The Luna-Mascardo feud that cost the battle of Bagbag

(This write-up is identical to the article with the same title found on pages 201-207 of the book entitled The Filipino Tragedy and Other Historical Facts Every Filipino Should Know," published by the author.  The sources and references indicated here are contained on pages 402-415 of the book.)

General Antonio Luna was a latecomer in the revolutionary struggle. He was not a member of the Katipunan and rebuked Andres Bonifacio's invitation to join asking, "How shall we fight?  With this?, He pointed to his teeth." (Kalaw[Development],76)  

After the discovery of the Katipunan, Luna tried to shy away from involvement and pointed to Dr. Jose Rizal as the founder. (Taylor[I], 237-238)  However, his masonic activities were enough to lodge him in jail.  He was released upon the intercession of his famous brother, the painter Juan.

He then left the country and spent some time in Europe studying military tactics.  He returned to the Philippines via Hongkong at the time when the Spanish-American war had just broken out. He secured credentials from Don Felipe Agoncillo, a confidante and close adviser of Aguinaldo, and this paved the way for Luna's commission in September 1898 in the Filipino Republican Army with the rank of  Brigadier General. 

While the Army's senior officers looked with disfavor, Luna's appointment, Aguinaldo prevailed upon them, saying Luna had military training and was urgently needed to instill discipline and make the army one coordinated unit.  The hidden disenchantment of the senior officers eventually showed in the refusal of some to recognize Luna's authority.  One of them, Captain Pedro Janolino of the Kawit Brigade, did so in the battle of Caloocan and in whose hands General Luna lost his life.  But the most famous feud that caused the loss of a battle was between General Luna and General Tomas Mascardo, a veteran of the revolution and a trusted senior officer of Aguinaldo.  The hostility between the two was heightened by a rivalry over a beautiful maiden in Pampanga whose favor the two were trying to win and, Mascardo ended up the victor.

The drama preceding the battle of Bagbag started with General Mascardo's refusal to obey General Luna's orders to reinforce the Filipino defenses in Bagbag, Calumpit, Bulacan.  Mascardo contended that while the troops of Pampanga and Nueva Ecija were placed by Aguinaldo under Luna's command, the general officers were not.  Luna was so pissed off that he ordered the preparation of two companies of infantry and cavalry and two mountain guns to go after Mascardo in Guagua.  His aide warned him that the Americans were about to attack and withdrawal of the soldiers might weaken the defenses.

The warning successfully weathered the storm for a while until Luna learned about the preparations made by Mascardo to fight it out should Luna come over to arrest him, and especially what Mascardo said to Luna's aide: "If General Luna has enough guts to enforce his decree, Mascardo has enough to resist him". This angered Luna and taking with him the men and the artillery confronted Mascardo at his headquarters in Guagua who eventually submitted to his authority. But it was too late to change the course of the battle at Bagbag because when Luna arrived the Filipino defenses had already been breached by the Americans and the Filipinos had already retreated.

[Author's note: The following article, entitled "How the battle of Bagbag was lost" by Epifanio Delos Santos was lifted en-Toto from The Philippine Review, Vol II, No. 3, 1917, pp. 40-44, and  is a detailed narration of the events revolving around the feud between General Luna and General Mascardo.]

"It was in May, in the year of Our Lord 1899. The Filipino forces, shattered in the battles of Caloocan and Marilao, but reorganized by the skillful iron hand of General Luna, formed a solid line of resistance, the right wing of which rested on Hagonoy and the left on the hills of the municipality of Santa Maria. A division, composed of the troops dispersed in the preceding engagements and of forces from Pampanga and Nueva Ecija, held this line, which had as natural defenses the Bagbag river, the Quingua forests, and the undulating territory of Santa Maria. This division was commanded by General Luna, who had under his orders, as brigade commanders, Generals M.(Mascardo), Gregorio del Pilar, and Llanera. While the enemy was accumulating means of attack in the city of Malolos, the Filipino army, on its part, was building strong trenches on the line mentioned, the central brigade forming a second line of defense, with the Rio Grande de la Pampanga as a base.

