Background
The retreat of Aguinaldo from Bayambang, Pangasinan through the mountainous terrain began on November 13, 1899, after disbanding the regular Filipino army into guerrilla units. On November 23, Aguinaldo's party reached the pass, which provided a strategic bottleneck. It was to be protected by a rear guard under General Gregorio del Pilar who noticed the advantageous terrain of Tirad Pass (Pasong Tirad as it was locally called), and hunkered down to defend it while Aguinaldo conducted his escape through the mountains. The hand-picked force of Filipinos, which was the remaining contingent of the late Antonio Luna's army, constructed several sets of trenches and stone barricades on both shoulders of the pass, as well as on top of its 4,500 feet height. Meanwhile, during early November, Major March was already given the task of Aguinaldo's pursuit. By November 30, March and his men, in haste to catch the Philippine president, marched through Candon, Santo Tomas, La Union and Salcedo, Ilocos Sur. He and his men were to find out that Aguinaldo had passed through Salcedo five days previously, and that fueled them to march to Concepcion, a town being overlooked by the steep pass, by December 1. March had no clear idea how large a force could be Aguinaldo's rear guard, but he had calculated it to be no more than 150 men.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Tirad Pass
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