There was anxiety at the port of Cavite when they heard the cannon from Manila, and saw the clouds of smoke from the Parián; then news of the result arrived, with an order to the warden of the fort, Sargento-mayor Alonso García Romero, to put to the sword all the Sangleys who were in that port.[15] Hardly was this information guessed at when all the people—Spaniards, Indians, Japanese, Sangleys, and mulattoes ran in dismay through the streets; all suspected one another, and all tried to secure their own safety. The women and the more valuable articles of property were collected in the churches; and there prayers were offered aloud, entreating God for mercy. In the present tumult, the prudence with which the warden acted was of great value; for he restored tranquillity among all, especially the Sangleys, who were most disturbed. Within half an hour he gathered about a thousand of them in the royal buildings, making it known that this was for the purpose of securing them from the public fury. They were satisfied with this, closed their houses, and proceeded to take refuge in the buildings assigned to them. While the Ave Maria was ringing, the warden went to all the religious orders, requesting that priests should go to baptize the infidels and hear the confessions of the Christians, since all of them must die. They went immediately; and the warden commanded that the Chinese should be taken out by tens, on the pretext that the governor had summoned them to Manila. In this way, they cut off the heads of as many as three hundred Sangleys, many of them receiving the sacrament of baptism, and many who were Christians that of penance. At this time a Spaniard made the mistake of cutting off the purses which the Sangleys always carry with them; this was seen by some, who immediately called out that they were taking the Chinese away to kill them, and that the rest would better put themselves on the defensive, and either save their lives or sell them dearly. The Spaniards who were inside at once tried to escape, and did so, although with some wounds from stones, taking the precaution to close the gate of exit—a prudent act of great importance, because the rest of the Spaniards, running up to that place, began to fire their arquebuses wherever they could. The Sangleys then set fire to the royal building, close to the gate, in order to make an opening by which they could escape; others, climbing above, began to throw stones and tiles at the Spaniards, and broke in pieces an ivory image of the blessed Christ, with which they wounded some of our men. Many Indian women had been sheltered in these buildings the day before, thinking that they would there be safe, and seeing themselves suddenly in extreme danger. Only three of these, with one child, died on this occasion, at the hands of the Sangleys; another woman and another child flung themselves down from the windows, but, falling upon some dead Sangleys, they received no injury of importance. Nor did the rest of these women, who, seeing their danger, did the same; they threw themselves down and remained safe, although bruised by the fall. The fire was now seizing on the entire building;[16] and those within, with death so near and in their sight, broke down the wall on two sides, and as many as four hundred flung themselves through this opening, the rest remaining among the flames. Here they were opposed by the Spaniards and Japanese, whom the Sangleys confronted with such mad fury that, although armed only with stones and clubs, they strove to make way for themselves, wounding some of our men (among these the warden), and killing two Japanese. Finally they took the road to the beach, and, being pursued thither, many of them continued to fall until, being hindered by a fishing corral in which they were crowded together, they were a mark for the bullets of our soldiers, and for the balls from a blunderbuss which was fired from the fort of La Magdalena, and thus thirty of them died. Those who remained alive went out into the country, continually pursued by our soldiers at short range, so that few escaped; and most of those were caught next day by the ranchmen. Others hanged themselves from the trees; and, according to the best information that can be obtained, only twenty three were left who could carry the news to those in Manila. The slaughter continued on the following day, since there were many who were hidden in the houses. This success was a great mercy of God; for it was afterward known that the Sangleys of the port had agreed upon an uprising for that very night; they had planned to set fire to the village in all parts of it, which they could have executed all the more easily because their houses were very near to those of the Spaniards. In the house of a rich Chinese Christian was found the banner to which they were to rally. Many kept hidden in the fireplaces pincers with which they intended to torture certain Spaniards by tearing away their flesh piecemeal, in revenge for the Sangley pirates who were punished by that torture in Manila in the past year.[17] The number of those who died in the port of Cavite reached one thousand three hundred. Immediately afterward all the Sangley laborers on the lands in that district revolted, of whom some five hundred perished at the hands of the Indians and ranchmen—not to speak of others who were scattered in Maragondon and Silan, probably four hundred and fifty. Many were also killed in the neighboring jurisdictions: in Bulacan, three hundred; in Pampanga, six hundred; in Pangasinan, two hundred; in Taal and Balayan, five hundred. Besides this, the corpses of more than six hundred Sangleys have been encountered in the villages and coasts of Zambales, the coasts of Maderas, and other places.[18]
Encampment of the insurgents; damages which they inflict; levies of men to oppose them
The damages which the Sangleys continued to commit—which were especially seen among the recent arrivals in the Parián—have been very heavy. They set fire to many houses of Spaniards and of religious; and they burned the villages, with the churches, profaning all that was sacred[19]—hacking the images with knives, wearing the chasubles, and making from the altar-coverings garments to cover themselves, and flags. Some of these articles were taken from them, in encounters which the Spaniards had with them. The villages which, with their churches, were burned were: Santa Cruz (although they did not entirely destroy it), Quiapo, Meyhaligue, Sampaloc, San Sebastian, San Francisco del Monte, and part of San Juan de la Penitencia. They also burned the ranches of Santiago Castelu (or Gastelu), General Asaldegui, Admiral Ezquerra, and others; and a large part of the villages of Tondo and Binondo.
