Editing Balangiga massacre

{{Short description|1901 atrocity in the Philippine-American War}}
{{Use Philippine English|date=May 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Balangiga massacre
| partof            = the [[Philippine&ndash;American War#Postwar conflicts|post-war insurgency]] phase of the [[Philippine&ndash;American War]]
| image             = Balangiga photo of Company C with Valeriano Abanador.jpg
| image_size        = 250
| caption           = Members of Company C, 9th US Infantry Regiment posing with Mayor Valeriano Abanador and another town official
| date              = September 28, 1901; {{age|1901|9|28}} years ago
| place             = [[Balangiga, Eastern Samar|Balangiga]], [[Samar (island)|Samar]], [[First Philippine Republic|Philippines]]
| result            = Philippine nationalist victory
| coordinates       = {{coord|11|06|34|N|125|23|09|E|type:isle_region:PH|display=inline,title|name=The Battle of Balangiga}}
| combatant1        = {{nowrap|{{flagdeco|First Philippine Republic}} [[Filipino nationalism|Philippine nationalists]]{{efn|name="peace manifesto|The [[First Philippine Republic]], previously the mother organization of these irregular forces, had effectively ceased to exist with the capture in March of 1901 of its president, [[Emilio Aguinaldo]] by US forces and his subsequent pledge of allegiance to the United States and the acceptance of its sovereignty throughout the Philippines.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/787/today-in-philippine-history-april-19-1901-aguinaldo-issued-peace-manifesto-after-his-capture-and-after-his-oath-of-allegiance-to-the-united-states|title=
Today in Filipino history, April 19, 1901, Aguinaldo issued Peace Manifesto after his capture and after his oath of allegiance to the United States|website=kahimyang.com|date=
December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/philamer/adt4867.0001.001/1?page=root&size=100&view=text|title=Address to the Filipino People: April 19, 1901 / Emilio Aguinaldo.|publisher=Office of the Military Governor in the Philippine Islands|orig-date=April 19, 1901}}</ref> (see {{section link|Emilio Aguinaldo|Capture of Aguinaldo}} for more info)}}}}
| combatant2        = {{flag|United States|1896}}
| commander1        = {{Plainlist|
* {{flagdeco|First Philippine Republic}} [[Vicente Lukban]]
* {{flagdeco|First Philippine Republic}} [[Eugenio Daza]]
* Valeriano Abanador{{efn|Two participants{{Who|date=January 2016}} in the attack named the following persons as the chief organizers of the military operation:
*Pedro Abayan, Mayor of Balangiga
*Adronico Balais, Vice Mayor
*Valeriano Abanador, Chief of Police
*Mariano Valdenor, Assistant Chief of Police
*Captain [[Eugenio Daza]], Area Commander of General [[Vicente Lukban]]'s forces for Southeastern Samar
*Pedro Duran, a Sergeant under Diaz
*Juan Salazar
*Evangelista Gabornes, Councilor
*Paulo Gavan Gacho
Other sources showed that, while General Lukban viewed Daza as the overall commander, Daza acknowledged Abanador's operational command of the attack.<ref name="Borrinaga 2003">{{cite book|last=Borrinaga|first=Rolando O.|title=The Balangiga Conflict Revisited|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrkMAQAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=New Day Publishers|isbn=978-971-10-1090-4|pages=80–81}}</ref>}}}}
| commander2        = {{nowrap|{{flagdeco|US|1896}} Thomas W. Connell{{KIA}}}}
| units1            = [[Philippine Republican Army]], [[Irregular military|irregular military forces]]
| units2            = Company C ([[9th Infantry Regiment (United States)|9th Infantry Regiment]])
| strength1         = 500 irregular military forces [[Bolo knife|bolo]] troops in seven attack units<ref name="bautista">{{cite web | last =Bautista | first =Veltisezar | title =The Balangiga, Samar, Massacre | url=http://www.filipinoamericans.net/balangiga_massacre.shtml | access-date = March 20, 2008| url-status =usurped | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080226150445/http://www.filipinoamericans.net/balangiga_massacre.shtml| archive-date= February 26, 2008}}</ref><ref name="hunyrs">{{cite web | last =Borrinaga | first =Rolando | title =100 Years of Balangiga Literature: A Review | url=http://www.geocities.com/rolborr/ballit100years.html | access-date = March 24, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022195458/http://geocities.com/rolborr/ballit100years.html|archive-date=October 22, 2009}}</ref>
| strength2         = '''Philippine attack:''' 74 men<br />
'''American attack:''' 400 men<ref name=edu/>
| casualties1       = 22 wounded<ref name="bautista"/>
| casualties2       = 54 killed<br />18 wounded<ref name=edu>{{cite web |title=The Balangiga Massacre |url=http://opmanong.ssc.hawaii.edu/filipino/balangiga.html |website=opmanong.ssc.hawaii.edu |access-date=August 12, 2015 |archive-date=August 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150816002124/http://opmanong.ssc.hawaii.edu/filipino/balangiga.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Philippine-American War}}
}}

