The men of the Second Oregon waited for a month and a half in Cavite, Philippines.  July went on and the 1^st California and 14^th US were moved out of Cavite into the field taking positions to the south of Manila.  Other units from later arriving forces did the same.  The Oregonians were not excited about being left behind to drill back at Cavite while the others were out on the firing lines.

NEW COMMANDER

General Merritt finally arrived to take overall command by late July.  He wanted the Second Oregon to serve as guard for the supply base in Cavite.  But, he said, considering the upcoming assault against the Spanish in Manila, he would grant the regiment a prominent role.

On 13 August, nine companies of the Second embarked upon vessels heading in towards the walls of old Manila.  Also, Company F was selected to serve as bodyguard to General Merritt.  The three companies left behind in Cavite were crestfallen.

BATTLE OF MANILA

The Battle of Manila was fought to assuage Spanish honor – Spanish commanders were not allowed to surrender without battle.  A short naval barrage and an attack by men from the 1^st Colorado were enough to call it a ‘battle’.  The Spanish agreed to surrender but requested General Merritt to provide 600 men to be put inside the walled city – Intramuros – to maintain order.  The nine companies were just enough.

SECOND OREGON, FIRST INTO MANILA

Landing without incident and marched inside the city, the Oregon regiment was the first to reach the Philippines and now the first Americans to enter Manila, as well.  They lined up in front of the government palace alongside Spanish troops while one flag was hauled down and another raised.  While a band played the Star-Spangled Banner, the Oregon soldiers cheered while the civilians cried or averted their eyes.

SECOND OREGON KEEPS THE PEACE

The Second Oregon was given the role as Provost Guard.  They were joined by the 13^th Minnesota, 23^rd US Infantry and the Utah Battery serving for the next five and a half months within the city mainly guarding Spanish prisoners, city gates and inspecting natives for weapons and insurrectionists.  Company F stayed in the government palace with the commanding General while the rest of the Second Oregon moved into the southern half of Intramuros near the Luneta Gate.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE PHILIPPINES

Hostilities with Spain had actually been suspended the day before.  The question now was what would happen with the Philippines.  Besides, the Spanish forces – now prisoners – there were another 15,000 men belonging to the native insurgent Army of Liberation at the disposal of newly-acclaimed President Emilio Aguinaldo.

TREATY OF PARIS

The Treaty of Paris signed 10 December 1898 ended Philippine hopes of recognition for their native independence.  Spanish hopes to retain part of the Philippines were dashed by McKinley. He cabled his negotiator “to accept merely Luzon … cannot be justified on political, commercial, or humanitarian grounds.  The cessation must be the whole archipelago or none.”  After throwing in twenty million dollars to the deal and the threat of resumed hostilities, the Spanish agreed. The treaty was signed.  The Spanish legislature – the Cortes Generales – rejected the treaty by the Queen Regent overrode the rejection.  The US Congress narrowly ratified – on 6 February 1899 – the treaty 57-27 – two-thirds needed for ratification setting the stage for a new war that had just flared up.

A NEW WAR

The Second Battle of Manila – 4-6 February 1899 – featured new combatants, US versus the Filipino Army of Liberation.  An incident flared up on the night of 4 February. This led to an American offensive against Filipino forces just outside the City.  The attacks were successful in driving back the besiegers in disarray.

The Second Oregon was still concerned with provost guard duties helping keep the city quiet behind the front lines.  They played a role helping put out fires during a 22 February uprising in northern sections of Manila.  Three companies also helped clearing a stone barricade in the Tondo area.

WHEATON’S FLYING BRIGADE

By mid-March, the US forces had established a formidable defensive position around Manila and now were ready for offensive actions.  Wanting to remove harassing forces from the south and eastern perimeters, General Otis directed a brigade to pacify the area.  The brigade was put under the command of Brigadier General Loyd Wheaton. Wheaton was another Civil War veteran awarded a Medal of Honor from actions at the Battle of Fort Blakeley in 1865.  Wheaton served in the Regular Army as a commander of a 60-man company for decades in the post-Civil War army. But his company had been a part of a regiment under the command of Elwell Otis.  Wheaton was popular with his troops for sharing hardships with them. He was popular with news correspondents, too, for letting them go wherever they wanted and sharing coarse stories with them.

