History: Spanish American War: Leandro Fullon Documents: Memos to Delgado and Marella [Stamp of the Headquarters of the Visayas] No. 22, 13 April 1899] (To) Sr. Martin Delgado, General in Chief of operations in Iloilo. Having heard through various sources and furthermore having observed that the campaign in this island is going ill, taking an aspect constantly more favorable to the success of the operations on account of the divisions which have occurred in the army for no reason than personal hatreds which should never be allowed to interfere with the high interests of the Fatherland, I, as general commanding the Visayas, recommend to you the utmost prudence and the greatest possible energy, acting according to the circumstances of the case, and you must make your soldiers and all the inhabitants of that province, first by persuasion and then by shooting, understand that they must avoid every kind of conflict with the soldiers of the expeditionary forces. I make the same recommendation to the commanders of those forces in order that they may in turn make them to their soldiers. Leandro Fullon[Original in Spanish, P.I.R. 117.2] Military Headquarters of the visayas, April 13th, 1899, No. 23 To Lieutenant Colonel Timeteo Marella, San Miguel, Iloilo General Sr. Martin Delgado has forwarded me a copy of your communication No. 301 in which you order the concentration of all of your force in the pueblo of San Miguel preparatory to returning to Capiz. I have for some time observed that where you are, the army of operations on this island of Panay is much divided and that every military commander acts according to his volition without attempting in the least to put himself in relations with other commanders for the purpose of executing any military operations. The first thing to be considered by the Filipinos is that we have a most powerful enemy, not only in his physical means of waging war but also in his intellectual capacity hence he is perfectly capable of taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by our want of harmony. In order to avoid antagonism of any kind, I as General in chief of the operations in the Visayas recommend to you the utmost energy and no less prudence acting according to the conditions which arise making it clearly understood first by persuasion and then by shooting, that a soldier should never give occasion to popular discontent, and that he should understand that as he is the stronger he should treat the people with benevolence. In order that you may see that I make no distinctions, I am sending the same advice to General Martin Delgado for his people and to all the people of the towns of that zone for their guidance in their relations with your soldiers. And as General commanding Visayas, I order you to suspend your march to Capiz and to remain as you are engaged in operations (in) that province. Leandro Fullon [Original in Spanish. Contemporary copy P.I.R. 117.2] |
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