The '''Balangiga massacre''' was an incident in which the residents of the town of [[Balangiga]] on the island of [[Samar]] conducted a surprise attack on an occupying unit of the [[9th Infantry Regiment (United States)|US 9th Infantry]], killing 54.<ref>{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=James O.|title=The Massacre of Balangiga: Being an Authentic Account by Several of the Few Survivors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nW_xAAAAMAAJ|year=1931|publisher=McCarn Printing Company}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Borrinaga|first=Rolando O.|title=The Balangiga Conflict Revisited|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrkMAQAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=New Day Publishers|isbn=978-971-10-1090-4|pages=114, 194, 197}}</ref><ref>{{citation|chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvgs0c6m|title=The Philippine War, 1899–1902|chapter=Samar|pages=306–321|last=Linn|first=Brian McAllister|year=2000|publisher=University Press of Kansas|doi=10.2307/j.ctvgs0c6m |jstor=j.ctvgs0c6m|isbn=9780700612253}}</ref> The incident is also known as the '''Balangiga encounter''', '''Balangiga incident''',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/12/12/18/the-balangiga-incident-a-rare-filipino-victory-during-the-philippine-american-war|title=The Balangiga Incident: A Rare Filipino Victory During the Philippine-American War|date=December 12, 2018|work=ABS-CBN News}}</ref> or '''Balangiga conflict'''.<ref name="Borrinaga 2003"/> The incident occurred on September 28, 1901, over five months after the April 19 publication of a "Peace Manifesto" by [[Emilio Aguinaldo]] acknowledging and accepting the sovereignty of the United States throughout the Philippines.{{efn|name="peace manifesto}} Some Filipino historians have asserted that the term ''Balangiga Massacre'' more appropriately refers to actions ordered in retaliation by American General [[Jacob H. Smith]]  during the [[pacification of Samar]] that resulted in an estimated 2,000 Filipino civilians killed and over 200 homes burned.<ref name="Teodoro1960p228">{{citation|last=Agoncillo|first=Teodoro C.|author-link=Teodoro Agoncillo|title=History of the Filipino People|orig-year=1960|edition=8th|year=1990|publisher=Garotech Publishing|location=Quezon City|isbn=971-8711-06-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyoffilipin00teod/page/228 228]|url=https://archive.org/details/historyoffilipin00teod/page/228}}</ref><ref name=karim2019p110 />

