Balangiga massacre
Encyclopedia
The Balangiga massacre, as it is known in the Philippines
, or the Balangiga affair, as it is known in the United States
, was an incident in 1901 during the Philippine-American War
where more than forty American soldiers were killed in a surprise guerrilla attack
in the town of Balangiga
on Samar island. This incident was described as the United States Army
's worst defeat since the Battle of the Little Bighorn
in 1876.
The subsequent retaliation by American troops resulted in the killing of 2000–3000 Filipinos on Samar, the majority of whom were civilians. The heavy-handed reprisal earned a court-martial
for Gen. Jacob H. Smith
, who had ordered the killing of everyone ten years old and over. Reprimanded but not formally punished, Smith was forced into retirement from the service because of his conduct.
The attack 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 confused the issue. Demands for the return of the bells of the church at Balangiga, taken by the Americans as war booty and collectively known as the Balangiga bells
, remain an outstanding issue of contention related to the war. One church bell remains in the possession of the 9th Infantry Regiment at their base in Camp Red Cloud
, South Korea
, while two others are on a former base of the 11th Infantry Regiment at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming
.
According to some nationalist Filipino historians, the true "Balangiga massacre" was the subsequent American retaliation against the Samar population.
. Lukban had been sent there in December 1898 to govern the island on behalf of the First Philippine Republic
under Emilio Aguinaldo
.
Relations between the soldiers and the townspeople were amicable for the first month of the American presence in the town; indeed it was marked by extensive fraternization
between the two parties. This took the form of tuba
drinking among the soldiers and male villagers, baseball
games and arnis
demonstrations. However, tensions rose due to several reasons: Captain Thomas W. Connell, commanding officer of the American unit in Balangiga, ordered the town cleaned up in preparation for a visit by the U.S. Army's Inspector General
(IG). However, in complying with his directive, the townspeople inadvertently cut down vegetation with food value, in violation of Lukban's policies regarding food security
. As a consequence, on September 18, 1901, around 400 guerrillas sent by Lukban appeared in the vicinity of Balangiga. They were to mete sanctions upon the town officials and local residents for violating Lukban's orders regarding food security and for fraternizing with the Americans. The threat was probably defused by Captain Eugenio Daza, a staff member of Lukban's and the parish priest, Father Donato Guimbaolibot.
A few days later, Connell had the town's male residents rounded up and detained for the purpose of hastening his clean-up operations. Around 80 men were kept in two Sibley tent
s unfed overnight. In addition, Connell had the men's bolos
and the stored rice
for their tables confiscated. These events would have insulted and angered the townspeople; and without the sympathy of Lukban's guerrillas, the civilians were left to their own devices to plan their course of action against the Americans.
A few days before the attack, Valeriano Abanador, the town's police chief, met with Captain Daza to plan the attack. To address the issue of sufficient manpower to offset the Americans' advantage in firepower, Abanador and Daza disguised the men as a work force aimed at preparing the town for a local festival which, incidentally, also served to address Connell's preparations for the IG visit. Abanador also brought in a group of "tax evaders
" to replace the detained residents. Much palm wine
, locally called tuba, was brought in to ensure that the American soldiers would be drunk the day after the fiesta. Hours before the attack, women and children were sent away to safety. To mask the disappearance of the women from the dawn service in the church, 34 men from Barrio Lawaan
were dressed in women's clothing. These "women", carrying small coffin
s, were challenged by Sergeant Scharer of the sentry post about the town plaza near the church. Opening one of the coffins with his bayonet, he saw the body of a dead child, whom he was told, was a victim of a cholera
epidemic. Abashed, he let the women pass on. Unbeknownst to the sentries, the other coffins hid the bolos and other weapons of the attackers.
Between 6:20 and 6:45 in the morning of September 28, 1901, the villagers made their move. Abanador, who had been supervising the prisoners' communal labor in the town plaza, grabbed the rifle of Private Adolph Gamlin, one of the American sentries and stunned him with a blow to the head. This served as the signal for the rest of the communal laborers in the plaza to rush the other sentries and soldiers of Company C, who were mostly having breakfast in the mess
area. Abanador then gave a shout, signaling the other Filipino men to the attack and fired Gamlin's rifle at the mess tent, hitting one of the soldiers. The pealing of the church bells and the sounds from conch
shells being blown followed seconds later. Some of the Company C troopers were attacked and hacked to death before they could grab their rifles; the few who survived the initial onslaught fought almost bare-handed, using kitchen utensils, steak knives, and chairs. One private used a baseball bat
to fend off the attackers before being overwhelmed.