“HARDEST DAY OF WORK”

The force attacked Filipinos at Guadalupe Church on 12 March crossing the Taguig River after 10 am.  Pushing forward two miles, the Second Oregon met the enemy just north of Pasig at Pateros.  After a three-hour firefight, the Filipinos were driven off by the extra guns on the gunship Laguna de Bay operating in the Pasig River.  By 17 March, the men had reached the lake pushing south to San Pedro Tunasan before pulling back to Pasig – a march covering 20-30 miles – “the hardest day’s work in the Philippines”. (page 12) US gunboats were now able to cruise the shores of the Laguna de Bay effectively cutting the forces of the Army of Liberation in two.

NEXT PHASE

Otis’ next step was to try and envelope the Filipinos in the northern sector pushing onto the new Filipino capital at Malolos. Forces under the command of Irving Hale would drive northeast from Manila towards Novaliches (just north of today’s Quezon City).  The force would then turn west and cut the railroad south of the Polo River driving the Filipino left towards the rest of the American forces pushing directly north including Wheaton’s brigade including the Second Oregon.   Hale’s men encountered tough terrain and dozens of enemy detachments and were eventually unable to make the envelopment happen.

On 25 March, Wheaton’s brigade pushed past Caloocan to the Tuliahan River.  On the left, the Second Oregon had a daunting task of attacking across marshes, forests, and ravines added with earthworks, trenches, blockhouses with open fields in front.  They had stopped to wait for help from a force to help with a flanking attack but at 8am, Wheaton ordered them to go forward alone.

SECOND OREGON AT MALABON

The bugles sounded and the men went over the top of their trenches forming a skirmish line.  They fired two volleys and then raced across two hundred yards of open ground routing the Filipinos out of their fortifications at the cost of nine dead and forty-three wounded.  The next day, they crossed the Tuliahan River spearheading the brigade push into Malinta.  The week-long campaign ended shortly thereafter with the fall of Malolos but the escape of the Army of Liberation.

An interesting sideline is the death of Ludwig Löwenstein, a Bavarian prince and London socialite who might have been a German spy, as well.  He had been warned to stay off the firing line multiple times.  Disregarding the orders, he and a colleague hid in a hut in a forest where Filipino soldiers were suspected.  They were hit by fire from the Second Oregon subsequently with Löwenstein mortally wounded.

REGULARS AND VOLUNTEERS

In early 1899, the Army realized the 28,000+ pre-war force would be too small to deal with the post-war situation in the Caribbean and especially in the Philippines.  Responding to the need for more men, Congress allowed the Army to raise 35,000 more men in 25 regiments under Federal control.  The problem was the new Regulars were very inexperienced in contrast to the State Volunteers who had tropical experience galore under their belt.

The National Guardsmen were also soon to depart the Philippines.  Their service for one year or whenever war with Spain concluded.  The war was over, and Otis was due to lose a large portion of his force by May.  Before the loss of so many experienced troops and the monsoons made military campaigning impossible, Otis made one more effort at ending the Army of Liberation.

NORTHERN EXPEDITION

In a campaign lasting from the end of April into May, the 8^th Corps tried one more time.  Nine companies of the Second Oregon joined with the 13^th Minnesota in a provisional brigade.  Considering the Oregonians’ success, brigade command fell to Colonel Summers.  The men issued 10 days provisions, set off on 21 April on the last full campaign undertaken by the Oregonians.

