the exit from this place.”




Steady, Now, Tomba!


As they started Hal held the lantern with his left hand so that the rays of light flashed ahead of them.


Vicente Tomba walked to the far end of this underground room. As far as young Overton’s eyes could see they were moving toward a blank wall.


“Halt!” commanded the young sergeant easily.


Tomba obeyed.


“You are taking me to a secret door?”


“It is so, señor.”


“And you know how to open it?”


“Yes; it is simple.”


“Then step to the door. But, Tomba!”


“Si, señor.”


“Do not let any wild plan run through your mind that you will open the door suddenly, bolt through it and close it in my face. Do you still feel the creese? Well, I am on the alert!”


In truth that had been Vicente Tomba’s very plan. Now he gave up the idea, for Sergeant Hal’s tone and manner made it very plain that treachery would prove but another name for suicide.


“Then look out, Señor Sergente, that when I open the door there is no rush on the part of my brave ones.”


“Whether you or they plan the rush, it will be the end of the world for you, Tomba,” Overton warned him steadily.


“I will do my best, señor,” replied Tomba in a voice well nigh as steady as the Army boy’s.


Then he bent forward, pressing until he found a hidden spring. In the seemingly solid stone wall a large block of stone swung around on a pivot, disclosing a larger cellar room beyond.


“Steady, now, Tomba!”


Sergeant Overton flashed the lantern’s rays over the Filipino’s left shoulder.


Nor was it a reassuring sight that the light of the lantern revealed to the young soldier.


Instead of a dozen brown-skinned men in the next room, there were eight, if Hal’s hurried count was correct. Moreover, he believed them to be the same eight who had first received and bound him.


The most disquieting fact, however, was that five of the men wore revolvers at their belts, and a pistol usually has a knife at a disadvantage.


“Explain to them, Tomba,” muttered the young soldier in English, “that any move of your own, or any move of theirs to help you, will be expensive for you. Warn them, for I am watching all the rascals at once and I shall not endure an instant’s treachery or disobedience of my orders.”


Tomba spoke to them rapidly, partly in the Tagalo and partly in the Moro dialect. Sergeant Hal listened, watched, waited in keen anxiety, for life and death hung on the issue.




CHAPTER VII


THE KIND OF MAN WHO MASTERS OTHERS


Every one of the eight sullen fellows stood as though rooted in his tracks.


While Tomba spoke none answered, but many baleful glances were cast at Sergeant Hal Overton of the Thirty-fourth Infantry.


When Tomba had ceased speaking two or three of the rascals spoke, slowly, briefly.


“What do the scoundrels say?” demanded the Army boy.


“They do not like the situation, señor.”


“Can you blame them? Or can they help the situation in the new turn that it has taken?”


The Filipino shrugged his shoulders.


“Well, ask the brown pirates what they intend to do?”


Tomba spoke as though translating the question into the two tongues that these surly fellows understood.


“They say that they do not know,” replied Vicente Tomba presently.


“Can’t make up their minds, eh?” jeered Hal. “Then I’ll form their decisions for them. There’s a further way out of this place?”


Vicente Tomba hesitated, muttering.


“Now, don’t you try my old trick of trying to gain time,” warned the boyish sergeant crisply. “I know all about that little trick and I don’t intend to put up with it in the enemy. Tomba, tell your fellows to open the way out of here, and to get out as quickly as they know how. Tell them that, as soon as you stop talking, I’m going to begin to count ten in English, and that the instant I count ten I shall drive this creese deep into the back of your neck. Tell them that I know how to handle a weapon like this, and that I’ll finish you with one blow.”


As he spoke, Sergeant Hal dropped the lantern that he had been holding with his left hand. It fell with a crash, and the light went out, but he needed it no longer, for there were two other lighted lanterns in the room.


“Go on, Tomba! Tell them just what I told you to say. Be sure you get it straight, too. Remember how much hangs in the balance for you!”


Tomba began speaking, his voice wonderfully steady. Sergeant Hal could not help admiring the evident courage of this little Filipino, who knew well enough that his life was hanging on a thread from second to second.


Hal’s left hand now rested tightly on the little brown man’s shoulder. Tomba’s body was no slight protection against the pistols of these surly fellows in case they evidenced a disposition to shoot. And the Army boy did not intend to let this human bulwark get away from him.


“You have told them, Tomba?” queried Hal Overton, as soon as the Filipino’s voice ceased.


“Even so, señor.”


“They understand?”


“If they do not, then they are idiots, Señor Sergente.”


“Then tell them I am going to begin to count.”


Again Tomba spoke, this time briefly.


The grip of young Overton’s hand on the Filipino’s shoulder tightened. A slight shudder ran through the brown man’s frame, but otherwise he showed no fear.


“One!” began Hal.


From the surly ones beyond an angry babel of protest went up.


But Hal coolly disregarding the clamor, merely raised his own voice enough to make it heard:


“Two!”


Sergeant Overton now let go of the Filipino’s shoulder, but only to throw his arm around the fellow’s neck. Tomba’s head was drawn back, almost chokingly, against the boyish sergeant’s shoulder.


“Three!”


Still no motion among the dark-skinned eight.


“Four!”


And then:


“Five! Tomba, your friends are cheerful about your fate, aren’t they? Six!”


Vicente Tomba spoke, sharply, hissingly. Now some stir was noticeable among the wretches, though whether they meant to obey or to try to rush the lone soldier was more than Overton could guess.


“Seven!”


Hal’s voice, as steady as ever, must have carried conviction with it. Certainly Tomba’s shuddering had increased, though the little brown man, no match in muscle for the white soldier, made not the least effort to wrest himself away from that dangerous grip.


“Eight!” announced Hal Overton, his voice on the verge of absolute cheeriness.


Again Tomba spoke, this time still more angrily.


There was a shuffling of feet, as the men moved further away. Then one of the wretches stepped forward and threw open a door, just as Hal came calmly out with:


“Nine!”


“Stop counting, señor,” urged Vicente Tomba quite coolly. “These men have yielded and are going. They will open the other door, pass through it hurriedly, and leave the way open for you.”


“Lucky for you, if they do, my Tagalo friend! I will suspend the count for an instant only.”


Another stone door was suddenly swung open, by one of the surly fellows, revealing a passage beyond. Into this the eight fairly raced.


“Do not follow too quickly, señor, or one of the rascals may forget himself and turn to fight,” declared Tomba.


“It will be bad for you if it happens!”


“It is of myself that I am thinking, señor!” returned the Filipino dryly. Then, after a pause:


“Come, señor. Surely we can pass out safely now.”


“Then we’ll do so,” agreed Sergeant Hal, “and your life be upon our success! Don’t try to go more quickly than I move, or I shall suspect you, and with me to suspect is to——”


“Say no more, señor,” interrupted the little Filipino. “I understand you better than I did, and I am taking no chances.”


Sergeant Overton still retained his left-handed hold on Tomba as the pair passed out to what might mean safety.


Through this second doorway they passed, to find themselves ascending a slope paved only with tightly packed dirt. Glancing up the slope Sergeant Hal made out three or four stars low down in the sky beyond.


“Night time?” he queried in mild astonishment.


“Yes, señor, and you will even believe that it is the night of another day,” laughed Vicente Tomba, “for you must have lived ages in the last few hours.”


“It wasn’t quite as bad as that,” the Army boy returned graciously. “In your way, Tomba, you helped excellently to pass the time for me.”


At the top of this interior slope the pair passed out through a doorway ordinarily closed by means of a stout wooden door. The pair found themselves in the yard back of Cerverra’s house. At one side was an alley way leading to the street.


“I will leave you here, señor, with your gracious permission.”


“Oh, no, no, Tomba! You will go with me, and still held by me, at least as far as the middle of the street.”


With sullen assent the Filipino consented to this. On their way through the alley they encountered no one.


But, just as they reached the sidewalk, they were met with a sharp hail of:


“Halt!”




CHAPTER VIII


THE RIGHT MAN IN THE GUARD HOUSE


That command, however, in a good, strong American voice, had very far from the effect of startling Hal Overton.


Down the street, barely a hundred feet away, a squad of a dozen soldiers of B Company had just halted in column of twos.


At the head of the squad stood Sergeant Terry and Corporal Hyman.


“Sergeant Terry,” called the self-rescued Army boy briskly, “march your men here and halt them again.”


“Very good, Sergeant Overton,” answered Noll’s voice, precise and formal as though on parade, but there was a note of joy, none the less, in Terry’s voice.


“I will go now, señor,” suggested Vicente Tomba, struggling slightly to free himself as the squad again halted close to the Army boy.


“You will do nothing of the sort, Tomba,” retorted Overton dryly. “You are going to Fort Franklin as a military prisoner.”


“This is ingratitude!” snarled the little brown man, looking decidedly crestfallen.


“No; it is not. I owe you nothing for my freedom. Corporal Hyman, you will take charge of the prisoner. See that he does not escape.”


“Very good, Sergeant,” replied Hyman, motioning to two of the men to place themselves on either side of the prisoner.


“Now, Sergeant Terry, inform me how you came to be here with this detachment?”


“I was sent into town, Sergeant Overton, under orders from Captain Cortland. You were missed from parade, and the captain knew that could not happen with you, unless there was something decidedly wrong. So, at seven this evening, the captain directed me to take this detachment and scour the town for you. If we did not find you by half-past nine I was to report back to the post by messenger, and a larger detachment, under an officer, was to be sent in.”


“What time is it now?”


“About nine o’clock.”


“We shall be back, then,” nodded Hal, “within the time mentioned in your orders. But I shall leave some of the detachment here until Captain Cortland has acted upon the report that I shall make.”


At that moment Sergeant Hal, glancing into Cerverra’s store, caught sight of the bright, eager eyes of the proprietor.


“Corporal Hyman, arrest that man, also,” commanded young Overton sharply, pointing into the shop. “The fellow’s name is Cerverra, and he had a part in the plot against me.”


With two other soldiers Hyman darted into the shop, from which they soon came out with Cerverra, who protested strongly.


Meanwhile Vicente Tomba had discovered a cause of discomfort.


“Señor Sergente,” he complained, “during our struggle in the cellar you knocked my cigarettes from my hand. I beg that you let one of your soldiers take this piece of money into a shop and buy me more cigarettes.”


“Shall I do it, Sergeant?” inquired Hyman.


“Tomba,” laughed Hal, “after all the trouble that that last cigarette cost you I should think you’d feel like cutting out the habit forever. I know I would drop any habit that had gotten me into such a mess. Had you not wanted to smoke underground I would not have had such a fine chance to upset you. Very likely you would have won, instead of me.”


“But I want cigarettes, now,” retorted Tomba almost fiercely. “It is ungenerous to deprive me of them.”


“Shall I let a man get them for him?” asked Hyman.


“Yes; if he insists,” nodded Hal. “What an idiot a man is to allow cigarettes to make such a slave of him that he can’t pass an hour without one.”


A soldier was accordingly dispatched to the nearest tobacconist on Tomba’s errand. While this was taking place Hal hurriedly told his chum and Corporal Hyman what had happened to him, and how he had escaped.


In all this time perhaps two score of curious natives had gathered in the street, though all of them kept at a respectful distance. Sergeant Hal examined these people keenly, though he failed to see any of the eight from whom he had had such difficulty in escaping.


“Captain Cortland told me,” Noll broke in at last, “that the former military commander here informed him that he had had about a dozen of his men disappear most unaccountably, and that not one of them had ever been heard from afterward. So, when you failed to return, Hal, the captain declared that he was going to sift this business to the bottom before he stopped.”


“I guess, then, that all of our poor comrades in the other regiment who have disappeared in this miserable town of Bantoc have gone, as I did, through visiting Cerverra’s store. Now, Noll, I am going to leave you here, with eight of the men, to take possession of Cerverra’s store and premises until you receive further orders from the post commander. Hyman and I, and the other four men, will take the prisoners out to Fort Franklin. I would leave you a couple more men, Noll, only I do not forget that it is possible that there may be some attempt made to rescue our prisoners.”


“If the natives try that——” broke in Corporal Hyman.


“In the event of an attempted rescue, Corporal, direct your men that they are to shoot the two prisoners at the first sign of an attempt at rescue.”


Tomba heard Hyman give the order, and spoke in a low tone to Cerverra. Both rascals thereupon looked disconcerted.


“You have your instructions, Sergeant Terry,” continued Hal Overton. “March the guard, Corporal Hyman.”


As the guard started, Hal fell in beside Corporal Hyman, telling him more of what had happened in the cellar under the Moro curio shop.


“I reckon, Sarge, you’ve made the biggest discovery of the year in this point of the woods,” was Hyman’s terse comment. “I reckon, too, the captain will see it that way.”


It was cooler by night, though this was due mainly to the absence of the sun. The air was full of sticky moisture, and mosquitoes buzzed about and bit viciously.


“I was born and reared in New Jersey,” laughed Hal, striking at the winged pests, “and I have had to stand a lot of guying about the mosquitoes of my state. But Jersey has been libeled. Compared with these Philippine pests the Jersey mosquito is mild enough to be a source of delight.”


There was no moon up, but the starlight was bright—and how big and glowing the stars are in the tropics!


Marching at an easy route step over the firm, white road, it did not take the returning detachment more than twenty minutes to cover the distance to Fort Franklin.


“Halt your prisoners here, Corporal, and watch ‘em until Captain Cortland gives his orders about them,” directed Hal. Then the young sergeant turned down the street leading to officers’ quarters, for the administrative office of the post had been closed for hours.


Two minutes later Sergeant Hal Overton was detailing what had happened him to the post commander.


“But wait before you go any further, Sergeant,” cried Captain Cortland, interrupting his tale. “I want the other officers to hear the whole of this villainous business.”


By the use of the telephone the other five commissioned officers on duty at Fort Franklin were soon summoned.


“Now, begin again, Sergeant Overton,” ordered Cortland, when all the officers had gathered in his parlor.


The Army boy retold the entire story, leaving out nothing—not even, the reader may be sure, what Vicente Tomba had said to Hal about Draney’s connection with the natives.


“Ray, you’re officer of the day,” broke in the post commander suddenly. “Go out to Corporal Hyman and see that he turns Tomba and Cerverra over at the guard house. Instruct the sergeant of the guard to make absolutely certain that the prisoners have no chance to escape. Also, Ray, you will send Corporal Hyman and his four men back to Sergeant Terry. Direct the sergeant to keep his whole detachment on the ground to-night, setting a regular guard. Hampton, as you’re in charge of the commissary and quartermaster details at this post, the first thing in the morning you will make sure that Sergeant Terry’s detachment is supplied with rations enough for breakfast. Early in the morning I shall look further into that plague spot of Cerverra’s. Now, Sergeant Overton, continue your story.”


When it was finished the officers sat in silence for a few moments.


“Well, gentlemen,” inquired Captain Cortland at last, “have you anything to offer?”


“Are you going to arrest the man, Draney?” inquired Captain Freeman, of C Company.


“Frankly,” replied Cortland, “that is what is puzzling me. What do you think, Freeman?”


“We cannot doubt Sergeant Overton, and he tells us that Tomba boasted that Draney is in league with the natives in some conspiracy here.”


“It is a matter of evidence,” replied Captain Cortland musingly. “Not one of you gentlemen would doubt Sergeant Overton’s word on any question of fact on which he has knowledge. But his report is based only on what Vicente Tomba told him. Now, at the test, not one of you gentlemen doubts that Tomba would deny it all point blank. I believe that Draney is a scoundrel. I never liked the looks of the man from the first moment, but I can’t arrest him on account of my bad opinion of him. Nor would any military or civil court hold him on account of what Sergeant Overton says Tomba told him. That evidence would not satisfy the requirements of any court of trial.”


“Sir, is Draney really an American or an Englishman?” inquired Lieutenant Hampton.


“I don’t know, Hampton, nor do I believe any one else knows for certain. Englishman or American, it is equally bad either way. If he’s an American, then I am sorry to say that there are multitudes of people back in our own country who would welcome only too gladly a chance to attack the government for locking an American up on what they would call a flimsy charge. On the other hand, if Draney is an Englishman, and we arrest him on anything but the most satisfactory evidence, then the British government would be sure to make a noise about the affair. Hang it all, I wish we had just a shade more evidence, and I’d have Draney behind steel curtains in the guard house before daybreak, for his plantation is only eight miles out from here. Personally, I haven’t a doubt that Draney is behind all the trouble of which we’re hearing rumors.”


“What can be Draney’s object?” asked Captain Freeman.


“Perhaps he hasn’t really a sane object,” responded Cortland. “Whatever his motive for standing in with the worst of the Moros, and plotting against the government that we represent, there is sure to be something that he regards as being in line with his own advantage.”


“Everything connected with this fellow, Draney, seems to be a puzzle,” muttered Lieutenant Hampton.


During this discussion the two youngest officers of all, Lieutenants Prescott and Holmes, sat listening intently, and looking from face to face, though neither ventured any opinions. As “youngsters” it was their place to wait until they were asked to speak.


So notable, in fact, did their silence become that at last Captain Cortland remarked:


“Mr. Prescott, Mr. Holmes, you know that you are not forbidden to speak in the presence of your elders.”


“I was listening, sir,” replied Lieutenant Prescott, with a smile. “I haven’t anything to offer sir, but whatever orders I may receive, I’ll follow them all the way across the island of Mindanao and out into the ocean as far as I can swim or float.”


“That’s my answer, too, sir,” supplemented Lieutenant Greg Holmes.


“Spoken like soldiers and officers,” said Captain Cortland heartily.


And, indeed, these two young officers were soldiers! Young as they were, they commanded the respect of the men in their companies. B and C Companies could be depended upon to follow Prescott and Holmes wherever these two young West Pointers cared to lead them.


“Gentlemen,” announced Captain Cortland at last, “we have the two prisoners in the guard house, and we have a guard over Cerverra’s place. We’ll take counsel of the night and of sleep. In the morning, at eight o’clock, we’ll meet here to deliberate further on this puzzling matter. By the morning our whole duty may be extremely clear to us.”


The visiting officers arose, saluted and took their leave.


“That is all for to-night, Sergeant Overton,” announced the captain. “But on one point I want to caution you. You have heard the discussion here to-night. Do not repeat it to any of the enlisted men.”


“No, sir.”


“That is all, Sergeant. One of these days I may have the time to tell you what a fine piece of work you have done for us to-day. Good night, Sergeant.”


“Good night, sir.”


The Army boy saluted, receiving his superior’s acknowledgment. Then Hal stepped outside and made his way down the white roadway of ground shell and went to his own squad room in barracks.


“One point, anyway, is highly satisfactory,” mused Sergeant Hal, as he crawled in under the mosquito netting that hung over his cot. “Vicente Tomba, the fellow with a dislike for seeing me alive, is safe behind bars in a guard-house cell!”


But was he?




CHAPTER IX


NEWS COMES OF THE UPRISING


Five officers of the garrison at Fort Franklin had assembled in the post commander’s office, at eight o’clock the next morning, and awaited the arrival of Lieutenant Ray, who was still, for a matter of another hour, to be officer of the day.


Nor did Ray keep his brother officers waiting more than a moment. Then his brisk step was heard on the shell road outside, followed by his sudden entrance into the office.


But behind him came two soldiers of the guard, dragging between them an insignificant-looking little Filipino who seemed thoroughly terror stricken.


“How’s Tomba this morning, Ray?” inquired Captain Cortland, wheeling about. “And who is this prisoner?”


“This, sir,” declared Ray, in a tone that quivered with disgust, “is all that is left to us of Tomba!”


“But this isn’t Vicente Tomba at all.”


“I know it, sir.”


“Explain yourself, Ray.”


“Why, Captain, I have just made an inspection of prisoners at the guard house. Huddled in the back of the cell where I personally put Tomba last night crouched this shivery little object, looking as if he expected to be called upon to face a firing squad.”


Captain Cortland had leaped to his feet, looking mightily concerned.


“But, Mr. Ray, where is Tomba?”


“I wish with all my heart that I knew, sir,” replied the officer of the day, even more disturbed than his superior. “Last night I put Tomba in the cell and turned the key in the lock myself. Then I turned the key over to the sergeant of the guard. When I found Tomba missing, and this worthless object in his place, I made an investigation. The sergeant of the guard declared that the key had not been out of his pocket since I gave it to him.”


“Who is sergeant of the guard?”


“Sergeant Jones, C Company, sir.”


“And Jones is as honest, capable and energetic a man as we have in C Company,” spoke up Captain Freeman, in defense of his sergeant.


“Have there been any visitors at the guard house this morning, Ray?” demanded Captain Cortland. “Especially, any native visitors?”


“Yes, sir; so Sergeant Jones informs me. You know, sir, it has been permitted that native prisoners be allowed to have their friends come and bring them their native food and coffee.”


“I know,” nodded Captain Cortland. “But that rule, gentlemen, is revoked from this minute. Thanks to that rule Tomba has gotten away from us.”


“I hope you don’t suspect Sergeant Jones, Cortland,” interposed Captain Freeman. “Because, if you do, I’m satisfied that you’re doing the sergeant an injustice.”


“I don’t suspect your sergeant, Freeman. I am more to blame than any one else, for having allowed the old rule of my predecessor here to remain in force. Quite a group of natives came, eh, Ray?”


“Seven or eight of them, sir.”


“Exactly,” nodded Cortland, “and this wretched little half-price native was one of them. He was brought along on purpose. Probably he was threatened with having his throat cut if he didn’t do what he was told by the scoundrels. Then, while some of the natives were passing food and drink through the bars to Tomba and the prisoners, Jones must have had his attention attracted.”


“Sergeant Jones remembers that he was called to the guard-house door for an instant,” interjected Lieutenant Ray.


“Exactly, Ray, and at the same time a light-fingered native slipped a cunning brown hand into the sergeant’s pocket and the key was taken. The cell door was swiftly unlocked, this native stole in, and Vicente Tomba stole out. Friends swiftly slipped Tomba one or two articles of clothing with which to help disguise himself. Then the whole party filed quickly out, and by this time Vicente Tomba is headed for the mountains and going fast.”


“But Sergeant Jones found the key in his pocket, sir, when I asked him for it.”


“Certainly, Ray. The little brown man who was clever enough to pick the pocket of the sergeant of the guard found it even less trouble to return the key.”


“Cerverra didn’t get away, anyway,” muttered Lieutenant Ray, who had grown suddenly tired and careworn in appearance.


“Undoubtedly that’s because Tomba is of more importance to the Moro plotters than Cerverra. Besides, Cerverra owns property here, and he can’t well afford to be a fugitive from justice.”


“What shall I do with this little wretch of a substitute, sir?” queried the officer of the day.


“Have you questioned this prisoner?”


“Yes, sir, and not a word will he say. He only shakes his head and pretends that he cannot understand a word of English or Spanish.”


“Then take him back and lock him in the same cell,” instructed the post commander. “Keep him there until he does talk.”


“Very good, sir.”


Barely had Lieutenant Ray reëntered the guard house when two shots sounded on the road toward Bantoc.


“What’s that? Trouble starting?” demanded Captain Freeman, darting to the door and listening.


“It may be only a shooting affray, but we must soon know,” replied Captain Cortland.


All of the officers save Ray were now out on the veranda of the building.


Two more shots sounded, close together. Then came a light volley, sounding lighter still.


“It may be that Sergeant Terry is having trouble in town,” muttered Captain Cortland, wholly alert in a second. “In any case we must let these Moros see a show of military force. Freeman, detail thirty of your men and let Lieutenant Holmes march them into Bantoc in quick time. Each man to carry fifty rounds of ammunition.”


“Very good, sir.


“Lieutenant Holmes, you will go first of all to Cerverra’s shop, unless the firing seems to be in another direction. But remember that if trouble breaks loose we will take care of it from here, and that your essential orders are not changed until you receive them from me, or from your company commander.”


“Very good, sir,” replied young Holmes, saluting.


Freeman and his second lieutenant hurried away to execute the orders without loss of time.


At the sound of the shots many of the men from barracks had run out into the street to see if they could find any explanation of the hostile sounds.


“Second platoon, C Company, fall in!” rang the order, repeated three or four times.


That caught several of the curious ones in the street, calling them to the parade ground.


Acting First Sergeant Hal Overton, B Company, was among those in the street. And he was the first to catch sight of a horse coming up the road at a wavering gallop.


“We’ll soon know,” the Army boy called to those nearest him. “This looks like a messenger coming.”


The man who was astride the horse, and who was attired in white duck blouse and trousers, was bending forward over the neck of the animal.


“Second platoon, fall in!” rang Greg Holmes’s command on the parade ground, showing how quickly military orders may be carried out.


“The messenger is bleeding,” cried Hal. “I can see the stains on his white clothing. And the horse has been hit, too!”


“Trouble with a big ‘T,’” muttered Private Kelly.


Sergeant Hal said no more. He walked quickly down the road as horse and rider drew nearer. The mount was running more feebly now. Fifty feet away from the young sergeant the animal pitched suddenly, staggered, then fell.


For an instant it looked as though the rider would also be stretched in the dust. Then he recovered, leaped painfully away from the horse—and just then Hal Overton reached and caught him.


“Shall I carry you, friend?” demanded the Army boy, for the stranger was a white man, doubtless an American.


At the stranger’s belt hung a holster, the flap unbuttoned. He was wild-eyed and breathing hard, but there was no sign of cowardice in the man’s sternly set face.


Bloodstains showed over three wounds in the trunk of his body. The right shoulder, also, had been touched.


“I can walk—but give me your arm,” gasped the wounded man. “Take me to your commanding officer!”


Hal started, but had not far to go, for Captain Cortland was coming forward on the run.


“Take that man to the porch of barracks,” called the captain, whose eye, practised in wounds, saw much. “Don’t make him walk far.”


Kelly sprang to Hal’s aid. Between them they lifted the wounded stranger to a seat on their arms. The man put his arms about their necks, and thus they conveyed him to a broad armchair on the porch.


“My man, there, run for a hospital steward,” shouted Captain Cortland. Then the post commander came to the wounded stranger.


Now that he found himself at the end of his journey the stranger appeared to lose rapidly the strength of his voice. He lay back in the chair, his eyes half closed.


“Where do you come from, friend?” asked Captain Cortland.


“The Seaforth Plantation.”


“I know where the place is—twelve miles from here, in the interior,” answered the captain.


“Right,” murmured the wounded one.


“Your name?”


“Edwards. I’m bookkeeper and correspondent for Mr. Seaforth.”


“Platoon fours right, march!” sounded from the parade ground.


Edwards heard the command, then the steady whump-whump of the feet of marching men. The wounded man turned in his chair and gazed at the detachment marching away in quick time behind Lieutenant Holmes.


“You act quickly, Captain,” murmured Edwards gratefully.


“Those men are marching to Bantoc to keep order in the town,” replied Captain Cortland. “Tell me, as quickly as you can, what is wrong at Seaforth’s.”


“We were attacked just before daylight this morning,” Edwards replied weakly.


“In force?” pressed the post commander.


“Just at a guess there must have been two or three hundred of the Malay fiends.”


“Any of the defending party killed?”


“Not when I left, Captain. But four of our native Moro laborers were shot dead before they could reach the main house. The main house was being defended by Seaforth when I left.”


“How many white men there?”


“Seaforth, his son, his superintendent and a blacksmith.”


“They all escaped into the house at the attack?”


“Yes.”


“Any natives helping Seaforth in the defense?”


“Yes; eight of the most trusted Moro workmen. But, Captain, you never can tell when you can trust any of these natives.”


“I know,” murmured Cortland, nodding his head.


At this moment the hospital steward arrived on the run, carrying a case of instruments, bottles and bandages. There was no surgeon-officer at Fort Franklin, the post commander being compelled to rely, at need, on a German physician in Bantoc.


“Get right to work, steward,” ordered Captain Cortland. “And I must question this man while you work over him. Edwards, are there any American women at Seaforth’s?”


“Three.”


“Good heavens!” uttered the captain, paling.


“Mrs. Seaforth, the superintendent’s wife, and Miss Daly, the school teacher.”


“How did you get away?”


“The Moros didn’t appear to be in force on the side toward the stable, and I wriggled through in the dark, traveling flat on my stomach. I reached a horse at the stable, saddled fast, and then galloped away just as the Moros turned loose a volley that covered the noise of the horse’s hoofs.”


Edwards’s voice was becoming much weaker. He paused frequently between words. The hospital steward, standing behind the wounded man, glanced up at Captain Cortland, shaking his head.


“Was the road infested with roving parties of guerillas?” inquired Captain Cortland.


“No, sir,” replied the bookkeeper. “I didn’t run into any trouble until I reached Bantoc. The natives here must have known that the trouble was coming, for concealed rascals fired on me just as I got alongside the town. They wounded me and my horse.”


The other officers, with the exception of the absent Lieutenant Holmes, were now at the porch, listening quietly.


“Freeman, I must keep the rest of your company here,” explained Captain Cortland. “And Hampton, your duties here are such that I can’t very well spare you from post. So I shall have to send Lieutenant Prescott to Seaforth’s. Lieutenant Prescott, assemble the company without an instant’s delay.”


