Siege of Baler

Siege of Baler
Part of the Philippine Revolution, Spanish–American War
Filipino troops of Colonel Tecson in Baler, May 1899. Tecson is to the right of the cannon, Novicio to the left.
Date July 1, 1898 – June 2, 1899 Location Baler, Philippines Result Filipino victory Baler held beyond official cessation of hostilities and cession of Philippine Islands; Failure of American relief efforts; Negotiated armistice after the surrender of the Spanish troops
Belligerents
Philippine Republic	Kingdom of Spain	United States
Commanders and leaders
Teodorico Novicio Luna Cirilo Gomez Ortiz † Calixto Villacorta Antonio Santos Simon Ocampo Tecson Nemesio Bartolome Francisco T. Ponce	Enrique de Las Morenas y Fossí † Juan Alonzo Zayas † Saturnino Martin Cerezo Rogelio Vigil	James Gillmore
Strength
800	50 infantry 1 officer 3 priests	15 sailors 1 cutter
Casualties and losses
unknown but Light	15 dead from disease 2 dead from wounds 2 executed 2 deserted	5 killed 10 captured

Filipino victory

The Siege of Baler (July 1, 1898 – June 2, 1899) was a battle of the Philippine Revolution and concurrently the Spanish–American War and the Philippine–American War. Filipino revolutionaries laid siege to a fortified church manned by colonial Spanish troops in the town of Baler, Philippines for 11 months, or 337 days.

The battle is considered part of the Spanish–American War since the Filipinos were allied with the United States at the outset. That war ended in December 1898 with Spain's surrender and annexation of the Philippines to the United States. However, cut off from communications with their own government and military, the Spanish forces continued their defense against the Filipino forces until 1899.

Baler, Aurora located on the eastern coast of Luzon, is some 225 kilometers distant from the Philippine capital city of Manila. The Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule started 1896. The Spanish garrisoned Baler, in Sept. 1897, with fifty cazadores under Lt. Jose Mota, to prevent Aguinaldo from receiving smuggled arms. Mota's forces were attacked on the night of 4 Oct. by Novicio's men, killing Lt. Mota and six other Spaniards, wounding several and capturing 30 Mauser rifles. The initial phase of the Philippine Revolution ended with a truce in 1897.

By 1898, with the resumption of the Philippine Revolution, Baler was still reachable only by ship or by traversing on foot through nearly impassable jungle trails across the Sierra Madres, that were often washed out by torrential tropical rains. During this phase of the revolution, the Philippines was involved in the Spanish-American War, and the Filipino rebels allied themselves with the American forces. This alliance would end with the outbreak of the Philippine-American War in 1899.

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