Qualla: Battle of Manila (1899) https://qualla.com/battle-of-manila-1899 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/w/5/battle-of-manila-1899-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Manila (1899) https://qualla.com/battle-of-manila-1899 Battle of Manila (1899): Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-manila-1899/ Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. At half past eight on the evening of February 4, 1899, Private William Walter Grayson of the First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry called "Halt!" into the darkness near Blockhouse 7 in Santa Mesa, Manila. Four armed men from the Filipino Morong Battalion responded by cocking their rifles. Grayson fired. So did Private Orville Miller beside him. Within hours, the skirmish between a former horse hostler from Nebraska and a group of Filipino soldiers had cascaded into a full-scale battle along a 25-kilometer front, launching a war that would last more than three years and cost tens of thousands of lives.

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Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided | Public domain

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/w/5/battle-of-manila-1899-wp/wdw5-battle-of-manila-1899-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Manila (1899): Allies Turned Adversaries https://qualla.com/battle-of-manila-1899/ Photo credit Elwell S. Otis, Public domain. The roots of the battle lay in an impossible situation. Filipino forces under General Emilio Aguinaldo had fought alongside the Americans to oust Spain from the Philippines during the Spanish-American War of 1898. But when the Spanish surrendered Manila to the Americans that Augu...

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Image: Elwell S. Otis | Public domain

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/w/5/battle-of-manila-1899-wp/wdw5-battle-of-manila-1899-allies-turned-adversaries.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Manila (1899): A Weekend of Terrible Timing https://qualla.com/battle-of-manila-1899/ Photo credit George W. Peters, Public domain. When the shooting started, the Filipino army was effectively leaderless. General Antonio Luna was visiting family in San Fernando. General Mariano Noriel was in Paranaque preparing for his wedding. General Artemio Ricarte and Colonel Luciano San Miguel were in Malolos conferring ...

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Image: George W. Peters | Public domain

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/w/5/battle-of-manila-1899-wp/wdw5-battle-of-manila-1899-a-weekend-of-terrible-timing.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Manila (1899): The Grim End https://qualla.com/battle-of-manila-1899/ Photo credit Judgefloro, CC0. Aguinaldo, away in Malolos when the fighting erupted, learned of the battle from a Filipino captain's telegraph. He tried to stop it, sending an emissary to General Elwell Otis on February 5 with the message that the firing "had been against my order." Otis refused to negotiate. ...

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Image: Judgefloro | CC0

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/w/5/battle-of-manila-1899-wp/wdw5-battle-of-manila-1899-the-grim-end.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Manila (1899): The Human Cost of Empire https://qualla.com/battle-of-manila-1899/ Photo credit This file is a work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain in the United States., Public domain. The battle of February 5 was the largest and bloodiest engagement of the entire Philippine-American War. American casualties totaled 238, with 44 killed in action or dead from wounds. Filipino losses were far greater, though precise numbers remain disputed - photographs from the ...

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Image: This file is a work of a U.S. Army soldier or employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain in the United States. | Public domain

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/w/5/battle-of-manila-1899-wp/wdw5-battle-of-manila-1899-the-human-cost-of-empire.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Manila (1899): A Corner in Santa Mesa https://qualla.com/battle-of-manila-1899/ Photo credit Joshua Manimtim, CC BY-SA 3.0. Today, a memorial marker in Manila marks the spot where the war began - though recent scholarship by Ronnie Miravite Casalmir has established that the marker sits at the wrong intersection. Grayson fired at the corner of Sociego Street and Tomas Arguelles Street, not at Sociego a...

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Image: Joshua Manimtim | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/w/5/battle-of-manila-1899-wp/wdw5-battle-of-manila-1899-a-corner-in-santa-mesa.mp3 0:06 6 full