The Philippine Islands / A Political, Geographical, Ethnographical, Social and Commercial History of the Philippine Archipelago, Embracing the Whole Period of Spanish Rule

by F.R.G.S. John Foreman

An Outline of the War of Independence, Period 1899–1901

“I speak not of forcible annexation because that is not to be thought of, and under our code of morality that would be criminal aggression.”—President McKinleyʼs Message to Congress; December, 1897.

“The Philippines are ours as much as Louisiana by purchase, or Texas or Alaska.”—President McKinleyʼs Speech to the 10th Pennsylvania Regiment; August 28, 1899.

Ignorance of the worldʼs ways, beyond the Philippine shores, was the cause of the Aguinaldo partyʼs first disappointment. A score of pamphlets has been published to show how thoroughly the Filipinos believed Americaʼs mission to these Islands to be solely prompted by a compassionate desire to aid them in their struggle for immediate sovereign independence. Laudatory and congratulatory speeches, uttered in British colonies, in the presence of American officials, and hope-inspiring expressions which fell from their lips before Aguinaldoʼs return to Cavite from exile, strengthened that conviction. Sympathetic avowals and grandiloquent phrases, such as “for the sake of humanity,” and “the cause of civilization,” which were so freely bandied about at the time by unauthorized Americans, drew Aguinaldo into the error of believing that some sort of bond really existed between the United States and the Philippine Revolutionary Party. In truth, there was no agreement between America and the Filipinos. There was no American plenipotentiary empowered to make any political compact with the Islanders. At that date there was neither a Philippine policy nor any fixed programme regarding the future disposal of the Islands, and whatever naval, military, or other officers might have said to Aguinaldo was said on their own private responsibility, and could in no way affect the action of the American Government. Without any training in or natural bent for diplomacy, Aguinaldo had not the faintest idea of what foreign “protection” signified. He thought that after the capture of Manila the Americans would sail away and leave the Filipinos to themselves, and only reappear if any other Power interfered with their native government.

Bowie-knives and Weapons of the Christian Natives.

Central figure—“Talibon.” The others—Bowie-knives (Sp. Bolo, Tag. Guloc).

Admiral Dewey had a double task to perform. He had to destroy the Spanish fleet, and to co-operate in the taking of Manila. In the destruction of the fleet the attitude of the natives was of little concern to him. In the taking of the capital it was important to know what part the natives would play. It was certain they would not be placid spectators of the struggle, wherever Aguinaldo might be. If they must enter into it, it was desirable to have them led by one who could control them and repress excesses. It would have been better for the Americans if, pending the issue with the Spaniards, no third party had existed; but, as it did exist, both contending nations were anxious for its goodwill or its control. Therefore Admiral Deweyʼs recognition of Aguinaldo as a factor in the hostilities was nothing more nor less than a legitimate stratagem to facilitate his operations against the Spaniards. Dewey simply neutralized a possible adverse force by admissible military artifice, and Aguinaldo was too ingenuous to see that he was being outwitted. The fighting section of the Filipinos was intensely irritated at not having been allowed to enter and sack the capital. They had looked forward to it as the crowning act of victory. The general mass of the christianized Islanders hoped that Philippine independence would immediately follow the capitulation of Manila, although, in the capital itself, natives of position and property evinced little enthusiasm for the insurgentsʼ triumph, whilst some inwardly doubted it. In September a native lawyer, Felipe Agoncillo, was sent to Washington to lay the Filipinosʼ case before the President in the hope of gaining his personal support of their claims (vide p. [472]). The first fear was that the Colony might revert to Spain, but that idea was soon dispelled by the news of the stipulations of the Treaty of Paris. Simultaneously Aguinaldoʼs revolutionary army was being pushed farther and farther away from the capital, and it was evident, from the mood of his fighting-men, that if the Americans remained in possession of the Colony, hostilities, sooner or later, must break out. The Americans officially ignored the Aguinaldo party as a factor in public affairs, but they were not unaware of the warlike preparations being made. Secret anti-American meetings were held at places called clubs, where it was agreed to attack simultaneously the Americans inside and outside the capital. General Pio del Pilar slept in the city every night, ready to give the rocket-signal for revolt. Natives between 18 and 40 years of age were being recruited for military service, according to a Malolos Government decree dated September 21, 1898. In every smithy and factory bowie-knives were being forged with all speed, and 10,000 men were already armed with them. General E. S. Otis was willing to confer with Aguinaldo, and six sessions were held, the last taking place on January 29, six days before the outbreak. Nothing resulted from these conferences, the Americans alleging that Aguinaldo would make no definite statement of his peopleʼs aims, whilst the Filipinos declare that their intentions were so well understood by the American general that he would listen to nothing short of unconditional submission.

The following manifesto, dated January 5, signed by Emilio Aguinaldo, clearly shows the attitude of the Revolutionary Party at this period:—

To My Brethren the Filipinos, and to All the Respected Consuls and Other Foreigners:—

General Otis styles himself Military Governor of these Islands, and I protest one and a thousand times and with all the energy of my soul against such authority. I proclaim solemnly that I have not recognized either in Singapore or in Hong-Kong or in the Philippines, by word or in writing, the sovereignty of America over this beloved soil. On the contrary, I say that I returned to these Islands on an American warship on the 19th of May last for the express purpose of making war on the Spaniards to regain our liberty and independence. I stated this in my proclamation of the 24th of May last, and I published it in my Manifesto addressed to the Philippine people on the 12th of June. Lastly, all this was confirmed by the American General Merritt himself, predecessor of General Otis, in his Manifesto to the Philippine people some days before he demanded the surrender of Manila from the Spanish General Jaúdenes. In that Manifesto it is distinctly stated that the naval and field forces of the United States had come to give us our liberty, by subverting the bad Spanish Government. And I hereby protest against this unexpected act of the United States claiming sovereignty over these Islands. My relations with the American authorities prove undeniably that the United States did not bring me over here from Hong-Kong to make war on the Spaniards for their benefit, but for the purpose of our own liberty and independence. . . .

Emilio Aguinaldo.

Aguinaldo having been successively Dictator and President of the Revolutionary Government (vide p. [448]), now assumed the new title of President of the Philippine Republic, the Articles of Constitution of which (drawn up by his Prime Minister Apolinario Mabini) were dated January 21, 1899, and promulgated by him on the following day. In due course the news came that the date of voting in the Senate for or against the retention of the Islands was fixed. The Americans already in the Colony were practically unanimous in their desire for its retention, and every effort was made by them to that end. The question of the treaty ratification was warmly discussed in Washington. A week before the vote was taken it was doubtful whether the necessary two-thirds majority could be obtained. It was a remarkable coincidence that just when the Republican Party was straining every nerve to secure the two or three wavering votes, the first shots were exchanged between a native and an American outpost in the suburbs of the capital. Each side accuses the other of having precipitated hostilities. However that may be, this event took place precisely at a date when the news of it in Washington served to secure the votes of the hesitating senators in favour of retention.[1] The provocative demeanour of the insurgents at the outposts was such that a rupture was inevitable sooner or later, and if a Senate vote of abandonment had come simultaneously with insurrection, the situation would have been extremely complicated; it would have been difficult for the Oriental not to have believed that the invader was nervously beating a retreat. The Nebraska Regiment was at Santa Mesa, guarding its front. Americans were frequently insulted, called cowards, and openly menaced by the insurgents. In the evening of Saturday, February 4, 1899, an insurgent officer came with a detail of men and attempted to force his way past the sentinel on the San Juan bridge. About nine oʼclock a large body of rebels advanced on the South Dakota Regimentʼs outposts, and to avoid the necessity of firing, for obvious reasons, the picquets fell back. For several nights a certain insurgent lieutenant had tried to pass the Nebraska lines. At length he approached a sentinel, who called “halt” three times without response, and then shot the lieutenant dead. Several insurgents then fired and retreated; rockets were at once sent up by the Filipinos, and firing started all along the line, from Caloocan to Santa Mesa. By ten oʼclock the Filipinos concentrated at Caloocan, Santa Mesa, and Gagalan͠ging, whence they opened a simultaneous, but ineffectual, fusillade, supplemented by two siege guns at Balichalic and a skirmishing attack from Pandacan and Paco. Desperate fighting continued throughout the night; the Filipinos, driven back from every post with heavy loss, rallied the next morning at Paco, where they occupied the parish church, to which many non-combatant refugees had fled. The American warships, co-operating with their batteries, poured a terrific fire on the church, and kept up a continuous attack on the insurgent position at Caloocan, where General Aguinaldo was in command. At daylight the Americans made a general advance towards Paco and Santa Ana. At the former place the Filipinos resisted desperately; the church, sheltering refugees and insurgents, was completely demolished;[2] the Filipinosʼ loss amounted to about 4,000 killed and wounded, whilst the Americans lost about 175 killed and wounded. It is estimated that the approximate number of troops engaged in this encounter was 13,000 Americans and 20,000 Filipinos. The insurgents at Santa Ana, the survivors of the Paco defeat, and the force which had to abandon the Santólan water-works, where they left behind them a howitzer, all concentrated at Caloocan. The insurgent and American lines formed a semicircle some 15 miles in extent, making it impossible to give a comprehensive description of the numerous small engagements.

