The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-04
THE FILIPINO BOY NAPOLEON.
TINOS FRIENDS SAY HEISA MILF.
TARY GENIUS.
A General at 10. He Conquered tho Span"
iards In Northern Luzon With Inferior
Numbers-Dealt Out Picturesque JUS
tice-Career Cut Short by Uncle Sam.

1--WE, tnlck npped, but with ntelligent
features. Carefully he pores over the official
papers before him.
A quiet. modest young native he seems,
but few OF his fellow countr ymen have
had more strenuous life or 80 brill ant
career; certainly no other Of his years. For
this u the ex-insurgent chief, the famous
guerrilla leader Gen. Tno, who was Col
onel at IS, q General at 10 and at 20 con-
quered northern Luzon from the Spaniards
and brought 1t under native rule
This lad. also, for over a year defled the
new commander of the United States Army,
Gen. 8. B. M. Young, when the latter was
Military Governor Of northern Luzon. No
other insurgent leader gave Gen. Young
half the trouble that this boy did.
Tino's character is a strange one. His enc
mics among his own people are numerous.
some call him cruel and bloodt thirsty, some
weak and foolish, and others denounce
him a. an INSCRIPTIONS brigand.
His friend maintain that he has within him
all the possibilities of Napoleon. Tino. at
II. they say, several times defeated Span
ish army greatly outnumbering his own
forces, while Napoleon was four years older
when he simply captured fort. Napoleon,
they further contend, had behind him Eu-
ropes best soldiers; Tino fought with a
ragged battalion Of raw recruits who never
before had fred gun. Napoleon was a
trained tactician; Tino rose from civil life,
from the sohoolroom.
The most warlike of the Filipinos have
been the Tagalogs. This is not because
their natures are more aggressive, but
because Manila, which was the centre OF
Spanish tyranny. Is 1.-THE heart Of the Taga-
log district. Oppression has nade them
what they are.
Tino is Tagalog, born in the province
OF Cavit4, as was Aguinaldo. When the
first instruction against the Spaniards
broke out. in 1897. Tho, then a mere school
boy, joined the insurgents, and SO distin-
guished himself for bravery and military
skill that Aguinaldo, in rapid succession,
raised him to Coloneloy and then con-
ferred on him the rank Of Brigadier-Gen-
eral and made him one of his personal
| advisers.
Later, when the Tagalog chief was ban
ished to Hong Kong, Tho went with hun.
Thus they became warm personal friends.
When the Americans, in 1893 brought
Aguinaldo back to his native land Tino
accompanied his chief, and joined him in
conquering the Tagalog territory from the
| Spaniards, whose garrisons were driven
northward. where they gathered into quite
an army. Then, when Aguinaldo had
established himself In Malolos, near Manila,
| he said to Tho:
take 500 men and march NORTH
| The boy General obeyed. Without TAX
| Ing time to drill the 500 peasants given him
| he struck out on his march, fighting every
day, beating back the Spaniards and con-
| quering each town he advanced on.
| As his soldiers fell he replaced them with
other peasants, recruited from the country
| through which he marched. The prisoners
| he took he sent back south under escort OF
bolo men-militia armed only with long
knives. At no time did his army number
] over 800.
resistance on the part OF the Spania rds
until he reached the banks Of large river
that divides the province Of Union from
Ilocas Sur, over two hundred miles north
from Manila. Here the Spaniards had
determined to make one last stand.
| They numbered about / 800, were armed
| with modern Mauser rifles and were under
command Of old, experienced officers.
Several companies Of the Ninth Cazadores,
SPANS finest colonial troops, made up the
force.
On the banks of this river stands the town
OF Tagudin. There the river is several
hundred yards wide and much too deep to
| be forded. On the far bank the Spaniards
threw up earthworks that stretched half a
mile on either side Of the ferry.
On came the boy General with his mob OF
Filipino patriots armed with old fashioned
rifles and less than hundred captured
Mausers. Arrived at the river, he was met
by the volleys of the Spanish troops.
He knew that 1t was useless to make a
frontal attack. In one night he marched
up his side Of the river ten miles, where he
forded, and by dawn next morning he fell
on the left flank Of the intrenched Spaniards
and utterly routed them. The Spanish
commanding officer deserted his men and
escaped of the coast In boat, leaving most
OF his force prisoners.
That was the last organized resistance
made by Spaniards against Tino. What
was left Of their decimated ranks retreated
northward, with Tino close on their heels,
picking up stragglers.
On Aug IS, 1898, the day the American
flag was hoisted in Manila, Tino entered
the important northern town OF Nigan,
ne xt In size to Manila on the Island Of Luzon.
The Spaniards had passed through the day
before, taking with them the local garrison
and the Bishop of yigan and his monks,
the Bishop having under his care several
carreton loads Of treasure in silver dollars.
Tino raised the insurgent tricolor over
the Bishops palace, left small force to
garrison the town, ana AFTER Only IL"
hours sleep continued his pursuit OF the
fleeing Spaniards. II was simply contest
of endurance, and the boy OF twenty won
It was the rainy season, and the soldiers
marched in slush to their hips. At a town
called Loag the Spaniards were too ex,
hausted to continue the killing pace, and
they fortified themselves in a local CONVEX =.
When Tino came up they hung out
white flag and asked for parley. Tino
walked boldly into he convent and told
the commanding officer what terms he
would grant unconditional surrender:
The Spaniards agreed, and all delivered
over their arms to the insurgent leader.
Then they were paroled and allowed to
scatter about among the villages and to
live among the native householders: The
officers and monks returned to Vigan.
where Tino established his headquarters.
There he was In constant telegraphic COM
munication with Aguinaldo in Malolos,
and there he remained until the northern
march OF the Americans began.
1t was In yigan that he held as prisoners
of war Lieut. Gilmore and thirteen other
Americans He kept them In rigorous con-
finement, but still did not treat them badly.
Lieut.. Gilmore, In speaking to the writer,
told Of visit that he received from Ttno,
and described him N having. most I'M
attractive features, but powerful personal
magnetism that compelled one to like him.
His smile, Gilmore said, WAS as winsome as
any girls.