Commodore Dewey's decisive victory in the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898 marked the fall of

Spanish inshore defenses in the Philippines.[4] Dewey's victory was later followed by an alliance
between U.S. forces and Filipino forces commanded by General Emilio Aguinaldo.
Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence on June 12, 1898 and went on to form the First
Philippine Republic.[5]Aguinaldo's proclamation of independence was never recognized by either
Spain or the U.S.
At the time of Aguinaldo's proclamation, Filipino troops were set on defeating the last of the
Spaniards. By the end of July, an estimated total of 12,000 U.S. troops had arrived to join the Filipino
forces.[6] Tensions in the alliance surfaced during this period. To begin with, the American and
Filipino troops were said to have "lacked that camaraderie usually present between military
associates".[7] In Major Cornelius Gardner's words:
Almost without exception, soldiers and also many officers refer to the natives in their presence as
"niggers" and natives are beginning to understand what the word "nigger" means.[7]

The "painful discrepancy in interests"[7] became increasingly obvious to Aguinaldo, who once
declined to attend a Fourth of July ceremony in Cavite after he was addressed "general" instead of
"president" in the written invitation.[7] The intentionality behind the alliance was directly addressed in
conversations between Aguinaldo, Dewey, and other U.S. generals. In a meeting, Aguinaldo was
reported to have bluntly asked, "Does the United States intend to hold the Philippines as
dependencies?"[7] Brigadier General Thomas Anderson dismissed Aguinaldo's speculations, saying
"I cannot answer that, but in 122 years we have established no colonies... I leave you to draw your
own inference."[7]

Mock Battle of Manila (1898)[edit]

When Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines Basilio Augustín refused Aguinaldo's terms of
surrender, it was only a matter of time before Intramuros fell. The living standards inside the walled
city had become unbearable due to depleting resources and overpopulation.[7] Governor Augustin
suggested surrendering Intramuros to the Americans by staging a "mock" battle. Dewey initially
rejected the idea, believing his troops won't be able to hold off the Philippine forces. When General
Merritt's troops arrived, Dewey reconsidered.
On July 24, the Spanish colony replaced Augustin with Governor-General Fermín Jáudenes upon
discovering that the former made attempts to negotiate the surrender of Intramuros to the Philippine
government.[8] On August 4, Dewey and Merritt announced that Jáudenes has 48 hours to surrender.
This was later extended by five days.[9] At that time, Jáudenes, Merritt and Dewey covertly negotiated
as they crafted a bloodless solution that would effectively turn over Intramuros to the Americans
without intervention by Aguinaldo's army.
The plan agreed to was that Dewey would begin a bombardment at 09:00 on August 13, shelling
only Fort San Antonio Abad, a decrepit structure on the southern outskirts of Manila, and the
impregnable walls of Intramuros. Simultaneously, Spanish forces would withdraw, Filipino
revolutionaries would be checked, and U.S. forces would advance. Once a sufficient show of battle
had been made, Dewey would hoist the signal "D.W.H.B." (meaning "Do you surrender?[10]),
whereupon the Spanish would hoist a white flag and Manila would formally surrender to U.S.
forces.[11] Though a bloodless mock battle had been planned, Spanish troops had opened fire in a
skirmish which left six Americans and forty-nine Spaniards dead when Filipino revolutionaries,
thinking that the attack was genuine, joined advancing U.S. troops.[11] Except for the unplanned
casualties, the battle had gone according to plan.
The covert alliance succeeded in its primary goal of preventing the Filipino revolutionaries from
gaining control over the seat of government. This created the conditions for the 1899 Battle of
Manila, which marked the beginning of the Philippine-American War.