The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Philippine American War (1899-1914) - Mar. 23rd, 2003

http://www.msc.edu.ph/centennial/filam0.html ^

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

.

FReepers from the USO Canteen, The Foxhole, and The Poetry Branch
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

.

.................................................................................................................................

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The Philippine Insurrection

On July 1, 1898, American forces engaged in a fierce battle with the Spaniards at El Caney and San Juan Hill in Cuba. After the skirmishes, they occupied the high ground overlooking Santiago. On July 3, Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete ordered his squadron to leave the harbor. The Spaniards attempted to escape toward the west along the coast. Then a running battle took place. All the Spanish ships either burned or sank. From there, American troops invaded and captured Puerto Rico, another Spanish possession.

As a result of these defeats, Spain sued for peace. On August 12, 1898, the day before the fall of Manila, Spain and the United States signed a peace agreement. Spain agreed to evacuate all her troops from and give up control over Cuba, cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States, which was also allowed to occupy Manila. The last condition was temporary while what was to be done with the Philippines was being determined.

1st North Dakota Infantry
San Isidro, Luzon, Philippine Islands -- May 6, 1899

In October 1898, representatives of Spain and the United States met in Paris to draft a peace treaty. One of the vital issues to be discussed was the status of the Philippines. Spain wanted the United States to return the Philippines to Spain because Manila had been occupied by the Americans only after the armistice had been signed on August 12, 1898, but to no avail. The United States insisted on obtaining the Philippines.

Treaty of Paris.

On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris, was signed in Paris, France, by both Spain and the United States. It formally ended the war between them. Under this treaty, Spain recognized the independence of Cuba; ceded Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the United States; and received a $20 million payment from the United States for giving up the Philippines.

The treaty had to be ratified by the U.S. Senate before it could take effect. It, however, met opposition, mainly against the annexation of the Philippines. An Anti-Imperialist League was formed to rally American public opinion against the annexation. Some prominent Americans, such as former President Grover Cleveland, Andrew Carnegie, and Mark Twain, also opposed the ratification.

One of the reasons why the United States should not acquire the Philippines was that the Filipinos themselves were fighting the Americans in the Philippines. Such an act, they said, showed that the Filipinos did not want to be under American rule. They also reasoned that it was inconsistent for the United States to disclaim—through the so-called Teller Amendment—any intention of annexing Cuba and then annex the other Spanish colonies, such as the Philippines.

Annexation Fever

There were also many in the United States who saw the advantages of taking over the Philippines. Many missionaries, for instance, favored annexation. So did people who feared that Germany might get the Philippines if the United States did not. Some favored annexation to give America a “foothold” in the populous markets of Asia.



On February 6, 1899, the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 57 to 27, ratified the Treaty of Paris. The American people, in effect, also endorsed the treaty when they reelected President McKinley in the 1900 U.S. presidential elections. Thus, the Philippines formally came under the rule of the United States.

The Filipinos had become suspicious of the true motives of the United States in going to the Philippines. In fact, they were prevented by the Americans from entering Manila after its fall. Their suspicions were confirmed by the Treaty of Paris under which Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States. Neither Spain nor the United States gave Felipe Agoncillo, Aguinaldo’s special envoy, a chance to present the wishes of the Filipinos in the Paris peace talks. Suspicion turned to hostility, and war between the two sides became inevitable. The Filipinos were outraged when they learned that Spain, which no longer controlled the Philippines, had ceded the country to the United States.

Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation.

On December 21, 1898, President William Mckinley announced his decision to keep the Philippines as an American colonial possession.

Entitled “Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation,” the McKinley proclamation was announced in the Philippines on January 4, 1899. It stated clearly the intention of the United States to stay permanently in the Philippines. The mission of the United States was described by McKinley as one of “benevolent assimilation.” In the same proclamation, General Elwell Otis was named the commander of American ground forces in the Philippines, which was to “extend by force American sovereignty over this country.”



On January 5, 1899, Aguinaldo issued a counter-proclamation. He warned that his government was prepared to fight any American attempt to forcibly take over the country. This sounded like a declaration of war to the American military although Aguinaldo had no wish to get into a war with the United States. He knew that war would only cause untold suffering to the Filipino people. He was still hopeful that the situation could be saved by peaceful negotiations between him and the American military leaders in the Philippines. Aguinaldo wrote General Elwell S. Otis calling for peaceful negotiations.

On January 9, 1899, Otis appointed three American officers to meet with three Filipino military officials appointed by Aguinaldo. However, they didn't accomplish anything.

“Halt!” Then Bang! Bang! Bang!

The tension between the Americans and the Filipinos was so great that it was easy to precipitate a war. On the night of February 4, 1899, as described in Aguinaldo: A Narrative of Filipino Ambitions, (E. Wildman 1901, Norwood Press, Norwood, MA) an American sentry, Private William W. Grayson, with another soldier, encountered three armed Filipinos on a bridge in San Juan del Monte near Manila.

Recalling the incident, Grayson said:

About eight o’clock, Miller and I were cautiously pacing our district. We came to a fence and were trying to see what the Filipinos were up to.

Suddenly, near at hand, on our left, there was a low but unmistakable Filipino outpost signal whistle. It was immediately answered by a similar whistle about twenty-five yards to the right. Then a red lantern flashed a signal from blockhouse number 7. We had never seen such a sign used before. In a moment, something rose up slowly in front of us. It was a Filipino. I yelled “Halt!” and made it pretty loud, for I was accustomed to challenging the officer of the guard in approved military style. I challenged him with another loud “halt!” Then he shouted “halto!” to me. Well, I thought the best thing to do was to shoot him. He dropped. If I didn’t kill him, I guess he died of fright. Two Filipinos sprang out of the gateway about 15 feet from us. I called “halt!” and Miller fired and dropped one. I saw that another was left. Well, I think I got my second Filipino that time....

The Filipino troops fired back at the American lines and before the night was over, fighting had broken out between Filipino and American forces. Most of the Filipino commanders at that time were attending a dance in Malolos, Bulacan Province. When told of the outbreak of hostilities, they rushed back to their units, which were already shooting it out with American troops.

When war finally came, Aguinaldo still tried to stop it by sending an emissary to General Otis to appeal for an end to the fighting. But Otis responded, “fighting, having begun, must go on to the grim end.”



The American people, however, received a different version of how the war started. Newspaper reports made it appear that the Filipinos had started the fighting. This was the time when the Treaty of Paris was pending ratification in the U.S. Senate. Previously, because of strong public opinion against the U.S. annexation of the Philippines, ratification of the treaty was uncertain. But the distorted news that reached the United States, specifically that the Filipinos were the ones who started hostilities, changed the minds of several U.S. senators to vote for ratification. On February 6, 1899, the U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Paris.

Philippine Insurrection? Ouuuccccch. The Americans viewed the fighting as an insurrection, not a war. Hence, Americans refer to this episode as the Philippine Insurrection, not the Philippine-American War. The Spanish-American conflict that lasted only three months, is referred to as the Spanish-American War. But the Philippine-American conflict officially lasted three years and is known only as the Philippine Insurrection by America. Actually the fighting between American and the remaining armed groups of Filipinos, whom Americans branded as “bandits,” lasted 16 years (1899-1914).

James Loewen, a Washington, D.C.,-based scholar and author of a forthcoming book titled Lies Across the Landscape: What Our Historical Markers and Monuments Get Wrong, said, “What we call the Philippine Insurrection should be called the Philippine War. We had never conquered the Philippines, so you can’t call it a revolt.” Loewen’s comment was mentioned in an article published in the Star Tribune in Minnesota, in its issue of November 15, 1997.

After the refusal of General Otis to end hostilities following the San Juan bridge incident, General Arthur MacArthur ordered the advance of American troops toward Filipino positions in Manila and the suburbs. Regiments from Kansas and California captured Santa Ana and Makati. Troops from Nebraska and Utah occupied the San Juan Bridge. On the other hand, volunteers from Idaho and Washington massacred hundreds of Filipinos who were then trying to cross the Pasig River. The coastlines were pounded continuously by Admiral Dewey’s naval guns. Capturing Manila and the Suburbs. Several American soldiers who took part in the battles in Manila and the suburbs wrote letters telling about those battles to their relatives in the United States. These letters were published in local and national press in the United States by the Anti-Imperialist League in 1899 in the United States.



