The Crossing of Samar, 1902: America’s Retaliation for Balangiga Ends
“It was already a Howling Wilderness… there was no necessity for making it such…”
The Philippine-American War, though it is hardly known today, was at the center of America’s attention 120 years ago. The Balangiga Incident of September 1901 exemplified Filipino rebel fervor and galvanized American military expansion. I previously reviewed the U.S. military’s actions immediately after the Balangiga Incident. Here I will briefly detail one of the final U.S. military actions of the Philippine-American War in Samar.
The sland of Samar is in the Visayas region of the Philippines. Samar shares the Leyte Gulf with the island of Leyte to the southwest, separated by the narrow San Juanico Strait. 3 months after the Balangiga Incident, Brigadier General Jacob Hurd Smith, U.S. Army, was in command of occupied Samar and Leyte.
THE ORDERS
In late December, 1901 General Smith ordered Major Littleton Tazewell Waller, U.S. Marine Corps, to restore an old Spanish trail between the towns of Basey on Samar’s southwest coast and Lanang (now Llorente) on Samar’s southeast coast. Sometime during the previous 300 years of Spanish colonial occupation, the trail once cut across the interior of the island’s southern end. It was only “35 miles on the map” (Annual Report) but across mountains, rivers, and dense jungle. If cleared, a new telegram line could be opened to support communication and logistics for the American occupation of Samar.
THE MISSION
On December 28th, 1901, 3 days after Christmas, Maj Waller took to the trail, departing from Lanang on the east coast and heading west. Under his command were one U.S. army Lieutenant, 54 U.S. marines and 36 Filipino “native bearers” with 4 days of rations.
Private John Henry Clifford, U.S. Marine Corps wrote that while soldiers of the U.S. Army “carry their commissary stores with them and they live fairly well in the field,” each marine carried only enough food for one day at a time; on long marches they would bring locals as “bearers” to carry additional supplies (in Samar the natives being Samareños or Waray-Waray). Locals would also be taken on as guides, not only to find the trails in the woods, but also to avoid traps laid on the trails (Annual Report).
Samar has two seasons: monsoon season and (relatively) dry season. Its wettest time of the year is between December and February. In rainy season the streams and rivers overflow, the trails are washed out, and saltwater crocodiles even swim inland from the sea. So locals do not go traveling through the forest at this time of year. The vast majority of settlements in Samar are on the coasts, reachable by boat at any time of year. Doubtless, Waller’s guides would have told him all this. Pvt Clifford wrote only that, “On the expedition that the marines were lost the native helpers refused to go with us...”
THE TRAIL
The marine expedition marched through rain from day one.
The native bearers and guides were allowed to carry bolos — the Filipino long knife or machete — only while leading the march to clear the brush. Whenever the expedition stopped for the night, the bolos were confiscated and kept under guard. Waller awoke one night when a bearer took a bolo from him. He feared the Filipino meant to kill him.
Keeping to the old trail proved impossible; it was overgrown and flooded. Thorns in the brush tore through every layer of their uniforms. Leeches in the mud drained their blood and weakened their vision. Sores opened on their feet and caught infections in the constant wet. On the 6th day, January 3rd, 1902, Waller split his unit, moving ahead towards Basey with 14 marines and Lt Lyles, U.S. Army.
“It was already a howling wilderness, and is still in that condition. There was no necessity for making it such; nature had done it for us.” ~Pvt Clifford
Captain Porter remained in command of 39 marines and an unspecified number of bearers. They attempted to harvest wood and build rafts but they would not float. Porter also split his unit, moving back towards Lanang with 7 marines and 6 Filipinos and leaving Lieutenant Alexander Williams, USMC on the trail with 32 marines and some Filipinos.
Williams would report he was attacked at some point by 3 of his bearers; and that his men were too sick to intervene while the other bearers did nothing.
THE RESCUE
Pvt Clifford seems to have been among the 14 marines with Waller. He wrote that marines in at least 3 squads (lead, main body, and vanguard) arrived to Basey after 5 days on a trail that an old man in the woods had shown them. A Sergeant Dooley went back to the trail for stragglers; he found 3 marines scattered along the trail alone, too weak to move — one was barking like a dog from mental distress — and finally 3 marines lying near a tree together.
On arrival in Basey, Waller was feeling ill himself. He had one Filipino named Vicente executed without trial — the one who had woken him in the night taking a bolo — and then rested only one night before returning to the trail for his men. He searched the forest for about 10 days with no luck.
From Lanang, Capt Porter reported to an army garrison. From there, after waiting 2 days for a storm to pass, Lieutenant KP Williams, U.S. Army took 11 soldiers on the river in local banka boats manned by “native laborers” and loaded with “shelter tents and 300 rations and 100 rounds of ammunition,” (Clifford). The soldiers were able to find 25 marines including Lt A. Williams and bring them back to Lanang. 10 marines were still unaccounted for. About 10 bleached skeletons would be found inland by US Navy sailors months later. 4 marines died in hospital.
THE SENTENCE
The marines were distrustful of the Filipino bearers and guides for remaining healthy through the ordeal. When there was no more food to carry, the Filipinos still carried the marines’ ammunition. The Americans suspected that the Filipinos were secretly foraging on the trail and keeping the food to themselves.
The 6 Filipinos who returned to Lanang with Porter’s sickly marines were brought to Basey by the gunboat Arayat on Jan. 21st (by sea rather than river). 4 more Filipinos who had come to Basey with Waller were held captive with the 6. While still incapacitated from illness, Waller charged these 10 Filipino young men with “treason in attempting to kill Lieutenant Williams, treason in general, theft, disobedience, and… general mutiny,” (Melshen).
Lieutenant Day commanded the firing squad of marines who executed 10 Waray Filipinos in Basey, Samar 121 years ago today on Jan 20th, 1902.
After Major Littleton Waller’s logistical errors 14 young Americans died from the elements. And under his orders 11 young Filipinos were murdered.
On January 23, Major General Adna Chaffee, US Army, arrived in Tacloban, Leyte, headquarters of General Jacob Hurd Smith, to investigate “promiscuous killing in Samar for fun,” (Borrinaga).
Follow for more on subsequent investigations
Annual Reports of the War Department. 1902, volume 9
Borrinaga, Rolando O. (2003). “The Balangiga Conflict Revisited.” New Day Publishers. Book.
Clifford, John H. (1916). “History of the Pioneer Marine Battalion.” Chronicle Job Print. Book.
Couttie, Bob (2014). “Hang the Dogs: The True Tragic History of the Balangiga Massacre.” Universal Media. E-book.
Melshen, Captain Paul (1979) “He Served on Samar” | Proceedings — November 1979 Vol. 105/11/921
