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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1899 PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION 1913 he Philippine Wars were an outgrowth of the Spanish-American War of 1898. e Philippines, comprising some 7,000 islands and perhaps as many as 8 million inhabitants, had been claimed by Spain since the 16th century but for most of this period Spanish colonial authority was in the hands of local political leaders. As part of President William McKinley’s strategic plan in the war with Spain, a U.S. Navy squadron under Commodore George Dewey aacked the small and decrepit Spanish otilla in Manila Bay on 1 May 1898. With lile knowledge or understanding of the situation in the archipelago, or any clear guidance of its objective, McKinley dispatched a U.S. Army expedition in June. Aided by Philippine rebels, American troops captured Manila on 13 August 1898 and in the ensuing peace negotiations Spain transferred sovereignty of the Philippines to the United States. McKinley announced a policy of “benevolent assimilation” towards the Filipinos in which the United States would provide honest government, economic prosperity, and the rule of law. American sovereignty was contested by nationalists on the island of Luzon who declared the archipelago’s independence and founded the Philippine Republic on 21 January 1899. e nationalist assembly selected Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy, their political and military chief, president of the Republic. On the evening of 4 February 1899 ghting broke out between U.S. troops and Aguinaldo’s Republican Army. e ensuing Bale of Manila CAMPAIGNS There were 11 campaigns during the Philippine Insurrection between 1899 and 1913. e Philippine Campaign ribbon is blue with two red stripes. e colors blue and red were suggested by the eld of the Philippine ag. e two red stripes of the ribbon refer to the Filipino insurrectionists and the United States Army. e blue indicates service overseas and as our national color alludes to the United States support of Filipino independence. 􀃕􀀃MANILA 1899 􀃕 ILOILO 1899 􀃕 MALOLOS 1899 􀃕􀀃LAGUNA DE BAY 1899 􀃕􀀃SAN ISIDRO 1899 􀃕􀀃ZAPOTE RIVER 1899 􀃕􀀃CAVITE 1899-1900 􀃕􀀃TARLAC 1899 􀃕􀀃SAN FABIAN 1899 􀃕 MINDANAO 1902-1905 􀃕 JOLO 1905, 1906, 1903, 1913 BELLIGERENTS 􀃕 United States 􀃕􀀃Philippine Constabulary 􀃕 Philippine Scouts 􀃕 Filipino Mercenaries VERSUS 􀃕􀀃First Philippine Republic 􀃕􀀃Katipunan Pulajanes 􀃕􀀃Sultantate of Sulu 􀃕 Moro Guerillas STATISTICS 􀃕􀀃Total Service Members 126,468 􀃕 Bale Deaths 1,004 􀃕􀀃Non-mortal Woundings 2,911 􀃕􀀃Deaths from disease 2,572 shaering organized resistance, while simultaneously sending amphibious expeditions to occupy the archipelago’s major ports and towns. With no discernible military opposition to challenge U.S. authority, Otis ordered his troops to shitheir aention to developing the foundation of United States colonial government. American soldiers held elections, established schools and medical clinics, organized police forces, set up markets, and pursued numerous other projects. e Army also reorganized its disparate indigenous units into “Philippine Scout” companies that would number some 5,000 troops by 1902. Equally important, enterprising garrison commanders acting on their own initiative created networks of informants, militias, police, and collaborators. e American Army also employed thousands of Filipinos as laborers, porters, stevedores, and in other vital combat support functions. e U.S. military occupation of the archipelago encountered a variety of responses. In some areas Filipinos welcomed American soldiers and quickly adopted economic and political reforms. But in other areas the troops provided a target for a wide variety of military opponents ranging from supporters of Aguinaldo, prominent landlords, peasants, bandits, religious cults, and so on. e one common factor in this local resistance was its lack of unity. American counterinsurgency practices were similarly diverse. e U.S. Navy maintained a blockade that prevented the insurgents from shiing troops by water, interdicted contraband supplies, and did much to convince the Islands’ business community to accept American rule. Naval gunboats also also suppressed piracy, supported Army amphibious expeditions, and provided important re support for isolated coastal garrisons. Military commanders practiced a variety of methods that ranged from harsh sanctions against suspected guerrillas to economic incentives