LUKBAN
expeditionary force was composed of the 43rd and 47th Volunteer Infantry Regiments , and Battery G , 3rd Artillery . He sailed on the afternoon of January 18 , with the transport Hancock and two coasting vessels , the Castellano and Venus . His command was convoyed by the gunboats Helena and NashviIlle .
The expedition set sail from Manila on January 18 , 1900 . On January 20 , it arrived off Sorsogon , Bicol Peninsula , Luzon . As Kobbé ’ s troops embarked into their landing boats , he requested that the Helena , Mariveles , and Nashville anchor close to shore to provide support in case of hostilities . Then he and Colonel Howze went aboard the Mariveles , the shallowest draft vessel , to survey and select the landing place . Finding no resistance , the army landed at the port ’ s wharf and took possession of the town . That same day , the Helena embarked two companies and transported them to Donsol ( in Sorsogon ) where they effected another peaceful landing of sorts . Upon their arrival , the Helena found trenches in front of the town filled with 200 to 300 insurgents .
Regrouping back at Sorsogon , the expedition set off on January 25 , 1900 , for Calbayog on the island of Samar , with the Nashville , Helena , and Mariveles escorting the transports Venus , Aeolus , Salvadoro , Castellano , and Mendez Nuñez . The expedition arrived at sunlight the following day off Calbayog , and the Mariveles stood in to shore with Kobbé to reconnoitre , while the Nashville and Helena approached the shore to within 1,000 yards to cover the landing . Finding no signs of resistance , the signal to land was given , and the U . S . ensign was hoisted above the town by 8:30 that morning . 3
Hearing of the Americans ’ coming , on January 26 , 1900 after American gunboats were sighted in Calbayog . General Lukban called for a meeting with prominent men of Catbalogan on what to do should the Americans arrive in Catbalogan . They decided to burn the town and to evacuate the people in order not to give quarters to the invaders . This town-burning strategy became a standard operating procedure in Lukban ’ s guerrilla war in Samar to deny the Americans the use of the towns ’ resources .
They also decided to disperse the Filipino forces to different outposts surrounding Catbalogan . 2nd Lt . Guillermo Arteche , now in command of the Second Artillery , was posted to the mountains in the northeast of the town . His brother , Leopoldo , also served with the revolutionary army of Lukban . 4
At daybreak of January 27 , American warships appeared on Maqueda Bay . A gunboat took Colonel Arthur Murray ashore to parley , expecting to see Lukban himself . But that was not to be the case . Instead Lukban sent an artillery officer to face the American , while deploying five other
30