Battle of Calamba

The Battle of Calamba (Filipino: Labanan sa Calamba, Spanish: Batalla de Calamba) was a battle fought between Filipino Revolutionaries in Laguna in the Philippines and the colonial forces of the Spanish Empire.

Battle of Calamba
Revolution in Laguna
Part of the Philippine Revolution
DateMay 1898
Location
Calamba, Laguna, Philippines
Result Filipino victory
Belligerents
Filipino Revolutionaries Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Paciano Rizal
Pio del Pilar		 Basilio Augustín
Strength
5,000 400–500
Casualties and losses
Unknown Several (Killed, Wounded, & Captured)

Background

Emilio Aguinaldo had returned from exile in Hong Kong and was amassing a large force to drive out the Spanish from Cavite. General Leopoldo Garcia Peña, the Spanish military commander at Cavite, was hard-pressed with 2,800 Spanish troops scattered in various detachments in Cavite Province. The combined forces of Generals Luciano San Miguel, Mariano Noriel, Artemio Ricarte and Juan Cailles, having with them about 6,000–8,000 troops, who began attacking and decimating Peña's units one by one. A column of 500 infantrymen was rushed from Manila to reinforce Peña.

Battle

Initially, the Spanish garrison in Calamba, holed up in the town church, realizing that a resistance could still be held for the larger force of 500 to arrive and help them, before ultimately going to Cavite. The Spaniards chose to wait as the Filipino revolutionaries besieged the church. Lacking guns, and lacking even more ammunition, Paciano Rizal devised a ploy to get the Spaniards to surrender, he ordered that every time the Filipino column opened fire on the church, other troops, those without guns, would light up firecrackers to create the illusion that the Filipinos had plenty of guns,[1] sure enough the Spaniards fell for it, and surrendered a few days later. As the Spanish column approached, the revolutionaries under Jose Rizal's brother, General Paciano Rizal who was also the main commander of all revolutionary forces in the province, counterattacked the Spanish column in his hometown Calamba. The revolutionaries then staged an ambush in the vicinity, and many Spaniards became casualties and several of them were captured during the battle.

Aftermath

As a result of their defeat the relief column never came to Peña, who surrendered after the battle of Alapan. The revolutionaries were finished liberating all of Cavite by nightfall of May 31 the same year. Thus, western parts of Laguna were cleared of Spanish rule, leading the way to the full victory of Filipinos within the whole province.

References
  1. Ocampo, Ambeth R. (1990). Rizal Without the Overcoat. Anvil Publishing.

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