Battle of Manila (1898)
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| Battle of Manila | |||||||
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| Part of the Spanish-American War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States Philippine Republic |
.svg/22px-Flag_of_Spain_(1785-1873_and_1875-1931).svg.png){kind=small} Kingdom of Spain |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Wesley Merritt Emilio Aguinaldo George Dewey |
Fermín Jaudenes |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 30,000 Filipinos 10,700 Americans |
~13,000 (8,300 Spaniards and 4,700 natives) |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 17 dead 105 wounded |
150 dead or wounded | ||||||
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The Battle of Manila was a short engagement between the United States and Spain during the Spanish-American War, not to be confused with the naval Battle of Manila Bay. Many believe the battle was staged only to keep the city from falling to the large army of Filipinos under Emilio Aguinaldo.
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[edit] Background
After the American victory at the Battle of Manila Bay over two months earlier, the U.S. Navy under George Dewey had blockaded the city of Manila and waited for land forces to arrive. The United States reacted by organizing the VIII Corps, dubbed the Philippine Expeditionary Force under the command of Major General Wesley Merritt. In May, the vanguard of the force left San Francisco under the command of Brigadier General Thomas M. Anderson. Two more waves of reinforcements left in the following weeks under the command of Brigadier Generals Francis V. Greene and Arthur MacArthur. By June 27, all the forces had departed for the Philippines along with General Merritt and his staff.[1][not in citation given] Emilio Aguinaldo had assembled a force of roughly 10,000 Filipinos that waited outside the city. The 15,000 Spanish defenders under General Fermin Jaudenes greatly feared a Filipino attack because they feared they would be dealt with mercilessly with them in the instance the city fell to Aguinaldo alone. Dewey had managed to keep Aguinaldo from attacking the city until Merritt arrived.
[edit] Battle
[edit] Preparations
At the end of July, when all the U.S. forces had landed in the Philippines, Merritt organized the force into one division (named the 2nd Division) commanded by General Anderson. General MacArthur commanded its 1st Brigade and General Greene commanded its 2nd Brigade. Merritt began making plans with Dewey regarding the capture of the city. The two had purposefully left Aguinaldo out of any of the plans and preparations even though his forces would double the total American ground forces. The U.S. ground forces began moving up from the south and digging trenches around the city. Aguinaldo's men had control to the east of the city.
[edit] Initial fighting
On July 25, as troops were digging trenches, the Spanish began to fire upon their expected position. The Americans began to return the fire, and the engagement escalated until 10 soldiers were dead. In the following days, Spanish fire from within Manila's defenses continued to cause casualties. Dewey explained to General Greene that "it is better to suffer few casualties in the trenches than it would be to suffer a lot in a premature attack". He still let Greene know he would open fire on the Spanish defenses if Greene gave the order.
[edit] Attack
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007) |
On August 13, with American commanders unaware that a peace protocol had been signed between Spain and the United States the previous day, Admiral Dewey began a bombardment of Fort San Antonio de Abad at 9:30 a.m.,[2][3] pre-arranged with the Spanish governor, Fermin Jaudenes, who had agreed to surrender the city after a brief bombardment of the fort.[citation needed] Jaudenes realized that his situation was hopeless. Part of the surrender arrangement called for the Americans to keep Aguinaldo's troops out of the city, as the Spanish feared revenge by the Filipinos.[citation needed] At 10:15 General Greene's brigade advanced, the 1st Colorado Volunteers along the shore and the 18th U.S. Infantry and 3rd Artillery acting as infantry on Greene's right flank. When Greene's troops reached the fort (also known as Fort Malate) they found it abandoned, and raised the American flag over it. General MacArthur's troops on Greene's right heard the exultant shout of Greene's troops as the flag was raised. Meanwhile, soon after Dewey opened fire, MacArthur's artillery began pounding Blockhouse #14, the principle impediment to the American advance on the right flank. When the blockhouse did not respond, scouts discovered that the blockhouse and nearby Spanish trenches had been abandoned. MacArthur then ordered an advance along Cingalon Road by the 13th Minnesota Volunteers and two guns of the Astor Battery, but Filipinos on his right poured from their trenches to join the American attack. Although the Americans had wanted the Filipinos to stay in their trenches and informed Aguinaldo that his troops would not be permitted to enter central Manila, Aguinaldo and his generals ignored the American wishes. They had been fighting the Spanish for months, had driven them into a defensive perimeter around Manila, and considered the territory they controlled as Filipino, not American, territory. They thought they had every right to participate in the capture of Manila. Had the Filipinos not joined the American advance, the Spanish would probably not have put up stiff resistance at Blockhouse #20 on Cingalon Road. However, they repulsed the advance of the 13th Minnesota and the Filipinos, until the men of the Astor Battery charged the stronghold in a pistol attack which saw the Spanish withdraw. It was probably at Blockhouse #20 that the Americans prohibited the Filipinos from proceeding any farther, and MacArthur's advance the rest of the way to the central city was unopposed. Meanwhile, after experiencing sporadic gunfire from the direction of Cingalon and Paco(which probably originated from the Filipino trenchlines to the east) General Greene advanced to a promenade known as the Luneta just outside the walls of the central city. After some confusion, he learned that a cease fire had been ordered and that surrender negotiations were taking place inside the fortress walls. According to plan, both Greene and MacArthur sent troops around to the north side of the fortress city (known as Intramuros) to prevent Filipino troops from crossing the Pasig River.
