Editing Samar (section)

=== Philippine-American War ===
{{Further|Philippine–American War|Balangiga massacre|Pacification of Samar}}
The final campaign of the [[Philippine–American War]] (1899-1902) took place in Samar and is one of the best known, and most notorious, of the entire war.  A combination of factors resulted in particularly violent clashes.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

On September 28, 1901, [[Eugenio Daza]], Area Commander of Southeastern Samar and Valeriano Abanador, the town's police chief, launched an attack on U.S. Army Company C [[9th Infantry Regiment (United States)|9th Infantry Regiment]] who were occupying [[Balangiga, Eastern Samar|Balangiga]]. This action, commonly known as the ''[[Balangiga massacre]]'', brought one of the only Filipino victories of the war and the worst American defeat in decades.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} In 1989, "Balangiga Encounter Day" was established as a provincial holiday in Eastern Samar to celebrate that victory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2008/09/26/proclamation-no-1629-s-2008/|title=Proclamation No. 1629, s. 2008|last=Ermita|first=Eduardo R.|date=September 26, 2008|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1989/02/10/republic-act-no-6692/|title=Republic Act No. 6692|date=February 10, 1989|website=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.}}</ref>

The action resulted in the order during the [[pacification of Samar]] <blockquote>''"I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn; the more you kill and burn, the better it will please me ... The interior of Samar must be made a howling wilderness ..."'' — Gen. [[Jacob H. Smith]]</blockquote>
which brought about the slaughter of thousands of Filipinos by [[United States Marine Corps|American Marines]].{{cn|date=September 2024}}

In his history of the war, [[Brian McAllister Linn]] asserts "Samar cast a pall on the army's achievement and, for generations, has been associated in the public mind as typifying the Philippine War."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Philippine War 1899-1902|last=Linn|first=Brian McAllister|author-link=Brian McAllister Linn|publisher=University Press of Kansas|year=2000|isbn=0-70061225-4|publication-place=Lawrence, Kansas 66049|page=321}}</ref>