Battle of Manila (1899) - First Shots

First Shots

Sources generally agree that the first shots were fired by Private William Walter Grayson, a British citizen who had immigrated to America c. 1890, had enlisted as a volunteer soldier in Lincoln, Nebraska, in May 1898, a month after the Spanish-American War erupted, and had deployed with his unit to the Philippines in June 1898. Grayson's unit, the First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry under Colonel John M. Stotsenburg, had been encamped in Santa Mesa, Manila, since December 5, 1898. During the time of their encampment, there had been incidents on and around the San Juan Bridge, located just to the east of their encampment area.

On the morning of February 4, Stotsenburg ordered, "Your orders are to hold the village. If any armed men come into our lines order them out. If they persist in coming, summon enough men to arrest them. In case an advance in force is made, fall back to the pipeline outpost and resist occupation of the village by all means in your power, calling on these headquarters for assistance." In a report later that day, Lt. Burt D. Wheedon, wrote, "On the morning of February 4 the insurgents ordered our men to move out of town (Santol), and upon their refusal to do so the former said that they would bring a body of men and drive them back when night came." Lt. Wheedon took charge of an outpost on Santol road at seven in the evening and, at 7:30, orders were given saying, "No armed insurgents to enter the town or vicinity ... Halt all armed persons who attempted to advance from the direction of the insurgents' lines which lie between blockhouses 6 and 7 and the San Juan Bridge and order them back to their lines. if they refused to go, to arrest them if possible, or if this was impossible, to fire upon them... Patrol each of the roads leading to Blockhouses 6 and 7 for 100 yards every half hour." (Blockhouse 6 was located on the city line just southeast of what is now Santol Street. Blockhouse 7 was about 100 yd (91 m) north-northeast of a point where the water pipe crossed Santol road).

At about 8 pm on February 4, 1899, Grayson, along with Private Orville Miller and one other man advanced from Santol towards Blockhouse 7, suddenly encountering four armed men after about five minutes of patrolling. According to Grayson's account, he and Miller called "Halt!" and, when the four men responded by cocking their pieces, they fired at them and retreated to Santol. Personal accounts by Grayson claim that he "dropped" two and Miller one, but neither American nor Filipino official reports mention anyone being hit.

Some sources assert that the encounter took place on San Juan Bridge. A marker which had stood on that site was ordered moved to Santa Mesa in 2003 after studies by Dr. Benito Legarda, formerly chair of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines concluded that the shot was fired somewhere between Blockhouse 7 (within Manila’s boundary) and Barrio Santol (Sampaloc District) on the connecting road that is now Sosiego.