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The two battles of Manila saw the Americans first destroy the Spanish naval presence in the Pacific, and then capture the city after a mock battle that almost turned into a real one, as a result establishing the Americans as the unpopular Imperial overlords of the Philippines.
The introduction and the world map demonstrate that this war was on a much larger scale and covered far more of the world than is normally remembered. The three most famous elements are the battle of Havana, the battle of Manila Bay and the conquest of the Philippines, but it also saw the Americans take Guam and Hawaii, and both sides send fleets across the Atlantic and towards the Suez Canal. We also quickly learn that the idea that the war was entirely provoked by the Americans after the accidental explosion that destroyed the battleship Maine in Havana in 1898. Instead there had been a series of revolts against Spanish authority in the Philippines and in Cuba, which had attracted genuine American sympathy. The Maine incident may have been the excuse for the war, but the presence of a powerful Spanish army only 90 nautical miles from Florida was understandably an issue for the US.
The fighting in the Philippines was between three sides – the invading Americans, the ruling Spanish and the Filipino insurgents. The best known of the leaders were all on the American side – Admiral Dewey and Theodore Roosevelt being the most famous, along with General Arthur MacArthur Jr, father of the more famous Douglas MacArthur CHECK. The Filipino leader Emilio Aguinaldo was the most impressive commander of the war.
As far as the forces involved were concerned, we see that the Spanish had mixed quality – good coastal artillery but an obsolete fleet in poor condition. Better ships were based in Spain, but that placed them too far from the Philippines to make any significant contribution to the fighting. The Spanish Army was more effective, and armed with a modern Mauser rifle, but only 26,000 men were posted in the Philippines. Most of them were on Luzon, and available to defend the well defended city of Manila.
On the US side the Navy had recently undergone an extensive period of reform, the ‘New Steel Navy’. Ten years earlier it would have struggled to mount an expedition to the Philippines, but by 1898 it had new modern ships and the ability to use them. Dewey’s Asiatic Squadron was comparatively small, with four protected cruisers and two gunboats, but it still outclassed its Spanish opponents. The oldest of his cruisers had been commissioned in 1887, the same year as most of the Spanish ships. The main Atlantic fleet did have some impact, posing a direct threat to Spain. The Army was a different matter – the regular army was much smaller than the Spanish army. A call for volunteers eventually saw it expand to ten times its peace time size, but only just over 10,000 men actually reached Manila before it was captured.
The Philippine army was about the same size as the Spanish, and despite its recent origins and guerrilla background was run as a regular western style army. At first they worked alongside the Americans, but when it became clear that the US intended to annex the Philippines this would change, and a fierce revolt against American rule would break out in the year after the battle.
The three sides have very different plans – for the Spanish it was a case of hanging on, minimizing damage and preserving honour. For the Americans most of the pre-war planning focused on Cuba. The Philippines were a target because there was a Spanish fleet based there, and it was only after Dewey’s naval victory that the idea of annexing the islands began to gain traction. The Philippine plan was to wear down the Spanish, using help from the US if possible, to win full independence. The Philippine leaders entered the war believing the Americans had promised them independence, the American leaders believed they had done no such thing.
In 1898 the Americans didn’t have a naval base in the Far East, but were instead largely based at Hong Kong. It took some time to prepare for the upcoming expedition – reinforcements, ammo and coal had to be gathered. Luckily for the Americans, it took two months for the crisis over the Maine to turn into war. The Spanish declared war in 23 April, Congress responded on 25 April. News of the war arrived at Hong Kong on 24 April, forcing the British to declare their neutrality and give the US squadron 24 hours to leave port. This was just enough time for the newly arrived Baltimore to arrive with a precious cargo of ammo.
We now move onto the naval battle of Manila Bay of 1 May. This was a rare example of a battle in which one commander realised he had no chance, and seems to have focused on reducing casualties (Spanish orders made it almost impossible for him not to fight at all). The Spanish chose the shallow waters of Manila Bay over the deeper but protected waters of Subic Bay, then anchored at Cavite. The resulting battle started with the Americans making five passes of the Spanish, causing major damage. The Spanish commander ordered his flagship to charge the US fleet, causing its inevitable destruction. There was then a pause, as the US fleet withdrew to check its ammo levels. Here we can see the impact of poor communications – a message stating only 15 shots per gun had been fired was heard as only 15 shots per gun were left! When the battle resumed, the Spanish were overwhelmed and scuttled their surviving ships.
We then move onto the land war. At first this was largely limited to clashes between the Filipinos and the Spanish, while the Americans decided what to do next, and rapidly create an expeditionary force. This was achieved impressively quickly and just over 10,000 men sent west.
As well as the main campaign, we also get details on the actions of the Spanish Segundo Escuadron. This more powerful Spanish force was originally going to be sent to raid the US East Coast. This was changed to a plan to reinforce the Caribbean, before finally it was ordered to head east, to the Philippines via the Suez Canal. Despite British and American obstacles (including very strict interpretation of neutrality rules from the British and buying up all available coal on their route by the Americans), the Spanish managed to get through the Suez Canal. This threat came to nothing, when the Americans prepared to send their battleships to attack Spain directly, and the Spanish fleet was recalled.
The final land battle itself was something of a farce. The Americans and Spanish agreed to carry out a mock battle, in which no lives were to be risked. An American bombardment would be followed by a Spanish surrender to the Americans, with the Filipinos kept out of the city. However on the day too few officers on the American side knew what was happening, triggering some genuine fighting. Once this had been sorted out the second problem was that Aguinaldo had realised what was happening and sent 4,000 of his men to join the ‘battle’. Shots were fired between the insurgents and both the Spanish and Americans before the fighting eventually ended.
The aftermath of the battle was rather more bloody than the battle itself. Unsurprisingly the Filipinos didn’t take well to finding themselves being transferred from Spanish imperial control to American imperial control. The Philippine-American War of 1899-1901 resulted in the deaths of around 200,000 Filipinos, but never ended the Philippine desire for independence. A ten year plan for independence was agreed in 1934, and surprisingly only delayed by two years by the Second World War.
This is an excellent account of the Philippine part of the Spanish-American War, looking at all three sides in the conflict, as well as the associated naval and land operations.
Chapters
Origins of the Campaign
Chronology
Opposing Commanders
Opposing Forces
Opposing Plans
The Campaign
Aftermath
Author: Brian Lane Herder
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 96
Publisher: Osprey
Year: