LUKBAN
Chapter 2
Americans invade Samar
There was only one reason why the Americans wanted to occupy parts of Southern Luzon , Leyte and Samar and northern Mindanao : hemp . Manila hemp was viewed as the best in the world , and the demand for it was high among American farmers . But the navy ’ s blockade had severely affected its production and trade . Moreover , they saw that Aguinaldo ’ s appointed leaders in the provinces were taking advantage of the commodity , to the chagrin of the American traders . The only solution was to have full control of the ports . Failure in his could mean a potential political disaster that would severely affect the reelection bid of McKinley against the Democrat candidate William J . Bryan in the 1900 presidential elections .
Early in January 1900 , Gen . Otis received a directive from the War Department to secure and occupy the ports in the hemp growing regions of the Philippine Islands ( southeastern Luzon , the Visayas Islands of Leyte and Samar , and northern Mindanao ) in order to ensure the hemp , and its cordage exported to the U . S . for critical agricultural usages . This meant if the said ports were occupied by forces not friendly to them , such forces had to be driven away . If they showed resistance , they were going to use the full powers of the mighty US Army and Navy . 1
For two days , Otis and the adjutant general debated about launching an expedition to open ports . The initial reaction from Otis was that he was unable to move troops to the hemp districts because of the lack of manpower , lack of coasting vessels which were busy supplying troops , and the U . S . transport ships had too great a draft to be useful . But finally , Washington ordered Otis to occupy the hemp ports in the provinces of southeastern Luzon : Sorsogon , Albay , Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur , the Visayan islands of Leyte and Samar , and northern Mindanao The hemp expedition was mounted with great haste and little preparation . Its success was due only to the cooperation of the army and navy .
The army was led by recently promoted Brigadier General William A . Kobbé commanding the 43rd and 47 th Infantry ; the navy was represented by Commodore Raymond P . Rodgers who commanded the
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