Immediately the news of the rupture reached Washington the Philippine Envoy, Felipe Agoncillo, fled to Montreal, Canada, in a great hurry, leaving his luggage behind. No one was troubling him, and there was not the least need for such a precipitate flight from a country where civilized international usages obtain. On February 5 an engagement took place at Gagalan͠ging, where the natives collected in the hundreds of bungalows around that village awaiting the advance of the Oregon Regiment. Amongst the spectators was the German Prince Ludwig von Löwenstein. The Americans continued advancing and firing, when suddenly the prince ran across an open space and took shelter in a hut which he must have known would be attacked by the Oregons. The order was given to fire into the native dwellings giving cover to the insurgents, and the princeʼs dead body was subsequently found perforated by a bullet. In his pocket he carried a pass issued by Aguinaldo conceding to the bearer permission to go anywhere within the insurgent lines, and stating that he was a sympathizer with their cause. It was noticed that the prince several times deliberately threw himself into danger. No one could ascertain exactly in what capacity he found himself near the fighting-line. Less than two years previously he had married the daughter of an English earl, and the popular belief was that, for private reasons, he intentionally courted death.

The rebels were repulsed at every point with great loss. Lines of smoke from the burning villages marked the direction taken by the Americans advancing under the leadership of Generals Otis, Wheaton, Hale, and Hall. An immense amount of impedimenta in the shape of pontoons, telegraph posts and wires, ammunition, and provisions followed the infantry in perfect order. On the line taken by the troops many native householders hoisted white flags to indicate their peaceful intentions. Ambulances were frequently seen coming in with the wounded Americans and Filipinos, and among them was brought the chief of an Igorrote tribe with a broken thigh. His tribe, who had been persuaded by Aguinaldo to bring their bows and arrows to co-operate with him, were placed in the front and suffered great slaughter. In hospital the Igorrote chief spoke with much bitterness of how he had been deceived, and vowed vengeance against the Tagálogs. The next day at Caloocan the rebels made a determined stand, but were driven out of the place by 10-inch shells fired from the Monadnock over the American lines. General Hall occupied Santólan and the pumping-station there and repelled the repeated attacks made on his column. General McArthur with a flying column cleared the surrounding district of the enemy, but owing to the roughness of the country he was unable to pursue them. Aguinaldo was therefore able to escape north with his army, reinforced by native troops who had been trained in Spanish service. There was also a concentration of about 2,500 natives from the southern Luzon provinces. The insurgents had cut trenches at almost every mile along the route north. In the several skirmishes which took place on March 25 the Americans lost one captain and 25 men killed and eight officers and 142 men wounded. The next day there was some hard fighting around Polo and Novaliches, where the insurgents held out for six hours against General McArthurʼs three brigades of cavalry and artillery. After the defeat at Paco, Aguinaldo moved on to the town of Malabon, which was shelled; the enemy therefore immediately evacuated that place in great confusion, after setting fire to the buildings. Over 1,000 men, women, and children hastened across the low, swampy lands carrying their household goods and their fighting-cocks; it was indeed a curious spectacle. General Wheatonʼs brigade captured Malinta, and the insurgents fled panic-stricken after having suffered severely. The American loss was small in numbers, but Colonel Egbert, of the 22nd Infantry, was mortally wounded whilst leading a charge. As he lay on the litter in the midst of the fight General Wheaton cheered him with the words, “Nobly done, Egbert!” to which the dying colonel replied, “Good-bye, General; Iʼm done; Iʼm too old,” and at once expired.

In March the natives tried to burn down one of the busiest Manila suburbs. At 8 oʼclock one evening they set fire to the Chinese quarters in Santa Cruz, and the breeze rapidly wafted the flames. The conflagration lasted four hours. The English Fire-Brigade turned out to quench it. Hundreds of Chinese laden with chattels hurried to and fro about the streets; natives rushed hither and thither frantically trying to keep the fire going whilst the whites were endeavouring to extinguish it; and with the confusion of European and Oriental tongues the place was a perfect pandemonium. General Hughes was at the head of the police, but the surging mob pressed forward and cut the hose five times. With fixed bayonets the troops partially succeeded in holding back the swelling crowd. The electric wires got out of working order, and the city was lighted only by the glare of the flaming buildings. Bullets were flying in all directions about Tondo and Binondo. The intense excitement was intentionally sustained by batches of natives who rushed hither and thither with hideous yells to inspire a feeling of terror. Many families, fearing that the insurgents had broken through the American lines and entered the city en masse, frantically fled from the hotels and houses. Incessant bugle-calls from the natives added to the commotion, and thousands of Chinese crowded into the Chinese Consulate. Finally the rioters were driven back, and a cordon of troops assured the safety of the capital. Sharp engagements simultaneously took place at the Chinese cemetery and at San Pedro Macatí. Bands of insurgents were arrested in Tondo. A group of 60 was captured escorting two cartloads of arms and ammunition to a house. Business was almost entirely suspended, and a general order was issued by the Military Governor commanding all civilians to remain in their houses after 7 p.m. This hour was gradually extended to 8 oʼclock, then 9 oʼclock, and finally to midnight, as circumstances permitted. An edict was posted up fixing the penalties for incendiarism. During two days smoke hovered around the neighbourhood, and the appearance of Manila from the bay was that of a smouldering city.

In the fighting up country, one of the greatest difficulties for the Americans was that the insurgents would not concentrate and have a decisive contest. They would fire a few volleys from cover and retreat to other cover, repeating these harassing, but inconclusive, tactics over many miles of ground. On their march the Americans had to fight a hidden foe who slipped from trench to trench, or found safety in the woods. Sometimes a trenchful of the enemy would fire a volley and half of them disappear through gullies leading to other cover. The next point of importance to be reached was Malalos, and on the way some thirty villages had to be passed. Besides the volleys delivered by hidden insurgents all along the line, a hard-fought battle took place on March 28 under the personal direction of General Aguinaldo, who concentrated about 5,000 men near Marilao. Aguinaldo directed the movements without appearing on the field; indeed it is doubtful whether, during this war, he ever led his troops into action. General McArthurʼs division had halted at Meycauayan the previous night, and in the morning advanced north in conjunction with General Haleʼs brigade, which took the right, whilst General Otis led his troops to the left of the railroad, General Wheatonʼs brigade being held in reserve. After a three-mile march these forces fell in with the enemy, who opened fire from trenches and thickets; but General Otisʼs troops charged them gallantly and drove them back across the river. There the insurgents rallied, relying upon the splendid trenches which they had dug. The battle raged for three hours, the combatants being finally within fifty yards of each other. Eventually the American artillery came into play, when the advanced works of the insurgent defences were literally pulverized and the general rout of the enemy began. They retreated to their second stronghold of bamboo thickets, pursued by the 1st South Dakota Infantry, which made a brilliant charge in the open, under a galling fire, with a loss of three lieutenants and seven men killed on the field and about a score wounded. The insurgents, however, were completely defeated and scattered, leaving 85 dead counted in the trenches and thickets, and a hundred prisoners in the hands of the Americans. Before abandoning Marílao the insurgents burnt the town to the ground and continued their hurried flight to Malolos. They had plenty of time to rally, for the Americans found great difficulty in bringing their artillery across the river at Guiguinto. It had to be drawn over the railway bridge by hand whilst the mules swam across to the northern bank, all being, at the same time, under a desultory fire from the enemy. The resistance of the Filipinos to the passage of the river at Guiguinto was so stubborn that the Americans lost about 70 killed and wounded. At 6 a.m. the Americans started the advance towards Malolos in the same order taken for the march to Marilao, General Haleʼs brigade taking the right and General Otisʼs the left of the railroad. Several skirmishes took place on the way and General Wheaton brought his reserves forward into the general advance. At Bocaue the river presented the same difficulties for artillery transport as were experienced at Guiguinto, except that the enemy was nowhere to be seen. Bigaá was reached and not an armed native was in sight, all having apparently concentrated in the insurgent capital, Malolos. The American casualties that day, due solely to the morning skirmishes, amounted to four killed and thirty wounded.