There was little need to speak of delay. Every soldier left on the post and not engaged in actual duty was as near to the spot as he could be, for all were interested in this latest news.


“Mr. Prescott, don’t take the time to march your men to the parade ground. Assemble B Company right here. Pick out the sixty men you want. Sergeant Overton will help you. Take sixty men, two days’ rations and a hundred and fifty rounds of cartridges per man. Take blankets, ponchos and shelter tents. Detail your men and be ready to march at the earliest possible moment.”


As the call for formation sounded Edwards uttered a fervent:


“Thank heaven!”


The hospital steward forced a draught of medicine down the wounded man’s throat.


Quickly the sixty men were detailed, those who had been on sick report lately, or those who for any other reason were unfitted for a long, swift march being rejected.


“Detachment, fall out,” ordered Lieutenant Prescott. “Sergeant Overton, see to the equipping of the men for this hike. Don’t let any man idle any time away. I’ll soon be with you in barracks, for minutes may be invaluable.”


Edwards had fallen back once more, lying with his eyes closed. The hospital steward, one hand on the wounded one’s pulse, looked at Captain Cortland and shook his head.


“Mr. Edwards,” called the captain.


There was no answer.


“Is he dead?” asked the post commander in a low voice.


“No, sir, but he is unconscious and there’s only a feeble flutter at the pulse.”


As if to prove that he was still conscious, Edwards’s lips tried to frame the words:


“Thank heav——”


A sigh, and Edwards’s head sank forward on his chest.


“He’s gone, sir; there’s no pulse,” said the hospital steward.


Edwards’s brave mission was ended. He had carried the word of danger to Fort Franklin, but he could not live to see the relief or vengeance detail set out.


As soon as it was certain that the bookkeeper had really ceased to breathe, Captain Cortland had the hospital steward summon men, who carried the remains away.


From the portion of the barracks allotted to B Company there came hardly a sound of unusual activity. Yet men were preparing for the “hike,” as the long, swift march is called, in record time.


“All ready in this room?” called Sergeant Hal at last.


A chorus of low-toned replies answered him.


“Tumble out, then, lively!”


An instant later the men hastened from other squad rooms. There was no flourish of bugles this time. At a quietly spoken word the sixty men fell in. Non-commissioned officers made a hasty inspection, while Captain Cortland and Lieutenant Prescott glanced up and down the line with keen eyes.


“March your detachment, Lieutenant,” directed Captain Cortland, a minute later.


“Twos right, route step, quick time—march!” called Lieutenant Prescott.


As one man they swung, and their feet were in motion. At the head of the line marched acting First Sergeant Overton, setting a stiff pace.


For an instant Prescott stood still, eying his men as they swept by. Then he ran to the head of the line, falling in beside the young sergeant.


They were off on the Flag’s business!




CHAPTER X


THE INSULT TO THE FLAG


It was a deserted road over which the detachment marched.


When there is fighting in Mindanao, and troops are scurrying along the roads, those inhabitants who are non-combatants keep within their doors—at all events, they remain out of sight. It is as though every native feared to be shot as a possible rebel.


But Uncle Sam’s troops have no quarrel with men and women following peaceful occupations. If these brown natives understood our people better they would not scurry to cover when the khaki-clad men are passing on fighting bent.


For three miles, or until Bantoc was left well behind, the quick time continued. Then the young lieutenant decided that it would be necessary to slacken the pace for a while. Soldiers must not only reach their destination as early as possible; they must also be fit for fighting on arrival.


It was not difficult to find the way. An almost straight road led out to the Seaforth plantation. Lieutenant Prescott had a map of the country for use in case he found it necessary.


Twice on the way the men halted, for five minutes each time.


Then, about eight miles out, they came upon outlying scenes of plantation life. There were broad fields, rich with crops, but to-day no laborers were to be seen at work.


Then the main buildings of the Draney plantation were sighted.


About the buildings, too, all was unwontedly quiet. In fact, the main house was closed and had the air of being in a state of siege.


“Humph!” muttered the young lieutenant to the boyish sergeant. “If all we hear about Draney is true, or even the half of it, he has no need to fear the Moros.”


Just as the detachment was passing opposite the main building the front door opened, and Draney, bearing a rifle in the hollow of his left arm, hastened out, holding up his right hand.


“Detachment halt!” commanded Prescott in a wearied tone. Then the young commanding officer stepped rapidly toward the planter.


“Well, Mr. Draney, what is it?” Prescott inquired.


“I’m thankful you’ve come, Prescott.”


“Mr. Prescott, if you please,” interposed the officer coldly.


“I’m mighty glad you’ve come. Off yonder we’ve been hearing firing at intervals ever since daylight.”


“How recently have you heard it?” queried Prescott.


“Within ten minutes.”


“Thank heaven, then!” muttered the lieutenant. “The Seaforth people are holding out.”


“Is it at Seaforth’s?” demanded Draney, with assumed eagerness.


“So I imagine. But I must hurry on my way. Take care of yourself, Mr. Draney.”


Perhaps that last bit of advice was delivered in a tone of some sarcasm. Draney appeared to feel very uneasy.


“Prescott—Mr. Prescott—aren’t you going to leave some of your men here to protect this place?”


“I don’t believe it will be necessary,” replied the lieutenant, and again, no doubt, there was some hidden irony in his words.


“But the Moros may attack us here at any moment,” urged Draney pleadingly.


“I hope they won’t attack you, Mr. Draney. But, in any event, I have no orders to leave any of my men here.”


“Yet, surely, as an officer commanding troops in the field, you have some discretion in the matter.”


“I fear it would be an abuse of my discretion to weaken my detachment by leaving men here.”


At that moment four or five shots sounded faintly in the distance.


“You must see my present duty as clearly as I do, Mr. Draney,” uttered the young lieutenant quickly. “Good-bye, sir.”


“Can’t you leave me even six men?”


Prescott did not reply, but called:


“March the detachment, Sergeant.”


Hal gave the moving order instantly, the lieutenant cutting off the column obliquely and thus rejoining its head.


“The impudence of that fellow!” growled Lieutenant Prescott, under his breath, but Sergeant Hal heard the words.


Two or three minutes later, when the plantation buildings were out of sight, the young sergeant chanced to look back along the line.


As he did so something in the sky caught his attention.


“Look at that, sir,” urged Hal, stepping out of the way of the column and pointing backward.


Lieutenant Prescott uttered an exclamation of anger.


“I wish we had men to spare. I certainly would send some of them back to that confounded Draney!” quivered Prescott.


The object at which both gazed was a blood-red kite, flying high, and apparently sent up not far from the Draney house.


“It must be a signal, sir,” suggested Sergeant Hal.


“Of course it is!” stormed the lieutenant. “It’s the easiest way in the world of sending the news to the brown fiends swarming around Seaforth’s that a military column has passed Draney’s place.”


“I could take a few men, sir, go back and arrest Draney and bring him to you,” suggested Hal quietly.


“What would be the use?” demanded the young officer, a scowl of disgust settling on his face. “In the first place, you wouldn’t find Draney in an hour, for probably he has hidden himself. Even if you found him sitting on his back porch he’d be prepared to swear that some native had sent up the kite without his knowledge or permission. Sergeant, a fellow of Draney’s type is always hard to catch, and it’s bad judgment to try to catch him until you have evidence enough to hang him. So, for the present, I’m certain that we’d better let the scoundrel go. But the flying of that kite means that there’s danger of an ambuscade. This is the first time I’ve commanded in the field and I don’t intend to be cut to pieces in ambush.”


Raising his voice, Lieutenant Prescott called:


“Detachment, halt!”


As the column of twos came to a stop Lieutenant Prescott announced:


“Men, you can see that red kite flying, back at the plantation. It’s a signal to a possible enemy ahead of us. The enemy may try to ambush us. Therefore, from now on, every man will move as quietly as he possibly can. No unnecessary word will be spoken in ranks. You will take pains to keep your equipments from jingling. I am going to march you off the road and send a ‘point’ ahead. Corporal Cotter!”


“Sir?”


“Take the first four files for a ‘point’ and march two hundred yards ahead of the detachment. Halt and signal back to us if at any time you hear anything, or have any other reason to believe that you are nearing an ambush. Take the first path to the left, which you will find about a quarter of a mile from here. If I have further orders for you I will send them forward.”


“Very good, sir.”


“March the ‘point,’ Corporal.”


When the last file of Cotter’s men was two hundred yards in advance Lieutenant Prescott nodded to Sergeant Hal to march the main column.


Not a soldier, now, but understood that the command was probably close to the enemy. At all events, fighting within the hour seemed almost certain, for occasional shots still sounded in the country ahead.


No word was now spoken. Cotter found the path, and led his men into it. Prescott knew, from his map, that the path would lead his men to Seaforth’s, though by a wide detour from the highway.


Sergeant Hal Overton felt a queer little thrill when he realized that they were now nearing an enemy reported to be much superior in numbers. The thrill was not exactly of fear, though there was some uneasiness in it. Every soldier has felt this sensation when marching into battle. But Hal was curious to know how the feeling affected the other men.


If Lieutenant Prescott felt any of it, there was nothing in his face or manner to betray the fact. He appeared to be “all business,” and to have a keen sense of responsibility which, however, did not dismay him in the least. No soldier could gaze at that young officer and feel that the detachment was badly commanded. Such is the West Point training.


Kelly and some of the other soldiers who had seen much active service plodded along like so many laborers going unconcernedly to their work.


Some of the newer enlisted men, who had never before been in real action, betrayed their newness only by the eager light that shone in their eyes. These new men, too, took pains to walk still more softly along the forest path than did any of the old hands at campaigning.


To any but the most hardened old soldier there is something “creepy” in plodding along over a narrow path in a rather dense forest, not knowing at what moment a lurking enemy may pour in a volley that will bowl over half of the command.


Yet every man clutches a rifle and feels at his belt enough ammunition for putting up a good and long fight. There is something exultant in the consciousness that, if attacked, one can render back a good account of himself, and that the American soldier has no cause to be afraid of any troops on earth. It is man’s work—and it takes a man to do it!


To the “point,” naturally, came the real danger—in the first moment of possible ambush along the path. It would run into trouble first. That is what it is for. If the “point” meets an enemy every man in it may be bowled over by a sudden shower of hostile bullets. But the main column is warned, and the commander can bring up the bulk of his force in battle line armed with the knowledge of where the enemy is. When the “point” marches but two hundred yards in advance of the main body of the command then it can be promptly supported if trouble comes.


Now the distant firing broke out again, and briskly.


“The Moro fiends are trying to rush the planter’s house before help can reach him!” muttered Lieutenant Prescott to himself. “We’ll spoil some of the joy of those savages when we get close enough to send them a raking volley. I hope they’re lined up so that we can give them a flank fire before the scoundrels know that we’re on the ground at all.”


Two miles covered, then a third was left behind.


Now, a nervous or too eager commander might have hurried his men over the remaining ground, but Prescott, at West Point, had been taught the value of cool, deliberate work.


It was noticeable, however, that now the men marched along with more spirit and swing. Those who may have been secretly nervous were at least certain that soon their suspense would be over. A few minutes, and they would be engaged in something more definite than merely tramping in the direction of danger.


Suddenly Corporal Cotter halted his men, and the same gesture was visible at the head of the column behind.


“Softly,” whispered Lieutenant Prescott, but his gesture carried further than did his voice. The main column closed slowly up with the “point.”


“I couldn’t go further, sir, without running into those fellows yonder,” whispered the corporal. “I didn’t know that you would want me to do it.”


Cotter pointed through the rows of trees to a clearing beyond.


In the center of the clearing stood a little building—plainly the schoolhouse in which the few white children on the plantation and probably many native children of the neighborhood were taught, five days in the week, by some clear-eyed Yankee schoolma’am furnished by Uncle Sam’s Government.


Seven Moros were visible at or close to the schoolhouse. All of them were armed. One fellow was hurrying up with a can of oil, which, while the soldiers waited and watched, he sprinkled over the woodwork of the doorway, carrying a trail of the oil inside the building.


“That’s a Filipino estimate of the value of education,” whispered Lieutenant Prescott savagely to his sergeant.


But then something happened that made Hal Overton boil with indignation.


Just as the fellow had finished scattering the oil and was about to strike a match, one of the other Moros seized the fellow’s arm, then pointed up to the flag pole over the front of the building.


All of the brown rascals began to chuckle. Then one of them climbed up. With a keen-edged creese he cut the Flag loose, hurling it down to the ground.


Now began an orgy of derision. First the Moros spat upon the Flag; then, howling gleefully, they commenced to dance upon it. Every now and then one of the brown men bent down to slash at the Flag.


It was hard for some sixty of Uncle Sam’s men to stand there, with guns in their hands, and witness such desecration as that. Some of the soldiers began to mutter.


“Silence!” hissed Lieutenant Prescott.


One soldier rested his rifle forward, as though bent on taking a shot, but Sergeant Hal, like a flash, knocked up his arm.


“No man is to fire unless ordered,” muttered Overton, and Lieutenant Prescott nodded his approval.


Soon the Flag lay torn and trampled, all but covered in the dust of the roadway before the school. Then one of the Moros again struck a match. In a moment the flames began to crackle and the smoke to ascend.


Then, as if satisfied with their work, the brown rascals set out at a steady trot in the direction of Seaforth’s.


“Men,” spoke Lieutenant Prescott, in a low voice, “it would have been fine to have poured a volley into those wretches, but it would have told their main body our exact location. We must sink all other feelings until we have reached the plantation and rescued those imperiled there. Corporal Cotter, lead your men to the left, through the woods and around the schoolhouse. On the other side you will find a path that you will follow.”


As the detachment started Hal saluted.


“Sir, have I your permission to run out into the clearing, recover the Flag and then rejoin you?”


Lieutenant Prescott shot a keen look at the Army boy, then answered briefly:


“Yes, Sergeant.”


Hal’s task was quickly executed. In the open he encountered no one; when he rejoined the column in the woods he reverently carried a Flag, torn, slashed and dirt-stained.


“One of these days, sir,” quivered the Army boy to his officer, “I hope to be able to teach those Moros a lesson with this very Flag!”




CHAPTER XI


IN THE FIRST BRUSH WITH MOROS


At times, while the detachment in the woods covered that last mile the firing ahead cropped up briskly. Then it died down into an occasional, sputtering shot or two. But every discharge of a rifle ahead was now distinctly audible to Uncle Sam’s men marching to the relief.


At last the marching men came so close that the young lieutenant whispered to the boyish sergeant:


“I’m going to join the ‘point,’ Overton. Bring the men on at the same interval, but keep your eyes ahead for signals from me.”


“Very good, sir.”


Ahead the marching men could now see that the trees were thinning out. Still further ahead they knew that there must lie either plantation fields or the houses themselves.


Many a soldier in the column tightened his grip on his rifle as he thought how soon, now, the raiding Moros would find that they had more fighting on hand than they had bargained for.


The “point” presently halted at the edge of the forest and Lieutenant Prescott signaled back by raising his hand with a downward gesture. Sergeant Overton halted the main detachment.


Over a broad field the soldiers looked, but it was now plain that the besieged planter’s house lay on the other side of a belt of timber at the further edge of the field. Then the officer signaled for the main column to be brought up.


“I don’t see any of the enemy in sight, men,” declared Prescott. “You will deploy into line of skirmishers and then we’ll run across the field. Be prepared for the order to lie down in case the enemy develops.”


A moment later, and the men, in one straight, thin line, with considerable intervals between them, charged silently across the field.


At the edge of the timber they halted again. Lieutenant Prescott, revolver in hand, moved forward, accompanied only by Corporal Cotter.


After some minutes the pair came back again.


“You’ll go forward as skirmishers,” said Prescott. “Keep your intervals. Forward!”


No further word was spoken, but the lieutenant, at the right of the line and slightly in advance, moved so stealthily that those nearest him felt that the enemy could not be far off.


Suddenly the stick that the lieutenant carried in place of a sword was held aloft, then the point lowered. The advancing line halted.


“When you move forward again,” went the low, almost whispered and repeated order down the line, “crouch low and do not hurry. A hundred yards ahead is a position from which we can rake the rascals with a flanking fire. Forward!”


Very soon the advancing soldiers caught sight of the planter’s house between the trees. It stood some seven hundred yards from this nearer edge of the clearing.


Now the soldiers, crouching as they moved, until they appeared to be bent nearly double, came in sight of a trench. It spread away obliquely before them, but everything in the trench was visible to them. At a rough estimate there were some seventy-five brown-skinned Moros crouching in the trench behind a line of hard-packed dirt thrown up before them.


At this moment most of the brown fellows were loafing in the trench. Only occasionally one of them showed himself, raising his gun quickly and firing toward the house. The planter’s return fire did not come toward Prescott’s command, but well to the right of the soldiers.


“The Moros are up to their same old rascally tricks,” whispered Lieutenant Prescott to Sergeant Hal Overton. “They fire heavily, once in a while, and then pepper the house occasionally with single shots. Their idea is to keep those in the house firing until the defenders have used up all their ammunition. When the Moros are satisfied that Seaforth’s party have no more cartridges, then those brown pirates plan to rush the house, with little loss to themselves, and run creeses through every defender left alive.”


A moment later Prescott’s order was repeated down the line of soldiers, now lying prone on the ground:


“Load magazines! Remember to fire low. At the pistol shot begin firing at will, but keep cool and try to make every cartridge tell. Better to shoot slowly than to waste any ammunition.”


As noiselessly as they could the prostrate men opened the magazines of their rifles and slipped the cartridges in.


Lieutenant Prescott, revolver in hand, waited until he saw that all had had time to obey the order. Then the stick, now in his left hand, pointed forward, and the various squad leaders whispered:


“At four hundred yards, aim!”


It was a tense moment for the new men.


Bang! Lieutenant Prescott’s revolver rang out, the muzzle pointed toward the enemy.


Instantly following it came a sputtering of reports, then a settled, heavy fire. The noise of so many soldiers firing at will was like that made on Fourth of July by a hundred packs of cannon crackers all going off at once.


Yet over all the din rose the yells of the surprised Moros in the trench. It had caught them hard, for most of the soldiers were doing good shooting.


Heedless, now, of the fire from the planter’s house, the Moros in the trench rose to flee. Some of them dropped where they stood. Others ran away as fast as their brown legs could carry them, some brandishing their rifles with defiance, a few others throwing down their firearms as they started to bolt.


About a dozen of the rascals tried to return the fire of the soldiers, but fired too high. None of the khaki-clad men were hit.


“Cease firing!” shouted Lieutenant Prescott, but he addressed his order to the bugler who stood beside him. No voice could carry over such a din of firing.


Ta-rar-ta-ra-ta! rang the bugle. As the men obeyed the command to cease firing one would again have been reminded of exploding packs of fire crackers, for the fire died down sputteringly, with here and there another report or two from soldiers who felt that they had a fine bead drawn and ached to “get” another enemy or two.


Fully twenty-five of the Moros had fallen, either in the trench at the first crash of fire, or else while running to cover.


These, however, were not the only enemies at hand, for, from a grove off to the left of the planter’s house a heavy fire now crashed out, and bullets began to clip twigs from the trees among which the soldiers lay.


Other bullets whizzed by over the heads of Uncle Sam’s men as they lay there. There was a peculiarly spiteful sound to the passage of these bullets. “Whew-ew-ew!” they sang, for most of the Moros were using the .43 Remington, with the brass-jacketed, heavy bullet, this being a favorite arm in the islands among the natives. There are always adventurers at Hong Kong who, for a price, will land any number of Remingtons and any amount of ammunition at lonely spots along the coast of the islands.


Shading his eyes with his left hand Lieutenant Prescott tried to locate this other firing party of Moros. Smokeless powder gives no clue to the hiding places of an enemy, and even if there be any kind of echo it is a confusing guide.


But at last Prescott was sure he had located the second Moro fighting party and he pointed out the place to his men.


“Send them a volley over there, all together,” ordered the young officer. “Ready; load! At six hundred and fifty yards, aim. Fire!”


Prescott’s face beamed with satisfaction as he held his field glass to his eyes and saw where the bullets threw up the dirt.


“Splendidly done, men!” he cried. “We’ll send ‘em another. Ready; load. Aim—fire!”


Once more the volley crashed out splendidly. Then the men lay on their hot-barreled rifles.


No more shots came their way just then.


“We’ve silenced their fire for the time being,” chuckled the officer. “I wonder if the enemy are retiring?”


In the silence Uncle Sam’s men could hear a frantic cheer rise from the interior of the planter’s house.


“Yes; I’ll warrant they’re glad,” cried Prescott, his eyes shining mistily. “But we haven’t reached them yet!”


It looked easy. All the detachment had to do was to run across a field and halt before the planter’s house.


Yet how could the young commanding officer know that he would not lose half his men by ambushed fire while crossing that open space?




CHAPTER XII


THE BROWN MEN AT BAY——FOR HOW LONG?


If Sergeant Hal, or any other soldier in that detachment of sixty men, had felt any nervousness before the fight started, everyone of them had forgotten it by this time.


So far, not a man had they lost, and none had been even lightly hit. The bravery of soldiers is usually founded on their confidence in their officers. Every man in the detachment now knew that Lieutenant Richard Prescott was an officer who would do all that lay before him to do, yet an officer who would not needlessly sacrifice the life or safety of any man in his command. That discovery by the men goes far to make an officer capable. Let the men once think their commander careless about slaughter, and they will not respond as quickly.


“Men,” presently spoke the young officer, as coolly and slowly as though he were explaining a man[oe]uvre in his once favorite game of football, “we have now to reach the house yonder, and there’s a likelihood of our being fired upon when we move forward. When I give the order you’ll run slowly, at the gait set by Sergeant Overton, who will be ahead of you. If you hear the command to lie down, drop in your tracks. But let no man lie down until he hears the word. We may have to employ half a dozen rushes in reaching the house. Rise! Sergeant Overton to the front. Forward! Charge!”


Steadily and gallantly the little line swept forward. Hal Overton, who knew the pace exactly, went forward at a trot that did not vary by as much as a step to the minute.


In the distance half a dozen rifles popped out singly. Some of the bullets whistled by, others struck the ground near them, ploughing up the dirt.


If any soldier looked for Lieutenant Prescott to order them down, he was in error. Another hundred yards they covered. Then a volley rang out from the men hidden in the grove, and Private Danes dropped, though without a cry.


“Lie down!” shouted Prescott steadily, though he remained with his field glass to his eyes, searching the grove. “Sergeant Overton, see how badly Danes is hurt.”


Hal strode over to where the wounded man lay.


“Oh, it ain’t nothing, Sarge,” growled Private Danes disgustedly. “Just enough to give me a toothache in the hip.”


Yet the poor fellow pointed to a bloodstained spot right over the center of the hip bone. Danes’s left leg would never again be sound enough to march with his comrades. Perhaps the man realized it, but he was a soldier, and therefore made no fuss.


“You’ll have to lie quiet, Danes,” returned Sergeant Hal. “We’ll get you out of this.”


Just then Private Kelly raised his head for a look at the adjacent grove.


As he did so a shot rang out over in the grove and Kelly uttered an exclamation of disgust.


“Hit, Kelly?” queried Sergeant Hal, stepping over to him.


Private Kelly spat out two loose front teeth and some blood.


“Ye see what happened, Sarge,” retorted Kelly. “It’s a good thing the fellow drew a bead on me profile. But I ain’t kicking at getting a dentist’s services for nothing. No, that ain’t my kick.”


“What is wrong, then?” laughed Hal.


“Why, that blamed bullet was hot, and the Moro made me swallow it! It was so hot that it burned all the way down! Got any ice, Sarge?”


A burst came from a dozen distant rifles at once. Bullets tore through the air around Lieutenant Prescott as he stood, still with his field glass to his eyes. Looking around, however, he saw Hal standing, and commanded severely:


“If you’re through with your work, Sergeant Overton, lie down. Ready, men, for just one volley. Load; aim—at the front timber line of that grove. Fire!”


Hardly had the crashing volley ripped out when again the young officer’s voice was heard:


“Rise, forward, charge!”


This time the line moved with a yell, the two men who carried Danes yelling as loudly as the rest.


“Halt! Lie down!”


They were within two hundred yards of the Seaforth house now. The front door of that building had been thrown open, though no one appeared as yet in the doorway.


It began to look as though the Moros had withdrawn, or else were waiting for something, for no shots came from the enemy.


Again, at command, the detachment rose and rushed forward, this time without cheering.


“Lie down!”


Uncle Sam’s men dropped in their tracks, close to the house.


Now, Seaforth, the planter, appeared in the doorway.


“Captain, I hope I needn’t tell you that you and your men are welcome,” came Seaforth’s greeting. He was hardly a middle-aged man, but three years of planter’s life in Mindanao had brought deep gray streaks into his hair.


“I’ve a wounded man to bring inside,” announced young Prescott.


“Bring him right in, sir; we’ll make him as comfortable as we can.”


Private Danes fainted while being lifted and carried into the house. He was soon after revived, however. The two men who had brought him in now used a first-aid package in dressing the wound, after they had washed it.


In the meantime Lieutenant Prescott discovered that none of the whites in the house had been hit, though one of the loyal Moro defenders of the house had been killed and two others wounded.


Then the lieutenant told of Edwards’s death. A young woman in the room promptly fainted.


“That’s Miss Daly, the school teacher,” explained Mr. Seaforth. “She and Edwards were engaged to be married.”


Outside more shots sounded. Lieutenant Prescott ran to the door.


Sergeant Hal, however, had detailed twenty of his men to answer the fire, whenever they saw anything to shoot at, while the others had been ordered to get to work with their intrenching tools.


This tool, in appearance, is about half way between a bayonet and a trowel. With it a soldier can lie on the ground, digging and throwing up dirt before him, while he opens a shallow trench in which to lie and conceal himself from the enemy’s fire.


“Don’t waste any ammunition, Sergeant. Have your men shoot to hit,” directed the officer. “I’m going back into the house, but send for me if you see any suspicious move on the part of the Moros.”


“Yes, sir,” and Sergeant Overton turned his face towards the enemy.


Though he made his men remain prostrate on the ground, Hal Overton stood up. He was using the lieutenant’s field glass.


The walls of the planter’s house were riddled with bullets, for this house had not been constructed as a fort. Along the outer walls, however, bags of earth had been piled in such a way as to afford comparative safety to the defenders.


“Those of us who weren’t fighting,” explained Mr. Seaforth, “have been engaged for hours in digging dirt in the cellar and bringing it up in the sacks. But it was a fearful morning until you arrived. Now, our only danger is from a stray bullet. The Moros won’t come any closer—they won’t dare to charge the house with such a force of troops here to defend the place.”




Lieutenant Prescott Climbed One of the Wooden Porch Columns.


“Not unless the rascals are reinforced,” replied Prescott. “There is no telling how many of the natives are concerned in this uprising. Hello—pardon me a moment.”


Through the open doorway Prescott had caught sight of something moving down the highway. He ran speedily outside, got his glasses from Sergeant Hal and returned to the porch, where he climbed one of the wooden columns. Now he brought the glass to his eyes.


“What do you see?” asked Mr. Seaforth.


“I see,” chuckled the lieutenant quietly, “that it was well for us that we left the road and came through the forest. Yonder are at least two hundred Moros marching along. There, they are debouching into the forest and will soon be added to the attacking party here. Those fellows went down the road to ambush us on the way, for they received a signal that we were on the road. We fooled them, but we shall have to reckon with them here, and within fifteen minutes. Mr. Seaforth, send all your people down into the cellar of the house. There they will be safe. This is a job for the Army alone!”


“But——”


“I am in command here, sir, and I direct you to send all of your own people to the cellar at once. That will free our minds of any dread for the safety of your people, and will leave us open to handle the problem that is coming to us.”


Then, quite regardless of the fine mark that he presented to possible sharpshooters over in the grove, Lieutenant Prescott stepped outside.


“Sergeant Overton!”


“Sir?”


Hal stepped beside his officer. Thereupon the enemy’s riflemen took heart and drove in a score of bullets. Lieutenant Prescott’s hat was shot from his head. Two bullets passed through the edge of the sergeant’s right trousers’ leg, one hole showing just above the other. The back of Hal’s left hand was grazed just enough to show the blood. The stick that the lieutenant carried was cut in two by a bullet and half of the stick carried away from him.


“Sergeant,” chuckled the lieutenant, “you’ve heard the expression, ‘observed of all observers.’ Now you know just how it feels.”


“Yes, sir.”


“Now, we’ve got to be quick, Sergeant. We must throw our men all around the house, and dig trenches as fast as we can. Unless I miss my guess, the enemy will—well, what?”


“The Moros will try to overwhelm us with a reckless charge, sir,” answered the young sergeant.




CHAPTER XIII


A TALE OF MORO BLACKMAIL


“That’s what they will do—if anything,” nodded Lieutenant Prescott. “A charge is the wisest thing for the brown rascals, if they are bent on winning here. They know now about how many men I have, and they know that my men are regulars. The Moros have plenty of rifles, and I judge that they’re well off in ammunition, but they can’t shoot as well as American regulars. On a charge, however—in close, hand-to-hand fighting—these Malays are not to be despised. They always fought hand-to-hand in the old days, and it’s in their blood.”


