In 1898, the Spanish-American War took place. After the war, Spain had been defeated and the Spanish colony of Philippines came under the control of USA.
During this war, the Filipino revolutionaries had hoped that after defeating Spain, USA would allow Philippines to gain independence. But when US took over the rule of Philippines, they felt betrayed. This led to the Philippine-American War which began in February, 1899. This war was still going on in 1900.
Soon after the Philippine-American War began, Filipino revolutionaries realized that they could find the superior American forces in an open battle. So they resorted to the use of guerrilla tactics. The American forces suspected that people in the town of Catubig were helping the guerrillas. So a small group of American soldiers was sent to gain control of the town and stop any supplies from reaching the guerrilla fighters. However, when the group of American soldiers was still in town, they were attacked by the guerrilla forces.
The siege took place in the town of Catubig in Philippines. It lasted from April 15, 1900 to April 19, 1900.
The American soldiers were commanders by J.T. Sweeney who led the Company H of 43rd Infantry Regiment. The Filipino guerrillas were led by Colonel Enrique Daguhob who led a group of 600 guerrilla fighters in the attack.
In early April, 1900, the 43rd Infantry Regiment reached the town of Catubig to assume control and cut off any supplies from reaching the guerrillas. Most of the American soldiers in this Regiment didn’t have a lot of experience of fighting the guerrilla fighters and hadn’t been in Philippines long. A few after they had reached Catubig, the Filipino General Vicente Lukban ordered Colonel Enrique Daguhob to attack the American soldiers. Colonel Daguhob led hundreds of guerrilla fighters in the attack.
The guerrilla fighters under Colonel Daguhob attacked the American soldiers on April 15, 1900. They were armed with pistols, rifles, conventional weapons as well as cannon. Using these, they soon forced the much smaller group of American soldiers to seek refuge in a church.
Then the guerrilla fighters laid siege to the church. During the siege, the Filipino fighters continued to fire on the church and also tried to put it on fire but the attempt failed. The American soldiers remained in the church until April 17. Then they retreated towards the river but this proved a costly retreat as many American soldiers died before they had reached the banks of the river. By the river, American soldiers dug up trenches and formed defenses where they held out until April 19. On April 19, help came and the remaining American soldiers were rescued.
The Filipino revolutionaries claimed victory in the Siege of Catubig since they had forced the American soldiers to withdraw from the town and sustain significant losses. The American army suffered around 20 dead and 3 wounded. However, the Filipino victory came at a significant cost. Around 150 Filipino fighters died in the four-day siege.
Learn More about the Siege of Catubig 1900 at Wikipedia
