| Medal authorized by Congress for presentation to Admiral Dewey and his officers and men. |
| (Designed and copyrighted, 1898, by D. C. French.) |
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PROBLEM ON LAND.
After the Spanish fleet had been destroyed and the forts surrendered, Admiral Dewey demanded the surrender of the city of Manila with all its fortifications and military stores. This the Governor-General refused. The fleet could have bombarded the citadel and the fortifications, but as no land force was at hand to garrison the place, and the foreign consuls advised against it from fear of revengeful action of the insurgents, the Admiral refrained. Instead, he established a strict blockade of the port, while the Filipinos were besieging the city on the land side. He destroyed six batteries at the entrance of the bay, and occupied Cavité, where he established hospitals in which the sick and wounded Spaniards were protected and cared for. As his proposal that both sides use the telegraph cable unmolested was not accepted by the Governor-General, he had it lifted and cut.
The possibility of a peaceful settlement of affairs in the island had been destroyed by this same Governor, who in an official proclamation had told the natives that the Americans had murdered all the original inhabitants of North America, and that now they were coming to rob the Filipinos of their lands, reduce many of them to slavery, and substitute the Protestant religion for the Catholic. And the Archbishop of Manila supplemented this with a pastoral letter in which he told the natives that if the Americans were victorious their altars would be desecrated, their churches turned into Protestant chapels, vice inculcated instead of morality, and every effort made to lead their children away from the true faith.
While affairs on shore were thus working toward a serious condition of things for all concerned, there had been indications of unfriendliness and a disposition to embarrass the operations of the Americans by some of the commanders of foreign war ships. This was so marked on the part of the Germans that there was serious danger of a rupture of the friendly relations between the two countries; but the tact and firmness of Dewey, who had been intrusted with full discretion by his Government, prevented it. None the less anxiously he looked for the arrival from the United States of a sufficient land force to capture and hold Manila, and he was obliged to use all his skill in diplomacy to restrain the Filipinos from attacking the city.
As soon as an expedition could be prepared, the Government sent one, in three divisions. The first, under General Francis V. Greene, sailed from San Francisco May 25th, and arrived at Manila June 30th; the second, under General Thomas H. Anderson, sailed June 3d; and the third, under General Arthur McArthur, arrived July 31st. The whole number of troops was nearly twelve thousand. With the third section went General Wesley Merritt, commander of the expedition, who also had been appointed Military Governor of the Philippines; and with him went General Elwell S. Otis, to whom was given the command of all the troops in the Philippines, leaving General Merritt free to give his energies to the administrative and political problems. On the 4th of August the fleet was strengthened by the arrival of the monitor Monterey, which had heavier ordnance than the ten-inch Krupp guns that the Spaniards had mounted in the shore batteries.
The troops were landed at Cavité, and occupied the trenches on the south side of the city, while the Filipino insurgents held those on the east and north. The Spanish Governor-General resigned his authority to the military commander, and, with the permission of Admiral Dewey, was taken away on a German cruiser. On the 28th of July the Spaniards made a determined assault on the American lines, but were driven back; and on August 7th Admiral Dewey and General Merritt gave notice that in forty-eight hours they would attack the defenses. Parleying ensued, and the Americans extended the time nearly a week in order that General Merritt might push his lines farther east and take possession of the bridges, and thus be able to prevent the insurgents from entering the city to loot it and massacre the Spaniards, which they were bent upon doing. On the morning of August 13th the fleet bombarded the fortifications of Malaté, setting fire to the stores and ammunition, while the Utah battery played on the breastworks. Then the Colorado regiment and the California troops stormed the works, drove out the Spaniards, and fought them from house to house till they reached the esplanade, when a white flag was displayed and the Spanish commander surrendered and was accorded the honors of war. Bodies of insurgents were found entering the city, and were driven back by General Greene's troops.
General Merritt issued a proclamation in which he assured the inhabitants of the islands that he had only come to protect them in their homes, their occupations, and their personal and religious rights; that the port of Manila would be open to the merchant ships of all neutral nations; and that no person would be disturbed so long as he preserved the peace. Additional troops were sent out, and General Merritt returned home, leaving General Otis in command.