View source for Battle of Imus

{{Short description|Battle Between Spain and the Philippines}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Imus
| partof            = the [[Philippine Revolution]]
| campaign          = 
| image             = Battle of Imus Monument and Historical Marker.png
| image_size        = 300
| caption           = Monument of the battle in Imus
| date              = September 1–3, 1896
| place             = [[Imus]], [[Cavite]], [[Philippines]]
| casus             = 
| territory         = 
| result            = Filipino victory<ref name="alfredosaulo"/>
| combatant1        = {{flagicon image|Flag of Katipunan.svg}} [[Katipunan]]
*{{flagicon image|Philippine revolution flag magdalo alternate.svg}} [[Magdalo (Katipunan faction)|Magdalo]]
| combatant2        = {{flagdeco|Spain|1785}} [[Spanish Empire]]
*{{flagdeco|Spain|1785}} [[Civil Guard (Philippines)|Guardia Civil]]
| commander1        = {{flagicon image|Flag of Katipunan.svg}} [[Emilio Aguinaldo]]<br/>{{flagicon image|Flag of Katipunan.svg}} [[Baldomero Aguinaldo]]<br/>{{flagicon image|Flag of Katipunan.svg}} [[Candido Tirona]]<br/>{{flagicon image|Flag of Katipunan.svg}} [[Jose Tagle]]<br/>{{flagicon image|Flag of Katipunan.svg}} Guillermo Samoy{{KIA}}
| commander2        = {{flagdeco|Spain|1785}} [[Ramón Blanco, 1st Marquis of Peña Plata|Ramón Blanco]] <br/>{{flagdeco|Spain|1785}} Ernesto de Aguirre<br/>{{flagdeco|Spain|1785}} Jose Togores
| strength1         = '''Initial''':<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Katipunan.svg}} 500 men<ref name="alfredosaulo">{{cite book| last = Saulo| first = Alfredo| title = Emilio Aguinaldo: Generalissimo and President of the First Philippine Republic — First Republic in Asia| publisher = Phoenix Publishing House| year = 1983| pages= 102–106| isbn = 9710607200}}</ref><br/>'''At the time of the siege''':<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Katipunan.svg}} 1,000 men<ref name="alfredosaulo"/>
| strength2         = {{flagdeco|Spain|1785}} 30 [[Civil Guard (Spain)|Civil Guard]] militia within Imus<br>{{flagdeco|Spain|1785}} 3,000 infantry and 500 cavalry as reinforcements
| casualties1       = Unknown, Heavy
| casualties2       = Massive, entire engaging force almost destroyed{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Philippine Revolution}}

The '''Battle of Imus''' ({{langx|fil|Labanan sa Imus}}, {{langx|es|Batalla de Imus}}), or the '''siege of Imus''' ({{langx|fil|Pagkubkob sa Imus}}, {{langx|es|El Cerco de Imus}}), was the first major battle of the [[Philippine revolution]] against the Spanish colonial government in the province of Cavite.  It was fought between September 1–3, 1896 at [[Imus]], [[Cavite province]] in the [[Philippines]], right after [[Andrés Bonifacio|Bonifacio]]'s attack on the gunpowder magazine at the [[Battle of San Juan del Monte]] in [[Manila (province)|Manila]].<ref name=encyc>Spencer, Tucker C. (2009). [https://books.google.com/books?id=yYfSbFGFWlUC&pg=PA303 "The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars - Battle of Imus River"], pg. 303. ABC_CLIO, LLC, Santa Barbara. {{ISBN|978-1-85109-951-1}}.</ref>

== Background ==
The [[Philippine Revolution|revolution]] began in Cavite province shortly after it joined the pro-independence [[Katipunan]] revolutionary movement under [[Andres Bonifacio]]. [[Emilio Aguinaldo]] began the revolution in the province by staging the [[Kawit Revolt]] on August 31, 1896. He had gathered more men and armament for the imminent combat with the Spanish troops stationed in the province, and as time went on, he and his men destroyed several Spanish units along the way, prompting the Spaniards to meet the revolutionaries in battle. The Spanish military commander in the province, Brigadier General Ernesto de Aguirre, felt confident that he could defeat the Caviteño fighters as his units are more properly armed and fed.

