

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



627 



pinos opposed Gen. Anderson's division. After a 

 bombardment by the artillery and the "Monad- 

 nock " and " Charleston," the Kansas and Montana 

 troops and the Third Artillery advanced swiftly, 

 driving the insurgents from the woods and the 

 strong earthworks, and carried the trenches at the 

 point of the bayonet. The Filipinos, setting fire 

 to the town, retreated in disorder. Half of these, 

 I lusted in front of the American position, were put 

 to flight, leaving 427 dead on the field. 



Gen. Marcus P. Miller commanded the expedition 

 that was sent to occupy Iloilo. This movement was 

 made the ground of the original attack on the 

 American lines by Aguinaldo, who in an interview 

 with Gen. Otis warned him that if re-enforcements 

 were sent to the Philippines or if the Americans at- 

 tempted to seize Iloilo or any other posts or places he 

 would begin hostilities. When Gen. Miller arrived 

 at Iloilo he found the place in the possession of the 

 insurgents, to whom the Spanish general had aban- 

 doned it. An army of 10,000 natives quickly gathered 

 to defend the town. When he demanded the sur- 

 render of the port on Feb. 11 the natives began the 

 attack, but soon desisted when the " Baltimore" and 

 the gunboat " Petrel " began to bombard the town ; 

 and evacuated the place, burning the native quar- 

 ter as they went away. The American force then 

 landed and extinguished the flames. On Feb. 12 

 the troops occupied Jaro after breaking down the 

 resistance of the native soldiery, which met them 

 with a well-sustained fire of musketry. In Luzon 

 the Americans repaired the Manila and Dagupan 

 Railroad and used it for transport as far as Caloo- 

 can ; also the railroad leading to Malabon, which 

 was now the advanced post of the Filipinos. These, 

 after their wont, dug trenches opposite the Ameri- 

 can positions and fired upon the outposts nightly. 

 The numbers fluctuated from day to day, many 

 returning to their villages after a few days of 

 active service, others continually resuming their 

 places in the trenches. There were always enough 

 to use all the rifles that Aguinaldo had supplied, 

 and some even carried wooden guns to give a false 

 idea of their strength. The American fleet could 

 not prevent fresh arms and ammunition from 

 being landed at different points on the coast. On 

 Feb. 15 the California regiment, with some of the 

 troops from Idaho and Washington and a battery 

 of the Sixth Artillery, drove the Filipinos in the 

 direction of Laguna de Bay, destroying the villages 

 from which the natives hail fired upon.the outposts 

 after raising a flag of truce. On Feb. 22 the adher- 

 ents of Aguinaldo in Manila set fire to the city in 

 many places, and shot at the firemen while they 

 were" extinguishing the flames. The native suburb 

 of Tondo and the business district of Binondo were 

 devastated. The intended uprising was frustrated 

 by the prompt action of the military. After this 

 the provost marshal carried on a strict search for 

 arms, arrested knots of rebels when caught in secret 

 meetings and prohibited natives from walking in 

 the streets at night ; and after the troops checked 

 two or three attempts to attack the city and destroy 

 property, from which the Filipinos themselves were 

 the worst sufferers, a rising in Manila was no longer 

 to be feared. Major-Gen. Henry W, Lawton ar- 

 rived with the Fourth Infantry and a battalion of 

 the Seventeenth on the transport ''Grant," on 

 March 10. On March 13 Gen. Wheaton's brigade, 

 consisting of the Twentieth and Twenty-second In- 

 fantry, Washington and Oregon volunteers, a de- 

 tachment of the Fourth Cavalry, and a battery of 

 the Sixth Artillery, advanced from San Pedro and 

 captured Guadeloupe with the assistance of a gun- 

 boat, which shelled the rebel positions on the Pasig 

 river. A further advance to Pasig, Pateros, and 

 Taguig, feebly resisted by the forces of Pio del 



Pilur, cut the line of communication between the 

 southern insurgents and Aguirialdo's forces in the 

 north. Gunboats were improvised on the lake and 

 small vessels of light draught were added to Admi- 

 ral Dewey's fleet for the purpose of co-operating 

 with the army in attacks upon rebel positions on 

 the bay and the Marilao river. 



The Visayan islands of Zebu, Negros, Mindoro, 

 and Leyte had been seized, as well as Panay, by 

 Tagal soldiers from Manila, well armed and trained, 

 who came in the name of Aguinaldo and imposed 

 an oppressive and extortionate government of force 

 upon the peoples, incapable of resistance. When 

 the " Boston was sent from Iloilo to introduce 

 American rule in Negros and Zebu, the change was 

 gladly accepted by the population. 



The battle ship "Oregon" arrived on March 18. 

 The transport " Sherman " arrived on March 22. 

 The re-enforcements from home brought Gen. 

 Otis's total force up to 29,500 troops, of whom 24,- 

 000 were available for operations at Manila, the 

 rest having been sent to garrison Iloilo, Zebu, and 

 Negros. On March 25 Gen. MacArthur's division 

 advanced upon Polo and Novaliches on the left 

 and San Francisco del Monte and Mariquina on 

 the right, clearing the insurgent trenches in front 

 of the line north from the river to Caloocan. The 

 railroad was also secured, and Aguinaldo's picked 

 troops were supposed to be hemmed in at Malabon 

 and in the foot hills at Singalon. The natives held 

 their trenches until the Americans charged on the 

 double quick ; then they broke and ran for the 

 woods, losing more heavily than in any previous 

 engagement. They adopted the American tactics 

 of reserving their fire until the attacking force 

 came within close range, and also fired lower than 

 usual. Throughout the conflict they showed re- 

 markable aptitude in observing and adopting the 

 drill and tactics of the Americans. At the begin- 

 ning of the engagement the brigades of Gen. Har- 

 rison Gray Otis and Gen. Hale advanced straight 

 through the insurgent lines, cutting the enemy's 

 forces in two. Then Gen. MacArthur's division 

 was swung around to the left, driving the natives 

 away on all sides. The intention was to close in 

 on Polo from the north as well as the south. The 

 brigade of Gen. Otis advanced on Novaliches and 

 Polo from.Laloma, while Gen. Hall cleared the 

 country to the waterworks and Singalon, capturing 

 San Francisco del Monte and Mariquina. The 

 Montana regiment arid the Third Artillery crossed 

 the Talighan river to attack Polo from the south- 

 east, while Gen. MacArthur moved along south of 

 the river. Gen. Hall's brigade moved to Banlac, 

 protecting Gen. Hale's right ; and the Oregon regi- 

 ment, with a part of the Utah battery, held the ex- 

 treme left. Gen. Wheaton's brigade advanced late 

 in the day, developing a strong opposition between 

 Malabon and the Tuliahan river. The intrench- 

 ments nearest to Malabon were attacked fiercely by 

 the insurgents and suffered from a cross fire. The 

 Oregon regiment advanced almost to the confines 

 of the town, and withstood the charges of the na- 

 tives and their constant volleying until the Third 

 Infantry came up, after which the enemy was com- 

 pelled to yield and to retreat precipitately into 

 Malabon. The attempt to surround the rebels 

 massed at Polo failed, the latter withdrawing to 

 Malolos after another fight on March 26. On 

 March 27 their rear guard, pursued by Gen. Har- 

 rison Gray Otis, made a stand in strong intrench- 

 ments at Marilao, but, fled in panic when the 

 artillery drew into close range. When Polo was 

 captured, with the rolling stock found tin-re, the 

 Americans were able to advance rapidly along the 

 line of the railroad, and the Filipinos abandoned 

 Malinta, Gycanyan, and Maycauayan. The barri- 





