The Filipino troops, armed with old rifles…

The Filipino troops, armed with old rifles and bolos and carrying anting-anting (magical charms), are no match for American troops in open combat, but they are formidable opponents in guerrilla warfare.

For General Ewell S. Otis, commander of the United States forces, who had been appointed military governor of the Philippines, the conflict begins auspiciously with the expulsion of the rebels from Manila and its suburbs by late February and the capture of Malolos, the revolutionary capital, on March 31, 1899.

Aguinaldo and his government escape, however, establishing a new capital at San Isidro in Nueva Ecija Province.

The Filipino cause suffers a number of reverses.

The attempts of Mabini and his successor as president of Aguinaldo 's cabinet, Pedro Paterno, to negotiate an armistice in May 1899 ends in failure because Otis insists on unconditional surrender.