With that expression of his views, Prescott, aided by his acting first sergeant, began to hustle the soldiers into line around the house, forming the men in a rectangle at about fifteen yards distant from the walls of the building.


The soldier of to-day must often fight lying on his stomach. These men of B Company crawled to their stations, dragging their rifles after them.


Pop! pop! pop! The Moros were watching, and fired from time to time, irregularly. A prostrate man is hard to hit at a few hundred yards. These pot-shots serve to bother and irritate soldiers getting into position.


As soon as each soldier was in place he began burrowing with his intrenching tool. It is surprising how quickly a man lying down can dig a little ditch and throw up the dirt on the outside.


First, each man dug his own ditch. As soon as he had this completed he connected his ditch with that of the men next to him. Within thirty minutes the men of B Company, without having a man hit by the pot-shots of the enemy, were well intrenched. From time to time some of the soldiers, under orders, ceased their digging to take a few shots themselves, just to keep the Moros from growing too bold.


As soon as the encircling trench had been dug Prescott detailed four men, with picks and shovels furnished by the elder Seaforth, to throw up a trench wall in front of the main door of the house, so as to permit any one safely to enter or leave the house by that door.


“That’ll do, Sergeant,” nodded Lieutenant Prescott at last.


“It would take a three-inch field piece, sir, to make an impression on this wall of dirt,” smiled Sergeant Hal.


“Now, I’ll look after this part of the ground, Sergeant; you go around to the south side—and be vigilant.”


Hal Overton stepped out from behind the wall, carrying his rifle in the hollow of his left arm. As he showed himself above the low wall of the regular trench, exposing his head and trunk, the Moros began to take notice.


Pop! pop! pop! Bullets struck all about the young sergeant, sprinkling dirt over him.


“Keep your head below the top of the trench wall, Sergeant!” called Lieutenant Prescott sternly. “We can’t afford to have you hit. Shield yourself. Don’t be afraid of any one suspecting you of cold feet!”


So Hal, though he made a slight grimace, contented himself with crouching low and progressing slowly.


Barely had Sergeant Hal gained his own post, with Private Kelly on his right hand, when a furious fusillade broke out from the southward.


“Keep your heads down, all of you!” shouted the young sergeant. “Don’t be too curious about what the Moros are doing. If you keep your heads down the rascals can’t hit you, and it won’t do us any harm to let them waste their ammunition. Don’t any man fire without orders.”


“They’re doing some good shooting, Sarge, at last,” remarked Private Kelly, as the showers of bullets peppered the top of the trench and sprinkled dirt over the crouching soldiers.


“The only good shooting, Kelly, is that which cuts up the enemy,” rejoined Hal. “The goo-goos are not hitting any of us, and we’re not losing anything by saving our ammunition.”


“Goo-goos” is an old name applied to the Philippine raiders. Whenever a native grows tired of fighting, or wants to enter a town for the purpose of getting information, he hides his arms, then enters Uncle Sam’s lines, pretending that he is a “good” man, and not a rebel against the authority of the United States Government. From this the soldiers have learned to allude to all fighting Filipinos as goo-goos.


“Lend me your trenching tool, Kelly?”


“Sure, Sarge.”


With this implement Hal Overton burrowed a small hole through the top of the trench. Thus, without exposing himself too much, he was able to keep an eye on the distant grove in which the Moros had found cover.


“I’ll let you spell me on this watch, from time to time, Kelly,” said Hal.


“I’ll be glad to, Sarge, for I’ll admit that I’m anxious to know what the goo-goos are doing.”


“At present they’re not trying to advance,” replied Sergeant Overton, “and that’s about all we’re interested in. As long as they stay where they are, and waste their ammunition, they’ll not bother us much.”


In the meantime Lieutenant Prescott was seated in a chair behind the high wall of dirt before the house door. The elder Seaforth occupied another chair.


“Have you any idea, sir, how you incurred the wrath of these Moro rascals?” asked the young lieutenant.


“By refusing to pay blackmail,” replied the planter bluntly.


“Then you were asked to pay money to some of these native chieftains?”


“No.”


“Eh?”


“I wasn’t asked; I was commanded to do so,” replied Mr. Seaforth slowly. “When you speak of the Moro rascals, Lieutenant, don’t conclude that all of the Moros are bad, or even troublesome. The truth is that most of the Moros on the island of Mindanao are good fellows. They’re lazy, but not notably vicious. There are a few of the old-time chiefs—dattos, they call ‘em—who make trouble every now and then. These dattos never respected the Spanish Government, and they don’t feel any more kindly towards the United States Government. That is because these dattos have always lived by plunder, and they always intend to do so. For one thing, these raiding dattos don’t like to have white men on Mindanao. The spread of civilization here means that the old-time dattos will be driven into the wilds, and that there won’t be any more plunder or blackmail money to live on. These Moros out yonder wouldn’t have bothered me, this time, if I had paid the money their chief demanded.”


“How much did he want, Mr. Seaforth?”


“Ten thousand dollars.”


“Whew! That would be a good deal of money to pay out.”


“For the sake of peace, and a chance to carry on my plantation business, Lieutenant, I might have paid it—if once would have been enough. But it wouldn’t have been. If I had acceded to his demand the datto would have let me alone for this year. He would have sent the same demand next year, however. In fact, the datto would have put me down on his list as being good for ten thousand dollars a year tribute. The first year that I failed to pay this tribute my plantation would be destroyed, and myself, my family and friends put to the knife. So it’s either fight or get out of here for good. It seems a strange thing, doesn’t it, Lieutenant, to live under the Stars and Stripes, and yet to have to pay tribute to a savage for the right to do business?”


“It isn’t right, it can’t be, sir—and by the great howitzer, Uncle Sam will put a stop to all this business!” replied Lieutenant Prescott hotly.


“I hope so,” returned Mr. Seaforth. “The Datto Hakkut, however, has been doing business here on Mindanao since before the Spaniards left, and my opinion is that he will do business as long as he lives. This fellow Hakkut is a wily old scoundrel, who often falls into traps set for him by our soldiers. Yet, just when the soldiers are about to close the trap, they find that Hakkut isn’t there. His escapes are marvelous.”


“Did Hakkut himself come to see you, Mr. Seaforth?” inquired the young lieutenant.


“Hakkut? I’ve never seen the fellow, nor has any other white man around here, so far as I know.”


“Then he sends a regular collector for the money?”


“Yes. He has a new collector this year.”


“A Moro?”


“The fellow looks to me more like a Tagalo. He’s a sharp, keen, little business man—of his peculiar type.”


“A Tagalo?” mused Lieutenant Prescott. “By Jove, I wish you’d give me a close description of the fellow.”


“Perhaps I can do better than that,” proposed Mr. Seaforth, rising. “When the collector was here my son succeeded—without the rascal’s knowledge—in getting a snapshot at him. I think I can find the photo.”


Disappearing into the house, the planter soon returned, handing the young officer a card. Prescott gazed at the photo, then called out:


“Men, pass the word for Sergeant Overton to report here. Tell him that his orders are to keep under cover while on the way here.”


Hal soon appeared, crouching behind the trench, and sheltered by the high dirt wall.


“Sergeant, have you ever seen this fellow in the photo?” inquired the lieutenant, with a smile, passing the card to Overton.


“I should think I have, sir. This is Vicente Tomba.”


“Can’t be a doubt about it, can there?”


“Not unless Tomba has a twin brother, sir.”


“And to think that we had that little rascal in arrest!” muttered the lieutenant. “It was a sad day for Mindanao when Tomba escaped from our guard house.”


Then, after a pause, Prescott continued:


“By the way, Mr. Seaforth, how long has Draney been on his present plantation?”


“I don’t know, Lieutenant. He’s been there longer than I have resided here.”


“Has he ever been troubled by the Moros?”


“They have never attacked him, Lieutenant. Draney must pay some tribute to the Datto Hakkut.”


Lieutenant Prescott and Sergeant Hal Overton glanced quickly at one another, though neither spoke.


“That is all, Sergeant,” said the officer, by way of dismissal. “Return to your men.”


“Very good, sir.”




CHAPTER XIV


THE CALL FOR MIDNIGHT COURAGE


At a few minutes past six it was dark, for the sun goes down early in the tropics.


Now the soldiers were relieved from their cramped positions of the day. A few at a time they left the trenches, rising and walking about.


Inside the house their bacon was cooked for them and their coffee made. Mr. Seaforth, who was abundantly supplied with food, added a variety of palatable eatables to their night meal.


Lieutenant Prescott and Sergeant Hal Overton walked together around the line of defenses. The officer frequently used his night glass, now and then passing it to the boyish sergeant.


“You see, Overton,” said the lieutenant, “from all outward appearances there isn’t a Moro left in the woods anywhere around here. Our good judgment tells us, however, now that night has come, that we shall do well to be doubly alert.”


“Do you think they will dare attack so large a force in a sudden rush, sir?”


“It is the only trick by which the rascals could hope to beat out an intrenched force of regulars, Overton. By a rush they could have taken the house before we arrived, but I fancy that the first attack was made only as a bluff. They hoped to be able to scare Mr. Seaforth into paying the blackmail their datto had demanded. Now that the troops are here, they realize that their bluff has been met, and that they’ve got to fight or quit. I believe that the chances are about even on fight or quit. I’d like to hurry up their quitting by a charge, but it might cost us some men, and my orders go only as far as defending the plantation and the white people here. Sergeant, I have about decided to send a report to Captain Cortland. I believe it would be safer to send one or two soldiers, if they’re the right kind of men, than to send a detachment. A detachment would be almost certain to be attacked on the way. Two or three bright men might slip away unseen, and get word to the captain and back to me. You know the men better than I do. Whom do you suggest?”


“I’d like to go myself, sir,” proposed Sergeant Hal, his eyes blazing with eagerness.


“Absolutely out of the question, Sergeant. You’re second in command here, and there’s no knowing at what moment I may be hit. Who’s a good man, outside of yourself?”


“Private Kelly.”


“Send for him.”


Kelly lost no time in reporting.


“Private Kelly, do you think you can slip through the enemy’s lines and carry a message from me to Captain Cortland?”


“I can, if any man in B Company can, sir,” replied the soldier promptly, though without excitement.


“Who is the man you’d like best to have with you?”


“Slosson, sir.”


“See if he wants the detail. I prefer that this shall be volunteer work.”


In a few minutes Kelly returned, accompanied by Slosson.


“Do you want to go, Slosson?” inquired Lieutenant Prescott.


“Yes, sir,” responded the soldier promptly.


“It’s an extra-dangerous detail, and you may lose your life.”


“I’ll chance it, sir. I broke my pipe in one of the rushes here, and I want to get back to barracks and get another.”


Lieutenant Prescott could not repress a laugh over such a reason. Slosson joined in, good-humoredly and respectfully.


“Very good; you two men report here in half an hour and I’ll have my message ready. Better fill your canteens with coffee before you start. Take nothing else but your cartridge belts, rifles and bayonets.”


“Very good, sir,” answered both soldiers, saluting and withdrawing.


Punctual to the moment, both men were back again. Lieutenant Prescott had prepared his report, which he handed to Kelly, who fastened it in an inner pocket with a safety pin.


“Now, you’ll want to start at once, for it won’t be safe to return here later than just before the coming of dawn,” said Lieutenant Prescott.


“Yes, sir,” answered both men coolly.


“Take care of yourselves, men!”


“Yes, sir.”


“We’ll watch and listen until you get safely away. If any trouble starts near here hold your ground and rely upon my sending men to your aid.”


“Very good, sir.”


Lieutenant Prescott and Sergeant Overton watched the two soldiers step over the entrenchment, crouch, and vanish into the darkness.


“I hope they get through,” sighed the young officer. “By the way, Sergeant, from the fact of your recommending the men I didn’t ask you whether either man is likely to drink any intoxicant at Bontac and unfit himself for the return.”


“Neither man touches liquor, sir.”


“Then they’re to be depended upon. I never trust work of importance to a man who drinks.”


“There’s a bed in the house for you, whenever you wish it to-night,” announced Mr. Seaforth, stepping outside.


“Thank you, sir, but when in the field I sleep with my men. I shall spread my poncho and blanket on the ground presently. Sergeant Overton, I leave you in command until half past one in the morning. At that hour rouse me, report, and then turn in yourself.”


“Very good, sir.”


“Of course, if anything turns up in the meantime, you’ll call me.”


“Yes, sir.”


For some minutes more the two young Americans stood listening for sounds of possible trouble which Kelly and Slosson might have encountered. Then the lieutenant spread his bed and lay down without removing any of his clothing, placing his revolver beside him on the ground.


Hal set guards on all sides, while the rest of the men turned in, which they were glad to do.


Another army now invaded them! Mosquitoes—myriads of them—buzzed busily about, seeking whom they might devour! The mosquito of the Philippines is well entitled to be called an insect of prey. He is a big fellow, tireless, always hungry and a valiant fighter. The men who lay on the ground carefully wrapped themselves in their blankets, with their hands tucked in. Their heads and necks were protected by collapsible nets that they had taken from their haversacks.


For those who were up and on duty the torment of the flying pests was acute. There was little danger of a sentry going to sleep without a head net and some protection for his hands.


“Ain’t it awful, Sarge?” demanded Private Bender, as Hal paused near him.


“That word isn’t strong enough,” grinned Hal ruefully, as he “swatted” at mosquitoes three times in quick succession.


“I don’t mind the Moros,” continued Bender, “and I try to be a good soldier, but I’m afraid I’d surrender to the ‘skeets’ if they had intelligence enough to recognize the white flag.”


“We get only two years of this at a time,” laughed Sergeant Hal. “Then we can go back to the United States for a vacation.”


“I used to think, back in God’s country, that a soldier’s day and night were full of work,” remarked Bender wistfully; “but I’d rather go back there and go to work than have to stand these ‘skeets.’”


“They’re not so bad in barracks,” Hal answered. “It’s only in the field that the pests can torment us like this.”


“From present signs,” commented Private Bender, “I’m thinking that we’ll put in a large part of our two years in the field. These Moros are ugly and determined when they get started.”


“They’re not bothering us much just now,” replied Hal, as he started on his round of inspection.


Nine o’clock came and passed. Not a shot had been fired since late in the afternoon. Nor had there been any sound to indicate that Kelly or Slosson had encountered trouble near the plantation. Now that he was in command, Overton did not allow himself to be lulled into indifference by the stillness of the dark night. A sleeping volcano might start into eruption at any moment. At every important point along the trenches Hal paused, using the night glass that the lieutenant had loaned him.


Ten o’clock came and passed without trouble. Then eleven and finally midnight passed. Sergeant Hal, however, was not to be caught napping. He resolved to be vigilant until Lieutenant Prescott relieved him.


Hal had just glanced again at his watch, noting that the hour was nearly one, when a quiet voice reached him:


“Private Bender calls the sergeant!”


Hal Overton ran quickly around to the place where Bender stood peering off into the darkness.


“Use your glass yonder, Sarge,” urged the soldier. “See if you see anything moving.”


“I do,” Hal answered quietly. “I see figures crawling out of the woods, headed this way. Pass the word to rouse every man without noise. Then go to Lieutenant Prescott, with my compliments, and report that the enemy seem to be crawling this way.”


Barely had Bender disappeared when Lieutenant Prescott came up on a quick trot.


“Starting things, are they, Sergeant?” the officer whispered.


“Here’s your glass; look over there, sir.”


Lieutenant Prescott looked quietly for a few seconds. Then he turned to whisper:


“Pass quickly along the lines, Sergeant, and order every man to load his magazine. Instruct the squad leaders not to let their men get rattled and shoot too soon or too fast. This move may be only a ruse.”


Bringing his hand smartly to the brim of his campaign hat, Sergeant Overton was off with the orders. He soon returned, however, and took up his position beside the lieutenant.


Then, in a twinkling, scattering Moro volleys sounded on the other side of the house, followed by wild, savage yells.


“That’s probably a ruse to draw us around there,” muttered Prescott. “Sergeant Dinsmore is there in charge, and he’ll know what to do. Good! He’s attending to it.”


For now the sharper tones of the Army rifles began to rip out on the further side of the house.


Suddenly another volley of shots rang out on the near side of the house, showers of bullets driving in.


“Lie down, Sergeant!” ordered Lieutenant Prescott, falling back.


“Are you hit, sir?” asked Hal anxiously.


“No, no; look after your fire control. Let your men fire whenever they see anything to hit, but not in volleys. Shoot sharp, men!”


Hal’s regulars, crouching in the trench, needed no further orders. They could now see, dimly, the figures of the oncoming Moros, advancing by rushes.


The enemy’s fire became so heavy that Lieutenant Prescott decided it to be an act of prudence to crouch down himself, though he lay against the trench wall, his head and arms fully exposed as he kept the night glass to his eyes.


“Low aim, men!” warned Hal, as he passed behind the firing line. “Careful with every cartridge. Every brown man you hit is one less to meet with cold steel!”


This is one of the first lessons that the soldier must learn on the firing line. Every cartridge that he fires needlessly means one less shot with which to defend himself. Every man he hits is one less to be reckoned with later.


“Don’t fire heavily until the rascals get nearer,” was Sergeant Hal’s next warning. “Those fellows are not very dangerous until they get close. Then we’ll have need of cool gun barrels and plenty of cartridges. Steady!”


“That boy has the making of a commander in him,” thought Lieutenant Prescott approvingly. “He’s cool and all business. The only thing in the world that he’s thinking of is how to make the squad work count. He isn’t losing his head.”


Night firing is always uncertain. It is too dark to see the end sight on the rifle and advancing figures show uncertainly, like wavering shadows.


“Don’t fire so fast,” called Hal, as the rifle work of the troops became more brisk. “Fire just enough to annoy the rascals. Save your real work until the enemy are within a hundred and fifty yards.”


“Whee! When the goo-goos get that close they’ll jump in and scalp us!” muttered a young soldier nervously.


Hal crouched beside the young soldier, resting a hand on his shoulder.


“Don’t get nervous, Hunter,” urged the young sergeant kindly. “Leave all emotion and quivers for the volunteers and for civilians. The regulars have smaller losses in battle because they depend upon their leaders and do just what they’re told. Remember it, lad.”


Then Hal was gone, but Hunter found himself flushing a little, yet wonderfully steady in his nerves. He shot carefully, sighting as best he could for every shot.


After another rush, during which they yelled like fiends, the Moros dropped to earth and began firing more heavily.


During that brief rush, however, the Moros lost several men, dropped by Yankee bullets.


“Cease firing and cool your rifles!” shouted Lieutenant Prescott. “Load your magazines, and be ready to drop ‘em when they try another rush.”


A minute later Datto Hakkut’s followers discovered that the American fire had ceased. Yelling, the brown men rose and charged like a cyclone.


“Begin firing! Give it to ‘em—hot!” shouted the young officer, leading the firing coolly with his revolver.


Again the Moros dropped to earth, though not until they had lost a score of men. For a few moments they lay there, not attempting to keep up much of a fire, for now that they were close to Uncle Sam’s regulars, who were firing steadily, it would have been suicide for a brown man to raise his head at all.


“Ta-ra-ta-ra-ta!” The bugler, sticking close to the officer, had to sound the order this time, for the cessation of firing.


“Every man lay his bayonet in front of him, ready to fix!” called Lieutenant Prescott, as the pop-pop-popping began to cease.


That meant cold steel—the final rush in which the regulars must meet several times their own number in deadly hand-to-hand conflict.




CHAPTER XV


IN A CLINCH WITH COLD STEEL


Then came the Moro rush!


All soldiers cheer in the charge, but these brown men had their own kind of battle-cry—a deafening, blood-curdling din.


Yet the regulars made a noise that was heard even over the Moro yelling. There was a smart sound of firing as the magazines of the soldiers’ rifles were once more emptied.


The slaughter by men coolly firing at this close range, even in the darkness, was a heavy one. It testified to the courage of these Moros that they could take such punishment and not run.


True, many of the brown-skinned foe did waver, yet through their lines rushed groups of yelling fanatics, armed now only with straight or curved swords and knives. These men of cold steel rushed valiantly into close quarters.


To the soldiers the order to fix bayonets was never given; the men fixed their bayonets by instinct as they emptied their magazines.


Now steel met steel, in a cold, ringing, deadly clash. Occasionally the cry of a stricken man rent the air, though the majority bore their hurts with grunts or in stoical silence.


The greater part of the regulars leaped to the top of the trench wall to meet the shock. That move, however, soon carried them beyond the entrenchments.


Some of the regulars found themselves fighting three or more of the enemy at once. Lieutenant Prescott shot one Moro dead, but as he did so Sergeant Hal saw another Moro, armed with a sword, rush at the lieutenant from behind.


Overton leaped forward, cracking the fellow’s head with the butt of his clubbed gun. Just as he did so Prescott fired squarely over Hal’s left shoulder, knocking over a Moro bent on stabbing the sergeant from behind. The noise of that explosion, so close to his ear, deafened the young sergeant temporarily.


Both officer and sergeant realized that each in turn had saved the other’s life, but there was no time for acknowledgments. The foe had yet to be met and worsted in that furious conflict.


At last it was over. The Moro men had broken and fled, their yells dying out in the distance.


Fully two dozen of the soldiers started to pursue. Prescott turned, bawling an order to the bugler over the din. The notes of the bugle recalled the soldiers.


“Men,” shouted Lieutenant Prescott, “the first duty is to get the wounded behind the trench and then into the house. Every man badly hurt must have prompt attention.”


Then, indeed, came the time to take account of what had happened.


Three of the soldiers already lay dead, their heads and bodies frightfully gashed. Another, Bender, was dying from two knife thrusts through his lungs.


Four more men were too badly hurt to help themselves. A dozen others had wounds of varying degrees of seriousness but were able to reach shelter unaided.


Uncle Sam had won the victory for the moment, but he had paid dearly for it.


“I’m glad you gave me that word when you did, Sergeant,” murmured Private Hunter. “It steadied me. If it hadn’t been for that I guess I’d have been a goner by this time.”


It was after three o’clock in the morning when Sergeant Overton felt that he finally had a moment for free breathing.


“Sergeant,” said the lieutenant, “your watch tour is long past. Lie down and get some sleep.”


“You’re sure that I can be spared, sir?”


“Certainly; you can be called if you’re needed.”


To one not accustomed to war it might seem strange, but thirty seconds after Hal had wrapped himself in his blanket he was deep in dreamless slumber. He slept until the sun was fairly high. Then Prescott awoke him.


“Kelly—Slosson—are they back, sir?” were Hal’s first words, as he threw aside his blanket.


“Back nearly three hours ago, Sergeant,” smiled the officer. “It’s half-past eight. I’ve been occupied, and have missed my breakfast. Come into the house and breakfast with me, Sergeant Overton. Sergeant Dinsmore will look after things outdoors.”


“Did—have you buried the Moros who fell?” questioned Hal, looking out beyond the trench.


“The rascals sent over men with two lanterns, and asked permission to carry off their casualties,” explained the officer. “I let them do it.”


“It must have given them a lot of work to do,” muttered Hal.


“It did. I estimate their dead at thirty, and their badly hurt at forty or more. We made it an expensive night for them.”


“We paid a big price on our own part, sir,” returned the young sergeant, “for we paid in good Americans.”


“We can’t have war without death, can we?” half sighed the West Pointer.


Once inside the house Hal’s first care was to visit the wounded men.


“Bender’s gone, sir?” asked Hal.


“Yes,” nodded Lieutenant Prescott gravely.


Then they went to breakfast, for the soldier must eat or presently stop fighting.


“You’ll want to know my orders from Captain Cortland,” said Lieutenant Prescott, filling his cup with coffee.


“Yes, sir; if you feel at liberty to tell me.”


“The captain’s instructions are few. He tells me that, as commander in the field, I will have to use my own judgment to a great degree. But the captain urges me, as soon as I may be satisfied that the Moros have withdrawn, to leave Sergeant Dinsmore here with a guard of twelve men, and to bring the white people from this plantation into town with me. Then Dinsmore, if he sees no more of the Moros within three days, is to march his men back to Bantoc. With the limited number of men at his disposal Captain Cortland recognizes the impossibility of keeping a military guard regularly at each plantation.”


“But, sir, if Dinsmore and a dozen men had to brave such a charge as we met last night he would stand a very good chance of having his detachment wiped out, wouldn’t he?”


“No; for the Moros would attempt such a charge only in the night time. Captain Cortland has sent me a supply of various-colored rockets, and a code by which they are to be used. So, if attacked by a rush at night, Sergeant Dinsmore will withdraw with his men to the house, and send up rockets that will be seen in Bantoc and at Fort Franklin. Then a column will be sent out to overtake and punish any brown rascals who may attack.”


“Have you seen any signs of the Moros lately, sir?”


“No, Sergeant. Later in the forenoon, however, I think I shall order you to take about twenty men out in skirmish line. You will try to draw the enemy’s fire, returning if you succeed. If you do not succeed, you will search the woods, always keeping an alert eye open for the possibility of running into an ambushed party of cold steel men in the woods.”


“I shall be delighted to have charge of that reconnaissance, sir,” Hal replied promptly.


“Yes; it is work cut out for just such a cool head as yours, Sergeant.”


“Thank you, sir.”


“Well, you are cool-headed, so why should I not say it?” laughed Lieutenant Prescott. “Sergeant, your presence here has made my own work half as heavy as it would have been without you. I shall so report to Captain Cortland on my return.”


“Thank you, sir. May I ask if Captain Cortland reports trouble with the Moros in any other locality?”


“Nothing has as yet broken out anywhere else. Captain Cortland writes me that Bantoc, while apparently quiet, is really a seething volcano, ready to break out into insurrection, riot and pillage. Lieutenant Holmes is still in personal command over in Bantoc, so I fancy your friend, Sergeant Terry, is there with him.”


As Hal followed the lieutenant out after breakfast, the first man they saw was Slosson, busily smoking the pipe that he had tramped twenty-four miles to obtain.


Then, as the officer walked away, Kelly sauntered up.


“Did you two have any trouble on the way in or back, Kelly?” asked Sergeant Overton.


“Not the least bit, though we stepped pretty close to some of the ‘goo-goos’ in getting away from here, Sarge. But we got by without telling ‘em we were there.”


“You two must be tired.”


“We’ve had the bit of a nap,” replied Kelly.


An hour later Lieutenant Prescott again approached Sergeant Hal.


“Count off your twenty men, Sergeant. Line ‘em up for instruction. I’m going to send you over yonder, now, to make that scouting reconnaissance. Don’t fall into any traps, Sergeant.”


Hal quickly detailed his men, ordering them to fall in.


“Why am I not picked, Sarge?” whispered Kelly.


“Man, you’ve done enough.”


Lieutenant Prescott’s instructions were few, though to the point.


Then, in line of skirmishers, Sergeant Hal Overton ordered his men forward. Over the trench they went, then advanced steadily toward the woods from which had come the rush of the night before.


Those left behind watched anxiously. Would the issue mean another savage fight—or what?




CHAPTER XVI


DATTO HAKKUT MAKES A NEW MOVE


To the civilian mind, being sent forward purposely to draw the enemy’s fire, looks like “ticklish” business.


Yet it is better to risk a few men rather than sacrifice many. It is on the same principle that a “point” of several men is always sent in advance of the larger body when moving supposedly in the face of the enemy. The “point” often draws disastrous fire upon itself, but the larger body of troops is saved from catastrophe.


The soldier accepts calmly this work of going out ahead to draw a possible enemy’s fire. It’s “all in the game,” as he understands it.


Of course, when troops are sent out only for the purpose of drawing fire, these troops withdraw, if necessary, as soon as they attract the enemy’s fire to themselves, and thus locate the enemy.


Sergeant Hal Overton kept at the right of his thin, sparse line of men as they moved forward.


Every man had his eyes ahead; each was watching for the first sign of trouble.


“When the line had reached a plane within a hundred yards of the edge of the woods the soldiers expected, momentarily, to hear the signal shot, then the first scattering shots, followed by the heavy, crashing volleys.


Yet they passed this point safely and went on. The edge of the woods was gained, still without provoking hostile shots. It would have looked to one untrained in the art of war as though there were no enemy there. But this handful of soldiers knew better than to jump at any such conclusion. The Moros, like the Tagalos and Pampangos, are fond of getting an enemy at close quarters, and then leaping on him with cold steel. The Tagalo or Pampango fights with the bolo, the Moro often with the creese, and with all these brown-skinned men the game is the same—to leap up unexpectedly, from the tall grass, before the soldier has had time to throw himself on his guard.


A swift, short-armed cutting movement—a mere slash, delivered with muscular effort, and the soldier is gashed across the abdomen. After this cutting has been effectively delivered the white fighting man usually sinks down in a pool of his own blood, and his fighting days are likely to be over.


Small wonder that Uncle Sam’s infantrymen prefer facing native bullets to native steel! The bolo man, or the sword man, is the soldier’s greatest aversion. It is like fighting rattlesnakes!


Glancing down the line, Sergeant Hal saw one or two of the newer men flinch slightly.


