KATIPUNAN ROUGH RIDERS CLASH

KATIPUNAN AND THE  ROUGH RIDERS CLASH



Facing the prospect of defeat to a Great Power or to an upstart Filipino military, the Spanish proposed surrender terms to the United States that involved a mock battle for Manila, and the exclusion of Filipino insurgents. A staged battle would cause harm to few soldiers while enabling the Spanish to maintain a higher sense of national honor. After agreeing with the Americans to such conditions, the Spaniards raised the white flag to the U.S. “conquerors.”
American military units obliged by charging the city as the Filipinos watched helplessly. On August 14 in the church of San Augustine, the Spanish formally yielded control of Manila to the Americans.
  
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Blocked from entering the city, Aguinaldo and his followers rendezvoused in a monastery north of Manila to establish a sovereign government, independent of the United States. It was there that Aguinaldo wrote, “The people struggle for their independence, absolutely convinced that the time has come when they can and should govern themselves.”

THE UNITED STATES MANIFEST OF DESTINY
    America’s war with Spain exploded within a larger wave of European and Japanese global expansion, sometimes called the “new imperialism.” What became a rush for territorial acquisition sprang from many different motivations, ranging from economic, missionary, and moral imperatives to a policy of pure “realpolitik”—a raw, competitive drive for national power and prestige

    For the United States, this Great Power race for empire coincided with Spanish mismanagement of colonial Cuba, an island only 90 miles from the U.S. shores

President William McKinley sent the battleship U.S.S. Maine into Havana Harbor, ostensibly to protect U.S. citizens. In an atmosphere of heightened tension, the Maine mysteriously blew up, and American newspapers fanned the angry reaction at home, accusing Spain of treachery. 

Domestic pressure, therefore, contributed to McKinley’s declaration of war on Spain in April. American victory after only four months left the United States in control of the former Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean and Guam and the Philippines in the Pacific.

1898 was a major turning point in Philippines history. From the time    Ferdinand Magellan landed on Cebu on 16 March 1521 and claimed the archipelago for Spain. In 1542 the islandchain was named Islas Filipinas in honor of Prince Felipe (later Philip II) of Spain. The first permanent Spanish settlement was a fort and church on Cebu in 1565

While over a thousand islands were inhabited, the capital of Manila increasingly dominated culture and commerce in the course of the next 350 years. Sugar, hemp, and tobacco left Manila Harbor to the markets of China and beyond BUT  Few islanders benefited from the Spanish shipping trade. Filipino men built the ships and served as sailors, but the pay was poor.

Finally, in the late 19th century, a new group of Filipino activists began to emerge following an 1872 incident. Filipino workers and troops at the Cavite arsenal mutinied against the Spanish for better pay and work conditions. While the uprising was quickly squelched, three local priests who sought equality with Spanish priests were arrested and then executed near Manila Bay. They became the first modern martyrs in the Filipino movement for national independence.


The Filipino Revolution, therefore, began in 1896 when, under the flag of the Katipunan, or “Society of the Sons of the People,” some 20,000 Filipinos staged an uprising against their Spanish overlords. 

 Emilio Aguinaldo, the son of a wealthy aristocrat, rose quickly to the top of the revolutionary movement, and became president of the Katipunan in the spring of 1897. “Filipino citizens!” he declared. “Let us follow the example of European and American nations. Let us march under the Flag of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity!” With 200,000 Spanish troops tied down in Cuba, Madrid could ill afford a war in the Philippines. 

Filipino nationalists were ecstatic. Led by General Aguinaldo, and, following years of fighting for independence, they hoped for the honor of liberating Manila and declaring the birth of their sovereign nation. Meanwhile, Dewey—now promoted to rear admiral—waited in Manila for the U.S. Army to arrive. Intent on securing support from Filipino fighters, he sent a ship to Hong Kong to retrieve Aguinaldo. Dewey welcomed the revolutionary leader as a co-equal.

While Aguinaldo wrestled with the fate of the movement he led, United States-Spanish peace talks began in Paris on October 1, 1898. No Filipinos or Cubans attended the deliberations, nor were any invited. McKinley clearly wanted Cuba from the Spanish, but he was not yet sure about the Philippines. Ultimately, he decided that he needed the port of Manila in the Philippines in order to have a naval base in the Western Pacific. After considerable debate and reflection, McKinley also recommended annexing the Philippines rather than giving the Filipinos outright independence. Undeterred by American actions in Paris and the White House, as well as the upcoming treaty debate in the United States Senate, the Filipinos approved a constitution in January 1899 based on the republican representative principles embodied in the United States Constitution.

The 1898 election kept the Republicans in control of Congress. Five days later, President McKinley’s cabled his terms to U.S. treaty negotiators in Paris. Secretary of State John Hay then sent a follow up wire to the representatives: “Insist upon the cession of the whole of the Philippines. If necessary, pay to Spain twenty million dollars.” Spain accepted the amended terms and relinquished the Philippines, Cuba, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The 400-year-old, global Spanish Empire had now vanished. But had the United States also become the “New Spanish Empire” with the transfer of territories

And finally  The United States had officially acquired its first colony - the Philippines
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McKinley’s decision and the Senate’s action, the U.S. Army battled Filipino nationalist insurgents for four years, from 1898 to 1902.

