The "Balangiga massacre" was an incident in 1901 during the Philippine-American War where many American soldiers were killed in a guerilla ambush by Filipinos in the town of Balangiga on Samar island. This incident is described as one of the United States' worst single defeats in its entire history. For Filipinos, the attack is hailed as one of the bravest maneuvers in the war. Combatants United States The Philippines Commanders Elwell Stephen Otis Emilio Aguinaldo Strength 126,000 soldiers 80,000 soldiers Casualties 4,324 U.S. soldiers dead 2,840 wounded; 2,000 killed, dead, or wounded of the Philippine Constabulary 16,000 soldiers killed est. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (272nd in leap years). ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Samar is an island in the Visayas, which is in the central Philippines. ... General Vincente Lukban was probably one of the more ruthless commanders on either side of the Philippine conflict. ... Combatants United States The Philippines Commanders Elwell Stephen Otis Emilio Aguinaldo Strength 126,000 soldiers 80,000 soldiers Casualties 4,324 U.S. soldiers dead 2,840 wounded; 2,000 killed, dead, or wounded of the Philippine Constabulary 16,000 soldiers killed est. ... Balangiga is a municipality in the province of Eastern Samar in the Philippines. ... Samar is an island in the Visayas, which is in the central Philippines. ...

The subsequent retaliation by American troops resulted in the killing of thousands of Filipinos on Samar, a majority of whom were civilians. The heavy-handed reprisal by American soldiers on hapless civilians, resulting in untold thousands dead, brought a court-martial upon Gen. Jake "Howling Wilderness" Smith who had ordered the massacre of everyone ten years old and over. Reprimanded but not punished, Smith lost his command for the most sordid affair in Philippine-American War annals of such affairs. General Jacob H. Smith was a veteran of the Wounded Knee massacre and well known among Indian campaigners. ...

This incident and the subsequent retaliation remains one of the longest-running and most controversial issues between the Philippines and the United States. Conflicting records from both American and Filipino historians have muddled the issue. Demands for the return of the bells of the church at Balangiga, taken by Americans as war booty and now collectively known as the Balangiga Bells, remain an outstanding issue of contention related to the war. To this day, one church bell is in the possession of the 9th Infantry Regiment at their base in South Korea, and two others remain on a former base of the 11th Infantry Regiment at Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The United States Army dispatched the 9th Infantry Regiment to assist the Chinese government during the Boxer Rebellion and China Relief Expedition. ...

According to some nationalist Filipino historians, the true "Balangiga massacre" was the subsequent American retaliation against the Samar island population.

The massacre

On August 11, 1901, during the "Philippine-American War", Company C, United States 9th Infantry arrived in Balangiga, the third largest town on the southern coast of Samar island, to close its port and prevent supplies reaching Filipino forces in the interior. Several months earlier, the town's principals allegedly wrote a letter to Brigadier General Vicente Lukban assuring him that, should American forces arrive, they would pretend to be friendly and then attack the Americans at a strategic moment. However, doubt has been expressed regarding the authenticity of the letter. August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Combatants United States The Philippines Commanders Elwell Stephen Otis Emilio Aguinaldo Strength 126,000 soldiers 80,000 soldiers Casualties 4,324 U.S. soldiers dead 2,840 wounded; 2,000 killed, dead, or wounded of the Philippine Constabulary 16,000 soldiers killed est. ... General Vincente Lukban was probably one of the more ruthless commanders on either side of the Philippine conflict. ...

Initially, relations between the soldiers and the townspeople were good. Tensions increased due to what the traditionally conservative townspeople saw as inappropriate behaviour towards their womenfolk. Later, the Company Commander, Thomas W. Connell ordered the rounding up and forced labour of able-bodied townsmen to clean up the town in preparation for an official visit by his superior officers. There was an incident where a private even raped a young girl. Finally, Connell ordered the seizure and destruction of food stored in the town to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Filipino forces.

