“The General has given me the pick of all the men that can be spared and ordered me to defend the Pass. I realize what a terrible task has been given me. And yet I feel that this is the most glorious moment of my life. What I do is done for my beloved country. No sacrifice can be too great.”
- last entry in the diary of Gen. Gregorio del Pilar, dated the day before the Battle of Tirad Pass
The Battle of Tirad Pass (Filipino: Labanan sa Pasong Tirad, Ilokano: Gubat ti Paso Tirad, Spanish: Batalla de Paso Tirad), sometimes referred to as the “Philippine Thermopylae,” was a battle in the Philippine-American War fought on December 2, 1899 in Tirad Pass, Ilocos Sur, in which a 60-man Filipino rear guard commanded by General Gregorio del Pilar succumbed to over 500 Americans under Major Peyton C. March while delaying the American advance to ensure that President Emilio Aguinaldo and his troops escaped. Despite nearly total annihilation, however, the Filipinos under Del Pilar held off the Americans long enough for Aguinaldo to escape.
Over the course of the battle, 52 of the 60 Filipinos were killed. Among the dead was General del Pilar. Del Pilar’s diary was recovered among the possessions looted by the victorious Americans, who had stripped him bare of his military decorations, his uniform and his personal belongings, leaving him, as the eyewitness, correspondent Richard Henry Little wrote, “We carved not a line and we raised not a stone, But we left him alone with his glory.” Del Pilar’s corpse lay unburied for three days. American officer Lieutenant Dennis Quinlan, with a group of Igorots, later buried his body and left a plaque which read:
“Gen. Gregorio del Pilar, Died December 2, 1899, Commanding Aguinaldo’s Rear Guard, An Officer and a Gentleman.”
Countdown to Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral: Day 5 - The Battle of Tirad Pass
