Colorado's Volunteer Infantry in the Philippine Wars, 1898-1899

4: Damn, Damn, Damn the Filipinos

฀฀฀฀113฀฀ Chapter฀Four ___________ Damn,฀Damn,฀Damn฀the฀Filipinos The฀ men฀ of฀ the฀ First฀ Colorado฀ enlisted฀ to฀ fight฀ the฀ Spanish,฀ not฀ to฀ serve฀as฀an฀army฀of฀occupation.฀Manila’s฀fall,฀cheered฀by฀the฀troops฀as฀ the฀triumphant฀culmination฀of฀their฀overseas฀adventure,฀instead฀merely฀ marked฀a฀passage฀from฀military฀campaign฀to฀a฀sort฀of฀peacekeeping฀limbo.฀ While฀the฀United฀States฀tried฀to฀decide฀what฀to฀do฀with฀the฀Philippines,฀ the฀Coloradoans฀turned฀their฀energies฀to฀contemplation฀of฀the฀strange฀ land฀in฀which฀they฀found฀themselves.฀Their฀nativist฀attitudes,฀honed฀in฀ Colorado฀labor฀conflicts,฀filtered฀their฀impressions฀of฀the฀peoples฀of฀the฀ Philippines฀and฀tainted฀the฀soldiers’฀actions฀toward฀both฀their฀former฀ enemies฀and฀their฀erstwhile฀allies. Pvt.฀ Guy฀ Sims฀ was฀ perhaps฀ one฀ of฀ the฀ few฀ soldiers฀ who,฀ before฀ departing฀Camp฀Adams,฀had฀given฀the฀Filipinos฀any฀thought฀at฀all.฀In฀ the฀summer฀of฀,฀well฀before฀either฀the฀war฀or฀his฀enlistment,฀the฀ young฀ man฀ had฀ been฀ intrigued฀ by฀ news฀ reports฀ of฀ fighting฀ between฀ native฀rebels฀and฀the฀Spanish฀garrison฀of฀Manila. I฀ had฀ a฀ long฀ hunt฀ in฀ the฀ atlas฀ before฀ finding฀ the฀ Philippine฀ Islands,฀and฀tried฀to฀imagine฀what฀those฀tribesmen฀looked฀like.฀ Best฀I฀could฀do฀was฀a฀sort฀of฀a฀cross฀between฀Sioux฀Indians฀and฀ Zulus฀of฀South฀Africa,฀armed฀with฀long฀spears. Sims’s฀curiosity฀was฀soon฀satisfied. Initial฀encounters฀were฀auspicious.฀When฀the฀First฀Colorado฀landed฀ at฀Malate,฀south฀of฀Manila,฀on฀฀July฀,฀the฀Filipinos฀greeted฀them฀ huntfinal.indd 113 4/11/06 10:05:46 AM 114 ฀/฀฀Chapter฀Four with฀gifts฀of฀fruit฀and฀cries฀of฀“Americanos,”฀“Compadres,”฀and฀“Omega!”฀ (Amigo!). ฀As฀the฀men฀came฀ashore,฀they฀stacked฀their฀arms,฀stripped฀to฀ only฀their฀long฀blue฀shirts,฀and฀then฀waded฀out฀into฀the฀surf฀to฀offload฀ supplies฀from฀the฀lighters.฀The฀Filipinos฀didn’t฀wear฀clothes฀when฀they฀ swam,฀ and฀ the฀ Filipino฀ men฀ and฀ women฀ pointed฀ their฀ fingers฀ and฀ laughed฀at฀the฀soldiers’฀modesty. ฀When,฀their฀work฀done,฀the฀shirt-clad฀ troops฀began฀playing฀leapfrog฀in฀the฀rain,฀the฀Filipinos฀could฀only฀gape฀ in฀amazement. Concepts฀of฀modesty฀featured฀prominently฀in฀letters฀home.฀Band฀ musician฀Verner฀W.