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A. Paulita Roa .

I WROTE an article about the events leading to the American invasion of Cagayan de Misamis on March 30, 1900 and that it  was peaceful and bloodless. My main reference for this came from the the book titled, “The Bautista Manuscript on the Philippine Revolution in Misamis Province, 1900 – 1901” by Filomeno M. Bautista.  This was largely based on his research and interviews that he conducted from 1936 to 1939 with the surviving local veterans of that war that included their personal documents.

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In 1980, Dr. Madronio M. Lao, then a graduate student of the University of the Philippines, published a book titled, “Cagayan de Oro, 1622 – 1901.” He, too, included the 1900-1901 war based on the Bautista Manuscript plus did a diligent research on the documents from the US War Department, the Philippine Insurgent Records, and many more. By this, he was able to provide his readers an expanded view of that historic war that included accounts on how this war was fought on the American side.

However, I now realized that there is still a wealth of information that can be mined from this important period of our local history. I would like to share the small research that I did recently about the two American generals and a young officer who later rose to become a general in his own right, obtaining a much higher stature than the two older ones. The one thing that the three had in common was that both came to Cagayan de Misamis for the American campaign against the local resistance army headed by Gen. Nicolas Capistrano.

On Sunday morning of March 30, 1900, American warships anchored near the mouth of Cagayan  River where it unloaded hundreds of its soldiers and war equipment. A big number of soldiers marched to town displaying their latest armaments while some of the officers and men went up the Cagayan River their powerful motor launches and landed near the present Ysalina Bridge, a part that was not strongly fortified as the Macabalan wharf. Historian Bautista wrote that a Gen. Bates, commanding officer of the American forces, accompanied by a Col. Goodwin and Maj. Case immediately went to the Casa Real and relieved Provincial President Jose Roa y Casas and other officials from their duties. But ordered Municipal President Toribio Chaves and Police chief, Cipriano Vamenta to stay. Who is Gen. Bates?

Research shows that he is John Coalter Bates, who along with Gen. Arthur MacArthur (the father of Gen. Douglas MacArthur), were American Civil War veterans that were assigned to the Philippines. Bates was promoted to the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel for gallant and meritorious service in operations resulting in the fall of Richmond and the surrender of Gen. Robert Lee’s Confederate Army on April, 1865. He later served in the Indian frontier for many years. In May,1898, he was promoted to brigadier general while serving during the Spanish-American War. He then came to this country when he commanded a division of volunteers during the Philippine-American War. In 1899, as commander of the Military District of Mindanao and Jolo, he conducted negotiations with Sultan Jamaul Kiram II of Sulu on behalf of the American government and this resulted in what is known today as the Bates Agreement. In January 1906, Bates was promoted to lieutenant general and became the Chief of Staff of the United States Army. He retired from active service in April of that same year.

Dr. Lao wrote that a week after the April 7, 1900 surprise dawn attack staged by the Liber Troop on all the American barracks in Cagayan de Misamis, Bates was relieved by Brigadier General William Kobbe upon orders of US War Secretary Elihu Root as head of the newly elevated Military Department of Mindanao and Jolo. Like Bates, William Augustus Kobbe saw action in the American Civil War where he rose to the rank of captain. He then served in the New Mexico and Indian wars. He was promoted to brigadier general  of the US Army during the Spanish-American war. Upon the instructions of Root, he was in command of the joint army and naval expeditions to open the hemp ports to commerce around the country. I recently wrote that Philippine hemp (abaca) was a a much coveted product that had a large market in the United States. But the abaca producers ceased their operations for sometime, due to the hostilities against the Americans, causing a big panic in the American market.

Kobbe was sent to Cagayan de Misamis to quash the year long resistance war. He arrived with a big reinforcement and began offensive operations particularly on the Western Mindanao Division in Macajambus (Macahambus) that was under the command of Col. Apolinar Velez. Kobbe was successful in capturing two important strongholds in that area. He initiated scouting parties and constant patrols that inflicted heavy losses to the enemy. Months later, it was all over. It culminated in the surrender of the local forces to the Americans in the town plaza in Sumilao on April 7, 1901. Kobbe then became the military governor of Mindanao and Jolo and retired as a major general in the US Army in 1904.

Not many are aware that Gen. John Joseph Pershing came to Cagayan de Misamis as the young aide of Kobbe and was ordered to go after the group of guerrillas under the command of Gen. Capistrano. In the 1973 book by Donald Smythe titled “Guerrilla Warrior: The Early Life of John J. Pershing,” (New York), the general recounted that they were fighting two enemies: the “indescribably difficult” terrain of Bukidnon and the guerrillas. But they persisted and pushed deeper into the wilds. He was not a stranger to these difficulties for he even had malaria when he fought during the Spanish-American war in Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Pershing was appointed adjutant general of the Department of Mindanao and Jolo on Nov. 27, 1900 and served till March 1, 1901. He was cited for bravery for actions on the Cagayan River while attempting to destroy a stronghold in Macajambus (Macahambus). This could be one of the two forts set up by Col. Velez in the area between the Supak-supak, Dili Maako and Dili Maantus mountains. As of now, I still have to do further research on this. I surmised that since there are strong currents in that river, he could have saved the lives of his men while crossing the turbulent waters. It is said the he was the one who invented the caliber .45 pistol to stop the “juramentados,” and that he also penetrated the beautiful but forbidden land of the Maranaos high up in the mountains of Lanao where, after a long stand off with the datus, he forced open this once isolated area to the outside world. Years ago, I saw photos of Pershing and the American troops in Dansalan (Marawi) during this stand off at the Aga Khan Museum at the Mindanao State University campus in Marawi City.

More than a decade after the Philippine-American War, Pershing rose to international prominence as the general officer of the US Army Expeditionary forces in Europe during World War I. He holds the distinction as the only person to be promoted in his own lifetime to the highest rank ever held in the US Army – as the General of the Armies. He also held the first US Army Officer Service No. 0-1. He was regarded as the mentor of the next generation of American generals who led the US Armed Forces in World War II in Europe, namely: George Marshall, Omar N. Bradley, Dwight D. Eisenhower and George S. Patton.

Bates, Kobe and Pershing — three distinguished American generals who came, saw and conquered Cagayan de Misamis and the rest of the island of Mindanao — helped in putting it under the control of the American colonial government for the next five decades. Forty-two years later, on March 14, 1942, another general by the name of Douglas MacArthur, who headed the Philippine-American military forces in the country, arrived surreptitiously in Cagayan sans the trappings of American might and power as seen on March 30,1900. MacArthur, his family and staff, escaped Corregidor under the cover of the night and landed in Macabalan wharf three days later. They were whisked immediately to Del Monte, Bukidnon and days later, American planes came and brought them to Australia. But this is another story worth telling, and I will do that in the near future.

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