The men detained in the Sibley tents broke out and made their way to the municipal hall. Simultaneously, the attackers hidden in the church broke through to the convent and killed the officers there. An unarmed Company C soldier was ignored, as was Captain Connell's Filipino houseboy. The attackers initially occupied the convent and the municipal hall; however, the attack at the mess tents and the barracks failed, with Pvt. Gamlin recovering consciousness and managing to secure another rifle, causing considerable casualties among the Filipinos. With the initial surprise wearing off and the attack degrading, Abanador called for the attackers to break off and retreat. The surviving Company C soldiers, led by Sergeant Frank Betron, escaped by sea to Basey
and Tanauan, Leyte
. The townspeople buried their dead and abandoned the town.
Of the 74 men in Company C, 36 were killed in action
, including all its commissioned officers; Captain Thomas W. Connell, First Lieutenant Edward A. Bumpus and Major Richard S. Griswold. Twenty-two were wounded in action
and four were missing in action
. Eight later died of wounds received in combat; only four escaped unscathed. The attackers captured about 100 rifles and 25,000 rounds of ammunition and suffered 28 dead and 22 wounded.
The next day, Captain Edwin Victor Bookmiller, the commander in Basey, sailed with Company G, 9th Infantry Regiment for Balangiga aboard a commandeered coastal steamer, the USS Pittsburgh. Finding the town abandoned, they buried the American dead and set fire to the town.
The Balangiga incident provoked shock in the US public, with newspapers equating the massacre to George Armstrong Custer
's last stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
in 1876. Major General Adna R. Chaffee
, military governor of the Philippines, received orders from US President Theodore Roosevelt
to pacify Samar. To this end, Chaffee appointed Brigadier General Jacob H. Smith
to Samar to accomplish the task.
General Smith instructed Major Littleton Waller
, commanding officer of a battalion of 315 US Marines
assigned to bolster his forces in Samar, regarding the conduct of pacification:
As a consequence of this order, Smith became known as "Howling Wilderness Smith". He further ordered Waller to have all persons killed who were capable of bearing arms and in actual hostilities against the United States. When queried by Waller regarding the age limit of these persons, Smith replied that the limit was ten years of age.
However, it was known that Smith earned his nickname
, "Hell-Roaring Jake" not due to his violence in war, but for the nonstop stream of invective which he directed at subordinates. Waller therefore, did not execute Smith's orders. Instead, Waller applied the rules of civilized warfare and the rules provided under General Orders No. 100
of 1863 dealing with irregular warfare, which stated that if enemy units gave no quarter and became treacherous upon capture, it was lawful to shoot anyone belonging to that captured unit.
Food and trade to Samar were cut off, intended to starve the revolutionaries into submission. Smith's strategy on Samar involved widespread destruction to force the inhabitants to stop 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 he did nothing to prevent contact between the guerrillas and the townspeople. American columns marched across the island, destroying homes and shooting people and draft animals. Littleton Waller, in a report, stated that over an eleven-day period his men burned 255 dwellings, shot 13 carabao
s and killed 39 people.
The Judge Advocate General
of the Army observed that only the good sense and restraint of the majority of Smith's subordinates prevented a complete reign of terror in Samar. However, the abuses were still sufficient to outrage anti-Imperialist
groups in the United States when these became known in March 1902.
The exact number of Filipino civilians killed by US troops will never be known, but some Filipino historians believe it to be around 50,000. Research by a British writer in the 1990s put the figure at about 2,500; the rate of Samar's population growth slowed as refugees fled from Samar to Leyte, yet still the population of Samar increased by 21,456 during the war. A great loss of life is not supported.
Both Jacob H. Smith and Littleton Waller faced courts martial their heavy-handed treatment of Filipinos; Waller specifically for the execution of twelve Filipino bearers and guides. Waller was found not guilty, a finding that senior military officials did not accept. Smith was found guilty, admonished and forced to retire.
