Gregorio del Pilar

Biography

Gregorio del Pilar joined the revolution against Spain at twenty and was a general at twenty-two — the 'boy general,' vain about his uniforms, beloved by his men, and personally fearless. A protégé and favorite of Aguinaldo, he fought through the conventional war from the Manila lines to the delaying actions on the railway north, including the stubborn stand at Quingua that killed Colonel Stotsenburg. When the Republic's army disintegrated in November 1899 and Aguinaldo fled into the Cordillera, del Pilar chose the ground where the pursuit would be stopped: Tirad Pass, a 4,500-foot saddle reachable only by a zigzag trail. With sixty men he held Major March's battalion for hours until a local guide led the Texans around the position. Del Pilar stayed with the rearguard and was shot dead in the saddle at twenty-four. American soldiers buried him where he fell; an officer kept his diary and later returned it to his family. The last entry, written the night before, was the quote that made him immortal.

Key Battles