HENRY W. LAWTON AND THE CIVIL WAR

They were to set out from Bocaue to ensure a supply line to a division of troop under the command of Major General Henry W. Lawton.  Lawton was one of the Army’s more colorful figures.  He enlisted in the 9^th Indiana in 1861, a unit called up for only three months.  He then joined the 30^th Indiana as a first lieutenant fighting at Shiloh, Iuka, Corinth, Stone’s River and Chickamauga.  Promoted to captain during the Atlanta campaign, he gained the Medal of Honor for capturing several Rebel rifle pits.  He led his men in fighting two subsequent counterattacks.  Promoted to lieutenant colonel, he took part in the battles of Franklin and Nashville gaining a brevet to colonel before the war ended.  Lawton was only 22 by then.

LIFE AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

He briefly attended Harvard Law School before joining the Regular Army accepting a second lieutenant position with the 41^st US Infantry, an African American regiment. Promoted to first lieutenant in 1867 he later joined the 4^th US Cavalry as a captain.  In 1886, he led the expedition which chased Geronimo and his Apache followers 1,300 miles through the southwest.  With Geronimo’s surrender, the Indian Wars of the region ended.

Promoted to major, he became the inspector general of the Army.  Further promotions in February 1898 and July 1898 raised him to full colonel in the Regular Army.  Lawton commanded the Second Division of the Fifth Corps during the Cuban invasion capturing El Caney on 1 July after heavy fighting.  Serving as military governor of Santiago for a time, he returned to the US to recover from illness.

LAWTON COMES TO THE PHILIPPINES

Reassigned to the Philippines, Lawton gained the command of the First Division.  Lawton’s division consisted of the 1^st North Dakota, the 22^nd US, seven companies of the 3^rd US, three troops of the 4^th US Cavalry, a mountain artillery battery, and guns from both the 6^th US Artillery and the Utah Artillery.  Concentrating at La Loma church on 21 April the division moved north the next day occupying Novaliches.  Lawton’s role was to swing wide to the east and then north.  They would try to come in on the left flank of the Army of Liberation which was to be fixed in position by General Arthur MacArthur’s Second Division fighting along the railroad near Manila Bay.

DIFFICULTIES WITH THE TERRAIN

Lawton’s force had to deal with non-existent roads, rugged terrain and persistent enemy action.  They occupied San Jose on 24 April crossing the Quingua River at Pulilan.  That same day, Summers’ column marching from Bocaue captured Norzagaray where the two columns united the next day.  The brigade marched on Angat and Marunco on 27 April, pushing on to San Rafael two days later.  Filipino peace overtures in Manila led Lawton to pull the brigade back to Marunco, however.

COLUMNS UNITE IN NORZAGARAY

While awaiting results from Manila, a local civilian, William Henry Young, gained permission to form a special company of twenty-five to act as a forward group for Lawton’s division.  He took volunteers from the 1^st North Dakota, the 4^th US Cavalry and six men from the Second Oregon.  The Scouts led the Second Oregon back into San Rafael on 1 May after the peace talks failed.

The division captured Baliuag next with the Second Oregon serving as guard for the supply train.  On 4 May, the brigade pushed on eight miles to Maasin with the 13^th Minnesota forward and the Second Oregon in reserve.  Moving on, the Scouts and men from the brigade captured Ildefonso on 12 May.

THE SCOUTS LEAD THE WAY

May 13 saw Young lead eighteen of his Scouts with support from a company from both the Second Oregon and 13^th Minnesota into a Filipino trench line manned by 300 to 600 men.  Advancing in leaps and bounds with men dispersed about fifty feet apart, they pushed up close to the entrenchments.  The Filipinos retreated back into the city over a bridge where Young fell wounded in a leg.  The small American group continued to chase the Filipinos out of the town reinforced during the night by several more companies from both the Oregon and Minnesota regiments.  Young died three days later in a Manila hospital after tetanus set in from his wound.

