Chapter 4: Outbreak of War
President William McKinley issued a proclamation of benevolent assimilation for the greatest good of the governed. This proclamation was given to the Military Governor of the Philippines, General Elwell Stephen Otis who then published an amended version of the proclamation which removed the mention of U.S sovereignty over the entire archipelago.
Meanwhile, the original version was passed to a Filipino official by Brigadier General Marcus Miller, which then made its way to Aguinaldo via his supporters.
Emilio Aguinaldo has been waiting for this proclamation ever since he heard news of the treaty's passage in the U.S congress. He and his military officials has been thinking of ways to make the Americans to fire first.
Before that, he has been advised by Apolinario Mabini to issue a counter-proclamation in front of the foreign correspondents and denounce America and its actions to the world.
Heeding this, Aguinaldo pointed out the hypocrisy of the United States, who claims to be the champions of the oppressed. He denounced the decision of the Americans to conquer the Filipino people much like what Spain did hundreds of years earlier.
He ended by saying that the Filipino people will fight for their right to freedom, and independence and that they will fight whoever decides to take that away.
This proclamation is regarded by General Otis as a proclamation of war and ordered his troops to be alert and strengthen their posts.
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(Manila North Sector)
Battle of Manila - February 4, 1899
Patrolling Filipino soldiers had an encounter with American forces on the San Juan del Monte Bridge which led to an American soldier firing upon and killing a two Filipino soldiers. This event reached Aguinaldo through a Filipino captain.
The next day, Aguinaldo pledged to his followers that they will fight if forced by the Americans.
That same day, Filipino forces clashed with American forces. The sudden charge caught the Americans off-guard and routed a number of their forces resulting in the capture of a few pieces of artillery.
The Filipinos held their ground until the night when they quietly retreated back to the next set of trenches and sent the artillery pieces back to Caloocan.
The next day, General Arthur MacArthur ordered an advance to retake what the Filipinos had taken only to find the trenches empty. This quiet retreat of the Filipinos didn't concern the American leaders that much as they are confident of swiftly defeating Aguinaldo's forces.
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Battle of Santa Mesa
General Pio Del Pilar has setup and hid a defensive line a few dozen meters from the Pasig river anticipating an attack from the Americans. Their goal is to delay the Americans as much as possible while taking as few casualties as possible.
As dawn broke, Filipino scouts spotted the American army already setup for an assault. General Del Pilar ordered his men to stand their ground and wait for the Americans to cross the river.
On the other side, General Anderson who has readied his forces to strike at dawn was denied permission from Otis and is ordered to wait for more reinforcements to arrive.
Hours later and seeing no activity on the other side, Otis ordered an advance. American forces slowly crossed and emerged on the other side of the river. The General also ordered the forces that has already crossed to be alert for any ambush.
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Seeing that the Americans have not yet fully crossed the river, General Del Pilar ordered his men to attack and drive the enemy back into the river. All of his men shouted as they charged, briefly surprising their opponents, while those at the back fired upon the Americans.
The Americans immediately fired back focusing on the ones charging at them with their bolos. A few minutes into the clash close quarters combat ensued with Filipinos hacking at the Americans as they continued to push them back to the river.
American artilleries fired from the other side scoring hits on the Filipinos and some of their own men.
The retreating Americans crossing the river became easy targets for some of the Filipino marksmen. Some of them drowned due to lack of strength caused by the wounds they sustained.
After their successful attack, General Del Pilar ordered his men to pull their wounded to safety and take some the wounded Americans as prisoners.
He then ordered them to retreat back to the San Juan river.
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