Battle of Manila (1899)
The Battle of Manila was fought on February 4 and 5, 1899, during the Philippine-American War . About 12,000 American and 15,000 Filipino soldiers were involved. It was the first and most violent battle during the entire course of the war.
background
More than half a year after the conquest of Manila and the subsequent end of the Spanish-American War , tensions between the Filipino and American parties had increased, as the Americans deliberately kept the Filipinos out of all negotiations and decisions about the future of the city and the country had. The Filipinos' quest for an independent state went directly against the interests of Washington, which saw the archipelago as their colony now. The Filipinos had actually seen the Americans as liberators from the Spanish occupation, but now they had to realize that they were facing a new foreign rule.
The escalation occurred on February 4, 1899. It started with two common soldiers, Private William Grayson and Private Miller of B Company of the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Corps, who had collided with four men from an armed Philippine Army patrol on the San Juan Bridge. The Filipinos refused to obey the request of the two Americans and to stand still. After they ignored the second call to stop, Grayson fired and killed a Filipino lieutenant.
In a statement, Grayson described the situation as follows:
Suddenly something slowly emerged in front of us. It was a Filipino. I shouted: "Stop!" and did it really loud as I was used to, it was required by the officer on watch and was a military style. I demanded the stop one more time with a loud “stop!”. Then he called "halto!" back to me. Well, I thought the best I could do was shoot him.
At that time, the Americans were sitting in the urban area of Manila while Emilio Aguinaldo's army occupied the trenches around the city. Shortly after this incident, a firefight broke out within the 16-mile zone (26 km) between the Philippine and American lines.
The battle
Surprised by the sudden outbreak, the Filipinos paused in their trenches and engaged in a gun battle with the Americans. Supported by the shelling of Colonel George Dewey's fleet, which was anchored in Manila Bay , US forces overran many of the Filipino positions and inflicted numerous losses on the enemy.
A Filipino battalion attempted an attack against the 3rd US Artillery Corps, pushed back a company of American soldiers and held some artillery cannons in their possession for a while. At that time, almost all high-ranking officers were still celebrating the victory they had won over the Spaniards with song and dance. The soldiers at the front were therefore largely without a leadership.
When the officers finally got to the battlefield, many of the influential leaders tried to stop the fighting immediately. Emilio Aguinaldo sent messengers with an offer to negotiate a peace agreement. When they arrived, General Elwell Otis replied, "The fighting has started and must continue to the bitter end."
At daybreak, the Americans shocked the Filipinos with another attack on their positions. They were used to the Spanish tactics, after which they retreated to the secured city after a nightly conflict. With an attack to the north, Brigadier General Arthur MacArthur captured a hill with a good view of Manila. (MacArthur was later promoted to major general and received the post of governor general of the Philippines.) Brigadier General Thomas M. Anderson used the disorder created by this action to attack the southern sections, where he took the town of Pasay and thus the Philippine supply depots.
For their part, the Filipinos were counting on the people of Manila to rise to split American forces and disrupt supplies to American lines. Although some shots could be heard from within the city, none of the generals saw any signs of serious rioting. Nevertheless, a few small units that were not part of the actual Filipino forces managed to engage the Americans in combat for more days in the outskirts of Manila before they were completely driven out of the city. The Filipino troops then withdrew to the hinterland to organize themselves there and ultimately to reconsider their further tactics.
The effects
While losses were recorded on both sides, the number of those killed was far greater on the Philippine side. The Americans had lost 50–60 of their husbands and more than 200 were wounded. The Filipinos, however, complained about 2,000 fallen, wounded or captured soldiers. The higher number of Filipino dead and injured is explained on the one hand by the fact that the Americans had artillery and warships at their disposal, on the other hand by the better accuracy of the soldiers and the firearms that are superior to those of the Filipinos.
Order of battle
US
VIII Corps - Major General Elwell Stephen Otis
-
1st Division - Brigadier General Thomas M. Anderson
- 1st Brigade - Brigadier General Charles King
- 2nd Brigade - Brigadier General Samuel Ovenshine
-
2nd Division - Maj. Gen. Arthur MacArthur
- 1st Brigade - Brigadier General Harrison G. Otis
- 2nd Brigade - Brigadier General Irving Hale
Filipino
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Edwin Wildman: Aguinaldo. A Narrative of Filipino Ambitions. Lothrop, Boston MA 1901, ( digitized version ).
- ^ The Philippine American War.