The attack began shortly after daylight.

Near Caloocan the Insurgent works were close in, but further off toward La Loma they were in some places distant a mile or more from the trenches of the Americans.
The general plan of attack was that the whole American line should rotate to the north and west on Caloocan as a pivot, driving the Insurgents in toward Malabon if possible.

The latter began to fire as soon as the American troops showed themselves, regardless of the fact that their enemies were quite out of range.

As most of them were using black-powder cartridges, their four or five miles of trenches were instantly outlined.

The ground was very dry so that the bullets threw up puffs of dust where they struck, and it was possible to judge the accuracy of the fire of each of the opposing forces.
Rather heavy resistance was encountered on the extreme right, and the turning movement did not materialize as rapidly as had been hoped.