They arrogantly continued these forays, and they were further confirmed in their notion that they were masters of the field by having therein more than twenty-six thousand fighting men, and knowing that the Spaniards who could be assembled hardly amounted to three hundred. Accordingly they formed their encampment opposite Manila, with fortifications at intervals, where they remained about twenty days, without our men crossing the river to attack them—the Spaniards contenting themselves with depriving the Sangleys of boats, so that the latter might not cross from the other side; and they waged war on us in two directions. It was our prudent decision, and its importance was recognized by the insurgents, not to let our force of soldiers be weakened; and they exerted all their strength to overcome it, sparing no effort in order to carry out their intention, and in one case almost succeeding. Only by their great [number was it][20] possible, and their natural ingenuity; they undertook to intercept the river, although it was so broad and deep, with a causeway of stone—a work which they were able to complete in a short time, by each Sangley carrying only one stone. With this they were masters of the river as regards its passage, which they prevented to the boats which were coming down with provisions from Laguna de Bay; but they were checked in this by the diligence of those who had in charge the safety of those supplies. These were General Asaldegui and Captain Ugalde, who had various skirmishes with the Sangleys to keep them back from the passage of the river, killing many of them without serious loss of our men. By that time, recognizing the dangerous character of the war, and that it would apparently be a long one, the governor continued to make provision of all sorts of munitions and food; and raised levies of men from Pampanga[21] and other jurisdictions—not only arquebusiers, but Indians armed with arrows, lances, and shields. At this summons, all showed their fidelity to the king, their affection for the Spaniards, their hatred to the Chinese, and their promptness in obedience. The Pampango Indians quickly rallied, constrained not only by their ancient loyalty but by the present need; in this they were not a little encouraged by seeing the spirited conduct of their women whom they left behind, who offered to come with them to fight. As it was impracticable to accept this offer, they were ready, even at the cost of their lives, to defend their homes and villages, in case the insurgents should undertake to enter these.
The enemy are dislodged, and pursued as far as Bocaue
The new soldiers who had come to the succor of Manila, desirous of encountering the enemy—for which there was not yet opportunity, according to the arrangements of the governor—made forays through the open country, in small bands, always with good success.[22] They were encouraged to these sallies by the reward which the governor offered to any one who should bring in the head of an enemy; as a result, many heads came in to the city every day. A large number of men having been collected, the governor resolved to post troops close to the very camp of the insurgents, in order to surround them; and although they tried to prevent this, they were unable to do so. Instead, they found themselves, in all the attacks that they made, compelled to retire with losses always of many men—although on one occasion, when the governor with the master-of-camp and some Spaniards undertook to reconnoiter a position, the Sangleys came about them, placing them in such evident danger that they were very fortunate in being able to escape. This was secured by the coming, with succor, of Captain Sebastian de Gastelu, who was stationed at a neighboring post, with his men. Some took the governor for the master-of-camp. The sargento-mayor, Don Pedro de Jara, and Captain Gastelu peppered them well with the artillery, which caused them so great loss that even within their very camp they were not safe. Preparations were now made [on our side] for attacking them on a set day; but it seems that the enemy, guessing this plan, and the disastrous result which they might expect from it, since they were surrounded on all sides by towers and redoubts, concluded to take flight. This they did on Thursday, December 29, at night, with so much silence (since the [word in MS. missing] was so great) that there was no indication or suspicion of their resolve until, on the morning of the next day, certain knowledge of their departure was furnished by our noticing that they did not sally out into the open country. The governor, who was in our camp, immediately commanded that the enemy’s camp be delivered over to pillage; in it they found more than ten thousand fanegas of rice, by which not only the Spaniards but the negroes and Indians of the surrounding villages profited. The governor went in pursuit of them with his men, and got sight of them between the villages of Pasig and San Mateo, to which they had gone with the intention of crossing the river on rafts, for which purpose they had cut there twenty thousand bamboos. They were prevented from this, and our people prepared to give them battle on Saturday, December 31; but the Chinese did not wait for them, but took to flight that night also. Our troops continued to pursue them,[23] and reached them at nightfall, finding them encamped in the village of San Jose, a visita of Bocaue, which is a mission village of the fathers of St. Francis. When the governor was asked there where our men were to be lodged, he replied, “Where the enemy are.” Our soldiers were so honorably obedient that, crossing a stream that separated the two forces, they dislodged the Sangleys from their camp, compelling them to flee; the enemy left behind the supper that they had prepared, as spoils [for our men, disregarding] the opportunity, and its importance for the hungry and needy condition in which they were.[24]
