Japhy
Banned
Hold a Moment Longer
A Timeline in a While by Japhy
A Timeline in a While by Japhy
"Hold a moment longer! Not quite yet, gentlemen! Before you go I would like to say just a word about the Philippine business. I have been criticized a good deal about the Philippines, but don’t deserve it. The truth is I didn’t want the Philippines, and when they came to us, as a gift from the gods, I did not know what to do with them...
...I am not ashamed to tell you, gentlemen, that I went down on my knees and prayed Almighty God for light and guidance more than one night. And one night late it came to me this way—I don’t know how it was, but it came:
(1) That we could not give them back to Spain—that would be cowardly and dishonorable; (2) that we could not turn them over to France and Germany—our commercial rivals in the Orient—that would be bad business and discreditable; (3) that we could not leave them to themselves—they were unfit for self-government—and they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain’s was; and (4) that there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow-men for whom Christ also died.
And then I went to bed, and went to sleep, and slept soundly, and the next morning I sent for the chief engineer of the War Department, and I told him to put the Philippines on the map of the United States, and there they are, and there they will stay while I am President!"
-William McKinley speaking to Congress on the Annexation of the Phillipines
...I am not ashamed to tell you, gentlemen, that I went down on my knees and prayed Almighty God for light and guidance more than one night. And one night late it came to me this way—I don’t know how it was, but it came:
(1) That we could not give them back to Spain—that would be cowardly and dishonorable; (2) that we could not turn them over to France and Germany—our commercial rivals in the Orient—that would be bad business and discreditable; (3) that we could not leave them to themselves—they were unfit for self-government—and they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain’s was; and (4) that there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow-men for whom Christ also died.
And then I went to bed, and went to sleep, and slept soundly, and the next morning I sent for the chief engineer of the War Department, and I told him to put the Philippines on the map of the United States, and there they are, and there they will stay while I am President!"
-William McKinley speaking to Congress on the Annexation of the Phillipines
Legions in Contrast
Inside and Outside of Manila
The Republic of the Philippines or The United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands
Febuary 4th 1899
Outside of Manila, sitting in Spanish blockhouses and Spanish trenches the Soldier of the Philippine Republican Army received his orders by a simple chain of command. If he was a volunteer, he was in one of the elite battalions. His commanding officer would in such instances be a fellow veteran of the tough fights of 1896 and 1897 in one Revolution and 1898 in another as they rapidly secured all of the islands, except for the political and economic heart. In the volunteer units, there were decent uniforms, often good weapons secured from the Americans or bought overseas and smuggled in country, and decent food. Troops, often caught up in the nationalism of the middle and intellectual classes that they came overwhelmingly from pictured themselves as Indian Braves, successors to those that had once proudly ruled North America.
If he was from most of the army though, he was not a volunteer, but had been volunteered. In most cases, loyalty to the Republic did not come from a nationalist ideal, as there was not much of one to most of the rural population, or from any view of gaining rights, as the new republican constitution excluded all but the richest from voting, but due to loyalties to tribe, village, and local socio-economic-political leaders who had pledged to support the Republic and thus sent them packing north. For these troops ammunition was scarce, rifles were often outdated, in some cases going back to muskets or non-existent.
In any case, these troops were scattered around Manila, on the eastern side of the lines there were more volunteer troops, in any case, Battalions often had little to do with each other, their commanders, Majors and Lieutenant Colonels, worked more with Brigade commanders than Regimental heads.
The Brigade that was scattered outside of Santa Mesa was under the command of a young General José Torres Bugallón who had been trained in the Spanish Army before switching sides at the start of his homelands independence struggle, winning several victories for the Revolution of 1896-1897. In the interregnum between that and the start of the new revolt he had maintained his loyalty to the revolutionary government and been assigned to guard the most critical stretch of the front.
He in turn took his orders from Artemio Ricarte, Captain General, Commanding the Second Corps deployed around Manila. Ricarte too had won victories in the past war, holding the line around Cavite for much of the war, before being placed in command of the surrender at Biak-na-Bato in 1897 as the Revolutionary leadership had departed for their Hong Kong exile.
The Second Corps in turn reported to Captain General Antonio Luna, a pharmacist by training who had taken part not only in the revolution in 1897 but had been a bright figure in the Independence Struggle throughout the 1890’s. Luna in turn also reported to himself wearing a second hat, this one as Commanding General of the Army. And in turn again reported to himself as Deputy Minister of War.
At this point though, command utterly skipped Baldomero Villarin, and went to General of the Revolution, His Excellency Emilio Aguinaldo, President of the Republic. Who by process of having executed all of his rivals for position, and by having returned from his Spanish subsidized exile, had become the undisputed leader of the Republic.
