1901 U.S. War Department Map of the Philippines

This is a 1901 U.S. War Department map of the Philippines. Published during the Philippine-American War (1899 - 1902), the War Department repurposed a Spanish Direccion Hidrografia map originally published in 1870.

Military Communications

Created by the Military Information Division of the War Department, red and blue overprinting highlights communication lines and military departments within the Philippines. Solid red lines illustrate military telegraph lines. This network is most fully developed on Luzon, but decent networks also exist on Panay, Negros, Cebu, Leyte, and Bohol. Underwater military cables are used on Luzon and between Cebu and Mindanao and are illustrated using similar solid red lines. Undersea cables operated by the Eastern Cable Company connect the islands and connect Manila with Hong Kong. Solid blue lines divide the Philippines into military districts.

A Closer Look

Aside from the military communications network highlighted by the U.S. War Department, cities, towns and villages are identified throughout Luzon, with fewer villages appearing on the other islands in the archipelago, with the exception of Mindanao, which had a surprising lack of U.S. military presence. Coastal points, bays, and other locations are noted, along with rivers, mountains, and other physical features. Innumerable depth soundings appear throughout the islands, with the highest concentrations appearing in straits and along coastlines, mostly in bays.

The Philippine-American War

The Philippine-American War lasted from February 4, 1899, until July 2, 1902, when the Philippine Organic Act established the Second Philippine Commission and Philippine legislature. The war immediately followed the Spanish-American War, once the Filipinos realized that the Americans were in the islands to stay. Estimates of Filipino civilian casualties vary wildly, from at least 200,000 to over one million, the majority of which were caused by famine and disease. Armed resistance to the U.S. occupation of the Philippines continued as a guerrilla insurrection in many parts of the archipelago until June 1913. The U.S. passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act, also known as the Philippine Independence Act, in 1934. This law created the Commonwealth of the Philippines, increased self-governance, and scheduled Philippine independence for 1944. World War II delayed this process, and the U.S. did not grant full independence to the Philippines until 1946.

Publication History and Census

This map was originally created by Juan Noguera with letter engraving by Juan de Gangoiti and published by the Direccion Hidrografia in 1870, with updates in 1875. Another updated edition was published by the Direccion Hidrografia in 1888. Then, during the Phillipine-American War (1899 - 1902), the Military Information Division of the Adjutant General's Office of the U.S. War Department issued three editions: 1899, 1900, and 1901. The present example represents the 1901 edition. We note a dozen examples of what appears to be the 1901 edition cataloged in OCLC, however, due to cataloging inconsistencies, it is evident that not all twelve of those examples are in fact 1901 editions, making a true census of surviving examples much more difficult.