noel autor: President Theodore Roosevelt

Friday, October 14, 2016

Cagayan de Oro during the Philippine-American War (Part 4- American Victory)

's Troops surrendering to the Americans

In the aftermath of Kagay-anon guerillas’ victory in the , the Americans sent the 28^th Infantry Regiment troops from Zamboanga to Cagayan de Misamis as an augmentation force of the 40^th Infantry Regiment that was already there. This unit was led by General William Kobbe. His subordinates included among others such excellent officers as Major John J. Pershing and Major James Case.

Since the guerillas could not take the American forces head on, they had to resort to unconventional tactics to fight them in a protracted war. They abandoned their stronghold in Macahambus because they could not withstand constant attacks and harassments by the US forces.

The war situation in other parts of the Philippines and the situational developments in Manila would have repercussions in Cagayan de Misamis. In most part of the Philippines, the American forces had been winning battles over that of who himself was on the run to avoid capture. Beaten in battles because of insufficient armaments and other logistical needs, a number of Aguinaldo’s soldiers and civil officials surrendered and later allied themselves to the Americans. It would just be a matter of time before the would collapse.

On January 1901, in Cagayan de Misamis, General William Kobbe requested Don Manuel Corrales to send letter that asked for a 5-day ceasefire and peace conference to General Nicolas Capistrano. On February 4, 1901 at 9 o’clock in the morning General Capistrano with some of his officers met Major James Case in the house of Julian Gevero in Gusa to discuss the matter. However, General Capistrano did not agree with the terms set by the Americans and refused to make commitments. When he returned to Malaybalay, he was followed by the Americans and an encounter ensued between them and his troops. This resulted to the death of 78 guerillas and the capture of 2,000 others. In addition many firearms were captured. The Americans however were not able to get General Capistrano because he had slipped to Linabo.

With mounting casualties suffered by his troops and the no let up operations conducted by the Americans, General Capistrano was pushed hardly against the wall, and he had to make his final decision. He sent communication to Major case for the terms of peace. In March, 1901, Capistrano together with Uldarico Akut met again with Major Case in the house of Julian Gevero. Both parties then eventually reached an agreement. On April 7, 1901, in a small plaza in Sumilao 9 Filipino officers with 160 guerillas laid down their arms and took their oath of allegiance to the United States before Major Case. In addition they also surrendered their 187 rifles and 80 shotguns. As agreed upon, General Capistrano did not anymore attend the ceremony.

Meanwhile, on March 23, 1901, in Palanan, Isabela in Luzon, the Americans delivered its heaviest blow to the First Philippine Republic. American soldiers led by General Frederick Funston disguised themselves as captives of Filipino “guerillas” who were Macababe collaborators. They successfully entered Aguinaldo’s hideout, and when they were there they neutralized the guards and captured their main target- Aguinaldo. On April 1, 1901, in Malacanang, the seat of US power in the Philippines, Aguinaldo swore an oath accepting US authority. On April 19, 1901, he issued proclamation of formal surrender to the US directing all his Filipino forces to lay down their arms and cooperate with the Americans. However, some of his officers did not agree with his position, and some of them such as General Miguel Malvar swore to fight on. But remaining opposition forces were significantly much weaker than the once solid force Aguinaldo had. Their chance of success was slim.

On July 1, 1902, the Philippine Organic Act was approved by the US congress. It provided for a bicameral legislature. The lower house or the was composed of popularly elected Filipino representatives. The upper house was composed of the Philippine Commission whose members were appointed by the President of the United States. The Philippine Commission also acted as an executive body whose head was the American Governor General of the Philippines. The Philippine Organic Act also extended the US Bill of Rights to Filipinos. Since the Americans already controlled most of the Philippine islands and considered them as pacified, , on July 4, 1902, granted general amnesty and pardon to all Filipinos who had participated in the armed conflict.

The end of the war and the magnanimity of the American administration ushered in an era of peace and stability in Cagayan de Misamis and in the whole Philippines. As a matter of fact some personalities of Aguinaldo’s First Philippine Republic became top officials of Cagayan de Misamis and the Philippines during the early years of the American administered Philippine government. General Nicolas Capistrano became an elected member of the Philippine assembly in 1909, and a senator of the Philippines from 1916 to 1919. Colonel Apolinar Velez became the governor of the undivided Province of Misamis from 1906 to 1909 and the mayor of Cagayan de Misamis from 1928 and 1931. Uldarico Akut became the mayor of Cagayan de Misamis from 1912 to 1916.

Cagayan de Oro During the Philippine-American War (Part 3- The Battle of Macahambus) https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2016/10/cagayan-de-oro-during-philippine_10.html

Cagayan de Oro During the Philippine-American War (Part 2- The Battle of Agusan Hill) https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2016/10/cagayan-de-oro-during-philippine_6.html

Cagayan de Oro During the Philippine-American War (Part 1- The Battle of Cagayan de Misamis) https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2016/10/cagayan-de-oro-during-philippine.html

The Bells of Balangiga https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-bells-of-balangiga.html

The Battle of Bayan, Lanao Province https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-battle-of-bayan-lanao-province.html

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

The Battle of Bayan, Lanao Province

At the start of the 20^th century during the which was then an unincorporated territory of the United States, the Americans were able to bring stability and order to and the . But in some parts of the island of , the , its indigenous Muslim inhabitants, were not about to submit to the American regime, and preferred to live according to their own traditions, religious belief and tribal rule. The Moros’ distrust and animosity to outsiders came to a head in the when killed two US soldiers from the 27^th Infantry Regiment and stole their . , the American military governor of the Philippines, gave ultimatum to the to surrender the perpetrators along with the stolen rifles or face adverse consequences.