The town of [[Imus]] was the rebels' great strategic point.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} The town itself, situated in the center of a large well-watered plain, surrounded by agricultural land with a mere collection of wooded and bamboo dwellings. The distance from Manila, in straight line, would be about 14 miles, with good roads leading to the bay-shore towns. The people were very poor, being tenants or dependents of the friars, hence the only building of importance was the estate house of the Recollects (on what is now ''Cuartel'' or Camp Pantaleon Garcia). This estate house, situated in the middle of a compound surrounded by massive high walls, was a fortress through the eyes of the natives.

== Prelude ==
[[Baldomero Aguinaldo]], President of the [[Magdalo (Katipunan faction)|Magdalo Council]], led the first attack on Imus. Baldomero Aguinaldo rallied forth to Imus with a handful of men armed only with spears and bolos to test the reflexes of the Spanish defenders of the town. Emilio Aguinaldo and his men covered the rear in Binakayan against a possible attack coming from the marines stationed in Polverin in Kulaute. A contingent of civil guards on patrol, however, intercepted Aguinaldo and his men before they could make their way into the town plaza. A running battle ensued, resulting in a rout of the rebel forces. Aguinaldo, left isolated on the battlefield, escaped capture by feigning death.<ref name=Sullivan2022>{{cite book | last=Sullivan | first=D. | title=Capturing Aguinaldo: The Daring Raid to Seize the Philippine President at the Dawn of the American Century | publisher=Stackpole Books | year=2022 | isbn=978-0-8117-7153-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=26SYEAAAQBAJ |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=26SYEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 100-102]}}</ref>

== Battle ==
=== Opening phase ===
On the morning of Tuesday, September 1, [[Jose Tagle]], the Captain Municipal of Imus with a force of around 100 men, went to Kawit to seek the help of Aguinaldo. The Spaniards, according to Tagle, had entrenched themselves in the church, and it would need to mobilize all available forces. {{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Initial attacks===
The first to be attacked was the church and convent where Aguinaldo was told the friars and civil guards had barricaded themselves.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Failed Imus Estate House attack===
Aguinaldo and his men braced themselves for the assault on the estate house with its fortification-like walls providing the friars and civil guards the protection against rebel attack. The Spaniards, led by Fray Eduarte were waiting for the rebel assault intending to wait out the reinforcements from Manila. Some rebels fired by their number, tried to rush the estate house, but they were met with gunfire that sent them back.

=== Regrouping ===
Aguinaldo regrouped his men and changed tactics. Aguinaldo and some of his men tore a hole through the thin walls and ran straight to the rice warehouses adjoining the estate house where the friars and the civil guards had taken sanctuary and poured petroleum on it. Rafael Sabater from Imus applied a torch. The refugees were unable to stand the thick smoke and raging fire dashing out of the warehouse to captivity.

In the words of John Foreman,<ref>{{cite book | last=Foreman | first=J. | title=The Philippine Islands: A Political, Geographical, Ethnographical, Social and Commercial History of the Philippine Archipelago and Its Political Dependencies, Embracing the Whole Period of Spanish Rule | publisher=S. Low, Marston & Company, Limited | year=1899 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D44g6qkWPzQC | page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=D44g6qkWPzQC&q=%22after%20a%20siege&pg=PA517-IA4 519]}}</ref>
<blockquote>
After a siege, which lasted long enough for General Blanco to have sent troops against them, the rebels captured Imus estate-house on September 1, and erected barricades there. Thirteen of the priests fell into their hands. They cut trenches and threw up earthworks in several of the main roads of the province, and strengthened their position at Novaleta.  Marauding parties were sent out everywhere to steal the crops and live-stock, which were conveyed in large quantities to Imus. Some of the captured priests were treated most barbarously. One was cut up piecemeal; another was saturated with petroleum and set on fire; and a third was bathed in oil and fried on a bamboo spit run through the length of his body.  There was a ''Requiem'' Mass for this event.
</blockquote>

