President William McKinley’s January 1899 proclamation to the Filipinos that America’s mission in the Philippines was “one of benevolent assimilation” was met with derision and ridicule. Within 24 hours every placard in Manila bearing McKinley’s message was torn down. Self-declared president of the Philippine Republic Emilio Aguinaldo responded by issuing a manifesto tantamount to a declaration of war. Aguinaldo directed his provincial commanders to stockpile rice and other supplies in preparation for war, encouraged local commanders to forcefully resist American demands, and instructed a fifth column of native commandos inside Manila to plan attacks against the Americans inside the capital. On 20 January the Philippine Congress voted Aguinaldo authority to declare war at any moment he saw fit. Shooting incidents occurred nightly, and on 3 February General Elwell S. Otis wrote to Admiral George Dewey: “There has been a great deal of friction along the lines the past two days, and we will be unable to tamely submit to the insulting conduct and threatening demonstrations of these insurgents much longer.
On Saturday night, 4 February, 1899 a silver moon hung brightly over Malolos, the temporary seat of the revolutionary government where much of the Philippine senior civilian and military leadership had gathered for a ball. Outside Manila, Private William Grayson of the 1st Nebraska Volunteers and a buddy manned an outpost overlooking the no-man’s-land near the confluence of the Pasig and San Juan Rivers. Around 8:30PM Grayson heard movement along the tiny dirt road in front of the advanced Nebraskan picket line. Twenty-three years old, thousands of miles away from his home in Beatrice, Nebraska, Grayson shouted, “Halt! Who comes there!”
A voice in the dark mockingly called back “Alto!” and four armed Filipinos appeared out of the shadows five yards away, advancing towards the Nebraskan line.
“Halt!” Grayson shouted again, and again he was ignored by the Filipinos. Under orders to assume any advancing Filipinos were hostile, Grayson and his companion raised their rifles and opened fire, their initial volley killing two men.
The other Filipinos ran back to their fortifications, yelling obscenities as they fled. Within minutes the entire Nebraskan line was ablaze as both sides reacted to the incident, firing blindly into the night. By midnight the fire had abated, with little damage suffered by either side.
The Philippine War had begun, and soon with it, the hunt for Emilio Aguinaldo.
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| Private William Grayson, 1st Nebraska Volunteers, standing on the spot where his shots initiated the Philippine War on February 4, 1899. |
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