Trivia about the Battle of Pulang Lupa
In the early morning of September 13, 1900, Captain Devereaux Shields led 51 soldiers of Company F,Twenty-ninth U.S. Infantry in reconnoitering the mountains near Torrijos town, Marinduque. After three hours of hiking, the company’s vanguard stumbles upon a revolutionary camp and fires at it. Too late, they realize that they are almost completely encircled by guerillas hiding 300 yards to the north.
In retaliation to the Americans’ initial volley, the Filipinos led by Lt. Colonel Maximo Abad quickly released a massive gun salvo. For two hours the Americans tried to beat off the latter, to no avail.
At 7:30, the Americans started to retreat, transforming the clash into a protracted running gun battle with the odds against them. The Filipinos doggedly pursued them across 3 1/2 miles of irregular terrain spanning a small ravine and stream, which the Americans barely manage to cross. Knowing that the enemy’s objecitve is to reach Sta. Cruz, the Filipinos block them off with intermittent but effective gunfire, severely damaging their military capacity. Unable to hold out much longer, the captain ordered the raising of a flag of cease-fire, which the guerillas disregarded by firing at it. Not long after, the guerillas ended their siege, killing four Americans, wounding five others and capturing 48. The Battle for Pulang Lupa is now acknowledged as one of the singular events in the history of the Revolution.
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