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for the information of the President and Congress in determining our ultimate policy with reference to the islands. Nothing came of any effort to establish a temporary government, and the report of the commission on the general situation was not publish

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ed when these

pages were printed. The commission arrived in Manila, March 4, 1899, and on March 20th, organized in session with Pres. Schurman, President, and T. R. McArthur, Secretary. On April 4, 1899, the commission issued a procla

FLAGS OF TRUCE IN STREETS OF CALOOCAN.

The appearance of some of the streets resembled a back yard on washday.

mation to the Filipinos and after many recitals therein, showing the obligations of the government to establish and maintain order in the islands and its good wishes and desires in the interest of the people, it declared the intentions of our government as follows:

1. The supremacy of the United States must and will be enforced throughout every part of the archipelago. Those who resist can accomplish nothing except their own ruin.

2. The amplest liberty of self-government will be granted which is reconcileable with just, stable, effective and economical administration, and compatible with the sovereign rights and obligations of the United States.

3. The civil rights of the Filipinos will be guaranteed and protected, their religious freedom will be assured, and all will have equal standing before the law.

4. Honor, justice, and friendship forbid the exploitation of the people of the islands. The purpose of the American government is the welfare and advancement of the Philippine people.

5. The United States government guarantees an honest and effective civil service, in which, to the fullest extent practicable, natives shall be employed.

6. The collection and application of taxes and other revenues will be put upon a sound, honest and economical basis. The public funds, raised justly and collected honestly, will be applied only to defraying the proper expenses of the establishment and the maintenance of the Philippine government, and such general improvements as public intentions demand. Local funds collected for local purposes shall not be diverted to other ends. With such prudent and honest fiscal administration, it is believed the needs of the government will, in a short time, become compatible with a considerable reduction in taxation.

7. The establishment of a pure, speedy and effective administration of justice, by which the evils of delay, corruption and exploitation will be effectively eradicated.

8. The construction of roads, railroads, and other means of communication and transporta

tion and other public works of manifest advantage to the people, will be promoted.

9. Domestic and foreign trade and commerce and other industrial pursuits, and the general development of the country, in the interest of its inhabitants, will be the constant objects of solicitude and fostering care.

10. Effective provision will be made for the establishment of elementary schools, in which the children of the people will be educated. Appropriate facilities will also be provided for higher education.

11. Reforms in all departments of government, all branches of the public service, and all corporations, closely touching the common life of the people, must be undertaken without delay and effected conformably with common right and justice, in a way to satisfy the wellfounded demands and the highest sentiments and aspirations of the Philippine people.

The Filipino Junta, at Hongkong, issued in reply its manifesto, in substance denying the rights, claimed by the American commission, on the part of the United States, to govern or control the islands, or that the United States acquired any right with reference thereto by virtue of the treaty of peace, and said further: "The proclamation is a tissue of generalities, bristled with pharisaism and cant, and vaguely promises much and grants nothing to the Filipinos, who are tired of promises and servitude, what Spanish promises seem to the Americans."

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CHAPTER VIII.

THE MARCH ON MALOLOS.

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N the latter part of March, there had arrived at Manila a force consisting of about 950 officers and 23,000 men, with more on the way, and allowing for sickness and the defense of Manila, Gen. Otis felt strong enough to assume the offensive. Aguinaldo had established his headquarters and the civil capital at Malolos, on the railroad, about twenty-five miles northwest of Manila, where he was maintaining some sort of a civil government, with a Congress and executive departments as prescribed by the constitution which he had "proclaimed."'*

Funds were derived from a revenue system which, including customs and a poll tax, was rigidly enforced in all parts of the territory held by the insurrectos. There were also large donations, voluntary or enforced, from wealthy Filipinos. These funds were used for the purchase of arms and ammunition, which were obtained from foreign sources, our fleet being insufficient to entirely prevent their landing. There was little artillery except some old-fashioned pieces of little use in modern warfare. The strength of the insurgent army was not very well known, but was supposed to be about 30,000 men. It doubtless fluctuated from week to week. The general in direct command of the insurrectos in front of Gen. MacArthur was Gen. Antonio Luna.

It was generally believed that with sufficient force the rebel army could be surrounded and captured, and with this capture of Aguinaldo there was good reason to suppose that the rebellion would come to end. At any rate it would be possible to dislodge and disperse the army and capture the capital, which of itself, and without the capture of Aguinaldo, might end the trouble. Thus Malolos was the obvious objective of the American army as soon as it should be strong enough to move at all, and preparations to that end were accordingly made. Major-General MacArthur, being in command upon the north of the Pasig River, was naturally assigned to the command of the movement.

POSITION OF THE OPPOSING ARMIES.