A third officer, Captain Edwin Glenn, was court-martialled for torturing Filipinos and was found guilty.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, or the Balangiga affair, as it is known in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, was an incident in 1901 during the Philippine-American War
Philippine-American War
The Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...
where more than forty American soldiers were killed in a surprise guerrilla attack
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
in the town of Balangiga
Balangiga, Eastern Samar
Balangiga is a 5th class municipality in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 10,662 people in 2,113 households....
on Samar island. This incident was described as the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
's worst defeat since the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
in 1876.
The subsequent retaliation by American troops resulted in the killing of 2000–3000 Filipinos on Samar, the majority of whom were civilians. The heavy-handed reprisal earned a court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
for Gen. Jacob H. Smith
Jacob H. Smith
General Jacob Hurd Smith was a United States Army officer best known for ordering an indiscriminate retaliatory attack on a group of Filipinos during Philippine-American War after more than forty American soldiers were massacred in a surprise attack on the Island of Samar...
, who had ordered the killing of everyone ten years old and over. Reprimanded but not formally punished, Smith was forced into retirement from the service because of his conduct.
The attack 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 confused the issue. Demands for the return of the bells of the church at Balangiga, taken by the Americans as war booty and collectively known as the Balangiga bells
Balangiga bells
The Balangiga bells are three church bells taken by the United States Army from the town church of Balangiga, Eastern Samar in the Philippines as war booty after reprisals following the Balangiga incident in 1901 during the Philippine-American War...
, remain an outstanding issue of contention related to the war. One church bell remains in the possession of the 9th Infantry Regiment at their base in Camp Red Cloud
Camp Red Cloud
Camp Red Cloud is a United States Army camp located in the city of Uijeongbu, between Seoul and the Korean Demilitarized Zone . The installation was renamed after Medal of Honor recipient Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, while two others are on a former base of the 11th Infantry Regiment at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
.
According to some nationalist Filipino historians, the true "Balangiga massacre" was the subsequent American retaliation against the Samar population.
Prelude to attack
On August 11, 1901, Company C of the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment, 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, which at that time were under the command of General Vicente LukbanVicente Lukban
Vicente Lukbán y Rilles , was a Filipino officer in Emilio Aguinaldo's staff during the Philippine Revolution and the politico-military chief of Samar and Leyte during the Philippine-American War. The Americans credited him as the mastermind of the famous Balangiga massacre, in which more than...
. Lukban had been sent there in December 1898 to govern the island on behalf of the First Philippine Republic
First Philippine Republic
The Philippine Republic , more commonly known as the First Philippine Republic or the Malolos Republic was a short-lived insurgent revolutionary government in the Philippines...
under Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence that resisted American occupation...
.
Fraternization
Fraternization is "turning people into brothers"—conducting social relations with people who are actually unrelated and/or of a different class as though they were siblings, family members, personal friends or lovers....
between the two parties. This took the form of tuba
Palm wine
Palm wine also called Palm Toddy also called "Kallu" written in Malayalam and கள்ளு in Tamil or simply Toddy is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the palmyra, and coconut palms...
drinking among the soldiers and male villagers, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
games and arnis
Arnis
Arnis may refer to:*A Filipino martial art, see Eskrima**a modern version of the traditional martial art, see Modern Arnis*Arnis, Germany, a small town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
demonstrations. However, tensions rose due to several reasons: Captain Thomas W. Connell, commanding officer of the American unit in Balangiga, ordered the town cleaned up in preparation for a visit by the U.S. Army's Inspector General
Inspector General
An Inspector General is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is Inspectors General.-Bangladesh:...
(IG). However, in complying with his directive, the townspeople inadvertently cut down vegetation with food value, in violation of Lukban's policies regarding food security
Food security
Food security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered food-secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. According to the World Resources Institute, global per capita food production has been increasing substantially for the past...
. As a consequence, on September 18, 1901, around 400 guerrillas sent by Lukban appeared in the vicinity of Balangiga. They were to mete sanctions upon the town officials and local residents for violating Lukban's orders regarding food security and for fraternizing with the Americans. The threat was probably defused by Captain Eugenio Daza, a staff member of Lukban's and the parish priest, Father Donato Guimbaolibot.
