Below is the story of events that lead to Aguinaldo's capture:
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May 1900 |
Funston's 4th district captures the headquarters of General Urbano Lacuna capturing personal letterheads and stationery General Urbano Lacuna
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September 1900 |
After lengthy trek to elude his pursuers, Aguinaldo and his entourage (by this time, reduced to a few dozen persons) established themselves in a small remote village of Palanan, Isabela province. Aguinaldo maintained nominal control over the revolutionary leaders and communicated with local leaders of the resistance via correspondence carried by couriers. A tedious process which took 2 to 3 months to complete, if they are completed at all. |
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January 1901 |
In an effort to reinforce his forces, Aguinaldo dispatched a soldier, Cecilio Segismundo, from Palanan with letters for his second cousin, Baldomero Aguinaldo and several other guerilla commanders in central and southern Luzon. |
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February 8, 1901 |
After a month long trek, the courier and his twelve man escort was captured in Casignan, Nueva Vizcaya after being convinced by the mayor of Casignan to give up. He surrendered himself and his documents to the US commander of
Taylor realizing the importance of his find, immediately telegraphed his command located at San Isidro, 60 miles southwest of Casignan. The district commander was Brig. General Frederick Funston. Funston , a Medal of Honor recipient, commanded a force of 2,400 U.S. troops in the Fourth District. His command covered two provinces in north central Luzon. Funston, quickly acted and exploited the potential intelligence windfall. He quickly instructed Lt. Taylor to send Segismundo and his documents to San Isidro under guard. In San Isidro, the courier told the Americans that Aguinaldo was in Palanan. According to some accounts, the confession was extracted via water cure. Funston's solution took advantage of the earlier capture of Gen. Urbano Lacuna's headquarters and the courier's packet of letters. Funston planned a raid on Palanan using a force of pro U.S. Filipinos with a few American officers who would disguise themselves as reinforcements. Carrying forged credentials from Lacuna and guided by Segismundo, the troops would openly march into Palanan. The Americans in the group would pretend to be prisoners. Once in Palanan, the group will throw off their disguises, capture Aguinaldo and take him to the coast for pickup by Navy vessel.
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Last week of Feb 1901 With the plan approved by General MacArthur Sr., Funston assembled his
raiding team. They came from Company D, 1st Battalion of the Macabebe
scouts commanded by Captain Russell T. Hazzard. Hazzard was an officer
detailed from the 11th U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. The unit was recruited
from a Central Luzon minority tribe whose members served as colonial
troops for the Spaniards.
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| Some of the Macabebe scouts from Company D |
Funston obtained Filipino peasant clothing and a mixture of Filipino weapons
e.g. Mausers, Remingtons and U.S. Army Krag-Jorgensen rifles.
To act as leaders of this supposed reinforcement team, Funston drafted
former nationalist officers who were captured or have surrendered and
for Funston as informers and scouts. Hilario Talplacido, a former Philippine
army major, received the role of lieutenant colonel and nominal commander.
Two former lieutenants, Gregorio Cadhit and Dionisio Bato played roles
at that rank. Segismundo who also had sworn allegiance to Uncle Sam
came along as a guide.
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| The US oath of allegiance |
and his brother and second-in-command, Lieutenant Oliver P.M. Hazzard.
The brothers knew their men well and could coach them through the
mission. Also included were Funston's cousin, Lt. Burton Mitchell and
Captain Harry W. Newton. Newton was formerly stationed in Baler,
the closest American garrison to the destination and was slightly familiar
with the terrain on which they have to take.
March 6, 1901 The Vicksburg steamed out of Manila Bay. While out at sea, letters were written
on the forged Lacuna papers. The critical letters were composed in Spanish with
the help of Segovia.
the receipt of Aguinaldo's letter which Segismundo carried. He also
reported great military successes against the Americans.
