LUKBAN
Months earlier in mid-August , Lukban had narrowly escaped a raid by troops of the U . S . 1 st Infantry Regiment against his headquarters in the village of Rosario . By a stroke of luck . Captain Jackson , the apprehending officer , chanced upon the sitio of Rosario , said to be the hideout of Lukban and his family . Not being acquainted with Lukban , he did not realize until one of his native guides pointed to a woman in one of the houses and announced that it was “ Mrs . Lukban .” On reflex , his men opened fire on fleeing people , one of whom was Lukban himself . The three who were with him were killed and his two military secretaries were captured , and one of them slightly wounded . Lukban ’ s wife and child were taken to Calbayog . Jackson also seized important documents . 19
After that , Lukban , with a small contingent of men , sought refuge in the remote Yava River Valley , moving around constantly to avoid discovery from Army or Scout patrols . No word on his location was heard for several months . Then , on February 11 , 1902 , native spies reported to the Army ’ s Laguan garrison Lukban ’ s position at the village of Tamay . The garrison ’ s commander , Captain George Bell , Jr ., wanted to act quickly on the intelligence before Lukban shifted his location yet again .
Nominally , Bell possessed enough troops from the two companies based in Laguan , Company B , 1st Infantry and the 39th Philippine Scouts . Unfortunately , the majority of these forces were conducting patrols elsewhere . Only half of the 39th ’ s strength remained on base . Command of the remaining Scouts from Leyte and Samar fell to 1st Lieutenant Alphonse Strebler , formerly a soldier in the Prussian army . Bell ordered Lt . Strebler out into the field to locate and capture Lukban . 20
Strebler ’ s hunting party
The next day after receiving the intelligence report on Lukban ’ s location , Lt . Strebler started from Laguan at 6:30 early morning with 40 men composed of native scouts , a corporal and 8 privates , a medical officer , 4 white scouts and 70 native couriers carrying 15 days ’ ration – on a launch , steaming up the Catubig to Tagabiran , where they arrived at 10 p . m . that same day . They disembarked the next day at daybreak and started on a trail leading to a sitio called Sag-od along Sag-od River . After two hours on the trek , one of his privates fell into a trap , incapacitating his left foot , so that he had to be brought back to the launch .
They made camp on the right bank of Jopili River , and resumed their march at daybreak of the 13 th , arriving at the right bank of the Sag-
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