In early 1899, as Rear Admiral Dewey doubled his order of ammunition to deal with the Filipino insurrection
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THE FILIPINO AMERICAN WAR
“About eight o’clock, Miller and I were cautiously pacing our district. We came to a fence and were trying to see what the Filipinos were up to. Suddenly, near at hand, on our left, was a low but unmistakable Filipino outpost signal whistle. It was immediately answered by a similar whistle about twenty-five yards to the right. Then a red lantern flashed a signal from blockhouse number seven. We have never seen such a sign used before. In a moment, something rose up slowly in front of us. It was a Filipino. I yelled, “Halt!” and made it pretty loud, for I was accustomed to challenging the officer of the guard in approved military style. I challenged him with another loud “Halt!” Then he shouted “Halto!” to me. Well, I thought the best thing to do was to shoot him. He dropped. If I didn’t kill him, I guess he died of fright. Two Filipinos sprang out of the gateway about fifteen feet from us. I called, “Halt!” and Miller fired and dropped one. I saw that another was left. Well, I think I got my second Filipino that time.”









Battle of Zapote River 

The battle started around 6:15am after three shots were fired by the Filipinos to the American outpost from a 1-pounder Hotchkiss gun. In retaliation, the Sixth artillery under Lieutenant Benjamin M. Koehler fired back six shrapnels from two 3.2-inch (81 mm) guns

FIRST PHILIPPINE COMMISSION

On February 4, Aguinaldo declared "That peace and friendly relations with the Americans be broken and that the latter be treated as enemies, within the limits prescribed by the laws of war. On June 2, 1899, the Malolos Congress enacted and ratified a declaration of war on the United States, which was publicly proclaimed on that same day by Pedro Paterno, President of the Assembly.

An attack on the United States forces was planned which should annihilate the little army in Manila, and delegations were appointed to secure the interference of foreign powers. The protecting cloak of pretense of friendliness to the United States was to be kept up until the last. While commissioners were appointed to negotiate with General Otis, secret societies were organized in Manila pledged to obey orders of the most barbarous character to kill and burn. The attack from without and the attack from within was to be on a set day and hour. The strained situation could not last. The spark was applied, either inadvertently or by design, on the 4th of February by an insurgent, willfully transgressing upon what, by their own admission, was within the agreed limits of the holding of the American troops. Hostilities resulted and the war was an accomplished fact


"On the night of February 2 they sent in a strong detachment to draw the fire of our outposts, which took up a position immediately in front and within a few yards of the same. The outpost was strengthened by a few of our men, who silently bore their taunts and abuse the entire night. This was reported to me by General MacArthur, whom I directed to communicate with the officer in command of the insurgent troops concerned. His prepared letter was shown me and approved, and the reply received was all that could be desired. However, the agreement was ignored by the insurgents and on the evening of February 4 another demonstration was made on one of our small outposts, which occupied a retired position at least 150 yards within the line which had been mutually agreed upon, an insurgent approaching the picket and refusing to halt or answer when challenged. The result was that our picket discharged his piece, when the insurgent troops near Santa Mesa opened a spirited fire on our troops there stationed.



The insurgents had thus succeeded in drawing the fire of a small outpost, which they had evidently labored with all their ingenuity to accomplish, in order to justify in some way their premeditated attack. It is not believed that the chief insurgent leaders wished to open hostilities at this time, as they were not completely prepared to assume the initiative. They desired two or three days more to perfect their arrangements, but the zeal of their army brought on the crisis which anticipated their premeditated action. They could not have delayed long, however, for it was their object to force an issue before American troops, then en route, could arrive in Manila."


By January 10, insurgents were ready to assume the offensive, but desired, if possible, to provoke the Americans into firing the first shot. They made no secret of their desire for conflict, but increased their hostile demonstrations and pushed their lines forward into forbidden territory. Their attitude is well illustrated by the following extract from a telegram sent by Colonel Cailles to Aguinaldo on January 10, 1899

BATTLE OF MANILA FEB 5, 1899


us troops positioned against katipuneros









1st colorado company of the US Army reinforcement



1st colorado Us troops occupied Malate against Katipuneros








minesota company of the US troops 
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By late summer 1899, when stepped-up American troop reinforcements faced Aguinaldo’s equally serious pledge to wage guerrilla-style war, the price tag for empire-building shot up. Casualty figures in the Philippines also worried President McKinley. Three thousand Americans and 15,000 Filipinos had been killed

South of Manila, in the province of Batangas, the Americans assembled all non-insurgents into military zones of protection. The similarities to Spanish methods in Cuba were unmistakable, as anyone found outside of these zones was assumed to be hostile, and were killed or imprisoned. 

In April 1902, following more than three years of warfare, Filipino leaders conceded defeat to the United States. For their part, the exhausted Americans had lost most of the zeal that had led to late nineteenth-century imperialism. Even President Roosevelt, once a champion of U.S. empire-building, admitted that his nation was ill-suited for imperialism. On reflection, he opined that the Philippines had become America’s Achilles heel. While the United States would use military force, time and again, across Latin America, and in portions of Asia, the Pacific, and elsewhere,