In 1898 the United States went to war with Spain ostensibly to free Cuba and put an end to the atrocities that the Spaniards were committing there. It ended by annexing the Philippines and by committing some atrocities of its own. In August 1898, after Admiral George Dewey’s Asiatic Squadron destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay, the Spanish garrison surrendered and the town was occupied. The surrender was hastened by the Spaniards’ fear of the Filipino guerillas under young General Emilio Aguinaldo, who had been brought back out of exile with Dewey’s approval and help. The American occupation was hastened by the prospect that Aguinaldo’s men would themselves take Manila. In June of that year Aguinaldo had set up a provincial government and had proclaimed the independence of the Philippines from Spain. When he and his followers learned in January 1899 that the Treaty of Paris concluded between the United States and Spain the month before had included the cession of the Philippines to the United States, they felt betrayed and they soon engaged in an armed revolt against the United States. But, as William H. Taft, the President of the Philippine Commission put it, “We propose to stay there indefinitely in working out this good that we propose to do them.” In the ensuing guerilla warfare which raged until the summer of 1901 and was not formally ended until a year later, the United States eventually had to use a force of 70,000 men, and to endure considerably higher casualties, including 4,300 deaths, than had been sustained in the Spanish War itself. On both sides the war was fought with extraordinary ferocity, and Filipino fighters and civilians suffered staggering losses. Particularly disturbing to anti-imperialist critics of the war in the United States were reports of atrocities and tortures on the part of the American forces. To the generation that has lived through the war in Vietnam some of these charges, persuasively documented despite military censorship and in many cases sustained by Congressional investigations, seem depressingly familiar, beginning with an attitude of arrogance and condescension toward Asiatic peoples and ending in the use of torture, the creation of concentration camps, the burning of villages, and the wanton execution of prisoners of war and civilians. After Aguinaldo was captured through a ruse on March 23, 1901, the war tapered off, although sporadic uprisings against American authority continued for years. In 1906, Moro tribesman rebelled. American troops under General Leonard Wood surrounded their stronghold and killed them all: 600 men, women; and children died; the Americans lost 15. President Theodore Roosevelt congratulated Wood and his men “upon the brilliant feat of arms wherein you and they so well upheld the honor of the American flag.”
The following testimony was given by three American soldiers at “Hearings Before the Senate Committee on the Philippines,” Senate Doc., 331, 57th Congress, 1st Session (1902), 1539–41, 2061–2, 2550–1. On the problem of atrocities see Moorfield Storey and Marcial P. Lichauco: The Conquest of the Philippines by the United States (1926); James H. Blount: American Occupation of the Philippines (1913); Leon Wolff: Little Brown Brother (1961); Henry F. Graff, ed.: American Imperialism and the Philippine Insurrection (1969); and Mark Twain: Mark Twain’s Autobiography (1924), II, 186–200.
Q. The committee would like to hear from you in regard to the conduct of the war, and whether you were the witness of any cruelties inflicted upon the natives in the Philippine Islands; and if so, under what circumstances.—A. The case had reference to was where they gave the water cure to a native in the Ilicano Province at Ilocos Norte.
Q. That is in the extreme northern part of Luzon?—A. Yes, sir. There were two native scouts that were with the American forces. They went out and brought back in a couple of insurgents. They were known to be insurgents by their own confession, and besides that, they had the mark that most insurgents in that part of the country carry; it is a little brand on the left breast, generally inflicted with a nail or head of a cartridge, heated. They tried to find out from this native—
Q. What kind of a brand did you say it was?—A. A small brand put on with a nail head or cartridge.
Senator Beveridge. A scar on the flesh?
The Witness. Yes, sir.
They tried to get him to tell where the rest of the insurgents were at that time. We knew about where they were, but we did not know how to get at them. They were in the hills, and it happened that there was only one path that could get to them, and we did not get to them that time. They refused to tell this one path and they commenced this so-called “water cure.” The first thing one of the Americans—I mean one of the scouts for the Americans—grabbed one of the men by the head and jerked his head back, and then they took a tomato can and poured water down his throat until he could hold no more, and during this time one of the natives had a rattan whip, about as large as my finger, and he struck him on the face and on the bare back, and every time they would strike him it would raise a large welt, and some blood would come. And when this native could hold no more water, then they forced a gag into his mouth; they stood him up and tied his hands behind him; they stood him up against a post and fastened him so he could not move. Then one man, an American soldier, who was over six feet tall, and who was very strong, too, struck this native in the pit of the stomach as hard as he could strike him, just as rapidly as he could. It seemed as if he didn’t get tired of striking him.
By Senator Allison:
Q. With his hand?—A. With his clenched fist. He struck him right in the pit of the stomach and it made the native very sick. They kept that operation up for quite a time, and finally I thought the fellow was about to die, but I don’t believe he was as bad as that, because finally he told them he would tell, and from that on he was taken away, and I saw no more of him.
