The Spanish losses, small as they were, occurred in front of the American lines, not in front of the Filipinos.

There is no reason, accordingly, for believing that the Filipinos suffered heavily.

To arrange that the Spaniards should inflict losses upon the Americans, while he saved his own men, showed ingenuity on the part of Aguinaldo; but it was decidedly not the conduct of an ally." [134] The feeling toward the American troops at this time is further shown by a telegram from General Pio del Pilar, sent from San Pedro Macati on August 10, 1898:-- "Commandant Acebedo writes that the Spaniards are about to surrender because they want to turn over the place; the Americans want them to leave only the batteries and say that they will station themselves in said batteries.

It appears that they want to deceive us; they do not want to give us arms, and if they do not give us arms, we shall attack them and drive them out.

I await your reply." [135] This is perhaps not quite the kind of cooeperation that Admiral Dewey and Generals Anderson and Merritt had expected.
The truth is that the Insurgents were determined to capture Manila for themselves, not only because of the "war booty," for which they were hungry, but because of the status which they felt that the taking of the capital of the Philippines would assure them.