The Filipino American War as seen by diarists in real time with some additional commentary and sourc

Manila, Luzon Island –Entry made in parlor of No. 2 Calle Santa Elena, Tondo.

Easter. Bible reading & prayer & praise to my God this morning. Then cooked breakfast, washed dishes & prepared for a service in Bilibid prison. Walked down Paseo Azcarraga in order to get there by 10.30.a.m. Did so, but had to wait on Lit. Wolf & Provost Sergeant Ryan. I have a feeling that they would prefer that I would not come, but this is not an unusual thing, as a great many other people can see no special good in the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. Sergeant Ryan proposed service in front of the Sergeant of the guard’s quarters under the trees but I preferred the building occupied by civil prisoners who are mostly sea-faring men – a hearty, bluff reckless set. They were eating dinner at 11 when my service started but good-naturedly joined the singing & at the close joined me in repeating the Lord’s prayer. Audience 18, three of them soldiers. I think these 3 are interested. Asked me for bibles. Promised to try to get some testaments for them. I read Scripture lesson appropriate to Easter & gave a nautical talk. At the close a fireman (marine) Frank Carson, age 22. Knelt down at a bunk & professed to get victory thro’ the Lord Jesus. Voluntarily exhorted his fellow prisoners to commence a better life.

Rev. & Mrs. Owens have been absent last night & all this day. They have not come yet; will probably be absent tonight.

Chaplain Stephenson of the 1st Idaho Vol. Inf. dropped in. He & I had a long talk re various subjects.

One of the Utah battery baker called with a type written slip to ask advice. There is an annex to the rear end of the house occupied by me, occupied by Senora Simona Soriano the wife of a jeweler, who is supposed an Insurrect colonel out at the front. Senora Ysabel Wood my landlady wants to eject her & her family. Have had several quarrels; Mrs. Soriano failed to pay rent during the past 3 months. Senora Wood says Senora Soriano threatens to burn the house in which she resides, have been heard to threaten as much by witnesses; she also upbraids the Filipinos who live in the rear basement of this building saying in effect to them: “Why don’t you go out to the front & fight for your country?” I advised that the threat to burn her house be put in a complaint to the Provost Marshal General & the ejectment suit for now – payment of rent be brought before the Spanish court which tries civil cases.

I learned incidentally thro’ the baker that my landlady when the war closes hopes to sell or lease the house occupied by me & return to Spain with the proceed & there abide with her family.

Took advantage of quiet spells between visits to continue writing my narrative. Finished it after cooking supper, eating thereof & washing dishes. Fills 18 pages Ms. & is divided into the following subheads: “In the Wake of Battle”, “A halt by the Wayside”, “A War Cry on the Battlefield”, “Filipino Trenches”, “Scenes in a Forest”, “Three Salvationists”, “Tambobong” and “Bilibid”. I want to catch tomorrow’s mail for the United States with this copy.

A commissary sergeant of the Utah artillery called after a supper. With other news he said another uprising is expected in this city. Natives have been caught recently trying to get in the city – bad characters – signs are pointing to more trouble. He also related the case of a soldier finding a native man in a house who tried to kill him. Went off & brought 2 other soldiers. While they were gazing at him, he flung a knife at one of them. One of the men, a Kansas soldier, shot the Filipino on the spot.

We left our quarters at 3. a.m. for the mountains, a march of about 11 miles. We got back about noon having burned a lot of huts on the way. 11 Insurgent soldiers were killed yesterday.

The weather is lovely but hot as ever. Everything is quiet around the rebel’s capitol. The 22nd Infantry, who had served as reserve right along, went back to Manila and the 3rd Artillery are policing the city. In the afternoon we received mail from the United States but I only got one from G.F. Companies C and D are on outpost. Major Cuthbertson and several others visited us from Corregidor. I also took a drive out in the country in a captured rig and gathered a few relics.

Scouts had a lively brush this a.m., having run upon about 150 insurrectos between here and bay. Tried to decoy them to us but they did not follow.

Manila, Luzon Island –Entry made in parlor of No. 2 Calle Santa Elena, Tondo.

Clear day with more or less heavy black clouds on the horizon but withal dry & hot. Started the morning with Bible reading and prayer; then cooked breakfast, ate thereof and washed dishes. Did some reading of news. A cablegram in the daily Manila “American” brought tidings that 2 British marines & one American marine were killed by natives on the Samoan islands. German residents fled to their war vessel & the British & American war vessels shelled the natives. I fear that Germany will become embroiled with England & the United States over this affair as she is accused of being the chief instigator of the troubles there.

Rev. Owens & I went down town together for company’s sake. On the way a drunken sea faring man stopped me, wanted money; gave him salvation advice and 4 cents copper. Dropped in a Spanish barber shop to have my hair cut & a shave.

A soldier of the 4th U.S. Infantry – an old acquaintance – greeted me; he inquired about Ensign Maud Sharp. I took advantage of the opportunity to inquire about the salvation of his soul. Not O.K.

At the post office War Cry mail from Australia & Canada was handed me. Glanced over them. Read an article by Brigadier Philip Kyle on Adj. & Mr. Geo. Montgomery of California in “Victory”. The Montgomery’s are grand spiritual people. I have a high regard for Kyle too.