==Background==
{{Further|Pacification of Samar}}

The battle was a military operation planned by Captain [[Eugenio Daza]] (an area commander of Captain General [[Vicente Lukbán]]'s forces in southeastern Samar) and transpired in [[Balangiga]] in 1901 during the Philippine–American War.{{efn|Both Lukban and Gaza had been officers in the [[Philippine Revolutionary Army]] before that organization was dispersed on November 13, 1899 in favor of [[guerilla warfare]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Linn|first=B. M. A.|title=The Philippine War, 1899–1902|publisher=University Press of Kansas|series=Modern War Studies|year=2000|isbn=978-0-7006-1225-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3xmsEAAAQBAJ|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3xmsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA148 148]}}</ref>}} The attack was led by Valeriano Abanador, who was the ''Jefe de la Policía'' (Chief of Police).<ref>Tucker, Spencer (2020). ''The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars: A Political, Social, and Military History''. ABC-CLIO. pp. 345. {{ISBN|978-1-85109-951-1}}. On September 28, 1901</ref>

==The operation==

===Prelude===
Samar was a major center for the production of [[Manila hemp]], the trade of which was financing Philippine forces on the island. At the same time United States interests were eager to secure control of the hemp trade, which was a vital material both for the United States Navy and American agro-industries such as cotton.{{cn|date=June 2023}}

Filipino forces in the area were under the command of Captain General Vicente Lukbán who had been sent there in December 1898 to govern the island on behalf of the [[First Philippine Republic]] under [[Emilio Aguinaldo]].<ref name="couttie2">{{cite news | title =A Philippine Newslink Interview with Bob Couttie, Author of: Hang the Dogs, The True and Tragic History of the Balangiga Massacre | page =2 | publisher =Philippine Newslink | date = December 15, 2004 | url =http://www.philnews.com/2005/da2.html | access-date = March 24, 2008}}</ref> Aguinaldo had been captured by American forces on March 23, 1901.<ref>{{cite book|last=Birtle|first=Andrew J.|title=U.S. Army counterinsurgency and contingency operations doctrine 1860–1941|publisher=United States Government Publishing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fW_aeCJJ9J0C|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fW_aeCJJ9J0C&pg=PA116 116–118]|isbn=9780160613241 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Keenan|first=Jerry|title=Encyclopedia of the Spanish–American & Philippine–American wars|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, California|year=2001|isbn=978-1-57607-093-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMRwK4ng_zYC|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=JMRwK4ng_zYC&pg=PA211 211–212]}}</ref> On April 1, he had sworn allegiance to the US and told his followers to lay down their arms and give up the fight.<ref>{{cite web|last=Aguinaldo y Famy|first=Don Emilio|author-link=Emilio Aguinaldo|title=Aguinaldo's Proclamation of Formal Surrender to the United States|work=The Philippine-American War Documents|publisher=Kabayan Central Net Works Inc.|location=Pasig, Philippines|date=April 19, 1901|url=http://filipino.biz.ph/history/ag010419.html|access-date=December 25, 2016}}</ref><ref name=brands1992p59>{{cite book|last=Brands|first=Henry William|author-link=H. W. Brands|title=Bound to Empire: The United States and the Philippines|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=1992|isbn=0-19-507104-2|url=https://archive.org/details/boundtoempireuni00bran|page=[https://archive.org/details/boundtoempireuni0000bran/page/59/mode/1up 59]|quote=[L]et there be an end to tears and desolation, [...] the complete termination of hostilities and a lasting peace are not only desirable but also absolutely essential for the well-being of the Philippines.}}</ref>

On May 30, 1901, prior to the stationing of any Americans in Balangiga, town mayor Pedro Abayan had written to Lukban pledging to "observe a deceptive policy with [Americans] doing whatever they may like, and when a favorable opportunity arises, the people will strategically rise against them."<ref>As quoted in {{cite book|last=Jones|first=Gregg|title=Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines, and the Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dream|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVooDgAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=New American Library|isbn=978-0-451-23918-1|pages=230, 407}} (citing {{cite book|last=Taylor|first=John Rodgers Meigs|title=The Philippine Insurrection Against the United States: A Compilation of Documents with Notes and Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gmZwAAAAMAAJ|year=1971|publisher=Eugenio Lopez Foundation}})</ref>

