The Manila Battalion was a military unit within the

Philippine Republican Army The Philippine Revolutionary Army (Spanish: ; ), later renamed Philippine Republican Army, was the army of the First Philippine Republic from its formation in March 1897 to its dissolution in November of 1899 in favor of guerrilla operations ...

, composed of enlisted Filipino soldiers from the City of Manila. The battalion started out as a territorial militia during the war of independence from Spain. It was stationed in the Fourth Zone of Manila under the command of General

Pantaleon Garcia Pantaleon (, ''Pantaléōn'') was a Greek king who reigned some time between 190 and 180 BC in Bactria and India. He was a younger contemporary or successor of the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius, and is sometimes believed to have been his brother ...

and Colonel Enrique Pacheco, and saw action in the Battle of Manila in 1899. A company of the Manila Battalion under Captain Garcia was present in

Aliaga, Nueva Ecija Aliaga, officially the Municipality of Aliaga (, Ilocano: ''Ili ti Aliaga''), is a municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 70,363 people. History The town of Aliaga, Nueva ...

on June 5th, 1899. On that day, they disarmed General

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...

's men and conducted them as prisoners, sending them toward

Cabanatuan Cabanatuan, officially the City of Cabanatuan (; ; kapampangan language, Kapampangan: ''Lakanbalen/Ciudad ning Cabanatuan''), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Acco ...

. This occurred on the same day General Luna was assassinated by troops of the Kawit Battalion in Cabanatuan.

Related Units

Another Manila-based territorial militia was recorded to have been active in January 1899. The ''5th Trozo Battalion'' was formed by

Intramuros Intramuros () is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Intramuros comprises a centuries-old hist ...

resident Julian Santo. The name of the battalion was derived from the vicinity of Trozo in

Santa Cruz, Manila Santa Cruz is a district in the northern part of the Manila, City of Manila, Philippines, located on the right bank of the Pasig River near its mouth. It is bordered by the districts of Tondo, Manila, Tondo, Binondo, Manila, Binondo, Quiapo, Ma ...

and was composed of at least 400 native soldiers from the Spanish infantry. The 5th Trozo Battalion was notably involved in the

Second Battle of Caloocan The Second Battle of Caloocan (, ), alternately called the Second Battle of Manila, was fought from February 22 to 24, 1899, in Caloocan during the Philippine–American War. The battle featured a Filipino counterattack aimed at gaining Manil ...

, which was at the time led by Colonel Soriano.

References

Philippine–American War History of Manila {{Philippines-mil-unit-stub