From Manila, wrote Private Fred B. Hinchman, Company A, United States Engineers:

At 1:30 o’clock, the general gave me a memorandum with regard to sending out a Tennessee battalion to the line. He tersely put it that “they were looking for a fight.” At Puente Colgante (suspension bridge) I met one of our company, who told me that the Fourteenth and Washingtons were driving all before them, and taking no prisoners. This is now our rule of procedure for cause. After delivering my message I had not walked a block when I heard shots down the street. Hurrying forward, I found a group of four men taking pot-shots across the river, into a bamboo thicket, at about 1,200 yards....

Narrating his exploits in Santa Ana, Manila, Captain Albert Otis, wrote:

I have six horses and three carriages in my yard, and enough small plunger for a family of six. The house I had at Santa Ana had five pianos. I couldn’t take them, so I put a big grand piano out of a second-story window. You can guess its finish. Everything is pretty quiet about here now. I expect we will not be kept here very long now. Give my love to all.

[SAMWolf]

On to Marikina.

The Americans pushed towards the suburbs, including Marikina. Thinking of the impending Marikina fight, James A. Reid, a Colorado volunteer, had this to say:



Maybe you think this isn’t a fine country—to keep away from. In fact, all of the country around here is just “lousy” with “niggers.” To the right of us is the lake. About seven miles away, to the north and east, is the little town of Marquina, which will soon have to be taken. As it is the birthplace of Pio del Pilar, one of “Aggie’s” great generals, we expect quite a fight. Malabon and Malolos have not as yet been taken. Don’t know about Malolos, but Malabon can be taken any time, as it is next to the bay....We are not nearly as anxious to fight these people as some of people may think we are, and we do not enter any of the fights with the same spirit we did when fighting the Spaniards. If a vote was taken to take us home now or wait six months and discharge us here with our travel pay and finals, which would amount to nearly five hundred dollars, I do not believe that ten percent would be willing to stay, so you see how the men look at this addition to the United States....There have been about one hundred and twenty-five killed and three hundred wounded all together, and, when you consider that these beastly islands are not worth one American life, you can see what they are costing.

La Loma Fight.

Major Jose Torres Bugallon, one of the bravest Filipino officers, was killed in the battle of La Loma, near the Chinese cemetery. After capturing La Loma, General MacArthur pushed toward Caloocan. General Antonio Luna and his brave troops were there to fight the Americans. Caloocan Battle. Describing the Caloocan battle, Charles Bremer, of Minneapolis, Kansas, wrote:

Company I had taken a few prisoners, and stopped. The colonel ordered them up in to line time after time, and finally sent Captain Bishop back to start them. There occurred the hardest sight I ever saw. They had four prisoners, and didn’t know what to do with them. They asked Captain Bishop what to do, and he said: “You know the orders, and four natives fell dead.”

Writing his own version of the Caloocan fight, Captain Elliot, of the Kansas Regiment said: Talk about war being “hell,” this war beats the hottest estimate ever made of that locality. Caloocan was supposed to contain seventeen thousand inhabitants. The Twentieth Kansas swept through it, and now Caloocan contains not one living native. Of the buildings, the battered walls of the great church and dismal prison alone remain. The village of Maypaja, where our first fight occurred on the night of the fourth, had five thousand people on that day—now not one stone remains upon top of another. You can only faintly imagine this terrible scene of desolation.

War is worse than hell.

Due to the Americans’ superiority in arms, Caloocan fell. But General Luna didn’t give up. On February 22, Luna marched towards Manila to try to capture it. He even ordered the burning of houses in the suburbs to create confusion to the American troops. Afterwards he fought the enemy on Azcarraga. General Luna and his troops suffered heavy losses so he then retreated to Polo, Bulacan. Malabon, Here we Come! The Americans advanced towards Malabon (near Caloocan), as if saying, “Here we come!” Describing their adventures in Malabon, Anthony Michea of the Third Artillery wrote:


Army Campaign Streamer - Philippine Insurrection

We bombarded a place called Malabon, and then we went in and killed every native we met, men, women, and children. It was a dreadful sight, the killing of the poor creatures. The natives captured some of the Americans and literally hacked them to pieces, so we got orders to spare no one.”

Cavite Fight.

Burr Ellis, of Frazier, Valley, California, narrated what he did in Cavite. He wrote: They did not commence fighting over here (Cavite) for several days after the war commenced. Dewey gave them till nine o’clock one day to surrender, and that night they all left but a few out to their trenches, and those that they left burned up the town, and when the town commenced burning, the troops were ordered in as far as possible and said, “Kill all we could find.” I ran off from the hospital and went ahead with the scouts. And you bet, I did not cross the ocean for the fun there was in it, so the first one I found, he was in a house, down on his knees fanning a fire, trying to burn the house, and I pulled my old Long Tom to my shoulder and left him to burn with the fire, which he did. I got his knife, and another jumped out of the window and ran, and I brought him to the ground like a jack-rabbit. I killed seven that I know of, and one more, I am almost sure of: I shot ten shots at him running and knocked him down, and that evening the boys out in front of our trenches now found one with his arm shot off at the shoulder and dead as h____. I had lots of fun that morning....


Utah Light Artillery
August 13, 1898, Manila, Philippine Islands

From Fred D. Sweet, of the Utah Light Battery, came these words:

The scene reminded me of the shooting of jack-rabbits in Utah, only the rabbits sometimes got away, but the insurgents did not. Help! Help! Help! Reinforcements from the U.S. American reinforces arrived from the United States in late February and early March 1899. Then Americans advanced towards Polo, Bulacan, capturing other towns along the Manila-Dagupan Railway.

Battles in the Visayas.

The Americans then decided to invade the Visayan provinces. In particular, General Otis directed General Miller to invade and capture Iloilo Province. The Filipinos, headed by General Martin Delgado, did not surrender as demanded by Miller. Instead, he decided to fight the Americans. The Filipino soldiers burned Iloilo City to prevent the Americans from making it as the enemy’s base of operations. Describing their invasion of Iloilo City, D.M. Mickle, of the Tennessee Regiment, wrote:


Locomotives and Cars wrecked by Insurgents at Bamban Bridge, Luzon, Philippine Islands. The building had been taken possession of by a United States officer, and he looted it to a finish. I suspected something and followed one of his men to the place. I expected to be jumped on by the officer as soon as I found him there, as I was away from my post, but it seems he was afraid I would give him away; in fact, we were both afraid of each other. He was half drunk, and every time he saw me looking at anything he would say, “Tennessee, do you like that? Well put it in your pocket.”...The house was a fine one, and richly furnished, but had been looted to a finish. The contents of every drawer had been emptied on the floor. You have no idea what a mania for destruction the average man has when the fear of the law is removed. I have seen them—old sober business men too—knock chandeliers and plate-glass mirrors to pieces just because they couldn’t carry it off. It is such a pity.

On February 14, 1899, the town of Santa Barbara was captured by the Americans. Next they captured Oton, Mandurriao, and Jaro, Iloilo. On February 22, Cebu was surrendered to the Americans by the Filipinos. On to Malolos. In central Luzon, by March 30, the Americans were already near Malolos, Bulacan, where the Philippine government was headquartered. General Aguinaldo evacuated Malolos and moved his headquarters to San Isidro, Nueva Ecija.