"On a certain day of the month mentioned, General Luna ordered General M. (Mascardo) to send reinforcements to the Bagbag line, for the reason that the preparations being made by the enemy were a sure indication of an impending attack upon the Filipino lines. The order was carried out tardily and grudgingly, for the reason that General M. happened to be attending a dance. General Luna, exasperated by such an attitude, ordered General M. under arrest for twelve hours. General M. refused to consider himself under arrest, his argument being that while the decree of Commander-in-Chief A. (Aguinaldo) placed all the troops of the Provinces of Pampanga and Nueva Ecija under General Luna's orders, it did not specify that the general officers of those troops had also to consider themselves as subordinates of General Luna. This gave rise to a dramatic incident between the division and brigade commanders which resulted in our defeat on the gloomy day when the American army broke through the Filipino lines.

"It was about ten o'clock in the morning when an aide-de-camp of General Luna's entered the office of Major H. (Eugenio Hernando), chief of staff of the division.

"'Major, the general wishes to see you.'

"'Very well; I am coming immediately.'

"'At your orders, general,' saluted Major H.

"'Major, start immediately with two companies of riflemen, a section of cavalry, and two mountain guns and bring me General M. under arrest, whether he resists or not.'

"Perplexed by this order and vacillating as to strict obedience, in view of the consequences which its execution might bring with it, Major H., taking advantage of his being General Luna's chief of staff, respectfully made the following objections:

"'General, I do not refuse to obey your orders, but the enemy may attack at any moment and the withdrawal of such a number of troops from our firing line may, perhaps, be imprudent. If you will permit me, I shall endeavor to convince General M. of his mistake......'

"'Very well", replied the General. With compromises like these, we shall never have an army. I will give in this time, but it will be the last.'

"Major H. mounted his horse and made the sixty kilometers between Calumpit and Guagua, General M.'s headquarters, in less than four hours. He arrived at Guagua towards two o'clock in the afternoon and found General M. taking a nap. He asked Major Fj (?) to wake up the general, as he had important business. General M. woke up and received him.

"'General", said Major H., "pardon my disturbing you in your sleep, but an order of General Luna compelled me to do so.'

"'Tell me what it is he wants', replied General M. with a frown.

"Major H. thereupon endeavored, by the kindest of words and arguments, to make him understand what military discipline required, and that if the enlisted men, officers, and field officers of his brigade were under General Luna's orders in accordance with the decree of the President, General M. was also under his orders. General M. would not be convinced and stubbornly sustained his own theory. At last, his patience having come to an end Major H. said:

'"General, you know General Luna and know his disposition. Do you not believe it is very possible that he will decide to exact by force what he can not obtain by reasoning?'

"General M., enraged, jumped up and said:

"'Major, you tell General Luna for me that if he has guts enough to enforce his orders, General M. has enough to resist.'

"In the face of this outburst, Major H. sadly left General M.'s room without saying further. It was about seven o'clock in the evening when Major H. arrived at General Luna's Headquarters at Calumpit and reported on the ill success of his mission, taking good care, however, not to say anything about the disrespectful phrase uttered by General M.

"'Very well", said General Luna, "now you will no longer have any objection to carrying out the order I gave you this morning.'

"'I believe there is still some other way left, General", suggested Major H. "Before using violence, permit me to report the matter to General A.'

"General Luna having authorized this, Major H. got on his horse and hurried to Baliuag, where the Commander-in-Chief had his headquarters. He was received by Colonel R. S. (?) who, realizing that the matter was an urgent one, ushered the major immediately into the office of the Commander-in-Chief. The latter, upon being informed of the details of the incident, said indignantly:

"'No, don't obey any such orders. What would become of our country and army if a breach of discipline would make us expend what little ammunition we have in trying to exterminate each other? Take this order to General M.; in it I give him twenty-four hours of arrest instead of the 12 hours General Luna gave him, besides a severe reprimand for his insubordination." And General A. added, "keep me posted on what happens.'