In the summer of 1901, Brigadier General [[Robert Patterson Hughes|Robert P. Hughes]], who commanded the Department of the Visayas and was responsible for Samar, instigated an aggressive policy of [[Starvation|food deprivation]] and [[Destruction of property|property destruction]] on the island.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bruno |first= Thomas A |title=The Violent End of Insurgency on Samar 1901–1902 |page= 34 |publisher=Army Center of Military History |date=Feb 2011 |url =http://www.history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH79(W)r.pdf |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120927042610/http://www.history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH79(W)r.pdf |url-status =dead |archive-date =September 27, 2012 |access-date= December 10, 2011}}</ref> The objective was to force the end of Philippine resistance. Part of his strategy was to close three key ports on the southern coast, Basey, Balangiga and Guiuan prevent supplies from reaching Lukban's forces in the interior. Company C was to close the port at Balangiga.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usmcmuseum.com/uploads/6/0/3/6/60364049/1_battle_of_balangiga.pdf|title=The Battle of Balangiga - Samar 1901|publisher=National Museum of the Marine Corps|date=n.d.|accessdate=September 9, 2024}}</ref>

On August 11, 1901, Company C of the [[9th Infantry Regiment (United States)|9th US Infantry Regiment]], arrived in Balangiga—the third largest town on the southern coast of Samar island—to close its port and prevent supplies reaching Philippine forces in the interior,<ref name="couttie1">{{cite news | title =A Philippine Newslink Interview with Bob Couttie, Author of: Hang the Dogs, The True and Tragic History of the Balangiga Massacre | page =1 | publisher =Philippine Newslink | date = December 15, 2004 | url =http://www.philnews.com/2005/da1.html | access-date = March 24, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080228064520/http://www.philnews.com/2005/da1.html| archive-date= February 28, 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> Abaya's letter to Lukban had been among papers captured by American troops on August 18; it read, in translation:

{{Blockquote|As a representative of this town of Balangiga I have the honor to let you know, after having conferred with the principals of the town about the policy to be pursued with the enemy in case they come in, we have agreed to have a fictitious policy with them, doing whatever they may like, and when the occasion comes the people will strategically rise against them.

This I communicate to you for your superior knowledge, begging of you to make known all the army your favorable approval of the same, if you think it convenient.

May God preserve you many years,<br />
Balangiga, 30th of May, 1901

P. ABAYAN, Local President<ref name=akiboh>{{cite web|url=https://ushistoryscene.com/article/balangiga/|title=The 'Massacre' and the Aftermath : Remembering Balangiga and The War in the Philippines|website=ushistoryscene.com|date=July 25, 2017 |accessdate=June 13, 2023}}</ref>}}

However, this information never reached the American troops in Balangiga.<ref name=akiboh />

Relations between the soldiers and the townspeople seemed amicable for the first month of the American presence in the town; indeed it was marked by extensive [[fraternization]] between the two parties. This took the form of ''[[Palm wine|tuba]]'' (palm wine) drinking among the soldiers and male villagers, [[baseball]] games, and [[arnis]] demonstrations. However, tensions rose due to several reasons: Captain Thomas W. Connell, commanding officer of the American unit in Balangiga, ordered the town cleaned up in preparation for a visit by the US Army's inspector-general. However, in complying with his directive, the townspeople inadvertently cut down vegetation with food value, in violation of Lukbán's policies regarding [[food security]]. As a consequence, on September 18, 1901, around 400 guerrillas sent by Lukbán appeared in the vicinity of Balangiga. They were to mete sanctions upon the town officials and local residents for violating Lukbán's orders regarding food security and for fraternizing with the Americans. The threat was probably defused by Captain Eugenio Daza, a member of Lukbán's staff, and by the parish priest, Father Donato Guimbaolibot.<ref name="borr">{{cite web | last =Borrinaga | first =Rolando | title =The Balangiga Conflict: Its Causes, Impact and Meaning | url=http://www.geocities.com/rolborr/balconsum.html | access-date = March 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022070336/http://geocities.com/rolborr/balconsum.html|archive-date=October 22, 2009}}</ref>

