}

The Battle of Pagsanjan was a small skirmish between the 1st Battalion of Sharpshooters, under the command of Brigadier General Charles King, and Philippine Nationalists during the Laguna Campaign of the Philippine-American War.

On April 11, 1899, upon capturing Santa Cruz, General Henry W. Lawton then sought out to capture the town of Pagsanjan from the Filipinos. The expedition began at 6:00 am that morning.

A battalion of sharpshooters was sent ahead of the command as an advance guard, and as they came within one and one half miles of Pagsanjan, they were fired upon by a small force of Filipinos from hastily built breatsworks blocking the road.

The sharpshooters returned fire and due to their vastly supperior marksmenship, caused considerable losses to the enemy. An artillery piece was then brought up and fired two shrapnel rounds into the enemy positions, which were soon abandoned by most of the Filipinos. The Filipino soldiers who remained in the breatsworks after the bombardment, were soon driven out after another volley by the sharpshooters.

General Lawton and his command, then went on to capture Pagsanjan with no further resistance. The next day, Lawton's command succeeded in capturing Paete and the Laguna Campaign was over and deemed a success.

Sources

* Report of an Expedition to the Province of La Laguna

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