A few days later, Connell had the town's male residents rounded up and detained for the purpose of hastening his clean-up operations. Around 80 men were kept in two Sibley tent
Sibley tent
The Sibley tent was invented by the American military officer Henry Hopkins Sibley and patented in 1856. Of conical design, it stands about twelve feet high and eighteen feet in diameter. It can comfortably house about a dozen men....
s unfed overnight. In addition, Connell had the men's bolos
Bolo knife
A bolo is a large cutting tool of Filipino origin similar to the machete, used particularly in the jungles of Indonesia, the Philippines, and in the sugar fields of Cuba...
and the stored rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
for their tables confiscated. These events would have insulted and angered the townspeople; and without the sympathy of Lukban's guerrillas, the civilians were left to their own devices to plan their course of action against the Americans.
A few days before the attack, Valeriano Abanador, the town's police chief, met with Captain Daza to plan the attack. To address the issue of sufficient manpower to offset the Americans' advantage in firepower, Abanador and Daza disguised the men as a work force aimed at preparing the town for a local festival which, incidentally, also served to address Connell's preparations for the IG visit. Abanador also brought in a group of "tax evaders
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
" to replace the detained residents. Much palm wine
Palm wine
Palm wine also called Palm Toddy also called "Kallu" written in Malayalam and கள்ளு in Tamil or simply Toddy is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the palmyra, and coconut palms...
, locally called tuba, was brought in to ensure that the American soldiers would be drunk the day after the fiesta. Hours before the attack, women and children were sent away to safety. To mask the disappearance of the women from the dawn service in the church, 34 men from Barrio Lawaan
Lawaan, Eastern Samar
Lawaan is a 5th class municipality in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 9,855 people in 1,925 households.-Barangays:Lawaan is politically subdivided into 16 barangays.* Betaog...
were dressed in women's clothing. These "women", carrying small coffin
Coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...
s, were challenged by Sergeant Scharer of the sentry post about the town plaza near the church. Opening one of the coffins with his bayonet, he saw the body of a dead child, whom he was told, was a victim of a cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic. Abashed, he let the women pass on. Unbeknownst to the sentries, the other coffins hid the bolos and other weapons of the attackers.
The attack
Mess
A mess is the place where military personnel socialise, eat, and live. In some societies this military usage has extended to other disciplined services eateries such as civilian fire fighting and police forces. The root of mess is the Old French mes, "portion of food" A mess (also called a...
area. Abanador then gave a shout, signaling the other Filipino men to the attack and fired Gamlin's rifle at the mess tent, hitting one of the soldiers. The pealing of the church bells and the sounds from conch
Conch
A conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....
shells being blown followed seconds later. Some of the Company C troopers were attacked and hacked to death before they could grab their rifles; the few who survived the initial onslaught fought almost bare-handed, using kitchen utensils, steak knives, and chairs. One private used a baseball bat
Baseball bat
A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the game of baseball to hit the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. It is no more than 2.75 inches in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches in length. It typically weighs no more than 33 ounces , but it...
to fend off the attackers before being overwhelmed.
The men detained in the Sibley tents broke out and made their way to the municipal hall. Simultaneously, the attackers hidden in the church broke through to the convent and killed the officers there. An unarmed Company C soldier was ignored, as was Captain Connell's Filipino houseboy. The attackers initially occupied the convent and the municipal hall; however, the attack at the mess tents and the barracks failed, with Pvt. Gamlin recovering consciousness and managing to secure another rifle, causing considerable casualties among the Filipinos. With the initial surprise wearing off and the attack degrading, Abanador called for the attackers to break off and retreat. The surviving Company C soldiers, led by Sergeant Frank Betron, escaped by sea to Basey
Basey, Samar
Basey is a municipality in the province of Samar, Philippines. According to the census of 2000, it has a population of 43,809 people in 9,013 households....
and Tanauan, Leyte
Tanauan, Leyte
Tanauan is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 45,056 people in 9,224 households.-Barangays:Tanauan is politically subdivided into 54 barangays.* Ada* Amanluran* Arado...
. The townspeople buried their dead and abandoned the town.