A few days later, Connell had the town's male residents rounded up and detained for the purpose of hastening his clean-up operations. Around 80 men were kept in two [[Sibley tent]]s unfed overnight. In addition, Connell had the men's [[Bolo knife|bolos]] and the stored [[rice]] for their tables confiscated. These events sufficiently insulted and angered the townspeople, and they planned revenge against the Americans.<ref name="borr"/>

A few days before the attack, Valeriano Abanador, the town's police chief, and Captain Daza met to plan the attack on the American unit.<ref name="labro">{{cite web | last=Labro | first=Vicente | title=106 years of fervor, and still burning | url=http://blogs.inquirer.net/beingfilipino/2007/10/15/106-years-of-fervor-and-still-burning/ | access-date=March 29, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513142910/http://blogs.inquirer.net/beingfilipino/2007/10/15/106-years-of-fervor-and-still-burning/ | archive-date=May 13, 2008 | url-status=dead }}</ref> To address the issue of sufficient manpower to offset the Americans' advantage in firepower, Abanador and Daza disguised the congregation of men as a work force aimed at preparing the town for a local ''[[Festival|fiesta]]'' which, incidentally, also served to address Connell's preparations for his superior's visit. Abanador also brought in a group of "[[Tax evasion|tax evaders]]" to bolster their numbers. Much palm wine was brought in to ensure that the American soldiers would be drunk the day after the ''fiesta''. Hours before the attack, women and children were sent away to safety. To mask the disappearance of the women from the dawn service in the church, 34 men from [[Lawaan, Eastern Samar|Barrio Lawaan]] [[cross-dressing|cross-dressed]] as women worshippers.<ref name="borr"/> These "women", carrying small [[coffin]]s, were challenged by Sergeant Scharer of the sentry post about the town plaza near the church. Opening one of the coffins with his bayonet, he saw the body of a dead child who, he was told, was a victim of a [[cholera]] epidemic. Abashed, he let the women pass on. Unbeknownst to the sentries, the other coffins hid the ''bolos'' and other weapons of the attackers.<ref name="bautista"/>

There is much conflict between accounts by members of Company C. That day, the 27th, was the 52nd anniversary of the founding of the parish, an occasion on which an image of a recumbent Christ known as a [[Holy Week in the Philippines|Santo Entierro]] would have been carried around the parish. In modern times these Santo Entierros are enclosed in a glass case but at the time were commonly enclosed in a wooden box.<ref>{{citation|last=Couttie|first=Bob|author-link=Bob Couttie|title=Hang The Dogs: The True Tragic History Of The Balangiga Massacre|edition=1st |year=2004 |publisher=New Day Publishing |location=Quezon City |isbn=971-10-1124-7|page=146}}</ref>

===Attack on American soldiers===
[[File:US 9th Infantry Regiment in the Philippines 1899.jpg|thumb|right|400px|The US 9th Infantry Regiment in the Philippines, 1899]]

Between 6:20 and 6:45 in the morning of September 28, 1901, the villagers made their move. Abanador, who had been supervising the prisoners' communal labor in the town plaza, grabbed the rifle of Private Adolph Gamlin, one of the American sentries, and stunned him with a blow to the head. This served as the signal for the rest of the communal laborers in the plaza to rush the other sentries and soldiers of Company C, who were mostly having breakfast in the [[mess]] area. Abanador then gave a shout, signaling the other Philippine men to the attack and fired Gamlin's rifle at the mess tent, hitting one of the soldiers. The [[Balangiga bells|pealing of the church bells]] and the sounds from [[conch]] shells being blown followed seconds later. Some of the Company C troopers were attacked and hacked to death before they could grab their rifles; the few who survived the initial onslaught fought almost bare-handed, using kitchen utensils, steak knives, and chairs. One private used a [[baseball bat]] to fend off the attackers before being overwhelmed.<ref>{{cite web| title= Jungle Patrol 2: Remember Balangiga| url= http://bakbakan.com/junglep/jp-2.html| access-date= March 29, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080510141323/http://www.bakbakan.com/junglep/jp-2.html| archive-date= May 10, 2008| url-status= dead}}</ref><ref name="dumindin">{{cite web | last =Dumindin | first =Arnaldo | title =Philippine-American War, 1899–1902 | url=http://www.freewebs.com/philippineamericanwar/balangigamassacre1901.htm | access-date = March 30, 2008}}</ref>

