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50 Chapter Four April—May 1899 Driving the Insurgents—The Northern Line It is clear that the American public craved stories about their soldiers serving in the distant Philippines, and the would-be journalist still held out some hope that he would see one of his articles published in a popular magazine like Harper’s, Leslie’s, or Scribner’s. As a quartermaster clerk, in addition to his clerical duties, Carter was sometimes called upon to accompany the division quartermaster in direct support of the troops in the field, which could involve anything from transporting ammunition to packing stubborn mules. This field duty would also provide him with new material for his writing. In general, the early fighting took place in the trenches surrounding Manila, and it eventually encompassed a substantial portion of the island of Luzon. Although there were other Filipino leaders, Emilio Aguinaldo was clearly the most influential leader of the independence movement and, arguably, the most effective. Ruthless in his consolidation of power, he was implicated in the elimination of Andrés Bonifacio, a rival and founder of the Katipunan Society. In fact, in the eyes of the American Army, he came to symbolize the independence movement, and his capture and the destruction of his army became a major objective. The Philippine archipelago stretches approximately one thousand miles north to south and is comprised of nearly seven thousand islands. The largest is Luzon in the north, which is primarily Catholic, followed by Mindanao in the extreme south, where the indigenous population primarily adheres to Islam . At least a dozen dialects can be heard throughout the country, the dominant being Tagalog, particularly in Luzon.1 Aguinaldo was a native of Cavite Province in southern Luzon and spoke the Tagalog dialect. So, given the symbolic importance of Manila, and the origins of the independence movement April–May 1899 | 51 against the Spanish, it is not surprising that most of the early fighting took place in Luzon. More important, it is where Aguinaldo chose to plant the flag and to make his stand. For the American Army, it was important to consolidate its hold on Manila and to nip the independence movement in the bud. The insurgents had surrounded Manila with entrenchments from which they regularly sniped at the Americans and infiltrated the city. Otis was determined to push out from Manila toward Malolos, a small town chosen by Aguinaldo as the capital of the Philippine Republic in a ceremony on January 23, 1899. That task was assigned to Maj. Gen. Arthur MacArthur, who had been awarded the Medal of Honor and a commission for his exploits during the Civil War as a young enlisted man. After that war, he remained in the Army and had a very distinguished career. However, a diminutive Volunteer from Kansas, Frederick Funston, would garner the glory in the fighting north of Manila in March. It was during a daring crossing of the Bag-Bag River near Calumpit, by a small force on a raft, that Funston earned the sobriquet “Fighting Fred.”2 Brig. Gen. Fred Funston, U.S. Volunteers 52 | A Civilian in Lawton’s 1899 Philippine Campaign Through a series of sharp fights, the men of MacArthur’s Second Division were relentless and enjoyed repeated success in their efforts, and they managed to drive the insurgents from a succession of entrenchments from Malabon to Calumpit, eventually forcing Aguinaldo and his diminishing forces to abandon the “capital” at Malolos in order to seek sanctuary in Central Luzon near San Isidro. However, despite these early efforts, Aguinaldo and his forces always managed to elude capture. Santa Cruz Campaign (April 1899) In early April, Otis thought the timing was right for a thrust at the insurrecto supply bases to the south of Manila, principally at and around Santa Cruz. Carter accompanied Maj. Gen. Lawton on what would be the first major offensive thrust into the region south of Laguna de Bay, a large lake connected to Manila Bay by the Pasig River. The operation encompassed the period April 8 through April 17, 1899.3 Utilizing some captured Spanish steam launches and refitting them with guns and some armor, the American forces had, up to this point, achieved some small-scale successes in and around Laguna de Bay.4 The villages surrounding the lake produced food for friend and foe alike, and insurgents utilized the area to bypass Manila on the way to northern Luzon . A coordinated plan of attack evolved using the gunboats Laguna de Bay...

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