At that time, General Otis ordered General MacArthur not to pursue Aguinaldo, but to temporarily stay in Malolos. Meanwhile, the Americans immediately captured Bacoor, Zapote, and Dasmarinas, all in Cavite; Paranaque and Las Pinas, in Morong, and Paete, Santa Cruz, and other towns in Laguna. On April 23, the same year, General Gregorio del Pilar, known as the “boy general,” defeated the American cavalry under Major Bell in a stiff battle in Quinqua (now Plaridel), Bulacan. The enemy suffered heavy losses, including Colonel Stotsenberg who was killed in action. On the other hand, General Licerio Geronimo overpowered the Americans under General Lawton in San Mateo, Morong, in which battle Lawton was killed. General MacArthur moved towards Kalumpit, Bulacan, where General Luna was waiting for him. According to Teodoro Agoncillo (History of the Filipino People,) when the Americans were about to attack, Luna, together with his foot soldiers, cavalry, and artillery left Kalumpit to punish General Tomas Mascardo for his insubordination. Mascardo was then in Pampanga Province. General del Pilar was left to fight and repulse the enemy, which the “boy general” was not able to do. It was too late when Luna and his soldiers came back at nightfall. The Americans had already broken through the Filipino defensive lines. Thus they lost the fight, The Filipinos sustained other battle losses.

The Filipino army gradually broke up with one defeat after another on the battlefields. By the closing months of 1899, the army of the Philippine Republic was no longer a regular fighting force, and on November 12, 1899, the army was dissolved by Aguinaldo. It was formed into guerrilla units that would carry on the war. One by one, towns and provinces throughout the archipelago fell to the U.S. forces. Many of his civilian and military officials surrendered to or were captured by the Americans. Many of them, including Mabini, who was captured in December 1899, were deported to Guam in January 1901.

[SAMWolf]

The Capture of Aguinaldo.

The capture of Aguinaldo was placed by the Americans as one of their priorities. He was able to avoid capture for quite sometime, though. That was due to the loyalty of many townspeople in the different provinces, who warned his party whenever American troops were closing in. He was also able to win some more time because of the heroic sacrifice of General Gregorio del Pilar, the “boy general” in the famous Battle of Tirad Pass on December 2, 1900, in Mountain Province. In this narrow 2,800-meter-high pass, General del Pilar, with a handpicked force of only 60 men, held off for more than five hours a battalion of Texans of the U.S. 33rd Volunteers led by Major Peyton C. March. They had been pursuing Aguinaldo and his party. Of the 60, 52 were killed and wounded; one of the last to be killed was General del Pilar.


Navy Campaign Streamer - Philippine Insurrection

Aguinaldo was finally captured on March 23, 1901, in Palanan, Isabela Province, by means of a trick planned by Brigadier General Frederick Funston. A party of pro-American Macabebe scouts marched into Palanan pretending to be the reinforcements that Aguinaldo was waiting for. With the Macabebes were two former Filipino army officers, Tal Placido and Lazaro Segovia, who had surrendered to the Americans, and five Americans, including General Funston, who pretended to be captives. Caught by surprise, Aguinaldo’s guards were easily overpowered by the Macabebes after a brief exchange of shots. Aguinaldo was seized by Tal Placido and placed under arrest by General Funston. He was brought to Manila to be kept a prisoner at Malacañang. There he was treated by General MacArthur more as a guest than as a prisoner. On April 1, 1901, convinced of the futility of continuing the war, the ambivalent Aguinaldo swore allegiance to the United States.

On April 19,1901, Aguinaldo issued a proclamation calling on the Filipino people to lay down their arms and accept American rule. His capture signalled the death of the First Philippine Republic. But the war continued. Dragged by Galloping Horses. During the war, torture was resorted to by American troops to obtain information and confessions. The water cure was given to those merely suspected of being rebels. Some were hanged by the thumbs, others were dragged by galloping horses, or fires lit beneath others while they were hanging. Another form of torture was tying to a tree and then shooting the suspect through the legs. If a confession was not obtained, he was again shot, the day after. This went on until he confessed or eventually died.

Villages were burned, townfolks massacred and their possessions looted. In Samar and Batangas, Brigadier General Jacob H. Smith and General Franklin Bell, respectively, ordered the mass murders in answer to the mass resistance.



On the other hand, Filipino guerrillas chopped off the noses and ears of captured Americans in violation of Aguinaldo’s orders. There were reports that some Americans were buried alive by angry Filipino guerrillas. In other words, brutalities were perpetrated by both sides.

The Balangiga, Samar, Massacre.

The so-called Balangiga Massacre happened in 1901, a few weeks after a company of American soldiers arrived in Balangiga, Samar, upon the request of the town mayor to protect the inhabitants from the raids of Muslims and rebels. How the massacre took place is best described in Joseph Schott’s book, The Ordeal of Samar (The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc./Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc., Publishers, Indianapolis, Indiana, Copyright 1964). Here’s an excerpt from the book:

On the night of September 27, the sentries on the guard posts about the plaza were surprised by the unusual number of women hurrying to church. They were all heavily clothed, which was unusual, and many carried small coffins. Sergeant Scharer, sergeant of the guard vaguely suspicious, stopped one woman and pried open her coffin with his bayonet. Inside he found the body of a dead child.

“El calenturon! El colera!” the woman said.

The sergeant, slightly abashed by the sight of the dead child, nailed down the coffin lid again with the butt of his revolver and let the woman pass on. He concluded that cholera and fever were in epidemic stage and carrying off children in great numbers. But it was strange that no news of any such epidemic had reached the garrison.



If the guard sergeant had been less abashed and had searched beneath the child’s body, he would have found the keen blades of cane-cutting knives. All the coffins were loaded with them.

The night passed and morning came. At about 6:20 a.m. a sergeant was in the door of his squad hut. At that time, the unarmed Americans were going to breakfast. Some of them, of course, had finished their breakfast.

The sergeant saw Pedro Sanchez, chief of police of the town, line up prisoners for work. Then Sanchez sent all the workers to work in the plaza and in the streets. After that, Sanchez went to a hut and even talked with a corporal who knew pidgin Spanish and Visayan. After speaking with the corporal, Sanchez walked behind Private Adolph Gamlin, the sentry on the area. All of a sudden, Sanchez grabbed the Gamlin’s rifle, and he smashed the rifle’s butt on the American soldier’s head. The Filipino fired a shot and shouted a signal. Then pandemonium broke loose.



Joseph L. Schott, describes what happened next:

The church bell ding-donged crazily and conch shell whistles blew shrilly from the edge of the jungle. The doors of the church burst open and out streamed the mob of bolomen who had been waiting inside. The native laborers working about the plaza suddenly turned on the soldiers and began chopping at them with bolos, picks and shovels.

As the church bells were being rung, Sanchez fired upon the Americans at the breakfast table. He then led the Filipinos in attacking the American soldiers.

Schott continues:

The mess tents, filled with unarmed soldiers peacefully at breakfast, had been one of the first prime targets for the attackers. They burst in screaming and slashing....

Then, as the soldiers rose up and began fighting with chairs and kitchen utensils, the attackers outside cut the tent ropes, causing the tents to collapse on the struggling men. The natives ran in from all directions to slash with bolos and axes at the forms struggling under the canvas.

Members of C Company were almost all massacred during the first few minutes of attack. The main action took place around the plaza and tribunal building. There, Filipino bolomen attacked the soldiers. They boloed to death the Americans who tried to escape; other soldiers were hacked from nose to throat.

About 250 Filipinos were reported to have been killed by a number of American troops who were able to get rifles from the rack and shoot at the bolomen. (However, first-hand Filipino accounts put the dead at less than 40.) On the other hand, the Americans suffered 78 casualties: 48 killed and 22 wounded. Only 4 were not injured. (Gamlin survived the massacre. He died at age 92 in the U.S. in 1969.)

The Pacification of Samar.

Due to the public demand in the U.S. for retaliation, President Theodore Roosevelt ordered the pacification of Samar. And in six months, General “Jake” Smith transformed Balangiga into a “howling wilderness.” He ordered his men to kill anybody capable of carrying arms, including ten-year old boys. Smith particularly ordered Major Littleton Waller to punish the people of Samar for the deaths of the American troops. His exact orders were:



“I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn, the better you will please me.”

‘The Americans Are Coming! The Americans Are Coming!’

Maybe these shouts were heard while the Americans were chasing and shooting the guerrillas and their sympathizers. And maybe, too, some U.S. troops might have uttered: “So there you are! You’ve no where to go!” And the shots were heard as burning houses lighted the night.

