Battle of Perez Dasmariñas

Battle of Perez Dasmariñas
Cavite Offensive of 1897
Part of the Philippine Revolution
DateFebruary 15 (Start of the Cavite Offensive) to March 24, 1897
LocationPerez Dasmariñas (with nearby vicinities of the town), Cavite, Philippines
Result Decisive Spanish victory
Retreat of the Katipunero forces from Cavite
Territorial
changes
Spaniards recapture most of Cavite.
Belligerents
Katipunan Spain Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Emilio Aguinaldo
Crispulo Aguinaldo
Flaviano Yengko
Placido Campos
Marcela Marcelo[1]
Spain Jose de Lachambre
Spain Antonio Zabala[2]:103
Strength
60,000+ men 23,000 infanterias and cazadores
100+ guns and mortars
Casualties and losses
~10,000 ~3,000
20,000 civilian deaths[3]

The Battle of Perez Dasmariñas occurred during the Cavite Offensive of 1897, an all-out attack commanded by Maj. Gen. Jose de Lachambre to recapture Cavite in the Philippines since their loss at the twin battles of Binakayan and Dalahican and to crush the Katipunan insurrection, led by Emilio Aguinaldo in the province. Both the battle and the offensive was a success for the Spanish, and the retreat to Montalban occurred several weeks after the battle. The battle had been too much a hardship for both the Filipino revolutionaries and the Perez Dasmariñas town, because they each suffered destruction in the face of the massive Spanish assault.

Background

Humiliated after the loss of the twin battles of Binakayan and Dalahican the last year, Gov. Gen. Ramón Blanco y Erenas took extreme caution of Aguinaldo's presence in Cavite as this meant that as long as he was not captured the revolution continues throughout Luzon.

Prelude

Just a few months before, new fresh conscripts arrived from Spain, and the new Spanish governor-general, Camillo de Polavieja, ordered Maj. Gen. Jose de Lachambre to conduct an offensive that will crush the revolution and reclaim Cavite for the Spanish Crown. The latter did as ordered, began the offensive on February 15 at Pamplona and Bayungyungan towns of Cavite and Batangas, respectively. The Spaniards recaptured Silang on 19 February 1897, despite tenacious Filipino resistance clinging there.[2]:100 The revolutionaries had to retreat to Perez Dasmariñas in disorganized manner.

Skirmishers under the command of Maj. Jose Ignacio "Intsik" Paua continuously engaged and harassed Spanish frontline cazadores keeping the enemy off-balance. The Spaniards took heavy losses upon taking Silang, however. With their enemy calling off the pursuit for a while, the Katipuneros in Perez Dasmariñas had the chance to recuperate and reorganize. Imus, the seat of Aguinaldo's revolutionary government, was the Spaniards' primary aim, but they have to take the town of Perez Dasmariñas first if they are to take the former. In defending the town and Imus, the Katipuneros desperately mobilized all available men for the upcoming battle, arming every Caviteño in the town and its surrounding villages.

Battle

Having just won the battle of Zapote, Aguinaldo turned his attention at the new Spanish threat determined to recapture most of Cavite. Eight days later, after they took control of Silang town, the battle-hardened Spaniards resumed their assault and marched towards Perez Dasmariñas on 27 February.[2]:102 The Katipuneros intercepted the advancing Spaniards in Pasong Santol, a zigzag trail between Imus and Perez Dasmariñas. From March 7 to 24, a stalemated battle between the revolutionary army of Crispulo Aguinaldo, while taking over General Emilio Aguinaldo’s leadership in battle, and the Spanish forces, led by José de Lachambre, occurred in this trail. The Filipinos' resistance was tenacious as ever, refusing to give ground but the far more disciplined Spaniards advanced steadily. The Spaniards pressed the offensive achieving tactical superiority which led to the massacre of the Filipino soldiers, including Aguinaldo's brother. The Spaniards only captured this salient after Crispulo was killed during the battle, and the rebels promptly broke off the engagement and reorganized inside the town.

The remaining Katipuneros, now leaderless, prepared to meet the invaders head-on within the town of Perez Dasmariñas itself. As the Spaniards entered the town, bloody urban combat ensued. But they managed to crush the rebels' resistance in the town. The remainder of the revolutionary army was scattered upon their retreat which turned into a rout, but some of the remaining units managed to get back to Imus, where the revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo was based.

Outcome

With the battle came to an end as a disaster for the Filipino revolutionaries, it signaled the advent of Spanish recapture of Cavite province. Commanders like Crispulo Aguinaldo, Emilio's brother, Flaviano Yengko, and others were killed from the skirmish that occurred at Pasong Santol including an estimated 10,000 soldiers. Twenty thousand Filipino civilians lost their lives when the Spaniards have broken through the lines at Pasong Santol. About 3,000 losses were inflicted against the Spanish.

Aguinaldo later used the Battle as an excuse to discredit the Katipunan Supremo Andres Bonifacio and eventually overthrow him, saying that Bonifacio prevented Magdiwang forces from reinforcing the Caviteños in Perez Dasmariñas. The same, however, is purely a fabrication for the Caviteños to seize leadership of the Katipunan. Bonifacio and his brother Procopio was later treacherously executed by Aguinaldo's men

Sources

The continuing Cavite offensive

References

  1. http://kahimyang.info/kauswagan/articles/1471/today-in-philippine-history-march-21-1897-marcela-marcelo-died-in-the-battle-of-pasong-santol
  2. 1 2 3 Alvarez, S.V., 1992, Recalling the Revolution, Madison: Center for Southeast Asia Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, ISBN 9781881261056
  3. "Battle of San Juan Del Monte". Retrieved 11 November 2011.

See also

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