Of the 74 men in Company C, 36 were killed in action
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
, including all its commissioned officers; Captain Thomas W. Connell, First Lieutenant Edward A. Bumpus and Major Richard S. Griswold. Twenty-two were wounded in action
Wounded in action
Wounded in action describes soldiers who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during war time, but have not been killed. Typically it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing to fight....
and four were missing in action
Missing in action
Missing in action is a casualty Category assigned under the Status of Missing to armed services personnel who are reported missing during active service. They may have been killed, wounded, become a prisoner of war, or deserted. If deceased, neither their remains nor grave can be positively...
. Eight later died of wounds received in combat; only four escaped unscathed. The attackers captured about 100 rifles and 25,000 rounds of ammunition and suffered 28 dead and 22 wounded.
Retaliation
The Balangiga incident provoked shock in the US public, with newspapers equating the massacre to George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
's last stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
in 1876. Major General Adna R. Chaffee
Adna Chaffee
Adna Romanza Chaffee was a General in the United States Army. Chaffee took part in the American Civil War and Indian Wars, played a key role in the Spanish-American War, and was instrumental in crushing the Boxer Rebellion in China...
, military governor of the Philippines, received orders from US President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
to pacify Samar. To this end, Chaffee appointed Brigadier General Jacob H. Smith
Jacob H. Smith
General Jacob Hurd Smith was a United States Army officer best known for ordering an indiscriminate retaliatory attack on a group of Filipinos during Philippine-American War after more than forty American soldiers were massacred in a surprise attack on the Island of Samar...
to Samar to accomplish the task.
General Smith instructed Major Littleton Waller
Littleton Waller
Littleton "Tony" Waller Tazewell Waller was a career officer in the United States Marine Corps, who served in the Spanish American War, the Caribbean and Asia. He was court martialled and acquitted for actions during the Philippine-American War where he led a ill-fated expedition across the island...
, commanding officer of a battalion of 315 US Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
assigned to bolster his forces in Samar, regarding the conduct of pacification:
As a consequence of this order, Smith became known as "Howling Wilderness Smith". He further ordered Waller to have all persons killed who were capable of bearing arms and in actual hostilities against the United States. When queried by Waller regarding the age limit of these persons, Smith replied that the limit was ten years of age.
However, it was known that Smith earned his nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
, "Hell-Roaring Jake" not due to his violence in war, but for the nonstop stream of invective which he directed at subordinates. Waller therefore, did not execute Smith's orders. Instead, Waller applied the rules of civilized warfare and the rules provided under General Orders No. 100
Lieber Code
The Lieber Code of April 24, 1863, also known as Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field, General Order № 100, or Lieber Instructions, was an instruction signed by President Abraham Lincoln to the Union Forces of the United States during the American Civil War...
of 1863 dealing with irregular warfare, which stated that if enemy units gave no quarter and became treacherous upon capture, it was lawful to shoot anyone belonging to that captured unit.
Food and trade to Samar were cut off, intended to starve the revolutionaries into submission. Smith's strategy on Samar involved widespread destruction to force the inhabitants to stop 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
Vicente Lukban
Vicente Lukbán y Rilles , was a Filipino officer in Emilio Aguinaldo's staff during the Philippine Revolution and the politico-military chief of Samar and Leyte during the Philippine-American War. The Americans credited him as the mastermind of the famous Balangiga massacre, in which more than...
, but he did nothing to prevent contact between the guerrillas and the townspeople. American columns marched across the island, destroying homes and shooting people and draft animals. Littleton Waller, in a report, stated that over an eleven-day period his men burned 255 dwellings, shot 13 carabao
Carabao
The carabao or Bubalus bubalis carabanesis is a subspecies of the domesticated water buffalo found in the Philippines, Guam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and various parts of Southeast Asia...
s and killed 39 people.
The Judge Advocate General
Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army
The Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army is composed of Army officers who are also lawyers and who provide legal services to the Army at all levels of command. The Judge Advocate General's Legal Service includes judge advocates, warrant officers, paralegal noncommissioned...
of the Army observed that only the good sense and restraint of the majority of Smith's subordinates prevented a complete reign of terror in Samar. However, the abuses were still sufficient to outrage anti-Imperialist
Anti-imperialism
Anti-imperialism, strictly speaking, is a term that may be applied to a movement opposed to any form of colonialism or imperialism. Anti-imperialism includes opposition to wars of conquest, particularly of non-contiguous territory or people with a different language or culture; it also includes...
groups in the United States when these became known in March 1902.