I have noticed of late considerable space is being given in Salvation Army publications. Mr. Bramwell Booth – Chief of Staff of the Salvation Army, who thro’ all the eventful years of S.A. history has had that position in London. An unusual amount of space is devoted to him now; the opinion has taken root in my mind that he is marked by his father General Booth for the succession; that is to be next general in his stead. Who is to succeed Gen’l Booth is kept a profound secret, but I am convinced that General Booth intends to appoint a member of his own family general, & that the man selected is Bramwell, Booth’s eldest son, who is 45 years of age. Gen. Booth cannot be accused of modesty. He has been so good to the members of his own family when apportioning out the chief commands of the Salvation Army. That it is evident he will continue that policy. The Army will be considered his personal property to be bequeathed to his own children. The 15,000 commissioned officers & multitudes of soldiers will have no voices in the premises. This will be a despotic assumption without parallel in religious history. I tremble for the Salvation Army when the General dies if he appoints his successor from his own family. The General is getting childish. The 10th of this month if God spares his life, he will have reached the age of three score & ten. The Salvation Army is a great problem & a marvel.

I think Bramwell is being planned for the general ship

When Rev. Owens & the writer returned home found Private Geo. Berry of the Montana Vol. Inf. writing a letter in my front room. Is troubled with dry catarrh, caused by sleeping on the ground. Has had much fighting of late at the front. Reports Hines, Lloyd & Georgeson saved & serving God. The Lord brought them thro’ the dangers of battle without a scratch. God cares for His own praise be to His dear name. we had a talk about things pertaining to Christ’s Kingdom & also about the present war. Berry related incidents interesting & incidents sad. He said:

The Montana men raised their flag over Malolos, were the first to enter the Filipino capital city.

It was a grand sight to see the many American regiments enter the city.

The Filipinos the night before the evacuation killed many Chinese & buried them. Cause they would not enlist in his army. The Filipinos set fire to the town & burnt part of it.

Filipinos are cunning: bury their bodies in water up to their neck & cover their heads with green grass & weeds. Officers when wounded take off their insignia of rank & hide them or send away. A body looking like a common soldier was pointed out among some dead as the remains of General Montenegro. Berry saw 5 dead Filipinos behind 2 foot logs. Kragg-jorgensen bullets pierced the wood & killed them.

Berry witnessed a cruel act. An old white haired Filipino man – a non-combatant apparently – was carrying a basket of rice. An American soldier beat the poor fellow’s brains out with the butt of his gun. No provocation, hatred. Filipino soldier slip out of uniform into citizens clothes; kill Americans after wounded or when opportunity offers. Guns are buried, hid and thrown into water.

An old crippled Filipino man in hiding behind a ridge along a ditch lifted his head to watch some American soldier. Berry & 3 others saw him, thought him a soldier at first; cocked their guns & was about to pull trigger. He got up & hobbled away. Discovering him to be an old man they did not shoot. Three old women – one blind – and a boy were hiding at the same place, with food supply – rice & live chickens. Were terror struck when the soldiers advanced. Thought their last hour had come. Crossed themselves & went thro’ their devotions – Catholic – and held 2 pictures of the Virgin Mary between their heads & the soldiers to protect them from bullets evidently. Got on their knees & raised their eyes to heaven. When the Americans declared themselves “mucho amigo”, they were much relieved but the first things they wanted to save were the Virgin Mary pictures.

At dinner time I prepared a lunch of pie (got at the Utah Bat’y bakery) lemonade, oranges, bread & jelly for Berry and myself. Before he returned to his quarter we prayed.

I read papers this afternoon. Cooked supper & washed dishes after eating. An Oregon soldier (name unknown to me) came in from Caloocan for a visit. Sent my regards to Schumerhorn.

1 Timothy 1:10

For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and pimps, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

 Berry witnessed a cruel act. An old white haired Filipino man – a non-combatant apparently – was carrying a basket of rice. An American soldier beat the poor fellow’s brains out with the butt of his gun. No provocation, hatred. Filipino soldier slip out of uniform into citizens clothes; kill Americans after wounded or when opportunity offers. Guns are buried, hid and thrown into water.

The weather is awfully hot. Everything is quiet on the line. The boys are taking things easy and small parties are going out into the woods scouting. Thousands of rounds of ammunition were found. The water is getting scarce here and each train brings us some distilled water from the city. We are really enjoying camp life now and hope out fighting will soon come to an end. There are only about 50 in Company C fit for duty.

All quiet last night but, signal fires gleamed and flashed. Was relieved at 5 p.m. Have been in the field over 2 mos.

Manila, Luzon Island –Entry made in parlor of No. 2 Calle Santa Elena, Tondo.

Bible reading – Exodus & Psalms & prayer the first thing to start day. Cooked breakfast, partook of same washed dishes, read the news & then at 9.30 a.m. mended my way through the hot sun down to the Headquarters of the United States Quartermaster. First spoke to Clerk Norton, chief transportation re securing a pass over the Dagupan railroad for myself. He directed me to Major G. A. Devol. I repeated my request & showed him my pass from Governor General Otis thro’ the American lines. Thereupon, the major wrote me out a pass on all trains. I am very thankful to the Lord for this pass as it will enable me to visit the front again. Passes over this road are very hard to obtain, judging formal accounts. The railroad is in possession of the United States for military purposes. Was seized.