It is apparent, from the official despatches, that at this time the American generals seriously believed the Aguinaldo party would acknowledge its defeat and make peace if Malolos, the revolutionary seat of government, fell. All that was going on in Manila was well known to the insurgents in the field, as the news was brought to them daily by runners who were able to enter the city during daylight without interference. On March 30 General McArthurʼs division resumed the advance and brought up the baggage trains, after having repaired the several bridges damaged by the enemy. The environs of Malolos were reconnoitred up to within a mile of the town, and the dead bodies of insurgent soldiers were seen scattered here and there. Groups of hundreds of non-combatants were hurrying off from the beleaguered insurgent capital. General Otisʼs brigade pushed forward without any encounter with the enemy, but General Haleʼs column, which continued to take the right side of the railway, was fired upon from the woods, the total casualties that day being five killed and 43 wounded. At 7 a.m. (March 31) the Americans opened the combined attack on Malolos. General McArthur directed the operations from the railway embankment, and half an hourʼs artillery fire dislodged the enemy from their cover. The columns advanced cautiously towards the town in anticipation of a fierce resistance and, it was hoped, a fight to the finish. General Otis marched on direct: General Hale executed a flanking movement to the east; General Wheatonʼs brigades were held in reserve, and a halt of half an hour was made preparatory to the final assault. The scouts then returned and reported that the insurgents had abandoned their capital! It was a disappointment to the Americans who had looked forward to inflicting a decisive and crushing defeat on the enemy. The first troops to enter the town were the 20th Kansas Regiment, under Colonel Funston. The natives, in the wildest confusion, scampered off, after firing a few parting shots at the approaching forces, and the Americans, with a total loss of 15 killed and wounded, were in undisputed possession of the insurgent capital. Aguinaldo had prudently evacuated it two days before with his main army, going in the direction of Calumpit. Only one battalion had been left behind to burn the town on the approach of the Americans. Aguinaldoʼs headquarters, the parish church, and a few hundred yards of railway were already destroyed when the Americans occupied the place, still partly in flames. Some few hundreds of Chinese were the only inhabitants remaining in Malolos. The value of the food-stuffs captured in this place was estimated at ₱1,500,000. Simultaneously, General Hallʼs brigade operated five to seven miles north of Manila and drove the insurgents out of Mariquina, San Mateo, and the environs of the Montalbán River with a loss of 20 men wounded and Lieutenant Gregg killed. It was now evident that Aguinaldo had no intention to come to close quarters and bring matters to a crisis by pitched battles. His policy was apparently to harry the Americans by keeping them constantly on the move against guerilla parties, in the hope that a long and wearisome campaign would end in the Americans abandoning the Islands in disgust, leaving the Filipinos to their own desired independence. Aguinaldo had moved on to Calumpit with his main army with the intention of establishing his Government there. On the American side, active preparations were made to dislodge him. Small gunboats were fitted out for operating on the Rio Grande de Pampanga, and an armoured train was prepared for use farther north. From Parañaque, on the bay shore south of Manila, the insurgents fired on the monitor Monadnock, but a few shots from this vessel silenced the shore battery. In several places, within 10 to 15 miles of the capital, armed groups of insurgents concentrated, but Aguinaldo moved on towards Baliuag, in the province of Bulacan, so as to be within easy reach of the hill district of Angat in case of defeat.

A few days after the capture of Malolos, General Otis issued a proclamation to the Filipinos, in the hope that by drawing off public sympathy from the insurgent cause it would dwindle away. The terms of this document were as follows, viz.:—

(1) The supremacy of the United States must and will be enforced throughout every part of the Archipelago. Those who resist can accomplish nothing except their own ruin.

(2) The most ample liberty of self-government will be granted which is reconcilable with the maintenance of a wise, just, stable, effective, and economical administration, and compatible with the sovereign and international rights and obligations of the United States.

(3) The civil rights of the Filipinos will be guaranteed and protected, religious freedom will be assured, and all will have equal standing before the law.

(4) Honour, justice, and friendship forbid the exploitation of the people of the Islands. The purpose of the American Government is the welfare and advancement of the Filipino people.

(5) The American Government guarantees an honest and effective civil service, in which, to the fullest extent practicable, natives shall be employed.

(6) The collection and application of taxes and revenues will be put on a sound and honest economical basis. Public funds will be raised justly and collected honestly, and will be applied only in defraying the proper expenses of the establishment and maintenance of the Philippine Government, and such general improvements as public interests demand. Local funds collected for local purposes shall not be diverted to other ends. With such a prudent and honest fiscal administration it is believed that the needs of the Government will, in a short time, become compatible with a considerable reduction of taxation.

(7) The pure, speedy, and effective administration of justice, whereby the evils of delay, corruption, and exploitation will be effectually eradicated.

(8) The construction of roads, railways, and other means of communication and transportation, and other public works of manifest advantage to the people will be promoted.

(9) Domestic and foreign trade, commerce, agriculture, and other industrial pursuits, and the general development of the country and interest of the inhabitants will be the constant objects of the solicitude and fostering care of the Government.

(10) Effective provision will be made for the establishment of elementary schools, in which the children of the people shall be educated, and appropriate facilities will also be provided for their higher education.

(11) Reforms in all departments of the Government, all branches of the public service, and all corporations closely touching the common life of the people must be undertaken without delay, and effected conformably with right and justice in such a way as to satisfy the well-founded demands and the highest sentiments and aspirations of the Philippine people.

The above proclamation, no doubt, embodies the programme of what the American Government desired to carry out at the time of its publication.

The Americans resumed the aggressive against the insurgents, and an expedition of 1,509 men and two mountain-guns was fitted out under the command of General Lawton to proceed up the Pasig River into the Lake of Bay in order to capture Santa Cruz at the eastern extremity. The expedition presented a curious sight; it comprised 15 native barges or “cascoes” towed by seven tugs. Some of the craft ran aground at Napíndan, the entrance to the lake, and delayed the little flotilla until daylight. The barges ahead had to wait for the vessels lagging behind. Then a mist came over the shore, and there was another halt. A couple of miles off an insurgent steamer was sighted, but it passed on. Finally Santa Cruz was reached; 200 sharpshooters were landed under cover of the launch guns, and fighting continued all the afternoon until nightfall. Early in the morning the town was attacked, the church situated in the centre was captured, and the American loss was only six men wounded; the insurgents were driven far away, leaving 68 dead on the field, and a large number of wounded, whilst hundreds were taken prisoners.