The men detained in the Sibley tents broke out and made their way to the municipal hall. Simultaneously, the attackers hidden in the church broke into the [[parish house]] and killed the three American officers there.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Foreman (F.R.G.S.)|title=The Philippine Islands: A Political, Geographical, Ethnographical, Social and Commercial History of the Philippine Archipelago, Embracing the Whole Period of Spanish Rule, with an Account of the Succeeding American Insular Government|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2crAAAAYAAJ|year=1906|publisher=C. Scribner's sons|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=W2crAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA526 526]}}</ref> An unarmed Company C soldier was ignored, as was Captain Connell's Philippine houseboy. The attackers initially occupied the parish house and the municipal hall; however, the attack at the mess tents and the barracks failed, with Pvt. Gamlin, recovering consciousness and managing to secure another rifle, causing considerable casualties among the Philippine forces. With the initial surprise wearing off and the attack degrading, Abanador called for the attackers to break off and retreat. The surviving Company C soldiers, led by Sergeant Frank Betron, escaped by sea to [[Basey, Samar|Basey]] and [[Tanauan, Leyte]].<ref name="dumindin"/> The townspeople buried their dead and abandoned the town.

Of the 74 men in Company C, 36 were [[killed in action]], including all its commissioned officers: Captain Thomas W. Connell, First Lieutenant Edward A. Bumpus and Major Richard S. Griswold.<ref name="hunyrs"/> Twenty-two were [[wounded in action]] and four were [[missing in action]]. Eight died later of wounds received in combat; only four escaped unscathed.<ref>The Official report War Department 1901 reports casualties as 3 officers and 33 NCOs and enlisted ranks dead; 3 died of wounds; 7 members of Company C 9th Infantry and 1 Hospital Corps Private missing [the report acknowledges several bodies were cremated when the barracks were burned]; 21 wounded; 16 present not wounded. See [https://books.google.com/books?id=VDxMn9JOi-QC&q=Company+C+9th+Infantry&pg=PA593 Annual Reports of the War Department, Volume 9 p. 629 Report of Captain Bookmiller, 9th Infantry]</ref> The villagers captured about 100 rifles and 25,000 rounds of ammunition and suffered 28 dead and 22 wounded.

==Aftermath==
This was described as the ''"worst defeat of [[United States Army]] soldiers since the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]] in 1876"''.<ref name="brooke">{{cite news | last =Brooke | first =James | title =  U.S.–Philippines History Entwined in War Booty| work=[[The New York Times]] | date = December 1, 1997 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/01/us/us-philippines-history-entwined-in-war-booty.html| access-date = March 21, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Snodgrass |first=Tom |title=Counterinsurgency and the US Military |url=http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2007/01/31/counterinsurgency-and-the-us-military/ |access-date=March 23, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120041915/http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2007/01/31/counterinsurgency-and-the-us-military/ |archive-date=November 20, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Galang |first=Reynaldo |title=The Burning of Samar |url=http://www.bakbakan.com/samarall.htm |access-date=March 23, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905232526/http://bakbakan.com/samarall.htm |archive-date=September 5, 2008 }}</ref>

