The siege of Baler (; ) was a battle of the Philippine Revolution. Filipino revolutionaries laid siege to a fortified church defended by Spanish troops in the town of Baler, Aurora, for 337 days, from 1 July 1898 until 2 June 1899. The war had ended with the Treaty of Paris on 10 December 1898, with Spain's surrender and cession of claims over the Philippines to the United States. Cut off from communications with their own government and military, the Spanish forces in Baler continued their defense against the Filipino forces until 1899.
Background
Baler is located on the eastern coast of Luzon, about from Manila. The Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule started in 1896. In September 1897, the Spanish garrisoned Baler with 50 Civil Guard soldiers under Lieutenant José Mota, to prevent Emilio Aguinaldo from receiving smuggled arms. Mota's forces were attacked on the night of 4 October by Novicio's men, killing Mota and six other Spaniards, wounding several and capturing 30 Mauser Model 1893 rifles. The initial phase of the revolution ended with the Pact of Biak-na-Bato in 1897. By 1898, with the resumption of the Philippine Revolution, Baler was still reachable only by ship or by traversing on foot through nearly impassable jungle trails across the Sierra Madre mountain range that were often washed out by torrential tropical rains.
During this phase of the revolution, the Philippines was involved in the Spanish–American War, and the Filipino rebels allied themselves with the American forces. This alliance would end with the outbreak of the Philippine–American War in 1899. Baler was garrisoned by a 50-man detachment of the 2nd Expeditionary Battalion Cazadores of the Civil Guard, led by Captain Enrique de las Morenas and three other officers; de las Morenas was serving as the district political-military governor. On 1 June 1898, las Morenas ordered his men to begin digging a well, stocking food supplies and ammunition, and fortifying the church compound of San Luís de Tolosa in Baler's town square against a possible attack. The church was the only stone building in the area.
Siege
On 26 June 1898, it was noticed that the town residents were leaving. The city was surrounded the next day. Then on the night of 30 June, 800 Filipino troops under Teodorico Novicio Luna attacked, and the garrison fell back to the church. The town priest, Candido Gómez Carreño, also quartered himself in the church. The first few days of the siege saw several attempts by the Filipinos to get the Spanish to surrender by leaving letters, while they surrounded the church with trenches. On 8 July, the revolutionary commander, Cirilo Gómez Ortiz, offered a suspension of hostilities until nightfall, which was accepted. On 18 July, Calixto Villacorta took command of the Filipinos. He also sent a warning letter, which was rebuffed.
The Spanish had to endure confinement in a small, hot, humid space. As the siege progressed, their food supply began to diminish through usage and spoilage. Enemy rifle fire did cause casualties but diseases such as beriberi, dysentery, and fevers did more damage. The first Spaniard to die was Gómez Carreño. In September, Lieutenant Alonso was killed; in November, Captain Las Morenas succumbed to beriberi and command fell to Lieutenant Saturnino Martín Cerezo. More than once the Spanish made forays to burn nearby houses to deprive the Filipinos of much needed cover. The Filipinos attempted to smoke them out by setting fires beside the church wall but were repulsed and had their timber captured. At the start of the siege, the Spanish had provisions of flour, rice, beans, chickpeas, bacon, canned Australian beef, sardines, wine, sugar, and coffee – but no salt. Supplementing their food supplies, the Spanish foraged for pumpkins, pumpkin leaves, oranges, plantain shoots, various herbs, and planted a garden of peppers, tomatoes and pumpkins.