By the middle of December, Aguinaldo had placed in position in the vicinity of Manila all of the field guns in his possession.

The Treaty of Paris was signed on December 10.  It provided for the termination of Spanish sovereignty in the Philippines.  This was what the Insurgents had been waiting for, and thereafter things moved rapidly.  It is obvious that an attack was definitely planned for at this time, for on December 21, Commandant F. E. Rey telegraphed Aguinaldo that the second chief of the second zone of Manila had directed him to assist by entering that city as soon as they opened fire against the American troops. [203]

On the following day Cailles reported that he had occupied blockhouse No. 12, which was within the American lines, and added the following significant statement:—­

“The order of yesterday was, on hearing the first shots from Santa Ana, for my whole force to hurl themselves on the American line of trenches, and to follow the living to Manila.  The dead can lie with the dead.  Yesterday we were content waiting for the arming of the San Quintin.” [204]

San Quintin’s Day was the anniversary of the Sicilian vespers, the massacre of the French in Sicily in 1268.  Obviously the Insurgents were planning something similar for Manila.

For some reason the attack was not made as planned, but there was no intention of abandoning it.  Within fifteen days of January 1 some 40,000 Filipinos left Manila.  Why?  On January 7, Aguinaldo wrote to Senor Benito Legarda at Manila, saying:—­

“I beg you to leave Manila with your family and come here to Malolos, but not because I wish to frighten you—­I merely wish to warn you for your satisfaction, although it is not yet the day or the week.” [205]

Many details of the plan of attack have come into our possession.  Doctor Manuel Xeres Burgos wrote Aguinaldo during January relative to a plan for an uprising of the prisoners in Bilibid Prison, saying that it should by all means come “before the movement is begun anywhere else,” and calling attention to the necessity of stationing men to prevent the American soldiers near by in the Zorilla theatre from coming to the rescue.  On the back of this letter there is a sketch plan showing where bolo men were to be stationed, ready to attack these soldiers. [206]

In his message to Congress dated January 1, 1899, Aguinaldo said:—­

“I consider arguments unnecessary in support of the proposed amendments, every one knows that our newborn Republic now has to fight for its existence against giants in ambition and in power.” [207]

An unsigned letter addressed to Apacible on January 4, 1899, contains the following statement:—­

“It appears that conflict with the Americans is imminent and inevitable.  Several of their vessels with thousands of soldiers commanded by General Miller were sent to Iloilo on December 20th last to take that port together with the whole of Visayas and Mindanao.” [208]