Battle of Pulang Lupa

Part of Philippine–American War

Date	September 13, 1900
Location	Marinduque, Philippines
Result	Filipino victory

Belligerents

First Philippine Republic

United States

Commanders and leaders

Maximo Abad

Luther Hare

Devereux Shields

Strength

1,180-2,250 total
180-250 riflemen
1,000-2,000 bolomen

54 29th U.S. Infantryman

Casualties and losses

Unknown

4 killed, 50 captured, 6 of which wounded.

The Battle of Pulang Lupa was an engagement fought on September 13, 1900, during the Philippine–American War, between the forces of Colonel Maximo Abad and Devereux Shields, in which Abad's men defeated the American force.

"The severity with which the inhabitants have been dealt would not look well if a complete history of it were written out." —Governor-General of the Philippines William Howard Taft, concerning the U.S. Army campaign on the island of Marinduque during the Philippine–American War of 1899-1902

On September 11, Captain Devereux Shields led a detachment of 54 29th U.S. Volunteer Infantrymen into the mountains of Torrijos to combat the elusive Abad and his guerrillas. They experienced little success, except for the dispersing of 20 guerrillas, in which no casualties were inflicted on either side.

Abad had excellent intelligence and was informed of Shields' movements by the local guerrillas ahead of time. In response, he assembled his entire force of around 180-250 regular Filipino soldiers and 1,000-2,000 bolomen, although some sources claim as few as 300 altogether. The regular Philippine soldiers were well organized and reasonably well armed with bolos, pistols, and Spanish Mausers, despite the fact that most were poor shots. The bolomen, armed only with machetes or bolos, served mainly to bolster Abad's forces. Dressed as friendly farmers or civilians in the daytime, they took part in guerrilla activities at night: ambushing small detachments of American soldiers, sabotage, and most importantly, supplying Abad with intelligence on American positions and movements. They had little military value, however, considering they had no firearms.

On September 13, Abad positioned his men along a steep ridge overlooking the trail which Shields would soon cross. Both Shields and his men had little combat experience and easily fell into the trap. Abad and his 250 soldiers opened fire on the column, which led to a fire-fight that lasted for several hours. Meanwhile, as the Americans and Philippine riflemen exchanged fire, the large force of Filipino bolomen began maneuvering to surround the Americans.

Shields, seeing that he was almost completely surrounded, ordered a withdrawal, which soon turned into a full-blown retreat, as Abad's much larger force poured over the ridge after Shields and his men. The Filipino soldiers harassed Shields for nearly 4 miles (6 km) before cornering them in a small rice field; their escape to Santa Cruz was cut off by the large force of Filipino bolomen. Abad's men again opened fire, forcing the Americans to take cover behind some paddy dikes. Shields, wounded and recognizing the futility of the situation, raised the white flag in order to surrender.

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