From the Quartermasters’ after learning the hours of train 8.30 a.m. & 2 p.m. for Malolos (to which town my pass reads) I crossed the Estero Binondo by the crude Filipino boat ferry & went up to the post office. No mail. Purchased groceries for my private commissary dep’t.

On the Escolta met Private Haslen of the Colorado’s. Is limping around with a stick. Was wounded at Mariquina. Urged him to give his heart to Jesus. Appeared partly inclined that way. Invited him to call out at No. 2. Promised to come Sunday afternoon to talk the matter over.

After my return home Private Bennett of the 3 Rgt Heavy artillery dropped in with a bundle & note from Private Frank Amie of H. Battery 3d Rg’t Heavy artillery at Malolos. Had a spiritual talk & prayer with Bennett. He claims to be saved.

Had a headache all day. Did some reading. Cooked supper. All quiet at the front.

Exodus 20:17 -

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Psalms 119:36

33. HIE. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
34. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
35. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.
36. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
38. Establish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
39. Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.

The night was spent quietly in our district but the Third Artillery was attacked in the morning but they repulsed them in short order. Three or four were wounded. All volunteer Regiments received 25 Krag-Jørgensen rifles for each company as the Springfields do, in some cases, not reach the enemy.

(Diary book was lost somehow)

Several skirmishes took place during this time, resulting as usual in the utter discomfiture of native troops under command of Pio del Pilar. Monte Negro is killed. Our duties are very hard now. I get one night in.

Heavy black clouds threatening a storm rolled up today, but no storm followed save a slight fall of raindrops.

Felt quite tired from my yesterday’s trip to Malolos with resulting fast and heat. The heat of this country enervates. Started the day with Bible reading & prayer. Cooked my simple meals – breakfast & supper, made dinner of lemonade and dry bread. Washed dishes and cleaned up.

Wrote & copied 2 letters (1) to Lieut-Col. Alice Lewis, New York my 22d weekly letter (2) Chaplain H. Stull of the 1st Montana Vol. Inf. notifying him that 3 comrades of his regiment, Salvationists, want money paid over to me. I requested the Chaplain to name a place & time to meet him.

In the afternoon, past 3 o’ clock, Rev. Owens & myself proceeded to the post office when I rec’d quite a pile of War Cry and newspaper mail. A strange feature of this mail was a package containing 7 copies of the “American”, viz. No. 72 March 29th to No. 78 April 7th. This daily arrives very irregularly.

The Houston “Post” brings news that Houston is putting for the energetic efforts to be something of importance. One encouraging thing is the fact that the city voted $2,400 to the “Lyceum”, which is the only library approaching importance that Houston can boast of. About 2 years ago the Lyceum contained 9,000 volumes. Is a depository for U.S. Gov’t reports. The Lyceum was so poor when I passed thro’ Houston in that the lady librarian then in charge, hoped to sell a piano to raise money to purchase books. I called on her expressly to learn something about this organization a halfway public literary & self-improvement club. I owned quite a large private library which I was willing to give to the public, but did not care to trust it to the Lyceum as it was operated at that time. I am willing to give my collection of books, minerals, curios etc. to the public, providing the city takes charge of the same. If the Lord blesses my efforts I hope to have before a great while 2,000 bound volumes, besides hundreds of pamphlets. A collection not to be despised.

Rev. Owens & the writer visited Messrs. Glunz & Jackson, of the Christian Commission. The boys are now living in a room across the bridge of Spain, in the old ex-Spanish military barracks. I wanted 3 testaments for 3 men in Bilibid prison. Bro. Glunz gave me 21 copies. I purchased over $5 worth of food supplies today for my cubhoard, the same gets quite empty at times.

The S.F. weekly “Call” of 2d March says the European air is charged heavy with war electricity. Great preparations are under way secretly.

To me this has been a day of temptation.

Polished & cleaned some seashells & read papers.

The war situation is at a status quo. I fear the natives are set on fighting to a finish.

Matthew 24:6-14


6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

To me this has been a day of temptation.

We left Isabella at 6 a.m. and arrived at Jimamylan at 2.30 pm.

Much firing during the night on our extreme left therefore we didn’t make our trip and instead stayed in Malolos. Companies C and D went on outpost in the evening.

Manila, Luzon Island –Entry made in parlor of No. 2 Calle Santa Elena, Tondo.