=== Revolutionaries prepare for a major Spanish counterattack ===
{{blockquote|My brother Katipuneros and beloved countrymen, God is on our side in this fight against Spain. He spared my life so that I can be with you to continue the fight. God knows that we have only one purpose: to free our country from alien bondage. Our failure at Bacoor was a blessing in disguise, because had not the friars heard the shots in Bacoor they would not have left the hacienda, neither could we have obtained those arms and ammunition that you and Colonel Tagle, raised by one rank, your brave leader, were able to get. These arms shall be used in our future battles.|Emilio Aguinaldo<ref name="alfredosaulo"/>}}

=== Turn of the tide ===
[[File:Bridge of Isabel II in Imus, Cavite 1899.jpg|thumb|left|The Bridge of Isabel II in 1899 with the missing northern span blown up by the revolutionaries, temporarily replaced by a wooden plank.]]
On September 3, the Spanish column advanced upon Imus under cover of heavy artillery gunfire.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

=== Final and decisive blow ===
[[File:On Bridge of Isabel II looking southward to Camp Garcia.jpg|thumb|On the Bridge of Isabel II looking towards the location of the Estate House of the Recollects (now Camp Panataleon Garcia or Cuartel).]]
During the burning of the bushes surrounding the riverbanks, Aguinaldo realized he did not provide for his men to close down the rear of the bridge to seal the only escape route the Spaniards could take to save themselves.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Aguinaldo then took some of his men to Presa Talon where the current was very strong, for him and his men to ford the river and head towards the other side of the bridge to cut off the only Spanish escape route. The first attempt at crossing the river failed because some men were swept by the strong current.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} However, a second crossing attempt was made with success.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}As soon as this was done, Aguinaldo and his men headed towards the other bridgehead at the Spanish rear, thus closing the trap.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} A fight ensued. General Aguirre fell from his horse and in his hurry to escape, left behind his "Sable de Mando" (command [[sabre]]) crafted in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] in 1869, which Aguinaldo managed to retrieve; the former was later killed by the pursuing Caviteño rebels. Because the year the said sabre was created was also his birth year, he used the sword during his engagements for the duration of the revolution.<ref name=encyc/>

== Aftermath ==
After the battle of Imus, and because Kawit was under bombardment from Cavite port and the Spanish gunboats at Manila, Aguinaldo transferred his seat of government to Imus. The first revolutionary government then had [[Baldomero Aguinaldo]] as president and Candido Tria Tirona as War Secretary and portfolios for finance, natural resources, agriculture and justice. Aguinaldo had upped his title to Jefe de Abanderado (Flag Lt. General). An armament factory, the [[Imus arsenal]], was also set up in the town.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

== Legacy ==
[[File:Battle of Imus marker.JPG|thumb|200px|Marker for the Battle of Imus at the City Plaza.]]
[[Nick Joaquin]], Filipino historian, spoke of Aguinaldo's victory in Imus as the "spark which started the revolt in Bulacan." According to him 300 [[Bulacan|Bulakan]] Katipuneros gathered to attack the Spanish garrison at the ''barrio'' of [[Bulakan, Bulacan|San Nicolas]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

The rebel victory at the second Battle of Imus rekindled the fluttering spark of resistance inspired the revolutionaries.<ref>Ilang Talata tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang 1896-97 by Carlos Ronquillo (1898).</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Battle of Binakayan-Dalahican|Battle of Binakayan and Dalahican]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Battle of Imus}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131103173436/http://www.tempo.com.ph/2012/09/116th-battle-of-imus-rites/ 116th 'Battle of Imus' rites]
* [http://www.msc.edu.ph/centennial/first.html First Shots of the Philippine Revolution]

{{coord missing|Philippines}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imus, Battle of}}
[[Category:Battles of the Philippine Revolution]]
[[Category:History of Cavite]]
[[Category:Imus]]