On April 12, at the request of the Spanish General Rios,[3] the gunboat Yorktown was despatched to Baler, on the east coast of Luzon, to endeavour to rescue a party of 80 Spanish soldiers, three officers, and two priests who were holding out against 400 insurgents. These natives, who were all armed with Maüser rifles, laid in ambush, and surprised the landing-party under Lieutenant Gilmore. The whole party was captured by the insurgents, who were afterwards ordered to release them all. General Aguinaldo was always as humanely disposed as the circumstances of war would permit, and, at the request of the commissioners for the liberation of the Spanish prisoners, he gave this little band of 83 heroes and two priests their liberty under a decree so characteristic of Philippine imitative genius in its pompous allusion to the Spanish glorious past that it is well worth recording.[4]

General Lawton asserted that 100,000 men would be required to conquer the Philippines, but they were never sent, because there was always an influential group of optimists who expected an early collapse of the insurgent movement. General Otis sent frequent cablegrams to Washington expressing his belief that the war would soon come to an end. However, in April, 1899, 14,000 regular troops were despatched to the Islands to reinforce the Volunteer regiments. It was a wise measure taken not too soon, for it was clear that a certain amount of discontent had manifested itself among the Volunteers. Moreover, the whole management of the Philippine problem was much hampered by an anti-annexation movement in America which did not fail to have its influence on the Volunteers, many of whom were anxious to return home if they could. Senator Hoar and his partisans persistently opposed the retention of the Islands, claiming that it was contrary to the spirit of the American Constitution to impose a government upon a people against its will. American sentiment was indeed becoming more and more opposed to expansion of territorial possession beyond the continent, in view of the unsatisfactory operations in the Philippines—a feeling which was, however, greatly counterbalanced by a recognition of the political necessity of finishing an unpleasant task already begun, for the sake of national dignity.

About this time the Philippine envoy, Felipe Agoncillo, was in Paris as president of a junta of his compatriots. Some of the members were of opinion that they ought to negotiate for peace directly with the American Secretary of State, but Agoncillo so tenaciously opposed anything short of sovereign Philippine independence that some of the members withdrew and returned to the Islands. A year later I found Agoncillo of exactly the same intransigent persuasion.

At the end of April the Americans suffered a severe reverse at Guingua (Bulacan), where Major Bell, with 40 cavalrymen, came across a strong outpost from which the enemy fired, killing one and wounding five men. With great difficulty the dead and wounded were carried back under fire, and it was found that the enemy occupied a big trench encircling three sides of a paddy-field bordering on a wood. As the Americans retreated, the insurgents crept up, aided by a mist, to within short range and fired another volley. Major Bell sent for reinforcements, and a battalion of infantry was soon on the scene, but their advance was checked by the continuous firing from the trenches. Artillery was on the way, but the insurgents were not disposed to charge the Americans, who lay for two hours under cover of a rice-field embankment in a broiling hot sun. One man died of sunstroke. Finally a second battalion of infantry arrived under the command of Colonel Stotsenberg, who was very popular with his men. He was received with cheers, and immediately ordered a charge against the enemy in the trenches; but whilst leading the attack he was shot in the breast, and died immediately. Within short range of the trenches Lieutenant Sisson fell, shot through the heart. By this time the artillery had arrived, and shelled the trenches. The insurgents, however, held their position well for a time, until the infantry was close up to them, when, following their usual tactics, they ran off to another trench a mile or so away. The total American losses that day were two officers and four privates killed, and three officers and 40 men wounded.

Spanish prisoners released by the Filipinos declared that the insurgents had 50,000 rifles and 200 pieces of artillery captured from the Spaniards, ample ammunition manufactured at two large factories up country, and occasional fresh supplies of war-material shipped from China by Chinese, European, and American merchants. The preparations made to dislodge Aguinaldo and his main army, entrenched and sheltered by fortifications at Calumpit, were now completed, and General McArthurʼs division steadily advanced. The flower of the insurgent army was there, well armed and supplied with artillery and shrapnel shell. Commanded by General Antonio Luna, they were evidently prepared to make at Calumpit the bold stand which was expected of them at Malolos. The transport difficulties were very great, and as General McArthur approached, every foot of ground was disputed by the enemy. Bridges had been broken down, and the guns had to be hauled through jungle and woods under a scorching sun. Many buffaloes succumbed to the fatigue, and hundreds of Chinamen were employed to do their work. The Bagbag River was reached, but it had to be crossed, and the passage cost the Americans six men killed and 28 wounded. The Bagbag River was well fortified, and the Americans had to attack its defenders from an open space. There were trenches at every approach; enormous pieces of rock had been dislodged and hauled down towards the breastworks of the trenches to form cover. The armoured train, pushed along the railway by Chinamen, then came into action, and its quick-firing guns opened the assault on the enemyʼs position. Six-pounders were also brought into play; the insurgents were gradually receding; artillery was wheeled up to the river bank and a regular bombardment of the bridge ensued. The trenches were shelled, and the insurgents were firing their guns in the direction of the armoured train, but they failed to get the range. Meantime, a company of the Kansas Regiment made a bold charge across a paddy-field and found shelter in a ditch, whence they kept up a constant fire to divert the enemyʼs attention whilst Colonel Eunston, the commander of the regiment, with a lieutenant and four men, crept along the girders of the bridge. The enemy, however, got the range and bullets were flying all around them, so they slid down the bridge-supports, dropped into the river, and swam to the opposite shore. Scrambling up the bank, revolvers in hand, they reached the trenches just as the insurgents were hurriedly evacuating them. Indeed, the Filipinosʼ defence of their trenches was extremely feeble during the whole battle. On the other hand, for the first time, the insurgents ventured out into the open against the Americans. General Antonio Luna, the Commander-in-Chief, could be seen galloping furiously along the lines exhorting his men to hold their ground, and he succeeded in deploying them into an extended line of battle to receive the enemyʼs onslaught. The insurgents kept up a desultory fire whilst the troops forded the river, and then they were pursued and driven off to the outskirts of the town. The flames rising from several buildings appeared to indicate an intention on the part of the insurgents to abandon their stronghold. Simultaneously, Generals Hale and Wheaton were coming forward with their columns, each having had some hard fighting on the way. The junction of forces was effected; a fierce fire was poured into the trenches; General Hale and his men made a dash across a stream, up to their waists in water; the Utah men followed with their batteries, cheering and dragging their field-pieces with desperate energy to the opposite bank; the enemy gave way, and the armoured train crossed the bridge. The total American loss that day did not exceed nine in killed and wounded, whilst the insurgent losses were at least 70. During the night the engineers repaired the Bagbag bridge for the rest of the troops to pass, and fighting was resumed at six oʼclock in the morning. The deserted trenches were occupied by the Americans to pick off any insurgents who might venture out into the open. A general assault by the combined columns was then made on the town, which was captured, whilst the bulk of the insurgents fled in great confusion towards the hills. The few who lingered in the trenches in the northern suburbs of the town were shelled out of them by the American artillery placed near the church, and the survivors decamped, hotly pursued for some distance by cavalry. So great was the slaughter that the insurgentsʼ total losses are unknown. The trenches were choked with dead bodies, and piles of them were found in many places. When nightfall came and the Americans were resting in Calumpit after their two daysʼ hard fighting, the whole district was illuminated for miles around by the flames from the burning villages and groups of huts, whilst the snapping of the burning bamboos echoed through the stillness like volleys of rifle-shots.

Aguinaldo and his Government had hastened north towards Tárlac, and on April 28 he instructed General Antonio Luna to discuss terms of peace. Ostensibly with this object the general sent Colonel Manuel Argüelles with his aide-de-camp and an orderly to the American camp at Apálit (Pampanga). These men were seen coming down the railway-track carrying a white flag. An officer was sent out to meet them, and after handing their credentials to him they were forthwith conducted to General Wheatonʼs headquarters. General Wheaton sent them on to General McArthur, the chief commander of the Northern Division, and General McArthur commissioned Major Mallory to escort them to General Otis in Manila. They explained that they were empowered to ask for an armistice for a few days as it was proposed to summon their Congress for May 1 to discuss the question of peace or war. General Otis replied that he did not recognize the Philippine Republic, and that there would be no cessation of hostilities until his only terms were complied with, namely, unconditional surrender. The negotiations were resumed the next day, and Argüelles seemed personally inclined to meet the American view of the situation; but as his powers were limited to asking for an armistice, he and his companions returned to the insurgent camp with General Otisʼs negative answer. On his return to the camp Colonel Argüelles was accused of being an “Americanista” in favour of surrender, for which offence a court-martial passed sentence upon him of expulsion from the insurgent army and 12 yearsʼ imprisonment. Whatever Argüellesʼ personal conviction may have been matters little, but in the light of subsequent events and considering the impetuous, intransigent character of General Antonio Luna, it is probable that Argüelles was really only sent as a spy.

On May 5 General McArthurʼs division advanced to Pampanga Province, and Santo Tomás and San Fernando were taken without loss. A portion of the latter place had been burnt by the retreating insurgents, and the townspeople fled leaving their household goods behind them. Generals Hale and Lawton were following up, and on the way Baliuag (Bulacan) was occupied and immense stores of foodstuffs were seized from the insurgents and private owners. The booty consisted of about 150,000 bushels of rice and over 250 tons of sugar. In other places on the way large deposits of food fell into American hands. The men of the Nebraska Regiment considered they had had sufficient hard work for the present in long marching, continual fighting, and outpost duty. They therefore petitioned General McArthur to relieve them temporarily from duty to recuperate their strength. There was no doubting their bravery, of which they had given ample proof; they had simply reached the limit of physical endurance. The hospitals were already full of soldiers suffering as much from sunstroke as from wounds received in battle. Consequently some of the regular regiments who had been doing guard duty in the capital were despatched to the front. In the following July the Nebraska Volunteer Regiment was one of those sent back to the United States.

On May 19 another party of insurgent officers presented themselves to the military authorities alleging that they had fuller powers than Argüelles possessed and were prepared to make peace proposals. Everything was discussed over again; but as General Otisʼs unalterable demand for unconditional surrender was already well known, one can only conclude that the insurgent commissioners were also spies sent to gauge the power and feeling of the Americans, for they promised to return within three weeks and then disappeared indefinitely.

On May 22 more peace commissioners were sent by Aguinaldo. They were received by the Schurman Commission of Inquest, who communicated to them a scheme of government which they had had under consideration in agreement with President McKinley. The proposed plan embodied the appointment of a Gov.-General, who would nominate a Cabinet to act with him. The President of the United States was to appoint the judges. The Cabinet members and the judges might be all Americans, or all Filipinos, or both. Moreover, there was to be an Advisory Council elected by popular vote. This liberal scheme was, however, abandoned, as its proposal seemed to have no effect in bringing the war to an end, and the negotiations terminated with the Commissioners and the insurgent delegates lunching together on board the U.S. battleship Oregon, whilst the blood of both parties continued to flow on the battlefield.

General Lawtonʼs brigade was still operating in the Provinces of Bulacan and north of Manila (now called Rizal). The fighting was so severe and the exposure to sun so disastrous that about the beginning of June he had to send back to Manila 500 wounded and heat-stricken men. It was found impossible to follow up the ever-retreating insurgents, who again escaped still farther north. Along the Manila Bay shore detachments of insurgents passed from time to time, driving women and children before them, so that the Americans would not care to fire on them. Some, however, were picked off from the warships when the insurgents omitted their precautionary measure. It was impossible to “round up” the enemy and bring him into a combat to the finish. His movements were so alert that he would fight, vanish in a trice, conceal his arms and uniform, and mingle with the Americans with an air of perfect innocence. With wonderful dexterity he would change from soldier to civilian, lounging one day in the market-place and the next day fall into the insurgent ranks. These tactics, which led to nothing whatever in a purely military sense, were evidently adopted in the vain hope of wearying the Americans into an abandonment of their enterprise.

In the middle of June General Lawtonʼs brigade operated to the south of Manila and in the Cavite province, where the natives gave battle at the Zapote River, famous for a great Spanish defeat during the rebellion. The insurgents were under cover the whole time, and their assembled thousands could hardly be seen by the attacking columns. They were also in great force and strongly entrenched near Las Piñas and at Bacoor.[5] From the former place they worked one large and two small guns with much effect, firing canister loaded with nails. One canister shattered the legs of a private. American infantry, skirmishing along the beach, came across a posse of insurgents who at once retreated, pursued by the Americans until the latter found themselves surrounded on three sides by hidden sharpshooters, who poured in a raking fire upon them. The skirmishers withdrew, but were rallied by General Lawton and other officers, who themselves picked off some of the enemy with rifle-shots. Encouraged by this example, the skirmishers, with one cry, suddenly rushed towards the insurgents, scattering them in all directions, and safely reached the main body of the brigade with their wounded comrades.

The only bridge across the Zapote River was strongly defended by the insurgents, who had trenches forming two sides of an angle. By noon their battery was silenced, and the Americans then attempted to ford the river, whilst others went knee-deep in mire across the paddy-mud flats. Then a deep stream was the only boundary between the contending parties. The Filipinos were hardly visible, being under shelter of thickets, whilst the Americans were wading through mud under a broiling sun for over two hours to reach them, keeping up a constant fusillade. The whole time there was an incessant din from a thousand rifles and the roar of cannon from the gunboats which bombarded the enemyʼs position near Las Piñas and Bacoor. The strain on the Americans was tremendous when the insurgents made a flanking movement and fired upon them as they were floundering in the mud. The 14th Infantry eventually swam across the Zapote River, and under cover of artillery charged the insurgents, who retreated into the woods. The Filipinos displayed a rare intelligence in the construction of their defences near the Zapote River and its neighbourhood, and but for the employment of artillery their dislodgement therefrom would have been extremely difficult. After the battle was over General Lawton declared that it was the toughest contest they had yet undertaken in this war.

At Perez Dasmariñas, in the east of Cavite Province, a battalion of infantry narrowly escaped annihilation. News had been brought to the American camp that the insurgents had evacuated that town, and that the native mayor was disposed to make a formal surrender of it to the Americans. The battalion forthwith went there to take possession, but before reaching the place the enemy closed in on all sides, and a heavy fire was mutually sustained for four hours. The Americans had only just saved themselves from destruction by a desperate bayonet-charge when they were rescued by General Wheaton, who arrived with reinforcements.

Three months of warfare had wrought dissension in the insurgent camp. Organization was Aguinaldoʼs peculiar talent, without the exercise of which the movement would have failed at the outset. But the value of this gift was not fully appreciated by his people. A certain section of the fighting masses had far greater admiration for Antonio Lunaʼs visible prowess than for the unseen astuteness of Aguinaldoʼs manoeuvres. It was characteristic of the Filipinos to split into factions, but the encouragement given to General Antonio Lunaʼs aspiration to supersede his supreme chief was unfortunate, for Aguinaldo was not the man to tolerate a rival. He had rid himself of Andrés Bonifacio (vide p. [371]) in 1896, and now another disturber of that unity which is strength had to be disposed of. The point of dispute between these two men was of public knowledge. It has already been shown how fully cognizant Antonio Luna was of the proposals made to the Americans for an armistice, for the express purpose of taking the vote of the Revolutionary Congress, for peace or war, on May 1. Aguinaldo was no longer a military dictator, but President of the so-called Philippine Republic (vide p. [486]), by whose will he was disposed loyally to abide. Antonio Lunaʼs elastic conscience urged him to duplicity; he pretended to submit to the will of the majority, expressed through the Congress, with the reserved intention of carrying on the war at all hazards, as military dictator, if the vote were for peace. Congress met, and during the debate on the momentous question—peace or war—the hitherto compact group of intransigents weakened. No agreement could be arrived at in the first session. There was, however, a strong tendency to accept American sovereignty. Luna feared that Aguinaldoʼs acceptance of the vote of the majority (if a division were taken) might deprive him of the opportunity of rising to supreme eminence. Lunaʼs violence at this time was intolerable, up to the point of smacking deputy F.B. in the face. His attempted coercion of the will of others brought about his own downfall. His impetuosity called forth the expression, “He is a fanatic who will lead us to a precipice.” In his imagination, all who did not conform to his dominant will were conspirators against him. Hence, at Cavite (Aguinaldoʼs native province), he disarmed all the troops of that locality, and substituted Ilocanos of his own province, whilst he vented his ferocity in numerous executions of Tagálogs. Had he lived he would probably have created a tribal feud between Ilocanos and Tagálogs.

