The document summarizes key events in the Philippine-American War from 1899-1901, including the start of fighting between American forces and Filipino nationalists led by Emilio Aguinaldo seeking independence; major battles such as Olongapo and Balangiga; General Antonio Luna organizing guerrilla soldiers against American troops; Luna's controversial death; Gregorio del Pilar's last stand at Tirad Pass; and Aguinaldo's capture in Palanan in 1901.

1. The Filipino-American War

2. • After its defeat in the Spanish-American War of
1898, Spain ceded its longstanding colony of the
Philippines to the United States in the Treaty of
Paris. On February 4, 1899, just two days before
the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty, fighting broke
out between American forces and Filipino
nationalists led by Emilio Aguinaldo who sought
independence rather than a change in colonial
rulers. The ensuing Philippine-American War
lasted three years and resulted in the death of
over 4,200 American and over 20,000 Filipino
combatants. As many as 200,000 Filipino civilians
died from violence, famine, and disease.

3. The First shots of the War
• Sources generally agree that the
first shots were fired by Private
William Walter Grayson, an
Englishman who had emigrated to
America c. 1890, had enlisted as a
volunteer soldier in Lincoln,
Nebraska, in May 1898, a month
after the Spanish–American War
erupted, and had deployed with
his unit to the Philippines in June
1898. Grayson's unit, the First
Nebraska Volunteer Infantry under
Colonel John M. Stotsenburg, had
been encamped in Santa Mesa,
Manila, since December 5, 1898.
During the time of their
encampment, there had been
incidents on and around the San
Juan Bridge, located just to the
east of their encampment area.

4. The Battle of Olongapo
• The Battle of Olongapo was fought
September 18–23, 1899, during the
Philippine–American War. The battle
featured both land and sea fighting, of
which the objective was the destruction of
the single Filipino artillery gun in
Olongapo, a menace to American ships
crossing the nearby sea.

5. The Battle
• At first the Filipinos stationed in Olongapo decided
not to fire at the American patrol. However, on
September 18, 1899, after noticing the routine
patrolling by the squadron, the Filipinos fired at the
armed transport Zafiro. Undamaged, Zafiro
withdrew and reported the incident. From Sangley
Point, the Americans dispatched the protected
cruiser Charleston, which fired at Filipino-held
Olongapo with her eight-inch guns, silencing the
single enemy battery. She then began to withdraw
back to Sangley Point. As the cruiser moved away,
the Filipino battery fired a single parting shot,
provoking the Americans

6. • On September 23, the Americans returned to Olongapo with a
stronger force, bringing the monitor Baltimore and the gunboat
Concord in addition to Zafiro and Charleston. Baltimore opened fire
with her ten- and twelve-inch guns. Due to the heavy American
bombardment, the Filipino battery was only able to respond with a
single shot. After the bombardment was lifted, Charleston landed
180 sailors and 70 marines. As the landing party began their
advance, the ships stopped firing but they were met by Filipinos
from the naval yard. A short battle ensued in the main part of
Olongapo, during which one American was wounded. The
Americans then raced to the single battery at Kalaklan Point, and
destroyed it completely with three charges of guncotton. As soon as
they achieved their mission, the Americans withdrew to their ships.
Olongapo remained under the Filipinos, but the battery – badly
damaged in the explosion – no longer posed a threat to American
intentions in the area.

7. The Aftermath
• With the single Filipino battery gone, trade vessels
as well as American patrols were able to freely use
the trade route past Olongapo. Emilio Aguinaldo
effectively disbanded the regular Filipino army due
to continuing American advances by November
13, 1899, which divided the force into bands of
guerrillas. On December 10, 1899, an American
force of 90 soldiers under Major Robert Spence
captured Olongapo. Their force was augmented
by the ships Baltimore and Oregon, commanded
by Rear Admiral John Watson.

9. The Balangiga Massacre
• The Balangiga massacre was an incident in 1901
in the town of the same name during the
Philippine–American War. It initially referred to the
killing of about 48 members of the US 9th Infantry
by the townspeople allegedly augmented by
guerrillas in the town of Balangiga on Samar
Island during an attack on September 28 of that
year. This incident was described as the United
States Army's worst defeat since the Battle of the
Little Bighorn in 1876. Filipinos regard the attack
as one of their bravest acts in the war.

10. General Antonio Luna
• Regarded as one of the fiercest
generals of his time, he
succeeded Artemio Ricarte as
Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces
of the Philippines. He sought to
apply his background in military
science to the fledgling army. A
sharpshooter himself, he
organized professional guerrilla
soldiers later to be known as the
"Luna Sharpshooters" and the
"Black Guard". His three-tier
defense, now known as the Luna
Defense Line, gave the American
troops a hard campaign in the
provinces north of Manila. This
defense line culminated in the
creation of a military base in the
Cordillera.

12. The Death of Luna
• A significant event that greatly weakened Aguinaldo’s forces was the
death of General Antonio Luna, acknowledged as the best and most
brilliant military strategist of the Philippine Revolution. He was brave,
intelligent, and well educated; but he also had a fiery temper, and
was a strict disciplinarian. His harsh and rough manner earned him
a lot of enemies, who latter plotted to kill him. In June 1899 Luna
was at his command post in Bayambang, Pangasinan when he
received a telegram allegedly sent by Aguinaldo. The telegram
instructed him to proceed to Aguinaldo’s headquarters in
Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. On June 5, Luna arrived at the
headquarters, a convent on the town plaza in Cabanatuan, but was
told that Aguinaldo left for Tarlac. Angry, Luna went out of the
convent and was met and killed by Captain Pedro Janolino with
Kawit, Cavite troops. General Luna was buried at the nearby
churchyard. Aguinaldo's role on his death is not clear and his killers
were never charged or investigated.

13. The Battle of Tirad Pass
• The Battle of Tirad Pass, sometimes referred
to as the "Philippine Thermopylae", was a
battle in the Philippine-American War fought
on December 2, 1899, in northern Luzon in
the Philippines, in which a 60-man Filipino
rear guard commanded by Brigadier General
Gregorio del Pilar succumbed to over 500
Americans, mostly of the 33rd Volunteer
Infantry Regiment under Major Peyton C.
March, while delaying the American advance
to ensure that President Emilio Aguinaldo and
his troops escaped.

14. The present site

15. Gregorio Del Pilar
• Gregorio Hilario del Pilar y
Sempio (November 14, 1875 –
December 2, 1899) was one of
the youngest generals in the
Philippine Revolutionary Forces
during the Philippine Revolution
and the Philippine–American
War. He is most known for his
successful assault on the
Spanish barracks of Cazadores
in the municipality of Paombong,
his victory on the first phase
Battle of Quingua and his last
stand at the Battle of Tirad Pass.
during the Philippine-American
war. Because of his youth, he
became known as the "Boy
General".

16. The Palanan Incident
• On March 23, 1901, General Emilio
Aguinaldo was captured by the American
forces led by General Frederick Funston
with the help of Macabebe Scouts, in
Palanan, Isabela. Funston disguised the
Macabebe scouts as Aguinaldo’s
reinforcement with several American
Soldiers were the “Prisoners”.