LUKBAN
Smith’ s first priority was to conduct a survey of his assigned territory to acquaint himself with the challenges that he would be facing. After his inspection tour, he realized that, beyond Samar’ s harsh terrain and climate, he would have to overcome many serious obstacles quickly. General Smith immediately went about solving the largest challenges: remedying his lack of troops and cutting the insurgents’ sup ply chain. The attacks at Balangiga and the Gandara River convinced him that concentrating troops into larger for mations was required since the“ small detachments were not safe at isolated points.” Hence, Smith requested additional troops from the division commander and gladly accepted a Navy offer to supply him with a bat talion of marines led by Marine Maj. Littleton W. T. Waller. With it was the Navy gunboat support to blockade the coast of Samar and thereby disrupt the smuggling of food and supplies from the nearby island of Leyte. 9
In keeping with their strategy of denying food supply to insurgents, Smith also attacked their ties with the underground supply chain, the food stores and hemp, which transited among the small villages of Samar and extended to the neighboring island of Leyte. In his first circular, Gen. Smith required that all barotos, bancas, or boats of any kind in the waters off the coast of the waters of Samar and adjacent islands( except fishing boats, or those in the employ of the United States, or authorized by the military authorities), had to be painted red, with the name of boat and home port. Boat users were told to get passes signed by the commanding officer or adjutant of the military station at their home port. Boats not following these orders were considered contraband and were to be destroyed or confiscated. Fishing boats by day had to show a white flag and by night a white light, and their passes had to prescribe the limits in which the boat was allowed to fish, and also show the names of the crew. Passes were limited to absolute necessities to stop illicit trade in rice, hemp, and other contraband of war.
Towns, villages, hamlets, etc., in the vicinity of which signal lights or fires were exhibited, would be subject to the fire of gunboats and troops and destroyed. 10
Not satisfied with its results, some weeks later, Smith ordered that all traffic by natives and others passing between Samar and Leyte be restricted, and all natives found passing between these two islands, or afloat on either shore, without passes were to be fired upon and killed, whether on the Samar or Leyte side. 11 Trading in food items between the two islands were reduced to the minimum and confined to ports where US troops were present. Trading outside these ports was not cleared. Barter of rice for hemp could go on, but rice thus obtained was limited in quantity to the actual subsistence needs of the parties getting it. Eva-
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