Battle of Binakayan–Dalahican

The Battle of Binakayan–Dalahican (Tagalog: Labanan sa Binakayan–Dalahikan; Spanish: Batalla de Binakayan-Dalahican) was a simultaneous battle during the Philippine Revolution that was fought on November 9–11, 1896 that led to a decisive Filipino victory. The twin battle took place at the shores of Binakayan, in the town of Cavite Viejo (also called Cavite el Viejo, now Kawit); Dalahican and Dagatan in Noveleta; and, to minimal extent, in Imus and Bacoor towns in Cavite, Philippines that lasted for two days before the Spanish army retreated demoralized and in disarray. The result of the battle was the first significant Filipino victory in the country's history.

By the time the revolution began in August 1896, Cavite was one of the first provinces in the Philippines to declare independence from Spain. Earlier in the war, the Filipino revolutionaries under the Supremo Andres Bonifacio, the leader and the instigator of the revolution, attempted to invest then take Manila by force, but was stymied by severe lack of decent weapons in their part as well as the reluctance of other revolutionary provincial armies, especially the ones from Cavite which also had difficulty in mounting such an attack then rather attacked local Spanish garrisons in the province, from taking part of the engagement. The Supremo Bonifacio had been repeatedly defeated in battle, losing his prestige as well as the morale of some men who were serving at his side, especially those who were from Bulacan and Morong provinces. In contrast, the revolutionaries in the province had been largely successful in battles from the start of the revolution against the Spaniards, though outnumbered. Spanish general Ernesto de Aguirre and had been defeated by the rebels more than two months earlier during the Battle of Imus in September 1896, including generals Emilio Aguinaldo of the Magdalo faction. The former successfully led a small uprising in Cavite el Viejo on August 31, 1896, where he defeated and killed the Spanish commander of the Guardia Civil, after Bonifacio's defeat at the Battle of San Juan del Monte. The leadership was then passed from his cousin, Baldomero, to him, where most of Magdalo members and revolutionaries regarded him as their leader.

In Cavite, the Sangguniang Bayan (provincial council) of the Katipunan have two popular councils presiding its members over their respective areas. One of this council is the Magdiwang Council, which was headed by Mariano Álvarez encompassing the municipalities of Alfonso, Bailen (now called General Emilio Aguinaldo), Indang, Magallanes, Maragondon, Naic, Rosario, San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias), San Roque (now part of Cavite City), Tanza, and Ternate. The other council, Magdalo, is headed by Baldomero Aguinaldo and presides the towns of Amadeo, Bacoor, Carmona, Perez-Dasmariñas (now Dasmariñas), Cavite el Viejo, Mendez Núñez (now Mendez), and Silang. Magdalo's name originated from Aguinaldo's pseudonym for Katipunan which was rooted from Santa Magdalena (Saint Mary Magdalene), Cavite Viejos's patron saint. Magdalo held its capital in Imus, while Magdiwang was based in the town of Noveleta.

On October 31, 1896, Emilio Aguinaldo, now a general of the revolutionary army and still afresh from his victory at Imus, announced in a 773-word manifesto that the revolution aimed for the total independence of the whole Philippines. Later that same day, this had the effect of an attempt for a centralized government named "Republica Filipina". It stipulated that the Magdalo faction is to be its acknowledged revolutionary government, with Baldomero Aguinaldo named as the president and Emilio Aguinaldo named as the commander-in-chief, although the leadership of Bonifacio as the Supremo of the Katipunan currently existed. However, with Bonifacio defeated battle after battle and subsequently his influence dwindling, the Magdalo faction being victorious in every battle became increasingly seen by the Caviteños as the legitimate carrier and leader of the revolution. Due to this, huge throngs of Caviteños rallied to Imus and Kawit and joined the Magdalo on the hopes that their land will be rid from Spanish dominion, such that their numbers were far too many to be properly led by a single commander; they saw "Heneral Miong" as they called Emilio as their leader.

General Álvarez and Colonel Inocencio Salud took charge of the construction of the bamboo fortifications in Dalahican known as “Battery Numbers 1,2 and 3” in September 1896. Dalahican was a strategic barrio guarding the entrance to the Cavite peninsula.

Alarmed by a previous siege led by General Aguinaldo in Imus in September 1896, Governor-General Ramón Blanco y Erenas ordered the 4th Battalion of Cazadores from Spain to aid him in quelling the rebellion in Cavite. On November 3, 1896, the battalion arrived carrying a squadron of 1,328 men and some 55 generals. Apart from that, Blanco ordered about 8,000 men who recently came from Cuba and Spain to join in suppressing the rebellion when he learned that insurgents already occupied most of Las Piñas and Parañaque towns in the outskirts of Manila, and they later cantoned in Bacoor to rendezvous with Blanco's army in Cavite as well as to fend off any possible reinforcements from the provinces of northern and central Luzon, specifically the provinces of Bulacan and Morong where the Supremo Bonifacio and his forces were still remaining.

Prior to the land attacks, Spanish naval raids were conducted on the shores of Cavite, where cannonballs were bombarded against the revolutionary fortifications in Bacoor, Noveleta, Binakayan and Cavite Viejo. The most fortified locations in Noveleta are the Dalahican and Dagatan shores defended by Magdiwang soldiers, while the adjacent fishing village of Binakayan in Kawit was fortified by Magdalo. Spanish naval operations were determined to crush the fortifications in these areas, mainly because the lake around Dalahican was so strategic as it connects to the interior of Cavite. Apart from defending Binakayan, the Magdalo soldiers also kept the lower part of Dagatan up to Cavite's border near Morong province (now Rizal province).

Cavite City, the capital of the province, is connected by a narrow isthmus in Dalahican to the mainland Cavite province. Blanco feared of the port city falling to the hands of the rebels who by this time already have controlled nearly all of the province save for the city and the town of Bacoor. Each day, the stockade advanced towards the isthmus and to the outskirts of Cavite City itself. To prevent further mishaps and the fall of whole Cavite to the Filipino rebels, Blanco launched twin attacks to the stockades in both Cavite el Viejo and Noveleta to drive the rebels back towards inland Cavite province and hopefully, for the Spanish, disintegrate their army thus ending the rebellion in the province.