Then it was that the first engagement of the Revolution of 1898 (which
may be rightly styled a continuation of the campaign of 1896-97) took
place. The battle raged from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., when the Spaniards ran
out of ammunition and surrendered, with all their arms, to the Filipino
Revolutionists, who took their prisoners to Cavite. In commemoration
of this glorious achievement I hoisted our national flag in presence
of a great crowd, who greeted it with tremendous applause and loud,
spontaneous and prolonged cheers for "Independent Philippines" and for
"the generous nation"--the United States of America. Several officers
and Marines from the American fleet who witnessed the ceremony evinced
sympathy with the Filipino cause by joining in the natural and popular
rejoicings of the people.

This glorious triumph was merely the prelude to a succession of
brilliant victories, and when the 31st May came--the date fixed for
general uprising of the whole of the Philippines--the people rose as
one man to crush the power of Spain.

The second triumph was effected in Binakayan, at a place known as
_Polvorin_, where the Spanish garrison consisting of about 250 men
was attacked by our raw levvies and surrendered in a few hours,
their stock of ammunition being completely exhausted.

I again availed myself of the opportunity to hoist our national flag
and did so from an upper story of the _Polvorin_ facing the sea,
with the object of causing the sacred insignia of our Liberty and
Independence to be seen fluttering in the breeze by the warships,
representing all the great and civilized nations of the world, which
were congregated in the harbour observing the providential evolution
going on in the Philippines after upwards of three hundred years of