Battle of Zapote Bridge (1897)

Battle of Zapote Bridge

Zapote Bridge (1899) two years after the battle.

Date	February 17, 1897
Location	Zapote Bridge, Bacoor and Las Piñas (Manila–Cavite provincial boundary), Captaincy General of the Philippines
Result	Filipino victory

Belligerents

Katipunan

Magdalo

Spanish Empire

Commanders and leaders

Emilio Aguinaldo

Edilberto Evangelista †

Tomas Mascardo(WIA)

Camilo de Polavieja

José de Lachambre

Strength

about 10,000 regulars and irregulars

12,000 men (1 division of infanterias and several regiments of cazadores and artillery)

Casualties and losses

450 killed,
900+ wounded

441 killed,
870+ wounded, 313 captured

Katipunan

The Battle of Zapote Bridge was fought on February 17, 1897 as part of the Philippine Revolution. Filipino revolutionary forces led by General Emilio Aguinaldo defeated Spanish forces under the command of Governor-General Camilo de Polavieja. In this battle, General Edilberto Evangelista (a Filipino civil engineer, trench builder and member of the Katipunan) was killed.

With the loss of the revolutionary battle and the opening of the second phase of the war, the Spaniards began their campaign to recapture territories. This campaign was in Filipino hands in the early phase of the revolution after the decisive battles of Binakayan and Dalahican in 1896. Governor-General Camilo de Polavieja now fully aware that the mainweight of the revolution is in Cavite, decided to launch a two-pronged assault which will defeat the revolutionaries led by Aguinaldo. He ordered General José de Lachambre with a much bigger force to march against Silang to take on the Katipuneros from the rear, while he himself will engaged the Filipinos head on- known as "Cavite Offensive". More than 20,000 Spaniards marched from Manila towards Cavite province to reclaim the provincial towns lost to the revolutionaries. The revolutionaries then planned a counterattack to stop the Spanish offensive in Cavite. The site of the battle was planned for Zapote Bridge in Bacoor.

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Wikipedia