Bud Dajo Massacre in 1906

This was an attack by the Us Army on some Moro villagers in 1906. These villagers basically lived in the crater of a volcano, on the Sulu Archipelago. On the one side, we have General Leonard Wood's 790 soldiers armed with mountain guns, grenades, and rifles. In this corner over here you have the 800 to 1000 Moro villagers, including women and children. The Moros tried futilely to defend themselves, then said "what the hell" and charged with what they had: kris (the traditional wavy-edged sword of the Moros) and spears.

The Moro Crater massacre is a name given by the Americans to the final phase of the First Battle of Bud Dajo, a military engagement of the Philippine-American War.

In modern terms, this would be like defending your city with Lady Gaga's voice. Sure, You could get some lucky shots and kill a few, but it's not really a melee weapon.

Out of the estimated 800 to 1,000 Moros at Bud Dajo, only 6 survived. These survivors were truly morose. Corpses were piled five deep, and many of the bodies had fifty wounds (which forensic experts agree is about 49 too many). American casualties were 21 killed, 75 soldiers with "owies".

When reports of the slaughter reached Washington, a minor shitstorm ensued when members of Congress-mainly Democrats hoping to embarrass the Republican Roosevelt-demanded an explanation. Through a crazy turn of events that none could have possibly seen coming, an official inquiry found the conduct of US troops "beyond reproach". When the War Department cleared the General Leonard Wood of any wrongdoing, the scandal faded as quickly as Kate Gosselin's dance career. For his part, Wood remained douchebaggedly unrepentant. ''Work of this kind," he wrote privately to Roosevelt, ''has its disagreeable side, which is the unavoidable killing of women and children; but it must be done." The president shook his head with a knowing smile.

And yet historians agree that the massacre at Bud Dajo accomplished, historically speaking, diddlyshit. The nameless dead were soon forgotten. Wood moved onward and upward in his politcal career, probably opening his speeches with jokes about killing babies. He was made Army chief of staff and eventually returned to the Philippines as governor-general. As far as America was concerned, the Moro "Rebellion" was a footnote in the Spanish-American War and was soon forgotten.

MORLAND HISTORY

SOURCE

Share on Google Plus

About Unknown

Livy Moyo is a Travel blogger and a researcher specialize in Asian countries related in Asian cultures, Tourist spots, Asian foods, Bizarre places and History.