When the campaign was over, the U. S. army court-martialed and retired General Smith from the service. There were reports that about one third of the entire population of Samar was annihilated during the campaign. Moreover, when members of the U.S. Army 11th Infantry Regiment left Balangiga, Samar, they took with them two church bells from the Balangiga Catholic Church. They were placed in a brick display museum in their home base Fort Russell, Wyoming, where they still remain today.

Concentration Camps.

General Miguel Malvar of Batangas, who took over the leadership of the fallen Aguinaldo, continued the fight. He was the commanding general of all forces south of the Pasig River. The Americans committed barbaric acts because of the population’s support to the guerrillas.

For instance, by December 25, 1901, all men, women, and children of the towns of Batangas and Laguna, were herded into small areas within the poblacion of their respective towns. The American troops burned their houses, carts, poultry, animals, etc. The people were prisoners for months.


"There goes the American Soldier and all Hell can't stop him." P. I..

Those acts were considered by many as an early version of the concentration camps used by American soldiers in the Vietnam War. The same tactics were perpetrated by the American army against non-combatants from March to October 1903 in the province of Albay and in 1905 in the provinces of Cavite and Batangas.

Enough Is Enough.

Many Filipino soldiers and military officers surrendered to the Americans, but there were some who refused to give up. On February 27, 1902, General Vicente Lukban, who resorted to ambushing American troops in Samar, was captured in Samar. General Malvar surrendered to General J. Franklin Bell in Lipa, Batangas, on April 16, 1902.

“Official” End of the Philippine-American War.

On July 4, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt declared that the Philippine-American War, which Americans called the Philippine Insurrection, was over. He made the declaration after the Philippine Commission reported to Roosevelt that the recent “insurrection” in the Philippines was over and a general and complete state of peace existed.


Co. I, 22nd U. S. Infantry, encamped at Malolos, Philippine Islands.

Sporadic Fighting Continues.

Official history proclaims Filipino struggle against the Americans as a short one and honors those who connived with the Americans. But little importance has been given to those who stood by the original goals of the Katipunan.

However, according to author Constantino, peace in the Philippines was merely propaganda. He said, in reality, the reports of the American commanding general and several governors showed that numerous towns and villages remained in a state of constant rebellion. They themselves recognized that this could not have continued without the people’s support. Many collaborators were killed by resistance forces. The civil government, composed of 6,000 men, was established. It was, however, led by American officers and former members of the Spanish civil guards.

Civil Guards.

Initially, the highest rank a Filipino could hold was only second lieutenant. (Americans continued to head the constabulary until 1917.) The constabulary was used to quell local resistance. Constantino terms these suppressive efforts of using a native force “the original Vietnamization.” He adds that some military techniques employed against Philippine resistance groups “strikingly similar to those that have more recently shocked the world.”


The necessary Result of War -- an Insurgent killed in the trenches at the Battle of Malabon, P. I..

The Katipunan Becomes Alive.

Many resistance groups under different leaders had emerged during the war years. Luciano San Miguel, who joined the Katipunan in 1886 revived the Katipunan in his command in Zambales Province. He was a colonel when the Philippine-American War broke out. As a commander, he participated in the battles of 1899 in central and western Luzon, including Morong and Bulacan.

In 1902, he was elected national head of the revived Katipunan. He continued the guerrilla war. He died in a battle with Philippine Constabulary and Philippine Scouts in the district of Pugad-Baboy, in Morong, now Metro Manila.

Faustino Guillermo, assumed the leadership of the new Katipunan movement when San Miguel was killed. Others who took part in the guerrilla warfare were Macario Sakay, who had been with Bonifacio and Jacinto during the initial struggles of the Katipunan, and Julian Montalan and Cornelio Felizardo.


A Sixth Artillery Gatling Gun, driving Insurgents out of the brush, Pasay, P. I..

The Philippine Constabulary, Philippine Scouts, and elements of the United States Army combined to go after the guerrillas. In the province of Albay, General Simeon Ola launched guerrilla raids on U.S.-occupied towns until his surrender on September 25, 1903. He was the last Filipino general to surrender to the Americans. Sakay, leader of a band of patriotic Filipinos and whom the Americans branded as a bandit, continued to fight. He even established the Tagalog “Republic.”

He surrendered on July 14, 1906. Sakay and his men were tried and convicted as bandits. Sakay was hanged on September 13, 1907.

[SAMWolf]

It took the United States more than three years to defeat the army of the first Philippine Republic. However, the outcome of the war was never in doubt, mainly because the United States enjoyed tremendous military advantages.

In numbers alone, the U.S. was superior. Although there were only 20,032 enlisted men and 819 officers in the U.S. Expeditionary Force in the Philippines as of January 31, 1899, more troops arrived in subsequent months. By April 16, 1902, more than 120,000 American soldiers had fought or served in the Philippines. Even more superior were the arms used by the Americans, who were well-equipped. U.S. warships were on the coast, ready to fire their big guns when needed.

In contrast, the Filipino arms were a motley of rifles. Some had been supplied by the Americans during the Spanish-American War, others smuggled in by Filipino patriots, seized from the Spanish army, or taken from American soldiers. Artillery was likewise limited. Most of their cannons were captured from the Spaniards. Many Filipino soldiers did not even have guns, but used spears, lances and bolos (big knives) in fighting. Filipino soldiers also lacked military training. They did manage to win some small battlefield encounters, but these only delayed the ultimate victory for the Americans. Their resistance did not arouse public opinion in America against the U.S. military campaigns in the Philippines to the same degree that American public opinion forced the United States to withdraw from the Vietnam War more than 70 years later.

Nevertheless, the United States had to pay a very high price, more than 4,000 American soldiers’ lives. One of them was Major General Henry C. Lawton, who was killed in the Battle of San Mateo on December 23, 1899. He was the highest-ranking U.S. military officer to be killed in action in the Philippine-American War. The U.S. government also spent about $600 million in all."

[SAMWolf]

The State of the Union is Strong!
Support the Commander in Chief
Click Here to Send a Message to the opposition!

[SAMWolf]

Thanks, Doughty!

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Everybody.

Chow time!
NG's and ER's to the front of the line.

Standing Operating Procedures state:
Click the Pics For Today's Tunes

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thanks, Sam. Good job.

The news is not very good right now. There has been an accident --friendly fire-- a US patriot missile has taken down a British airplane. So sad.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Victoria. I heard, looks like we're causing more casualties than the Iraqis are.

[Victoria Delsoul]

You're right. It was a sad day today, unfortunately.

[Jen]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

To be removed from this list, please send me a blank private reply with "REMOVE" in the subject line! Thanks! Jen

[Cool Guy]

Thanks for the bump!

[Nitro]

Matthew Brady Bump!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!!

[KneelBeforeZod]

Residents of Umm Qsar southern Iraq (news - web sites), cheer as British Royal Marines drive through the liberated parts of the town Saturday March 22, 2003. In other parts of the city, troops have been facing street-to-street fighting against soldiers wearing civilian clothes and using guerrilla tactics. (AP Photo/Simon Walker, Pool)

[risk]

Marvelous pic. Reminds us what being American liberators is all about. I hope the Sunis in central Iraq see us the same way, and I hope we can help Kurds and Shi'ites forgive the ethnic groups associated with Baathist oppressors once this is all over.