On the first of January, 1640, in the morning, the Sangleys were attacked by our men, and forced to do as they had done the night before—although with greater loss, since many in their flight rushed head-long into the river, where they perished. The rest took the road to Pampanga, intending to secure through that province a passage to that of Pangasinan; but, after fighting their way, and receiving damage on all sides, they fell back to Bocaue. This move caused anxiety among our people, who feared that the Sangleys did this with the intention of again crossing the river of Manila, in which case they would destroy, as they had already done on the side opposite [Manila], the churches and villages on the other side. Seeing, then, the danger at this time of need, and considering that the soldiers were with the governor and the citizens acting as garrison, and that in no place could the forces be divided, since everywhere they were so small, father Fray Juan Ramirez, the Augustinian provincial, offered to keep guard over the river with his religious, and asked the other religious orders to help him in this with such men as they could spare. All willingly gave their aid, and the governor also sent the commander of the galleys, Andres Lopez de Asaldegui, for the same purpose; and, aided by so many religious, he kept the river safe for our trade, and prevented the enemy from crossing it. At Bocaue the governor was confronting the enemy, and having various skirmishes with them, being sometimes the attacker, sometimes the attacked; and although usually these occasioned loss to the enemy, sometimes also our people lost—especially one day when a large troop of Indians, with a number of Spaniards, sallied out against the Sangleys. The latter resorted to the artifice of setting fire in all directions to the patches of sedge (or rather the fields of cogon[25]), which were a great cause for fear; and the Indians, unexpectedly surrounded by fire, took to disorderly flight. This was the cause of some few Spaniards being left there dead; their firearms were seized by the Sangleys, who with these did considerable damage to our men. On this occasion the governor was in notable danger; for he, considering that the enemy’s encampment was in an advantageous location, convenient to food-supplies, and having plenty of water (which our camp lacked), determined to dislodge them from it. For this purpose, on the night of January 9 he erected a tower near the enemy’s camp, defended by ditches, spikes driven into the ground [empuyados], and a stockade, and well furnished with artillery. He appointed as its commander the chief captain of the artillery, Juan Bautista de Molina, with Captain Gastelu [as second]; and placed in it two artillerists, twenty soldiers, and a hundred Indians armed with arrows and arquebuses. When the Sangleys, in the morning, saw the new fort, so unexpected to them, they rushed with great fury to carry it by assault; but those within defended it valiantly, making great havoc among the enemy. Hearing the report of the cannon, the governor and the master-of-camp hastened to give them aid. Before they could arrive, the enemy turned their backs and fled to their camp; the governor and those who accompanied him therefore returned to their quarters. At one o’clock the Sangleys again endeavored to seize the fort; they found the same resistance and valor among our men as in the morning, and many of their people were killed, without any loss to us, except that a bullet wounded Captain Gastelu in the knee. At the time, this injury was not considered dangerous or likely to last long; but finally, at the end of five months it caused his death, to the sorrow of every one that his Majesty should lose in him a valiant and energetic officer. The governor and the master-of-camp came, as in the morning, to the aid of the fort; but the enemy were now retreating, and, the governor sending four men on horseback to reconnoiter their course, God inspired such fear in those who were retreating that they began to flee in a disorderly crowd, leaving in their camp their weapons (lances and arquebuses) and a large quantity of provisions. Some of our men followed them for the distance of half a legua, and in that space killed more than one thousand five hundred of them; and when the soldiers of our force were called together, the affair could be considered by them all as concluded. It was regarded as a great victory, on account of the great fear which had filled the minds of the Sangleys, the utter disorder and confusion with which they fled, and our having gained from them an encampment so convenient, with the death of so many and the booty of so many weapons; and the news of it was sent to Manila at ten o’clock that night. It was received with general satisfaction and the ringing of bells; and on the following day in all the churches solemn masses were said before the most holy sacrament, by way of thanksgiving for so fortunate a success, and in supplication to that same Lord that He would continue that favor to our forces.