Q. Did he tell?—A. I believe he did, because I didn’t hear of any more water cure inflicted on him.
Q. You may state whether or not you witnessed what is known as the water cure.—A. I did, sir.
Q. And where did you see it?—A. At the town of Igbaras.
Q. On what day?—A. November 27, 1900.
Q. Upon whom was it inflicted?—A. Upon the presidente of the town and two native police.
Q. Did you observe it inflicted more than once?—A. I saw part of it at one time and the whole of it the second time.
Q. Describe what you saw on the first occasion.—A. We arrived at the town about daylight in the morning. It was just breaking day. There was an outpost put all over the town, so that no people could leave town by the gates, and we proceeded to quarters. A detachment of our company was stationed there. The company that we joined was commanded by Lieutenant Conger, of the Eighteenth Infantry, known as Gordon’s Scouts. We proceeded to quarters, and I was one of a detail that was sent out to ask the presidente to come over to the quarters. On the way we met him and proceeded to the house of the padre, the priest of the town, to get him. He was not at home.
The presidente went along over to the quarters. When I got back to the quarters, the boys were sitting around, and I went upstairs, and the first that I saw of the presidente was that he was stripped. He had nothing on but his pants. His shirt and coat were off, and his hands were tied behind him, and Lieutenant Conger stood over him, and also a contract doctor by the name of Dr. Lyons, and as we stopped there they proceeded to give him what is known as the water cure. It was given from a large tank. I should say the tank held—well—a hundred gallons, anyway. I do not know whether it was full at the time, but the tank would hold about that—two barrels of water I should think, surely. He was thrown on his back, and these four or five men, known as the water detail of these Gordon Scouts, held him down. Water was administered by the opening of the faucet. We could not get close enough to see exactly how it was done, because if we would congregate there at all the officers would tell us to pass on. We had to go upstairs to get into our squad room, and if we would congregate there they would tell us to pass on. We would go back and forth and see it at times.
The second time I saw it after he had confessed what they wanted—I do not know whether he confessed or not, I only saw a part of that—but downstairs they asked him through an interpreter, they all stood over him at the time, and they asked him if he sent any word out to the insurgents when the troops arrived in town. One of the native police in the meantime disclosed that he had, that he had sent him personally, so in order to get that from him Lieutenant Conger called for the water detail. This time it was given by means of a syringe. Two men went out to their saddlebags and obtained two syringes, large bulbs, a common syringe, about 2 feet of common hose pipe, I should think, on either end. One was inserted in his mouth and the other up his nose. We could all stand by there and see that. When this doctor said to get a pail of water, and they started into the building with him, Captain Glenn was there, and he said, “No, this is good enough right here on the outside.” So we all had a chance to witness it that time; and as the water did not seem to have the desired effect, the doctor stood over him and said to get a cup of salt. One of the men went upstairs and procured a cup of salt and it was thrown into the water, and the interpreter stood there all the time, and after he had had it some time he did disclose what they wanted, and he said he was willing to guide us out there. We went out and stayed the greater part of the day, but did not see anything of the insurgents. That is what I saw of the water cure.
Q. What became of that town?—A. It was burned about 8 o’clock, under orders of Captain Glenn. Lieutenant Conger started out with his men—that is, the Eighteenth Infantry—to burn part of the town. Captain McDonald, of the Twenty-sixth, took his men and went to the lower end of the town. We started burning after they started burning at the other end, in order to give the natives time to get out before their buildings were burned.
Senator Dubois. Did you personally do any of the burning?
The Witness. Yes; I did set fire to some buildings.
By Senator Rawlins:
Q. How were those occupied?—A. By native men, women, and children alike. Nearly all of the buildings were bamboo and nipa, and all you have to do is to light this nipa roof and it is gone in a short time.
Q. What became of the furniture and household effects?—A. They do not have a great deal of furniture or household effects. They sleep on the floor. Only the better class there have beds. They sleep on the floor as a rule. Of course, what few tables and benches they had were destroyed. They only had time to save the clothes that they wore at the time.
Q. Was any discrimination made as to whose buildings should be burned, and whose not?—A. The church was to be saved and the quarters occupied by our men, and five large buildings that were not made of this bamboo construction, but were made of wood—good buildings. They were to be saved for the occupancy of the women and children after the rest of the town was burned.
Q. You have already stated, I think, that this water cure was inflicted by Lieutenant Conger of the regulars, by scouts under his command?—A. Yes, sir. The way he had of ordering it done was, “Water detail”; that is all I heard him say. The men went on then and did the rest of it. The men stood over, as did Captain Glenn and Dr. Lyons, and witnessed it both times.
Q. After the town was burned and after you returned the presidente what became of him?—A. He was taken to Iloilo for trial; I don’t know what his sentence was.
