The Battle of Pulang Lupa was an engagement fought on September 13, 1900 during the Philippine American War between the forces of Colonel Maximo Abad and Devereux Shields, in which Abad's men anihilate the American force. 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 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years). ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... Marinduque is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region in Luzon. ... The Philippine-American War was a war between the armed forces of the United States and the Philippines from 1899 through 1913. ...

"The severity with which the inhabitants have been dealt would not look well if a complete history of it were written out" --Governor-General of the Philippines, William Howard Taft, concerning the U.S. Army campaign on the island of Marinduque during the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902 ^[1] Marinduque is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region in Luzon. ... 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. ...

The Battle

On September 11, Captain Devereux Shields led a detachment of 54 29th U.S. Volunteer Infantrymen into the mountains of Torrijos to combat Abad's elusive soldiers. They experienced little success, except for the dispersing of 20 guerillas, in which no casualties were inflicted on either side.

Abad had excellent intelligence, and was informed of Shields' movements by the local guerillas ahead of time. In response, he assembled his entire force of 250 regular Filipino soldiers and around 1,000-2,000 bolomen. The regular Philippine soldiers were well organized and reasonably well armed with Spanish Mausers, despite the fact that most were poor shots. The bolomen were armed only with machetes or bolos, and served mainly to bolster Abad's forces. They had no firearms, allthough they served well for hand to hand fighting. Two days later, Abad positioned his men along a steep ridge overlooking the trail which Shields would soon cross. Mauser is the common name of German arms manufacturer Mauser-Werke Oberndorf Waffensysteme GmbH, as well as the line of bolt-action rifles they built for the German armed forces. ... Bolo may be: Bolo Shell, a type of specialty shotgun shell Bolo (self-aware tank), a type of enhanced artificially intelligent tank appearing in the science fiction of Keith Laumer. ...

Both Shields and his men were unexperienced, and easily fell into the trap. Abad and his 250 soldiers fired a tremendous volley into the column which led to a fire-fight that lasted for several hours. Meanwhile, as the Americans and Philippine rifleman exchanged fire, the large force of Filipino bolomen began maneuvering to surround the Americans. Rifleman may refer to: Rifleman (rank), a private soldier in a rifle unit of infantry Rifleman (bird) or Titipounamu (Acanthisitta chloris), a New Zealand bird The Rifleman, a U.S. television programme starring Chuck Connors You cant find any info about riflemen on Wikipedia. ...

Shields, seeing that he was almost completely surrounded, ordered a withdrawl, which soon turned into a full blown retreat, as Abad's much larger force poured over the ridge after Shields and his men. The Filipino soldiers harassed Shields for nearly four miles, before the Americans were cornered in a rice field; their escape to Santa Cruz cut off by the large force of Filipino bolomen. Abad's men again opened fire, forcing the Americans to take cover behind some paddy dikes.

Shields, recognizing the futility of the situation, raised the white flag in order to surrender. Abad's men disregarded it, and fell upon the totally encircled Americans firing and hacking away with bolo knives. In the fight, Shields fell severely wounded.

Men of the 29th volunteer infantry wading ashore on Marinduque 25 April 1900

Abad, observing that the Americans were trying to surrender, regained control of his men, and the surviving Americans were led away prisoners. After months of hiding, Abad in a few hours destroyed nearly one third of the American garrison on Marinduque. Image File history File links Men_of_the_29th_volunteer_infantry_wading_ashore_on_Marinduque_25_April_1900. ... Image File history File links Men_of_the_29th_volunteer_infantry_wading_ashore_on_Marinduque_25_April_1900. ...

Casualties

The Americans lost 5 killed and 50 captured, 6 of which wounded including Shields. A large selection of American firearms were also taken by the guerillas. The Filipino losses are unknown, allthough Shields claimed to have inflicted 30 casualties on the Filipinos, this number was never comfirmed.

Aftermath

Shields' defeat sent shock waves through the American high command. Aside from being one of the worst defeats suffered by the Americans during the war, it was especially significant given its proximity to the upcoming election between President William McKinley and his anti-imperialist opponent William Jennings Bryan, the outcome of which many believed would determine the ultimate course of the war. Consequently, the defeat triggered a sharp response.

Allthough Abad and most of his command had eluded the American military, the civilian population was suffering for it. Being placed into concentration camps and routine interrogation, led many of the guerillas to surrender, thus decreasing the manpower and materials of the resistance.

These new tactics led to the surrender of Abad in April of 1901.

External links

• http://marinduque.net/battle.htm
• http://www.newsflash.org/2003/03/ht/ht003238.htm
• http://bailey83221.livejournal.com/49712.html

Footnotes

1. ↑  The U.S. Army's Pacification of Marinduque, Philippine Islands, April 1900-April 1901, Andrew J. Birtle, The Journal of Military History, April, 1997, Vol. 61, No. 2, p. 255; Jessup, Philip Caryl (1938). Elihu Root, 341, Dodd, Mead, & Co./Reprint Services Corp. ISBN 0781249082.