on towards the
hills. The few who lingered in the trenches in the northern suburbs
of the town were shelled out of them by the American artillery placed
near the church, and the survivors decamped, hotly pursued for some
distance by cavalry. So great was the slaughter that the insurgents'
total losses are unknown. The trenches were choked with dead bodies,
and piles of them were found in many places. When nightfall came
and the Americans were resting in Calumpit after their two days'
hard fighting, the whole district was illuminated for miles around
by the flames from the burning villages and groups of huts, whilst
the snapping of the burning bamboos echoed through the stillness like
volleys of rifle-shots.

Aguinaldo and his Government had hastened north towards Tarlac, and
on April 28 he instructed General Antonio Luna to discuss terms of
peace. Ostensibly with this object the general sent Colonel Manuel
Argueelles with his aide-de-camp and an orderly to the American camp at
Apalit (Pampanga). These men were seen coming down the railway-track
carrying a white flag. An officer was sent out to meet them, and
after handing their credentials to him they were forthwith conducted
to General Wheaton's headquarters. General Wheaton sent them on
to General McArthur, the chief commander of the Northern Division,
and General McArthur commissioned Major Mallory to escort them to
General Otis in Manila. They explained that they were empowered to ask
for an armistice for a few days as it was proposed to summon their
Congress for May 1 to discuss the question of peace or war. General
Otis replied that he did not recognize the Philippine Republic, and
that there would be no cessation of hostilities until his only terms
were complied with, namely, unconditional surrender. The negotiations
were resumed the next day, and Argueelles seemed personally inclined
to meet the American view of the situation; but as his powers were
limited to asking for an armistice, he and his companions returned to
the insurgent camp with General Otis's negative answer. On his return
to the camp Colonel Argueelles was accused of being an "Americanista"
in favour of surrender, for which offence a court-martial passed
sentence upon him of expulsion from the insurgent army and 12 years'
imprisonment. Whatever Argueelles' personal conviction may have been
matters little, but in the light of subsequent events and considering
the impetuous, intransigent character