All the new regiments of volunteers are in the Philippine Islands or on the way to the Philippines.

The details of these operations and many interesting facts and suggestions relating to them are set forth in the accompanying reports of the Major-General Commanding the Army and the Adjutant-General of the Army.

OPERATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES.

The principal military operations of the year have been in the Philippine Islands. At the date of the last annual report the Eighth Army Corps, under the command of Maj. Gen. E. S. Otis, held possession of the city of Manila under the provisions of the protocol of August 12, 1898, which required the United States to occupy and hold that city pending the conclusion of the treaty of peace, and which imposed upon the troops in possession at once the obligation to protect life and property within the city and to refrain from infringing upon Spanish territory outside of the city limits. In the performance of this duty many annoyances were experienced from the army of the Tagalogs, who were in insurrection against the Government of Spain, and who had been collected about the city, after its capture by the American forces had become inevitable, under the promise of their leaders that they should share in the plunder of the inhabitants.

General Otis was ordered to avoid any conflict with them, and, strictly complying with these orders, he made every effort to secure a peaceable understanding. The peaceable attitude of the American forces was unfortunately misconstrued as indicating weakness and fear of a conflict. On the night of the 4th of February, 1899, our forces were attacked by the Tagalogs, who attempted to capture the city. They were promptly repulsed in a series of active engagements which extended through the night of the 4th, and the 5th, 6th, and 10th days of February. Our lines were extended and established at a considerable distance from the city in every direction. On the 22d of February a concerted rising of the Tagalogs in

the city of Manila, of whom there are about 200,000, was attempted, under instructions to massacre all the Americans and Europeans in the city. This attempt was promptly suppressed and the city was placed under strict control.

The troops composing the Eighth Army Corps under General Otis's command at that time were of regulars 171 officers and 5,201 enlisted men and of volunteers 667 officers and 14,831 enlisted men, making an aggregate of 838 officers and 20,032 enlisted men.

All of the volunteers and 1,650 of the regulars were, or were about to become, entitled to their discharge, and their right was perfected by the exchange of ratifications of the treaty on the 11th of April.

The total force which Major-General Otis was thus entitled to command for any considerable period consisted of only 171 officers and 3,551 enlisted men. The numbers of the Eighth Army Corps, above stated, give the entire numerical strength of all troops present in the islands, including those at Cavite and Iloilo, the sick and wounded, those serving in the civil departments and in the staff organizations, and deducting these, the effective men of the line, officers and soldiers, were about 14,000. Of these 3,000 constituted a provost guard necessary to preserve order within Manila and prevent the known intention of the secret hostile organizations in that city to burn and sack the city when our troops were engaged on the lines of defense. Including, therefore, all the troops who were entitled to be discharged, there were not more than 11,000 officers and men available to engage the insurgent army, which was two or three times that number, well armed and equipped, and included many of the native troops formerly comprised in the Spanish army, and to occupy and hold positions in a comparatively unknown country, densely populated by inhabitants speaking in the main an unknown language. The months of the most intense heat, followed by the very severé rainy season of that climate, were immediately approaching, and for any effective occupation of the country it

was necessary to await both the close of the rainy season and the supply of new troops to take the place of those about to be discharged. Practically all the volunteers who were then in the Philippines consented to forego the just expectation of an immediate return to their homes, and to remain in the field until their places could be supplied by new troops. They voluntarily subjected themselves to the dangers and casualties of numerous engagements, and to the very great hardships of the climate. They exhibited fortitude and courage, and are entitled to high commendation for their patriotic spirit and soldierly conduct.