[Soaring Feather]

Good Morning Sam, everyone.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on March 23:
1599 Thomas Selle composer
1638 Frederik Ruysch Dutch anatomist
1699 John Bartram naturalist/explorer, father of American botany
1736 Iman Willem Falck Dutch Governor of Ceylon (1765-83)
1749 Hugo Franz Karl Alexander von Kerpen composer
1749 Pierre-Simon Laplace mathematician/astronomer/physicist
1750 Johannes Matthias Sperger composer
1761 John W de Winter Dutch Vice-Admiral (Battle at Kamperduin)
1769 William Smith geologist (Strata Identified by Organized Fossils)
1795 Leopold Jansa composer
1801 Peterus D Regout Dutch industrialist (Sphinx, Maastricht)
1808 Jeronimo de Bosch Kemper sociologist/historian (Statistic yearbook)
1811 Camille Marie Stamaty composer
1811 Carl Gottfried Wilhelm Taubert composer
1818 Don Carlos Buell Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1898
1821 Aleksej F Pisemski Russian writer (Clodhopper)
1823 Schuyler Colfax (R) 17th Vice President (1869-73)
1825 Edward Lloyd Thomas Brigadier General (Confederate Army) died in 1898
1826 Leon Minkus composer
1834 Julius Reubke composer
1837 Joseph Wieniawski composer
1844 Eugene Gigout composer
1847 Alexandru D Xenopol Romania, historian
1854 Alfred Milner Giessen Germany, British Governor (Cape colony)
1857 Fannie Farmer actress (namesake of a candy company)
1858 Ludwig Quidde German historian/politician (Nobel prize 1927)
1860 Horatio W Bottomley British journalist/swindler
1863 Godfried CE van Daalen Dutch General/Governor of Atjeh
1864 Hjalmar Borgstrom composer
1876 Sir Muirhead Bone Glasgow Scotland, etcher/engraver of architecture
1878 Franz Schrecker composer
1881 Hermann Staudinger Germany, chemist/plastics researcher (Nobel '53)
1881 Roger Martin du Guard France, novelist (Les Thibault-Nobel 1937)
1882 C Montague Shaw Adelaide Australia
1883 Faisal I ibn Hussein ibn Ali 1st king of Iraq/Syria
1884 Glauco Velasquez composer
1887 Anthony van Hoboken Dutch musicologist (Haydn-catalog)
1887 Felix Felixovitch Yussupov Russian prince/murderer of Rasputin
1887 Juan Gris Spain, cubist painter (Still Life Before an Open Window)
1887 Sidney Hillman union leader (Sidney Hillman Foundation)
1891 Catherine Murphy Urner composer
1895 Dane Rudhyar composer
1898 Georgios Grivas Greek General/opposition leader on Cyprus
1898 Hazel Dawn [LaTout] Ogden UT, actress (Niobe, Under Cover, Feud Girl)
19-- Ken Michelman New York NY, actor (Abner-White Shadow)
19-- Terry Alexander Detroit MI, actor (Troy-One Life to Live)
1900 Erich Fromm Frankfurt Germany, psychologist (Sane Society)
1900 Jose Antonio Calcano composer
1901 Jan H de Groot Dutch resistance fighter/co-founder (Free Netherlands)
1902 Philip Ober Fort Payne AL, actor (General Stone-I Dream of Jeannie)
1905 Paul Grimault animator
1905 Ralph Perring Lord Mayor (London)
1906 George Posford composer
1907 Daniel Bovet Switzerland, pharmacologist (Nobel 1957)
1907 Douglas Patrick Thomas Jay politician
1908 Dominique de Menil arts patron/human rights advocate
1908 Joan Crawford [Lucille Fay LeSueur] San Antonio TX, actress (Mildred Pierce, What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?)
1910 Akira Kurosawa Tokyo Japan, director (7 Samurai, Living)
1910 Lale [Liselotte H] Anderson Bremerhaven Germany, singer/actress (Der Pott)
1911 Augustus John "Gus" Risman rugby league player
1911 Charles Joseph A Russhon USAF Lieutenant Colonel/liaison (James Bond films)
1911 Denis Wright diplomat
1911 Edward Warner diplomat
1911 Richard Chapman golfer (1940 US amateur, 1951 British amateur)
1912 Alfred Schwarzmann Germany, gymnast (Olympics-2 golds-1936)
1912 John Payne Roanoke VA, actor (Dodsworth, Razor's Edge)
1912 Werner von Braun Wirsitz Germany, rocket expert (I Aim at the Stars)
1914 Robert Gross composer
1915 Francis Berry poet/Shakespearean scholar
1917 H C Allen American historian
1917 Johnny Guarnieri New York NY, jazz pianist (Morey Amsterdam Show)
1917 Kenneth Tobey actor (The Thing, Strange Invaders)
1917 Patricia Burke Milan Italy, actress (Forbidden)
1919 Michael Lyne British air Vice-marshal
1920 Alexander Grigori Harut'unyan composer
1920 Geoffrey Bush composer
1920 James Brown Desdemona TX, actor (Lieutenant Rip Masters-Rin Tin Tin)
1920 Jimmy Edwards comedy actor (Barnes)
1920 Neal Smith (Representative-Democrat-IA, 1959- )
1921 Donald Malcome Campbell Surrey UK, boat racer (1955 speed records)
1921 Ian Todd President (Royal College of Surgeons)
1921 Wolfgang Altendorfer writer
1922 Marty Allen Pittsburgh PA, comedian (Allen & Rossi), "Hello Dere"
1922 Ugo Tognazzi Cremona Italy, actor/director (La Cage Aux Folles)
1923 Arnie Weinmeister AAFC, NFL defensive tackle (New York Yankees, Giants)
1924 Peter Godfrey chartered accountant
1925 Cees de Ruyter European champion billiards player
1925 David McNee commissioner (Metropolitan Police)
1926 Martha Wright Seattle WA, singer (Let's Dance, The Martha Wright Show)
1927 Osvaldo Lacerda composer
1928 11th duke of Beaufort English large landowner/multi-millionaire
1928 Alfred Morris British MP
1929 Albert H Crews astronaut
1929 Gerrit den Braber Dutch composer/producer
1929 James Ackley Maxwell actor/director (Traitors, Pyt Potter, Otley)
1929 Michael Manser architect
1929 Roger Bannister England, 1st to run a 4 minute mile (May 6, 1954)
1931 Norman F Lent (Representative-Republican-NY, 1971- )
1933 Geoffrey Leigh CEO (Allied London Properties)
1933 Monique van Vooren Belgium, actress (Andy Warhol's Frankenstein)
1933 Norman Bailey British bass-baritone (Flying Dutchman)