General William Booth is 70 years of age today. A most remarkable man is he, in my opinion the most remarkable since the days of St. Paul. Half a century of hard work he has given to religious work. About 34 years ago Wm Booth stood, so to speak, alone on Mile End Waste, London, England, to preach the gospel to the poor and outcast, since that eventful day in July 1865. God has used him & thousands of others to evolve the marvelous organization, so well known to the world as the Salvation Army. Seldom if ever has a more remarkable family come upon the stage of time than the Booth family. Mrs. Catherine Booth & her children were and are as a rule above the average. Their Godliness, ability, courage and zeal made them during the years agone what we considered worthy leaders of such an organization as this one is of which I write. We had the most implicit confidence in them. No matter who else did wrong, we somehow believed they were above doing wrong. Others might make mistakes but not the Booths. All along the years we heard and read of valiant warriors, men and women mighty in deed and word, getting at outs with the Booths and dropping out of the Salvation Army. We thought them, no matter who or how many, always blameworthy as a matter of course; but I do not think so now. I believe the Booths are no better than other Christians, and a great deal worse than many known to me, whose names are not so well known to the world at large. The wonderful success of Gen. Booth will dazzle mankind, and biographers of the future will probably think him more than mortal. Indeed there are not one or two persons in the Salvation Army at the present time, but a crowd, who because of expected favors laud him and the members of his family to the skies. The most extravagant language is used to describe his or their doings & the most fulsome praise given. If such writings were the effusions of sycophants who endeavored to outcry each other to attract attention to themselves the case would not bear as hard upon the Booths, but they want such extravagant laudation. I believe in honoring leaders & strengthening them (if they are worthy) with the public, but beyond a certain point one cannot go. I know of no parallel to the extravagant praise given the Booths. I believe they were true & good at one time & as self sacrificing as any of their followers but not so now. I am convinced they regard the Salvation Army & its following as family property – real estate, money & bodies and souls of men & women – their own to be bequeathed by the elder Booth to his children. A number of prominent Salvationists think so, if I mistake not.

I fear a great storm is coming for this organization. I do not want the Salvation Army wrecked. I want it to hold together and preach Christ to the nations. Nothing better in the religious world exists, but the Booths have become a heavy load to carry. They no longer command our confidence as in former years. My heart is sad because of this fact. I tremble for the future of the Salvation Army if the Booth administration continues. If they want to appropriate it as their own, they are the greatest enemies of the organization on the earth & the most dangerous because they have the power in their hands and have the prestige of being the makers (so far as men can see with the eye of sense) of the great concern. I hope my fears are groundless & that my opinion is at fault regarding the family but while I have these fears & hold the opinion I now do, I write as I am now writing. May God direct the future of the Salvation Army, & raise up the right leaders regardless of name or family connections. Amen, and may the General if he has lost ground in his soul, recover it. It would be a thousand pities if a man like Gen’l Booth who served his generations so faithfully should at the close of his long life spoil his record.

x x x x x

As usual Bible reading & prayer. Cooked breakfast & supper.

Arranged my files of Manila newspapers.

Bro. M. Turner & family of the Ecclesia mission called. We had an extended conversation re mission work & kindred subjects. Private D. G. Hines of E. Co. 1st Montana Vol. Inf. came in on sick leave from having been sun-struck last week near Calumpit.

He overhauled his curios & gave me a Roman string of beads with cross, charm etc.; also presented me with a splendid dress trimmed with lace – a Filipino woman’s dress. He thinks the latter is from Polo & the former from Malolos. Before Hines left for his quarter we prayed together.

Called at the post office & received the Houston “Post”.

Rev. Owens went out today to look for a house. Wants to rent a place & start a school. He appears to be in a quandary whether to remain on the Islands or return to the U.S.

Rumor says the troops will start out again in two or three days for a thirty days campaign against the Filipinos. Perhaps that campaign will finish the war.

x x x x x

Mark 13:14

“But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."

We got up before daylight, fed our horses, took a day’s rations and started towards Manila at 5:30. Everything went on alright until we reached the river. Here, I swam our horses across and put the carriage on the raft and pulled it across from the other side. This we had to do at the other three rivers. Just as we crossed the last river, some rebels fired at us but we drove on for dear life. In fact, we had never realized our danger but we arrived at Manila safely at 6 p.m. At 7 o’clock we heard the news that a heavy battle was fought along the railroad; and, in the same town where we were fired on, the Minnesotans had four men killed and eight wounded and the Oregonians three killed and fourteen wounded. All the killed were terribly cut up. Some had their hearts cut out and some had their bodies all cut up to pieces. Our men now get blood thirsty and many of the natives are treated likewise though unknown to the officers. About 150 (Filipino patriots) were killed and many wounded and about 100 where taken prisoner and brought to Manila. In Manila everything is quiet. The regulars are patrolling the city and some of them have been stabbed to death by the treacherous natives national liberationists.

Everything quiet both on lines and in town. Santa Cruz was captured by Lawton with no trouble & Santa Maria by Oregon & Minn. Ornegas* (See the comment at the site) have caused so much trouble & murdered so many of our boys that they recognize them no longer; but shoot on sight all natives. Natives will not or cannot understand kind & civilized treatment. If you treat them as equals they will think you are afraid of them & murder you. Several lands of hostiles captured. A truce flag is to them nothing. Out [But] a ruse to get near our troops and fire on them with safely to themselves. They also [fight] contrary to all civilized warfare make it a point to abuse his figure & kill all wounded [and] torture all captured & shoot all hospital men.

*In the thesis, there is this footnote: “33. Omegas was his name for one of the groups of natives that occupy the Philippines.” But it is printed as above, “Ornesgas.” In view of common usage of soldiers at the time, the Philippine Diary Project extrapolates that the words are really “Our racist derogatory term for Filipino patriots.”

Manila, Luzon Island – Entry made in parlor of No. 2 Calle Santa Elena, Tondo

Added one more page to Major Pebbles’ letter; making 10. Private Hines called again. He likes this place (No. 2) better than his quarters. Told him to be at home. Stayed some hours. Prayed before he left. Gave him Pebbles’ letter to mail for me.

I heard two or three shots tonight. One of the Utah men across the street said trouble is expected tonight.

