Battle of Zapote River The Battle of Zapote River , also known as the Battle of Zapote Bridge , was fought on June 13 , 1899 between 1 , 200 Americans and between 4 , 000 ~ 5 , 000 Filipinos . It was the second largest battle of the Philippine – American War after the Battle of Manila five months before in February 1899 . Zapote River separates the town of Las Piñas in what was then Manila province from Bacoor in the province of Cavite . The ruins of Zapote Bridge still stands next to its replacement bridge on Aguinaldo Highway . Battle . The Battle of Zapote River was part of the armed reconnaissance by the U . S . Army between Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay that commenced on June 9 to rid the countryside of Filipino Army rebelling against the Americans . A fleet of gunboats - " Callao " , " Manila " and " Mosquito " - led Admiral George Dewey , were on Manila Bay to provide naval gunfire support . These were soon joined by the " Helena " , " Princeton " , " Monterey " and " Monadnock " gunboats . The battle started around 6 : 15am after three shots were fired by the Filipinos to the American outpost from a 1 - pounder Hotchkiss gun . In retaliation , the Sixth artillery under Lieutenant Benjamin M . Koehler fired back six shrapnels from two guns . At the portion of the river between the river and Manila Bay , Companies F and I of the 21st Infantry Regiment were scouting the area when they were ambush ed by about 1 , 000 Filipinos after crossing the bamboo pole bridge to Bacoor . Fierce fighting ensued against Filipinos armed with Remingtons and Mauser s . Two of the officers of the two companies were wounded . Later , running low on ammunition , the Americans headed to the beach for safety . They were relieved by a battalion from the Ninth Infantry led by Major Clarence R . Edwards . Major Starr signaled the gunboats for support , which responded with men and ammunition from the " Helena " and " Monadnock " . Near the Zapote Bridge , General Samuel Ovenshine moved his artillery on the road , flanked by his infantry . Upon moving on to the enemy , the fire opened furiously to - and - fro the Filipino trenches and breastworks south of the bridge . Artillery fires were exchanged between a Filipino battery , firing from smoothbore cannon and 1 - pounder Hotchkiss gun s , and Battery D with a 3 . 2 - inch field gun , 3 - inch and 1 . 65 - inch Hotchkiss guns . Soon , the battery led by First Lieutenant William L . Kenly moved forward , without cover and under terrific fire , to the bridge ramp about from the enemy battery , where they successfully took the enemy with precision shots . At this point , the bridge was not fordable as one span was removed and its wooden replacement burned down . The rest of both armies soon joined the fighting which expanded to cover the stretch from the beach to beyond the bridge . Eventually , it became obvious that the greater number of Filipino soldiers had not been a decisive advantage . American gunboats also shelled the shores in front of the Americans troops , which devastated the Filipino positions . After hours of heavy fighting , between 4 to 4 : 40pm , the Filipinos gave way , abandoning their positions and began falling back . The bridge was temporarily repaired with wooden stringers . General Loyd Wheaton and his men began crossing the bridge as ordered by Major - General Henry W . Lawton . He sent forward a company from the 21st Infantry headed by First Lieutenant William M . Morrow to ascertain the positions of the enemies and found them 1 mile south of the bridge . After more fighting , they drove the defenders out of their lines who fled towards Imus and San Nicolas , Bacoor . A Filipino rear guard held off the Americans long enough for the main Filipino force to withdraw inland . Aftermath . Both sides suffered heavily : the American suffered 75 casualties with 15 killed , and the Filipinos suffered 150 deaths and 375 wounded . The Battle of Zapote Bridge earned the respect of General Henry Ware Lawton , whose dispatches invariably carried a sympathetic note of the heroism displayed by Filipinos fighting for their freedom . Consequently , the Philippine Army began using tactics of guerilla warfare . Seeing that they could not square off against the Americans in large western style military actions , they resorted instead to using the terrain to their advantage in cunning hit and run attacks . " The New York Times " reported that it [ the Filipino Army ] was " the largest and best organized body of men which had yet met American troops ( during the Philippine - American War ) . "