Item #8829 [A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]. John C. Walker.
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]
[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]

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[A U.S. Army officer’s diary and assemblage of photographs documenting his experiences during the Moro Rebellion.]

The Philippines, 1912–1914.

A diary and eighty-one photographs relating to Walker’s service in the Philippines and his participation in the pivotal Battle of Bagsak during the final year of the Moro Rebellion (1899–1913). 

Born in Galveston, Texas, John Cattery Walker, Jr. (1886–1927) matriculated at West Point in 1906 but resigned from the army five months later. In 1908, he received a commission as a second Lieutenant in the 3rd Cavalry and in 1909 was transferred to the 8th Infantry at Fort Sam Houston in Texas and then at The Presidio in California. The first Military Aviation School in the U.S. opened in San Diego in 1911, where Walker received instruction from Glenn Curtiss. After being transferred to the Signal Corps to participate in the San Francisco Air Meet, in April 1911 Walker became one of the military’s first pilots and was detailed to the new Provisional Aero Company at Fort Sam Houston. Walker returned to the 8th Infantry in March 1912, serving as the Post Ordinance Officer, Signal Officer, and Engineer Officer at Mindanao, Philippines, where he was posted through 1914. 

In 1913 Walker was stationed on the island of Jolo, one of the southernmost points on the Philippine archipelago. The Battle of Bagsak Mountain on Jolo Island in the Philippines took place from June 11th to 15th, 1913, in which the 8th Infantry and Philippine Scouts led by Gen. John J. Pershing ended over a decade of intermittent struggle against the Moro pirates. Walker returned to aviation in 1915 when he was detailed to the 1st Aero Squadron. In 1916 he was stationed at Nogales, Arizona and was promoted to Captain in 1918. In 1921 he was promoted to Major and was assigned to Chicago as an instructor for the Illinois National Guard. He received a medical disability discharge in 1924 for injuries received in the Philippines. Walker died in Los Angeles in 1927. 

The Moros—Muslim Filipinos who inhabit the southern part of the Philippines—were at the center of the Moro Rebellion (1901–13) which took place following the Philippine–American War (1899–1902). The Moro Rebellion involved sporadic confrontations between the Moros and U.S. soldiers who were overseeing the transition from Spanish to U.S. rule. Believing that once the Philippines was liberated from the Spanish they would be self-governing, the Moros resisted the U.S. takeover in 1899, mainly fighting on the island of Mindanao and in the Sulu Archipelago. In 1902, President Roosevelt declared victory in the Philippine-American War, but the peace treaty did not apply to the Moros who continued fighting against U.S. forces. Less than a year later, the Roosevelt administration created the Moro Province and installed provincial military governor Leonard Wood, who was not able to pacify the Moros. Wood was then replaced by Tasker Bliss who served as military governor from 1903 to 1909—an era of relative peace. Gen. John Pershing finally brought an end to the Moro Rebellion when he served as the final military governor from 1909 to 1913 and disarmed the Moros. 

PHOTO CONTENT

Gordon Photo.; John C. Walker, Jr., photog. [Photo archive documenting the Moro Rebellion.] The Philippines, 1912–1914. 81 photographs: 70 silverprint photos and 11 color-printed real photo postcards. With two additional duplicate images. Many images captioned in the negative, a few with inscriptions on the verso, in pencil. CONDITION: Good, 23 photos worn with some water damage, resulting in occasional losses to the captions in the negative, but overall strong tonality; a number of images cropped, sometimes in unusual shapes, likely for former inclusion in a scrapbook. 

This collection of photos was assembled by Lt. Walker and includes shots he took himself. He is seen in many images here, among fellow U.S. soldiers and allied Moro scouts. One shot of Walker and Moro guards in Bun Bun is inscribed on the verso, “my bodyguard of trusty little Moro scouts. The famous bayonet artists of Jolo.” Other images of Walker show him standing outside a thatched hut; with groups of both U.S. and Moro soldiers; standing with a man and woman in front of Grass Barracks Building on Jolo Island; on a beach with fellow U.S. servicemen; dressed in a floral Philippine robe and seated, and so forth.

