| Battle of Taraca | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Philippine–American War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States | Confederate States of Lanao | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Leonard Wood | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
2 killed 8 wounded[1]: 120 | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Taraca was fought in what is now Taraka, Lanao del Sur in the Philippines between the Moro people of Mindanao and the United States during the Philippine–American War.[1]: 113 General Leonard Wood invited the region's datus to a peace conference, but the Sultan of Taraca, refused to attend.[2] The Taraca River Valley was where most of the Lake Lanao Moros lived,[1]: 113 the home of Datu Ampuanagus and Datu Duli the most daring warrior[3]
Wood sent two infantry battalions and two cavalry troops to the mouth of the Taraca River.[1]: 114 Col. Marion P. Maus' Third Battalion of the 22nd Infantry held the mouth of the river while Wood led a column overland. Maus' men used a Vickers-Maxim machine gun and a Gatling gun to capture a few cottas, inflicting 65 casualties on the Moros.[1]: 115 Over the next week, Wood's men destroyed 130 cottas but failed to capture the Sultan.[1]: 120
- ^ a b c d e f Arnold, J.R., 2011, The Moro War, New York: Bloomsbury Press, ISBN 9781608190249
- ^ "Moros Fight Americans: Two Soldiers Killed - Gen. Wood Tried To Avoid Bloodshed" (PDF). The New York Times. 1904-04-12. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
- ^ "Mindanao, Sulu and ARMM Unsung Heroes". Retrieved 2008-04-27.