1934 Bryan Bass headmaster (City of London School)
1934 Mark Rydell New York NY, actor (Havana, Punchline, Long Goodbye)
1935 Barry Cryer comedian/writer (Goodies Rule-OK, All You Need is Cash)
1935 Desmond Pitcher CEO (Merseyside Development Corporation)
1935 Szilárd Kun Hungary, rapid fire pistol (Olympics-silver-1952)
1937 Craig Breedlove Los Angeles CA, auto-racing champion (600 MPH-Spirit of America)
1937 Heinz Martin Lonquich composer
1938 Christopher Glenn New York NY, news anchor (CBS Nightwatch)
1938 Kenneth J Gregory warden (Goldsmiths' College)
1939 Bert Berdis Pittsburgh PA, comedian (Tim Conway Show)
1939 Boris Ivanovich Tischenko composer
1940 Brian Hastings cricketer (New Zealand batsman in 70's)
1940 Luis Gasca rocker
1940 Tariq Yunus actor (Bollywood, Ashanti, Deceivers)
1942 Jimmy Miller US pop drummer (Rolling Stones, Motörhead)
1943 Gail Goodrich NBA star (Lakers, Suns)
1943 Peter Graves supt minister (Westminster Central Hall)
1944 Michael Nyman composer (Mesmer, Carrington)
1944 Salim Altaf cricketer (Pakistan medium-pacer in 21 Tests 1967-78)
1947 Barbara Rhodes Poughkeepsie NY, actress (Don't Just Stand There)
1948 Michael Gleeson otolaryngologist
1948 R J Bennett FBA/geographer
1948 Wasim Bari cricket wicket-keeper (Pakistan's most successful)
1949 Karen English (Representative-Democrat-AZ)
1949 Ric Ocasek Baltimore MD, rocker (Cars-Double Life, All Mixed Up, Bye Bye Love)
1950 Corrine Clery Paris France, actress (Moonraker, Yor)
1950 P R Scott Headmaster (Bancroft's School, Woodford Green)
1951 Dick Mast Bluffton OH, Nike golfer (1990 Mississippi Gulf Coast)
1951 Lis Howell director of programs (GMTV)
1952 Patricia Richardson Bethesda MD, actress (Jill-Home Improvement)
1953 Chaka Khan [Yvette Marie Stevens] Great Lakes IL, rocker (Rufus-I'm Every Woman)
1953 Geoffrey Clifton-Brown British MP
1953 Louie Anderson Minneapolis MN, comedian (Ratboy, Wrong Guys)
1954 Moses Malone NBA all star center (Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia '76ers)
1955 Cindy Olavarri Pleasant Hills CA, cyclist (7-Eleven team)
1956 Andrew Mitchell British MP
1956 Laura Thorne chef (named one of 10 best American chefs)
1957 Amanda Plummer New York NY, actress (Hotel New Hampshire, Dollmaker)
1957 Sheila Rena Ingram Washington DC, 4X400 meter relayer (Olympics-silver-1976)
1957 Teresa Ganzel Toledo OH, actress (Teachers Only, Duck Factory)
1958 Serena Grandi [Fagioli], Bologna Italy, actress (Miranda)
1960 Oscar Michael Moore journalist
1960 Terry Sweeney St Albans NY, writer/comedian (Saturday Night Live)
1962 Johan Steur soccer player (FC Volendam)
1963 Ana Quirot Cuba, 800 meter runner (Olympics-bronze/silver-92, 96)
1963 Kim Williams Bethesda MD, LPGA golfer (1995 GHP Heartland-26th)
1965 Dante Jones NFL linebacker (Denver Broncos)
1965 Daren Puppa Kirkland Lake, NHL goalie (Tampa Bay Lightning)
1965 Richard Grieco Waterton NY, actor (21 Jump Street, Booker)
1965 Wayne Presley Detroit MI, NHL right wing (Toronto Maple Leafs)
1966 James Saxon NFL fullback (Philadelphia Eagles)
1966 Marti Pellow rocker (Wet, Wet, Wet-Wishing I Was)
1966 Mike Remlinger Middletown NY, pitcher (Cincinnati Reds)
1967 David Ford Edmonton Alberta, kayaker (Olympics-15-92, 96)
1967 Duncan Macrae actor (Casino Royale, Kidnapped), dies at 61
1967 Sandra Ferguson [Reinhardt] Pittsburgh PA, actress (Amanda-Another World, Illegal in Blue)
1968 Atul Wassan cricketer (Indian pace bowler 1989-90)
1968 Curtis Mayfield CFL receiver (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
1968 David Maeva CFL linebacker (British Columbia Lions)
1968 Mark Maddox linebacker (Buffalo Bills)
1968 Mike Atherton cricketer (Lancashire batsman & England captain)
1970 Carl Pickens NFL wide receiver (Cincinnati Bengals)
1970 Turhon O'Bannon CFL receiver (Winnipeg Blue Bombers)
1971 Alexander Selivanov Moscow Russia, NHL right wing (Tampa Bay Lightning)
1971 Chris Lipuma Oak Lawn, NHL defenseman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
1971 Demetrius DuBose NFL linebacker (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1971 Hiroyoshi Yamamoto wrestler (NJPW)
1971 Karen McDougal Gary IN, playmate (December 1997)
1971 Renette Cruz Miss Canada-Universe (1996)
1971 Yasmeen Ghauri Montréal Canada, model (Valentino Perfume)
1972 Jennifer K Chapman Miss Massachusetts-USA (1997)
1972 Jonas Bjorkman Vaxjo Sweden, tennis star (Davis Cup 1994)
1972 Ryan Kuwabara hockey forward (Team Japan 1998)
1973 David Vaughn NBA forward (Orlando Magic, San Francisco Warriors)
1973 Igor Nikitin hockey defenseman (Team Kazakhstan Olympics-1998)
1973 Jason Kidd NBA guard (Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks)
1973 Kathy Carboy Cincinnati OH, diver (Olympics-96)
1973 Naoko Sawamatsu Nishinomiya Japan, tennis star (1994 Singapore)
1973 Ninya Perna Miss Nevada-USA (1997)
1973 Rob Lazeo CFL offensive tackle (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
1974 Eric Washington NBA guard (Denver Nuggets)
1974 Scott Galyon linebacker (New York Giants)
1974 Tony Alberda Dutch soccer player (SC Heerenveen, Emmen)
1975 Rita Grande Napoli Italy, tennis star (3rd round 1996 Australian Open)
1976 Keri Russell actress (Mickey Mouse Club, Lottery, Daddy Girls)
1976 Nolan Baumgartner Calgary, NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals)
1977 Josh Ackerman actor (Mickey Mouse Club)
1978 Nicholle Tom Hinsdale IL, actress (Beethoven, Maggie-Nanny, Beverly Hills 90210)
1990 Eugenie Princess of York/daughter of prince Andrew/Sarah Ferguson

---

Deaths which occurred on March 23:
1169 Shirkuh Kurd General/vizier of Cairo/Saladin's uncle, dies
1237 Jan of Brienne King of Jerusalem/Emperor of Constantinople, dies
1369 Pedro the Cruel, King/tyrant of Castile & Leon, murdered
1555 Julius III [Giovanni M del Monte], Pope (1550-55), dies at 67
1606 Justus Lipsius [Joost Lips], Dutch classic philologist, dies at 58
1653 Johan van Galen Dutch Admiral (Dunes Monte Christo), dies at about 48
1658 Valentin Dretzel composer, dies at 79
1669 Philipp Buchner composer, dies at 54
1676 Paulus Wirtz [Würtz], German/Netherlands army commander, dies at 63
1748 Johann Gottfried Walther German composer/musicologist, dies at 63
1756 Georg Gottfried Wagner composer, dies at 57
1783 Gaspard Fritz composer, dies at 67
1786 Patience Wright 1st US woman pro artist, dies (birth date unknown)
1801 Paul I tsar of Russia (1796-1801), strangled at 46
1806 George Frederic Pinto composer, dies at 20
1809 Ferdinand-Philippe-Joseph Staes composer, dies at 60
1816 Ignaz Vitzthumb composer, dies at 95
1818 Nicolas Isouard composer, dies at 42
1819 August v Kotzebue writer, dies
1821 Bernhard Anselm Weber pianist/conductor/composer, dies at 56
1832 Vaclav Vilem Wurfel composer, dies at 41
1842 Stendhal [Marie-Henri Beyle], French author (Lamiel), dies at 59
1862 Karl Robert von Nesselrode German chancellor, dies at 81
1869 Charles Lucas composer, dies at 60
1880 Gustav Adolf Mankell composer, dies at 67
1881 Nikolay Rubinstein composer, dies at 45
1902 Kálmán Tisza premier of Hungary (1875-90), dies at 71
1906 Victor Barton cricketer (scored 23 in Test England vs South Africa 1892), dies
1907 Constantine P Pobedonostsev Russian reactionary senator, dies at 79
1914 Teunis Stoel actor, dies at 62
1918 Cesar Cortinas composer, dies at 27
1919 Jean HL Bossard actor/impresario (2 Orphans), dies at 45
1925 Aleksei Kuropatkin Russian General/minister of War, dies at 76
1937 Helge Rode Danish poet/essayist, dies at 66
1943 André Lichtenberger French Sudan writer (Le Petit Roi), dies at 72
1943 Joseph Moiseyevich Schillinger composer, dies at 47
1944 O C Wingate British General-Major (Burma), dies in air crash
1946 Alexandru Zirra composer, dies at 62
1950 Douglas Carr England cricket leg-spinner (Test 1909), dies
1952 Klaas Schilder Dutch vicar/theologist/antifascist, dies at 61
1953 Raoul Dufy painter, Forcalquier, France
1957 L Patrick Abercrombie English architect, dies at 77
1958 Florian Znaniecki Polish/US sociologist/philosopher, dies at 76
1960 Franklin P Adams columnist (Information Please), dies at 78
1961 A C Russell cricketer (10 Tests for England 910 runs), dies
1961 James Edward Murray (Senator-Democrat-MT) (1935-61), dies
1961 Valentin Vasilyevich Bondarenko cosmonaut, dies in accident at 24
1962 Josephus RH van Schaik lawyer/vice-premier of Netherlands, dies at 80
1962 Val Paul producer (F-Man), dies at 73
1963 Davey Moore dies seconds after being KOed in feather-weight championship
1964 Peter Lorre actor (Casino Royale), dies at 59
1964 Vassily Vainonen Russian ballet choreographer (Gayaneh), dies at 66
1965 Mae Murray actress (Bachelor Apartment), dies of heart ailment at 75
1966 Johannes W Elsensohn Dutch actor/writer (Arie), dies at 82
1967 Duncan Macrae actor (Casino Royale, Kidnapped), dies at 61
1968 Edwin O'Connor US writer, dies at 49
1969 Rudolf Pannwitz German author/philosopher (Urblik), dies at 87
1971 Armin Loos composer, dies at 67
1971 Simon Vestdijk Dutch author/poet (Brass Garden), dies at 72
1973 Ken Maynard actor (Phantom Rancher, $50,000 Reward), dies at 77
1979 Philip Bourneuf actor (Big Night, Frankenstein), dies at 71
1982 Mario Praz Italian author (Casa della vita), dies at 85
1983 Dr Barney Clark 1st artificial heart recipient , dies after 112 days at 62
1985 Anton Constandse Dutch anarchist/writer, dies at 85
1985 Patricia Roberts Harris (Representative-D), dies at 60
1985 Singing Nun [Janine Deckers] commits suicide in Belgium at 52
1987 Dean Paul Martin musician/tennis pro, killed in plane crash at 29
1991 Dominic Bellissimo created buffalo chicken wings, dies at 68
1991 Fons Jansen Dutch night club performer, dies at 65
1991 Mona Maris actress (Camila, Berlin Correspondent), dies at 88
1992 Friedrich A von Hayek British economist (Road to Serfdom), dies at 92
1993 Hans Werner Richter German writer/founder (Gruppe 47), dies at 84
1994 Alvara del Portillo Spanish Opus Dei bishop, dies at 80
1994 Giulietta Masina wife of Federico Felini/(La Strada), dies at 74
1994 Jim Moloney dies of Parkinson's disease
1994 Luis Donaldo Colosio Mexican Presidential candidate, assassinated at 44
1995 Alan Barton singer (Smokie, Black Lace), dies in a bus crash
1995 Daniel George "Danny" Apolinar composer/songwriter, dies at 61
1995 Davie Cooper soccer star, dies at 39
1995 Irving Shulman author/screenwriter, dies at 81
1995 Ripley L Ingram singer, dies at 65
1995 Robert Turner winner of 1st All-American Soap Box Derby, dies at 72
1995 Russell Reading Braddon author, dies at 74
1996 Jay D Miller record producer, dies at 73
1996 Peter Baer artist/printmaker, dies at 72