On June 3, 1899, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, Captain Roman, and an escort, Luna entered the official residence of President Aguinaldo at Cabanatúan (Nueva Ecija). The guard, composed of a company of Cavite men from Canit (Aguinaldoʼs native town), under the command of Captain Pedro Janolino, saluted him on his entry. As Luna and Roman ascended the staircase to seek Aguinaldo a revolver-shot was heard. Luna rushed down the stairs in a furious rage and insulted Captain Janolino in the presence of his troops. This was too much for Janolino, who drew a dagger and thrust it violently into Lunaʼs head. In the scuffle Luna was knocked down and shot several times. He was able to reach the roadway, and, after shouting “Cowards!” fell down dead. In the meantime, whilst Captain Roman was running towards a house he was shot dead by a bullet in his breast. The Insurgent Government passed a vote of regret at the occurrence, and the two officers were buried with military honours. As subsequent events proved, Aguinaldo had no personal wish to give up the struggle, or to influence a peace vote, but to execute the will of the people, as expressed through the revolutionary congressmen.

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

On June 12, the anniversary of the proclamation at Cavite of Philippine Independence, Aguinaldo, from his northern retreat, issued a Manifiesto to his countrymen reminding them of the importance of that event. This document, abundant in grandiloquent phrases, is too lengthy for full citation here, but the following paragraph in it is interesting as a recognition that, after all, there was a bright side to Spanish dominion:—

Filipinas! Beloved daughter of the ardent sun of the tropics, commended by Providence to the care of noble Spain, be thou not ungrateful; acknowledge her, salute her who warmed thee with the breath of her own culture and civility. Thou hast longed for independence, and thine emancipation from Spain has come; but preserve in thine heart the remembrance of the more than three centuries which thou hast lived with her usages, her language, and her customs. It is true she sought to crush thine aspiration for independence, just as a loving mother resists the lifelong separation from the daughter of her bosom; it only proved the excess of affection, the love Spain feels for thee. But thou, Filipinas, flower of the ocean, delicate flower of the East, still weak, scarce eight months weaned from thy motherʼs breast, hast dared to brave a great and powerful nation such as is the United States, with thy little army barely disciplined and shaped. Ah, beloved brethren, all this is true; and still we say we will be slaves to none, nor let ourselves be duped by gentle words.

Certainly Aguinaldo could not have been the author of the above composition published in his name.

By the middle of July the censorship of Press cablegrams from Manila had become so rigid that the public in America and Europe could get very little reliable telegraphic news of what was going on in the Islands. The American newspaper correspondents therefore signed a “round robin” setting forth their complaints to General Otis, who took little heed of it. It was well known that the hospitals were crowded with American soldiers, a great many of whom were suffering solely from their persistence in habits contracted at home which were incompatible with good health in a tropical climate. Many volunteers, wearied of the war, were urging to be sent back to the States, and there was a marked lack of cordiality between the volunteer and the regular regiments. In the field the former might well compare with the smartest and the bravest men who ever carried arms; off active service there was a difference between them and the disciplined regulars perceptible to any civilian. The natives particularly resented the volunteersʼ habit of entering their dwellings and tampering, in a free and easy manner, with their goods and the modesty of their women. They were specially disgusted with the coloured regiments, whose conduct was such that the authorities saw the desirability of shipping them all back to the United States as soon as other troops were available to replace them, for their lawlessness was bringing discredit on the nation.

In July an expedition was sent up the Laguna de Bay, and the towns on the south shore were successively captured as far as Calamba, which was occupied on the 26th of the month. Early in the same month the inter-island merchant steamer Saturnus, on its regular voyage to the north-west coast of Luzon ports, put in at San Fernando de la Union to discharge cargo for that place, which was held by the insurgents. The vessel was flying the American flag. Part of the cargo had been discharged and preparations were being made to receive freight on board, when the insurgents seized the vessel, carried off the thousands of pesos and other property on board, poured petroleum on the woodwork, and hauled down the American flag. The American gunboat Pampanga, patrolling this coast, seeing there was something irregular, hove to and endeavoured to get a tow-line over the Saturnus, but was beaten off by the insurgentsʼ fire from shore. The insurgents then brought field-pieces into action and shelled the Saturnus, setting her on fire. The vessel became a wreck and sank near the beach. Subsequently a gunboat was sent to San Fernando de la Union to shell the town.

When the wet season had fully set in, operations of importance were necessarily suspended. Skirmishes and small encounters occurred in many places where the contending parties chanced to meet, but no further remarkable military event happened in this year of 1899 until the north-east monsoon brought a cessation of the deluging rains.

Notwithstanding General Otisʼs oft-repeated intimation of “unconditional surrender” as the sole terms of peace, in October General Aguinaldo sent General Alejandrino from his new seat of government in Tárlac to General Otis with fresh proposals, but the letter was returned unopened. At that time Aguinaldoʼs army was estimated at 12,000 men. The insurgents had taken many American prisoners, some of whom were released a few days afterwards, and, in October, Aguinaldo issued a decree voluntarily granting liberty to all Americans held captive by his people. This resolution, proclaimed as an act of grace, was really owing to the scarcity of food, and for the same reason Aguinaldo simultaneously disbanded a portion of his army.

In the month of December General Lawton led his brigade to the district of Montalbán and San Mateo, a few miles north of Manila, to attack the insurgents. The agreed plan was to make a flanking movement against the enemy on the San Mateo River and a frontal attack immediately the enemy was engaged. The frontal attack was being personally directed by the general, who stood on the high bank of the river. Captain Breckinridge, the generalʼs aide-de-camp, had just been hit in the groin, and General Lawton went to speak to him before he was carried away on a litter. Whilst so engaged, the general threw up his hands and fell without uttering a word. He had been shot through the heart, and died instantly. His body was carried to Manila for public burial, and the insurgents were as jubilant as the Americans were grieved over this sad occurrence. The date was fixed for the interment with military pomp, and immense crowds came out to witness the imposing procession. Some Filipinos, expecting the cortege would pass through a certain street, deposited a bomb in the house of an old woman, unknown to her, but fortunately for her and all concerned, it was not on the route taken. In memory of the late lamented general the present five-peso bank notes bear his vignette.

In 1900 the war of independence began to wane. In January, General Joseph Wheeler left Manila to assume command of the late General Lawtonʼs brigade, and overran the Laguna de Bay south shore towns. Viñan was taken on January 1, but as no garrison was left there, the insurgents re-entered the town when the Americans passed on. The armed natives were, in reality, playing a game of hide-and-seek, with no tangible result to themselves further than feeding at the expense of the townspeople. Aguinaldo was still roaming about central Luzon, but, one by one, his generals either surrendered or were captured. Among these was General Rizal, captured in January. In this month a plot to blow up the foreign consuls was opportunely frustrated. The Chinese General Paua, Aguinaldoʼs brother-in-law, surrendered in March and found shopkeeping in Binondo a less risky business than generalship. In the same month the Manila-Dagúpan Railway was handed over to the companyʼs management, after having been used for war purposes. General Montenegro surrendered in April, and a fortnight afterwards Don Pedro A. Paterno, late President of the Insurgent Congress, was captured at Antomoc (Beuguet district); Generals Garcia and Dumangtay were captured; five officers and two companies of insurgents surrendered in May; and in the same month one Gabriel Cayaban, of Pangasinán Province, was sentenced to five yearsʼ hard labour and a fine of 2,000 pesos for conspiring with guerillas to raise riot. It cannot be said that the insurgents in the field had advanced one step towards the attainment of their object. Manila was simultaneously full of conspirators cogitating over murderous plots against the Americans, and a band of them was arrested in the month of May. The insurgent movement was so far disorganized that it was deemed opportune to entrust natives with police duties, and in June a Philippine cavalry corps was created. Captain Lara, of the native police, took Generals Pio del Pilar and Salvador Estrella prisoners, but was himself assassinated on August 4. General Maximino Hizon[6] was captured at Mexico (Pampanga), and on June 21 the Military Governor published an amnesty proclamation, granting pardon and liberty to all who should declare their allegiance to the United States within ninety days. All who had surrendered and some who were captured took the required oath, and others were coming in. Pio del Pilar was among those who accepted the amnesty a week after its promulgation, but he was again arrested, September 6, for conspiracy. The Amnesty Proclamation was met by a counter-proclamation issued by Aguinaldo, dated August 3, 1900, in which he urged a continuance of the war, and offered rewards for arms. He promised to liberate all prisoners of war who might fall into insurgent hands, on surrender of their arms and ammunition. He would give them money to return to their lines and for petty expenses en route. He would pay 80 pesos for every American rifle brought in by a prisoner, and 20 pesos for any rifle voluntarily brought to a Philippine officer, but the deserter would not be allowed to enter the insurgent ranks.