==Legacy==
The attack and subsequent actions on Samar have been some of the longest-running and most controversial issues between the [[Philippines]] and the [[United States]].<ref name="brooke">{{cite news | last =Brooke | first =James | title =  U.S.–Philippines History Entwined in War Booty| work=[[The New York Times]] | date = December 1, 1997 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/01/us/us-philippines-history-entwined-in-war-booty.html| access-date = March 21, 2008}}</ref> Conflicting interpretations by American and Philippine historians have confused the issue. The attack has been termed ''Balangiga Massacre'' in many English language sources. However, Philippine historian [[Teodoro Agoncillo]] has asserted that the term ''Balangiga massacre'' properly refers to the burning of the town by US forces following the attack and to retaliatory acts during the ''[[March across Samar]]''.<ref name="Teodoro1960p228" /> Other Philippine sources also employ this usage.<ref name=karim2019p110 /> In US sources, however, the term ''massacre'' is used to refer to this attack.<ref name=karim2019p110>{{cite book|last=Karim|first=Wazir Jahan|title=Global Nexus, The: Political Economies, Connectivity, And The Social Sciences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rO60DwAAQBAJ|year=2019|publisher=World Scientific Publishing Company|isbn=978-981-323-245-7|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rO60DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22balangiga+massacre%22&pg=PA110 110]}}</ref>

==Factual disputes==
Mutilation of the bodies of the Americans who were killed was reported in testimony before the US Senate Committee on the Philippines the and information about that has appeared elsewhere.<ref>{{cite book | title=Hearings Before the Committee on the Philippines of the United States Senate in Relation to Affairs in the Philippine Islands [January 31–June 28, 1902] | publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office | issue=v. 3 | year=1902 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WVQTAAAAIAAJ | pages=2296–2297, [https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=WVQTAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA2303#v=onepage&q&f=false 2303]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH79(W)r.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927042610/http://www.history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH79(W)r.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 27, 2012|title=The Violent End of Insurgency on Samar 1901–1902|journal=Army History|year=2011|issue=79 (Spring)|page=35|publisher=United States Army}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/U.S.%20Marines%20and%20Irregular%20Warfare,%201898-2007_Anthology%20and%20Selected%20Bibliography%20%20PCN%2016000000500_2.pdf|title=U.S. Marines and Irregular Warfare, 1898-2007\VOLUME=2|editor-last=Evans|editor-first=Stephan S.|publisher=Marine Corps University|year=2008|chapter='We Will Go Heavily Armed': The Marines' Small War on Samar, 1901–1902|first=Brian McAllister |last=Linn|page=41}}</ref> The asserted mutilations have been disputed by historiat George Borrinaga with a counter-assertion to the effect that Filipinos have respect for the dead, he says, and would do no such thing.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/specials/content/39/the-last-time-the-bells-spoke/|title=Last Time the Bells Spoke|publisher=GMA News|date=December 28, 2018}}</ref>