฀Campbell฀wrote฀to฀his฀parents, I฀ used฀ to฀ think฀ the฀ pictures฀ we฀ saw฀ in฀ histories,฀ etc.,฀ were฀ exaggerated฀in฀regard฀to฀natives,฀but฀they฀didn’t฀tell฀half฀the฀ truth.฀ Some฀ of฀ them฀ don’t฀ wear฀ any฀ more฀ clothing฀ than฀ is฀ necessary,฀ and฀ the฀ young฀ ones฀ very฀ seldom฀ have฀ even฀ the฀ traditional฀fig฀leaf฀to฀cover฀their฀nakedness.฀They฀think฀nothing฀ of฀going฀naked฀or฀going฀where฀people฀are฀naked. Around฀ Manila,฀ Filipino฀ men฀ wore฀ loose฀ pants฀ the฀ Coloradoans฀ described฀as฀“pajamas,”฀and฀a฀shirt฀with฀a฀flowing฀tail. ฀Filipinas฀wore฀a฀ short฀skirt฀and฀“a฀light฀‘waist฀[blouse],”฀and฀almost฀all฀men฀and฀women฀ went฀barefooted. American฀civil฀and฀military฀authorities฀sent฀home฀glowing฀reports฀ on฀the฀nature฀of฀the฀Filipinos.฀United฀States฀Consul฀to฀the฀Philippines฀ Oscar฀Williams฀confidently฀predicted฀that฀the฀Filipinos฀would฀ally฀with฀ the฀American฀troops฀to฀overthrow฀the฀Spanish,฀describing฀the฀people฀of฀ the฀islands฀as฀“brave,฀submissive฀and฀cheaply฀provided฀for.” ฀Brig.฀Gen.฀ Thomas฀M.฀Anderson,฀commanding฀the฀first฀expedition฀to฀reach฀Manila,฀ called฀them฀“industrious,”฀and฀described฀them฀as฀“not฀ignorant,฀savage฀ tribes,฀but฀have฀a฀civilization฀of฀their฀own,฀and฀though฀insignificant฀in฀ appearance฀are฀fierce฀fighters.” The฀First฀Colorado฀formed฀their฀own฀opinions.฀Given฀the฀disparity฀ huntfinal.indd 114 4/11/06 10:05:46 AM ฀฀Damn,฀Damn,฀Damn฀the฀Filipinos฀฀/฀฀115 of฀their฀observations,฀it฀seems฀likely฀that฀each฀man฀saw฀what฀he฀wanted฀ to฀see.฀Lt.฀Charles฀B.฀Lewis฀described฀the฀Filipinos฀as฀very฀clean,฀and฀very฀ intelligent. ฀Conversely,฀Capt.฀William฀Cornell฀wrote฀his฀father฀in฀Denver฀ that฀“they฀are฀a฀very฀dirty฀and฀ignorant฀class฀of฀people.” ฀Captain฀William฀ Grove฀told฀his฀wife฀“The฀natives฀are฀very฀ignorant฀and฀in฀a฀frightful฀physical฀ condition.฀.฀.฀.฀They฀are฀a฀mixture฀in฀appearance฀between฀a฀Chinaman฀ and฀a฀negro.” ฀Pvt.฀Arthur฀Johnson฀informed฀the฀readers฀of฀the฀Rocky฀ Mountain฀News฀that฀the฀Filipinos฀were฀“intelligent”฀and฀“observant,”฀and฀ that฀they฀only฀learned฀English฀slowly฀because฀the฀Colorado฀troops฀usually฀ addressed฀them฀in฀Spanish;฀with฀each฀side฀knowing฀at฀least฀some฀Spanish,฀ it฀was฀the฀preferred฀mode฀of฀communication.฀Johnson฀also฀observed฀that฀ the฀Filipinos฀were฀fine฀musicians. Predictably,฀the฀soldiers฀applied฀Colorado฀attitudes฀about฀race฀to฀the฀ Filipinos.฀Often,฀the฀soldiers฀called฀them฀“niggers,”฀“coons,”฀“chinks,”฀and฀ even฀“gugus,”฀from...