Unfortunately for the previously mentioned foot soldier of the PRA, February 4th, 1899 was a Saturday. And as such Generals, Ricarte, Luna and President Aguinaldo had decided, as well as nearly all of the senior leadership in their army outside of Manila, to go home for the weekend.
----
The American Solider in Manila is either he is an Army Regular, which means he is serving in the 14th Infantry regiment, a Unit which partook in every battle the Army of the Potomac ever fought in, and which carries Battle Honors for several of the great Indian Wars.
Or he is a volunteer, which means that he joined up for the Duration of the War Against Spain. He is in nearly all cases from one of the Western States. He is well aware the peace treaty has been signed and that his term should be up. He is aware though that there is a crisis at hand, and in nearly all cases he is at least grimly ready to do the work. He feels the Philippine Army Troops he has met, nearly all officers who have been allowed to go into the City in uniform thanks to previous agreements, are at best rude and at worst --- that is his worst --- members of an inferior race who are acting above their station. He talks eagerly of teaching them a lesson. As a volunteer his only experience was in the mostly-sham battle last year that took Manila, he is already forgetting the horrors he briefly saw there. But his father fought in the Civil War, or against the Indians, and he feels sure that he can do just as well.
In Manila, the post of Military Governor and Commanding General, Eighth Army Corps rests with Major General of Volunteers Elwell S. Otis. He assumed command from Wesley Merritt last August, when that General was ordered to Paris to join the negotiations with the Spanish. Otis has no interest in understanding the colony he now legally is the authority of, he feels certain that the Republican government that has been declared will collapse on itself after one hard push by white men. From the shoulders of the old Civil War veteran and Indian Fighter authority moves down.
To Arthur MacArthur, Jr, also Major General of Volunteers, Civil War veteran, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor all those years ago, and now commander of the Second Division Eighth Army Corps, in charge of holding the critical positions North and West of Manila facing down the Filipino National Revolutionary Army in their old Spanish Blockhouses and trench lines. A modern-thinking officer he has developed a series of contingency plans to maintain his position with the scattered outposts he has been forced to assemble, placing himself as close to the lines as he can safely go with the Reserve Force he has assembled. He has sought to learn as much about the colony and its people and his enemies as he can. He cannot afford to underestimate troops facing his lonely line of videttes.
From there, the 2nd Brigade is commanded by Brigadier General of Volunteers, Irving Hale an infant in the Civil War, he holds the highest academic scores of any cadet to ever graduate West Point, though his military service was limited to a matter of weeks before he resigned to work as an engineer, before returning to service at the start of the late war with Spain at the head of the Colorado Militia. It is he who has been assigned to garrison a line closest to the Filipino troops, so as to secure the critical pipeline which pump reservoir water in “Insurgent” territory to the American controlled city. Previous agreements were reached, as the Republican Army has no interest in seeing its de jure Capital die of thirst. But incidents are rising with tensions, and Hale has ordered increased alertness in his command, with patrols, alarms and defenses all to be increased.
And there in the 2nd Brigade, at the end of the line, the closest unit to the reservoirs and thus the most isolated from support is the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Its men are some of the best equipt of the Volunteers in the Corps, and being raised from the cream of their states' militia, they are also some of the best trained. Their Commanding Officer, on the other hand is not. He was offered the command for Political reasons, and while he had his doubts he did accept the command of this regiment, rather than one of the others the Cornhusker State was raising. He has been reading up on military studies throughout the war, repeating the old path of Civil War officers whom came before him on the path of non-experience. He is not sure if he is the right man for the job, but he is sure that Congress was not a proper preparatory school for this work. Commanding at Santa Masa, Colonel of Volunteers William Jennings Bryan is quietly waiting for the hammer to drop.
If he was from most of the army though, he was not a volunteer, but had been volunteered. In most cases, loyalty to the Republic did not come from a nationalist ideal, as there was not much of one to most of the rural population, or from any view of gaining rights, as the new republican constitution excluded all but the richest from voting, but due to loyalties to tribe, village, and local socio-economic-political leaders who had pledged to support the Republic and thus sent them packing north. For these troops ammunition was scarce, rifles were often outdated, in some cases going back to muskets or non-existent.
In any case, these troops were scattered around Manila, on the eastern side of the lines there were more volunteer troops, in any case, Battalions often had little to do with each other, their commanders, Majors and Lieutenant Colonels, worked more with Brigade commanders than Regimental heads.
The Brigade that was scattered outside of Santa Mesa was under the command of a young General José Torres Bugallón who had been trained in the Spanish Army before switching sides at the start of his homelands independence struggle, winning several victories for the Revolution of 1896-1897. In the interregnum between that and the start of the new revolt he had maintained his loyalty to the revolutionary government and been assigned to guard the most critical stretch of the front.
