LUKBAN
sent to the church , and started removing the church furniture to a safer place . When the church furniture was returned , there were little signs of the fire except for the charred ceiling and part of the rafters . But the edifice was intact . 9
A good number of American soldiers , which Lukban estimated at 2,000 , immediately disembarked , and as soon as they had landed , opened fire under the protection of the guns of their vessels , advancing to Lukban ’ s batteries . The latter answered their fire , engaging them until the next day despite the superiority of numbers of the invaders . 10
Hunger soon took its toll on Lukban ’ s soldiers , forcing them to withdrew to the arsenal which was about two miles from the town . “ We inflicted a loss of about 300 on the enemy , of which fact the natives of Catbalogan are witnesses , as they saw the enemy remove their dead in carts drawn by mules . On our side , we suffered the loss of our artillery man who was shot while trying to set fire to the convent ; another was killed by the explosion of one of our guns , an artillery officer had his head grazed by a bullet and a corporal of the same corps was wounded ,” said Lukban in his report . 11
Leaving a force to put out the fire , Major Allen launched into full scale attack of suspected Lukban ’ s forces now holed up the nearby mountains , where there were said to be some 120 rifles and 8 field guns . Unfamiliar with the fighting style of the more experienced Americans , several of Lukban ’ s men were killed and their guns captured . The emplacement , Allen discovered , was abandoned . 12
Later that evening , a party of insurgents attempted to approach the town , but the Nashville fired several rounds of shrapnel and shell from her 4-inch gun and drove the insurgents off . Through the night , the Nashville and Helena used their search lights to sweep the hills , shores , and waters around Catbalogan . During the night , other troops were landed under Col . Arthur Murray , 43 rd Infantry , U . S . V ., to occupy the hills during Major Allen ’ s absence who went after Lukban . 13
General Kobbe himself soon landed in Catbalogan to establish his headquarters . The town was garrisoned , parents and relatives of soldiers with the revolutionary forces were held hostage . People suspected of giving aid to insurrectos were arrested , tortured or killed . Catbaloganons were urged to return to the heavily garrisoned town .
When the Americans learned that Leon Arteche was designated as presidente municipal of Catbalogan by Lukban , he was arrested and brought to Manila where he was imprisoned at Fort Santiago . He was later released and allowed to return to Catbalogan , only to find his son Guillermo Arteche together with Cayetano Sosing and Francisco Conge taken by the Americans to Tinaogan , a barrio of Zumarraga , where they were tortured to get information on Lukban ’ s forces . Later , the three
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