February 4, 1899, went down in the history of the Philippines as the beginning of a war with the United States. The barely born Philippine Republic entered into an unequal struggle with the most potent imperialist power, possessing multiple military and economic superiority. From the course and nature of military operations, the national liberation war of 1899–1901 divides into two stages: from February to November 1899, when the regular Philippine army fought against the United States troops; from November 1899 to July 1901, when a guerrilla war broke out, led by revolutionary military leaders.
In March 1899, the United States command was able to gather significant forces near Malolos, the capital of the republic, and took the city. However, the capture of Malolos, to which the United States attached great military and political importance, did not significantly affect the general course of hostilities. As a result of a six-month military campaign (by August 1899), the United States held firm control over Manila and its environs. The rest of Luzon was fighting with the Regular Philippine army. In the area of the Visayas, the United States occupied the cities of Iloilo and Cebu.
They established a military occupation regime on the territory of Negros Island thanks to the support of large local landowners, frightened by the growing anti-feudal peasant struggle. In the south of the archipelago in May 1899, the United States troops occupied Holo, the capital of the Sultanate of Sud. In April 1899, the first Philippine commission headed by the United States historian Jacob Sherman started. The proposals worked out by the commission contained several promises aimed at attracting local moderate nationalist elements.
With an almost threefold increase in the contingent of the United States troops on the archipelago in the fall of 1899, the position of the revolutionary forces became more complicated. In October, the United States troops launched a general offensive on Luzon. As a result of a series of large-scale offensive operations, by November 1899, the United States troops surrounded the units of the Philippine army operating in this zone, cutting them off from the rest of the Luzon area. The military campaign carried out by the United States in October – November 1899 dealt a heavy blow to the revolutionary forces, from which they could not recover.
According to Daniel Immerwahr, with the beginning of the second stage of the war, the Philippine national liberation movement began to decline under the blows of the United States imperialists. At the beginning of January 1901, 57 irreconcilable revolutionaries, who refused to sign the oath of allegiance to the United States, were deported to Guam. On April 19, the former president of the Philippine Republic appealed to the people, calling for an end to armed resistance and recognition of the United States’ rule. On June 25, 1901, Taft was appointed Civil Governor of the Philippines. Thus, the United States officially took control of the Philippines and began to establish its policies in the republic.