The exact number of Filipino civilians killed by US troops will never be known, but some Filipino historians believe it to be around 50,000. Research by a British writer in the 1990s put the figure at about 2,500; the rate of Samar's population growth slowed as refugees fled from Samar to Leyte, yet still the population of Samar increased by 21,456 during the war. A great loss of life is not supported.
Commanding officers' courts-martial
Events in Samar resulted in prompt investigations. On April 15, 1902 the Secretary of War sent orders to relieve officers of duty and to court-martial General Smith. "The President (Theodore Roosevelt) desires to know and in the most circumstantial manner all facts, nothing being concealed, and no man being for any reason favored or shielded. For the very reason that the President intends to back up the Army in the heartiest fashion in every lawful and legitimate method of doing its work, he also intends to see that the most rigorous care is exercised to detect and prevent any cruelty or brutality, and that men who are guilty thereof are punished".Both Jacob H. Smith and Littleton Waller faced courts martial their heavy-handed treatment of Filipinos; Waller specifically for the execution of twelve Filipino bearers and guides. Waller was found not guilty, a finding that senior military officials did not accept. Smith was found guilty, admonished and forced to retire.
A third officer, Captain Edwin Glenn, was court-martialled for torturing Filipinos and was found guilty.
Disagreements between sources
Several disagreements between sources have surfaced over the years as historians continue to re-investigate the Balangiga incident. These include:- In Joseph L. Schott’s book, The Ordeal of Samar, the police chief of Balangiga is identified as Pedro Sanchez, when in fact he was Valeriano Abanador.
- Schott gives the number of Filipino dead at 250 and that their bodies were burned by Bookmiller. However, when Bookmiller entered the town, he found the town abandoned and that the townspeople had already buried their dead. He estimated the number of Filipino dead at 50, judging from the size of the mass grave. Eugenio Daza who gave his account of the incident, gave a total, with names, of less than 30.
- Both Schott and historian Rey Imperial assert that Company C of the 9th US Infantry was sent to Balangiga in response to a request by its then-Mayor Pedro Abayan. This is based solely on a claim by George Meyer, a Company C survivor, in support of efforts to secure the Medal of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
. The American unit was actually sent there to close Balangiga's port. - James Taylor's account inspired another author, William T. Sexton, to write that the American soldiers were "butchered like hogs" in Soldiers in the Sun. However, Eugenio Daza wrote, "The Filipino believes that the profanation of the dead necessarily brings bad luck and misfortune … there was no time to lose for such acts [after the Balangiga attack]." Stanley KarnowStanley KarnowStanley Karnow is an American journalist and historian.After serving with the United States Army Air Forces in Asia during World War II, he graduated from Harvard with a bachelor's degree in 1947; in 1947 and 1948 he attended the Sorbonne, and from 1948 to 1949 the Institut d'Études Politiques de...
and Stuart Creighton Miller both assert that an American reaction force sent to Balangiga found the dead Americans badly mutilated, but do not cite their sources.
See also
- Balangiga bellsBalangiga bellsThe Balangiga bells are three church bells taken by the United States Army from the town church of Balangiga, Eastern Samar in the Philippines as war booty after reprisals following the Balangiga incident in 1901 during the Philippine-American War...
- Battles of the Philippine-American WarBattles of the Philippine-American WarThis is a list of battles of the Philippine-American War.* Battle of Manila – American and Filipino forces clash for the first time, as the Americans drive the Filipino army out of the Manila area....
- History of the PhilippinesHistory of the PhilippinesThe history of the Philippines is believed to have begun with the arrival of the first humans via land bridges at least 30,000 years ago. The first recorded visit from the West is the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, who sighted Samar on March 16, 1521 and landed on Homonhon Island southeast of Samar...
- Timeline of Philippine-American WarTimeline of Philippine-American WarThe Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between Filipino revolutionaries and the government of the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...
- Little Brown BrotherLittle Brown BrotherLittle Brown Brother was a term used by Americans to refer to native Filipinos during the period of U.S. colonial rule over the Philippines, following the Treaty of Paris between Spain and the United States, and the Philippine-American War...
- Philippine-American WarPhilippine-American WarThe Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...