“Steady, there!” Hal called, in an easy but business-like tone. “If we strike the rascals an unbroken line is the one hope for us all.”


They had now reached the woods, but no halt was made. The boyish sergeant, who knew his business, marched his little command about six hundred yards under the trees.


Still no Moros were encountered.


Then Hal turned his line to the left, marching on through the woods. In this manner, in less than an hour, he had thoroughly explored the territory near the Seaforth plantation, and had returned to the point where his command had first entered the forest.


“Halt!” ordered the young sergeant. “Fall out, but don’t scatter.”


Then Overton stepped to the edge of the woods, waving his hat. In the distance Lieutenant Prescott, with his own hat, returned the signal. Then Hal, using one arm in place of a signal flag, wig-wagged the information:


“We have thoroughly scouted all about your position, and find no sign of an enemy.”


From the lieutenant came the answer, wig-wagged by arm:


“Good! March your men in.”


“I have allowed men to fall out and rest,” Hal answered. “They are tired after their hike.”


“Rest your men five minutes, then march them in,” replied Lieutenant Prescott.


“Very good, sir,” Hal signaled.


Exactly five minutes later, Overton commanded:


“Fall in! By twos right, march!”


Within the hour several of the former Moro laborers on the plantation returned. They reported that the Datto Hakkut and some three hundred men were on the march, miles away and evidently headed for the mountains.


“These men are honest and loyal, Lieutenant,” explained Mr. Seaforth. “They are my regular laborers. Of course, when the attack came those who could not reach the house took to their heels. But these natives, like many Moros, are dependable. They are not to be classed with the idle, vicious cut-throats that follow the datto.”


“Hm!” replied Lieutenant Prescott, politely, but he scanned all of these returned natives, keenly. None of them, however, showed any wounds, or bore any other signs of having seen recent military service with the datto.


“Mr. Seaforth,” said the young officer, presently, “I am going to follow the course laid down by Captain Cortland, and return to Bantoc with the greater part of my command. I shall, however, leave Sergeant Dinsmore and a dozen men here. I urge that all the white people of the plantation return with me to town.”


“You can take the women with you, Lieutenant, if you will,” replied the planter, “but we men feel that we should stay here and make every effort to go on running the plantation.”


“If you do not think it too dangerous, Mr. Seaforth.”


“No; I can trust my laborers, and they tell me that Hakkut and his rascals appear really bent on reaching the mountains.”


“But if they go to the mountains, you know, they go only that they may be more secure until they have recruited other brown rebels. If Hakkut can get enough men together, he will attempt to carry fire and bloodshed even into Bantoc.”


“Let the women go with you, and we men will stay here,” was the planter’s decision.


Half an hour later the column, minus Sergeant Dinsmore and his squad, swung off on the return march. A wagon had been provided for conveying the dead soldiers, another for the wounded, and a third vehicle for the women.


Four hours later the column was at barracks, from which the women were escorted into Bantoc, where there was a military guard, and where they could stop with friends.


Just before dark an escort of twenty men, guarding two wagons, marched into Bantoc. Sergeant Hal had asked and secured permission to head the escort, for he wanted to see his chum, Sergeant Noll Terry.


“Well, so you’ve been doing some real fighting,” demanded Noll in a tone of friendly envy.


“Yes,” assented Hal.


“The Moros are not such very classy fighters, are they?”


“They’re good enough for me,” Hal Overton answered. “I don’t mind their rifle fire, but I can do very well with the least possible number of brushes against their cold steel.”


“But our fellows have their bayonets.”


“Yes; but wait until you have to face a rush against those murderous creeses. I can’t tell you much about it. It sounds tame in the telling, Noll, but you’ll know all about it when you have to go up against it. How have things been here in Bantoc?”


“Bad,” Noll replied, with a shake of his head.


“Any serious trouble?”


“No; no fighting. For that matter, I think most of the Moros here in Bantoc like us well enough, and are disposed to be orderly,” replied Terry thoughtfully. “Of course they’re the more peaceable part of the population, anyway. On the other hand, there are plenty of Moros here in Bantoc who don’t hesitate to let us see how sullen and restless they are. Only a spark is needed, or maybe only a secret word from the datto, and two or three hundred ugly fellows here in Bantoc will try to get the upper hand, or else take to the brush with Hakkut.”


“We’re going to have a warm time here before we’re through, I think,” replied Sergeant Hal, with a shake of his head.


“What puzzles me,” muttered Noll, “is why the government doesn’t send troops enough here to wind up the thing in short order. The whole of our first battalion of the Thirty-fourth, for instance, ought to take the field at once, backed by a platoon of light artillery. We ought to be sent to chase Hakkut clean across the island and into the ocean on the other side of Mindanao.”


“It’s not for me to criticize the government, or to say what it ought to do,” Hal rejoined.


“Yet I can understand, lads, that you’re puzzled,” broke in the quiet voice of Lieutenant Holmes behind them. “You wonder, both of you, why the government doesn’t use more force. Have you any idea of the great number of troops we already have here in the islands? As it is, it takes an Army corps to keep the natives in anything resembling order. Yet, of course, the government, in this especial case, could exert itself and send an expedition of a regiment of infantry, a squadron of cavalry and two batteries of light artillery, say, against Datto Hakkut.”


“That would be enough to wind these rebels up in short order, sir,” murmured Hal.


“No; it would do nothing of the sort,” smiled Lieutenant Holmes. “Hakkut and his crew would laugh at us. What would happen? The rebels would disperse, and soon show up at their homes, all through this island. As for Hakkut, he would go into hiding. He always is in hiding when he isn’t in the field defying us. I don’t know whether you sergeants know it, but it’s a fact that no American Army officer has ever seen Hakkut. He never shows himself, and his hiding place is a good one, for no American knows where it is. So our big expedition that might go out against Hakkut would find none of these rebels to fight. After the troops of the big expedition had been withdrawn, however, then Hakkut and his land pirates would come out again at their own convenience.”


“Wouldn’t it break up Hakkut’s game altogether, sir, if the government kept enough troops here to be able to send a crushing force against him whenever he raised his hand?”


“Possibly it might,” nodded Lieutenant Holmes; “but to police all of the Philippine Islands in that fashion we’d have to make the United States Army three times as large as it is to-day—and then station the whole Army in these islands. On the other hand, our present plan of keeping small forces at different points, and sending out small expeditions at need, shows the natives that we don’t take them very seriously. We also show them that a hundred of Uncle Sam’s regulars is a pretty large force for them to attempt to fight. By attacking the Moros with small expeditions we keep alive and always before them the fact that we know one of our regulars to be equal to several of their pirates.”


Both sergeants saluted as Holmes moved on.


“Maybe the lieutenant is right,” muttered Noll thoughtfully. “But the present way of fighting these wretches is pretty expensive in the matter of soldiers’ lives.”




CHAPTER XVII


“LONG” GREEN AND KELLY HAVE INNINGS


“Ugh! That’s a beastly trick. No white man would ever do a thing like that!”


The speaker was Private William Green, also known as “Long” Green, from his former habit of carrying large sums of ready cash about him.


Our readers will remember William. He was a good soldier, but above all he was a good Army business man, for he saved his money and added to it. To William Green the men of B Company always went when they were “short” and craved spending money. To any man in B Company “Long” Green would lend five dollars, but he always exacted six in return on pay day.


“What’s wrong with your nerves, Green?” inquired Sergeant Hal, stepping out on to the porch of the barracks.


“Slosson has been telling me about kantab,” replied Green, with a grimace and a shudder.


“Never heard of him,” replied Hal.


“It isn’t a ‘him’ at all, Sarge,” rejoined Green. “Kantab is the name of a poison that the Moros extract from one of their plants up in the hills.”


“Well, cheer up,” urged Sergeant Overton, seating himself and opening a book. “There are no poisons issued in the rations.”


“But Slosson was telling me about two soldiers who got kantab in their rations a few years ago,” insisted Green.


“Was the quartermaster court-martialed?” asked Sergeant Overton. “Or was it the fault of the company cook?”


“Nothing like it,” replied Green. “Two soldiers were on outpost one morning, and they had just prepared their breakfast. Just then they thought they heard a sound in the bushes, so they caught up their rifles and went out to investigate. They found nothing, so they came back to their breakfasts. They thought their coffee tasted rather bitter, but they drank it just the same. Ten minutes later both men were dying in agony. That noise had been a ruse to draw them off, while some native slipped in and put the kantab in their coffee. Ugh! That’s a cowardly way to fight. If I find anything bitter about my food, even here in barracks, I’m going to toss the grub out. No kantab for mine,” wound up “Long” Green earnestly.


“Did that really happen, Slosson?” asked Sergeant Hal, glancing up from his book.


“Sure,” responded Private Slosson nonchalantly.


“I’ve heard about the stuff, too,” nodded Private Kelly. “Only yesterday I heard one native talking about it to another.”


“I’m going to watch my chow (food) after this,” insisted Green.


For twenty minutes Hal read on, paying no attention to the chatter of soldiers about him. Then a bugle blew, and Hal closed his book with a snap.


“That’s sick call, Kelly, and I believe you’re on sick report,” announced the boyish sergeant.


“I’m not going,” returned Kelly. “What’s the use. The hospital steward, I’ve been finding out, has no medicines whatever but salts and quinine. I can’t stand the taste of either.”


“But you’re going to sick call, just the same,” Hal retorted dryly. “Your name is on sick report, so to hospital you go. There’s no way out of it.”


Sick call is sounded morning and afternoon. It is the first sergeant’s duty to enter on sick report the names of all enlisted men who report to him that they are not well, or think they are not well. Then, when sick call sounds, the first sergeant marches to hospital with the men whose names he has entered on sick report.


“Fall in, Kelly,” ordered the young sergeant.


“I’ll not take salts or quinine,” insisted Kelly.


“You’ll march to sick call, just the same. Fall in!”


So in step, and briskly, Hal and Private Kelly marched over to the little building which, at Fort Benjamin Franklin, was dignified with the name of hospital. The acting hospital steward was there waiting for them.


As this small command did not have a commissioned medical officer the steward attended to all cases of minor illness. When occasion warranted it the German physician was summoned from Bantoc to prescribe for the men.


“The sick list, steward,” reported Hal, handing over the official paper on which Kelly’s name alone appeared.


“What ails you, Kelly?” asked the steward.


“Nothing,” Kelly answered defiantly.


“Then you’ll have to discover an ailment soon,” frowned the steward, “or I’ll ask Sergeant Overton to report you for shamming sick report.”


“Why, truth to tell, I didn’t feel very well,” asserted Kelly. “But that was two hours ago. I’m feeling fine now.”


“Let me see your tongue,” ordered the steward. He also “took” Kelly’s pulse and noted his respirations, entering all this information on his record.


“Any pain anywhere, Kelly?”


“Sorra the bit,” promptly rejoined the soldier.


“You’re just a little off-key,” went on the hospital steward, with a professional air. “Not much; still, you’d better have some medicine.”


“I can’t take salts,” protested Kelly. “They make me sea-sick. Give me salts, and ye’ll have to find a bed for me here, and take care of me for a few days.”


“Quinine is about your size,” replied the steward, reaching for a five-pound can of the stuff.


“That’ll kill me, entirely!”


“Four ten-grain doses never killed any man,” insisted the steward.


“I won’t take it!”


“Oh, yes, you will, Kelly. This is the Army, and discipline is the rule. I’ll make sure of the first dose by seeing you take it here.”


The hospital steward’s tone was firm, and under the regulations he was master of the situation.


“Then, for the love of Mike,” gasped Kelly, “give me the bitter stuff in a capsule.”


“Certainly, if you like it that way, Kelly,” assented the steward, picking up a gelatine ten-grain capsule and packing it tight with the white, bitter powder.


“I don’t like it any way,” growled Kelly.


“Now, that’s nonsense, man. Why, all the medical authorities are agreed that quinine is the greatest blessing to man ever discovered.”


“Then why don’t the doctors take more of it themselves?” scowled Private Kelly.


“Here you are,” continued the steward, capping the capsule and passing it to the unwilling victim.


Kelly dropped the capsule into his mouth, resolving to hold it there until he could get outside.


“Here’s a glass of water. Wash it down,” ordered the hospital steward. “Then you can open your mouth and I’ll make sure that you’ve swallowed the stuff.”


“Can’t ye be after taking a soldier’s word?” demanded Kelly, with a burst of virtuous indignation.


“Not where quinine’s the medicine,” returned the steward, grinning. “Now, down with the water, and then open your mouth.”


There was no chance for sleight of hand here. Kelly actually swallowed the hated stuff, then submitted the proof.


“Here are the other capsules,” went on the steward, handing the victim a small pill box. “Take one of the capsules at bed time and the other two to-morrow morning and noon. Sergeant Overton, it will be as well for you to see that Kelly obeys the order.”


“May I go now?” demanded Kelly.


“Yes.”


So sergeant and private passed out together.


“No wonder men sometimes desert,” grumbled Private Kelly.


“Nonsense,” laughed Hal. “Kelly, you’re too good a soldier to be afraid of just a bad taste in the mouth.”


“I don’t want a bitter taste in me mouth, unless an enemy is smart enough to give it to me,” grumbled Kelly, then added, “but by the powers, that steward is an enemy of mine, and I’ll have his scalp one of these nights when I catch him outside on pass.”


When Hal returned to the porch he picked up his book and disappeared into the quieter squad room, for he had found it rather difficult to study while among the others.


“Long” Green was making considerable noise, lying on his back on the porch, rumbling snores issuing from his wide-open mouth.


“No man has a right to run a Gatling gun like that without a license,” muttered Kelly, gazing thoughtfully down at the noisy sleeper. “Boys, whist!”


There was mischief in the Irishman’s eyes. Sergeant Hal, from the shadow at the back of the squad room, heard and glanced out.


At a sign from Private Kelly, the other soldiers rose, fleeing softly inside of barracks.


With an air as grave as that of a college professor absorbed in a chemical experiment, Private Kelly drew the pill box from one of his pockets. He took out a capsule, uncapped it, and bent over the sleeper.


Into “Long” Green’s open mouth Kelly carefully but swiftly emptied the contents of the capsule of quinine, then joined his comrades in the barracks, all but closing the door.


After a moment Private William Green, asleep though he was, became dimly conscious that something was wrong with his tongue.


Then he awoke. There was a hideously bitter taste in his mouth.


In another instant Private Green had turned ghastly pale, shaking like a leaf. It took him but a moment to realize that he was alone on the porch. Out on the road, some two hundred yards away, a solitary male native was passing. Private Green was a quick guesser.


“Kantab!” he gasped hoarsely.


Then “Long” Green’s legs got into swift action. Vaulting the porch rail, and almost falling in his trembling weakness, William made a straight line for the hospital, vanishing inside.


Five minutes later Hospital Steward Hicks appeared on the scene. He was supporting “Long” by one arm, for the soldier was not yet over his fright.


“Kelly,” said Steward Hicks, “I find that I made a mistake. The medical authorities do not prescribe the stuff I gave you in a case like yours. So I’ll take the capsules back.”


“You’re welcome,” grinned Kelly, passing over the pill box.


“Two capsules; there should be three,” remarked the hospital man, after having raised the lid from the box. “Green, you idiot, the kantab you’re howling about came from the missing capsule that Kelly can’t return to me.”


“Do you give kantab at the hospital, too?” gasped “Long,” looking more scared than ever.


“We do,” said the steward grimly. “But we medical men call it quinine.”


First “Long” looked bewildered. Then as the grinning soldiers gave vent to howls of glee a great light began to dawn on the mind of Private Green.


“Kelly, you scoundrel!” he yelled, leaping\ forward. “I’ll take it all back—out of you. On your feet, man!”


But Kelly, convulsed with laughter, sat back in his chair until the irate Green slapped his face. At that the Irishman’s resentment leaped to the surface and Kelly followed his recent victim to the ground beyond the porch.


Kelly, however, was weak with inward laughter. Green, therefore, administered some rather severe punishment, and, in the end, sent Kelly to the ground. “Long” couldn’t possibly have done this under any other circumstances.


Private Kelly sat there for two or three minutes. Then he got up slowly, his face grave as he stepped to “Long,” holding out his hand.


“‘Long,’ I know now what ailed me,” confessed Private Kelly. “‘Twas me liver. Your tr-reatment has fixed it up fine. I’ll call on ye for another treatment when me liver needs it. By me present feelings I’m thinking ’twill be about to-morrow morning, after guard-mount.”




CHAPTER XVIII


SENTRY MIGGS MAKES A GRUESOME FIND


It is not necessary for even the most ardent admirer of Private William Green to feel sorry for the fate of that soldier the next morning after guard-mount at the capable hands of Private Kelly.


Kelly had something else to think about, and so had every other man in the little garrison.


Just before daylight the sentry on number three post had made a horrible discovery. Now that the old guard was relieved, and the new guard was on, the sentry who had made the discovery was able to tell what he knew of it, with such other particulars as had been learned since.


Private Miggs was the sentry in question. Before daylight Miggs had patrolled down to the further end of his post. On his return along post he had discovered something on the ground ahead of him.


When Miggs learned the nature of his discovery he was almost overcome. Being a soldier, he did not faint, but for a few moments he did feel a sensation of nausea.


Then, raising his voice, the sentry called the corporal of the guard to post number three. The corporal and the two members of the guard felt a similar nausea when they arrived on the scene, and it ended in sending for the officer of the day, Lieutenant Dick Prescott.


Without venturing to order the removal of the find, Lieutenant Prescott sent a member of the guard to awaken Captain Cortland.


After the post commander had seen it, the guard removed the ghastly find to the guard house, where it still remained.


What had upset Private Miggs’s mental balance was the sight of two severed heads lying on the ground in his path along post. They were the heads of white men.


To each had been tied a piece of coarse paper, and on each paper was rudely traced the likeness of a crab. This crab, as Captain Cortland already knew, was the sign manual of that arch scoundrel of brown skin, the Datto Hakkut. The crab was meant to signify that, while the datto could move forward, he could also crawl sideways or backward—that he was strategist enough to crawl out of any trap that the soldiers might set for him.


As soon as the light came Captain Cortland despatched an armed guard party to bring over to the fort the German physician and three other white residents of Bantoc, to see whether they could identify the severed heads.


The heads proved to be those of two young American doctors of philosophy, Hertford and Sanderson, who had come to Mindanao months before, one for the purpose of securing specimens representing the geological formation of the island, and the other in pursuit of specimens of the plants and flowers.


Despite strong advice to the contrary, as given by the former military commandant at Bantoc, Drs. Hertford and Sanderson, attended only by a small party of natives, had gone into the mountains to gather their specimens. Since then nothing had been heard of the two enthusiastic young scientists—until Sentry Miggs had stumbled upon his gruesome find.


The soldiers discussed little else that morning.


“Of course it was the old brown rascal, Hakkut, who had the young scientific gentlemen killed. Didn’t Hakkut have his card tied to each head?” demanded Private Kelly, who was the centre of a group of enlisted men.


The group of officers over in Captain Cortland’s office had come to the same conclusion.


“It is the old brown scoundrel’s way of showing us his defiance,” declared Captain Cortland in a shocked voice. “Why couldn’t that pair of enthusiastic boys take good advice and keep out of the mountains? Would their collections of stones and plants be worth as much to any college as the young men’s lives would have been worth to themselves?”


“The question is, Cortland, what are we going to do in answer to this defiance?” suggested Captain Freeman, of C Company.


“What are we going to do?” asked Cortland, his face becoming even graver. “We have a very small command here, but there’s only one thing we can do. Hakkut has defied us, and, unless he is punished for it, the native respect for American authority in these islands will soon be less than nothing. What are we going to do? There is nothing that we can do but send the strongest column of men that we can spare up into the mountains on the double-quick. We’ve got to root out that brown scoundrel, and send him and his band running as fast as they can go, or else we shall be forced to admit to the natives that the claim of the American nation to govern Mindanao is only a stupid joke. Our expedition must start before noon!”


“Who will command the column?” inquired Captain Freeman.


“You will command, Freeman. I would give half a year’s pay to head the expedition myself, but I am post commander here, and after the greater part of the troops have started the problem here at Bantoc is going to be such a serious one that I feel obliged to remain here and handle it myself.”


After thinking a few moments longer, Captain Cortland continued:


“Freeman, you will take sixty men from B Company, and the same number from C Company. I can spare you but two officers, for I shall need the services of Bay and Hampton here. So Holmes will command the C Company detachment, and Prescott the B Company detachment, while you will command the expedition. You will also take one of the two Gatling guns that we have at this post. You will take two wagons for ammunition and one for hospital and similar supplies. Your men will carry such field and emergency rations as you can. For the rest of your food you will have to depend upon the country through which you will pass. I am sorry for this, but on a swift, hard-fighting expedition a command the size of yours cannot be burdened with more wagons.”


“That is true,” spoke Captain Freeman thoughtfully. “Well, we shall have to do the best we can with the amount of transport and rations that you can put at our disposal. I am anxious now, sir, to get started with the preparations as rapidly as possible.”


“Good; it is half-past nine now. You should be ready to march by——”


“By half-past eleven at the latest,” supplied Captain Freeman, rising.


Never were preparations more rushed, nor yet more thoroughly made.


First of all, it was necessary to send into Bantoc and recall Lieutenant Holmes and the guard stationed there. With the removal of the troops the lives of the white people residing in Bantoc would be in immediate danger. So the twenty-five or thirty white residents were obliged to accompany the guard out to Fort Benjamin Franklin, where they were to be provided with temporary quarters.


Ten minutes before the time named by Captain Freeman all had been accomplished. The column was ready and started.


B Company’s detachment marched first. Behind this came the transport wagons and the Gatling gun. The C Company detachment, under Lieutenant Greg Holmes, brought up the rear.


Taking into account those who had lately been killed and wounded, and also the guard under Sergeant Dinsmore, left out at the Seaforth plantation, Captain Cortland had remaining as a garrison about sixty effective soldiers. These must preserve the safety of the post and the order of Bantoc through the twenty-four hours of each day.


No soldier in the marching column deluded himself with the belief that he was starting on a brief expedition. Every man knew that it would be weeks before they were likely to set eyes again on Fort Franklin. It was, moreover, wholly probable that some of the soldiers now marching would never see the fort again.


Yet officers and men tramped away unconcernedly. All acted, and felt, very much as though this had been merely a practice march through a peaceful country.


Noll Terry was jubilant. Hal had seen active service on this island, and now his chum was about to do the same thing. The first taste of real service is always dear to the heart of a good soldier.


Night brought the command within three or four miles of the foot of the mountains. The next morning was still young when the column wound its way up into the lower portion of the mountains.


Captain Freeman was not marching blindly. He was provided with military maps of the mountains. Then, again, not all the Moros were hostile to the Americans. There were many friendly natives, and some of them had slyly brought word to the post of the location of Datto Hakkut and his forces at the last report.


As to the number of men with the datto, the statements of the natives had varied. They had estimated the datto’s force at all the way from fifteen hundred to twenty-five hundred fighting men. Captains Cortland and Freeman, with their knowledge of the native tendency to exaggerate, had thus fixed the probable number at about eight hundred men.


The second and the third days passed. The troops were now far up in the mountains, though up to that time they had not encountered the enemy. Captain Freeman, however, pushed forward, feeling confident that he would sooner or later encounter the datto’s forces.


On the fourth morning, an hour after daylight, the troops were again under way. They moved slowly, for the roads were in bad condition and the column could not go ahead at greater speed than the transport wagons could maintain.


A “point” was out in advance, followed by a slightly larger advance guard. Behind marched a watchful rear guard. The little column, for its own safety and convenience, was strung out over a goodly length of road.


As Lieutenant Prescott passed, Sergeant Noll Terry stepped out and saluted.


“What is it, Sergeant?”


“If it is proper, I would like the lieutenant’s permission to go up ahead and walk with Sergeant Overton.”


“That will be all right, Sergeant—if you will remember that, in case of emergency, you are to return hastily to your proper place in the line.”


“Thank you; I will, sir.”


“Very good, Sergeant.”


Once more saluting, Noll hastened up forward.


“You have a message?” asked Hal.


“No; but I have the lieutenant’s permission to walk with you.”


“I’m glad of it, chum. Talking makes the walking easier.”


“Walking—yes,” grumbled Noll. “I’m afraid that’s about all we’re going to get out of this hike.”


“Never pray for a fight, Noll. It’s all right when it has to be, but any real fight always means the last hour for some good fellows.”


“I’m no hog for a fight,” grunted Terry, “but I’d like to have just a little real practice, after the long, long time I’ve had to put in preparing for it.”


“Hm!” smiled Sergeant Hal. “I could almost qualify as a member of a peace society. I don’t care how long it is before the next fight. I’d hate to see it come along this stretch of road.”


“Why?”


“Well, look over at our left, Noll. Below us is a deep gully, with a swift stream flowing. Beyond it is that wooded ledge. Any number of Moros could conceal themselves there and fire at us, and we couldn’t reach ‘em with the bayonet. Ahead——”


Sergeant Hal may have finished, but, if he did, his voice was drowned out by the savage clamor of yells ahead. Barely a hundred yards beyond the point came a rushing mob of Moros, shooting and brandishing creeses.


From the wooded, inaccessible ledge to the left came a sudden, rapid firing that made the air hot with bullets directed at Uncle Sam’s men.




CHAPTER XIX


HAL TURNS THE GATLING GUN LOOSE


“Gatling gun to the head of the line! Lie down, men!”


Two men dropped even before the order had been given, for Moro bullets had found them.


After firing volleys, the “point” and advance guard fell back on the run.


“Take the infantry fire at this point, Sergeant Overton!” commanded Lieutenant Prescott briskly.


“Open magazines! Load magazines!” shouted Sergeant Hal to the men in the swiftly formed front rank. “Ready, aim! At will, point-blank range—fire!”


Prettily enough the American fire opened on the Moros rushing down the narrow path.


The centre of the American column, at Lieutenant Holmes’s order, opened fire across the gully at the wooded ambush on the left.


Captain Freeman took up his stand a little forward of the centre, where he could watch the fire in both directions.


“Hurry up that Gatling gun, Prescott.”


“Yes, sir.”


Prescott and two privates were working at lightning speed to get the Gatling placed. Then the lieutenant fed in a belt of ammunition.


“Sergeant Terry, relieve Sergeant Overton in charge of the advancing firing line. Overton, come here.”


“Yes, sir,” responded Hal, running up and saluting.


Lieutenant Prescott was just finishing the sighting of the Gatling.


“Attend to the firing of this piece, Sergeant. Fire steadily, though not at fullest speed. Keep it going continuously until it becomes too hot, or until I give the word to stop.”


“Very good, sir.”


“Begin firing, Sergeant.”


Hal’s answer was to turn the firing mechanism loose.


R-r-r-r-rip! rang out the exploding cartridges too rapidly for count. Hal swung the nose of the piece slightly from side to side, and the storm of Gatling bullets raked thoroughly the road ahead.


At first the on-rushing Moros had been almost stopped by the sudden, low, accurate infantry fire. They were to be seen ahead in great force, and the cries of their leaders drove them on with greater steadiness.


Now, as the crackling of the Gatling rose on the air, and its projectiles swept the road ahead, constantly supported by brisk infantry fire from at least forty men, the natives were forced to halt. Then they wavered. The hoarse, taunting cries of their leaders, however, drove them forward again.


Twice they wavered, under the blistering fire of the regulars, though each time their leaders succeeded in driving the brown men forward again.


When the fight opened there were at least six hundred yelling Moros in sight, but they were now dropping by scores.


Then, with a wild yell, three hundred more rushed around the base of a low hill, joining the assailants.


“Are the Moros cowards?” demanded the deep, penetrating voice of one of the leaders. “Are the Moros women, that they would live forever? Has heaven no joys for the faithful that you would remain so long away?”


That stirred the fanatical blood of the brown men. They were equal to anything, now! On they dashed, though the Gatling and the steady infantry fire withered the ranks in advance.


On they came, disdaining, now, to return rifle fire with rifle fire. Over their own dead and wounded stepped the brown men, and rushed on.


“Cease firing there, Sergeant Terry. Give ‘em the steel!” bellowed Lieutenant Prescott hoarsely, using his hands for a trumpet, though he stood barely twelve feet from young Terry.


“Cease firing,” Noll repeated squarely in the bugler’s ear. Then the notes of the bugle arose, clear and loud. The firing died out.


“It’s cold steel, men! Fix bayonets!” shouted Sergeant Noll.


But Sergeant Hal and two men had dragged the Gatling, momentarily silenced, to one side of the road, where they could still employ this machine of destruction.


Another belt of cartridges Sergeant Overton fed in. Then he started the machine again.


R-r-r-r-rip! The Gatling was performing at hand-to-hand quarters now. Noll sent a dozen men to stand by the gun, defending it from capture with their lives.


Clash! Zing! Slash! Slash! Thrust—cut! It was steel against steel now. On more open ground the Moros might have had a slight advantage, for they are skilled users of the sword and creese, and when their blood is up they know little in the way of terror.