ON TO SAN ISIDRO

Leadership of the Scouts fell to Second Lieutenant Thornton from Company B Second Oregon.  The Scouts were moving towards the new Filipino capital at San Isidro when they found the Filipinos in a strong position entrenched at the Tarbon Bridge over the Rio Grande.  Using tall grass as cover, the Scouts were able to get close enough to drive the Filipinos from their trenches.  Setting fire to the wooden bridge as they withdrew, Thornton rushed onto the bridge under covering fire and was able to put out the fire.  Four companies from the Second Oregon soon came up to reinforce the Scouts and repair the bridge.  San Isidro fell as Summers brought up the rest of his brigade, with Major Eastwick moving further on to Gapan with his battalion.

Lawton’s column had achieved their goal, but MacArthur’s men had been to worn down by fighting, the heat and disease.  On 20 May, Lawton’s division began moving down the north bank of the Rio Grande towards Calumpit with the Scouts fighting one little engagement at San Antonio.  The division reached Calumpit on 24 May where they entrained for Manila.

RETURN … ALMOST

On 22 May, the Second Oregon received the welcome news they would be among the first to return to the US.  On the way back to Manila, four other companies detached from the regiment for guard duty along the railway reunited with the regiment.  Everyone gathered again in the Cuartel de España with Company F returning to the palace once more.  The regiment suffered greatly from its service in the field with most suffering from gastrointestinal and foot problems.

LAST CAMPAIGN

Making ready to return to the US, most of the regiment was called out to the Mariquina water works on 2 June.  Brigaded with the 1^st Colorado, 4^th US Cavalry and units of the 1^st Wyoming and 4^th US, the Second Oregon marched down the Mariquina Valley pushing on towards Taytay where another brigade fought.  The regiment suffered their last casualties in a firefight pushing away Filipino forces attempting to ambush them.  The next day, the brigade marched on through Antipolo to Teresa and on 4 June to Morong.  Morong had fallen the day before to the 1^st Washington with the aid of gunboats on the lake.  From Morong, the Second Oregon returned to Manila by boat.

The Second Oregon embarked on the transports Ohio and Newport on 12-13 June – seventy-five men given discharges in Manila.  Both vessels sailed 14 June, the regiment being the first to arrive in the Philippines and the first to return.  The spent four days taking on coal and meat in Nagasaki, Japan 18-22 June and pushed on to San Francisco 12 July.  They camped at the Presidio marching in reviews until mustered out of service on 7 August.  Two special trains returned the men north to Oregon.  Those from Portland finished their service at a big review at Multnomah Field on 10 August.  The Second Oregon Volunteer Regiment dissolved back into the Oregon National Guard.

INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS

Actions of the Second Oregon certainly were not war-winning in the Philippines.  Several more years followed before the hostilities concluded.  Men of the Second Oregon, like the other state volunteers, had proven hardy fighters in the field, fighting with single-shot black powder rifles with half the range of the Mausers in use by many of the Filipinos.  Seven members of the regiment got recommendations for the Medal of Honor – five from the Scouts for actions at San Miguel and Tarbon Bridge.  In the end, three men from the Scouts gained the Medal.

EPITAPH

Sixty-four Oregonians died during their extended trip to the Philippines. The figure is roughly the same as other state volunteer regiments involved in as much fighting as the Second Oregon – i.e., 20^th Kansas lost 65 men, the 1^st Nebraska lost 61 men, the 13^th Minnesota lost 42, the 1^st California 36.  Of the sixty-four, thirteen died in action, three died of wounds, three captured and killed, one drowned and forty-three died of disease.  Several bodies seem to have been repatriated to Oregon, though I am not sure of the exact number. 

One of the last things the volunteers did before leaving Manila was to decorate graves of men left behind.  Any of the dead remaining in Manila were probable moved to the cemetery at Fort McKinley.  Those graves, following World War Two, moved again, this time to the cemetery at Clark Air Force Base. That cemetery cared for today by the American Battlefields and Monuments Commission – ABMC Clark Cemetery.