Battle of Tirad Pass

Battle of Tirad Pass
Part of the Philippine-American War
General Gregorio del Pilar and his troops, around 1898
Date December 2, 1899 Location Tirad Pass, Ilocos Sur, Philippines Result Strategic Filipino victory Tactical American victory Death of Gen. Gregorio del Pilar Filipino forces successfully delay the American advance
Belligerents
United States	Philippine Republic
Commanders and leaders
Peyton C. March	Gregorio del Pilar † Francisco di Palmara †
Strength
300	60
Casualties and losses
2 killed 9 wounded	52 killed

Strategic Filipino victory
Tactical American victory

The Battle of Tirad Pass (Filipino: Labanan Sa Pasong Tirad), sometimes referred to as the "Philippine Thermopylae", was a battle in the Philippine-American War fought on December 2, 1899, in northern Luzon in the Philippines, in which a 60-man Filipino rear guard commanded by Brigadier General Gregorio del Pilar succumbed to over 500 Americans, mostly of the 33rd Volunteer Infantry Regiment under Major Peyton C. March, while delaying the American advance to ensure that President Emilio Aguinaldo and his troops escaped.

The retreat of Aguinaldo from Bayambang, Pangasinan, through the mountainous terrain began on November 13, 1899, after he had disbanded the regular Filipino army into guerrilla units. On November 23, Aguinaldo's party reached the pass, which provided a strategic bottleneck. It was to be protected by a rear guard under General Gregorio del Pilar, who noticed the advantageous terrain of Tirad Pass (Pasong Tirad as it was locally called), and hunkered down to defend it while Aguinaldo escaped through the mountains. The hand-picked force of Filipinos, which was the remaining contingent of the late Antonio Luna's army, constructed several sets of trenches and stone barricades on both shoulders of the pass, as well as on top of its 4,500-foot height. Meanwhile, during early November, Major March had been given the task of pursuing Aguinaldo. By November 30, March and his men, in haste to catch the Philippine president, marched through Candon, Santo Tomas, La Union and Salcedo, Ilocos Sur. He and his men found out that Aguinaldo had passed through Salcedo five days previously, and that fueled the Americans' march to Concepcion (now named Gregorio del Pilar), a town overlooked by the steep pass, which they reached by December 1. March had no clear idea of the size of Aguinaldo's rear guard, but he had calculated it to be no more than 150 men.

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