Retreat to Montalban

The Retreat to Montalban occurred during the Philippine Revolution after the 1897 Battle of Naic southwest of Cavite when Philippine General Emilio Aguinaldo's and his forces retreated to Puray, Montalban on June 14. They then retreated towards the caves of Biak-na-bato by marching towards their hill bases on Norzagaray and Angat,[1] where Aguinaldo negotiated the peace pact known as the Pact of Biak-na-Bato.

Retreat to Montalban
Part of the Philippine Revolution
Date June 14, 1897 (Battle of Mount Puray) - June 24, 1897 (Retreat to Biak-na-Bato) Location Cavite, Philippines Result Spanish Victory
Belligerents
Filipino Revolutionaries	Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Emilio Aguinaldo Manuel Tinio	Primo de Rivera Ricardo Monet General Nuñez
Strength
unknown	unknown
Casualties and losses
heavy	unknown

The Spanish pursued the Katipunero forces retreating towards central Luzon, killing many of the revolutionaries. However, some of them joined General Manuel Tinio's revolutionary army in Nueva Ecija, where they decisively won the Battle of Aliaga, "The glorious Battle of the Rebellion", only a few weeks after the retreat.

Prelude

The revolutionary forces in Cavite were exhausted and failing against the freshly reinforced Spanish troops that went from Manila to Laguna. After numerous defeats in Imus and Silang, along with the execution of Andres Bonifacio, the Filipino revolutionaries have lost their morale and their willingness to fight, causing some to surrender to the Spanish.

The Retreat

According to the memoir Aguinaldo wrote called "The True Version of the Philippine Revolution", he stated that the Battle of Naic on May 3, 1897 was fought successfully by his troops on a river in Naic which held the Spanish forces before the retreat on mid May.[2] After the battle, they then proceeded to their headquarters on Talisay, Batangas before being attacked by Spanish forces on May 30 which made the revolutionaries retreat. On June 10 they were spotted to be near Mount Puray. They encountered Spanish troops while they were camping on June 14 and were attacked. However, the revolutionaries were successful in this battle, and then went on a long march towards their hill bases in Bulacan, namely Norzagaray, Angat and then finally, Biak-na-Bato, San Miguel de Mayumo.

References

1. "Tejerois Convention".
2. "True Version of the Philippine Revolution".