---

On this day...
1026 Koenraad II crowns himself king of Italy
1066 18th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1153 Treaty of Konstanz between Frederik I "Barbarossa" & Pope Eugene III
1490 1st dated edition of Maimonides "Mishna Torah" published
1534 Aragón legal
1568 Treaty of Longjumeau: French huguenots go on strike
1579 Friesland joins Union of Utrecht
1593 English Congressionalist Henry Barrow accused of slander
1630 French troops occupy Pinerolo Piedmont
1657 France & England form alliance against Spain; England gets Dunkirk
1708 English pretender to the throne James III lands at Firth of Forth
1743 George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" premieres in London
1775 Patrick Henry proclaims "Give me liberty or give me death"
1794 Josiah Pierson patents a "cold-header" (rivet) machine
1794 Lieutenant-General Tadeusz Kosciuszko returns to Poland
1801 Murder attempt on Czar Paul I
1806 Lewis & Clark reach Pacific coast
1808 Napoleon's brother Joseph takes the throne of Spain
1832 British Parliament passes reform bill
1835 Charles Darwin reaches Los Arenales, in the Andes
1836 Coin Press invented by Franklin Beale
1839 1st recorded use of "OK" [oll korrect] (Boston's Morning Post)
1840 Draper takes 1st successful photo of the Moon (daguerrotype)
1849 Battle of Novara (King Charles Albert vs Italian republic)
1857 Elisha Otis' 1st elevator installed (488 Broadway, NYC)
1858 Streetcar patented (Eleazer A Gardner of Philadelphia)
1861 London's 1st tramcars, designed by Mr Train of New York, begins operating
1862 Battle of Kernstown VA-Jackson begins his Valley Campaign
1864 Encounter at Camden AR
1865 General Sherman/Cox' troops reach Goldsboro NC
1867 Congress passes 2nd Reconstruction Act over President Johnson's veto
1868 University of California founded (Oakland CA)
1880 Flour rolling mill patented (John Stevens of Wisconsin)
1881 Boers & Britain sign peace accord; end 1st Boer war
1881 Gas lamp sets fire to Nice France opera house; 70 die
1889 President Harrison opens Oklahoma for white colonization
1891 1st jazz concert was held at Carnegie Hall
1896 Umberto Giordano's opera "Andrea Chénier" premieres in Milan
1901 Dame Nellie Melba, reveals secret of her now famous toast
1903 Wright brothers obtain airplane patent
1910 1st race at Los Angeles Motordrome (1st US auto speedway)
1912 Dixie Cup invented
1915 Zion Mule Corp forms
1917 4 day series of tornadoes kills 211 in Midwest US
1918 Alick Wickham dives 200' into Australia's Yarra River
1918 Crépy-en-Laonnoise: German artillery shells Paris France, 256 killed
1918 Lithuania proclaims independence
1918 Paris bombs "Thick Bertha's Dike" (nickname for the widow Krupp)
1919 Bashkir ASSR, in RSFSR, constituted
1919 Benito Mussolini forms Fascist movement in Milan Italy
1919 Moscow's Politburo/Central Committee forms
1920 Perserikatan Communist of India (PKI) political party forms
1922 1st airplane lands at the US Capitol in Washington DC
1922 KMJ-AM in Fresno CA begins radio transmissions
1922 WEW-AM in Saint Louis MO begins radio transmissions
1923 Frank Silver & Irving Conn release "Yes, We Have No Bananas"
1925 Tennessee becomes 1st state to outlaw teaching theory of evolution
1926 NHL Championship: Montréal Canadiens outscore Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-4 in 2 games
1929 1st telephone installed in White House
1930 US Ladies Figure Skating Championship won by Maribel Vinson
1930 US Men's Figure Skating Championship won by Roger Turner
1933 Enabling Act: German Reichstag grants Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers
1933 Kroll Opera in Berlin opens
1934 US Congress accepts Philippines independence in 1945
1936 Italy, Austria & Hungary sign Pact of Rome
1937 Los Angeles Railway Co starts using PCC streetcars
1938 Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis frees 74 St L Cardinals minor leaguers
1940 1st radio broadcast of "Truth or Consequences" on CBS
1940 All-India-Muslim League calls for a Muslim homeland
1942 2,500 Jews of Lublin massacred or deported
1942 Japanese forces occupy Andaman Islands in Indian Ocean
1942 US move native-born of Japanese ancestry into detention centers
1943 German counter attack on US lines in Tunisia
1944 Bomb assassination against Southern Tirol congregation in Rome, 33 die
1944 Nicholas Alkemade falls 5,500 meter without a parachute & lives
1945 British 7th Black Watch crosses the Rhine
1945 Largest operation in Pacific war, 1,500 US Navy ships bomb Okinawa
1945 Premier Winston Churchill visits Montgomery's headquarter in Straelen
1946 8th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Oklahoma State beats North Carolina 43-40
1948 John Cunningham sets world altitude record (54,492' (18,133 meter))
1949 Sidney Kingsley's "Detective Story" premieres in New York NY
1950 "Great to Be Alive" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 52 performances
1950 22nd Academy Awards: "All King's Men", Broderick Crawford & Olivia de Havilland win
1950 Sophocles Venizelos forms liberal Greeks government
1950 UN World Meteorological Organization established
1951 Wages in France increase 11%
1952 Rangers with less than 14 minutes to go blow a 6-2 lead, losing 7-6 to Chicago Black Hawks; Mosienko scores 3 times in 21 seconds
1956 18th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: San Francisco beats Iowa 83-71; this is San Francisco's 2nd consecutive national basketball championship
1956 Pakistan proclaimed an Islamic republic in Commonwealth (National Day)
1956 Sudan becomes independent
1957 19th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: North Carolina beats Kansas 54-53 (3 overtimes)
1957 US army sells last homing pigeons
1960 Explorer (8) fails to reach Earth orbit
1962 JFK visits San Francisco
1962 Nawab of Pataudi captains India cricket vs West Indies age 21 years 77 days
1962 Wake Forest coach "Bones" McKinney becomes 2nd person to play & coach
1962 William DeWitt buys Cincinnati Reds for $4,625,000
1963 25th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Loyola beats Cincinnati 60-58 (OT)
1963 Rolf Hochhuth's "Der Stellvertreter" premieres in Berlin
1964 UNCTAD 1 world conference opens in Geneva
1965 Gemini 3 launched, 1st US 2-man space flight (Grissom & Young)
1965 Moroccan army shoots on demonstrators, about 100 killed
1966 1st official meeting after 400 years of Catholic & Anglican Church
1968 30th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats North Carolina 78-55
1968 Reverend Walter Fauntroy, is 1st non-voting congressional delegate from Washington DC
1969 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Port Charlotte Golf Invitational
1969 Rally for Decency (Miami)
1970 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1971 Dutch 2nd Chamber accept simplified divorce
1971 USSR performs underground nuclear test
1972 Evil Knievel breaks 93 bones after successfully clearing 35 cars
1972 New York Yankees agree to continue playing ball in the Bronx
1973 After a 5½ year run, soap "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" ends
1973 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1973 Yoko Ono is granted permanent residence in US
1975 Sue Roberts wins LPGA Bing Crosby International Golf Classic
1976 International Bill of Rights goes into effect (35 nations ratify)
1978 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1979 Larry Holmes TKOs Osvaldo Ocasio in 7 for heavyweight boxing title
1979 Wings release "Goodnight Tonight"
1980 Border completes 150 in each inning of Test Cricket vs Pakistan
1980 Donna Caponi Young Pro-Am wins LPGA National Golf Tournament
1980 France performs nuclear test
1980 Shah of Iran arrives in Egypt
1981 Supreme Court rules states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teen-age girls sought abortions
1981 Supreme Court upholds law making statutory rape a crime only for men
1982 Guatemala military coup under General Rios Montt, President Romeo Lucas flees
1982 Isle's Mike Bossy's 20th career hat trick-4 goals
1983 US President Ronald Reagan introduces "Star Wars"-plan (SDI)
1984 Andrea Schöne skates ladies world record 3 km (4 :0.91)
1984 World Ice Dance Championship in Ottawa won by J Torvill & Chris Dean (Great Britain)
1984 World Ice Pairs Figure Skating Championship in Ottawa won by Underhill & Paul Martini (Canada)
1984 World Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Ottawa won by Katarina Witt (German Democratic Republic)
1984 World Men's Figure Skating Championship in Ottawa won by Scott Hamilton (USA)
1985 Betsy King wins LPGA Standard Register PING
1985 Billy Joel weds supermodel Christie Brinkley
1985 Discovery moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 51-D mission
1985 Julian Lennon's 1st concert (San Antonio TX)
1985 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1986 6th Golden Raspberry Awards: Rambo; First Blood Part II wins
1986 Heavyweight Trevor Berbick KOs Pinklon Thomas
1986 Penny Pulz wins LPGA Circle K Tucson Golf Open
1987 Soap opera "Bold & Beautiful" premieres
1987 US offers military protection to Kuwaiti ships in the Persian Gulf
1987 West Germany SPD chairman Willy Brandt resigns
1989 2 Utah scientists claim they have produced fusion at room temperature
1989 Joel Steinberg sentenced to 25 years for killing his adopted daughter
1990 Former Exxon Valdez Captain Joseph Hazelwood ordered to help clean up Prince William Sound & pay $50,000 in restitution for 1989 oil spill
1991 1st World League of American Football games, London beats Frankfurt 24-11, Sacramento beats Raleigh-Durham 9-3 & Montréal beats Birmingham 20-5
1991 20 Tornadoes kill 5 in Tennessee
1991 Sergei Bubka pole vaults world record indoor (6.12 meter)
1992 Florida Marlins begin selling tickets
1993 Belgian government of Dehaene, resigns
1993 New York Knicks & Phoenix Suns get into a major brawl
1994 Amy Fisher's lover, Joey Buttafuoco, released from jail after 4 months & 9 days
1994 Graeme Obree bicycles world record 10 km (11 :8)
1994 Howard Stern formally announces his Libertarian run for New York Governor
1994 Last day of Test cricket for Kapil Dev
1994 Richard Jacobs buys naming rights to Indians new ball park at Gateway for $13.8 million (renamed Jacobs Field)
1994 Russian Airbus A-310 crashes in Siberia (74-75 killed)
1994 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL record with 802 goals scored
1995 "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" opens at R Rodgers NYC for 548 performances
1995 Dollar equals 88.41 yen (record)
1997 "Mandy Patinkin in Concert" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC
1997 17th Golden Raspberry Awards: Striptease wins
1997 Laura Davies wins Standard Register PING Golf Tournament
1997 Liberty Legends of Senior Golf
1997 Phil Mickelson wins Bay Hill Golf Invitiational
1997 Wrestlemania XIII in Chicago, Undertaker beats Psycho Sid for title
1998 70th Academy Awards: Titanic, Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt win

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Bolivia : Memorial Day
Laos : Armed Forces Day
Lithuana : Independence Day (1918)
Pakistan : Republic Day (1956)
Sudan : Independence Day (1956)
UN : World Meteorological Day, a UN observance (1950)
World : World Meteorological Day

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Religious Observances
Anglican : Gregory the Illuminator, bishop/missionary to Armenia
Roman Catholic : Memorial of St Turibius of Mogrovejo, archbp of Lima (optional)
Christian : Palm Sunday of the Passion of Jesus Christ
Jewish : Purim (feast of Lot) (Adar II 14, 5757 AM)

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Religious History
1540 In a show of growing support for Henry VIII, Waltham Abbey in Essex became the last monastery in England to transfer its allegiance from the Catholic Church to the newly_established Church of England.
1744 In London, composer George Frederic Handel's famous oratorio "Messiah" was performed for the first time.
1877 Mormon fanatic John Doyle Lee was executed by a firing squad for masterminding the Mountain Meadows Massacre. In 1857, a wagon train of 127 Arkansas Methodist emigrants, bound for California, were killed by a party of Mormon settlers and Paiute Indians at Mountain Meadows (near Cedar city), Utah.
1892 Birth of George Arthur Buttrick, English Presbyterian pastor and educator. A teacher at both Union Theological Seminary and Harvard University, Buttrick is best remembered as chief editor of "The Interpreter's Bible" (1952_57).
1966 Archbishop of Canterbury Arthur Michael Ramsey met and exchanged public greetings with Pope Paul VI in Rome. It was the first official meeting between heads of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in over 400 years.

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Thought for the day :
" All who would win joy must share it, happiness was born a twin. "

[WaterDragon]

The war in the Philippines was not one of our shining moments, was it? It came soon after the Civil War, when the feelings about it were still hot. Fighting in the Philippines probably focused the anger outward, kept the newly reUnited States stable. Maybe not. I'm glad war has changed, at least for the American military. I think we're stronger for having changed. And it has meant making the training and arming of our military much more sophisticated. Maybe some of this is close.

[MeekOneGOP]

bump! bump! bump! . . .

Playin' catch up after the Pro-America Rally in Dallas yesterday. It was GREAT!

The reports are bookmarked on my profile page or see them Here ! and Here !

we now return to our regularly scheduled programming . . .

[maica]

They are the broadest smiles I have seen in some time. Great photo!