The operations of the period extending from February to the 31st day of August, the date of the annual report of General Otis as commander of the Department of the Pacific, were marked by a steady maintenance and strengthening of the position occupied by our forces, a gradual extension of our lines, a restoration of security and confidence in the city of Manila, numerous sharp engagements in the field marked by unbroken success, and many instances of very gratifying conduct on the part of both officers and men. It is probable that at any time a column of troops could have been sent anywhere on the island of Luzon as against any armed resistance which the insurgents could have offered after the demoralization in their ranks, resulting from the severe defeats inflicted upon them in February; but there were not the troops necessary to garrison the towns or to maintain any farextended lines of communication. No attempt was accordingly made to occupy the country, except in the vicinity of Manila and at such points as were important for the protection of our lines. Such movements as passed beyond this territory were designed primarily to break up threatening concentrations of insurgent troops and to prevent undue annoyance to the positions which we occupied.

On the 11th of February the city of Iloilo, on the island of Panay, the second port of the Philippines in importance, was occupied. After the capture of Iloilo the navy

took possession of the city of Cebu, on the island of Cebu, and on the 26th of February a battalion of the Twentythird Infantry was dispatched to that port for the protection of the inhabitants and property.

On the 1st of March a military district comprising the islands of Panay, Negros, and Cebu, and such other Visayan islands as might be thereafter designated, to be known as the "Visayan military district," was established and placed under the supervision of Brig. Gen. Marcus P. Miller, commanding First Separate Brigade, Eighth Army Corps, with headquarters at Iloilo.

The Third Battalion of the First California Volunteer Infantry was thereupon ordered to the island of Negros, under the command of Col. (now Brig. Gen.) James F. Smith, and took possession of the city of Bacolod, on that island, without resistance.

On the 5th of May Brig. Gen. James F. Smith assumed temporary command of the Visayan military district, and on the 25th of May Brig. Gen. R. P. Hughes, United States Volunteers, was assigned to the command of the district.

On the 19th of May the Spanish garrison at Jolo, in the Sulu Archipelago, was replaced by American troops.

By the 31st of August the number of troops stationed at Jolo and the Visayan Islands, including a small guard at the Cavite Arsenal, amounted to 4,145.

These operations are set forth fully in General Otis's report, which is submitted herewith.

All of the forces who were entitled to be discharged as above mentioned have now been returned to this country and mustered out. The new troops designed to take the place of those returning to this country, and to constitute an effective army for the occupation of the Philippines, have been transported to Manila to the number of 581 officers and 26,322 enlisted men of the Regular Army and 594 officers and 15,388 enlisted men of the new volunteer force. Five hundred and four officers and 14,119 men of the volunteer force have sailed from New

York and San Francisco and have not yet arrived at Manila. One regiment has reached San Francisco, but has not yet sailed.

The troops now in the Philippines comprise 905 officers and 30,578 men of the regular force and 594 officers and 15,388 men of the volunteer force; making an aggregate of 1,499 officers and 45,966 men and when the troops on the way have arrived the total force constituting the Eighth Army Corps will be 2,051 officers and 63,483 men.

By the 10th of October the process of changing armies and the approach of the dry season had reached a point where an advance toward the general occupation of the country was justified.

At that time the American lines extended from the Bay of Manila to Laguna de Bay, and included considerable parts of the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, and Morong to the south and east of Manila, substantially all of the province of Manila and the southern parts of Bulacan and Pampanga, dividing the insurgent forces into two widely separated parts. To the south and east of our lines in Cavite and Morong were numerous bands occasionally concentrating for attack on our lines and as frequently dispersed and driven back toward the mountains. On the 8th of October, the insurgents in this region having again gathered and attacked our lines of communication, General Schwan, with a column of 1,726 men, commenced a movement from Bacoor, in the province of Cavite, driving the enemy through Old Cavite, Noveleta, Santa Cruz, San Francisco de Malabon, Saban, and Perez das Marinas, punishing them severely, scattering them and destroying them as organized forces, and returning on the 13th to Bacoor.

On the north of our lines stretched the great plain of central Luzon, extending north from Manila about 120 miles. This plain comprises parts of the provinces of Manila, Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, and Pangasinan. It is, roughly speaking, bounded on the south by the Bay of Manila; on the east and west by high