Second Battle of Caloocan The Second Battle of Caloocan , alternately called the Second Battle of Manila , was fought from February 22 to 24 , 1899 , in Caloocan during the Philippine – American War . The battle featured a Filipino counterattack aimed at gaining Manila from the Americans . This counterattack failed to regain Manila mainly because of lack of coordination among Filipino units and lack of artillery support . Background . The Philippine – American War began on February 4 , 1899 , with the culmination of the Battle of Manila . Later , on February 10 , Filipino forces regrouped in Caloocan and fought again with the American forces at the first Battle of Caloocan . The Americans won both engagements , but then , they had to wait for reinforcements , of which the first batch arrived on February 23 . Arthur MacArthur , Jr . , who had been fighting since the beginning of the war on February 4 , led the American troops . Noticing that the Americans had halted their offensive to reorganize , the Filipino forces , now under the command of General Antonio Luna , began finalizing their plans to counterattack . Apolinario Mabini , the political philosopher , highlighted the need to prepare thoroughly to ensure the success of the operation , stating that the battle ' s outcome would determine the fate of the Philippine Republic would . Filipino preparations . Luna ' s headquarters was established in Polo ( now Valenzuela City ) , and operations for the counterattack were prepared there . The troops directly under his command were organized into three brigade s . The " West Brigade " was under General Pantaleon Garcia , the " Center Brigade " was under General Mariano Llanera , and the " East Brigade " was under Colonel Maximino Hizon . The plan envisioned by Luna and his army staff was to affect a union of forces from the north and south of Manila with the " sandatahanes " or bolomen inside the city . The other forces that were to attack simultaneously with Luna ' s troops were the men of General Licerio Gerónimo from the east , and the men of Generals Pío del Pilar and Miguel Malvar from the south . Luna even requested the battle - hardened Tinio Brigade in Northern Luzon , under the command of Manuel Tinio . It had more than 1 , 900 soldiers . However , Aguinaldo gave only ambiguous answers . The total Filipino force amounted between 5 , 000 and 15 , 000 men . The defending American force had 15 , 000 to 20 , 000 men in Manila and its suburbs . Battle . At around 8 pm on February 22 , fire broke out in Santa Cruz , Manila , and spread to the Escolta . Another fire also broke out in Tondo , Manila . The fires signaled the beginning of the Filipino counterattack . Around 9 pm , Aguinaldo received a telegram concerning the fire . The Americans scrambled the Fire Department and the 13th Minnesota Volunteers to put out the fire . The firemen panicked for they could not put out the fire , since the wind nurtured the spread of the flames . Then , the sandatahanes suddenly attacked the firemen . They also cut the fire hoses . As a result , it took three hours for the fires to be brought under control . At around 10 pm , armed Filipinos under Colonel Francisco Roman entered Tondo and pursued the surprised American troops . When incendiaries set the nipa houses at Tondo on fire , more American soldiers were dispatched and these were met by Roman ' s troops . Meanwhile , another fire broke out in Binondo , Manila , which took the firemen more than five hours to put under control . Confusion , however , did not rest on the American side alone . The Filipinos also succumbed to indecision . Colonel Lucio Lucas , who was under Luna ' s direct command , had responded immediately after hearing the signal for attack . His objective was to march into the Meisic police station , which the Americans had turned into a barracks . However , enroute Lucas ' troops were met by a large American contingent at Azcarraga Street . Thinking of retreat , Lucas had reconsidered the belief that it was better to die fighting than die burning . The houses at their rear were already on fire , so he ordered his men to attack the Americans with only daggers in their hands . In the ensuing fight three Filipinos and eight Americans were killed . During the course of the battle , Luna did his best to keep personal participation in the field . At dawn of February 23 , the Filipinos opened their attack by firing their cannons against the Americans . Luna managed to secure a Krupp Rifled breech loader to provide artillery support for his men . However , while the advancing Filipinos attempted to break the American line in Caloocan , the Americans were able to coordinate their positions with the . The ship ' s twin turrets fired 10 - inch shells that set fire to a number of Filipino houses that broke up the Filipino attack , forcing them to fall back to take cover . This setback was made worse by the poor coordination between the regular Filipino army and the sandatahanes . A lack of ammunition had also affected some units , including the troops under Colonel Roman . Nevertheless , Garcia ' s troops had reached the planned points of occupation in Manila , and at that point he believed that Manila would soon fly the Filipino flag . At that point , however , Filipino fortunes wavered . Two companies , totaling about 400 men , of the Pampanga troops under Major Canlas made a rapid advance and placed La Loma under siege . When the Pampanga troops ran out of ammunition , four companies ( around 800 ) of Kawit troops were ordered to link up with the Pamapanga troops and launch a joint attack on the Americans entrenched in La Loma . The Kawit commander , Captain Janolino , did not obey the order stating that he would only obey orders from President Aguinaldo . As a result , the battle in that sector was lost , and later this incident was singled out by both Luna and General Ambrosio Flores , Luna ' s assistant as Director of War , as being the main factor in denying the Filipinos victory that day . By the end of February 23 , the Filipinos had managed to secure Sampaloc , Binondo and Tondo ( by Generals Pío del Pilar , Geronimo and Colonel Hizon ) . The Kawit Battalion under Captain Pedro Janolino had secured Meisic and American troops in Caloocan , numbering around 6 , 000 , were under siege by Filipino troops under Llanera and Garcia . The next day , the Filipinos fought even more fiercely than they had the day before . The continued fighting aroused concern amongst the American commanders who called for reinforcements , cabling General Henry Ware Lawton to expedite his move to Manila from Colombo . However , in general , the Filipinos were retreated to their original positions . Weak links between Filipino units enabled the Americans to intercept a number of telegrams and disrupt their communications . This resulted in poor coordination and , coupled with poor discipline among some units such as the Kawit Battalion and the sandatahanes , this ultimately let to the failure of the counterattack . Aftermath . Thirty - nine among the Americans and 500 among the Filipinos were counted as casualties . Following the battle , Luna disarmed the Kawit Battalion for their insubordination . But Aguinaldo countered the act by putting them in a new command , that of Major Ramos . Upon learning of the reinstatement of the Kawit Battalion , Luna offered his resignation on February 28 . The Americans also acted in their own area by banning the entry of armed Filipinos in Manila , and instituting a system of passage cards for everyone entering the city . As the Americans ceased operations while they waited for reinforcements to arrive , a period of comparative peace followed after the battle , except for limited activity by small bands of Filipinos guerrillas . Lawton ' s reinforcements finally began to arrive between March 10 and 23 .