Battle of Paye

Battle of San Mateo
Part of the Philippine–American War
DeathatSanMateo-0.jpg
Death of Major-General Henry Lawton during the battle
DateDecember 19, 1899
Location
Result

Inconclusive

  • Death of General Henry Ware Lawton
  • Americans' 29th Battalion successfully cross the river at 11 am
  • Filipino forces retreat from San Mateo
Belligerents
 Philippine Republic  United States
Commanders and leaders
Pio del Pilar
Licerio Gerónimo
Henry Ware Lawton 
James R. Lockett
Strength
1,000 Unknown
Casualties and losses
40 killed
125 wounded
11 killed
13 wounded

The Battle of Paye, also known as the Battle of San Mateo, was a battle during the Philippine–American War between the United States and the Philippines. It was fought on December 19, 1899, near San Mateo in what was then Manila province (now Rizal) between the forces of General Henry Ware Lawton, and General Licerio Gerónimo's Morong Command battalion and the Tiradores de la Muerte. Lawton was killed in the battle, making him the highest-ranking American commander to die in the Philippine conflict.

On December 18, Lawton and his men were en route to San Mateo along the Marikina River in a punitive expedition against Brig. Gen. Pio del Pilar's 1,000 force, which threatened the Marikina waterworks and the Manila wagon road to the north.: 160  Lawton's force included Col. James R. Lockett's squadron of the 11th Volunteer Cavalry and Lt. Col. H.H. Sargent's 29th Battalion.: 160  A monsoon flooded the river and muddied the trail.: 160 

Battle

On December 19, the 11th captured Montalban, while Sargent's squadron made for San Mateo, approaching the Filipinos in rain and mist.: 161  The Filipinos forced Lawton's troops to scramble for cover in the rice fields.: 161 

Lawton walked up and down the line in a white rain coat and pith helmet, rallying his men even after his aide was struck.: 161  Lawton died from a bullet to the chest from a Filipino sniper by the name of Bonifacio Mariano.: 161 

Sargent located a ford allowing his men to cross the river and drove the defenders from San Mateo.: 161 

Aftermath

The death of General Lawton proved to be a terrible blow to his soldiers' morale and the U.S. public.: 161  Lawton's body was taken to Manila's Paco Park.

Before his death, Lawton had written about the Filipinos in a formal correspondence, "Taking into account the disadvantages they have to fight against in terms of arms, equipment and military discipline, without artillery, short of ammunition, powder inferior, shells reloaded until they are defective, they are the bravest men I have ever seen ..."

Gallery


This page was last updated at 2022-08-03 00:14 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari