Battle of Quingua

The Battle of Quingua was fought on April 23, 1899 in Quingua, Philippines during the Philippine-American War. It was a two part battle. The first phase was a brief victory for the young Philippine general Gregorio del Pilar over the American Cavalry led by Major Franklin Bell, where Bell's advance was stopped. But in the second phase, Bell was reinforced by the 134th Nebraskan Infantry and the Nebraskans routed the Filipinos, but not before they repelled a cavalry charge that killed Colonel Stotsenberg.

The battle began when Bell and his men, who were on a reconnaissance mission, were attacked by a strong force of Filipinos led by Gregorio del Pilar. The Filipinos laid down a terrific fire, that halted Bell's advance and caused heavy casualties. After a short firefight, Bell saw that he was in a badly exposed position, and that if he didn't receive help soon he risked being captured, or killed. So he sent for reinforcements, and the 134th Nebraskans came to his aid under Colonel Stotsenberg.

When he entered the field Stotsenberg ordered the charge, and together with his cavalry and Major Bell, rushed the enemy's position, a simple tactic that had worked well with routing the Filipinos. But this time the Filipinos were ready and fired an accurate and heavy volley into the body of rushing cavalryman. The heavy fire stoped the charge, and killed Stotsenberg along with six other cavalrymen, also wounding five. With their charge repelled and their commander dead the 7th Cavalry retreated.

The Filipino's success however was brief, for the Nebraskan Infantry soon rallied and drove them into their secondary defenses, taking heavy casualties to themselves.

The Filipino's secondary defenses seemed extremely formidable, and an American frontal assault might have resulted in extreme casualties. Having seen this the U.S. commanding General Hale ordered an artillery bombardment on the enemy lines. The powerful artillery barrage, demoralized the Filipinos and they soon retreated before another attack by the Nebraskans.