LUKBAN
On June 12, when Gilmore sent out a party to look for beef cattle, the group encountered rebels some two miles down the road to Caroyman. So he sent two parties out, one to assist and the other to scout around. About three miles away from the town, in a direction different from the one to Caroyman, Gilmore’ s group found insurgents strongly entrenched. A firefight ensued for half an hour. The rebels were accordingly driven off, with two of them killed. But the thickness of the trenches and their position above the hill explained their few casualties. 3
Catbalogan besieged
In Catbalogan, the rebel forces launched their attack on the town about an hour past midnight on the 18 th of June. Spellman who commanded the American troops estimated that there must have been some 100 rifles in the group, but he could not say how many bolomen. The first to be hit was the north side of the town. They were eventually driven off, but not before they succeeded in firing a building on the outskirts.
Then they attacked the warehouse of Warner, Barnes & Co. across the river where there was an outpost of eight men. Still they were able to drive off the rebels with the help of some men who were on the other side of the river. At the east end of the river, they were also able to scare away the insurgent group. The rebels also tried to burn the town- without success.
The insurgents kept up the harassing fire for more than three hours more, but the Americans kept themselves hidden well enough, that there were no casualties on their side. On the other hand, two dead insurgents were found, although the officers believed there could have been more wounded because of the bloodied tracks coming from the town.
The gunboat Pampanga, which arrived at Catbalogan about June 12, also assisted the Americans with its big guns trained at rebel entrenchments in the surrounding hills. These effectively silenced the latter after a few shots. In addition, Capt. Payne of the gunboat also offered his revolving cannon to be used during nightly attacks. This machine was likewise used by the Americans in Calbayog, after which the nightly attacks stopped.
“ Besides the killing done by the guns of the boat, the moral effect of its presence has been very great, and during its stay in the harbour, the outposts are not annoyed at night and the men get much needed rest,” said Gilmore. 4
At the end of his report, Gilmore reiterated his request for troop reinforcement for Laguan at the earliest possible time. He said for over a month, the insurgents controlled the areas around the town.
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