R-r-r-r-r-rip! It was the Gatling, at such close quarters, that now dismayed the brown men. With no mean quality of heroism, they threw themselves against the gun’s defenders. They would seize that demon of machinery and hurl it over into the gully below. But the doughboys, with bayonets stationed on the sides of the gun, thrust or stabbed them back. No native approached the muzzle of the Gatling and lived to cause further trouble. In as wide an arc as possible Sergeant Hal swung the nose of the piece from side to side.


Private Danton, standing close to Hal, ready to feed in the next belt of cartridges, fell with a Moro bullet in his brain. Another soldier sprang forward, snatched up the belt of ammunition and stood ready to feed.


Fully twenty-five hundred rounds of Gatling ammunition were thus fired into the dense brown ranks before the Moros felt that they could endure it no longer. On that narrow road they had failed to reach the piece itself. Four brown sharpshooters, back in the ranks, had been detailed by a Moro officer to climb a tree and fill with lead the body of the indomitable young sergeant. As the bullets sang past his head, Hal discovered the tree, turned the Gatling muzzle that way, and fairly shot the leaves off a portion of it. Two of the sharpshooters dropped, riddled through. The other pair dropped from sheer terror.




Sergeant Hal Swung the Nose of the Gun from Side to Side.


Now that the execution on that narrow mountain road was becoming more than flesh and blood could stand, the Moros broke in pell-mell confusion.


“Forward, there, Lieutenant Prescott!” yelled Captain Freeman. “Give ‘em the bayonet. But don’t let your men get away from you.”


Prescott’s answer was conveyed only by a wave of his stick. After the fleeing Moros he rushed his men, and the Malays in the rear received many an ugly wound.


“Keep the Gatling close up with the advance, Sergeant!” ordered Captain Freeman, striding forward.


When the Moros in front had gotten to hand-to-hand quarters the flanking fire from across the gully had ceased, after having killed two of Freeman’s men and wounding six more. Now it reopened.


“Halt, Sergeant! Swing that Gatling around. Turn it loose across the gully.”


R-r-r-r-r-rip! Captain Freeman sent two men back on the run to bring up more ammunition for the machine gun. Within two minutes the fire from across the gully had ceased. In the meantime three more regulars of the centre had been hit.


“Now, run it forward, Sergeant,” commanded Captain Freeman. “Support Lieutenant Prescott. The Moros have halted him for the moment.”


Again the Gatling went into action up front, where Sergeant Noll Terry, in the front rank, was taking more than his share of the attack, though as yet he had given many wounds and received none. Yet Prescott’s advance would have been driven back had it not been for the prompt arrival of the machine gun.


The transport and rear guard were coming up now.


“Corporal,” called Captain Freeman, “my compliments to Lieutenant Prescott, and tell him that I want the whole line to move forward as rapidly as possible. Our only safety, now, lies in getting as quickly as possible off this road and into an open country.”


Prescott received the order, and right loyally responded. As often as possible the Gatling, now up with the advance, was given an opportunity to cool.


Within twenty minutes after the opening of the attack the Moro spirit was broken for the time. They had had more than a hundred men killed and wounded, and that was all the brown men could stand for the first onset.


“Don’t pursue any further,” ordered Captain Freeman, well up with the advance by this time. “Let the rascals get away if they don’t interfere with our advance. We’ll have them at hand to fight when we’re ready, Lieutenant. What we must do now is to get a place where we can fortify ourselves and look after our wounded.”


“We’ve a heavy list, I fear, sir.”


“Heavy enough,” replied Captain Freeman gravely.


There was no further opposition to the advance of the regulars, who, despite the great inferiority of their numbers, had made the brown men respect their fighting grit and prowess. Within ten minutes after Captain Freeman’s order to abandon the chase there was no visible evidence that there were any Moros in the neighboring mountains.


“March to the right, and take that hill yonder in quick time, Lieutenant Prescott,” directed Captain Freeman.


“Very good, sir.”


“Follow the lieutenant, you men with the Gatling,” ordered the commanding officer, and Hal and his comrades covered the ground as quickly as they could. No opposition was offered to their taking the hill. Here the first regulars to arrive dropped down panting, though Prescott, Hal and Noll remained standing and vigilant. Slowly the rest of the column climbed the hill. After a brief rest the men were set to work fortifying the crest of this little rise of ground.


No trench is ever dug, by a wise commander, at the exact top of a hill, but always at a point a little below, which is called the “military crest.” If the trench were on the top of the hill, every time the men raised themselves to fire, their heads and trunks would stand out too clearly defined against the sky-line, and make them easy marks for an enemy below.


Up on the top of the hill, however, was a depression in the ground. Into this space the transport wagons were driven, and here the dead were laid out and the wounded attended to.


A deadly morning’s work it had proved. Five infantrymen had been killed, twelve were wounded badly enough to be out of the fighting lists for the present, while twenty-two others, though more or less wounded, were still fit for duty.


“Now, chum, you see what follows the fighting,” murmured Hal in Noll’s ear. “How do you like what follows the fighting?”


“It looks some grim,” Sergeant Terry admitted, wrapping his left hand where a creese had made a gash. “But what are we here for, and why are we soldiers, if this sort of thing doesn’t appeal to us?”


“I’m afraid you’re hopelessly blood-thirsty,” smiled Hal.


“No; I’m not. I enlisted because I believed I’d like the soldier life, and fighting is the highest expression of the soldier’s work.”


“Hello, there, ‘Long’!” called Private Kelly.


“Yes?” answered Private William Green, turning at the hail.


“Did you bring along your kantab and pass plenty of it to the goo-goos?”


“I’ll make no money here,” grunted William disdaining to answer Kelly’s teasing question. “There’s no chance to spend money here, so none of the fellows will borrow from me.”


“Making no money?” Kelly rebuked him. “Man, isn’t your government pay running along, and ain’t ye glad ye’re here to be drawing it?”


“I don’t like this fighting business,” grumbled Slosson.


“Why not?” inquired Kelly in mild surprise.


“In that hike I lost my pipe. Lucky for me I brought two more along in my pack. I’ll get one of them out, now. Want the other, Kelly?”


“I do not, lad, and my thanks to you. Slosson, I’m beginning to think we ought to force the brown men to accept pipes. If they smoked ‘em the way you do yours there’d soon be fewer of the pesky brown goo-goos in this land.”




CHAPTER XX


CORPORAL DUXBRIDGE’S MISTAKE


Fortunately there was water, a clear, cool spring of it just below the trench line. As soon as the men were rested, Captain Freeman detailed a score of them to haul water up into camp.


“Don’t get into groups, you water carriers, either,” Lieutenant Prescott called after the men as they started down the slope with buckets. “Keep apart. If you don’t, some of the Moros in the distance will be taking pot-shots and getting some of you.”


The day wore on, and it looked as though the Moros were still running.


“I’d hate to have to take ten men and fight all of the enemy who are within two thousand yards of here,” declared Captain Freeman in the hearing of a large part of his command. “The datto has us all in a bunch and he’ll hang to us until he has wiped us out.”


“I don’t believe he can do it, sir,” retorted Lieutenant Greg Holmes.


“No; but the brown rascal thinks he can, which amounts to the same thing as far as he is concerned. Mr. Holmes, you may safely take my word for it that the datto has made up his own mind not to allow one of us ever to get back in safety to Bantoc.


Late in the afternoon the five soldiers who had been slain were placed in a row at the top of the hill.


“Too bad we haven’t a Flag to drape the poor fellows with,” said Captain Freeman sorrowfully.


“We have a Flag with us, sir,” spoke up Hal, saluting.


“Where is it, Sergeant?”


“In a small parcel in one of the ammunition wagons, sir.”


“How does it happen to be there, Sergeant?”


“I put it in myself, sir. It’s the Flag that the Moros hauled down from the flagstaff over the schoolhouse near Seaforth’s—the Flag they slashed and danced upon. I picked it up at that time, sir; and when we started on this expedition I placed the Flag in one of the wagons.”


“Why did you do that, Sergeant?”


“Because I was in hopes that before we get through with this expedition, sir, we’d find a chance to make Datto Hakkut and his men salute the American Flag.”


“Bring the Flag here, Sergeant.”


Hal brought it, and its tattered folds were so laid that some remnant of the bunting touched each of the five bodies of the slain soldiers.


Assembling half his command, while the other half watched in the trenches, Captain Freeman read the prayers and the service for the dead. Three volleys were fired over the graves after the slain men had been laid in them. Bugler Swanson blew “taps,” after which the graves were carefully filled and the tops sodded so that roving Moros would not afterwards find and desecrate these graves, sacred to the American people. All in good time the American military authorities would send and exhume these remains, transferring them to marked resting places in military cemeteries.


Before supper Captain Freeman summoned his two officers in council with him.


“I want to talk with you young gentlemen,” began the captain, “for the reason that, of course, by the fortunes of war, I may be removed at any moment. If anything happens to me Mr. Prescott is to be regarded as ranking officer. Now, I want you both to understand my plan in taking up my position on this hill. Do either of you guess it?”


“I think I do, sir,” replied Lieutenant Prescott, after a pause.


“Very good, Mr. Prescott. What is my reason?”


“You were sent out, sir, to meet Datto Hakkut, fight him and disperse his forces.”


“Exactly,” nodded the captain.


“This hill, sir, will be a hard nut for the brown men to crack. If he hopes to do it, Hakkut must get every available fighting man here on the spot.”


“You’re right,” nodded Freeman.


“Thus, sir, you hope to force Hakkut to concentrate his whole fighting force in this immediate country. If you get all the rascals in front of you you’ll have them all in one lot to whip.”


“You’ve fathomed my plan very easily, Mr. Prescott, and you’ve exactly stated it. Now, though I shall take pains to be sure that the Moros remain in this neighborhood, I shall not force any very hard fighting for two or three days. Our rations will last longer than that, with care. After I’ve given Hakkut time enough to get his whole crew together then I shall go after them as hard as I can considering the size of this force. Also, by waiting, we shall give several of our wounded men time to get back into fighting condition.”


“But what, sir,” broke in Lieutenant Holmes, “if the datto takes your negative course for a confession of weakness, and attempts to carry this hill by assault?”


“Answer that, if you can, Mr. Prescott,” directed Captain Freeman, turning to the other West Pointer.


“Why, I imagine, sir, that you hope your seeming inactivity will provoke Hakkut into trying to carry this hill by assault. This hill, defended by regulars, will be no easy place to take from us, and Hakkut will lose so many of his men that the experience will be a good lesson for him.”


“That’s the idea,” nodded the commanding officer. “Now, gentlemen, you understand the plan thus far. But there’s another important point to remember. If we are cooped up here for very many days, then the men will have nothing left to eat but grass and gravel. So you will understand that, presently, it is going to be a matter of prime necessity for us to be able to leave here and forage. Therefore, during our comparative inactivity, we must provoke Hakkut into as many assaults as possible upon this position. The more attempts he makes the more his fighting men will be demoralized when we at last fight our way through his lines.”


During that night no attack was made, and the men had little to do beyond carrying out guard duty. Hakkut had undoubtedly dispatched messengers to bring all possible fighting men to the scene.


Nor in the morning, even two hours after daylight, was there any sign of the enemy. Captain Freeman at last took up his field glass again and intently studied a deep forest some twelve hundred yards below.


“Sergeant Overton!”


“Sir?”


“Have the Gatling and a belt of ammunition brought up.”


“Very good, sir.”


When the Gatling had been placed, Captain Freeman handed his glass to the young sergeant.


“Overton, look through the glass and see if you can discover the line of timber that I’m going to describe to you.”


Hal very soon had the spot located.


“Now, Sergeant, sight the Gatling for twelve hundred yards. Do it carefully. When you are ready do what you can to stir up life along that line of timber.”


While Sergeant Hal was making ready, Captain Freeman remained attentively watching the timber line through his glass.


R-r-r-r-r-r-rip! Hal served with speed and intensity.


“Just as I thought!” exclaimed the commanding officer. “You’ve got a line of brown men on the nervous jump down there. Keep it up a little longer, Sergeant. Sweep over a wider area.”


Then, after a pause:


“Cease firing.”


For an hour Captain Freeman let the enemy rest. He was watching other points through his glass. At last he ordered the Gatling into action again. The trick was played a third time that morning, and each time some of the Moros were disturbed.


“That’s one of the things I wanted to know,” remarked Captain Freeman at last. “Hakkut has this camp completely surrounded, but is keeping his men quiet. I wish we had two or three more Gatlings and a whole wagon load of this special ammunition. We could make it interesting for the goo-goos.”


However, the datto made no move to attack, though Captain Freeman believed that the rebel, by this time, must have twelve hundred fighting men, at least, in the forests below.


“Hakkut may realize the difficulty of assaulting us here, and may be waiting for huge reinforcements,” Captain Freeman confided to his two lieutenants. “Moreover, I think it extremely likely that we have been caught underestimating the force of the enemy.”


“There’s one good thing about this style of campaigning, sir,” smiled Prescott, “It isn’t eating up any more men in casualties.”


“No; but the datto is figuring that he’s letting us eat up our rations.”


There were no attacks that afternoon or evening. The next morning Captain Freeman hesitated as to whether or not he should send out a party in force to “locate and develop” the enemy. But he decided not to do so.


“To-morrow, though,” declared the captain to his lieutenants, “we’ll break through the line somewhere.”


That third night Sergeant Hal was placed in charge of the guard, with Lieutenant Greg Holmes as his direct superior. On the side of camp where the commanding officer thought the enemy most numerous, Hal placed Corporal Duxbridge in charge.


“Don’t close your eyes to-night, Corporal,” warned the young sergeant. “You can get your sleep in the daytime. This is the point where the greatest vigilance is needed. This point is really the key to the camp, and every man who lies down to sleep to-night leaves his life in your hands.”


“All right,” replied Corporal Duxbridge in a voice that sounded weary.


“You’ll be sure to keep awake?”


“I know my business, Sergeant.”


Hal Overton did not particularly like Duxbridge. He belonged to C Company, and was a man subject to occasional fits of crankiness. But Duxbridge, as well as the others, had his share of duty to perform.


Late that night one of the men of the guard, stationed not far from Duxbridge, thought that he heard a slight noise down the slope. He listened only a moment, then felt sure that he had espied a figure crawling along further down the slope.


“Halt!” called the soldier. “Halt or I’ll fire. Who’s there?”


“A friend,” came the answer in perfectly good English. “For Heaven’s sake don’t fire. We’ve had enough of horrors with the fiends below. Where’s Corporal Duxbridge? He knows me.”


“Corporal Duxbridge is on duty at this point,” returned the soldier. “How many of you are there?”


“Seven; but I will come up alone first and speak with the corporal.”


Duxbridge was called quietly. The corporal had been dozing for twenty minutes, and he awoke with mind somewhat befogged.


The stranger below, who had been allowed to advance, now stepped up to where the corporal could scrutinize him.


“Why, I know this man,” declared the corporal. “His name’s Eusebio Davo. He’s a wealthy Tagalo, loyal to the government and a good man. What’s the trouble, Señor Davo?”


“Corporal, I went south in the island to pick up some laborers from the Manobo tribe. I got forty together and was on my way through this country, not knowing that the Moros were out. So we were caught, this afternoon, and taken before the Datto Hakkut. He ordered us into his ranks to fight. We demurred, and four of my fellows were cut down before my eyes. Then we accepted arms. But to-night we tried to creep through the datto’s lines and get here. All but the six men with me were caught, and their fate must have been awful.”


Señor Davo shuddered, then went on:


“I come to beseech you that you allow my poor fellows to come inside your lines. You know me, Corporal, and know that we’re all right.”


“Yes, bring your men inside our line,” decided Corporal Duxbridge. “I’ll vouch for you, Señor Davo, to our commanding officer.”


Protesting his undying gratitude, Davo went below for his men, and brought them inside the lines, a sorry looking lot of fellows who at once threw themselves down as if to sleep.


“You’ll notify Sergeant Overton, of course?” suggested the soldier who had first halted Davo.


“You mind your business, Strong,” Corporal Duxbridge rebuked him. “I’ll notify the sergeant in good time.”


But Hal, as it happened, was nearer than had been imagined. Unobserved he had listened to the whole conversation. Now, Overton hastened silently away, awaking Lieutenant Holmes and ten soldiers. Without undue haste these marched down on Duxbridge’s station.


“Halt! Who goes there?”


“The officer of the day and the sergeant of the guard,” came the response, in Lieutenant Holmes’s crisp tones.


“Advance, sir.”


The seven new arrivals lay on the ground, apparently sound asleep. Davo had his hat over his face, and was snoring lightly.


“Who are these new men in camp, Corporal?” demanded Holmes sharply.


“Fugitives from the datto’s lines, sir. I was about to notify the sergeant of the guard, sir.”


“Don’t let them get away,” spoke Hal quickly to the men, “and remember that they’re armed with steel! This fellow, who calls himself Davo is Vicente Tomba, a Tagalo who is right-hand man to the datto,” added the sergeant, bending and snatching the hat from the Tagalo’s face.


It was truly Tomba, who, with a snarl, leaped to his feet ere Hal Overton could grab him.


“Shoot him!” ordered Lieutenant Holmes, as Tomba went over the trench and down the slope at sprinting speed. Three or four rifles spoke, but Tomba escaped in the darkness.


Not so, however, with the men Tomba had brought with him. Not one of them escaped. All were stretched on the ground senseless, having been clubbed with the butts of the soldiers’ rifles. Then, a quick search under the shirt of each of the rascals, revealed a creese with blade ground to a razor edge.


“You see, Corporal,” ripped out Sergeant Hal, “these scoundrels were going to watch their chance to knife you all in the dark. Then the Moros would have rushed in at this point, and——”


Hal’s prediction was verified, at that instant, by the breaking out of a fiendish chorus of yells down the slope. The Moros, waiting below, were advancing to a night attack.


“Bugler of the guard! Sound the general alarm!” roared out Lieutenant Holmes’s steady tones.




CHAPTER XXI


SCOUTING IN DEADLY EARNEST


It was a ferocious attack, promptly and staunchly met.


Soldiers in the field on campaign sleep in their full clothing, their rifles at their sides. It takes not more than ten seconds to turn a soldier out in the night, fully awake and ready for orders. The knowledge that their lives depend upon their promptness keeps the men in condition for quick obedience.


Even the Gatling was ready at the top of the hill. From point to point it was dragged, and wherever it was served the midnight assailants soon drew back.


For twenty minutes the conflict was kept up, often at closest quarters. But at last the sounding of the Moro horns in the rear called off the assailants, who fled in the darkness.


“How did this all happen, Mr. Holmes?” asked Captain Freeman. “I must congratulate you on being alert and ready for the brown men.”


“Sergeant Overton had just called me, sir. And I think you will wish to hear what he has to say.”


Hal was sent for and reported instantly.


“I know, now, sir, why Tomba wanted to make my acquaintance, and that of Sergeant Terry, sir,” Hal explained, and then told what had happened.


“How did Corporal Duxbridge ever happen to do a thing like that?” demanded Freeman angrily.


“Tomba had already made the Corporal’s acquaintance, sir. Tomba wanted to make mine, and Terry’s, as soon as he knew the Thirty-fourth was coming to these southern islands. It was Tomba’s belief that he could run a gang of creese men past us, and get inside where he could knife the nearest soldiers, and then let an attacking party in.”


“If the Moros had ever gotten through our line they’d have wiped the camp out to-night,” exclaimed Captain Freeman.


“Of course they would, sir, and that is the way in which Tomba, even in Manila, had planned to make our acquaintance, and use it for just such an undertaking as to-night’s. It seems, sir, that having failed with us, he succeeded in getting on the right side of Corporal Duxbridge.”


“Where, I wonder?” muttered the captain. “And where is the Corporal?”


“Just taken up above with the wounded, sir,” replied Lieutenant Holmes. “Corporal Duxbridge was hit, sir.”


“Let us go up to see him. Where are the six natives?”


“Tied, sir, and up with the wounded.”


Corporal Duxbridge, when the commanding officer visited him, felt sheepish enough, despite the great pain he was in. He now readily explained how Tomba, under the assumed name of Davo, had made his acquaintance in Bantoc. Tomba had spent money so freely in entertaining him that Duxbridge had been certain that the man must be a wealthy, good-natured Tagalo.


“I hope you’ve learned a lesson, Corporal,” said Captain Freeman sadly. “You’re one of five wounded in to-night’s performance, and two of our finest men are dead.”


Corporal Duxbridge covered his face with his hands.


“I was a big fool,” he confessed brokenly.


There were no more attacks that night, but in the morning the Moros developed a new style of trouble. All through the day, from one point or another, they kept the American trenches under fire at frequent intervals. Captain Freeman, however, refused to allow his men to waste ammunition. They must not fire until the brown men attempted an assault.


That night only half rations were served to the defenders of the hill. There was but little food left. During the night there were three assaults against the force on the hill, though none of them were desperately fought.


“Hakkut is going to adopt a new trick of keeping us awake day and night,” muttered Captain Freeman grimly.


The next day there was more annoying firing against the trenches, though the Moros had learned their lesson too well to attempt any rushes during daylight.


Just after dark, that evening, Captain Freeman sent for his officers. He also allowed Hal and Noll and two sergeants from C Company to be on hand to hear the discussion.


“To-morrow night, at the latest, we’ve got to fight our way out of here,” announced Captain Freeman. “To remain here later than to-morrow night will be to invite starvation—which, in our position, means nothing less than destruction. I fear, too, that we shall be obliged to abandon our transport wagons. Our wounded we can carry on stretchers made with poles and blankets. There must be some point in the Moro line where we can break through—some point so weakly guarded that we can be on our way before the brown rascals can gather in force enough to put up a hard fight. This fact can be determined only through the work of a scouting party.”


“I shall be delighted, sir, to volunteer for scouting duty,” spoke up Lieutenant Prescott.


“And I also, sir,” added Lieutenant Holmes.


“Thank you. I knew that you would both be ready,” replied the commanding officer. “Yet we must remember that, while our scouts are out to-night, this camp is also extremely liable to attack. If the latter be the case, I do not see how I can spare either of my officers. Now, I have cause to remember a time when, in the mountains of Colorado, when on practice field duty, two of our non-commissioned officers especially distinguished themselves as scouts. I believe that both of the young men still possess that ability in marked degree. It seems to me that the choice of a leader for a scouting party lies between Sergeants Overton and Terry.”


“Thank you, sir,” broke in Sergeant Hal gravely. “May I suggest, sir, that there is no need of making a choice between us? I would like to go on this duty, sir, and I’d rather have Sergeant Terry with me than any other enlisted man in the regiment.”


“I’m ready, sir,” declared Noll promptly.


“It seems almost foolish to allow two such excellent sergeants to go,” returned Captain Freeman gravely. “You see, we need as good men in the camp as we do outside of it. However, let it be as you wish, Sergeant Overton. How many men do you think you will need with you?”


“None, sir, except Sergeant Terry,” spoke Hal.


“Are two enough for safety, Sergeant, in your opinion.”


“Two men are safer than a dozen on scouting duty, I think, sir. Two men can get through in places where even four men would be caught at it.”


“But if caught, two are a small number for defensive purposes.”


“There won’t be much defense possible, sir, if we’re caught; but I think Sergeant Terry agrees with me that we ought not to be caught.”


“Will you take your rifle and bayonet, Sergeant?”


“I’d rather not, sir. In fact, the plan that has come into my mind at this moment is for Sergeant Terry and myself to stain our faces and bodies with juice from the berries of the boka bush that is growing inside our lines. Then we’ll rob two of the native prisoners of their clothing, under which we can each carry a service revolver and a creese. That is, sir, if you approve my plan.”


Captain Freeman was silent for some moments.


“I’m afraid you’re planning an especially desperate undertaking, Sergeant Overton. I quite understand your idea in dressing like natives. But if you are seen, you will be spoken to. It will be in the native tongue. What then? You can’t answer in native speech.”


“But I think, sir,” argued Hal, “that you’ll agree that there are probably men from several tribes under the datto’s command. In that case many different tribal dialects will be spoken. Noll—pardon me, sir—Sergeant Terry and I can answer in any heathen-sounding, guttural sort of words, and look stupid.”


“It’s quite difficult, my lad, to improvise a pretended language on the spur of the moment.”


“Hakka kado me no tonga, lakka prada estig ferente,” rejoined Hal Overton, with a grin.


“Dikka mone peditti u nono mate ben,” said Noll cheerfully.


“What language is that, lads?” demanded Captain Freeman.


“New Jersey hog-Latin, I imagine, sir,” replied Sergeant Hal soberly.


“I do not believe, gentlemen, that we can send better scouts than Sergeants Overton and Terry,” said Captain Freeman.


His two subordinates expressed their agreement.


“Sergeants, you may go and prepare yourselves. Do it as speedily as you can, and report to me as soon as you are ready.”


There was sullen objection from two of the native prisoners, when their clothing was taken from them. Hal and Noll, however, loaned their blankets in exchange.


“You know, Noll, if we don’t succeed to-night, we shall have no further use for our blankets, anyway,” Hal remarked dryly.


“I’ve thought of that,” Sergeant Terry nodded.


After they had dyed their skin and hair with the juice of the boka the two Army boys next distributed a liberal amount of dirt on themselves, then drew on the borrowed clothing, consisting only of shirts and short trousers. Inside their clothing each tucked a sharp-edged creese, also a loaded service revolver.


“You’ll do, in the dark,” nodded Captain Freeman, after looking them over keenly. “Of course, you won’t show yourselves in a strong light, anyway. Now, you don’t need instructions. You understand your errand.”


Captain Freeman himself took the two Army boys through the darkness to the trench.


“I am turning these fellows loose, men,” the captain announced. “But don’t allow any of the others to go through the lines.”


To the captain’s relief, the disguises appeared to “work” well in the dark, for the men on guard in the trench merely saluted.




CHAPTER XXII


PLAYING GOO-GOO IN A GRIM GAME


Down the slope the Army boys walked boldly for a few hundred yards. The night was so dark that there was small possibility of being seen at a distance.


“Now, we’d better go a little more cautiously,” whispered Hal, checking his companion by a touch on the arm.


“It’s going to rain within a very few minutes,” Noll whispered in return, as he looked up at the inky sky overhead.


“The more rain the better. I hope there will be no lightning.”


“Where are you going to try to slip through the lines?”


“Do you remember the gully that runs back through the woods below, somewhat to our left as we stand now?” queried Hal.


“Yes; certainly.”


“That gully is a trap such as sane soldiers would hardly dare venture into. If they did, and were discovered, the Moros could annihilate them from above.”


“Surely,” nodded Noll.


“Therefore I have an idea that the Moros haven’t attempted to guard that gully in force, though there may be men on either side above it. Noll, if we are careful not to make a sound I think we can steal through that gully without getting caught.”


“Or else we’ll run into a hundred times as much trouble as we can handle,” replied Noll thoughtfully.


“It’s worth taking a chance, isn’t it?”


“I think it’s the best single chance I can see.”


“Come along, then,” whispered Hal. “You might keep just a little behind me. I think I can find the mouth of the gully, even in this pitchy blackness. If you see me drop to my knees, do the same.”


Hal started forward again. The natural-born scout, once he has observed a place in the daylight, has some kind of an instinct that guides him to the same spot in the darkness.


Sergeant Hal had not gone far when the rain began to descend. There were distant rumblings of thunder, but no lightning. For this he was thankful. He hoped to be behind the Moro lines before lightning began to flash.


Two wanderers in front of the enemy’s lines would be sure to excite suspicion, while two seeming natives behind the lines would attract little attention.


Presently Sergeant Overton dropped to his knees, peering ahead and listening keenly, as he crept along. Sergeant Terry imitated his chum. Hal crawled within fifty feet of the mouth of the gully, just a little south of it. After a moment’s pause he obtained his bearings and extended one arm in silent direction to Noll.


Then they crept noiselessly into the mouth of the gully. So far they had not been hailed, but this was not positive proof that human eyes were not watching their movements.


Once inside the gully they moved, cautiously, still on hands and knees, halting after every advance of two or three feet. They were shivering in their thin raiment, for the rain was heavy and cold. Noll’s teeth were all but chattering.


“I don’t believe the gully is guarded at all,” whispered young Overton in his friend’s ear. “This place looks so like a trap that few military commanders would ever think of leading men into it in the dark. I figure that the datto thought this gully not worth guarding by night.”


“The slopes above us on either side may be well guarded, however,” warned Noll.


“Yes; and you can wager that we’ll know all about that before we try to go back to camp,” returned Hal. “The place to start such an investigation is from the rear of the enemy’s lines.”


“All right; lead on.”


They had gone another hundred feet into the gully when Hal Overton stopped again. Now he rose to his feet.


“We’ll walk through,” he whispered. “I don’t believe we will run into any of the datto’s men hereabouts. If we do, leave it to me to do the first talking.”


“Jersey hog-Latin?” queried Noll, with a grin.


“Of course; Spanish or English would be fatal to fellows who look the part that we’re rigged up to play.”


Hal walked on, steadily, though with caution. Noll kept a few feet behind him until the gully widened, then stepped to his chum’s side.