He in turn took his orders from Artemio Ricarte, Captain General, Commanding the Second Corps deployed around Manila. Ricarte too had won victories in the past war, holding the line around Cavite for much of the war, before being placed in command of the surrender at Biak-na-Bato in 1897 as the Revolutionary leadership had departed for their Hong Kong exile.
The Second Corps in turn reported to Captain General Antonio Luna, a pharmacist by training who had taken part not only in the revolution in 1897 but had been a bright figure in the Independence Struggle throughout the 1890’s. Luna in turn also reported to himself wearing a second hat, this one as Commanding General of the Army. And in turn again reported to himself as Deputy Minister of War.
At this point though, command utterly skipped Baldomero Villarin, and went to General of the Revolution, His Excellency Emilio Aguinaldo, President of the Republic. Who by process of having executed all of his rivals for position, and by having returned from his Spanish subsidized exile, had become the undisputed leader of the Republic.
Unfortunately for the previously mentioned foot soldier of the PRA, February 4th, 1899 was a Saturday. And as such Generals, Ricarte, Luna and President Aguinaldo had decided, as well as nearly all of the senior leadership in their army outside of Manila, to go home for the weekend.
----
The American Solider in Manila is either he is an Army Regular, which means he is serving in the 14th Infantry regiment, a Unit which partook in every battle the Army of the Potomac ever fought in, and which carries Battle Honors for several of the great Indian Wars.
Or he is a volunteer, which means that he joined up for the Duration of the War Against Spain. He is in nearly all cases from one of the Western States. He is well aware the peace treaty has been signed and that his term should be up. He is aware though that there is a crisis at hand, and in nearly all cases he is at least grimly ready to do the work. He feels the Philippine Army Troops he has met, nearly all officers who have been allowed to go into the City in uniform thanks to previous agreements, are at best rude and at worst --- that is his worst --- members of an inferior race who are acting above their station. He talks eagerly of teaching them a lesson. As a volunteer his only experience was in the mostly-sham battle last year that took Manila, he is already forgetting the horrors he briefly saw there. But his father fought in the Civil War, or against the Indians, and he feels sure that he can do just as well.
In Manila, the post of Military Governor and Commanding General, Eighth Army Corps rests with Major General of Volunteers Elwell S. Otis. He assumed command from Wesley Merritt last August, when that General was ordered to Paris to join the negotiations with the Spanish. Otis has no interest in understanding the colony he now legally is the authority of, he feels certain that the Republican government that has been declared will collapse on itself after one hard push by white men. From the shoulders of the old Civil War veteran and Indian Fighter authority moves down.
To Arthur MacArthur, Jr, also Major General of Volunteers, Civil War veteran, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor all those years ago, and now commander of the Second Division Eighth Army Corps, in charge of holding the critical positions North and West of Manila facing down the Filipino National Revolutionary Army in their old Spanish Blockhouses and trench lines. A modern-thinking officer he has developed a series of contingency plans to maintain his position with the scattered outposts he has been forced to assemble, placing himself as close to the lines as he can safely go with the Reserve Force he has assembled. He has sought to learn as much about the colony and its people and his enemies as he can. He cannot afford to underestimate troops facing his lonely line of videttes.
From there, the 2nd Brigade is commanded by Brigadier General of Volunteers, Irving Hale an infant in the Civil War, he holds the highest academic scores of any cadet to ever graduate West Point, though his military service was limited to a matter of weeks before he resigned to work as an engineer, before returning to service at the start of the late war with Spain at the head of the Colorado Militia. It is he who has been assigned to garrison a line closest to the Filipino troops, so as to secure the critical pipeline which pump reservoir water in “Insurgent” territory to the American controlled city. Previous agreements were reached, as the Republican Army has no interest in seeing its de jure Capital die of thirst. But incidents are rising with tensions, and Hale has ordered increased alertness in his command, with patrols, alarms and defenses all to be increased.
And there in the 2nd Brigade, at the end of the line, the closest unit to the reservoirs and thus the most isolated from support is the 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Its men are some of the best equipt of the Volunteers in the Corps, and being raised from the cream of their states' militia, they are also some of the best trained. Their Commanding Officer, on the other hand is not. He was offered the command for Political reasons, and while he had his doubts he did accept the command of this regiment, rather than one of the others the Cornhusker State was raising. He has been reading up on military studies throughout the war, repeating the old path of Civil War officers whom came before him on the path of non-experience. He is not sure if he is the right man for the job, but he is sure that Congress was not a proper preparatory school for this work. Commanding at Santa Masa, Colonel of Volunteers William Jennings Bryan is quietly waiting for the hammer to drop.
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