Battle of Pagsanjan

The Battle of Pagsanjan was a small skirmish between the 1st Battalion of Sharpshooters, under the command of Brigadier General Charles King, and Philippine Nationalists led by Col. Pedro Caballes during the Laguna Campaign of the Philippine-American War.

On April 11, 1899, upon capturing Santa Cruz, General Henry W. Lawton then sought out to capture the town of Pagsanjan from the Filipinos. The expedition began at 6 a.m.

A battalion of sharpshooters was sent ahead of the command as an advance guard, and as they came within 1.5 miles (2 km) of Pagsanjan, they were fired upon by a small force of Filipinos from hastily built breastworks blocking the road.

The sharpshooters returned fire and caused considerable losses to the Filipinos. An artillery piece was then brought up and fired two shrapnel rounds into the breastworks, which were soon abandoned by most of the Filipinos. Some Filipinos remained in the breatsworks after the bombardment and were driven out as well after the sharpshooters gave the breastworks another heavy volley.

General Lawton and his command then went on to capture Pagsanjan with no further resistance. The next day, Lawton's command succeeded in capturing Paete and the Laguna Campaign was over and deemed a success.