Neither spoke. There was danger in unnecessary conversation. They had covered six hundred feet more when they felt, rather than saw, that they were nearing the further end of the gully.


At last they stepped out into the open—then received a sudden shock. Less than a dozen feet away a Moro sentry, rifle on shoulder, halted, regarding them keenly.


“Manu batto dobi kem,” murmured Hal to his chum, in a low voice. Noll answered in the same low tone. Both were shaking with more than the chill of the rain, but Hal turned to the sentry, inquiring mildly:


“Hoppo tuti sen antrim mak?”


The Moro sentry shook his head. He did not understand that dialect.


“Basta morti hengo pas tum,” murmured Hal regretfully, hesitating before the sentry.


“Manga tim no troka,” remarked Noll.


Hal turned slowly, nodding at his chum. Then both strolled along, the sentry merely staring after them.


“That’s the advantage of scouting within the lines of an enemy where many tongues are spoken,” whispered Noll in his chum’s ear.


The Army boys had not gone twenty feet, however, when they ran into another Moro sentry, who stood under a tree evidently trying to keep out of the rain.


This sentry addressed them with two or three words in the Moro tongue.


“Banda nokku him slengo mat,” replied Hal.


Again the sentry spoke to them, accompanying his words with a gesture that seemed to order them to pass on. The Army boys were glad enough to obey.


“We’re right in the middle of the hornet’s nest,” whispered Noll.


Fifty feet further on the Army boys came upon a rudely built shack under which a number of brown men were huddled to escape the rain.


“The outpost crowd,” whispered Hal. “Noll, I believe we’re getting into the heart of the Moros’ camp.”


Noll was about to answer, but at that moment discerning another sentry, a few yards ahead, checked his reply. This sentinel they managed to pass without words. Being well within the enemy’s lines now, and apparently natives themselves, the Army boys were not as likely to attract suspicion to themselves.


A heavier downpour of rain drove the young scouts for a moment under the spreading branches of a large tree.


“This job is almost as easy as stealing the marmalade from mother’s preserve closet,” chuckled Sergeant Noll, despite his discomfort.


“This place is like a good many traps,” replied Hal. “It seems easy enough to get in, but remember, boy, we’ve got to get out.”


As soon as the rain slackened somewhat the two scouts sauntered on again. Here and there they passed rude shacks in which Moros and allied natives were sleeping. Then the young scouts came upon a new scene that made them fairly catch their breath.


They were standing by a mud wall now, a wall of about nine feet in height. There could be no doubt that this was a Moro fort, erected for a particular purpose, and Hal’s active mind immediately fathomed that purpose.


“The datto’s own headquarters!” he whispered in his chum’s ear. “Oh, Noll, I hope that I am right!”


Terry nodded. He was as excited as was his comrade.


The wall, as well as the Army boys could judge, was more than two hundred feet long. About half way down they came to a gate. Here six Moro sentries, armed with rifles and protected from the storm by woven rush raincoats, stood on guard.


Hal boldly stepped nearer, for the sentries were already regarding this straying pair of natives. Noll, with a quick catch in his throat, stepped after his chum. It looked like running into almost certain death, for aside from the six sentries there were hundreds of Moros within call.


“Bola mak no benga?” demanded Sergeant Hal, with an impudence and cool assurance that he was far from feeling.


One of the Moro sentries looked at the Army boys, grinning and shaking his head. Then laying two fingers across his mouth as a sign for silence, he pointed inside the mud-walled enclosure.


“Him hasta putti datto?” asked Hal, in a low voice.


“Datto” was the only word the Moro could make out, but he understood that, and again pointed inside.


“Banga tim no satti du,” remarked Hal softly to his chum. Then Sergeant Hal bent low, making an elaborate bow before the gateway. Noll Terry “caught on” and followed suit. The Moro sentries grinned. Nor did they offer any objection when the Army boys strolled off into the tempest-ridden darkness.


“Now, what?” whispered Noll, as the Army boys halted under a tree.


“Noll, the biggest game in the world, now—to get back out of the trap into which we’ve stepped!”




CHAPTER XXIII


DOOMING THE DATTO


“Noll, you remember the first sentry inside the gully at this end?”


“Yes.”


“Have you the nerve to stay near him while I try to get back to camp alone?”


“I have nerve enough to do anything that a soldier may be called upon to do.”


“I was sure of it,” Hal replied.


“But what’s the game?”


“You are to keep close to that sentry until just before daylight,” continued Hal. “Then, if nothing happens, slip out and make your way back to camp as best you can. But if Captain Freeman allows me to lead the expedition through that gully, you are to be on hand to silence that sentry at the first sound of our coming.”


“I think I can do that,” Sergeant Terry replied thoughtfully. “I’ll either win out or give up my life without a murmur.”


“Noll, if you prefer it, you can try to reach camp, and I’ll stay by that first sentry inside the gully.”


“No, Hal; I think you are far more apt to succeed in reaching camp than I. I’m satisfied with the second part in the game. Both parts are big enough.”


“Very well! Good-bye, chum. Take care of yourself!”


They had yet a little distance to go before they came upon the Moro sentry beyond the inner mouth of the gully. As they approached him they strolled along in leisurely fashion.


The sentry, who appeared to be a good-natured, rather stupid fellow, surveyed the chums with a grin. He pointed to the sky, then made a motion of shivering. Clearly this native believed the pretended brown men to be foolish fellows for remaining out in such a downpour.


“Hastu maki not,” observed Hal.


“No beni,” replied Noll, and Hal stepped away in the darkness. He did not appear to be headed for the gully, but Noll distracted the attention of the sentry for a few moments, and out of the corner of his eye Terry caught a glimpse of Hal’s body moving into the mouth of the gully.


A moment later Hal was out of sight and sound. Noll and the sentry stood side by side. Presently, as neither could understand the other’s speech, Noll and the Moro fell to “conversing” by means of signs. Yet, in this line, they could go little beyond the weather. Noll presently made a hit with the real brown man by shaking his fist in the direction of the American camp, then drawing his hand across his throat with an eloquent gesture of throat-cutting.


Sergeant Hal Overton not only got out of the gully, but also satisfied himself that the slopes were not guarded.


“As the gully looks like a natural trap, and the datto has at least four hundred men between himself and the gully, I suppose old Hakkut is not worrying a great deal,” reflected Overton.


Hal did not now trouble himself to move so stealthily, until he neared the American encampment. With noiseless step he approached and called out in the darkness:


“Officer of the day!”


“Halt! Who goes there?” called an alert soldier.


“Sergeant Overton, in scout disguise,” Hal returned. “I wish to return to camp.”


“Advance, Sergeant Overton, to be recognized.”


Thus assured that he would not be shot down by mistake, Hal walked slowly but openly in the direction of the voice from the trench.


“If you can recognize me, Galbraith, you’re a wonder,” laughed Hal, as he came within the soldier’s range of vision.


“You, Sergeant Overton. Great Scott, I don’t recognize anything but the voice. I know that, however; pass on, Sergeant.”


Hal went at once to Captain Freeman, whom, however, he had to awaken. Lieutenants Prescott and Holmes were quickly added to the lightning conference that followed.


The officers listened almost in amazement to the yarn that Sergeant Overton rapidly spun for them.


“We made no mistake in detailing you two sergeants to investigate the position of the enemy,” remarked Captain Freeman warmly. “Now our course is clear. You understand my plan, gentlemen?”


The two young lieutenants quickly assented.


“We shall have to abandon our transport wagons, though I think we shall have no difficulty in recovering them later,” went on the commanding officer. “Waken all the men, and have each man carry as much ammunition as he can pack. The Gatling gun goes with us, of course.”


“And the wounded men, sir?” asked Lieutenant Prescott.


“Those still unable to walk will have to be carried on the same blanket stretchers. Caution these wounded men that, no matter what discomfort they may suffer on the trip, not one is to make a sound. Our lives are at stake. Now hustle, gentlemen! We must march from this position in less than twenty minutes.”


“And the prisoners, sir?” asked Lieutenant Greg Holmes.


“Bind the prisoners and gag them, and do it effectively. We can’t trust a prisoner on a dash like this. Leave them behind, but be sure that they can’t effect their own escape. Gentlemen, I look to your effective aid in playing a most brilliant trick on the enemy.”


Twelve minutes later the column started. They moved in three bodies. In advance were twelve picked men of B Company, under Sergeant Overton. Captain Freeman accompanied this little advance guard.


At a suitable interval behind marched fifty men under Lieutenant Prescott.


Last of all Lieutenant Holmes headed the remainder of the expedition. With this rear guard marched such of the wounded men as were able to walk. The others of the wounded were carried on blanket stretchers.


Silently, like a procession of ghosts, moved the American troops. The rain had moderated to a drizzle, but there was no star in sight to throw the least ray of light over the tropical scene.


Almost as straight as a bullet could have been fired Sergeant Hal led the advance guard to the mouth of the gully. There was no challenge, no shot fired by the enemy. A minute’s halt; then the advance guard quickly followed Sergeant Overton into the gully, Captain Freeman stepping just behind the leader.


When they were two thirds of the way through, Sergeant Hal, who was still in his native costume, held up his hand as a signal to halt. The signal was passed back through the advance.


“I think you’d better wait here a few minutes, sir,” whispered Hal to the commanding officer. “I’ll hand my rifle to one of the men and then stroll forward to see if the coast is clear.”


“A good plan, Sergeant; but take mighty good care of yourself!”


“Yes, sir. If you hear sounds of trouble up ahead then I suppose you’ll push right on through.”


“If there’s any sound of trouble, whatever, Sergeant, you can depend upon our rushing through.”


Saluting, Overton turned and slowly vanished into the darkness ahead. Just as he came out of the gully Hal heard a cautious, warning:


“Sh-sh!”


The muzzle of a rifle was thrust to his breast.


“Noll?” whispered Hal.


“Yes,” whispered Terry.


“Where’s the real sentry at this point?” breathed Hal.


“The poor fellow was chilled through. I got chummy with him, talking sign language, and then volunteered to stand duty for him. The Moro has gone off to take a sleep where it’s drier.”


“Bully, old Noll!”


“The troops are behind you, Hal?”


“Yes.”


“Then march them ahead straight on for a hundred yards due west. You won’t run into any of the enemy there. I’ve made it my business to know.”


Hal flew back to the advance guard.


“Fine!” glowed Captain Freeman, when he had heard the report.


The advance was quickly in motion. Captain Freeman was soon up with Noll, who, after whispering, led the advance to the point he had mentioned to his chum. Hal, in the meantime, remained to receive and pilot Lieutenant Prescott’s command.


“How on earth did you do this?” demanded Prescott in a whisper.


“Some of Sergeant Terry’s work, sir,” whispered Hal. “When you’re ready, sir, just keep on straight ahead until you come upon the advance. I’ll remain here, sir, if you permit, to warn the men behind you that they’re marching inside the Moros’ lines.”


“Do so, Sergeant,” directed Lieutenant Prescott, at the same time making the motion for his men to move ahead. On came the rest of the command in single file.


“Softly,” warned Hal, as the men passed by him. “You’re inside the enemy’s lines.”


Then, as the last man passed him, Hal whispered:


“Fall out, Gleason. Remain here to warn the rear guard when it arrives.”


“All right, Sergeant. But this kind of work in the dark makes one creepy. I feel as though I were robbing a judge’s chicken-roost.”


Hal laughed softly and hurried after the vanishing troops. Within a few minutes more the rear guard had arrived.


By this time the rain had begun to come down again in torrents, but this favored the work of the American troops.


Led by the two young scouts, the entire command managed to advance, undetected, to a point from which Captain Freeman could dimly make out the mud walls of the datto’s fort.


“Take the same twelve men of the advance guard, Sergeant Overton,” whispered Captain Freeman, after he had given directions regarding the carrying of the wounded so that they would be as well protected as possible from slashing by Moro swords or creeses during the attack about to be made. “With your men, Sergeant, gain the gate of the fort. Remember, at no matter what cost, you must get your party inside and hold the gate. We’ll be on the spot the moment we hear the first sound of your attack.”


“Now, then, men,” Hal instructed his own detachment, “we won’t march forward, and we won’t skulk, either. We’ll simply stroll along. The instant that I hear any sound showing that we’re discovered, I’ll give the order to charge. When that order comes—remember that we simply must fight our way through the gate of the fort.”


Then he gave the order for the forward movement. Hal placed himself at the head of his detachment, the post of greatest danger.


It was raining so heavily that even the guards at the datto’s gate had relaxed their vigilance.


So Sergeant Hal Overton was within thirty feet of the gate when one of the six sentries, peering outside, caught sight of him, yelled and held his rifle at aim.


“Detachment charge!” yelled Sergeant Hal Overton.


With a low-uttered yet enthusiastic yell the twelve regulars piled in after their sergeant.


There was short, sharp firing at the gate. Then the Americans drove that guard in, killing four of them and holding the gate.


Now there was wild yelling inside the fort. Lights flashed from the principal building in the enclosure. Sergeant Hal waited only long enough to realize that Lieutenant Prescott’s command had come up when he shouted to his own men:


“Follow me to the datto’s house! He’s the fellow we want.”


Fifty natives howling wildly had thrown themselves around the house of the Datto Hakkut and had opened fire on the soldiers by the time that Hal and his few men reached the spot.


“Fight your way through ‘em, men!” commanded Hal.


“Bring your men back, Sergeant!” shouted Captain Freeman in Hal’s ear. “We’ve got the Gatling ready. I’ll show you something better.”


Swiftly the regulars dodged back. Sergeant Noll was at the breech of the Gatling.


R-r-r-r-rip! rattled out that rapid-fire machine, and the fire swept mercilessly into the ranks of those who defended the datto.


Lieutenant Holmes had gotten the wounded inside the walls. Now, with his efficient men he had turned to guard the gate, for outside, hundreds of frantically-yelling Moro fanatics had gathered for the attack on the invaders.


Into the closely packed ranks of the brown men who sought to defend the datto’s house the Gatling poured its raking fire with fearful effect.


Whatever the issue of this madly fought battle, it began to look as though the Datto Hakkut were doomed.




CHAPTER XXIV


CONCLUSION


“Have your men fix their bayonets, Lieutenant Prescott!” commanded Captain Freeman. “Fall in, men! We’ll take the datto on the rush!”


As the Moros, reinforced by two score more who had rushed to the aid of their leader, drew up for a last desperate stand before the house, the door opened.


A stream of light from inside illuminated the scene.


Out bounded a man past middle age and of imposing appearance. Not even his rich costume and flashing jewels were needed to proclaim that this man was the datto himself.


Behind Hakkut came another and younger man, the datto’s sword-bearer.


Hakkut was carrying his own heavy, straight-edged sword. For a moment or two he stood blinking upon the scene of carnage and death below him as he halted on his porch. Then his gaze swept to the regulars behind the machine gun, standing alert with bayonets fixed, ready for that solitary word “charge!”


Instantly the datto turned and shouted something to the younger man with him.


In another moment the datto had placed the hilt of his sword against the flooring of the porch, the point of the weapon up. The younger man knelt swiftly, holding the sword in this position. Drawing back, the Datto Hakkut hurled himself forward with great force, falling upon the point. Then he tottered sideways, tumbling to the floor of the porch. The younger man without hesitation drove a needle-pointed creese three times into his ruler’s breast. Withdrawing the knife, the sword-bearer then killed himself.


“Charge, Lieutenant Prescott!” called Captain Freeman.


“Charge!” repeated the lieutenant. The line of bayonets swept forward, but news of the death of the datto had already reached his would-be defenders. The regulars swept through, meeting little resistance, for hope had left the Moros with the passing of their savage prince.


In a twinkling the datto’s house was in the hands of the regulars. Now a corporal’s guard could have held it, for the Moros inside the fort who were still capable of fighting were throwing down their weapons in despair.


“Round the prisoners up, Lieutenant Prescott,” commanded Captain Freeman. “I’ll take some of your men and the Gatling to the gate to help Lieutenant Holmes.”


In truth the Gatling was now sadly needed at the gate, for Lieutenant Holmes was having the fight of his life. Swarms of fanatic Moros were attempting to rush the small party of regulars.


The Gatling, placed in a position commanding the gate and sweeping all in front of it, soon checked the desperate attack at this point. The Moros could yet swarm the walls on all sides, however. The fight was far from won.


There was a chance still to close the huge wooden gate, and this Captain Freeman, with a few of his men, succeeded in doing just as the Gatling was withdrawn.


Suddenly it occurred to Captain Freeman that the night was passing and that the first dull light of day was creeping over the scene.


At the commanding officer’s side Sergeant Hal Overton reported, saluting and saying:


“Sir, I have a suggestion to offer.”


“State it, Sergeant.”


“It seems like an almost dastardly thing to do, sir, but the death of the datto stopped the fighting inside. Wouldn’t it be a good plan, sir, since the datto is assuredly dead, to have his body placed upon the top of the wall and hurled over to the Moros outside? When they behold that sight they may feel that their cause is gone.”


“That is the best suggestion that could be made. You attend to it, Sergeant.”


“Very good, sir.”


Lieutenant Prescott paused for a moment in the shelter of the datto’s porch. It had been warm work, and the young West Pointer was mopping his face with his handkerchief.


At this juncture Hal appeared with four men.


“Pardon me, sir,” he said, saluting the lieutenant, “I am acting by Captain Freeman’s orders.”


With that the young sergeant pointed to the datto’s body. The four men lifted it, carrying it from the porch. Prescott asked no question, but watched with interest what followed.


Across the yard Hal’s squad bore the datto’s body, to a point of the walls where the regulars were making their fiercest fight to repulse the Moros outside.


“Two of you climb up on the wall,” Hal ordered. “The other two pass the body up.”


This was done.


“Over with it,” Sergeant Hal commanded, and the body was hurled to the ground outside.


An instant later there was a shout that was soon changed to a wail. In the growing daylight several of the Moro fighters had recognized the grisly message that had been hurled to them. Half a dozen fighting men dropped their weapons, picked up the datto’s body and hurried off with it to a grove beyond.


Within two minutes the fighting had stopped. The Moros had fled to the grove, from which a loud, nerve-racking wailing now ascended.


Captain Freeman climbed to the top of the wall.


“We could wipe them out by the hundreds with the Gatling now,” he remarked grimly. “However, I fancy it won’t be necessary.”


In half an hour the wailing of the Moros had ceased. They had gone farther away, and the regulars were content to remain behind the walls. While half of the effective troops were left on the walls, the other half prepared and ate their breakfast from the abundant food supplies found in the fort. After that the other half breakfasted.


That forenoon Lieutenant Holmes was sent out with a scouting force of thirty men. Two hours later he returned, stating that he had been unable to find any signs of the enemy.


In the afternoon Lieutenant Prescott and thirty men marched back to camp. There they found the transport wagons and horses uninjured, and returned with them to the fort after having set the half dozen native prisoners free.


“I fancy the cruel war is over, gentlemen,” remarked Captain Freeman that evening to his two younger officers. “These Moros, like other semi-savages, fight with heart only when they have a great leader. In this way, the Datto Hakkut was a great man. For ten years he has been the scourge of northern Mindanao, but now we shall have a rest from him. He will never again disturb the peace of the island.”


Early the following morning Lieutenant Prescott was sent out at the head of forty men, Hal and Noll accompanying him. Unless attacked by superior force this detachment was to remain out all day, scouting through the country for signs of the enemy.


In the morning two native villages were found close to the principal road through the mountains. As the natives appeared to have no weapons, and offered no trouble, they were not molested.


“You may be sure, though, Sergeant Overton,” remarked Lieutenant Prescott, “that very nearly all of the men we have seen so far to-day served lately under the datto. However, if they have learned a lesson, and are now bent on peace, we won’t molest them.”


In the afternoon, as the detachment, moving at route step, reached the crest of a hill those in advance came upon a party of Moros camped in a grove by the road. These men, perhaps fifty in number, were preparing a meal. They displayed no weapons.


“These men were undoubtedly recent fighters, too,” remarked Lieutenant Prescott. “However, we’ll look them over to make sure that they have no weapons now.”


Hardly had the two sergeants started on their tour of inspection when one man leaped suddenly from his seat on the ground and made off on a run.


“There’s the man we want!” yelled Hal. “Vicente Tomba, I call upon you to halt and surrender!”


But Tomba, for it was he, continued to run fleetly.


“Bring that man down, if he won’t stop!” commanded Lieutenant Prescott sternly.


“Halt, Tomba, or we fire!” shouted Hal. “Ready, men! Aim! fire!”


Seven rifles spoke, almost in unison. Vicente Tomba pitched forward, then fell. When examined he was found to have received four bullet wounds. As he was dead, the soldiers buried him then and there.


“Men who are found in Tomba’s company are subjects for suspicion,” remarked Lieutenant Prescott dryly. “Though we’ve found no weapons with this crowd we’ll round ‘em up and take ‘em in.”


This was done. Captain Freeman decided to read these natives a lesson and then let them go.


“Why not make the rascals most humbly salute the Flag, sir?” suggested Sergeant Overton respectfully. “I still have the Flag that the Moros insulted.”


“A good idea,” nodded the commanding officer. “Get the Flag, Sergeant.”


Over the late datto’s fort the Stars and Stripes soon fluttered. The troops were paraded to do the emblem honor. Then the Moro prisoners were forced to pay it humble reverence, after which they were allowed, on their hands and knees, to crawl out of the fort and find their liberty outside.


“I’m sorry the datto didn’t live a little longer,” murmured Sergeant Hal to his chum. “I’d have enjoyed seeing him salute the Flag fifty times and then crawl away on his knees.”


The following morning Captain Freeman marched his column back over the many miles that lay between them and Bantoc. On a later morning of the march the dusty column passed Draney’s plantation. That adventurer boldly hailed the officers as the troops marched by.


“I hear you’ve killed the datto,” was the planter’s greeting.


“Yes,” responded Captain Freeman dryly. “There are a few others, though, who deserve the same fate.”


“We’ll mix it up with that scoundrel yet,” muttered Hal to his chum.


Back in Bantoc all was quiet again. Cerverra had been released with a reprimand that he was not likely to forget. Now that the datto was gone, the spirit was lacking for insurrection, and that part of Mindanao settled down to quiet.


For how long? Undoubtedly the reader will discover in the next volume of this series—a volume that will be filled with the lively doings of our Army in the Philippines. This great tale will be published under the title, “Uncle Sam’s Boys on Their Mettle; Or, A Chance to Win Officers’ Commissions.” In this forthcoming narrative the reader will meet several old friends and will renew their acquaintance in the most startling situations.


The End




HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY’S


Best and Least Expensive Books for Boys and Girls


The Motor Boat Club Series


By H. IRVING HANCOCK


The keynote of these books is manliness. The stories are wonderfully entertaining, and they are at the same time sound and wholesome. No boy will willingly lay down an unfinished book in this series.


1 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OF THE KENNEBEC; Or, The Secret of Smugglers’ Island.


2 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT NANTUCKET; Or, The Mystery of the Dunstan Heir.


3 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND; Or, A Daring Marine Game at Racing Speed.


4 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AND THE WIRELESS; Or, The Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise.


5 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB IN FLORIDA; Or, Laying the Ghost of Alligator Swamp.


6 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT THE GOLDEN GATE; Or, A Thrilling Capture in the Great Fog.


7 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB ON THE GREAT LAKES; Or, The Flying Dutchman of the Big Fresh Water.


Cloth, illustrated.       Price, per Volume, 50c.


Sold by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price.


Henry Altemus Company


1326-1336 Vine Street Philadelphia




Battleship Boys Series


By FRANK GEE PATCHIN


These stories throb with the life of young Americans on today’s huge drab Dreadnaughts.


1 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS AT SEA; Or, Two Apprentices in Uncle Sam’s Navy.


2 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS’ FIRST STEP UPWARD; Or, Winning Their Grades as Petty Officers.


3 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN FOREIGN SERVICE; Or, Earning New Ratings in European Seas.


4 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN THE TROPICS; Or, Upholding the American Flag in a Honduras Revolution.


6 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN THE WARDROOM; Or, Winning their Commissions as Line Officers.


7 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS WITH THE ADRIATIC CHASERS; Or, Blocking the Path of the Undersea Raiders.


8 THE BATTLESHIP BOYS’ SKY PATROL; Or, Fighting the Hun from above the Clouds.




The Range and Grange Hustlers


By FRANK GEE PATCHIN


Have you any idea of the excitements, the glories of life on great ranches in the West? Any bright boy will “devour” the books of this series, once he has made a start with the first volume.


1 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE RANCH; Or, The Boy Shepherds of the Great Divide.


2 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS’ GREATEST ROUND-UP; Or, Pitting Their Wits Against a Packers’ Combine.


3 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS ON THE PLAINS; Or, Following the Steam Plows Across the Prairie.


4 THE RANGE AND GRANGE HUSTLERS AT CHICAGO; Or, The Conspiracy of the Wheat Pit.


Cloth, Illustrated.        Price, per Volume, 50c.




Submarine Boys Series


By VICTOR G. DURHAM


1 THE SUBMARINE BOYS ON DUTY; Or, Life on a Diving Torpedo Boat.

2  THE SUBMARINE BOYS’ TRIAL TRIP; Or, “Making Good” as Young Experts.

3 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES; Or, The Prize Detail at Annapolis.

4 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SPIES; Or, Dodging the Sharks of the Deep.

5 THE SUBMARINE BOYS’ LIGHTNING CRUISE; Or, The Young Kings of the Deep.

6 THE SUBMARINE BOYS FOR THE FLAG; Or, Deeding Their Lives to Uncle Sam.

7 THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SMUGGLERS; Or, Breaking Up the New Jersey Customs Frauds.




The Square Dollar Boys Series


By H. IRVING HANCOCK


1 THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS WAKE UP; Or, Fighting the Trolley Franchise Steal.

2 THE SQUARE DOLLAR BOYS SMASH THE RING; Or, In the Lists Against the Crooked Land Deal.




The College Girls Series


By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M.


1 GRACE HARLOWE’S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.

2 GRACE HARLOWE’S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.

3 GRACE HARLOWE’S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.

4 GRACE HARLOWE’S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.

5 GRACE HARLOWE’S RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS. 6 GRACE HARLOWE’S PROBLEM.

7 GRACE HARLOWE’S GOLDEN SUMMER.


All these books are bound in Cloth and will be sent postpaid on receipt of only 50 cents each.




Pony Rider Boys Series


By FRANK GEE PATCHIN


These tales may be aptly described the best books for boys and girls.




1 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; Or, The Secret of the Lost Claim.—2 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS; Or, The Veiled Riddle of the Plains.—3 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; Or, The Mystery of the Old Custer Trail.—4 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS; Or, The Secret of Ruby Mountain.—5 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ALKALI; Or, Finding a Key to the Desert Maze.—6 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW MEXICO; Or, The End of the Silver Trail.—7 THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON; Or, The Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch.




Cloth, illustrated.        Price, per Volume, 50c.




The Boys of Steel Series


By JAMES R. MEARS


Each book presents a vivid picture of this great industry. Each story is full of adventure and fascination.




1 THE IRON BOYS IN THE MINES; Or, Starting at the Bottom of the Shaft.—2 THE IRON BOYS AS FOREMEN; Or, Heading the Diamond Drill Shift.—3 THE IRON BOYS ON THE ORE BOATS; Or, Roughing It on the Great Lakes.—4 THE IRON BOYS IN THE STEEL MILLS; Or, Beginning Anew in the Cinder Pits.




Cloth, illustrated.        Price, per Volume, 50c.




The Madge Morton Books


By AMY D. V. CHALMERS


1 MADGE MORTON—CAPTAIN OF THE MERRY MAID.


2 MADGE MORTON’S SECRET.


3 MADGE MORTON’S TRUST.


4 MADGE MORTON’S VICTORY.


Cloth, illustrated.        Price, per Volume, 50c.




West Point Series


By H. IRVING HANCOCK




The principal characters in these narratives are manly, young Americans whose doings will inspire all boy readers.




1 DICK PRESCOTT’S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Two Chums in the Cadet Gray.


2 DICK PRESCOTT’S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Finding the Glory of the Soldier’s Life.


3 DICK PRESCOTT’S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Standing Firm for Flag and Honor.


4 DICK PRESCOTT’S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; Or, Ready to Drop the Gray for Shoulder Straps.


Cloth, illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50c.




Annapolis Series


By H. IRVING HANCOCK




The Spirit of the new Navy is delightfully and truthfully depicted in these volumes.




1 DAVE DARRIN’S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Plebe Midshipmen at the U. S. Naval Academy.


2 DAVE DARRIN’S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Two Midshipmen as Naval Academy “Youngsters.”


3 DAVE DARRIN’S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Leaders of the Second Class Midshipmen.


4 DAVE DARRIN’S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; Or, Headed for Graduation and the Big Cruise.


Cloth, illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50c.




The Young Engineers Series


By H. IRVING HANCOCK




The heroes of these stories are known to readers of the High School Boys Series. In this new series Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton prove worthy of all the traditions of Dick & Co.




1 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN COLORADO; Or, At Railroad Building in Earnest.


2 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN ARIZONA; Or, Laying Tracks on the “Man-Killer” Quicksand.


