The Battle of Calamba

The Battle of Calamba was a battle fought between

Filipino Revolutionaries in Laguna and the colonial forces of the Spanish Empire.

Emilio Aguinaldo have returned from exile in Hong Kong and is amassing a large force to drive out the Spanish from Cavite. General Leopoldo Garcia Peña, the Spanish military commander at Cavite, was hard-pressed with 2,800 Spanish troops scattered in various detachments in Cavite Province. The combined forces of Generals Luciano San Miguel, Mariano Noriel, Artemio Ricarte and Juan Cailles, have with them about 6,000 to 8,000 troops, who began attacking and decimating Peña's units one by one. A column of 500 infantrymen was rushed from Manila to reinforce Peña.

Initially, the Spanish garrison in Calamba, holed up in the town church, realized that a resistance could still be held for the larger force of 500 to arrive and help them before ultimately going to Cavite. The Spaniards chose to wait as the Filipino revolutionaries besieged the church. Lacking guns and even more ammunitions, Paciano Rizal devised a ploy to get the Spaniards to surrender. He ordered that every time the Filipino column open fire at the church, other troops, those without guns, to light up firecrackers and create the illusion that the Filipinos have plenty of guns, sure enough the Spaniards fell for it and surrendered a few days later. As the Spanish column approached, the revolutionaries under Jose Rizal's brother, General Paciano Rizal who was also the main commander of all revolutionary forces in the province, counterattacked the Spanish column in his hometown Calamba. The revolutionaries then staged an ambush in the vicinity, causing heavy casualties on the Spaniard's side. Many of them were captured during the battle.

Source: Ambeth R.Ocampo (1990). Rizal Without the Overcoat

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