American fury in the Philippines. XX / Batangas

Headquarters of the Army
Washington, Feb.19,1903

The Honorable, The Secretary of War:
Sir.—i have the honor to submit the following special report: in going
from calamba to bat@ngas on the 9th of november last, i noticed that
the country appeared to have been devastated, large sections lying
waste, and in the thirty-eight miles ride, i did not notice any of the
large fields under cultivation. small patches of ground were being
cultivated, but i should not think enough to supply food for the
people that i saw along the road. it was an open country, and easy of
observation. the people appeared to be more depressed than in any
other section of the archipelago. there were but very few men along
the road.
stopping at lipa, one of the principal towns, to change horses, while
at lunch with the commanding officer one of the officers reported that
some citizens desired to speak to me, which request was granted. the
party consisted of goribio catigbac, the acting presidente of the
town; gregorio aguilera, ex presidente; mr. jose luz, treasurer;doctor
sixto rojas and mr. rafael dimaywga. the conversation was in spanish,
and colonel maus, aide-de camp, and the last named man acted as
interpreter. these men were intelligent, well educated , very much in
earnest and apparently sincere. they stated that they desired to make
complaint of the harsh treatment of the people of that community; that
they had been concentrated in towns through that section of the
country, and had suffered great indignities; that fifteen of their
people had been tortured by what is known the water torture, and that
one man, a highly respected citizen, aged sixty-five, named vicente
luna, while suffering from effects of the torture and unconscious, was
dragged into his house, which had been set on fire, and burned to
death. they stated that these atrocities were commited by a company of
scouts under command of lieutenant hennesy, and that their people had
been crowded into towns, 600 being confined in one building. doctor
rojas stated that he was a practical physician, and that he was ready
to testify before any tribunal that some of those confined died of
suffocation. they asked me to look at the building, which i did. it
was one storey in height, 18 or 20 feet wide and possibly 60 or 70
feet long…"

lieutenant-general nelson a. miles