Battle of Manila ( 1898 ) The Battle of Manila was a short land engagement between the United States and Spain at the end of the Spanish – American War and the Philippine Revolution , which occurred a couple of months after the pivotal American victory during the naval Battle of Manila Bay . The battle was jointly planned by the opposing Spanish and American forces to keep the city from falling to the Philippine Revolutionary Army under President General Emilio Aguinaldo . Background . After the American victory in Manila Bay over two months earlier , the U . S . Navy , under Admiral George Dewey , had blockaded the city of Manila and waited for land forces to arrive . The United States reacted by organizing the VIII Corps , dubbed the " Philippine Expeditionary Force " under the command of Major General Wesley Merritt . On May 16 , the vanguard of the force left San Francisco under the command of Brigadier General Thomas M . Anderson . Merritt , on the same day , asked for information concerning the strength of the Spanish in the Philippines . The American consul in Hong Kong gave the information needed : 21 , 000 men including 4 , 000 Filipinos , all except 1 , 000 of them in Manila . Dewey , however , sent more accurate information : around 40 , 000 troops including around 16 , 000 Filipinos , about 15 , 000 were situated in Manila , and 9 artillery guns in Manila . By mid - June , some 30 , 000 Filipino troops under General Antonio Luna had dug fourteen miles of trenches around Manila . Filipino troops , seizing control of Manila ' s only pumping station , cut off the water supply to the city . The first contingent of American troops arrived in Cavite on June 30 , the second under General Francis V . Greene on 17 July , and the third under General Arthur MacArthur on 30 July . By this time , some 12 , 000 U . S . troops had landed in the Philippines . Aguinaldo had presented surrender terms to Spanish Governor General Basilio Augustín , who had refused them . Augustín had thought that if he really needed to surrender the city , he would do so to the Americans . On 16 June , warships departed Spain to lift the siege , but they altered course for Cuba where a Spanish fleet was imperiled by the U . S . Navy . Life in Intramuros ( the central core of Manila ) , where the normal population of about ten thousand had swelled to about seventy thousand , had become unbearable . Realizing that it was only a matter of time before the city fell , and fearing vengeance and looting if the city fell to the Filipinos , Governor Augustín had suggested to Dewey that the city be surrendered to the Americans after a sham battle . Dewey had initially rejected the suggestion because he lacked the troops to block Filipino forces , but when Merritt ' s troops became available he sent a message to Fermin Jáudenes , Augustín ' s replacement , agreeing to the mock battle . Spain had learned of Augustín ' s intentions to surrender Manila to the Americans , which had been the reason he had been replaced by Jaudenes . Merritt was eager to seize the city , but Dewey stalled while maneuvering to work out a bloodless solution with Jaudenes . On 4 August , Dewey and Merritt gave Jaudenes 48 hours to surrender ; later extending the deadline by five days when it expired . Covert negotiations continued , with the details of the mock battle being arranged on 10 August . The plan agreed to was that Dewey would begin a bombardment at 09 : 00 on 13 August , shelling only Fort San Antonio Abad , a decrepit structure on the southern outskirts of Manila , and the impregnable walls of Intramuros . Simultaneously , Spanish forces would withdraw , Filipino forces would be checked , and U . S . forces would advance . Once a sufficient show of battle had been made , Dewey would hoist the signal " D . W . H . B . " ( meaning " Do you surrender ? ) , whereupon the Spanish would hoist a white flag and Manila would be formally surrendered to U . S . forces . Battle . On August 13 , with American commanders unaware that a peace protocol had been signed between Spain and the U . S . the previous day , Dewey began his bombardment as scheduled . Dewey had directed his ship captains to spare Manila any serious damage but gunners on one ship , unaware of the negotiated arrangements , scored several direct hits before its captain was able to cease firing and withdraw from the line . General Greene ' s brigade pushed rapidly through Malate and over the bridges to occupy Binondo and San Miguel . The advancing Americans made good use of new weapons , such as the M1897 Trench Gun which was ideal for close combat . General Arthur MacArthur , advancing simultaneously on the Pasay road , encountered and overcame resistance at the blockhouses , trenches , and woods in his front , advanced and held the bridges and the town of Malate . This placed Manila in American possession , except for Intramuros . Shortly after entering Malate , U . S . troops observed a white flag displayed on the walls of Intramuros . Lieutenant Colonel C . A . Whittier , United States Volunteers , representing General Merritt , and Lieutenant Brumby , U . S . Navy , representing Admiral Dewey , were sent ashore to communicate with the Captain - General . General Merritt soon personally followed , met with Governor General Jaudenes , and concluded a preliminary agreement of the terms of capitulation . Though a bloodless sham battle had been planned , Spanish troops had opened fire in a skirmish which left six Americans and forty - nine Spaniards dead when Filipino troops , thinking that the attack was genuine , joined advancing U . S . troops . Except for the unplanned casualties , the battle had gone according to plan ; the Spanish had surrendered the city to the Americans , and it had not fallen to the Filipinos . Aftermath . For all practical purposes , the fall of Manila brought about the end of the Spanish - American War in the Philippines . Merritt and Dewey finally received word of the peace protocol on August 16 . Captain Henry Glass of the armored cruiser had accepted the surrender of Guam on June 20 , 1898 , while " en route " to Manila , and Captain E . D . Taussig of the gunboat claimed Wake Island for the U . S . on January 17 , 1899 . The war with Spain came to an end , but shortly afterwards another war broke out . Tensions between the Filipino forces under Aguinaldo and the American Expeditionary forces was high . The Filipinos felt betrayed by the Americans . They had looked on the Americans as liberators against Spanish occupation , but later came to believe that the US simply wanted to make the Philippines a colony of its own . In an incident on February 4 , 1899 , a U . S . Army private fired on a Filipino guerilla and Filipino forces returned fire . Thus began a second battle for the city . Aguinaldo sent a ranking member of his staff to Ellwell Otis , the U . S . military commander , with the message that the firing had been against his orders . Otis replied , " The fighting , having begun , must go on to the grim end . "