did caption the same photo (below, left) as being "at block house on the hill"
| THE TWO PHOTOS WERE TAKEN FROM ALMOST THE SAME DIRECTION |
|
GRAYSON'S PHOTO WAS TAKEN NEAR THE "TURN" TOWARDS BLOCKHOUSE 7 |
|
Since the two photos were taken from almost the same direction, and the Blockhouse 7 photo (above right) was taken from the direction of the trail, then Grayson's photo was taken near the start of the trail to Blockhouse 7, or near the turn to Blockhouse 7  |
| THE ROUND TOWER |
The "round tower" corner is pointing towards the "turn" and the cameraman in both photos.
| THE WALL |
Had Grayson's photo been taken from Sociego-Silencio, this wall would be angled more inward and the length would appear shorter compared to the wall in the known Blockhouse 7 photo which was taken from the direction of the trail, but the two have exactly the same angles and are comparatively similar in length.
| THE ROOF |
If we compare the outline of the structures in Grayson's photo and the known photo of Blockhouse 7, there's a slight variation in the length of the roof. That's because as the cameraman goes closer to the Blockhouse, he goes to the right of the round tower, and the round tower in front moves to the left covering more of the roof.
This is consistent with Grayson being near the "turn."
| LIEUT. WHEDON'S 100 YARDS |
One argument for Sociego-Silencio is that it lies one hundred yards from Santol, 100 yards being the farthest that Lieut. Whedon had ordered his men to patrol. But the Geospatial Analysis erred in injecting its own measurement when it should have adopted Whedon's measurement instead.
Image from: Geospatial Analysis of the First Shot of the Philippine-American War
Ariel C. Blanco, Rene R. Escalante, Emmanuel N. Encarnacion
Such that, when Lt. Whedon ordered his men to patrol 100 yards, he meant them to patrol up to the turn to Blockhouse 7, and not just up to Sociego-Silencio.
| GRAYSON'S 100 YARDS |
Grayson's 100 yards estimate would even put the "turn" very much well inside the 100 yard distance.
According to Grayson, the distance between Outpost 2 and Blockhouse 7 is 100 yards.
He said: "At 8 o'clock on the morning of February 4, I went on duty at outpost 2, which was about 100 yards from block house 7."
The distance between Outpost 2 and Blockhouse 7 is longer than the distance between Santol and the "turn" thereby making the latter distance well within Grayson's 100 yards.
Compare the above to the distance between Santol and the "turn" below.
| THE WAITING FOR INSURGENTS |
Lt. Whedon said that three of his men advanced from Santol and waited to see if there were any insurgents in the vicinity.
Why wait?
And where to wait?
Take note that Lt. Whedon ordered them to patrol those 100 yards every half hour.
This meant that they were there to make sure that those 100 yards were cleared of Filipinos.
To comply with Whedon's order to clear the area of Filipinos, they would have to be at the end of that 100 yard distance and wait for the Filipinos to approach and enter the 100 yard zone.
This would put them exactly near the turn to Blockhouse 7 if we follow Whedon's measurement of 100 yards.
The "waiting" here meant that they were there waiting for Filipinos to emerge from that turn.
| THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE AT 5 YARDS AWAY |
This would support the previous element of "waiting."
Lt. Whedon said that Private Grayson saw four armed men suddenly appear five yards in front of him.
Why sudden?
And why 5 yards?
Was it because it was dark (nighttime) and visibility was 5 yards away?
Or was it because the four men had emerged from the turn, and this turn was 5 yards in front?
| GRAYSON HIMSELF HAD PUT IT AT 6.7 TO 10 YARDS AWAY |
Grayson's own words were "In a moment something rose slowly up, not twenty feet in front of us. It was a Filipino. They were evidently moving dangerously near."
Another newspaper stated that Grayson said "not thirty feet" away.
Did Grayson mean that the Filipino was emerging from the turn from Blockhouse 7?
|
WITH GRAYSON LOCATED ABOUT 7 YARDS OR SO AWAY FROM THE "TURN" THIS WOULD JIBE WITH HIS REENACTMENT PHOTO |
With Grayson about 5 yards, or no more than 20 feet or 30 feet, away from the turn, then this would jibe with the angle of Blockhouse 7 in his reenactment photo.
| THE PRESENCE OF A FENCE ALSO POINTS TO THIS SPOT |
According to the Geospatial Analysis, this "turn" towards Blockhouse 7 is a possible area of encounter if a fence was encountered.
We do have a fence in Grayson's photo, right?
In fact, in almost all of Grayson's photos.