MacArthur's Division lay substantially where we left them at the close of Chapter VII, facing northerly, and extending from a point on Manila Bay, near Caloocan; easterly by La Loma church to the Deposito and water-works; Otis' Brigade on the left, by the bay, occupying about two and a half miles of the line, and Hale's Brigade on the right, occupying, with its extension to the Pasig River * See page 49.

opposite San Pedro Macati, about ten and a half miles. The line of the insurrectos extended along the front of MacArthur's Division from Polo, through Novaliches, to the Nanca River, with strong outposts at important points nearer the American line.

RE-ORGANIZATION OF THE DIVISION.

For the purposes of this movement MacArthur's Division was re-organized on March 17th, as follows:

The Wyoming Battalion, the 13th Minnesota, occupying the line from the San Juan River to the water-works, with the 4th and one battalion of the 17th U. S. Inf., were formed into a new 3d Brigade, under command of BrigadierGeneral R. H. Hall, who had arrived on March 10th, and were left upon Hale's old line to guard the water-works and Manila, and make such demonstrations as were found desirable to keep the enemy occupied on its front.

The remainder of Hale's old brigade, consisting of the 10th Pennsylvania, 1st South Dakota, 1st Colorado, and 1st Nebraska Regiments, remained under Hale's command and formed the right of the line in the advance.

AN OLD SMOOTH-BORE CANNON CAPTURED FROM INSURGENTS AT CALOOCAN.

There were also with this brigade two Nordenfeldt guns and a detachment of the Utah Light Artillery. At the left of Hale, the brigade of Gen. H. G. Otis, consisting of the First

Montana, 20th Kansas, and two battalions, 3d U. S. Art., (as infantry) occupied a portion

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of the front hitherto held by this brigade, while to the left of Otis, and next to the bay, was stationed a new brigade transferred from the first division, consisting of one battalion, 3d U. S. Inf., the 22d U. S. Inf., and eleven companies of the Oregon Regiment. This brigade was commanded by BrigadierGeneral Lloyd Wheaton, who had arrived at Manila on February 23d. It was the intention that Wheaton's Brigade should march in the rear as a support to the other brigades as needed. The total number of troops under Gen. MacArthur at the beginning of the movement was 11,578 officers and men, including Hall's Brigade. The total of the three brigades engaged in the movement was 8682. The number of effectives, however, was rapidly reduced.

THE NATURE OF THE COUNTRY.

The line of advance to Malolos ran parallel with the shore of the bay, near which the ground was low and marshy and cut up by a large number of interconnecting tidal estuaries called "esteros." From these lowlands there is a gradual rise to a line of foothills which, near Caloocan, are about two and a half

miles from the bay shore, but gradually retreat, leaving a broad plain, intersected, however, by frequent rivers and esteros, for the operations of the armies. The natural defenses of the insurrectos were along the lines of the rivers which flow down from the foothills to the

bay. These lines were fully utilized, as well as rises of ground, timber, and all other natural points of defense. The country except where it was actual swamp, was densely populated, and in a high state of cultivation. It was mostly ricefields, intersected by low dykes for retaining the irrigating waters. During the rainy season the rice-fields are flooded, and at that time military movements over such lands are not merely difficult but impossible. There are quagmires with no bottom which the soldiers can reach. In the dry season the earth, thrown up in making the ditches, affords partial protection to troops lying down. There were roads, such as they were, traversing the plain, and the railroad embankment was of course utilized for troops, but as the ground was contested at all points from the start, the army moved forward, for the most part, over the fields, and for much of the way in line of battle. The line of advance at the beginning of the movement covered about eight miles.

SUPPLY TRAIN ON PONTOON BRIDGE, AT MARILAO RIVER.

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NO GENERAL ENGAGEMENT.

While there was constant fighting along the whole line of the army, there was no general engagement between large bodies of massed troops. In a general way the line of advance was marked out for each brigade by the Division Commander, who pushed forward or restrained the different brigades, to conform to his general plan, which was quite carefully supervised by the Corps Commander at Manila; but the actual fighting was under the direction of the Brigade Commanders, who were charged with the duty of fighting their way to the points designated by Gen. MacArthur. The Signal Corps kept the division and brigade headquarters in touch by the field telegraph, so that general directions could be promptly given and received, but all details were necessarily in charge of the Brigade Commanders. The movement began on March 25th, and our army entered Malolos on March 31st, but the details of our operations can be best understood by following the fortunes of the different brigades. The accounts of the movements of Hale's and Otis' Brigades, as here given, are by a member of the staff of this book, who accompanied the column, and are given as written, for the picture they give of the actual work of the troops. The account of the operations of Wheaton's Brigade was written by an officer of the brigade, and, as will be seen, is a concise statement of the military movements and their results. The narrative will be more readily understood, if it is stated here, that on March 27th, Wheaton's Brigade was detached from MacArthur's Division and assigned to protecting the railroad

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