700 



PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



to bring them out when occasion offered and join 

 in an attack on some exposed place. The bulk 

 of the army was not of such material," but was 

 composed of regular soldiers, who had served in 

 the Spanish regular army or in the civil guards. 

 With the volunteers Aguinaldo could increase or 

 reduce his army according to his requirements. 

 He had, however, a limited number of rifles. 

 Perhaps a third of his troops were armed only with 

 bolos i on g 5 sharp-edged knives ground to a point. 

 This is the national weapon. It was sometimes ef- 

 fective against Spanish troops, but in fighting the 

 Americans, after the first few battles, the insur- 

 gents were accustomed to fire from the safe cover 

 of the trenches until the attacking line ap- 

 proached, and then run for the intrenchments 

 farther back. The Americans usually deployed 

 at 2,000 yards from the enemy's trenches, and 

 then advanced under fire, stopping at intervals 

 where cover could be found to pour in volleys. 

 When the insurgents broke cover to abandon the 

 fight or to take a stand behind other intrench- 

 ments in the rear the American soldiers stood 

 up and fired as fast as they could, taking aim 

 at individuals when near enough. In the earlier 

 engagements the Filipinos held their trenches till 

 the Americans came near, but they grew demoral- 

 ized as the campaign went on and fled before 

 the attacking force got within 500 yards. Not 

 many were hit in the trenches, but a great many 

 while in flight. The numerous bolo men in the 

 ranks carried off the dead and wounded on lit- 

 ters, and whenever a rifleman was struck a bolo 

 man seized his rifle and cartridges and became 

 from that time a rifleman himself. Owing to 

 these conditions, very few wounded or prisoners 

 fell into the hands of the Americans, and no rifles. 

 In the first fighting around Manila Filipinos who 

 were wounded or who shammed death shot at 

 Americans from the rear or struck them with 

 bolos. This .drove some of the soldiers to kill 

 wounded men that they passed. Such a thing 

 never happened after the war was carried into 

 the open country, as the cause ceased; but 

 amigos often acted treacherously, and the de- 

 ceitfulness of the natives led the Americans to 

 despise the character of the Filipinos in general 

 and to disregard often the rights of noncombat- 

 ants. Houses were burned until the orders 

 against it were strictly enforced, because the 

 troops were often fired upon from houses flying 

 white flags or from rifle pits underneath them. 

 The exceedingly humane and conciliatory policy 

 enjoined upon the military authorities by in- 

 structions from Washington seemed wrong to the 

 volunteers, and deterred a great many from re- 

 enlisting. Of looting there could not be much, 

 except when Manila surrendered and when Pasig 

 was captured by surprise in February by Gen. 

 Wheaton's flying column, or when Iloilo or some 

 such place capitulated. In the Luzon campaign 

 the towns were abandoned, often burned, and 

 everything of value was removed before the 

 troops entered them. Later the inviolability of 

 private property was strictly enforced by a pro- 

 vost marshal's guard whenever a town was cap- 

 tured. When the rebel troops began to disinte- 

 grate after Gen. Lawton's vigorous campaign and 

 Gen. MacArthur's advance to San Fernando, Gen. 

 Otis offered $30 in silver to every rebel who would 

 surrender and bring in a serviceable rifle. Very 

 few rifles, however, were delivered. Aguinaldo 

 offered $60 for every American rifle, and a good 

 many were stolen. 



Toward the end of May Gen. Luna's soldiers 

 appeared in force before San Fernando and began 

 to attack the American outposts, inflicting only 



slight losses. An ineffectual attack was made 

 by about 8,000 insurgents under Gen. Mascardo, 

 who held an intrenched position at Bacolor. The 

 Macabebes were friendly, and after the gunboats 

 under Capt. Grant were placed in the Rio Grande 

 river a corps of them was enlisted for service 

 under the American flag against the Tagals. 



During May there was a tacit truce along the 

 south line of the American occupation. In June 

 the insurgents became aggressive again in the 

 south. Gen. Pio del Pilar gathered together a 

 considerable force, which Gen. Otis planned to 

 surround by a rapid expedition under Gen. Law- 

 ton early in June. The city of Morong was occu- 

 pied and garrisoned, but the enemy, retreated to 

 the hills. A second expedition was sent to clear 

 them from Cavite province. Intrenched on hills 

 and screened by woods, they were attacked on 

 June 10 by 4,500 Americans, and resisted desper- 

 ately. They were driven at last from the shores 

 of the bay and the vicinity of Paranaque and 

 Laspinas, retreating southwestward. A further 

 advance in the direction of Hacolor was fieir.lv 

 opposed at the bridge over the Zapote river. Gen. 

 Lawton continued his march to him-, having al- 

 ready killed, wounded, or captured a third of the 

 insurgent force, numbering 4.000 men. The na\y 

 aided by shelling the enemy's trenches and land- 

 ing forces on the shore of the bay. When (Jen. 

 Lawton reached Imus the rebels had abandoned 

 it and fled to the mountains. Among the nunu-r 

 ous captives taken in this expedition were sol 

 diers dressed in the ordinary wnite dress of civil- 

 ians and soldiers in uniform who carried such a 

 costume in their knapsacks. 



The rains now made active operations difficult. 

 Troops were withdrawn from many po-t- thai 

 they had occupied, but other towns were -till 

 held, and the American lines extended 60 miles 

 north, south, and eastward into the Laguna prov- 

 ince. The insurgents were scattered, and had at 

 no point a force exceeding 4,000 men. The <i\il 

 courts were organized at Manila in June under 

 the ablest of the native jurists, assisted by Ameri- 

 can lawyers. Municipal government was e-i;il> 

 li&hed in important towns of Manila and Cavil*'- 

 provinces. Several ports in southern Luzon and 

 in Leyte and other islands were opened to trade. 

 In the southern islands a general disposition to 

 welcome American sovereignty was manifest id. 



The people of Negros, who accepted willingly 

 the American occupation from the start, had a 

 draft constitution made to submit to President 

 McKinley. It was copied from the California 

 State Constitution, Col. J. H. Smith, of the Cali- 

 fornia volunteers, the military commandant, hav- 

 ing been consulted. Gen. Otis ordained instead a 

 provisional scheme of government prepared by 

 the Philippine commissioners, with a military 

 governor in supreme control, an adviser called 

 the civil governor, elected by the natives under 

 a property or educational qualification, an ad- 

 visory council presided over by the civil gov- 

 ernor, secretaries in charge of the departments 

 of the treasury, interior, agriculture, and public 

 instruction, judges appointed by the military gov- 

 ernor, and a system of revenue and taxation to 

 be devised by the civil governor and the advisory 

 council, but all the executive and legislative au- 

 thority vested ultimately in the military gov- 

 ernor. The American force in the island was 

 employed in punitive expeditions against the 

 Babylanes, fanatical brigand hill folk who were 

 in league with Aguinaldo. The Tagal emissaries 

 had not been received by the people of N 

 nor any troops suffered to land. After the fall 

 of the Spanish power they set up an independent 



