The Battle of Perez Dasmariñas (, ) was a battle of the

Philippine Revolution The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

. It occurred during the Cavite Offensive of 1897, commanded by Maj. Gen. Jose de Lachambre under Governor-General

Camilo de Polavieja Camilo is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Camilo (footballer, born 9 March 1986), Fernando Camilo Farias, Brazilian football midfielder * Camilo (footballer, born 22 March 1986), Camilo de Sousa V ...

, as the Spanish aimed to recapture Cavite from ''

Katipunan The Katipunan (), officially known as the (; ) and abbreviated as the KKK, was a revolutionary organization founded in 1892 by a group of Filipino nationalists Deodato Arellano, Andrés Bonifacio, Valentin Diaz, Ladislao Diwa, José Dizon, an ...

'' rebel control. Both the battle and the offensive was a success for the Spanish, and the retreat to Montalban occurred several weeks after the battle.

Prelude

The offensive began on February 15 at the town of Pamplona in Cavite. The Spaniards recaptured the town of Silang with heavy losses on February 19, 1897.Alvarez, S.V., 1992, Recalling the Revolution, Madison: Center for Southeast Asia Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the revolutionaries retreated to Perez Dasmariñas. The Spaniards aimed to retake the rebel center town of

Imus Imus (), officially the City of Imus (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and ''de jure'' Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 cens ...

and had to take the town of Perez Dasmariñas first.

Battle

On February 27, the Spaniards began their assault on Perez Dasmariñas and its vicinities. The ''Katipuneros'' intercepted the advancing Spaniards in Salitran, between Imus and Perez Dasmariñas, starting March 7. Meanwhile, at the

Tejeros Convention The Tejeros Convention (Spanish: ''Convención de Tejeros''; Tagalog: ''Kapulungan sa Tejeros''), also referred to as the Tejeros Assembly or Tejeros Congress, was a meeting held on March 22, 1897, in San Francisco de Malabon (now General Tria ...

, Aguinaldo was voted ''in absentia'' as the president of a reorganized revolutionary government on March 22. The next day, Colonel Vicente Riego de Dios was sent by the assembly to fetch Aguinaldo, who was then in Pasong Santol. The newly elected president refused to come because of the pending attack, so his brother Crispulo Aguinaldo was then sent to fetch him. Crispulo said that the Spanish would only retake the town over his dead body. Aguinaldo thus left and took his oath of office at Santa Cruz de Malabon (now

Tanza Tanza, officially the Municipality of Tanza (), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 312,116 people. It has a land ar ...

) that day, Emilio realizing the danger, sent a reinforcement detachment but was intercepted on the way by Captain General Artemio Ricarte under the order of Supremo

Andres Bonifacio Andres or Andrés may refer to: * Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US * Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) Andres or Andrés is a male given name. It can also be a ...

thus leaving the Pasong Santol front weakened, Crispulo was killed the following day at Pasong Santol and the rebels were routed with heavy losses, with combat reaching the town of Perez Dasmariñas itself. Some survivors managed to get back to Imus.

Outcome

The battle signaled the advent of the Spanish recapture of Cavite province.

Prelude

Battle

Outcome

References

See also