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| Stationaries and seals were difficult to forge such as the one above from Aguinaldo |
The second letter stated that Lacuna, on orders from Baldomero
Aguinaldo, was sending a company of reinforcements to the president
under the command of Hilario Talplacido. An officer with whom
Aguinaldo was acquainted.
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| Sample of a seal |
The letters were to be sent in advance to Aguinaldo via courier after they
have landed.
While on the ship, all of those included in the mission rehearsed their roles.
March 13, 1901 Vicksburg approached Casiguran Bay with all lights screened.
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| Casiguran Bay |
can start their trek to Palanan without revealing their true identities.
March 14, 1901 At 2 o'clock in the morning, eighty-nine men from the Vicksburg landed
along a remote beach of Casiguran. The soldiers wore ragtag clothing and
were barefoot. The party went ashore unobserved in Vicksburg's small
boats under cover of darkness and rain during the early hours of the day.
Before dawn the Vicksburg had withdrawn out of sight of land.
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USS Vicksburg
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Vicksburg had orders to approach the shore near Palanan on March 25
to retrieve the raiders hopefully with the prisoners. Meanwhile, the
Vicksburg will cruise up and down the coast and land parties at the
few settlements to look for the five supposed captured Americans as cover
for its presence in the area.
At daybreak, the party proceeded to the nearby town of Casiguran. The town
was guerilla controlled and rarely visited by American patrols. Ahead of
the group, Cadhit, Segismundo and two Macabebes brought a letter signed by
Talplacido to the mayor of Casiguran informing him of the party's mission and
requesting for quarters and food for his men and their prisoners. The mayor
they discovered had gone to Palanan to attend Aguinaldo's 32nd birthday
but his deputy complied. Marching under a tumultuous welcome from the
townsfolk, the group were housed in various houses, while Funston and the
other "prisoners" were housed in the municipal building. Nearby were the
Filipino officers. Segovia slipped into the American's room late at night for
whispered conferences, while the Macabebes regaled the locals with stories
of their supposed exploits against the Americans.
March 15 and 16 The group stayed in Casiguran while Funston and Segovia secretly prepared
another letter. The forged letter was supposedly from Talplacido to Aguinaldo,
informing Aguinaldo that he was on his way to Palanan with a company of
troops from Lacuna. On the march, they encountered a detachment of
Americans, killing two, wounding three and taking five prisoners. So as not
to weaken his detachment, he will bring along the prisoners with him to
Palanan.
They requested from the deputy to send the new letter and the forged Lacuna
letters to Palanan via two townsmen so that Aguinaldo would
know that the approaching troops were friendlies.
The couriers left Casiguran on the sixteenth and arrived in Palanan two days
ahead of Funston and his column.
Funston's concern during this time was having enough food and supplies for
the hundred-mile trek to Palanan and he was trying to secure as much supplies
as possible. Having been told by the mayor's deputy that he can secure the
needed supplies can be secured in around 5 days, Funston decided that they
will have to march within 2 days on whatever they have foraged, which by that
time amounted to 4 days of short rations including dried carabao meat and
6 live chickens. They also heard a rumor that General Tinio was in Palanan with
four hundred troops. They decided to continue as they knew they had the
element of surprise.
March 17 to 22 The column along with a dozen men from Casiguran together with a Baluga
guide (who later deserted and was replaced by a local) marched out of
Casiguran. The locals, although helpful made the journey harder as they
had to keep up the masquerade throughout the trek.
The march was brutal as the terrain was hardgoing for the shoeless Macabebes.
Funston counted sixty streams forded during the trek. Rain was constant and
after their supplies ran out, the column had to subsist on cooked corn mush with
snails and small fish gathered along the beach.
The inadequate diet, tension and physical exertion took its toll as the tough
Macabebes became weak and ill. Funston suffered rheumatic pains, Mitchell
who was unable to eat became emaciated and listless. Talplacido, terrified by
the whole enterprise and overweight collapsed and had to be carried by
Macabebe relays. By March 22, the force, according to Funston, "stumbled
along in a half-dazed condition.... Our men were scattered for a mile along the
beach, some of them so weak they reeled as they walked."