"Riding as fast as he could urge his horse to go, Major H. succeeded in reaching about dawn the vicinity of the residence of General M., where he was met, in the middle of a field, by Major Fj.

"'Hello, old boy, how do you happen to be out so early?' these were the words with which he was greeted by Major H.

"'Nothing! I have had the deuce of a night" replied Major Fj. "We have been up all night on guard, waiting for you and your men to come; I and my men had orders from my general to drive you back. Thank God, nothing of the kind has happened and I can receive you with an embrace instead of greeting you with the gun.'

"They went together to see General M., to whom Major H. delivered the order of the Commander-in-Chief. General M. complied with the order of the Commander-in-Chief, which pleased General Luna. This seemed for the moment to have dispersed the thundercloud. Just about that time, Colonel Francisco Roman joined General Luna's headquarters. Upon learning of the affair, he proved to General Luna that he had shown such weakness in it that it was liable to ostracize him or cost him the respect of the army. He gave him such a talking-to that one morning General Luna sent for Major H.

"'Major, get a special train ready; put all available infantry, cavalry, and artillery on it, and when you have everything ready, let me know.'

"The order was executed, and General N., Colonel Roman, and two of Luna's aides, the Bernal brothers, boarded the train with General Luna.

"'Order the train to start and stop at San Fernando', were General Luna's directions.

"It was not until the train was underway when it became known that they were going for General M. This new order was due not only to Colonel R.'s suggestions but to the fact that General Luna had learned of the nocturnal ambuscade prepared by General M. for the purpose of receiving Major H.'s detachment with shots. How General Luna learned of this and who it was who told him, is still a mystery. Major H. did not tell him and would not tell anybody. The train having come to a stop in San Fernando station, the following order was issued:

"'Major, take your cavalry to Bacolor, place sentries at the head of every street, and do not allow anybody to leave the pueblo. If anybody tries to get out, fire on him without any consideration.'

"General Luna's brothers, Don Jose and Don J (Juan)., tried to dissuade their brother, but it seems that instead of listening to them, he had them detained in a railroad car for several hours, with sentries mounting guard over them. At Bacolor, General Luna put up at the convent. Here, too, a bevy of pretty damsels of the Red Cross interceded with him but had no luck at all. The general would not be moved. Lieutenant-Colonel L. of the Judge Advocate's Department asked Major H. to allow him to pass through the cordon in order to go to Guagua and appeal to General M. to capitulate, for the sake of the country, but in view of the strict orders that had been issued, he was told that the only thing that could be done for him was to close an eye, but that he certainly ran the risk of leaving his hide, as the sentries might fire on him.

"At this stage of the proceedings, a telegram was received from Baliuag to the effect that the Americans were forcing the Bagbag line; that our troops at Quingua had already fallen back, and that reinforcements were urgently needed. General Luna believed this telegram to be nothing but an artifice and refused to budge. At two o'clock in the afternoon another, more urgent telegram was received, but for the same reason as before, General Luna refused to do anything and gave orders to march on to Guagua.

"When they were already at the pueblo of Betis, the cavalry detachment forming the advance guard saw a quiles escorted by several officers. The quiles and escort were halted; the passengers were General M. and Lieutenant-Colonel L (?). The two battalions of riflemen then lined up, with the colors unfurled; General M. was placed in front of them and in this position, he was asked by General Luna, with serious mien:

"'General M., do you acknowledge my authority? Will you obey whatever orders you may receive from my headquarters?' General M. answered in the affirmative.

"'Very well", said General Luna, and, addressing Major H., he gave the order: "Accompany General M. in his quiles to headquarters.'

"They arrived at headquarters at Calumpit approximately at 6 p. m., when the Bagbag line had already been forced by the American troops. There only remained a point of support at the barrios of Santa Lucia (Calumpit), which, despite the fierce resistance offered by General Luna, was occupied by the invading army the next day. Two days later, with the first bulwark taken by the enemy, the strenuously resisting Filipino forces were routed at the Rio Grande de Calumpit, and this defeat threw open to American invasion the provinces of Pampanga and Nueva Ecija."