The Battle of Calamba ( fil, Labanan sa Calamba, es, Batalla de Calamba) was a battle fought between Filipino Revolutionaries in
Laguna in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
and the colonial forces of the
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
.
Background
Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who is the youngest president of the Philippines (1899–1901) and is recognized as the first president of the Philippine ...
had returned from exile in Hong Kong and was amassing a large force to drive out the Spanish from Cavite. General
Leopoldo Garcia Peña Leopoldo is a given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese form of the English, German, Dutch, Polish, and Slovene name, Leopold.
Notable people with the name include:
*Leopoldo de' Medici (1617–1675), Italian cardinal and Governor of Sien ...
, the Spanish military commander at Cavite, was hard-pressed with roughly 3,000 Spanish troops scattered in various detachments in Cavite. The combined forces of Generals
Luciano San Miguel
Luciano is an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese given name and surname. It is derived from Latin ''Lucianus'', patronymic of ''Lucius'' ("Light"). The French form is ''Lucien'', while the Basque form is ''Luken''.
Single name
* Luciano (rapper ...
,
Mariano Noriel,
Artemio Ricarte
Artemio Ricarte y García (October 20, 1866 – July 31, 1945) was a Filipino general during the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War. He is regarded as the ''Father of the Philippine Army'', and the first Chief of Staff of ...
and
Juan Cailles
Juan Kauppama Cailles (born Juan Cailles y Kauppama; November 10, 1871 – June 28, 1951) was a Filipino of French-Indian descent. A member of the revolutionary movement Katipunan, he was a commanding officer of the Philippine Revolutionary Arm ...
, having with them about 6,000–8,000 troops, who began attacking and decimating Peña's units one by one. With the war of liberation once again in full swing, Laguna was soon also subsumed by waves of revolutionary fervor, and surely enough rebel armies were quickly formed in an effort to liberate the province from Spanish control. One of such forces was led by General
Paciano Rizal, brother of political activist and writer
Jose Rizal
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods.
* Jose ben Abin
* Jose ben Akabya
*Jose the Gali ...
, with his command of 400 men-at-arms.
Battle
Initially, the Spanish garrison in Calamba, numbering to 60 riflemen,
holed up in the town church. They chose to wait as the Filipinos besieged the church. Lacking guns, and lacking even more ammunition, Rizal devised a ploy to get the Spaniards to surrender, he ordered that every time the Filipino column opened fire on the church, other troops, those without guns, would light up firecrackers to create the illusion that the Filipinos had plenty of guns.
This fooled the Spanish detachment, and as a result surrendered shortly thereafter.
Aftermath
With the surrender of the Spanish detachment at Calamba, Paciano Rizal had a free hand to head with his force to
Santa Cruz, capital of Laguna and by then the last town still under Spanish control, joining with other commanders present there.
References
External links
CDAO Imus Cavite*http://philippine-revolution.110mb.com/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calamba, Battle of
Battles of the Philippine Revolution
History of Laguna (province)
Calamba, Laguna