With an order from , the commander of , , the Commanding Officer of the 27^th Infantry Regiment prepared a force to launch a punitive expedition on the strongholds of recalcitrant Moros. He organized his troops numbering 1,025 infantry from his own unit and 65 men from 25^th Field Artillery Battery. This was augmented by 10 , 40 packs mule ran by civilian packers, and 300 hired to help carry some of troops’ supplies and equipment. Six hundred men from the 10^th and 17th regiments were temporarily moved to Malabang, to occupy the base left behind by the 27^th Infantry and to act as reserve of the operating troops. It was an arduous trek for the operating troops from their base in in Malabang, Lanao to their objective in the southern shores of . They had to cut through thick forests, waded seemingly bottomless mud and endured the bites of causing mosquitoes.

Along the way they lost their Maguindanao porters because they refused to carry food provisions containing pork and they were replaced with 40 pack mules. On May 1, 1902, the Americans reached their objective after a trek of 17 days that covered a distance of about 32 miles. Col Baldwin then put up a camp. Beyond their location at the lake, they saw on the high ridge two cottas, one at Binadayan and the other at with signifying that their occupants were ready to do battles. They could also see figures of combatants carrying rifles on the wall.

On May 2, 1902, Colonel Baldwin sent an ultimatum to the Sultan of Bayan who he believed to be at to surrender before 12 noon. But the ultimatum fall on deaf ears as the Sultan did not reply to the ultimatum until it expired at the specific hour, and an armed confrontation was inevitable. The Americans first attacked Cotta Binadayan which was pounded by artillery fires followed by infantry assault. The cotta’s weak defense enabled the Americans to easily overcome the few defenders manning it with only one killed on their side. They later found out that the Sultan of Bayan and his main force of about 600 men including 150 sent by other datus had moved to the other cotta for their ultimate fight.

At around 4 PM of that day, the Americans made a siege on Cotta Pandapatan. After passing through a valley, they had to overcome obstacles of layered trenches and some concealed pits filled with sharpened bamboo sticks. Advancing with support of artillery fires, the Americans cut down some Moro defenders at the wall. Their lack of scaling ladders prevented them from penetrating the cotta. When they attempted to breach the main entrance, the Moros launched a counter attack. A close up hand-to-hand combat ensued between the two opposing sides. The creeping darkness, the thick fog and the heavy rain made the situation difficult for the Americans and they had to retreat. Although they were beaten back, the Americans inflected heavy damage to the cotta as well as to the morale of the Moros defending it.

Amid darkness, rain and flashes of thunder, the Americans reconsolidated their forces at the cotta in Binadayan to prepare for the next attack. In the meantime, the troops of the Field Artillery Battery took the task of retrieving the dead and the wounded soldiers.

In the morning of the following day as the Americans prepared for their final assault, they noticed that the red battle flags of Cotta Pandapatan were replaced by four indicating that the Moros were now willing to negotiate peacefully with the Americans instead of fighting it out with them till the end. But the Americans attacked the cotta anyway. Their superiority in armaments was brought to bear against their enemies. In the fight they killed the Sultan of Bayan and his brother. They also captured 83 remaining Moros. However, they reported that of Moros who surrendered only 9 were left because the rest were killed while attempting to escape. The cottas were dismantled by the American soldiers and they took with them and as souvenirs of the battle. At the site of the battle, was established by the Americans the next day. The name of the camp was in honor to who was one of the American soldiers that was killed in the battle. was designated as the commander of the camp.

The result of the battle was a lopsided win for the Americans. The Moros took a heavy casualty of about 400-500 killed, 9 captured and 39 escaped combatants. Total casualties of the Americans were 11 dead and 42 wounded soldiers.

When report of the battle reached President Theodore Roosevelt Jr., he sent a message congratulating the troops for their combat achievement. Behind the scene, however, he was mad at Lieutenant General Adna Chaffee, the military governor of the Philippines for opening up a new front of an armed conflict in the south when he was about to declare that the Philippines was already pacified.

On the part of General Chaffee, he thought that Colonel Frank Baldwin was impetuous, somewhat insubordinate and incompetent. He thought that had Captain John Pershing not developed friendly and cooperative relations with the on the northern shore of the lake, they could have made a grand coalition to fight the Americans in Bayan. In fact, they stayed neutral and stood down during the battle. Not long thereafter, Col Baldwin was promoted but General Chaffee saw to it that he should be shipped out from the . Captain John Pershing took over Baldwin’s command.

Cagayan de Oro During the Philippine-American War (Part 4- American Victory) https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2016/10/cagayan-de-oro-during-philippine_14.html

Cagayan de Oro During the Philippine-American War (Part 3- The Battle of Macahambus) https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2016/10/cagayan-de-oro-during-philippine_10.html

Cagayan de Oro During the Philippine-American War (Part 2- The Battle of Agusan Hill) https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2016/10/cagayan-de-oro-during-philippine_6.html

Cagayan de Oro During the Philippine-American War (Part 1- The Battle of Cagayan de Misamis) https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2016/10/cacgayan-de-oro-during-philippine.html

The Bells of Balangiga https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-bells-of-balangiga.html