3 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN NEVADA; Or, Seeking Fortune on the Turn of a Pick.


4 THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN MEXICO; Or, Fighting the Mine Swindlers.


Cloth, illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50c.




Boys of the Army Series


By H. IRVING HANCOCK




These books breathe the life and spirit of the United States Army of to-day, and the life, just as it is, is described by a master pen.




1 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS IN THE RANKS; Or, Two Recruits in the United States Army.


2 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS ON FIELD DUTY; Or, Winning Corporal’s Chevrons.


3 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS AS SERGEANTS; Or, Handling Their First Real Commands.


4 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS IN THE PHILIPPINES; Or, Following the Flag Against the Moros.


6 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS AS LIEUTENANTS; Or, Serving Old Glory as Line Officers.


7 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS WITH PERSHING; Or, Dick Prescott at Grips with the Boche.


8 UNCLE SAM’S BOYS IN THE GREAT MARNE DRIVE; Or, Putting Old Glory in the Forefront in France.




Dave Darrin Series


By H. IRVING HANCOCK


1 DAVE DARRIN AT VERA CRUZ; Or, Fighting With the U. S. Navy in Mexico.


2 DAVE DARRIN ON MEDITERRANEAN SERVICE.


3 DAVE DARRIN’S SOUTH AMERICAN CRUISE.


4 DAVE DARRIN ON THE ASIATIC STATION.


5 DAVE DARRIN AND THE GERMAN SUBMARINES.


6 DAVE DARRIN AFTER THE MINE LAYERS; Or, Hitting the Enemy a Hard Naval Blow.




The Meadow-Brook Girls Series


By JANET ALDRIDGE


1 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER CANVAS.


2 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS COUNTRY.


3 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS AFLOAT.


4 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS IN THE HILLS.


5 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS BY THE SEA.


6 THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ON THE TENNIS COURTS.


All these books are bound in Cloth and will be sent postpaid on receipt of only 50 cents each.




High School Boys Series


By H. IRVING HANCOCK




In this series of bright, crisp books a new note has been struck.


Boys of every age under sixty will be interested in these fascinating volumes.




1 THE HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN; Or, Dick & Co.’s First Year Pranks and Sports.


2 THE HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER; Or, Dick & Co. on the Gridley Diamond.


3 THE HIGH SCHOOL LEFT END; Or, Dick & Co. Grilling on the Football Gridiron.


4 THE HIGH SCHOOL CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM; Or, Dick & Co. Leading the Athletic Vanguard.


Cloth, illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50c.




Grammar School Boys Series


By H. IRVING HANCOCK




This series of stories, based on the actual doings of grammar school boys, comes near to the heart of the average American boy.




1 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS OF GRIDLEY; Or, Dick & Co. Start Things Moving.


2 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SNOWBOUND; Or, Dick & Co. at Winter Sports.


3 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN THE WOODS; Or, Dick & Co. Trail Fun and Knowledge.


4 THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER ATHLETICS; Or, Dick & Co. Make Their Fame Secure.


Cloth, illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50c.




High School Boys’ Vacation Series


By H. IRVING HANCOCK


“Give us more Dick Prescott books!”




This has been the burden of the cry from young readers of the country over. Almost numberless letters have been received by the publishers, making this eager demand; for Dick Prescott, Dave Darrin, Tom Reade, and the other members of Dick & Co. are the most popular high school boys in the land. Boys will alternately thrill and chuckle when reading these splendid narratives.




1 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ CANOE CLUB; Or, Dick & Co.’s Rivals on Lake Pleasant.


2 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER CAMP; Or, The Dick Prescott Six Training for the Gridley Eleven.


3 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ FISHING TRIP; Or, Dick & Co. in the Wilderness.


4 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ TRAINING HIKE; Or, Dick & Co. Making Themselves “Hard as Nails.”


Cloth, illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50c.




The Circus Boys Series


By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON




Mr. Darlington’s books breathe forth every phase of an intensely interesting and exciting life.




1 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; Or, Making the Start in the Sawdust Life.


2 THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; Or, Winning New Laurels on the Tanbark.


3 THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; Or, Winning the Plaudits of the Sunny South.


4 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; Or, Afloat with the Big Show on the Big River.


Cloth, illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50c.




The High School Girls Series


By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M.




These breezy stories of the American High School Girl take the reader fairly by storm.




1 GRACE HARLOWE’S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Merry Doings of the Oakdale Freshman Girls.


2 GRACE HARLOWE’S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Record of the Girl Chums in Work and Athletics.


3 GRACE HARLOWE’S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, Fast Friends in the Sororities.


4 GRACE HARLOWE’S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; Or, The Parting of the Ways.


Cloth, Illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50c.




The Automobile Girls Series


By LAURA DENT CRANE




No girl’s library—no family book-case can be considered at all complete unless it contains these sparkling twentieth-century books.






1 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; Or, Watching the Summer Parade.—2 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; Or, The Ghost of Lost Man’s Trail.—3 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; Or, Fighting Fire in Sleepy Hollow.—4 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO; Or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds.—5 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT PALM BEACH; Or, Proving Their Mettle Under Southern Skies.—6 THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON; Or, Checkmating the Plots of Foreign Spies.




Cloth, Illustrated. Price, per Volume, 50c.


 


 




***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNCLE SAM’S BOYS IN THE PHILIPPINES***


******* This file should be named 23447-h.txt or 23447-h.zip *******


This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:

http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/4/4/23447


Updated editions will replace the previous one–the old editions will be renamed.


Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research.  They may be modified and printed and given away–you may do practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.


*** START: FULL LICENSE ***

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
http://www.gutenberg.org/license).

Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works

1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.  See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.

1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
1.E.9.

1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.

1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg-tm License.

1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
that

- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."

- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
     License.  You must require such a user to return or
     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
     Project Gutenberg-tm works.

- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
     of receipt of the work.

- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.

1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
your equipment.

1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.

1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm

Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf.

Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.

The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact

For additional contact information:
     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
     Chief Executive and Director
     gbnewby@pglaf.org

Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
To donate, please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate

Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.

Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's
eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII,
compressed (zipped), HTML and others.

Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over
the old filename and etext number.  The replaced older file is renamed.
VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving
new filenames and etext numbers.

Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:

http://www.gutenberg.org

This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000,
are filed in directories based on their release date.  If you want to
download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular
search system you may utilize the following addresses and just
download by the etext year.

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/

    (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99,
     98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90)

EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are
filed in a different way.  The year of a release date is no longer part
of the directory path.  The path is based on the etext number (which is
identical to the filename).  The path to the file is made up of single
digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename.  For
example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at:

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234

or filename 24689 would be found at:

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689

An alternative method of locating eBooks:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL

*** END: FULL LICENSE ***

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26381/26381-h/images/illus001.png

lameco lameco lameco lameco lameco lameco lameco lameco lameco

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1270
		0
		
		
		Book: 1898, Our New Possessions – Philippine Islands, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Hawaiian Islands by Trumbull White
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1217
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1217#respond
		Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:55:40 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=1217
		
				














4 arnis arnis kali kali eskrima eskrima 4 arnis arnis kali kali eskrima eskrima




 


Our New Possessions Four Volumes in One…Philippine Islands, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Hawaiian Islands by Trumbull White, Illustrated by numerous photos, First printing Edition (presumed,) 1898, A. B. Kuhlman Press Company Book Publisher Publishing, LCCC 00-0000,  9 X 7 inches, pp 676, Hard cover,


Contents


Vintage history book on the newest lands to the United States in 1898.  These lands were to have very different futures as two remain key elements of the US while two others are independent once again.  The real value and beauty of this book is in the huge number of vintage images and drawings from all four “possessions.”



]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1217
		0
		
		
		Book: Photographs from Harper’s History of the War in the Philippines
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1196
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=1196#respond
		Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:41:33 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=1196
		
				 


Harper’s

History of the War in the Philippines


 


 Edited by


 Marrion Wilcox


  Harper and Brothers, New York, 1900, first edition.

Light brown cloth hard covers with red leather label on spine, gilt  titles, large folio, 472pp, profusely illustrated with b&w  photographs,  many full-page color plates (chromolithographs), fold-out  plate, maps


A detailed and richly illustrated account of the background history and military campaigns of the War.


The volume includes a listing of all the US soldiers by rank.


Among the color  plates is an illustration  General Lawton by Frederic Remington.


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima KaliIlustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima KaliIlustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali


 


Ilustrisimo Lameco Arnis Eskrima Kali





]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=1196
		0
		
		
		Colt Artillery Model 1873 Single Action Army(SAA) .45 – Researched and written by Dnvzs Zjzllg
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=889
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=889#respond
		Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:05:20 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=889
		
				kali escrima eskrima arnis kapisanang mandirigma kali escrima eskrima arnis kapisanang mandirigma


 


Colt Artillery Model 1873 Single Action Army(SAA) .45


- Barrel Length: 7″ and 5½”

- Weight: 2.3 lbs

- Cartridge Caliber: .45 Long Colt (255 grain)

- Muzzle Velocity: 830 fps

- Service: 1873–1902


The  Colt SAA .45 became the side arm issued to US Army in 1873. The Colt  .45 revolver was considered cutting edge technology at the time. The  large caliber was believed to quell conflicts and bring peace. It became  known as the “Peacemaker”. It would be the most popular revolver of the  old west. Today it remains synonymous with the Cowboys of the western  frontier.


The original Colt SAA issued to troops had the 7″  barrel. By early 1890s the US Army decided to downsize their force as  well as find ways to save on spending. By 1893 many of the Colt SAA  revolvers were replaced by the Colt DA .38. It should be noted the  phasing out of the Colt SAA .45 was a long process and many still found  use as the side arm of select few units. By 1898 the Colt revolvers were  modified with a shorter 5½” and issued first to Artillery units. The  altered Colts with 5½” barrels would be known and later called the  “Artillery Model”. The most popular unit to carry the old Colt .45 SAA  would be Teddy Roosevelts Rough Riders during the Cuban Campaign. The  Colt SAA .45 would truly shine just as the the Philippine-American War  was coming to a close and the beginning of the pacification through out  the Philippines; most particularly during patrols and expeditions in the  Visayan and Moroland(Mindanao) regions. The Colt .38 revolvers provided  to be insufficient in stopping and dropping frantically charged  assailants. Few regulars and volunteers still carried the older Colt SAA  .45 and noted the significant stopping and knock-down power the  revolver had over the newer .38s. Officers soon requested an immediate  re-issue of old Colt SAA .45s to the Philippine Islands.  Because the  Colt SAA .45 would still be used in service all the way up to the end of  the Philippine-American War, it would be safe to say the Colt .45 was  never truly retired in 1893.


By the end of 1902 the  Philippine-American War closed and the US volunteers began mustering out  of service. As US troop presences began to drop in the Philippines,  Tafts Philippine Commission would establish a native police force known  as the Philippine Constabulary to fill the roll of bring law and order  through out the islands. The Philippine Constabulary would be issued the  old 1878 Colt Alaskan .45 revolver, which would be re-designated the  Colt 1902 Philippine Model. Resulting from the effective use of the Colt  Single Action Army .45.


Researched and written by  Dnvzs Zjzllg


kali arnis escrima eskrima kris kampilan rattan balisong, kali arnis escrima eskrima kris kampilan rattan balisong

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=889
		0
		
		
		Colt 1902 Philippine Model Double Action .45LC – Researched and written by Dnvzs Zjzllg
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=882
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=882#respond
		Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:00:25 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=882
		
				 


eskrima escrima arnis kali, kapisanang mandirigma, eskrima escrima arnis kali, kapisanang mandirigma


Colt 1902 Philippine Model Double Action .45LC

Originally issued as: 1878 Colt Alaskan Revolver


Barrel length: 6″

Capacity: 6 round swing out cylinder

Cartridge Caliber: .45 LC(Long Colt)

Weight: 2 lbs

Service: 1878-1892; 1902-1908


Adopted  earlier in 1878 by US soldiers serving in Alaska, the pistol was nearly  phased out by the new issued .38 revolvers. At the end of the  Philippine-American War the Philippine Scouts, along with US military  units, and the Philippine Constabulary(Native Police force) began  expeditions and patrolling through Moroland and Visayan territory. There  they found new adversaries waiting and lurking in the dense terrain of  both regions, namely the Tad-Tad/Pulajanes of Samar/Leyte and the  Juramentado Moros. The native police force were poorly equipped with  Springfield Trapdoor “single shot” rifles, and a ill performing .38 Colt  revolver side arm. Both proved to have insufficient stopping power of a  hard charging swarm of combatants. A shot assailant does not  necessarily make them incapacitated. Sword welding Moros and Filipinos  were known to charge through heavy gun fire and still be capable of  slashing and killing. Requests were quickly made for older issued .45  Colt revolvers, and the US government answered by reissuing out the  older 1878 Alaskan Colt Revolvers to the Philippine Constabulary,  re-designating them the 1902 Philippine Model. The .45 revolvers  performed up to standard and as expected. The stopping power of the .45  cartridge against Filipinos during this era would result in the US  government requesting their newly manufactured and issued sidearm to be  chambered in .45. The end result is the M1911 Colt automatic pistol  chambered in the newly engineered .45ACP cartridge.


The Model  1902 revolver is unique by the enlarged trigger guard. At the time the  new smokeless powder cartridges also required new primers, which took  more effort to ignite; and with it required a stronger trigger spring.  The trigger pull became immense. Colt modified the trigger group by use  of the enlarged trigger guard, which gave more leverage to pull the  trigger.


Researched and written by  Dnvzs Zjzllg


 


kali arnis escrima eskrima kapisanang mandirigma, kali arnis escrima eskrima kapisanang mandirigma

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=882
		0
		
		
		895 Gatling Gun, 1873-1906 – Researched and written by Dnvzs Zjzllg
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=872
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=872#respond
		Wed, 06 Jul 2011 17:15:29 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=872
		
				kali arnis eskrima escrima arnis fma filipino martial arts phillipines kapisanang mandirigma kali arnis eskrima escrima arnis fma filipino martial arts phillipines kapisanang mandirigma


 


895 Gatling Gun 


Weight: 395 lbs

Barrel length: 32″ (6-10 barrels)

Cartridge Caliber: .30 cal and 45-70

Range: +1000 yards

Rate fire: 600-1000 per minute

Service: 1873-1906


Invented  by American Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling(neighbor of the Colt family in  Hartford Connecticut), the Gatling gun is considered by many to be the  first machine gun. It was first introduced during the Civil War in 1865.  Several different models existed through out its advent. 6 to 10  barrels are positioned in a cylinder. Each barrel having its own chamber  and firing mechanism. Ammunition is placed in a magazine canister and  attached on top of the cylinder breech. A crank would be operated by the  gunner, which would rotate the cylinder and barrels. The rotation  loaded, cocked, fired, and ejected spent cartridges. The Gatling gun  initially suffered many issues, as nearly all were hand built at the  time and many parts were not uniform. By the 1890s, the Gatling gun had  significantly improved, and in 1895 the US Army adopted the weapon.

The  Gatling gun saw much action during the Spanish American War. It gained  fame in Cuba giving support fire while Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough  Riders assaulted San Juan Hill. Several examples were later shipped and  used in the war in the Philippines.


Researched and written by  Dnvzs Zjzllg


 


kali arnis eskrima escrima arnis fma filipino martial arts phillipines kapisanang mandirigma

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=872
		0
		
		
		Spanish Mauser Model 1893 Bolt Action Rifle – Researched and written by Dnvzs Zjzllg
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=858
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=858#respond
		Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:00:13 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=858
		
				kapisanang mandirigma backyard eskrima kapisanang mandirigma backyard eskrima


 


Spanish Mauser Model 1893 Bolt Action Rifle


- Manufactured: Loewe Berlin Germany

- Weight: 8.6lb

- Barrel length: 29″

- Cartridge Caliber: 7mm (7x57mm) Smokeless

- Service in Spanish Army: Since 1893


The  1893 Mauser bolt action rifle is considered by many to be one of the  most revolutionary firearms in history and way ahead of it’s era.  Accuracy of the rifle being unmatched during its time. The Mauser rifle  saw little improvements to its design through out its service. It would  be used by nearly all countries up to and during the second world war.  Even by todays standards it is considered extremely accurate next to  modern firearms. Nearly all bolt action rifles produced today take some  design from the Mauser rifle. The 7mm round created a distinctive sound  when whizzing by, the American soldiers called it the “Spanish Hornet”.


Spain  contracted Mauser in Loewe Berlin to produce these rifles for their  entire military in the early 1890s. The Mauser were to replace outdated  rifles like the Remington Rolling Block. The Mauser later shined and  gained an infamous reputation during the Spanish American War at Cuba.  The Battle of San Juan Hill would be the most famous battle of the  Spanish-American War, as well as being the turning point of the war. 800  Spanish soldiers held the hill against an opposing force made up of  nearly 20,000 armed men. 15,000 being made of US Soldiers armed with  Krags and Springfield Trapdoor rifles. Although the fight lasted only 2  days and the US gained control of the hill, the end result was near  disastrous for the Americans. 200 US soldiers lay dead with 1,100 being  wounded. The Spanish resulted in only 58 deaths and 170 wounded. The  Spanish Mauser rifle was quickly noted by the US military and the US  government for its lethality and superiority in this one battle.


At  the same time in the Philippines, the 2nd phase of the Revolution was  in motion and the Philippine Army trampled across the Spanish troops  through out the islands. The Filipinos began to equip themselves with  captured and left over Spanish firearms. They would also account for the  superior performance in the Mauser. Each battalion would have a  separate special unit of expert riflemen/snipers(known as Tiradors); and  all were to be armed with nothing but Mauser rifles. The most popular  Filipino riflemen unit being under the command of General Geronimo, whom  he would name “Tiradores de la Muerte”(Shooters of Death). After the  outbreak of the Philippine American War, the Tiradores de la Muerte  would gain fame in Dec 1899 when the unit defended the town of San Mateo  against 800 US troops under the command of Gen Henry Lawton. On the  morning of the battle Lawton walked along the firing line in open field  to gain a better view of his troops and the opposing force. The troops  noted the distinct firing sound of the Mauser rifles and advised the  general to take cover. The general ignored their warning and at that  instant was struck in the chest by round fired by one of the tiradores  Mauser rifle. Gen Lawton would die with in a few minutes. The rifle shot  coming from a distance of 300 yards during a storm with rain.


Also  during the Spanish American War in the Philippines, in the town of  Baler a small detachment of 50 Spanish soldiers barracked themselves  inside the towns fortified church. Lt Col Teodorico Luna(relative of  Juan and Antonio Luna) would lead the attack against the Spaniards and  surrounded the church. The Spaniards would hold this position from July  1898 to June 1899. During their stand, the Spanish American War would  end, America would purchase the islands, and Philippine American War was  in full swing. The Spanish troops finally surrendered to the Philippine  Army and were received as friendly allies. The dominance of the Mauser  rifle was accredited for the 11 month long stand off.


Due to the  superiority and success of the Mauser rifle over the newly issued Krag  rifles through out the Spanish American War, the US Government took  captured Mausers and gave them to Springfield Armory for their own  research and development. The US Government would give Springfield  Armory the order to build their own Mauser type rifle. In 1900  Springfield had a prototype rifle with similar characteristics of both  the Mauser and Krag rifle. The US Government approved the design, and  the end result is the M1903 Springfield bolt action rifle in 30-06. It  should be noted that Springfield Armory at the time was under government  control, but in itself was still a separate entity as a firearms  manufacturer. The US Government in a way did not purposely copy the  designs, but being Springfield Armory fell under the control of the US  Government, Mauser took action against the US government and not  Springfield Armory. Both Mauser and the US Government realized the  similar features and agreed it infringed on Mausers design patents. The  US Government willfully agreed to pay royalties to Mauser for patent  infringement with out trial.


Researched and written by  Dnvzs Zjzllg


 


kapisanang mandirigma, kapisanang mandirigma


kapisanang mandirigma backyard eskrima, kapisanang mandirigma backyard eskrima


kapisanang mandirigma backyard eskrima, kapisanang mandirigma backyard eskrima


 


kali escrima eskrima arnis

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=858
		0
		
		
		U.S. Army: 11 Infantry Regiment. Insignia with Philippine Bolo and Kampilan Swords (March 28 1923) – By The Institute of Heraldry
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=822
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=822#respond
		Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:35:56 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=822
		
				U.S. Army: 11 Infantry Regiment


By The Institute of Heraldry



Distinctive Unit Insignia


 


Description


A silver color metal and enamel device 1 1/8 inches (2.86cm) in  height  overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Azure, Satanta’s arrow  in fess  Argent between in chief a castle Or in base a kampilan and bolo  in  saltire of the second hilted of the third. On a chief embattled of  the  second a cross Gules.


Symbolism


The symbolism is that of the coat of arms.


Background


The distinctive unit insignia was approved on 28 Mar 1923.



Coat Of Arms


 


Blazon


Shield


Azure, Satanta’s arrow in fess Argent between in chief a castle Or in   base a kampilan and bolo in saltire of the second hilted of the third.   On a chief embattled of the second a cross Gules.


Crest


On a wreath of the colors a fusil Gules bearing a cross patée Argent charged with an acorn of the first.


Motto


SEMPER FIDELIS (Always Faithful).


Symbolism


The shield is blue for infantry. Service in the Spanish War is shown  by  the castle and in the Indian Wars by Satanta’s “arrow.” The most   important Indian campaign of this regiment was against the Kiowas,   Comanches and Cheyenne in 1874. Satanta was a noted Kiowa chief who died   just previous to this campaign. His “arrow” was really a spear with   feathers on the end and a handle. The kampilan and bolo represent   engagements against the Moros of Mindanao and the Filipinos of the   Visayas. Service in the World War is shown by the chief bearing the   cross of the ancient Lords of Dun to commemorate the crossing of the   Meuse at Dun. The embattled partition represents the siege of   Chattanooga in 1863. The crest consists of the Civil War badges of the   1st Division, 14th Army Corps and 2d Division, 5th Army Corps, and the   World War 5th Division shoulder sleeve insignia.


Background


The coat of arms was approved on 12 Oct 1920.


 


 Heraldry Image - Distinctive Unit Insignia 

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=822
		0
		
		
		Apolinario ‘Lumpo’ Mabini y Maranan – Conscience  of the Philippine Revolution (July 23, 1864 — May 13, 1903)
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=806
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=806#respond
		Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:16:56 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=806
		
				kali arnis eskrima escrima philippines kali arnis eskrima escrima philippines


Apolinario Mabini


Hero of the Philippine Revolution 


Conscience  of the Philippine Revolution

the Sublime Paralytic

key adviser of Emilio Aguinaldo

proposed the first constitution of the Philippine Republic

born July 22, 1864 Barrio Talaga, Tanawan Batangas to Inocencio Mabini, Dionisia Maranan

died May 13, 1903


It was immediately before the proclamation of independence that a young man was brought before Aguinaldo as his adviser. He was Apolinario Mabini. Born of very poor parents, Inocencio Mabini and Dionisia Maranan, in Talaga, Tanawan, Batangas. Mabini studied in a school in Tanawan, then conducted by a certain Simplicio Avelino. Much later, he transferred to a school conducted by the famous pedagogue, Father Valerio Malabanan. He continued his studies at the San Juan de Letran and at the University of Sto. Tomas where he received his law degree in 1894.


His dream to defend the poor led him to forsake the priesthood, which his mother wanted him to take. Early in 1896, he contracted an illness, probably infantile paralysis, that led to the paralysis of his lower limbs. When the revolution broke out the same year, the Spanish authorities, suspecting that he was somehow involved in the disturbance, arrested him. The fact, however, that he could not move his lower limbs showed the Spaniards that they had made a mistake. He was released and sent to the San Juan de Dios Hospital.


Mabini, it must be noted, was not entirely free from nationalistic association, for he was a member of Rizal’s La Liga Filipina and worked secretly for the introduction of reforms in the administration of government. In 1898, while vacationing in Los Baños, Aguinaldo sent for him. It took hundreds of men taking turns at carrying the hammock he was in to bring Mabini to Kawit. Aguinaldo, upon seeing Mabini’s physical condition, thought that he must have made a mistake in calling for him to help him in his work. What could a man in such a condition do to help him?


But when Mabini spoke, Aguinaldo’s doubts vanished. There was firmness in the sick man’s voice, and Aguinaldo decided to make him his trusted adviser. From then on, it was Mabini who stood behind Aguinaldo. Envious enemies called him the “Dark Chamber of the President”, but his admirers called him the “Brains of the Revolution”.


History of the Filipino People. Teodoro A. Agoncillo


 


—


Apolinario Mabini


Born of a poor family, Apolinario Mabini was always studious. He was always sad and silent and liked to sit alone to meditate.


Mabini studied at San Juan de Letran where he got his Bachelor of Arts degree and Professor of Latin. He also finished Law. He was a spokesman of the Congress, and a notary public.


In early 1896, he contracted a severe fever which paralyzed him for the rest of his life. He was later called the Sublime Paralytic.


Mabini was most active in the revolution in 1898, when he became the chief adviser of Gen. Aguinaldo during the revolution. He drafted decrees and proposed a constitution for the Philippine Republic. He made the plans for the revolutionary government.


In 1899, he was captured by the Americans but was later set free. In 1901, he was exiled to Guam but returned to the Philippines in 1903 after agreeing to take an oath of allegiance to the US. He took his oath on February 26, 1903 before the Collector of Customs.


On May 13, 1903, he died of cholera in Manila.


Excerpts from Talambuhay ng mga Bayani by Rene Alba


 


—


Apolinario ‘Lumpo’ Mabini y Maranan (July 23, 1864 — May 13, 1903)


Apolinario ‘Lumpo’ Mabini y Maranan (July 23, 1864 — May 13, 1903) was a Filipino political philosopher and revolutionary who wrote a constitutional plan for the first Philippine republic of 1899-1901, and served as its first prime minister in 1899. In Philippine history texts, he is often referred to as “the Sublime Paralytic”, and as “the Brains of the Revolution.” To his enemies and detractors, he is referred to as the “Dark Chamber of the President.”


 


Early life of Apolinario Mabini


Mabini was born on July 23, 1864 in Barangay Talaga in Tanauan, Batangas. He was the second of eight children of Dionisia Maranan, a vendor in the Tanauan market, and Inocencio Mabini, an unlettered peasant.


Mabini began informal studies under his maternal grandfather, who was the village teacher. Because he demonstrated uncommon intelligence, he was transferred to a regular school owned by Simplicio Avelino, where he worked as a houseboy, and also took odd jobs from a local tailor – all in exchange for free board and lodging. He later transferred to a school conducted by the Fray Valerio Malabanan, whose fame as an educator merited a mention in José Rizal’s novel El Filibusterismo.


In 1881 Mabini received a scholarship to go to the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila. An anecdote about his stay there says that a professor there decided to pick on him because his shabby clothing clearly showed he was poor. Mabini amazed the professor by answering a series of very difficult questions with ease. His studies at Letran were periodically interrupted by a chronic lack of funds, and he earned money for his board and lodging by teaching children.


Mabini’s mother had wanted him to take up the priesthood, but his desire to defend the poor made him decide to take up Law instead. A year after receiving his Bachilles en Artes with highest honors and the title Professor of Latin from Letran, he moved on to the University of Santo Tomas, where he received his law degree in 1894.


The 1896 Revolution


Believing that the Reform Movement still had a chance to achieve success, Mabini did not immediately support the revolution of 1896. When José Rizal was executed in December that year, however, he changed his mind and gave the revolution his wholehearted support.


In 1898, while vacationing in Los Baños, Laguna, Emilio Aguinaldo sent for him. It took hundreds of men taking turns carrying his hammock to portage Mabini to Kawit. Aguinaldo, upon seeing Mabini’s physical condition, must have entertained second thoughts in calling for his help.


Mabini was most active in the revolution in 1898, when he served as the chief adviser for General Aguinaldo. He drafted decrees and crafted the first ever constitution in Asia for the First Philippine Republic, including the framework of the revolutionary government which was implemented in Malolos in 1899.


Later life and death


He also joined the fraternity of Freemasonry.


On December 10, 1899, he was captured by Americans at Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija, but was later set free. In 1901, he was exiled to Guam, along with scores of revolutionists Americans referred to as ‘insurrectos’ and who refused to swear fealty to imperialist America. When Brig. Gen. Arthur C. MacArthur, Jr. was asked to explain by the US Senate why Mabini had to be explained, the following was 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…     ”


Mabini returned home to the Philippines in 1903 after agreeing to take the oath of allegiance to the United States on February 26, 1903 before the Collector of Customs. On the day he sailed, he issued this statement to the press:


“     After two long years I am returning, so to speak, completely disoriented and, what is worse, almost overcome by disease and sufferings. Nevertheless, I hope, after some time of rest and study, still to be of some use, unless I have returned to the Islands for the sole purpose of dying.      ”


To the chagrin of the American colonial officials, however, Mabini resumed his patriotic work of agitating for independence for the Philippines soon after he was back home from exile. On May 13, 1903 Mabini died of cholera in Manila, at the age of 38.