Images of the U.S. Army in the Philippines show a camp with tents and protected by barbed wire and sandbagged barriers; Filipino men carrying U.S. soldiers from shore through surf to a boat steadied by Filipino men; “Co. D. 8th Inf. rushing into the trenches anticipating an attack” in Bun Bun; “Six weeks after the Battle of Dajo” (showing U.S. Army soldiers near a group of human skulls), and an unidentified U.S. Army ceremony. Moro content includes shots of allied soldiers standing in front of a fort where an American flag hangs; police officers; a warrior and child with shields and spears in a field; Moro resistance leader Datu Amil; a warrior displaying a severed human head; the Sultan of Jolo and aide; men and women wearing headdresses and ceremonial clothes; a Moro festival; a woman playing musical instruments; a young man climbing a palm tree, a Moro wedding, and so on. 

DIARY

Walker Jr., John C. [Pocket diary recording John C. Walker, Jr.’s service during the final year of the Moro Rebellion.] January 1–9; March 2–June 24, 1913. 48mo (4” x 2.5”), brown leather covers with gilt-stamped title on front cover, “Standard Diary No. 520.” 124 pp. of manuscript in ink. CONDITION: Very good, no losses to the text.

Documenting his service with the 8th Infantry, 42nd Company, 29th Company, and Company I, this journal spans six months and records the various places Walker travels to and is stationed at while in the Philippines: Parang, Mindanoe, Bun Bun, Jolo, Parang, Fort Cotta Tubig, Maibum, Jolo, Indinans, Lagasan, Camp Asturias, and Ludlow Barracks. Walker’s diary records some of the following activities, military and non-military: meeting with military friends; military marches; fights with hostile Moros; visiting an (empty) harem (“hard luck”); consulting maps; investigating murder cases; visiting the Sultan’s palace; recovering from Malaria in a hospital in Augur Barracks; the presence of allied Japanese forces in the Philippines; a lecture delivered by traveler Burton Holmes (1870–1958); raids by Moro outlaws; the coming and going of officers (including Gen. John Pershing); preparing for and undertaking the “Bagsak expedition”; assaulting and taking Languasan (and personally sustaining an injury during the engagement); recording the death of officers during the Languasan engagement; and seeing action in the Battle of Bud Bagsak (June 11–15, 1913) (“Bagsak is no more”).

SOME REPRESENTATIVE PASSAGES

2 March; Adj. 2d, Prov. Bu. P.S. “Camp at Bun Bun. Friends from Jolo visited camp. Mr. and Mrs. Roddy. Mrs. Roddy is from Kaufman Tex[as]. Received orders to abandon camp tomorrow and return to Jolo. Maj[or] Latrobe fired on coming from Cav[alry] Camp. Hostile Moros seen lurking about woods about 400 yards off from camp.” 

3 March; Adj. 2d Prov. Bu. P.S. “Broke camp this morning. Engagement with Moros all morning. Two Moros reported killed afterwards. Marched to Jolo via Taglibi where one Moro was shot. Hard march from Taglibi to Jolo. Went into camp at Acturias reservoir 8:15 PM. Machine guns used in action at Bun Bun. Foot hurt on march in.” [Taglibi is part of the municipality of Patikul, in the province of Sulu on Jolo Island. Jolo is a municipality in the province of Sulu on Jolo Island.] 

4 March; Adj. 2d, Prov. Bu. P.S. “Left at 3 PM with Cav[alry]. Went to take command of 42d. Ro. PS. At Indinans house arrived 5:30 PM and took command. Found Lt. Green P.S. and Dr. Hereford M.R.C. there. Ordered Lt. Green to proceed to Parang with 35 men tomorrow morning. Comfortable quarters in cupola of Indinans house, the harem. Hard luck tho. Its empty.” 

5 March; Com[man]d[in]g 42 Co. P.S. “Lt. Green and 35 men left for Parang for purpose of protecting inhabitants of the place. I remained at Indinan’s all day. Inspected maps of west end of island and patrol sortie. Decided to hike to Parang tomorrow via Cotta Tubig. A Cotta was a defensive fort.” 

6 March; Com[man]d[in]g 42 Co. P.S. “Left for Parang at 6:30 AM with Dr. Hereford and 25 men. Visited Cotta Tubig and Awabas Market en route. Ate dinner with Green at Parang. Many Moros at market Parang. Investigated murder cases and examined woman who was shot. Hiked back via Parang trail and Awabs market.” 