Fearing they would starve to death in the coming rainy season, the townspeople decided to attack the U.S. Army garrison.

At 6:45 a.m., on Saturday, 28 September 1901, the Filipinos made their move. After the few armed sentries were killed, the Balangiga police chief, Valeriano Abanador, gave the signal to attack, and around 200 bolomen burst out of concealment, catching the Americans totally offgaurd. With some of them disguised as women, the townspeople surprised the garrison while they were at breakfast with their firearms stacked in the municipal hall some twenty yards away. Most Americans were hacked to death with bolos before they could gain access to their firearms. Captain Connell led some men out into the street, before he was encircled by the bolomen and cut down. The few who escaped the main attack fought with kitchen utensils, steak knives, and chairs. A private even fought off many of the attackers with a baseball bat before he was overwhelmed. A handful of surviving soldiers managed to secure some firearms and drive off their attackers, who were primarily armed with bolos and axes. But with insufficient numbers and fear that the rebels would re-group and attack again, they escaped from the village in boats to a nearby American garrison. September 28 is the 271st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (272nd in leap years). ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Of the original 78 man contingent, 54 were killed or missing, 20 were severely wounded, and only 4 escaped unscathed. The guerillas also took 100 rifles with 25,000 rounds of ammunition. Around 20-25 villagers died in the attack.

The burning of Samar

The consequence of this battle was a brutal retaliation against the inhabitants of Samar Island, inflicted by the U.S. Army occupation forces. The day after the attack, two 9th Infantry companies, with some of the Company C survivors, went to Balangiga aboard a commandeered coastal steamer, the S.S. Pittsburg, and found the town abandoned. Without finding any townspeople or Filipino forces, they buried the American dead and set fire to the town.

General Jacob H. Smith's infamous order "KILL EVERYONE OVER TEN" was the caption in the New York Journal cartoon on May 5, 1902. The Old Glory draped an American shield on which a vulture replaced the bald eagle. The bottom caption exclaimed, "Criminals Because They Were Born Ten Years Before We Took the Philippines."

General Jacob H. Smith instructed Major Littleton "Tony" Waller, the commanding officer of the Marines assigned to clean up the island of Samar, of the methods he was to employ. he was quoted to have said: "I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn; the more you kill and burn the better it will please me." He directed that Samar be converted into a "howling wilderness." All persons, who did not surrender and were capable of carrying arms, were to be shot, and this meant anyone over ten years of age, according to Smith. Due to these orders, he became known as Jacob "Howling Wilderness" Smith. Image File history File links Phillipines. ... Image File history File links Phillipines. ... General Jacob H. Smith was a veteran of the Wounded Knee massacre and well known among Indian campaigners. ... Littleton Waller Tazewell Waller (26 September 1856 – 13 July 1926) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, who served in the Caribbean and Asian areas. ...

What followed was a sustained and widespread massacre of Filipino civilians. The basic elements of Smith's policy were brutal. Food and trade to Samar were cut off to starve the revolutionaries into submission. He instructed his officers to regard all Filipinos as enemies and treat them accordingly until they showed conclusively that they were friendly by specific actions such as revealing information about the location of revolutionaries or arms, working successfully as guides or spies, or trying actively to obtain the surrender of the guerrillas in the field. He gave his subordinates carte blanche authority in the application of General Order 100. (Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 General Orders No. 100, in brief, authorized the shooting on sight of all persons not in uniform acting as soldiers and those committing, or seeking to commit, sabotage.) Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865), sometimes called Abe Lincoln and nicknamed the Rail Splitter and the Great Emancipator, was the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and the first president from the Republican Party. ... The Lieber Code of 24th of April, 1863, also known as General Order Number 100 and named after Francis Lieber, was an instruction to the Union Forces of the USA during the Civil War that dictated how soldiers should conduct themselves in war time. ...