On June 28 there was an attempted rising in Manila, and Don Pedro A. Paterno was placed under closer guard. In July the insurgents were active in the neighbourhood of Vigan (Ilocos). About 40 volunteer infantry and 60 cavalry went out from Narvican to attack them, and came across a strongly-entrenched position held by about 300 riflemen and 1,000 men armed with bowie-knives. A sharp fight ensued, but the Americans, overwhelmed by the mass, had to retreat to Narvican. The insurgents lost about a hundred men, whilst the American loss was one lieutenant and four men killed, nine wounded and four missing. About the same time, the insurgents driven back from the Laguna de Bay shore occupied Taal (Batangas), where, under the leadership of Miguel Malvar, a small battle was fought in the streets on July 12 and the town was burnt; a troop of cavalry was added to the police force this month, and there was no lack of Filipinos willing to co-operate with Americans for a salary. The backbone of insurgency having been broken, the dollar proved to be a mightier factor than the sword in the process of pacification. Compared with former times, the ex-insurgents found in the lucrative employments offered to them by the Americans a veritable El Dorado, for never before had they seen such a flow of cash. The country had been ravaged; the immense stores collected by the revolutionists had been seized; non-combatant partisans of the insurgent cause were wearied of paying heavy taxes for so little result; treasure was hidden; fields lay fallow, and for want of food Aguinaldo had had partially to disband his army. He told me himself that on one occasion they were so hard pressed for food that they had to live for three days on whatever they could find in the mountains. There were but two courses open to the majority of the ex-soldiers—brigandage or service under their new masters. Some chose the former, with results which will be hereafter referred to; others, more disposed towards civil life, were allured by the abundance of silver pesos, which made a final conquest where shot and shell had failed. Still, there were thousands incognizant of the olive-branch extended to them, and military operations had to be continued even within a dayʼs journey from the capital. A request had to be made for more cavalry to be sent to the Islands, and the proportion of this branch of the service to infantry was gradually increased, for “rounding up” insurgents who refused to give battle was exhausting work for white foot-soldiers in the tropics. In the course of four months nearly all the infantry in the small towns was replaced by cavalry. In this same month (July) American cavalry successfully secured the Laguna de Bay south shore towns which the insurgents had re-taken on the departure of the infantry sent there in January. Many well-to-do proprietors in these towns (some known to me for 20 years), especially in Viñan, complained to me of what they considered an injustice inflicted on them. The American troops came and drove out the insurgents, or caused them to decamp on their approach; but, as they left no garrisons, the insurgents re-entered and the townspeople had to feed them under duress. Then, when the American forces returned six months afterwards, to the great relief of the inhabitants, and left garrisons, many of these townspeople, on a charge of having given succour to the insurgents, were imprisoned with the only consolation that, after all, a couple of monthsʼ incarceration by the Americans was preferable to the death which awaited them at the hands of the insurgents if they had refused them food. The same thing occurred in other islands, notably in Sámar and in Cebú, where the people were persecuted for giving aid to the armed natives on whose mercy their lives depended. This measure was an unfortunate mistake, because it alienated the good feeling of those who simply desired peace with the ruling power, whether it were American or native. There were thousands of persons—as there would be anywhere in the world—quite incapable of taking up arms in defence of an absent party which gave them no protection, yet naturally anxious to save their lives by payment if need be.[7]

On July 19 a proclamation was issued forbidding the possession of firearms without licence. On August 7 the curfew ordinance was extended to 11 p.m., and again, in the following month, to midnight. In September there was another serious outbreak up the Laguna de Bay, where two or three hundred insurgents, led by a French half-caste, General Cailles,[8] attacked Los Baños, and about the same time the insurgents north of Manila cut the railroad between Malolos and Guiguinto. Cailles was driven out of Los Baños, but hundreds more insurgents joined him, and a furious battle was fought at Siniloan, on September 17, between 800 insurgents and a company of the 15th Infantry, who drove the enemy into the mountains.

In November Aguinaldo, who was camping in the province of Nueva Ecija, issued another of his numerous exhortations, in consequence of which there was renewed activity amongst the roaming bands of adventurers all over the provinces north of the capital. The insurgent chief advocated an aggressive war, and in the same month it was decided to send more American troops to Manila.

Many of the riff-raff had been inadvertently enrolled in the native police force, and received heavy sentences for theft, blackmail, and violent abuse of their functions. Indeed it took nearly a couple of years to weed out the disreputable members of this body. The total army forces in the Islands amounted to about 70,000 men, and at the end of 1900 it was decided to send back the volunteer corps to America early in the following year, for, at this period, General Aguinaldo had become a wanderer with a following which could no longer be called an army, and an early collapse of the revolutionary party in the field was an anticipated event.

From September 1, 1900, the legislative power of the military government was transferred to a civil government, Governor W. H. Taft being the President of the Philippine Commission, whilst Maj.-General McArthur continued in his capacity of Commander-in-Chief to carry on the war against the insurgents, which culminated in the capture of General Emilio Aguinaldo on March 23, 1901. This important event accelerated the close of the War of Independence. On January 14 General Emilio Aguinaldo had his headquarters at Palánan (Isabela), on the bank of a river which empties itself into Palánan Bay, situated about six miles distant from the town, on the east coast of Luzon. Being in want of reinforcements, he sent a member of his staff with messages to that effect to several of his subordinate generals. The fellow turned traitor, and carried the despatches to an American lieutenant, who sent him on to Colonel Frederick Funston at San Isidro (Nueva Ecija). The despatches disclosed the fact that General Emilio Aguinaldo requested his cousin, General Baldomero Aguinaldo, to send him, as soon as possible, 400 armed men. With General McArthurʼs approval, Colonel Funston proceeded to carry out a plan which he had conceived for the capture of General Emilio Aguinaldo. An expedition was made up of four Tagálog deserters from Aguinaldoʼs army, 78 Macabebe scouts (vide p. [446], footnote), and four American officers, besides Colonel Funston himself. Twenty of the scouts were dressed in insurgent uniforms, and the remaining natives in common working-clothes. Ten of them carried Spanish rifles, ten others had Krag-Jörgensen rifles, which they were to feign to have captured from American troops, and the five Americans were disguised as private soldiers. The party was then carried round the north and east coasts of Luzon, and put ashore in the neighbourhood of Baler by the gunboat Vicksburg, which approached the coast without lights, and then waited off Palánan Bay. The expedition was nominally commanded by an insurgent deserter, Hilario Placido,[9] whilst three other deserters posed as officers, the Americans playing the role of prisoners captured by the party. Before setting out for Casigúran, some 20 miles away, a messenger was sent on to the native headman of that town to tell him that reinforcements for Aguinaldo were on their way, and would require food and lodging, which were forthwith furnished by the headman to these 87 individuals. Some months previously some papers had been captured bearing the signature and seal of the insurgent general Lacuna, and this enabled the party to send on a letter in advance to Emilio Aguinaldo, ostensibly in the name of Lacuna, announcing the arrival of the reinforcements furnished in response to his request of January 14. This letter was accompanied by another one from the pseudo-chief of the expedition, stating that on the way they had captured five American soldiers and ten Krag rifles. A request was also made for food, which he explained had run short. Emilio Aguinaldo, therefore, sent Negritos to meet them on the way with a supply of rice. In the morning of March 23 they were near Palánan. The Macabebe scouts were sent in advance of the soi-disant five American prisoners, and when they entered the town Aguinaldoʼs bodyguard of 50 men was drawn up in parade to receive them. The native pseudo-officers marched into the camp, and were welcomed by Aguinaldo; but they shortly afterwards took temporary leave of him, and coming outside ordered their Macabebe troops to form up. Just at the moment the five supposed prisoners were conducted towards the camp the Macabebes poured three murderous volleys into Aguinaldoʼs troops, two of whom were killed and 18 wounded. On the other side only one Macabebe was slightly wounded. The Americans witnessed the effect of the first volley, and, together with the natives posing as officers, rushed into Aguinaldoʼs headquarters. Aguinaldo, Colonel Villa, and one civilian were taken prisoners, whilst other insurgent officers jumped from the window into the river and escaped. The expedition, after resting a day and a half at the camp, escorted their prisoners to Palánan Bay, where they were all taken on board the gunboat Vicksburg, which reached Manila on March 27.