[edit] Surrender
On August 14, Merritt and Jaudenes agreed upon the surrender of all Spanish forces in the Philippines with full military honors. Aguinaldo had once again been intentionally left out of the negotiations, and the U.S. forces took exclusive control of the city, with Merritt as military governor. Merritt and Dewey were unsure of the extent they should carry their exclusion of Aguinaldo from control of the city. Washington sent an immediate reply that there should be no joint occupation of the city with the Filipinos. General Elwell S. Otis, the new commander of the VIII Corps, set up a perimeter and ordered all Filipino forces to vacate the city.
[edit] Staged battle
After the war, speculation and controversy arose when many believed the battle had been intended as a bloodless contest between the U.S. and Spain. Jaudenes had agreed to surrender the city but not without an American show of force, as the Spanish wanted to save themselves the humiliation of capitulating without the appearance of a battle. Another major reason why Jaudenes was anxious to surrender to the Americans was to prevent the city from falling to the Filipinos. Jaudenes feared that the Spanish populace would be dealt with mercilessly and knew that surrendering to the U.S. would provide him with the protection of a legitimate government. The U.S. was also anxious to keep the city from Aguinaldo's control. With a staged battle, both sides felt the city could change hands without the Filipinos being involved. However, by August 13 Aguinaldo was well aware of the secret deal between Jaudenes and Dewey, and on August 13 his Filipino troops attacked along their entire perimeter, not just in the American sector. He knew that only by participating in the attack and securing a place at the negotiating table would he be able to advance the cause of Filipino independence. In the end, the battle for Manila on August 13 was not bloodless; five Americans lost their lives and 43 were wounded. Spanish and Filipino casualties are unknown.
[edit] Aftermath
The fall of Manila brought about the end of the Spanish-American War in the Philippines for all practical purposes. Merritt and Dewey finally received word of the peace protocol on August 16. Fighting in other areas in the Pacific continued as the commanders were unaware of the protocol. The Spanish on Wake Island, also unaware of the protocol, surrendered to the U.S. Navy on January 17, 1899.
The war with Spain was over, but another war had been sparked. Tensions between the Philippine forces under Aguinaldo and the American Expeditionary forces were high. The Filipinos felt betrayed by the Americans, they had looked on the Americans as liberators against occupation. It turned out that America simply wanted the Philippines as a colony. In an incident on San Juan Bridge in Manila, a United States Army private fired on a Filipino guerilla trying to cross. The events following this incident only confirmed America's desire for conquest. No attempt at peace or investigation into the matter was initiated on the part of America, instead its forces rapidly engaged the Filipino forces in the Manila area.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The Philippine Insurrection, Office of The Surgeon General, U.S. Army, <http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/spanam/gillet3/ch8.html>. Retrieved on 10 October 2007
- ^ The World of 1898: The Spanish-American War, U.S. Library of Congress, <http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/intro.html>. Retrieved on 10 October 2007
- ^ Protocol of Peace Embodying the Terms of a Basis for the Establishment of Peace Between the Two Countries, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., August 12, 1898, <http://www.msc.edu.ph/centennial/pr980812.html>. Retrieved on 17 October 2007
[edit] Bibliography
- Freidel, Frank The Splendid Little War (1958)