Chaplain Mailie of the Nebraska volunteers dropped in to see Rev. Owens. From Lieut–Col. Pope he secured an order for free transportation to the United States for Owens & wife. Mailie shook hands with me. Seemed to have forgotten the little unpleasantness between us re the meeting I held at Sta. Mesa. I heard Mailie say this forenoon that he recently killed with a gun one “Filipino patriot” at 1100 yards distance, wounded another in the left leg and captured a third. Said the latter begged for his life.

About 3 o’clock Rev. Owens & I went to town. Got shaved in a Spanish barber shop.

At the port office I received quite a supply of periodicals. Canadian War Cry (Mar 4th) contains 2 letters re my meetings. One from Berry the other from Lloyd. Another Toronto paper the “Onward” published my Philippine article which appeared in the Toronto Xmas Cry.

I did some reading today. Time goes very fast.

From Bro. Armstrong, Spain – from Madrid came 50 copies of “El Amigo de la Infancia” Año XXVI, No. 298, March 1st 1899 –

Feel tired and sleepy.

The days are dry, nights cool. Am glad the rains are not troubling our troops.

My health is good, praise God. He keeps my soul well too. Bible reading & prayer this morning.

Numbers 31:17-18.

Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man by sleeping with him. But all the young girls who have not known a man by sleeping with him, keep alive for yourselves.

Romans 12:17-21

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  

I attended to some business for the regiment and took the train to Malolos a 2:00 p.m. I found everybody well in camp. The Colonel [Alexander Hawkins] is not very well and has lost at least 50-60 pounds in weight. Most all of us have lost some.

Manila, Luzon Island – Entry made in parlor of No. 2 Calle Santa Elena, Tondo

Up & out of bed early. Read a chapter in Leviticus, prayed then cooked breakfast in a hurry. Bid “muchacho” good-bye. He sails for the island of Cebu today. Last night paid him $1 for doing a few chores for me, then added a dollar more as a gift.

Hastened down to the train on the wharf & after showing my pass rolled out for Manila in the 8.30 a.m. train. As usual the cars were full of soldiers. Arrived in Malolos about noon without anything unusual happening. Smoke still rose from piles of burning rice. In open fields — “paddy” fields — stood like lone sentinel, the range poles of the Filipino army. They are tall poles of bamboos surmounted by a section of nipa palm resembling a flag. Passed a train load of 10th Pennsylvania men en route to Manila from the front, a train load of 51st Iowa men went to the front this afternoon to take their place in the battle line. The wear & tear of constant service is telling on the troops; is wearing them out.

The sun was very hot when I stepped off the cars at Barasoain y Malolos (the name on the depot sign) but with umbrella overheard walked up to the main plaza, about half a mile. Met several acquaintances, first of note Ernest Tarr. Had a short talk. Then crossed over to the Filipino wooden artillery – 3 pieces, which I took a snap shot of with Bro. Tarr. These guns are made of wood with gas pipe cone or inside of barrel with iron bands around the outside to strengthen them. Private A.M. Walcott of the McArthur came up & introduced himself to me. Walcott was until the Manila expedition touched at Hawaii a successful teacher on the islands but united with the 8th Army corps (U.S.) He was the first man to accompany me on my trips to the war vessels to hold services. Walcott invited me to take dinner with his detachment. Did so. Walcott said that General (Brigadier) McArthur remarked when he saw me crossing the plaza that I ought to go out to the front & negotiate a peace with the Filipinos. After dinner, Walcott took me down past the General’s Headquarters to see the large buried modern rifle buried by the Filipinos. Has been uncovered by the Americans but lies in its grave. Is a fine gun. At the west end of town lies its mate. They fire 6 inch projectiles. Took a picture of the first gun, then the ruins (interior) of Aguinaldo’s erstwhile headquarters. Private Ernest Tarr rejoined me & together we walked out a street leading west from town. Visited the late Filipino prison. Saw the following names written on the wall in the rear yard: H. Huber, Jan’y 27th 1899, E. Honnyman Jan’y 30th Wm Bruce, Corp. A. Nevada Cavalry; J.O. Brien.

We tarried on the site of a burnt building where I saw a lot of papers & pamphlets scattered in the ashes. Here I secured 26 copies of the daily Filipino paper “La Independencia” for January & February 1899. I have quite a lot of these papers. The editions secured today will help to complete my file since the war began. Also secured several extras.

About one mile from The Plaza we came to the camp of K. Battery 3d Reg’t Heavy artillery. The men rec’d me cordially. I went out to see Bro. M. L. Devine (Landon) Salvationist, especially. He came up shook hands & then hurried off, making the plea that he had to go on guard this evening & wanted to clean his gun. I carried away the impression that he wanted to evade me. After greeting & talking to a number of artillerymen & visited Private O. Harris who gave me the warmest welcome. God bless him. Together Harris, Tarr, & myself knelt down beneath the [____] shelter & in prayer remembered God. Again I started out to look for Devine. Went to the swimming place – in the deserted village called (I think) Bayamban. Looked again on my return, but failed & felt disappointed. Met Captain Hobb who had a pleasant conversation. Everybody treated me well. Devine ceased cooking today and returned to duty in the field. Is still troubled with dysentery.

Walked back thro’ the hot sun to the railroad depot.