Late in the afternoon of March 22, Funston and the exhausted group reached
Dinundungan, a point where a trail branched inland from the beach toward
Palanan, eight miles away. Here they encountered an outpost manned
by an elderly Tagalog and several Balugas. The old man presented to
Talplacido a letter from Aguinaldo's chief of staff, Simeon Villa, instructing
Talplacido to bring his force to Palanan. It also directed Talplacido to leave
the prisoners and a ten-man guard at Dinundungan for security reasons.
Aguinaldo planned eventually to release the captives and did not want them
to know the location of his headquarters. The old man told Segovia and
Talplacido that Tinio was not in Palanan, much to the relief of the group.
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| Left to right- Barcelona, E. Aguinaldo and Simeon Villa |
complete the march.
March 23
Early morning Porters arrived from Palanan with enough corn to give the troops a much
needed breakfast.
8:00 AM The main body of Macabebes, headed by Talplacido, Segovia, Cadhit,
Bato and Segismundo accompanied by the bearers from Casiguran
marched to Palanan.
Around 9:00 AM Two Macabebes came back down the trail carrying a note from Segovia
to the corporal in charge of the Americans. The corporal showed it to the
elderly Tagalog. It stated that new orders were received that all were going
to march to Palanan, including the prisoners.
Halfway to Palanan, the main body met ten of Aguinaldo's soldiers sent
to relieve the detachment guarding the prisoners so that everyone can join
the welcome in Palanan. Segovia distracted Aguinaldo's soldiers and held
them long enough while a Macabebe sergeant and a private were sent
to Funston to warn them. Funston hid in the jungle until the detachment
from Palanan marched past.
2:00 PM The main body reaches the bank of the Palanan river opposite the village.
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Diagram of Aguinaldo's headquarters.
KEYS TO NUMBERS: A. Aguinaldo's house. 1. Sitting room. 2. Hallway. 3. Bedroom used by Aguinaldo, Barcelona and Villa. 4. Kitchen. 5,6. Doorways. 7,9. Barracks. 8. Village church. 10,11. Bandstands. 12. Summer house. 13. Window from which Aguinaldo called to the Macabebes to cease firing. 14. Position of Aguinaldo's guard when fired on. 15, 16. Position of Funston's men at beginning of attack. The marks "- - - -" indicate trenches placed in the public square around the bandstands. |
Once across, the Little Macs formed ranks and marched towards Aguinaldo’s
Aguinaldo, thinking that the shots were intended as a salute to the newcomers,
time, Segovia rushed back in from the balcony where he had given the signal.
By then, Aguinaldo’s officers began to recover from their shock and started to
draw their weapons. Segovia immediately fired six shots from his revolver, killing
two rebels. The others quickly surrendered or jumped out the windows to
escape.
Funston’s small group arrived at the river crossing just as the gunfire erupted
and crossed quickly. Funston’s intervention spared several of Aguinaldo’s
men from the Little Macs who were more than willing to fight it out with the
rebels. Inside the headquarters, Funston found Aguinaldo pinned to the floor
with the stocky Talplacido sitting on him. Aguinaldo quickly realized what had
happened and meekly surrendered. Two of his chief officers were also taken
prisoner.
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| Aguinaldo and company before boarding the Vicksburg |
themselves to food left behind by the villagers who had fled when the
shooting began. On the morning of 25 March, Funston’s column
rendezvoused with Vicksburg in Palanan Bay and set sail for Manila.
Aguinaldo's capture added to Funston's already high prestige. Later he bacame a major general,
commanding BGen. John Pershing during his operations against Pancho Villa. If he did not die
at age 51 (February 1917), he and not Pershing, would have commanded the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I.
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| Funston's sunflower pin in commemoration of the Philippine campaign |
