ying
that he had long since ordered that the Insurgent line should not
be passed. He instructed Garcia to throw troops in front of the
Americans at Sampaloc, and order them to leave, and to warn the
bolo men. Obviously, little more was needed to provoke an Insurgent
attack. [187]

An unsigned draft of an order in Aguinaldo's handwriting dated Malolos,
September 13 (?), 1898, [188] shows how tense was the situation
while the question of withdrawal of the Insurgent forces from the
city of Manila was under consideration. It contains instructions
for General Pio del Pilar, General P. Garcia and General Noriel or
Colonel Cailles. Their purpose is hardly open to doubt.

General Pio del Pilar was directed:--

"To have a detachment posted in the interval from the branch of the
river of Paco in a northerly direction to the bridge and so on up
to the Pasig river in the direction of Pandacan, the river serving
as a line until the suburb of Panque is reached which will be under
our jurisdiction. Proceed to execute this order on its receipt,
posting detachments where they are necessary and trenches will be
made without loss of time working day and night. Do not rest for by
doing so we may lose the opportunity; beg of the troops to assist
in the formation of intrenchments. Matters have a bad aspect, we
especially expect something Wednesday and Thursday, the 15th and
16th of this month. The danger is imminent on the mentioned days,
also in the time that follows.

"Keep strict vigilance at all hours. In case you receive orders to
leave that place, do not do so on any account without my orders,
happen what may....

"Concentrate all your forces in Santa Ana before the day arrives.

"Warn your soldiers against firing at random as the Spaniards did,
if possible have them calculate the number of their antagonists and
how much ammunition there is in comparison with the number of the
attacking force, in fact, there are occasions when each shot fired
kills as many as four men.

"I hope you will see to the execution of these instructions and that
you will maintain the honour of the Philippines by your courage and
in no way permit your rights to be trampled underfoot." [189]

General Garcia was instructed as follows:--

"On Wednesday, the 14th of this month, you will post detachments in
the points indicated by lines on the enclosed plan. On receipt of this
and as soon as you learn its contents, proceed secretly to determine
the most