Q. How old a man was he?—A. He was a man 45 or 50 years old, I should think; 45 years old anyway.
By Senator Dietrich:
Q. You say that the presidente, after having received the water cure the second time, acted as guide to show you where the insurgents were?—A. In the mountains, yes.
Q. How did he go, afoot or horseback?—A. Horseback.
Q. He seemed to be in good condition, did he?—A. Yes, sir.
Q. And the water cure did not seem to injure him very much?—A. No;
it does not seem to injure anyone very much after forcing the water out of him. They forced it out by placing a foot on the stomach.
By Senator Beveridge:
Q. The chief effect is fright, is it not?—A. Yes, sir.
Q. This was two years ago?—A. Yes, sir.
Senator Culberson. The chief effect of what?
Senator Beveridge. The chief effect of the water cure.
By Senator Beveridge:
Q. Do you know of many outrages by the natives upon the American troops?
Senator Rawlins. I object to the question.
The Witness. No, sir; I do not know.
The Chairman. Did you ever see any other cases of water cure?
The Witness. No, sir.
By Senator Beveridge:
Q. Are you a pretty good shot?—A. No, sir.
Q. Are any of our soldiers good shots?—A. Yes, sir.
Q. Were any in that squad good shots?—A. Yes, sir. They were all snap shots, most all of them.
Q. They did not shoot but once?—A. No, sir.
Q. You had more than one cartridge?—A. Yes, sir.
Q. You just fired a volley at the boy and quit?—A. Yes, sir. That brought the people in the houses out, brought them to the doors and out into the street, and how the order started and who gave it I don’t know, but the town was fired on. I saw an old fellow come to the door, and he looked out; he got a shot in the abdomen and fell to his knees and turned around and died.
Q. Were you shooting then, too?—A. Yes, sir.
Q. And had you any orders to shoot?—A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who ordered you to shoot?—A. I don’t know, sir.
Q. You were shooting a good deal like you shot at the boy?—A. No, sir.
Senator Carmack. The orders were given to fire. Go ahead and tell the whole story.
The Witness. After that two old men came out, hand in hand. I should think they were over 50 years old, probably between 50 and 70 years old. They had a white flag. They were shot down. At the other end of the town we heard screams, and there was a woman there; she was burned up, and in her arms was a baby, and on the floor was another child. The baby was at her breast, the one in her arms, and this child on the floor was, I should judge, about 3 years of age. They were burned. Whether she was demoralized or driven insane I don’t know. She stayed in the house.
The Chairman. What troops were those?
The Witness. M Company, the Twenty-sixth.
By Senator Patterson:
Q. How many men were there in M Company at that time?—A. I don’t know, sir.
Q. About how many?—A. There were very nearly a hundred.
Senator Dubois. Excuse me a moment. I did not catch the name of the town.
The Witness. La Nog.
By Senator Beveridge:
Q. Where is that?—A. About 16 miles–
Q. On what island?—A. Panay. It is northeast of Igbarras about 16 miles.…
Senator Carmack. Were any orders given when you entered the town about prisoners or anything of that sort?—A. No, sir. In regard to that order being issued, as he would go along in Indian file, the word would pass along “take no prisoners.” Nobody would know where it emanated from.
By Senator Beveridge:
Q. Where would you get that order?—A. It would start at the head of the line and come down.
Q. Did you think that unusual?—A. No; we did not then.
Q. Did you inquire where the order came from?—A. No, sir.
Q. Did your sergeant give you the order?—A. I don’t know, sir.
Q. It came down the line?—A. It came down the line; yes.
Q. And you obeyed it?—A. Yes.
Senator Patterson. What was the result of that order or those orders at any time?
The Witness. Well, if there was any fighting the fighting was continued until everybody had fled or everybody was killed.…
By Senator Dietrich:
Q. A while ago, while you were stating about one of the battles, you stated it was very difficult to make close observations while you were in the heat of battle. It is pretty hard to observe things in battle, is it not?—A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where was this fight or battle where these two old men were killed?—A. At La Nog.
Q. How many insurgents were there there?—A. No insurgents, so far as I know, because there were no shots fired by the Filipinos.
Q. How many American soldiers were there?—A. I cannot say, because there were some men stationed at Guimbal.
Q. Were you there?—A. I was at La Nog; yes, sir.
Q. Did you see these men killed?—A. Yes, sir.
Q. You say that they raised the flag of truce?—A. They had a white flag; some sort of a piece of white cloth on a bamboo stick. They came out hand in hand; they had their hands clasped.
Q. Did you shoot at them?—A. No, sir; I did not.
Q. Did you see anybody else shoot at them?—A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who?—A. Well, I saw people shooting in that direction; I don’t know whether they were shooting directly at those people or not.
Senator Beveridge. Could you give the names of those whom you saw shoot?—A. No, sir. I know Sergeant Conway … reported to Captain McDonald that he had killed two more niggers.