The closing scene in Emilio Aguinaldoʼs military career was a remarkable performance of consummate skill, but unworthy of record in the annals of military glory.

The War of Independence, which lasted until the next year, was a triumph of science over personal valour about equally balanced. It was a necessary sacrifice of the few for the good of the many. No permanent peace could have been ever hoped for so long as the Islanders entertained the belief that they could any day eject the invaders by force.

The American citizens naturally rejoiced over the bare fact, briefly cabled without ghastly details, that the Philippine generalissimo had fallen prisoner, because it portended the peace which all desired. In deference to public opinion, the President promoted Colonel Funston of the volunteers to the rank of Brig.-General in the regular army.

Emilio Aguinaldo was first taken before General McArthur and then escorted to prison in Calle de Anda, in the walled city. On April 1, 1901, he took the oath of allegiance in the following form, viz.:—

I, Emilio Aguinaldo, hereby renounce all allegiance to any and all so-called revolutionary governments in the Philippine Islands and recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of America therein; I do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to that Government; that I will at all times conduct myself as a faithful and law-abiding citizen of the said Islands, and will not, either directly or indirectly, hold correspondence with or give intelligence to an enemy of the United States, nor will I abet, harbour or protect such enemy; that I impose upon myself these voluntary obligations without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion, so help me God.

After signing this declaration he was a free man. For a while he resided at Malacañan, on the north bank of the Pasig River, where one night a pirogue full of assassins came to seek the life of the man who had failed. But his lucky star followed him, and he removed to Paco and again to Ermita (suburbs of Manila) and finally to his native town of Cauit (Cavite), where I was his guest. He was living there in modest retirement with his mother and his two good-looking young nieces, who served us at table. The house is large and comparatively imposing as a provincial residence, being formed of two good substantial houses connected by a bridge-passage. The whole is enclosed by a low brick wall, topped by iron railings painted flaming red. In front there is a garden and a spacious compound at the back. In the large drawing-room there is a ceiling fresco representing a Filipina descending a flight of steps from a column to which the chains, now severed, held her captive. On the steps lies the Spanish flag with a broken staff, and in her hand she holds on high the Philippine flag of freedom.

In conversation with him he stated that he and his companions returned to the Islands in May, 1898, with many assurances that America was simply going to aid them to gain their independence. He added that when he landed at Cavite he had no arms, and the Americans allowed him to take them from the Spanish arsenal. Then they turned him out, and he moved his headquarters to Bacoor, where his troops numbered between 30,000 and 35,000 men. He said he could easily have taken Manila then, but that he was begged not to do so as the Americans were waiting for more troops and they wished to make the victory a joint one. He confessed he had bought experience very dearly. But he profited by that experience when, at Cavite, the Belgian Consul and Prince Löwenstein came four times to make proposals to him in favour of Germany. The first time, he said, he received them and demanded their credentials as authorized agents for Germany, but, as they could not produce any, he declined to have any further intercourse with them. Referring to the first period of the rebellion, Aguinaldo admitted that the prospect of ejecting the Spaniards from the Islands was very doubtful.

Immediately Aguinaldo had fallen captive, all kinds of extravagant and erroneous versions were current as to how it had happened. Thousands insisted that he must have voluntarily surrendered, for how could he have been caught when he had the anting-anting? (vide p. [237]). As the ball of conjecture went on rolling, some added to this that his voluntary surrender must have been for a money consideration, and there were still others who furnished a further inducement—his fear of revenge from the late Antonio Lunaʼs party!

Although Aguinaldo gave no proof of being a brilliant warrior, as an organizer he had no rival capable of keeping 30,000 or more Filipinos united by sentiment for any one purpose. He trusted no comrade implicitly, and for a long time his officers had to leave their side-arms in an antechamber before entering his apartment. He had, moreover, the adroitness to extirpate that rivalry which alone destroys all united effort. But the world makes no allowance for the general who fails. To-day he is left entirely alone, pitied by some, shunned by a few, and almost forgotten by the large majority. He is indeed worthy of respect for his humanity in the conduct of the war, and of some pity in his present peculiar position. Many of his late subordinates now occupy good and high-salaried posts. Members of the Government of which he was President have espoused American doctrine and enjoy high social positions and fat emoluments. Aguinaldoʼs scholarship is too meagre for an elevated position, and his dignity and self-respect too great for an inferior one.

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[1] The Treaty was ratified by the Senate by 57 votes to 27 on February 6, 1899.

[2] The Paco church was an ancient, imposing building; to-day there is not a stone left to show that it ever existed, and the plot is perfectly bare.

[3] General Diego de los Rios was remaining in Manila to negotiate with the insurgents the liberation of the Spanish prisoners (vide p. [477]).

[4] The decree says:—“Seeing that the Spanish garrison in Baler, consisting of a handful of men, isolated, without hope of succour, is, by its valour and constant heroism worthy of universal admiration, and in view of its defence, comparable only with the legendary valour of the sons of the Cid and of Pelayo, I render homage to military virtues, and, interpreting the sentiments of the Philippine Republic, on the proposal of my Secretary of War, and in agreement with my Council of State, I hereby decree as follows, viz.:—That the said forces shall no longer be considered our prisoners, but our friends, and consequently the necessary passes shall be furnished them enabling them to return to their country. Given in Tárlac on the 30th of June, 1899. The President of the Republic,—Emilio Aguinaldo.”

[5] After the war I visited this former insurgent stronghold. Of the ancient church three walls and a quarter of the roof were left standing. There was nothing inside but shrubs, which had grown up to 3 feet high. In front of the church ruins stood an ironical emblem of the insurgentsʼ power in the shape of an antiquated Spanish cannon on carriage, with the nozzle broken off. Judging from the numerous newly-erected dwellings in this little town, I surmise that three-fourths of it must have been destroyed during the war.

[6] A Chinese half-caste Pampango. I knew him intimately as a planter. He was deported to and died a prisoner in the Island of Guam in 1901.

[7] In 1905 one of the wealthiest men in the Colony was arrested and brought to trial on the charge of having paid, or caused to be paid, the sum of ₱ 20 to an outlaw in Batangas Province. After putting the accused to a deal of expense and annoyance, the Government suddenly withdrew from the case, leaving the public in doubt as to the justice or injustice of the arraignment.

[8] A very intelligent man who was appointed Civil Governor of La Laguna Province when the war terminated.

[9] Early in 1905 the Court of Nueva Ecija passed sentence of imprisonment for life on this man for murder.