Waited an hour or two for the train. Met & spoke to Lieut. Kessler of the 3d artillery. Also Lieut. J. H. Hubbard. Co. E. 1st South Dakota Vol. Inf. The latter is a zealous Christian. God bless him. Here too dropped in rather unexpectedly upon me, Messrs Jackson and Glunz of the Christian Commission. They were dressed like soldiers, each carrying a revolver with belts full of cartridges. We occupied the same section in the passenger car back to Manila. The train slowed up when passing the Manila depot. Here I jumped off & struck out for home.

Spoke to several men personally about salvation. Called at the Cuartel Meisig (3d artillery reg’t) for my Evening “Times”. Received 4 copies. Private Stahl of Houston, Texas saw me. Is now acting as cook. Treated me to a supper of fried rice fritters, tea and stewed peaches.

Arriving at home found the house empty. The Owens had gone out on the bay for a visit to friends to stay over night.

The U.S. transport “Sheridan” arrived today with 1768 troops – 12th Infantry 1318 & battalion of the 17th Infantry 450 men. The vessel was 54 days from New York via the Suez canal.

Aimong stakes are still used on all modern howitzers, mortars, and by surveyors. They are used as a referance point for laying and firing a howitzer. They are placed out at about 100 meters and 200 meters off the left front of the piece. The gun is layed by setting a deflection (Measurement in mills from the azimuth of fire) off on the Pantel (Panagraphic Telescope, aka. sight) and lining up the aiming posts in the sight so they overlap and you see only one pole. They are then used to aim the piece by setting the azimuth of fire to 3200 mills and using this as a referance to adjust off of. By changing the deflection and setting it in the PanTel then lining up the aiming stakes, you have successfully adjusted the horizontal axis of the weapon.

With the above method and setting odd deflection (the verticle angle of the piece), you can engage any target within your range successfull and destroy it. And all this without ever seeing the target or being within the range of his direct fire weapons.

Isn't artillery great!!!

E. Honnyman Jan’y 30th, Wm Bruce, Corp. A. Nevada Cavalry; J.O. Brien.

Today in Philippine History, September 3, 1898, La Independencia came out with its first issue

(Posted under September Historical Events)

On September 3, 1898, La Independencia, the periodical organ of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, came out with its first issue. It was edited and founded by General Antonio Luna, Supreme Chief of the Army under Emilio Aguinaldo.




(September 18, 1899 issue of the La Independencia)

Publication of the paper continued even during the Filipino-American War, although General Luna was pulled out of its editorial staff because of his military duties and was replaced by Rafael Palma as acting editor.

On this same day in 1899, La Independencia first published the Spanish lyrics of the Philippine National Anthem titled "Filipinas" written by Jose Palma.

Palma a poet and soldier, was in the staff of La Independencia at the time he wrote his "Filipinas".

The La Independencia came out with its last issue on November 11, 1900.

References:

Philippines News Agency archives
Photo credit: philippineamericanwar.webs.com/

M. L. Devine (Landon) Salvationist, especially. He came up shook hands & then hurried off, making the plea that he had to go on guard this evening & wanted to clean his gun. I carried away the impression that he wanted to evade me.

Messrs Jackson and Glunz of the Christian Commission. They were dressed like soldiers, each carrying a revolver with belts full of cartridges

The Owens had gone out on the bay for a visit to friends to stay over night

A Brief History of The Thomasites




USAT Thomas

Thomasites Aboard the USAT Thomas Source: Source Citation.

In the early days of the American colonial period, the Philippine Commission sent teachers from the United States to the Philippines with the purpose of establishing an educational system. Named after the ship that transported them, the United States Army Transport Thomas, the Thomasites expanded to become a powerful force in the colonial project.[1] Their work as educators served the imperial vision of assimilating Filipinos into American culture and raising a young generation of followers.

The Thomasites were technically not the first Western educators in the Philippines. During their colonial reign, the Spanish established schools for Filipino children. The US Army used these as a starting point to continue elementary education, however, they quickly found that the Spanish system was limited. The American government knew the region needed a strong educational system to serve as the base of this new society, so they instituted a new system of education in the Philippines.

Under the supervision of the Philippine Commission, David Barrows, the director of the colonial education system, arranged to hire a variety of educators to accomplish this task.[2] About six-hundred Thomasites embarked on the journey to the Philippines, both men and women, from all across the country and all with different educational backgrounds. Some applied for the job while others were asked to attend. Some were world-renowned professors at high-ranking universities looking for a challenge and an adventure. Others were just looking for employment.[3] Yet all were excited to be a part of the developing project in the Philippines. Some Thomasites even kept daily diaries detailing their enthusiasm.

The USAT Thomas departed from San Francisco, California on July 23, 1901. Frederick G. Behner, a Michigan resident and pastor, was a passenger aboard the ship. He kept a daily diary of his experience. Referring to the ship, he recounted: “[She] is manned with a crew of 286 men, is carrying 357 male teachers and about 200 female teachers, a few wives and about 30 children.[4]” The ship anchored in Honolulu, Hawaii to restock and refuel. Many Thomasites took advantage of their mini vacation to explore the islands. Then, the ship continued across the Pacific Ocean and entered the Manila Harbor on August 21, 1901. After receiving vaccinations, the Thomasites docked in Manila and were assigned their final teaching destinations. As the goal was to expand education, the Thomasites were sent all across the islands, from Albay to Tarlac. Mr. Behner was assigned to Banton, Romblon Province. The bulk of the Thomasites worked in the Philippines in the first two decades of the 20th century, although the specific dates of the curriculum are unclear. Many returned home after their post. However, some Thomasites, such as the Netzorg family, did choose to stay and further their personal relationships with the islands.