7 March; Com[man]d[in]g 42 Co. P.S. “Left for Maibum with 20 men 1 PM arrived at 3 PM. Found 31st Co. P.S. Capt. Mayland, Lt. Townsend, Lt. Cody and Dr. Maynard in camp above Sultan’s palace. Remained all night with them. Cody captured Moro en route to Bagsak trying to take boy away from divorced wife.” 

8 March; Com[man]d[in]g 42 Co. P.S. “Left camp 7 AM. Visited Sultan’s palace and Maibum market. Very picturesque and interesting. Captured four barongs from armed Moros on trail to Lagasan. Ate lunch on Mt. Tukai at friendly Moro town. Old Datto acted as guide across mountain. Enjoyed experience at Moro hill village. Reached Indinans 3 PM Capt. Rodgers arrived at 4 PM. I left for Jolo 4.15 [P.M]. Cav[alry] escort.” 

9 March; Com[man]d[in]g 29 Co. P.S. “Reservoir Camp Asturias V.O.C.O. Gugen Bks. Glenn 2 Lt. P.S. attached.” [Camp Asturias is within the municipality of Jolo.] 

13–15 March “Sick in Hosp[ital], Augur B[arrac]ks. Malaria.” [Walker returns to duty with the 29th Company, Parang, March 16, where he remained until March 27th, when he takes a leave of absence through March 29th.] 

21 April–19 May “Relieved of duty, 29th Company and attached, commanding Company I, 8th Infantry, S. O. 58, Headquarters, Augur Barracks, eventually moving to the Ludlow Barracks. Duty moving between Parang, Zamboanga, Jolo and Asturias.”

20 May; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Pit detail on range in morning. Called on Col. Swift, saw Maj. Wright off. Mentioned pilots license aviation work.” 

21 May; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “I was visiting in afternoon on Movies at night. Wrote to dad. Started exam study for promotion.” 

22–28 May “Reported only command duties.” 

29 May; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Cold very bad. Big bother. Japanese torpedo gun boat arrived this afternoon. About 12 officers and 200 men. Celebration tomorrow.” 

30 May; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Cold still bad. Interesting celebration at Coconut Grove for Japa[nese] from ‘Yodo.’ Moro dancing and Jap[anese] wrestling. Much chow and booze. Mr. Burton Holmes famous lecturer on travels was present having arrived this morning. Visited ‘Yodo’ in afternoon and later took Mr. Holmes and party around Tuli and Jolo. Reception at Col. Swift’s at night for officers ‘Yodo.’”

31 May; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Several Jap[anese] officers from ‘Yodo’ visited Asturias this morning, particularly to see wireless station. Heard underground rumor that ‘Warren’ was coming to get Cav[alry] to go to Manila. Moro outlaws raided shacks behind my house about midnight and one Carabao. Much yelling no shots. Sat up with outpost until 3 AM. Cav[alry] leaves for Manila tomorrow.” 

1 June; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “‘Warren’ arrived for 8th Cav[alry]. Much excitement at rush orders. Activity reported at Corregidor to avoid Jap[anese] surprise. Much insurrection talk also Cav[alry] didn’t know of move until this morning. Jap[anese] boat left before ‘Warren’ arrived. Appointed post exchange officer to relieve Lt. Sayles. 8 Cav[alry] Warren left at dark with two troops and 2 pack tarins. Much excitement here.” 

2 June; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “No more news from North. Capt. Pyle P.S. M.I.D. tells me 13th, 24th and 15 Inf[antry] working 8 h[ou]r shifts on intrenchments on Corregidor. Much Jap[anese] war talk. Gen. Pershing arrived yesterday and still here. Maj. Shaw’s Bu. P.S. return here on ‘Warren,’ on 5th Artillery organized again under McKinney. Lack of field service against Bagsak again started by Generals’ visit.”

3 June; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Much work taking over Post Exchange. Stock appraised by Maj. Johnson. Exchange council met in afternoon. No news from Manila. Rumors that H[ea]dq[uarters] 8th Inf[antry] will come here and probably one more Co[mpany] 8th Inf[antry]. Hoping to move in town when rest of Cav[alry] leaves.” 

