US Victory Museum Posted November 1, 2014 Share #1 Posted November 1, 2014 http://philippineamericanwar.webs.com/thewarin19001901.htmApril 30, 1900: Battle of Catarman, Samar ProvinceCatarman is a town on the north coast of Samar island, situatedon the Catarman River, 55 miles northeast of Catbalogan.On April 30, 1900, at about 9:30 p.m., Filipino guerillas sneakedinto town and attacked Company F, 43rd Infantry Regiment USV. TheAmericans, commanded by Capt. John Cooke, were garrisoned in theconvent of the church.The Filipinos, estimated to number between 500 and 600 with 100rifles, drove in the outposts, wounding one US soldier. The restof the American sentinels retreated into the convent. The Americansdecided to wait until daylight. During the night, there was desultoryfiring on both sides.At daybreak, May 1, 1900 the Americans saw that the Filipinos hadbuilt trenches on three sides of the convent. The fourth side,dense with underbrush and cut by a path leading to the beach,was left open. After the battle, the Americans discovered thatthe path was full of mantraps.Captain Cooke, leaving word to keep a rapid fire on the trenches,took 30 men and flanked the trenches on the north side of theconvent, driving the Filipinos out and killing 52 of them. He thenflanked the trenches on the south side, driving the Filipinos outand killing 57, while having one man wounded.The Americans then made a general move and the Filipinos werecompletely driven off.A total of 154 Filipinos were killed, while the Americans sufferedonly two men wounded. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This p1878 haversack bears the markings of Co. F 43rd Inf. Rgmt USV ; a brief history of its combat operations that took place on May 1st,1900 is listed above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share #2 Posted November 1, 2014 Inside it is, as on the cover, identified as belonging to soldier #78. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share #3 Posted November 1, 2014 ...who conveniently marked his initials and last name inside - H.C.Roberts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share #4 Posted November 1, 2014 Catarman, Samar Province, P.I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US Victory Museum Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share #5 Posted November 1, 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted November 2, 2014 Share #6 Posted November 2, 2014 Outstanding addition, thanks for the detailed post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BagmanL6 Posted November 2, 2014 Share #7 Posted November 2, 2014 Thank you. I enjoyed reading and learning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHASEUSA11B Posted November 4, 2014 Share #8 Posted November 4, 2014 An amazing piece of history thanks for sharing. Smaller seemingly insignificant pieces of gear like his are why I enjoy collecting -- to most people it's just as haversack but it represents the burdens of often forgotten soldiers who manned the line in the phillipines and faced death in a faraway land. I find myself being more and more drawn to these conflicts which are relegated to the back pages of history aand the soldiers never received their just dues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbuehler Posted November 5, 2014 Share #9 Posted November 5, 2014 A very rare piece of a largely forgotten episode in US and Philippine history. Many forget that our enduring relationship with The Philippines did not start off on a mutually agreeable basis, but that changed rapidly. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12thengr Posted November 5, 2014 Share #10 Posted November 5, 2014 There is a quote from somewheres that I recently saw whilst reading: 'Stand gentlemen, for he fought on Samar'. It has to do with the insurrection and if not that incident, another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now