From the reports of the American officers in the field , there were strong indications that the rebellion that they desperately wanted to suppress was instead growing and continued to harass their troops in their detachments . Between April 28 to May 17 of that year , their reports were full of encounters or near encounters with rebel troops that patrolled just outside their garrisons . For instance , Capt . Dey ’ s company at Laguan had been so depleted that Capt . Cooke ’ s company at Catarman had to be pulled out to reinforce Laguan which had been reduced “ because many had been killed or wounded .” Already Gilmore had sent 20 men to Laguan .

Warner , Barnes & Co . likewise had to evacuate Catarman , along with their bales of hemp , four schooners and a tug . Cooke had been told to stay put in Catarman until the hemp was moved to safer places . San Miguel , which was close to La Granja , was said to be the headquarters of the rebels in the area . Lt . Seaman was ordered on his return trip to Calbayog to drive out the rebels there .

Attack on Catarman

But even before the detachment at Catarman could move out , the rebels launched an attack on the night of April 30 . In the estimate of Cooke , the rebels numbered around 500 to 600 , with 100 of them bearing rifles , while the rest were armed with those deadly ba-ids ( sharpened long bolos ). However , with the trenches they dug , he thought there were many more . On the night of April 30 till the next day , they had dug over 400 yards of trenches , averaging 4 feet deep and 2 feet wide , with nothing but bolos to break the ground and coconut shells to throw out the earth . Cooke withdrew all his sentinels into the convent that was used as their headquarters , and decided to wait until daylight . Sporadic firing could be heard all night .

At daybreak , they discovered trenches built on three sides of the barracks . On the fourth side which had not been dug , the beach could be 66

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