Battle of Alapan
| Battle of Alapan | |||||||||
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| Part of the Philippine Revolution | |||||||||
 Imus Heritage Park |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Philippine Revolutionaries |
 Kingdom of Spain
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Emilio Aguinaldo
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Leopoldo García Peña 
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| Strength | |||||||||
| ~18,000 12,000 at Alapan 6,000 nearby |
~3,070 270 in Alapan garrison 2,800 in Cavite |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown (KIA) | Unknown (KIA) about 300 captured |
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Decisive Filipino victory
The Battle of Alapan was fought on May 28, 1898 and was the first military victory of Emilio Aguinaldo after his return to the Philippines from Hong Kong. After American naval victory of the Battle of Manila Bay, Aguinaldo returned from exile in Hong Kong, reconstituted the Philippine Revolutionary Army, and fought against a small garrison of Spanish troops in Alapan, Imus, Cavite. The battle lasted for five hours, from 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.
After the victory at Alapan, Aguinaldo unfurled the Philippine flag for the first time, and hoisted it at the Teatro Caviteño in Cavite Nuevo (present-day Cavite City) in front of Filipino revolutionaries and more than 270 captured Spanish troops. A group of American sailors of the US Asiatic Squadron also witnessed the unfurling.
Flag Day is celebrated every May 28 in honor of this battle. This day also marks the start of the national Independence Day celebrations, as well as of the province-wide Kalayaan Festival celebrated all over Cavite province, honoring the province's role in the achievement of national independence.
The previous year marked the end of the first part of the Philippine Revolution with the signing of the Pact of Biak-na-Bato. Under the terms of the agreement, Aguinaldo went into exile in Hong Kong and prepared for the continuation of the revolution.
When Aguinaldo was in exile, the Spanish–American War began. While most of the war's battles were in the Spanish colony of Cuba, the first battle was between the U.S. Navy and Spanish Navy in the Battle of Manila Bay. On May 1, 1898, U.S. Navy Commodore George Dewey and the U.S. Asiatic Fleet decisively defeated the Spanish and seized control of Manila Bay, effectively controlling Manila and the Spanish government of the Philippines. Aguinaldo, who at the time of the battle was visiting Singapore, returned to Hong Kong and sought Dewey's help to return to the Philippines. On May 19, 1898, Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines aboard the U.S. Navy ship the USS McCulloch.
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Wikipedia