Jungle of Snakes by James R. Arnold Page A

graduate who arrived in the Philippines as a first lieutenant in the regular army and then ascended rapidly. 8 A contemporary described him as “robust, vigorous, energetic.” 9 He raised, trained, and commanded the Thirty-sixth Infantry, U.S. Volunteers. The regiment comprised soldiers who had come
     to the Philippines as volunteers in the state regiments, discovered that they rather liked being soldiers, and opted to remain
     when their units returned home. They were tough, spirited men who found a kindred spirit in Colonel Bell. A subordinate whose
     long career would extend through World War I wrote, “In all my service since, I have never known an officer who was held in
     such high regard by the officers and men of his command as was Colonel Bell.” 10
    During the campaign in northern Luzon, Bell repeatedly conducted daring reconnaissance missions. He was personally brave to
     the point of recklessness. In one famous combat, he led a scouting party into the teeth of a much larger insurgent force.
     Ignoring the fire from insurgents concealed in a nearby bamboo grove, Bell drew his revolver, charged seven in-surrectos , and single-handedly captured three of them. His combat courage later won him the Congressional Medal of Honor. Transferred
     to Manila, he served as provost marshal. At the time the capital served as an insurgent sanctuary, with numerous safe houses
     where guerrillas could find food and shelter and recover from the strain of active campaigning in the hinterland. Six months
     of Bell’s stern rule changed everything. His success at clearing the capital of the insurgents won praise from civilians and
     soldiers alike.
    Promoted to brigadier general, at the time the youngest man to hold this rank, Bell went to northern Luzon. Here his solution
     to the insurgency was to make the civilians feel “the full hardship of War” in order to make them not only stop helping the
     insurgents but also take an active role in defeating them. 11 Success in northern Luzon enhanced his reputation. William Taft was one admirer. Taft told Secretary of War Root that if
     Chaffee would send Bell into Batangas, the general would “make things so uncomfortable for the people who are supporting the
     insurrection that the men in the field [the guerrillas] would soon be brought in.” 12
    Batangas was a particularly tough nut to crack. Located in southwestern Luzon, it was a large, densely populated province
     with wretched terrain ranging from rice paddies and swamps to jungles and volcanic mountains. Filipinos living in the Batangas
     region had been in revolt since the uprising against Spain in 1896. This was the Tagalog heartland, from where a majority
     of the important revolutionary leaders emerged. In Batangas, guerrilla leaders avoided direct combat with the Americans. Instead,
     they concentrated on maintaining support in American-occupied towns by enforcing orders against Filipino participation in
     American civil government. Regional, ethnic, and family ties accounted for much of the support given to Aguinaldo and his
     successor, Miguel Malvar. Revolutionary terror—threats, property destruction, kidnapping, assassination—kept those inclined
     to support, or at least tolerate, the Americans in check. As was the case in Samar, to date American pacification efforts
     had failed here.
    Bell assumed command in Batangas eight months after Aguinaldo’s surrender. He understood the difficulty of the challenge,
     observing that the revolution appeared destined to meet its death “in the place of its birth and to die hard.” 13 Like most American soldiers, he was contemptuous of the natives. In particular, he considered them peerless liars totally
     unfit for self-government. Along with his racial bigotry, Bell also possessed a sharp analytical mind. More than any other
     American general, he had studied the insurgency and gained a comprehensive understanding of how it operated. He explained
     the beliefs