Jacob H. Smith in the context of Brigadier General (United States)

⭐ Core Definition: Jacob H. Smith

General Jacob Hurd Smith (January 29, 1840 – March 1, 1918) was a U.S. Army officer notorious for ordering indiscriminate retaliation on the island of Samar in response to what is called the Balangiga massacre during the Philippine–American War.

Smith's plan involved stopping the flow of food and causing extensive destruction in order to make the people of Samar abandon their support for the rebels out of fear and malnutrition and turn to the Americans instead. He ordered, "kill everyone over the age of ten [and make the island] a howling wilderness." Court-martialed for his conduct of operations on Samar, he was dubbed "Hell Roaring Jake" Smith, "The Monster", and "Howling Jake" by the press as a result. Most estimates are that American soldiers killed between 2,000 and 2,500 civilians. Some Filipino historians put the number as high as 5,000 civilians. Some sources place the death toll as high as 50,000, but these are now believed to have resulted from typographical errors and misreading of documents.

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⭐ Core Definition: Jacob H. Smith
Jacob H. Smith in the context of Balangiga massacre
Jacob H. Smith in the context of Pacification of Samar

Jacob H. Smith in the context of Balangiga massacre

The Balangiga massacre was an incident in which the residents of the town of Balangiga on the Philippines island of Samar conducted a surprise attack on an occupying unit of the US 9th Infantry, killing 54. It is also known as the Balangiga encounter, Balangiga incident, or Balangiga conflict. The incident occurred on September 28, 1901, over five months after the April 19 publication of a "Peace Manifesto" by Emilio Aguinaldo acknowledging and accepting the sovereignty of the United States throughout the Philippines. Some Filipino historians have asserted that the term Balangiga Massacre more appropriately refers to actions ordered in retaliation by American General Jacob H. Smith during the pacification of Samar that resulted in an estimated 2,000 Filipino civilians killed and over 200 homes burned.

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Jacob H. Smith in the context of Pacification of Samar

The Pacification of Samar was a counterinsurgency operation initiated by General Adna Chaffee during the Philippine-American War, following the Balangiga massacre. General hostilities had largely ceased following the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the insurgent Philippine Republic, and his publication of a manifesto on April 10, 1901 acknowledging and accepting U.S. sovereignty throughout the Philippines.

General Vicente Lukban had been the commander, under Aguinaldo, of a guerilla force on the island of Samar and had, when offered the opportunity to surrender, replied that he intended to fight on to the end. In September, in an action that became known as the Balangiga massacre, Lukban's forces assisted by townspeople in a surprise uprising inflicted 54 killed and 18 wounded on a U.S. Army company garrisoning that town. Following this, General Jacob H. Smith was tasked with the pacification of Samar.

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