Battle of Agusan Hill

Overview

Battle of Agusan Hill, May 14, 1900. Capt. Walter B. Elliott, CO of Company I, 40th Infantry Regiment USV, with 80 men proceeded to the village of Agusan, about 16 kilometers west of Cagayan de Misamis town proper, to dislodge about 500 guerillas who were entrenched on a hill with 200 rifles and shotguns. The attack was successful; 2 Americans were killed and 3 wounded; the Filipinos suffered 38 killed, including their commander, Capt. Vicente Roa. The Americans also captured 35 Remington rifles.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

At Agusan Hill on May 14, 1900, a company of the 40th Infantry Regiment USV under Capt. Walter B. Elliott successfully dislodged an entrenched Filipino guerrilla force at the village of Agusan, roughly 16 kilometers west of Cagayan de Misamis. The engagement resulted in 38 Filipino dead, including the guerrilla commander Capt. Vicente Roa, and the capture of 35 Remington rifles — a material loss that directly reduced the armed capacity of the local insurgency. American casualties were 2 killed and 3 wounded. The elimination of Roa's command and the seizure of his unit's arms represented a tactical success in the broader American effort to suppress guerrilla resistance in Mindanao during the Philippine–American War, reducing organized opposition in the Cagayan de Misamis area at a critical phase of pacification operations.

Tactics