Image from: Geospatial Analysis of the First Shot of the Philippine-American War
Ariel C. Blanco, Rene R. Escalante, Emmanuel N. Encarnacion
Image from: Geospatial Analysis of the First Shot of the Philippine-American War
Ariel C. Blanco, Rene R. Escalante, Emmanuel N. Encarnacion
|
THERE WAS A FILIPINO OUTPOST ALONG THE TRAIL FROM BLOCKHOUSE 7 JUST BEFORE THE TURN FROM WHERE THE FILIPINOS COULD HAVE COME FROM |
There was a Filipino outpost along the trail from Blockhouse 7, just before the turn.
The presence of this outpost during the encounter itself was mentioned in Grayson's statement: "Suddenly, near at hand on our left, there was a low but unmistakable Filipino outpost signal whistle."
In fact this outpost may be the reason for Grayson's waiting. Grayson and others were waiting for the Filipinos to emerge from this outpost, and the Filipinos did.
|
THE FILIPINO VERSION PLACED THE FILIPINOS IN FRONT OF BLOCKHOUSE 7 WHICH MAY ACTUALLY BE IN FRONT OF THIS FILIPINO OUTPOST |
In the report of the commander of the Filipino column, he placed the three Filipino soldiers at the door of Blockhouse 7, in other words, in front of Blockhouse 7.
Between the "turn towards Blockhouse 7" and "Sociego-Silencio," the front of Blockhouse 7 would apply more to the "turn towards Blockhouse 7" rather than "Sociego-Silencio."
And since there was this Filipino outpost just before the "turn" that may be considered as an outpost of Blockhouse 7, the Filipino commander may have well referred to the front of this outpost as the front of Blockhouse 7. If so, then that would put the Filipinos squarely on the turn from Blockhouse 7.
Taylor, Vol. 4
| DOOR = GATEWAY |
In fact, there's a perfect match between Grayson's account and the Filipino Commander's account on this. While Grayson used the word "gateway," the Filipino Commander used the word "door."
Grayson:
"In a moment something rose slowly up, not twenty feet in front of us. It was a Filipino. They were evidently moving dangerously near. "I yelled 'Halt!' and I made it pretty loud, for I was accustomed to challenging the officer of the guard in approved military style. The man moved. I challenged him with another loud 'Halt!' Then he impudently shouted 'Halto!' at me. Well, I thought the best thing to do was to shoot him. He dropped. If I didn't kill him, I guess he died of fright. Then two Filipinos sprang out of the gateway about fifteen feet from us. I called 'Halt!' and Miller fired and dropped one. I saw that another was left. Well, I think I got my second Filipino that time."
Filipino Commander:
"At about 9 p.m. yesterday, while Corporal Anastacio Felix of the 4th Company, with two soldiers, was the at the door of blockhouse No. 7, they were fired upon by the sentinel of the American soldiers who were passing on the road near the barrio Santol, close to the blockhouse."
Both Grayson and the Filipino Commander were obviously referring to the front of this Filipino outpost, a subpost of Blockhouse 7.
| A PROBABLE SCENARIO |
|
THIS STUDY CONCLUDES THAT THE FIRST SHOT HAPPENED NEAR THE TURN TOWARDS BLOCKHOUSE 7 (NOT ON SOCIEGO-SILENCIO) |
| RESOURCES |
Grayson's Story of the First Shot - Dissection of the official report, and personal letter, of Lieut. Burt D. Whedon, as well as Grayson's statement
Omaha Daily Bee, August 6 1899 - Photo of Grayson's reenactment captioned as "Private Grayson firing the shot that precipitated the war with the Filipinos at Block House on the Hill"
Private William W. Grayson's War in the Philippines, 1899 (PDF DOWNLOAD) - Photo of Grayson's reenactment is on pdf page 3 (page 356 on page), Nebraska State Historical Society
The Fighting First Nebraska: Nebraska's Imperial Adventure in the Philippines (PDF DOWNLOAD) - Photo of Blockhouse No. 7 is on pdf page 32 (page 239 on page), Nebraska State Historical Society
Omaha Daily Bee, August 6 1899 - Statement of Grayson (Grayson's Story of His First Shot)
Omaha Daily Bee, August 30 1899 - Report of Lieut. Burt D. Whedon
Geospatial Analysis of the First Shot of the Philippine-American War - by Ariel C. Blanco, Rene R. Escalante, Emmanuel N. Encarnacion
The First Shot: Quiet, silence, and a bridge - by Ambeth R. Ocampo
| SUBMITTED TO THE NHCP |