4 June; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Co[mpany] paid today. Took over Post Ex[change] funds from Sayles. Full control Ex[change] from tomorrow on. No news today. Rumors say Reg. H[ea]dq[uarters] will come and that [William] Morgan Shuster [1877–1960] is new Gov[ernor] Gen[eral], P.I. and Maj. Findley, Gov[ernor], Moro province. Cold still hanging on. Living Asturias much inconvenience for Ex[change]. work.” 

5 June; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Co[mpanies] ‘A’ and ‘M’ 8th Inf[antry] arrived from Parang and Zamboanga West into camp. Outlaw Moros shot there. Chinese in gardens above pump plant about 10 PM. None killed.” 

6 June; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “‘Merritt’ arrived today. Rev. Jones and Mrs. Jones aboard. Also ‘Wamp’ Everitt.” 

7 June; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Gen. Pershing in town. Rumors that operations against Bagsak may start. Whitney went to see Annie at Bun Bun.” 

8 June; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Nothing new.” 

9 June; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Got underground rumor that Bagsak expedition would start tomorrow night.” 

10 June; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Organized and equipped demolition squad. Gen. Pershing came in 8:30 PM on ‘Wright’ secretly Operations against Bagsak. Attached to 40 Co[mpany] P.S. Sperbeck Com[man]d[in]g. Left for Bun Bun on ‘Geary’ at midnight. Very exciting. 40 C[ompan]y P.S. Demolition Squad, and Mountain Guns aboard.” 

11 June; 40 Co[mpany] P.S. Engagement at Languasan, Bagsak ridge “Assaulted and took Languasan this morning. Landed at Bun Bun at daylight advanced to Languasan with Column No. 1 Artillery under McKinney covered advance. Heavy fire from Moros. Got nasty fall on ankle and knee. 2 killed M. Co[mpany] several wounded.” 

12 June; 40 Co[mpanyl P.S. Bun Bun Base “One 40 Co[mpany] killed one wounded. Suffered quite a lot with ankle and knee. Surgeons want to send me to Jolo. Knee better by noon. Have permission to rejoin line, much to my joy. Moros rushed Languasan twice with barangs. All killed. Capt. Nichols killed at Languasan.” 

13 June; 40 Co[mpany] P.S. Languasan “31st Co[mpany] carried Buinga on our right. We kept up fire on Bagsak and crater. Van Mattan gun started for Bunga. Big job to get it up. Much rain, and cold and uncomfortable at night. Hard tack and bacon regular mess. Tom toms beating at night.” 

14 June; 40 Co[mpany] P.S. Languasan and Aniels Cotta Puhagan “Languasan during morning advanced into crater and took Aniels Cotta. No losses. Moro dead everywhere. Splendid fortifications, gathered up weapons a few pieces of junk, covered up dead, and returned to Languasan.” 

15 June; 40 Co[mpany] P.S. Languasan and Bagsak Cotta “Watched fight along crater rim leading to Bagsak. Got hurry call to get to firing line on Bagsak with dynamite. Hard, difficult climb thru crater, arrived before last assault. Wonderfully fortified place. Splendid work in taking. 6 killed and several wounded in days work.” 

16 June; 40 Co[mpanyl P.S. Bun Bun Base and Jolo “Total loss in five days fight[:] 15 killed and 25 wounded. Hard hike to Bun Bun with wounded last night. Arrived at 2 AM. Left for Jolo on ‘Geary’ this morning. Bagsak is no more. Arrived Jolo about 11 AM.”

17–24 June; C[om]m[an]d[in]g Co. I 8 Inf[antry] “Reported only command duties.”

A compelling eyewitness compilation documenting the final years of the Moro Rebellion. 

REFERENCES: Daniel J. Demers, “Lieutenant Kelly’s Boots,” Aeroplane Magazine, April 9, 2020; “Obituary,” United States Army and Navy Journal and Gazette of the Regular and Volunteer Forces (Washington, D.C., May 14, 1927), p. 19; “Pioneer Aviator Here,” San Diego Union and Daily Bee (San Diego, California), October 21, 1921, p. 6; “The Moro Rebellion” at Theodore Roosevelt Center online.

Item #8829

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