Smith's strategy on Samar involved the use of widespread destruction to force the inhabitants to cease supporting the guerrillas and turn to the Americans from fear and starvation. He used his troops in sweeps of the interior in search for guerrilla bands and in attempts to capture Philippine General Vicente Lukban, but did nothing to prevent contact between the guerrillas and the townspeople. American columns marched all over the island destroying homes and killing people and draft animals. General Vincente Lukban was probably one of the more ruthless commanders on either side of the Philippine conflict. ...

Waller, for example, reported that in an eleven-day span his men burned 255 dwellings, slaughtered 13 carabaos and killed 39 people. Other officers reported similar activity. Littleton Waller Tazewell Waller (26 September 1856 – 13 July 1926) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, who served in the Caribbean and Asian areas. ... The carabao (kalabaw in Filipino) is a domesticated type of water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis or sometimes bubalus carabanesis) found in the Philippines. ...

As the Judge Advocate General of the army observed, only the good sense and restraint of the majority of Smith's subordinates prevented a complete reign of terror in Samar. Still, the abuses were sufficient to cause outrage in the United States when they became known near the end of March 1902.

After receiving his orders from Smith, Waller issued his own written orders with regard to his men's conduct, what they were to seize and destroy, and other matters of similar nature. Toward the end, he wrote, "We have also to avenge our late comrades in North China, the murdered men of the Ninth U.S. Infantry." This added more to the rage. The Chinese and the Filipinos were, it seems, of the same nature, and stock, and even ideology. There was no difference among "asiatics." Littleton Waller Tazewell Waller (26 September 1856 – 13 July 1926) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, who served in the Caribbean and Asian areas. ...

Waller was later accused of ordering the execution of eleven Philippine guides because, during a long march, they had found edible roots and had allegedly conspired to keep this knowledge from the famished American troops. Littleton Waller Tazewell Waller (26 September 1856 – 13 July 1926) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, who served in the Caribbean and Asian areas. ...

However brutal the American and Constabulary attacks were, the Filipinos fought back just as ferociously. In 1904, the 38th Philippine Scout Company, totalling 48 men under Lieutenant Hayt, was almost wiped out when they were ambushed by 1,000 Filipinos. Only one survived, but with grevious bolo wounds. Two weeks after that battle, another company of the 37th Scouts under Lieutenant Morton Avery was also destroyed, with the exception of two, who escaped with grevious wounds.

The so called "Pacification of Samar", contrary to American belief, was far from over. And this land would prove to be a bloody battleground for the next decade of the Philippine-American War.

See also

• Philippine-American War
• Battles of the Philippine-American War
• History of the Philippines
• Timeline of Philippine-American War
• Little Brown Brother, by Leon Wolfe

Combatants United States The Philippines Commanders Elwell Stephen Otis Emilio Aguinaldo Strength 126,000 soldiers 80,000 soldiers Casualties 4,324 U.S. soldiers dead 2,840 wounded; 2,000 killed, dead, or wounded of the Philippine Constabulary 16,000 soldiers killed est. ... This is a list of battles of the Philippine-American War. ... This article describes the history of the Philippines. ... // 1898 May May 1 Admiral George Dewey destroyed Spanish fleet at Battle of Manila Bay May 19 Emilio Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines. ...

Further reading

• Borrinaga, Rolando O. (2003). The Balangiga Conflict Revisited. New Day Publishers. ISBN 9711010909.
• Couttie, Bob (**). Hang the Dogs, The True and Tragic History of the Balangiga Massacre. **. ISBN **.
• Schott, Joseph L (1965). The ordeal of Samar. Bobbs-Merrill. ISBN B0006BLRF0.
• Taylor, James O (1931). The massacre of Balangiga : being an authentic account by several of the few survivors. McCarn Printing Co. ISBN B00085UHX2.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Balangiga massacre

• Philippine NewsLink interview with Bob Couttie author of "Hang the Dogs, The True and Tragic History of the Balangiga Massacre
• Philippine History Group of Los Angeles The Balangiga Massacre: Getting Even