Citations

[1] Since the first batch of “Thomasites,” the term expanded to describe American teachers during the early years of colonization, not just those aboard this ship.
[2] Paul Kramer, “The Pragmatic Empire: United States Anthropology and Colonial Politics in the Occupied Philippines, 1898,” (Dissertation, 1998).
[3] Mary Racelis Hollnsteiner and Judy Celine A. Ick, Bearers of Benevolence: the Thomasites and Public Education in the Philippines (Pasig City, Philippines: Published and exclusively distributed by Anvil Pub, 2001).
[4] Frederick G. Behner papers, 1893-1924, Box 1. Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

The Water Cure

Debating torture and counterinsurgency—a century ago.

By Paul Kramer

February 17, 2008

Many Americans were puzzled by the news, in 1902, that United States soldiers were torturing Filipinos with water. The United States, throughout its emergence as a world power, had spoken the language of liberation, rescue, and freedom. This was the language that, when coupled with expanding military and commercial ambitions, had helped launch two very different wars. The first had been in 1898, against Spain, whose remaining empire was crumbling in the face of popular revolts in two of its colonies, Cuba and the Philippines. The brief campaign was pitched to the American public in terms of freedom and national honor (the U.S.S. Maine had blown up mysteriously in Havana Harbor), rather than of sugar and naval bases, and resulted in a formally independent Cuba.

The Americans were not done liberating. Rising trade in East Asia suggested to imperialists that the Philippines, Spain’s largest colony, might serve as an effective “stepping stone” to China’s markets. U.S. naval plans included provisions for an attack on the Spanish Navy in the event of war, and led to a decisive victory against the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in May, 1898. Shortly afterward, Commodore George Dewey returned the exiled Filipino revolutionary Emilio Aguinaldo to the islands. Aguinaldo defeated Spanish forces on land, declared the Philippines independent in June, and organized a government led by the Philippine élite.

During the next half year, it became clear that American and Filipino visions for the islands’ future were at odds. U.S. forces seized Manila from Spain—keeping the army of their ostensible ally Aguinaldo from entering the city—and President William McKinley refused to recognize Filipino claims to independence, pushing his negotiators to demand that Spain cede sovereignty over the islands to the United States, while talking about Filipinos’ need for “benevolent assimilation.” Aguinaldo and some of his advisers, who had been inspired by the United States as a model republic and had greeted its soldiers as liberators, became increasingly suspicious of American motivations. When, after a period of mounting tensions, a U.S. sentry fired on Filipino soldiers outside Manila in February, 1899, the second war erupted, just days before the Senate ratified a treaty with Spain securing American sovereignty over the islands in exchange for twenty million dollars. In the next three years, U.S. troops waged a war to “free” the islands’ population from the regime that Aguinaldo had established. The conflict cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos and about four thousand U.S. soldiers.

Within the first year of the war, news of atrocities by U.S. forces—the torching of villages, the killing of prisoners—began to appear in American newspapers. Although the U.S. military censored outgoing cables, stories crossed the Pacific through the mail, which wasn’t censored. Soldiers, in their letters home, wrote about extreme violence against Filipinos, alongside complaints about the weather, the food, and their officers; and some of these letters were published in home-town newspapers. A letter by A. F. Miller, of the 32nd Volunteer Infantry Regiment, published in the Omaha World-Herald in May, 1900, told of how Miller’s unit uncovered hidden weapons by subjecting a prisoner to what he and others called the “water cure.” “Now, this is the way we give them the water cure,” he explained. “Lay them on their backs, a man standing on each hand and each foot, then put a round stick in the mouth and pour a pail of water in the mouth and nose, and if they don’t give up pour in another pail. They swell up like toads. I’ll tell you it is a terrible torture.”

On occasion, someone—a local antiwar activist, one suspects—forwarded these clippings to centers of anti-imperialist publishing in the Northeast. But the war’s critics were at first hesitant to do much with them: they were hard to substantiate, and they would, it was felt, subject the publishers to charges of anti-Americanism. This was especially true as the politics of imperialism became entangled in the 1900 Presidential campaign. As the Democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan, clashed with the Republican incumbent over imperialism, which the Democrats called “the paramount issue,” critics of the war had to defend themselves against accusations of having treasonously inspired the insurgency, prolonged the conflict, and betrayed American soldiers. But, after McKinley won a second term, the critics may have felt that they had little to lose.

