LUKBAN
their way back, they found the boats being fired at by insurrectos. The Vicksburg subsequently fired its guns on the town near the mouth of the river, destroying it.
The next day, Waller took a detachment to Lawaan to look for the powder factory that was earlier reported to be in the neighborhood, but he could not find it. He then continued to Bulosao, one of the principal barrios of Lawaan which he found to be partially burned by the revolutionary forces. His troops burned the remaining 23 houses. As they embarked on their boat, they were fired upon from the thicket at the beach. His troops tried going after the shooters but they escaped. Waller noted there were more rebels here and that they were making good shots, but no one was hit on the American side.
Waller’ s killing and destruction spree was just about to start. Starting November 1 to the 9 th that year, his patrols often led by himself or Captain Porter went up and down the Cadacan River, destroying everything they thought would be useful to the insurrectos, which included all shacks, food, work animals, boats or barotos, and killed or captured all those suspected to be part of the insurgency. Although his patrols were sometimes fired upon, the resistance seemed to be insignificant. In some cases, Waller’ s troops found entrenchments with souvenirs from the Balangiga raid.
In one of his trips, the gunboat USS Vicksburg was buffeted by strong waves, which caused it to turn over and sink, along with a 3-inch gun and 15 rifles. Luckily, his men were saved, except from one private who was lost together with the ship. In his report, Waller told Gen. Smith that in the span of nine days, they burned down 255 houses, killed 39 men and captured 18 along with 17 bolos, seized a ton of hemp and a half ton of rice, killed 13 carabaos and destroyed 50 bancas that people used for fishing and transportation. 17
Waller in his subsequent investigations found out that the people driven from the towns were falling back on the Sohoton district which were filled with a network of limestone caves. Evidently, these had become a sanctuary of all those suspected to be rebels. He promised in his report that he was going to attack this part of the district as soon as he could get a suitable platform for his 3-inch gun, which was needed for shelling the suspected insurrectos occupying the overhanging cliffs.
In the meantime, he had to fix his garrison in Basey. It was on a hilltop overlooking the town with an old stone fort on top, a church and convent. There were a lot of trees and undergrowth around which he wanted to clear so that he could have an unobstructed view below. This became his signal station and outpost. Here he placed 10 men who were excellent shots. Later, a prisoner disclosed that rebels from Balangiga
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