Battle of Mabitac

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Mabitac
partof=the Philippine-American War


caption=
date=September 17, 1900
place=Mabitac, Laguna, Philippines
result=Filipino victory
combatant1=flag|Philippines|old
combatant2=flag|United States|1896
commander1=General Juan Cailles
commander2=Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham, Jr.
strength1=*800 Filipino soldiers
strength2=145 37th U.S. Volunteer Infantry
casualties1=11 killed, 20 wounded
casualties2=21 killed, 23 woundedThe Battle of Mabitac was an engagement in the Philippine-American War, when on September 17, 1900, Filipinos under General Juan Cailles defeated an American force commanded by Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham, Jr.

Mabitac was linked to the garrison town of Siniloan by a causeway which, on the day of the battle, was flooded with water (in many parts waist-deep). The water in the flanking rice fields was even deeper, making it impossible to properly deploy off the narrow road. Trenches occupied by Filipinos under Cailles cut across this causeway, blocking the path into Mabitac.

The battle began when elements of the 37th and U.S. 15th Infantry Regiments, advancing from Siniloan, came under intense fire some 400 yards from the enemy trenches, estimated at 800 in strength. Eight troops sent ahead to scout the enemy positions died to the last man as they closed to within 50 yards of the Filipinos. One of the last to fall was 2nd Lieutenant George Cooper. General Cailles, in an honorable gesture, let the defeated Cheatham recover the bodies of the eight slain soldiers after the battle.

Meanwhile, the main body of U.S. Infantry had become pinned down in the waist-deep mud, still several hundred yards from the Filipino trenches. Unable to properly deploy, and in a dangerously exposed position, they engaged in a firefight with Philippine forces for nearly 90 minutes. Despite the bravery of one Captain John E. Moran, later awarded the Medal of Honor for trying to rally his demoralized comrades, the Americans were badly mauled, sustaining scores of casualties.

Even supporting fire from a U.S. Navy gunboat (some 1,300 yards distant) and an attempted flank attack by 60 Americans, who had not participated in the costly frontal assault, could not dent the Filipino position, and Cheatham withdrew soon after. Eventually, General Cailles managed a skillful withdrawal in order to avoid envelopment, and by the next day, his entire command had made good their escape.

The Americans lost some 21 killed and 23 wounded in the battle, an effective loss of 33% of their strength (termed a "profoundly impressive loss" by American General Arthur MacArthur, Jr. in an effort to allay the potential shock on U.S. servicemen). The Filipinos, in their turn, suffered 11 killed and 20 wounded. Numbered among their dead was Lieutenant Colonel Fidel Sario.

American Major-General John C. Bates later said of this battle: "It is deemed charitable as well as politic to drop a veil over this matter rather than to give any publicity that can be avoided."

After the First Battle of Mabitac in 1900, During the Second World War in 1945, beginning the liberation in the town of Mabitac, Laguna by the defenders of the Allied Philippine Commonwealth troops and local guerilla fighters against the Japanese Imperial forces during the Second Battle of Mabitac.

References