Ultimately, outraged dissenters—chief among them the relentless Philadelphia-based reformer Herbert Welsh—forced the question of U.S. atrocities into the light. Welsh, who was descended from a wealthy merchant family, might have seemed an unlikely investigator of military abuse at the edge of empire. His main antagonists had previously been Philadelphia’s party bosses, whose sordid machinations were extensively reported in Welsh’s earnest upstart weekly, City and State. Yet he had also been a founder of the “Indian rights” movement, which attempted to curtail white violence and fraud while pursuing Native American “civilization” through Christianity, U.S. citizenship, and individual land tenure. An expansive concern with bloodshed and corruption at the nation’s periphery is perhaps what drew Welsh’s imagination from the Dakotas to Southeast Asia. He had initially been skeptical of reports of misconduct by U.S. troops. But by late 1901, faced with what he considered “overwhelming” proof, Welsh emerged as a single-minded campaigner for the exposure and punishment of atrocities, running an idiosyncratic investigation out of his Philadelphia offices. As one who “professes to believe in the gospel of Christ,” he declared, he felt obliged to condemn “the cruelties and barbarities which have been perpetrated under our flag in the Philippines.” Only the vigorous pursuit of justice could restore “the credit of the American nation in the eyes of the civilized world.” By early 1902, three assistants to Welsh were chasing down returning soldiers for their testimony, and Philippine “cruelties” began to crowd Philadelphia’s party bosses from the pages of City and State.

At about the same time, Senator George Frisbie Hoar, of Massachusetts, an eloquent speaker and one of the few Republican opponents of the war, was persuaded by “letters in large numbers” from soldiers to call for a special investigation. He proposed the formation of an independent committee, but Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, another Massachusetts Republican, insisted that the hearings take place inside his own, majority-Republican Committee on the Philippines. The investigation began at the end of January, 1902, and, in the months that followed, two distinct visions of the hearings emerged. Hoar had hoped for a broad examination of the conduct of the war; Lodge, along with the Republican majority, wanted to keep the focus on the present, and was “not convinced” of the need to delve into “some of the disputed questions of the past.” For the next ten weeks, prominent military and civilian officials expounded on the progress of American arms, the illegitimacy of Aguinaldo’s government, its victimization of Filipinos, and the population’s incapacity for self-government and hunger for American tutelage.

Still, the subject of what was called, with a late-Victorian delicacy, “cruelties” by U.S. troops arose a few days into the hearings, at the outset of three weeks’ testimony by William Howard Taft. A Republican judge from Ohio, Taft had been sent to the islands to head the Philippine Commission, the core of the still prospective “postwar” government. He was speaking about the Federal Party, an élite body of collaborating Filipinos who were aiding “pacification,” when Senator Thomas Patterson, a Democrat from Colorado, abruptly inquired about “the use of the so-called water cure in securing the surrender of guns.” Taft replied that he “had intended to speak of the charges of torture which were made from time to time.” He then allowed himself to be redirected by the young Indiana senator Albert Beveridge, an ardent imperialist who wanted to discuss the deportation of Filipino “irreconcilables” to Guam. But antiwar senators proved persistent. Minutes later, Senator Charles A. Culberson, a Democrat from Texas, pushed again. This time, Taft conceded:

That cruelties have been inflicted; that people have been shot when they ought not to have been; that there have been in individual instances of water cure, that torture which I believe involves pouring water down the throat so that the man swells and gets the impression that he is going to be suffocated and then tells what he knows, which was a frequent treatment under the Spaniards, I am told—all these things are true.

Taft then immediately tried to contain the moral and political implications of the admission. Military officers had repeatedly issued statements condemning “such methods,” he claimed, backing up their warnings with investigations and courts-martial. He also pointed to “some rather amusing instances” in which, he maintained, Filipinos had invited torture. Eager to share intelligence with the Americans, but needing a plausible cover, these Filipinos, in Taft’s recounting, had presented themselves and “said they would not say anything until they were tortured.” In many cases, it appeared, American forces had been only too happy to oblige them.

Less than two weeks later, on February 17, 1902, the Administration delivered to the Lodge committee a fervent response that was tonally at odds with Taft’s jocular testimony. Submitted by Secretary of War Elihu Root, the report proclaimed that “charges in the public press of cruelty and oppression exercised by our soldiers towards natives of the Philippines” had been either “unfounded or grossly exaggerated.” The document, entitled “Charges of Cruelty, Etc., to the Natives of the Philippines,” was an unsubtle exercise in the politics of proportion. A meagre forty-four pages related to allegations of torture and abuse of Filipinos by U.S. soldiers; almost four hundred pages were devoted to records of military tribunals convened to try Filipinos for “cruelties” against their countrymen. If the committee sought atrocities, Root suggested, it need look no further than the Filipino insurgency, which had been “conducted with the barbarous cruelty common among uncivilized races.” The relatively slender ledger of courts-martial was not, for Root, evidence of the unevenness of U.S. military justice on the islands. Rather, it showed that the American campaign had been carried out “with scrupulous regard for the rules of civilized warfare, with careful and genuine consideration for the prisoner and the noncombatant, with self-restraint, and with humanity never surpassed, if ever equaled, in any conflict, worthy only of praise, and reflecting credit on the American people.”

Got up at 5:00 a.m. and, after eating breakfast, we broke camp and took all of our stuff to the depot. At 9:00 a.m. we all boarded the train and started for Manila arriving there about noon. We then boarded six lighters which which towed us over to Cavite. We then went into barracks located by the Iowans. While crossing the bay we saw the T.S. Sheridan from New York with troops aboard her. We also passed the Montauk, the Monterey, the Oregon and the Olympia. I slept all night in the Navy yard which is patrolled by Dewey’s Marines. Our quarters are the best we ever had. The Iowans are still occupying some of them until the next morning.