for collaboration. Following an upsurge of violence in the fall, on December 1900, Otis’s successor, Major General Arthur MacArthur declared martial law in much of the archipelago and escalated military operations, targeting the clandestine insurgent organizations that supplied the guerrillas with food, money, and recruits. In March 1901, Brigadier General Frederick Funston captured Aguinaldo, an event that encouraged more surrenders. By mid-summer organized armed resistance was over in most of the archipelago, and in only a few provinces, most notably Batangas on Luzon and the island of Samar, did the insurgents continue to hold out. e ensuing campaigns in these areas, which lasted until April 1902, were notable for the controversial measures the the Americans employed, including the forced relocation of civilians into protected zones, the destruction of farms and elds, and allegations of summary executions and torture. Brutal as they were, they succeeded: on 4 July 1902 President eodore Roosevelt proclaimed the end of hostilities. In the years immediately following the ocial end of the war, American soldiers, increasingly supported by Philippine Scouts and native constabulary, waged a number of pacication campaigns against religious cults, bandits, and self-proclaimed revolutionary leaders. e most serious challenges were the Pulahan rebels on Samar and the Muslim tribes, or Moros, in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Although most of these conicts were suppressed by 1906, an outbreak of religious violence on the island of Jolo resulted in the Bale of Bud Bagsak in June 1913. Under Brigadier General John J. Pershing, a combined American-Filipino force assaulted the insurgents’ mountain stronghold. is action marked the ocial end of the United States’ “Philippine Wars.” Brian McAllister Linn, PhD, Texas A&M University lasted until 22 February 1899 and resulted in a decisive American victory. e Republican Army took heavy casualties and lost much of its military equipment. By March, with Manila as a logistical and administrative base, the Americans had established a system of eld fortications, garrisons, and naval patrols that eectively divided the Republican Army into two virtually independent forces, one in Central Luzon and the other in the south. e Americans also captured the port of Iloilo on the island of Panay and, at the request of local political leaders, sent a garrison to the island of Negros. For the rest of the spring, Major General Elwell S. Otis conducted a series of campaigns against Aguinaldo and the Republican Army in Central Luzon that resulted in impressive tactical victories but failed to either annihilate the enemy forces or compel Aguinaldo to surrender. As they captured territory and occupied towns, Otis had his soldiers form local local governments, build roads, clean up waste, drain swamps, and carrying out other projects that both extended U.S. political control and improved the health and welfare of the American garrisons. us at the same time the Army conducted active military operations it followed McKinley’s directives to benevolently assimilate the Filipino populace. In October 1899 Otis directed a combined land aack and amphibious landing that trapped what was leof the Republican Army and broke it into fragmented commands, but Aguinaldo escaped into the mountains of Northern Luzon. e eeing president ordered his troops to return to their homes and resist American aempts to impose colonial government through guerrilla war. In January 1900, Otis sent his forces into Southern Luzon, quickly President William H. Ta1909 -1913 Portrait by Anders L. Zorn United States 45-star ag 􀃕 President eodore Roosevelt 1901 -1909 President William McKinley 1897 -1901 General Arthur MacArthur Utah Light Artillery Storming of Manila Painting by Keith Rocco. General Emilio Aguinaldo Gun and crew of USS Olympia, 1899. 􀃕 U.S. Army uniforms of Philippine Wars by H. Charles McBarron. Brig. Gen. Frederick Funston Brig. Gen. J. Franklin Bell, portrait by Adrian Lamb. 􀃕 􀃕 1898􀃕PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION􀃕1913 © 2010 e Memorial for all Veterans of the Brazos Valley, Inc. Le-Write Ink 30-40 Krag-Jorgenson rie and bayonet. “If these people will only organize their forces into an army and get together in some number, and generally speaking, use modern civilized methods of warfare, our task would be a simple one and comparatively easy.” Lieutenant Colonel Judson Crane, 1900. Recruiting poster T