| 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." |