

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



561 



Military .Operations. After the first series of 

 encounters with American troops Aguinaldo, the 

 chief of the insurrection in Luzon, who had been 

 proclaimed President of the Philippine Republic, 

 abandoned his military organization, finding that 

 his compatriots, however securely they intrenched 

 themselves, would not stand up against a vigor- 

 ous charge of the smallest body of American 

 soldiers, and started a guerrilla warfare, for 

 which the conditions of the country offered pe- 

 culiar advantages, enabling the insurgents to ap- 

 pear and disappear at their convenience. Wher- 

 ever a patrol or a supply train with a small escort 

 was passing they would gather with arms in 

 their hands for the attack, and immediately after- 



erations against concentrated field forces of insur- 

 gents. The number of men shot from ambush by 

 small guerrilla bands exceeded the number of 

 fatal casualties of any previous time. For the 

 >i\ months from Jan. 31 to July 31, 1900, the 

 total number of deaths in the army was 24 offi- 

 cers and 971 enlisted men, of whom 4 officers and 

 204 men were killed in action, 3 officers and 43 

 men died of wounds, and 17 officers and 724 men 

 died from disease and other causes. The daily 

 average of deaths was 4.7, and it has steadily in- 

 creased, the men becoming more and more debili- 

 tated by service in the tropical climate. In June, 

 1900, out of a total of 63,284, there were 5,563, or 

 8.79 per cent., sick in hospital. The most difficult 



QUARTERMASTER'S WHARF, MANILA. 



ward they could return within the American lines 

 in the white garb of the country, and resume the 

 attitude of peaceful natives. A widely scattered 

 formation of Filipinos quickly followed the adop- 

 tion of guerrilla tactics, and this necessitated a 

 corresponding dispersion of American troops and 

 put a greater strain upon the garrison than regu- 

 lar warfare could. There were 53 military sta- 

 tions in the islands on Nov. 1, 1899. By Sept. 1, 

 1900, the number had increased to 413. The con- 

 sequence of this extension of the field of opera- 

 tions was that regular combats were no longer 

 fought, yet the losses were not inconsiderable in 

 the large number of minor affairs. During this 

 period the casualties among the Americans were 

 268 killed, 750 wounded, and 55 captured; among 

 the Filipinos, 3,227 killed, 694 wounded, and 2,684 

 captured. The extensive distribution of troops 

 and the apparently desultory work strained the 

 endurance of the soldiers to the utmost, and de- 

 manded greater discipline and courage as high 

 as they exhibited during the period of regular op- 

 VOL. XL. 36 A 





problem in the commissariat service was that of 

 supplying fresh meat to the military posts. The 

 meat was brought to Manila in naval refrigerat- 

 ing ships, and in transit from there to outlying 

 stations much of it spoiled and was condemned 

 on arrival. The losses of stores were abnormally 

 large, but theft or capture accounts for less than 

 3 per cent, of the loss. The difficulties of trans- 

 port increased in proportion to the extent of ter- 

 ritory to be protected. The native ponies proved 

 most successful. 



The policy of guerrilla warfare was adopted at 

 a council of war held at Bayainbanu on Nov. 12, 

 1899, which was attended by Gen. Aguinaldo and 

 many other Filipino military leaders. A resolu- 

 tion was adopted that Aguinaldo's insurgent lorces. 

 constituting the northern army, were incapable of 

 further resistance in the field, and as a consequence 

 it was decided to disband the army, the generals 

 and the men to return to their own provinces 

 with a view of organizing for resistance by moans 

 of guerrilla warfare. Uniforms were thenceforth 