Several asserted factual inaccuracies in early published accounts have surfaced over the years as historians continue to re-investigate the Balangiga incident. These include:<ref name="bautista"/>
* Schott and Rey Imperial assert that Company C of the 9th US Infantry was sent to Balangiga in response to a request by its then-Mayor Pedro Abayan. This is based solely on a claim by George Meyer, a Company C survivor, in support of efforts to secure the [[Medal of Honor]]. Author Bob Couttie asserts that the American unit was sent there to close Balangiga's port.<ref name="couttie1"/>
* James Taylor's account inspired another author, [[William T. Sexton]], to write that the American soldiers were "butchered like hogs" in ''Soldiers in the Sun''.{{refn|{{cite book|last=Sexton|first=William Thaddeus|title=Soldiers in the Sun|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X640jgEACAAJ|year=2015|publisher=Creative Media Partners, LLC|isbn=978-1-296-58088-9|pages=40–41}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oocities.org/rolborr/ballit100years.html|title=100 Years of Balangiga Literature: A Review|first=Rolando O.|last=Borrinaga|access-date=April 3, 2019}}</ref>}} However, [[Eugenio Daza]] wrote, "The Filipino believes that the profanation of the dead necessarily brings bad luck and misfortune ... there was no time to lose for such acts [after the Balangiga attack]."<ref name="hunyrs"/>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Balangiga Massacre Monument.jpg|Battle of Balangiga monument
Balangiga massacre memorial marker.JPG|Battle of Balangiga memorial marker
Statue of Valeriano Abanador.JPG|Statue of Valeriano Abanador, Balangiga police chief during the Battle of Balangiga
Historical marker at the foot of Valeriano Abanador statue.JPG|Historical marker at the foot of Abanador statue{{efn|Translation: In this town, on September 20, 1901, Filipinos armed with muskets ambushed company "C", E.U. infantry. [sic: U.S.] they killed almost all the American soldiers. In response, the Americans launched a six-day "killing and burning" that turned the town into a "howling forest", Brig. Gen. Jacob H. Smith and Major Littleton W T. Waller were tried by court martial and dismissed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/?sl=tl&tl=en&text=Sa%20bayang%20ito%2C%20huong%20ika-20%20Setyembre%201901%2C%20nilusod%20ng%20mga%20Pilipponong%20nasasandatahan%20ng%20gulok%20ang%20kumpanya%20%22C%22%2C%20ika-%20na%20impanteriya%20ng%20E.U.%20%5Bsic%3A%20U.S.%5D%20napatay%20nila%20halos%20ang%20lahat%20ng%20mga%20sundalong%20Amerikano.%20Bilang%20ganti%20ay%20naglunsad%20ang%20mga%20Amerikano%20ng%20may%20anim%20na%20duwang%20%22pagpatay%20at%20passunog%22%20ang%20bayan%20ay%20nagmistulang%20%22humahagulgol%20na%20kagubatan%22%2C%20sina%20Brig.%20Hen.%20Jacob%20H.%20Smith%20at%20Medyor%20Littleton%20W%20T.%20Waller%20ay%20nilitis%20ng%20hukulang%20militar%20at%20liniwalag.&op=translate|title=Translation|website=translate.google.com|accessdate=June 19, 2023}}</ref>}}

</gallery>

==Cultural references==
* [[Gina Apostol]], ''[[Insurrecto]]'' (Soho Press, 2018)<ref>{{cite book | last=Apostol | first=G. | authorlink=Gina Apostol | title=Insurrecto | publisher=Soho Press | year=2018 | isbn=978-1-61695-945-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MsFMDwAAQBAJ }}</ref>

==See also==
{{wikiquote|Philippine–American War}}
{{Commons category|Balangiga massacre}}
* [[Balangiga bells]], on the taking of the bells as spoils of war in 1901 and their return to the Philippines in 2018
* [[Eugenio Daza]]
* [[Vicente Lukban]]
* [[History of the Philippines (1898–1946)]]
* [[Timeline of the Philippine–American War]]
* [[Campaigns of the Philippine–American War]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Portal|Philippines}}
* {{cite book | author=Schott, Joseph L.| title=The Ordeal of Samar | publisher=Bobbs-Merrill  | year=1965 | asin= B0006BLRF0}}
* {{cite book | author=Taylor, James O.| title=The Massacre of Balangiga: Being an Authentic Account By Several of the Few Survivors | location=Joplin, MO|publisher=McCarn Printing Co | year=1931 | oclc=1838646}}, {{OCLC|680173529}} (e-book)
* {{cite book | title= US Senate Committee Hearings on "Affairs in the Philippine Islands", February 2, 1902 to October 13, 1903, three volumes }}
* {{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3-laHwL3GDsC&pg=PA147|title=Historical Sketches of the 9th Infantry|journal=Infantry Journal|year=1921|publisher=United States Infantry Association|at=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3-laHwL3GDsC&dq=%22service+in+philippines%22&pg=RA2-PA150 Service in the Philippines]|volume=28|issue=3}}

[[Category:1901 in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Massacres in 1901]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1901]]
[[Category:Battles involving the United States]]
[[Category:Battles of the Philippine–American War]]
[[Category:History of Eastern Samar]]
[[Category:September 1901 in Asia]]
[[Category:Visayan history]]
[[Category:20th-century mass murder in the Philippines]]
[[Category:Anti-American sentiment in Asia]]
[[Category:Philippine–American War crimes]]