 


kali arnis eskrima escrima philippines


kali arnis eskrima escrima philippines kali arnis eskrima escrima philippines


kali arnis eskrima escrima philippines kali arnis eskrima escrima philippines

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=806
		0
		
		
		U.S. Army: 15th Cavalry Regiment. Insignia with Philippine Kris and Kampilan Sword. (6 April 1935) – By The Institute of Heraldry
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=777
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=777#respond
		Wed, 08 Jun 2011 07:09:33 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=777
		
				15th Cavalry Regiment

 



Distinctive Unit Insignia


 


Description


A Gold color metal and enamel device 1 1/8 inches (2.86 cm) in height  overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Per fess Gules and Argent in  chief a lion passant Or and in base a kris and kampilan saltirewise  Sable fimbriated Or. Attached below and to the left of the shield a Gold  turning scroll inscribed “TOUS POUR UN” in Red letters. And attached  below and to the right of the shield a Gold turning scroll inscribed “UN  POUR TOUS” in Red letters.


Symbolism


The red and white divided shield represents the old Cavalry guidon. The  regiment saw good fighting in the Philippines as indicated by the  crossed kris and kampilan of the Moro and Lake Lanao campaigns. In the  war with Germany, the regiment was in France in the vicinity of Bordeaux  and the golden lion is taken from the arms of that city. The  translation of the motto “All for one, one for all” is indicative of the  spirit , which has made the regiment.


Background


The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 15th  Cavalry on 6 April 1935. It was redesignated for the 15th Cavalry  Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized on 10 November 1944. It was  redesignated on 21 January 1948, for the 15th Constabulary Squadron. The  insignia was redesignated for the 15th Cavalry on 28 November 1958. It  was redesignated for the 15th Armor on 13 November 1963. The distinctive  unit insignia was redesignated for the 15th Cavalry on 2 August 1968.  The insignia was amended to correct the description on 4 October 2002.



Coat Of Arms


 


Blazon


Shield


Per fess Gules and Argent in chief a lion passant Or and in base a kris and kampilan saltirewise of the first hilted Sable.


Crest


On a wreath of the colors Argent and Gules a setting sun behind “the Golden Gate” all Proper.


Motto


TOUS POUR UN, UN POUR TOUS (All For One, One For All).


Symbolism


Shield


The red and white divided shield represents the old Cavalry guidon. The  regiment saw good fighting in the Philippines as indicated by the  crossed kris and kampilan of the Moro and Lake Lanao campaigns. In the  war with Germany, the regiment was in France in the vicinity of Bordeaux  and the golden lion is taken from the arms of that city. The  translation of the motto “All for one, one for all” is indicative of the  spirit , which has made the regiment.


Crest


The “Golden Gate” is the portico called “through the portals of the  past” which is now in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. It was one of the  few things left standing after the fire of 1906 and was removed and  reerected as noted. The birthplace of the regiment is indicated by the  crest.


Background


The coat of arms was originally approved for the 15th Cavalry on 2  November 1921. It was redesignated for the 15th Cavalry Reconnaissance  Squadron on 10 November 1944. It was redesignated on 21 January 1948,  for the 15th Constabulary Squadron. The insignia was redesignated for  the 15th Cavalry on 28 November 1958. It was redesignated for the 15th  Armor on 13 November 1963. The coat of arms was redesignated for the  15th Cavalry on 2 August 1968.


 


 Heraldry Image - Distinctive Unit Insignia 

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=777
		0
		
		
		United States Military Philippines Command. Philippines Department Insignia. (July 8, 1922) – By The Institute of Heraldry
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=766
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=766#respond
		Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:51:40 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=766
		
				Philippine Command

By The Institute of Heraldry


 



Shoulder Sleeve Insignia


 


Description


On a blue oval 2 1/2 inches in length by 2 inches in width a white sea lion brandishing a sword in its right paw.


Symbolism


The sea lion is from the coat of arms of Spain (Aragon) and suggest the  Spanish heritage as well as the maritime nature of the area where the  command was operational.


Background


The insignia was originally approved for the Philippines Department on  July 8, 1922. It was redesignated for the Philippines-Ryukyus Command on  August 14, 1947 and redesignated for the Philippines Command on August  1, 1949.  (TIOH Drawing Number A-1-54)


 Heraldry Image - Shoulder Sleeve Insignia 

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=766
		0
		
		
		U.S. Army: 11 Infantry Regiment. Insignia with Philippine Bolo and Kampilan Swords (March 28 1923) – By The Institute of Heraldry
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=760
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=760#respond
		Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:42:33 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=760
		
				U.S. Army: 11 Infantry Regiment



Distinctive Unit Insignia


 


Description


A silver color metal and enamel device 1 1/8 inches (2.86cm) in height  overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Azure, Satanta’s arrow in fess  Argent between in chief a castle Or in base a kampilan and bolo in  saltire of the second hilted of the third. On a chief embattled of the  second a cross Gules.


Symbolism


The symbolism is that of the coat of arms.


Background


The distinctive unit insignia was approved on 28 Mar 1923.



Coat Of Arms


 


Blazon


Shield


Azure, Satanta’s arrow in fess Argent between in chief a castle Or in  base a kampilan and bolo in saltire of the second hilted of the third.  On a chief embattled of the second a cross Gules.


Crest


On a wreath of the colors a fusil Gules bearing a cross patée Argent charged with an acorn of the first.


Motto


SEMPER FIDELIS (Always Faithful).


Symbolism


The shield is blue for infantry. Service in the Spanish War is shown by  the castle and in the Indian Wars by Satanta’s “arrow.” The most  important Indian campaign of this regiment was against the Kiowas,  Comanches and Cheyenne in 1874. Satanta was a noted Kiowa chief who died  just previous to this campaign. His “arrow” was really a spear with  feathers on the end and a handle. The kampilan and bolo represent  engagements against the Moros of Mindanao and the Filipinos of the  Visayas. Service in the World War is shown by the chief bearing the  cross of the ancient Lords of Dun to commemorate the crossing of the  Meuse at Dun. The embattled partition represents the siege of  Chattanooga in 1863. The crest consists of the Civil War badges of the  1st Division, 14th Army Corps and 2d Division, 5th Army Corps, and the  World War 5th Division shoulder sleeve insignia.


Background


The coat of arms was approved on 12 Oct 1920.


 


 Heraldry Image - Distinctive Unit Insignia 

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=760
		0
		
		
		Film: Amigo (2010)
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=436
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=436#respond
		Mon, 28 Feb 2011 06:32:37 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=436
		
				dino flores kali arnis eskrima ilustrisimo lameco


Movie: Amigo (2010)


Amigo is a 2010 American drama film written and directed by John Sayles.

The film takes place in the Philippines in 1900 during the Philippine–American War. It is one of only a small handful of films directed by an American to address the war.


Plot

Amigo centers on Rafael Dacanay, cabeza of the barrio of San Isidro in a rice-growing area of Luzon. His brother Simón, head of the local guerilla band, has forced the surrender of the Spanish guardia civil outpost and charged Rafael with the task of imprisoning the guardia Captain and the barrio’s Spanish friar, Padre Hidalgo, in the name of the revolutionary government. But when the American troops chasing General Aguinaldo arrive, the Spanish officer and Padre Hidalgo are freed, and a garrison under the command of Lieutenant Ike Compton is left to ‘protect’ the barrio. The American occupation policy now changes from ‘hearts and minds’ to ‘concentration’ (what was called ‘hamletting’ during the Vietnam war) and Rafael has to answer to both the Americans and the Filipino patriots, with deadly consequences.


Cast


•    Chris Cooper as Col. Hardacre

•    Garret Dillahunt as Lt. Compton

•    DJ Qualls as Zeke

•    Yul Vàzquez as Padre Hidalgo

•    Joel Torre as Rafael

•    Lucas Neff as Shanker

•    James Parks as Sgt. Runnels

•    Dane DeHaan as Gill

•    Stephen Taylor as Pvt. Bates

•    Rio Locsin as Corazon

•    Jemi Paretas as Zuniga

•    Bill Tangradi as Dutch

•    Bembol Roco as Policarpio

•    Ronnie Lazaro as Simon

•    Irma Adlawan as Josefa


Press


Cinematical reports that the film was once titled Baryo, and that the idea for it came from a yet-to-be-published novel Some Time in the Sun, detailing U.S. imperialism in the Philippines. The book will actually be called A Moment in the Sun, though the unrealized screenplay which inspired it was called Some Time in the Sun.


Distribution


Amigo will show on September 14 at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. It will also screen at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival.

In North America, the film will be released on August 20, 2011 by Variance Films.


From Wikipedia


dino flores kali arnis eskrima ilustrisimo lameco


dino flores kali arnis eskrima ilustrisimo lameco


dino flores kali arnis eskrima ilustrisimo lameco


dino flores kali arnis eskrima ilustrisimo lameco


dino flores kali arnis eskrima ilustrisimo lameco


dino flores kali arnis eskrima ilustrisimo lameco


dino flores kali arnis eskrima ilustrisimo lameco


dino flores kali arnis eskrima kali ilustrisimo lameco eskrima

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=436
		0
		
		
		Katipunan General Gregorio del Pilar, (1875-1899) – One of the youngest Generals in the Philippine Revolutionary Forces
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=325
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=325#respond
		Fri, 04 Feb 2011 23:49:02 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=325
		
				arnis eskrima escrima


Gregorio del Pilar


November 14, 1875(1875-11-14) – December 2, 1899(1899-12-02) (aged 24)


Nickname:”Goyong”, “Boy General”

Place of birth: Bulacan, Bulacan, Philippines

Place of death: Tirad Pass, Ilocos Sur, Philippines

Allegiance:  First Philippine Republic

Service/Branch: Philippine Revolutionary Army

Battles/Wars: Philippine Revolution, Philippine-American War

Battle of Quingua, Battle of Tirad Pass


Gregorio del Pilar y Sempio (November 14, 1875—December 2, 1899) was one of the youngest generals in the Philippine Revolutionary Forces during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War. He is most known for his role and death at the Battle of Tirad Pass. Because of his youth, he was called the “Boy General.”


Early life and education


Born on November 14, 1875 to Fernando H. del Pilar and Felipa Sempio of Bulacan, Bulacan, del Pilar was the nephew of propagandist Marcelo H. del Pilar and Toribio H. del Pilar, who was exiled to Guam for his involvement in the 1872 Cavite Mutiny.


“Goryo”, as he was casually known, studied at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in 1896, at the age of 20. When the Philippine Revolution against Spanish rule broke out in August under the leadership of Andres Bonifacio, del Pilar joined the insurgency. He distinguished himself as a field commander while fighting Spanish garrisons in Bulacan.


Military career


He later joined General Emilio Aguinaldo, who had gained control of the movement, in Hong Kong after the truce at Biak-na-Bato. During the Spanish American War, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines and established the government of the First Philippine Republic. He appointed del Pilar section leader of the revolutionary forces in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija. On June 1, del Pilar landed in Bulacan with rifles purchased in Hong Kong, quickly laying siege on the Spanish forces in the province. When the Spaniards surrendered to del Pilar, he brought his men to Caloocan, Manila to support the other troops battling the Spaniards there.


When the Philippine-American War broke-out on February 1899, del Pilar led his troops to a short victory over Major Franklin Bell in the first phase of the Battle of Quingua on April 23, 1899, in which his forces repelled a cavalry charge and killed the highly respected Colonel John M. Stotsenburg,[1] after whom Clark Air Base was originally named (Fort Stotsenburg).[2]


Death


Gregorio del Pilar circa 1899

Main article: Battle of Tirad Pass


On December 2, 1899, del Pilar led 60 Filipino soldiers of Aguinaldo’s rear guard in the Battle of Tirad Pass against the “Texas Regiment”, the 33rd Infantry Regiment of the United States led by Peyton C. March. A delaying action to cover Aguinaldo’s retreat, the five-hour standoff resulted in Del Pilar’s death due to a shot to the neck (at the height or end of the fighting, depending on eyewitness accounts). Del Pilar’s body was later despoiled and looted by the victorious American soldiers.


Del Pilar’s body lay unburied for days, exposed to the elements. While retracing the trail, an American officer, Lt. Dennis P. Quinlan, gave the body a traditional U.S. military burial. Upon del Pilar’s tombstone, Quinlan inscribed, “An Officer and a Gentleman”.


In 1930, del Pilar’s body was exhumed and was identified by the gold tooth and braces he had installed while in exile in Hong Kong.


Documentary


His life was shown in the Philippine TV news show Case Unclosed as its 13th episode.


Memorials


* Fort Del Pilar, home of the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio, is named after him.

* In 1944, the Japanese-sponsored Philippine republic of President Jose P. Laurel issued the Tirad Pass Medal commemorating the battle and del Pilar’s sacrifice. A bust of General del Pilar occupies the center of the obverse (front) side of the medal. The Tirad Pass Medal was the only award issued to recognize service to the Laurel government during the Japanese occupation.

* In 1955, the municipality of Concepcion in Ilocos Sur was renamed in his honor.

* In 1995, his life was featured in the movie “Tirad Pass: The Last Stand of General Gregorio del Pilar” starring Romnick Sarmienta.


From Wikipedia


mandirigma research organization arnis
Gregorio del Pilar and Other Filipino army officers probably in Bacolor, Pampanga 1898.


General Gregorio del Pilar on Horseback.
General Gregorio del Pilar on Horseback.

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=325
		0
		
		
		Macario Sakay: Tulisán or Patriot? by Paul Flores
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=302
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=302#respond
		Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:14:39 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=302
		
				Macario Sakay: Tulisán or Patriot?

by Paul Flores

© 1996 by Paul Flores and PHGLA

All rights reserved


Contrary to popular belief, Philippine resistance to American rule did not end with the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo in 1901. There were numerous resistance forces fighting for Philippine independence until the year 1910. One of these forces was led by Macario Sakay who established the Tagalog Republic.

Born in 1870 in Tondo, Macario Sakay had a working-class background. He started out as an apprentice in a calesa manufacturing shop. He was also a tailor, a barber, and an actor in comedias and moro-moros. His participation in Tagalog dramas exposed him to the world of love, courage, and discipline.

In 1894, Sakay joined the Dapitan, Manila branch of the Katipunan. Due to his exemplary work, he became head of the branch. His nightly activities as an actor in comedias camouflaged his involvement with the Katipunan. Sakay assisted in the operation of the Katipunan press. During the early days of the Katipunan, Sakay worked with Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto. He fought side by side with Bonifacio in the hills of Morong (now Rizal) Province.

During the initial stages of the Filipino-American war, Sakay was jailed for his seditious activities. He had been caught forming several Katipunan chapters and preaching its ideals from town to town.


Republika ng Katagalugan

Released in 1902 as the result of an amnesty, Sakay established with a group of other Katipuneros the Republika ng Katagalugan in the mountains of Southern Luzon.


Sakay held the presidency and was also called “Generalisimo.” Francisco Carreon was the vice-president and handled Sakay’s correspondence. Julian Montalan was the overall supervisor for military operations. Cornelio Felizardo took charge of the northern part of Cavite (Pasay-Bacoor) while Lucio de Vega controlled the rest of the province. Aniceto Oruga operated in the lake towns of Batangas. Leon Villafuerte headed Bulacan while Benito Natividad patrolled Tanauan, Batangas.


In April 1904, Sakay issued a manifesto stating that the Filipinos had a fundamental right to fight for Philippine independence. The American occupiers had already made support for independence, even through words, a crime. Sakay also declared that they were true revolutionaries and had their own constitution and an established government. They also had a flag. There were several other revolutionary manifestos written by the Tagalog Republic that would tend to disprove the U.S. government’s claim that they were bandits.


The Tagalog Republic’s constitution was largely based on the early Katipunan creed of Bonifacio. For Sakay, the new Katipunan was simply a continuation of Bonifacio’s revolutionary struggle for independence.


Guerilla tactics

In late 1904, Sakay and his men took military offensive against the enemy. They were successful in seizing ammunition and firearms in their raids in Cavite and Batangas. Disguised in Philippine Constabulary uniforms, they captured the U.S. military garrison in Parañaque and ran away with a large amount of revolvers, carbines, and ammunition. Sakay’s men often employed these uniforms to confuse the enemy.


Using guerrilla warfare, Sakay would look for a chance to use a large number of his men against a small band of the enemy. They usually attacked at night when most of the enemy was looking for relaxation. Sakay severely punished and often liquidated suspected collaborators.


The Tagalog Republic enjoyed the support of the Filipino masses in the areas of Morong, Laguna, Batangas, and Cavite. Lower class people and those living in barrios contributed food, money, and other supplies to the movement. The people also helped Sakay’s men evade military checkpoints. They collected information on the whereabouts of the American troops and passed them on. Muchachos working for the Americans stole ammunition and guns for the use of Sakay’s men.


Unable to suppress the growth of the Tagalog Republic, the Philippine Constabulary and the U.S. Army started to employ “hamletting” or reconcentration in areas where Sakay received strong assistance. The towns of Taal, Tanauan, Santo Tomas, and Nasugbu in the province of Batangas were reconcentrated. This cruel but effective counter-insurgency technique proved disastrous for the Filipino masses. The forced movement and reconcentration of a large number of people caused the outbreak of diseases such as cholera and dysentery. Food was scarce in the camps, resulting in numerous deaths.


Meanwhile, search and destroy missions operated relentlessly in an attempt to suppress Sakay’s forces. Muslims from Jolo were brought in to fight the guerrillas. Bloodhounds from California were imported to pursue them. The writ of habeas corpus was suspended in Cavite and Batangas to strengthen counter-insurgency efforts. With support cut off, the continuous American military offensive caused the Tagalog Republic to weaken.


Fall of Sakay

While all of these were going on, the American leader of the Philippine Constabulary, Col. Harry H. Bandholtz, conceived a plan to deceive Sakay and his men. He would later be quoted as saying that the technique involved “playing upon the emotional and sentimental part of the Filipino character.”


In mid-1905, the American governor-general of the Philippines, Henry Ide, sent an ilustrado named Dominador Gomez to talk to Sakay. Gomez presented a letter from the American governor. The written statement promised that if Sakay surrendered, he and his men wouldn’t be punished or jailed. Moreover, Gomez assured Sakay that a Philippine Assembly comprising of Filipinos will be formed to serve as the “gate of kalayaan.”


Sakay took the bait, went down from the mountains, and surrendered on July 14, 1906.


On July 17, Sakay and his staff were invited to attend a dance hosted by the acting governor of Cavite. Just before midnight, they were surrounded, disarmed, and arrested by American officers who were strategically deployed in the crowd. Sakay and his men were brought to the Bilibid Prison. They were tried and convicted as bandits.


During the trial, Gomez was not around to produce the letter from the American governor-general. He didn’t even show up and the letter had mysteriously disappeared.


Sakay was hanged on September 13, 1907. Before he died, he uttered, “Filipinas, farewell! Long live the Republic and may our independence be born in the future!”


eskrima kali arnis


L to R: seated, Julian Montalan, Francisco Carreon, Macario Sakay, Leon Villafuerte; standing, Benito Natividad, Lucio de Vega.


Sakay and many of his followers favored long hair, certainly something strange for his era. This affectation may have been exploited by the Americans in their efforts to portray Sakay and his men as wild bandits preying on the simple folk of the countryside. Even today, many in the Tagalog area (most of whom have never heard of Macario Sakay) refer to a man with long hair as “someone who looks like Sakay.” This is, perhaps, a testimony to the effectiveness of the American propaganda campaign.


anting anting


This vest with all its religious figures and Latin phrases belonged to Macario Sakay. It was his anting-anting and protected him from bullets and other hazards of war.


Many Filipinos who participated in the fight against Spain and the United States used anting-antings of all types for personal protection.




This is the author’s impression of what Sakay’s Republika ng Katagalugan flag must have looked like. There are no available pictures of the flag; this reconstruction was based on a written description.


Further reading:


1. Abad, Antonio K. General Macario L. Sakay: Was he a bandit or a patriot? Manila: J.B. Feliciano & Sons, 1955.

2. Constantino, Renato. The Philippines: A past revisited. Quezon City: Tala Publishing,1975.

3. Ileto, Reynaldo C. Pasyon and revolution: Popular movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1979.


(This article was originally presented by the author to PHGLA on 8/12/95.)


To cite:

Flores, Paul. “Macario Sakay: Tulisán or Patriot?” in Hector Santos, ed., Philippine Centennial Series; at http://www.bibingka.com/phg/sakay/. US, 24 August 1996.


mandirigma.org lameco ilustrisimo


Flag Illustration from http://www.watawat.net/

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=302
		0
		
		
		June 12 as Independence Day by Diosdado Macapagal Former President of the Philippines
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=824
		https://mandirigma.org/?p=824#respond
		Sun, 10 Jun 2001 18:45:12 +0000
		MO1
				
		
		
		
		
		
		

		http://mandirigma.org/?p=824
		
				kali arnis eskrima escrima

June 12 as Independence Day

by Diosdado Macapagal

Former President of the Philippines


“A nation is born into freedom on the day when such a people, moulded into a nation by a process of cultural evolution and sense of oneness born of common struggle and suffering, announces to the world that it asserts its natural right to liberty and is ready to defend it with blood, life, and honor.”


The promotion of a healthy nationalism is part of the responsibility of the leaders of newly independent nations. After they lay the foundation for economic development, they promote nationalism and spur the search for national identity. This we can do by honoring our distinguished forebears and notable periods in our history. A step we took in this direction was to change the date for the commemoration of Philippine Independence day.


When I was a congressman, I formed the opinion that July 4 was not the proper independence day for Filipinos and should be changed to June 12– the date General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed the independence of the Filipinos in Kawit, Cavite, in 1898.


Having served in the foreign service, I noted that the celebration of a common independence day with the United States on July 4 caused considerable inconvenience. The American celebration dwarfed that of the Philippines. As if to compound the irony, July 4 seemed tantamount to the celebration of Philippine subjection to and dependence on the United States which served to perpetuate unpleasant memories.


I felt, too, that July 4 was not inspiring enough for the Filipino youth since it recalled mostly the peaceful independence missions to the United States. The celebration of independence day on June 12, on the other hand, would be a greater inspiration to the youth who would consequently recall the heroes of the revolution against Spain and their acts of sublime heroism and martyrdom. These acts compare favorably with those of the heroes of other nations.


In checking the reaction to my plan to shift independence day to June 12, I found that there was virtual unanimity on the desirability of transferring the celebration from July 4. Likewise, there was a preponderant view for choosing June 12 as the proper day.


A few suggested January 21, the opening day of the Malolos Congress in 1899, or January 23, when the Malolos Congress, ratifying the independence proclamation of June 12, established a republican system of government. The reason for this view was that the government temporarily by Aguinaldo when he proclaimed independence on June 12 was a dictatorship.


There was no difficulty in adhering to June 12, however, because although Aguinaldo Government was a dictatorship in view of the military operations he was then leading, he led in converting it into a republican Government in the Malolos Congress. Moreover, the celebration of independence refers to its proclamation rather than to the final establishment of the government. In the case of America, when independence was proclaimed on July 4, the American Government was still a confederation and it was much later when it finally became a federal government.


The historical fact was that the Filipinos proclaimed their independence from foreign rule on June 12. Even the national anthem and the Filipino flag which are essential features in the birth of a nation were played and displayed respectively at the independence proclamation in Kawit.


When I became President, I knew that this was the opportunity to take action on what had been in my mind since entering public life. The specific question was when to make the change.


The opportunity came when the US House of Representatives rejected the $73 million additional war payment bill on May 9, 1962. There was indignation among the Filipinos. There was a loss of American good will in the Philippines, although this was restored later by the reconsideration of the action of the US lower chamber. At this time, a state visit in the United States had been scheduled for Mrs. Macapagal and me on the initiative and invitation of President John F. Kennedy. Unable to resist the pressure of public opinion, I was constrained to obtain the agreement of Kennedy to defer the state visit for another time.


To postpone the state visit, I wrote a letter on May 14, 1962, to Kennedy, which read in part as follows:


The feeling of resentment among our people and the attitude of the US Congress negate the atmosphere of good will upon which my state visit to your country was predicated. Our people would never understand how, in the circumstances now obtaining, I could go to the United States and in all honesty affirm that I bear their message of good will. It is with deep regret theredore that I am constrained to ask you to agree to the postponement of my visit to a more auspicious time.


On May 28, 1962, Kennedy wrote me explaining the situation on the war damage bill. His letter stated:


In the meantime, I must respect your decision that your visit to the United States should be postponed. We do not want your visit to be less than first class, when it comes. But I do hope that we will be able to find another convenient time.


I decided to effect the change of independence day at that time not as an act of resentment but as a judicious choice of timing for the taking of an action which had previously been decided upon.


I called Press Secretary Rufino Hechanova to consult him on my contemplated action. I asked him outright what he thought of my step if I should move the celebration of independence day from July 4 to June 12.


Hechanova winced and said: “Please Mr. President, don’t act on that yet. Let us give it a thorough study. I am flying to Iloilo today and on my return on Monday I will come to discuss it with you.”


After his departure, I called in Legal Adviser Juan Cancio. “Johnny,” I asked, “Do I have the power to change independence day from July 4 to June 12?” Cancio readily answered: “Yes, sir, because July 4 is being celebrated as independence day not because it is so specifically designated by law but as an official holiday. Since the President has the authority to declare official holidays, you may declare June 12 as a holiday and hold an independence celebration on that day.”


I immediately directed Cancio to prepare the proclamation, revised and signed it, and asked him to release it to the press through the Malacañang press office. On May 17, 1962, I certified as urgent to the Congress the enactment of a measure to fix June 12 statutorily as independence day.


The change was justified by the successful celebration. General Emilio Aguinaldo was the guest of honor. At least one million people attended whereas in previous celebrations on July 4, only from two to three hundred thousand came.


Bespeaking of the nobility of the American people, President Kennedy was among the first to extend the congratulations of the United States to the Filipino people in celebrating their freedom on June 12, 1962. In a message to me, he said:


It is with pleasure that I join the people of the United States in extending our best wishes and warmest congratulations to Your Excellency and the people of the Republic of the Philippines on the occasion of the Philippine Independence Day.


A letter of thanks in Spanish was also sent to me by General Aguinaldo on May 19, 1962. A translation of the letter reads in part as follows:


I cannot but send you this letter to express the most profound gratitude for the proclamation which Your Excellency has recently issued naming June 12 as independence day– the date when we announced to the whole world that we were a free and independent nation. I who took an active if modest part in the effort of our people to break the colonial yoke we were subjected to, feel joy and pride over the patriotic act which Your Excellency has just performed.


In my address on the first June 12 as independence day celebration, I said:


In the discharge of my responsibility as President of the Republic, I moved the observance of the anniversary of our independence to this day because a nation is born into freedom on the day when such a people, moulded into a nation by the process of cultural evolution and a sense of oneness born of common struggle and suffering, announces to the world that it asserts its natural right to liberty and is ready to defend it with blood, life, and honor.


While we were seated at the grandstand during the ceremonies, General Aguinaldo thanked me again for the rectification of an erroneous historical practice and then asked: “When will there be an Aguinaldo monument at the Luneta like that of Rizal?” I could not answer the question. The next generation might have the answer.


The following year the same successful celebration was held. The commemoration on the third year was likewise a success.


I noted by this time that Congress had not yet approved a measure to prescribe June 12 as independence day by statute. I followed up the matter with members of the Senate and the House.


Rep. Ramon Mitra Sr. was leading the spade work in the House for the approval of the new independence day measure. The bill was authored by him and Rep. Justiniano Montano. Senator Lorenzo Tañada authored a similar measure in the Senate.


Among those whom I talked to in following up the bill was Senator Gerardo Roxas, son of President Roxas who raised the Filipino flag on July 4, 1946 to mark the independence of the Philippines from American rule and thereby became the first President of the Republic of the Philippines. I thought it possible that Senator Roxas might be lukewarm toward the change of independence day since the historical focus on the first Presidency of the Republic may shift from Roxas to Aguinaldo. My talk with him did not bear out my fear. Roxas informed me that what had delayed the approval of the independence day bill was the desire of some legislators to retain some significance for July 4. In the consideration of the measure, the snag was solved by the provision that with June 12 being declared Independence Day, July 4 shall be known as Republic Day.


Finally, on August 4, 1964, I signed at Malacañang Republic Act No. 4166 statutorily prescribing June 12 as Philippine Independence Day. Special witnesses invited to the signing were children of Presidents, including Carmen Melencio-Aguinaldo, Manuel Quezon Jr., Maria Osmeña-Charnley, Gerardo Roxas, Tomas Quirino, and my sons Arturo and Diosdado Jr.


(Thanks to the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles for making this document available.)


To cite:

Macapagal, Diosdado. “June 12 as Independence Day” in Hector Santos, ed., Philippine Centennial Series; at http://www.bibingka.com/phg/documents/whyjun12.htm. US, 30 April 1997.9


 


kali arnis eskrima escrima

]]>
			https://mandirigma.org/?feed=rss2&p=824
		0