Tirad Pass
signed and dated 1939 (lower right)
oil on canvas
30" x 60" (76 cm x 152 cm)

Private Collection, Manila

Pictures of war are almost as old as war itself. With the narrow mountain pass in the background and the uniform of the American troops, it can be gleaned that Pineda was depicting Gregorio del Pilar in the Battle of Tirad Pass which is sometimes referred to as the “Philippine Thermopylae”. The Battle of Tirad Pass has other analogous battles of “Thermopylaean” dimensions elsewhere in the world including: • Battle of Wizna, also called the “Polish Thermopylae” • Siege of Alamo, also called the “Texan Thermopylae” • Three Hundred Aragvians - a similar last stand by a similar number, in Georgia in the Caucasus • Battle of Tel Hai in Zionist history The retreat of Aguinaldo from Bayambang, Pangasinan, through the mountainous terrain began on November 13, 1899, after he had disbanded the regular Filipino army into guerrilla units. On November 23, Aguinaldo's party reached the pass, which provided a strategic bottleneck. It was to be protected by a rear guard under General Gregorio del Pilar, who noticed the advantageous terrain of Tirad Pass, and hunkered down to defend it while Aguinaldo escaped through the mountains. Meanwhile, during early November, Major Peyton C. March who was assigned as the aide to Major General Arthur MacArthur Jr. during the Philippine American war, had been given the task of pursuing Aguinaldo. By November 30, March and his men, in haste to catch the Philippine president, marched through Candon, and Salcedo, Ilocos Sur. He and his men found out that Aguinaldo had passed through Salcedo five days previously, and that fueled the Americans' march to Concepcion, a town overlooked by the steep pass, which they reached by December 1. At about 6:30 in the morning of December 2, the Americans advanced up the trail but were met with a steady volley of fire, resulting in them only being able to climb around 300 feet. The Americans abandoned the idea of a frontal assault and headed for the zigzag trail, which is depicted in the painting. Texan sharpshooters stationed themselves on a hill overlooking the trenches and proceeded to whittle down the Philippine rear guard with measured volleys. Major March sent elements of their force with an Igorot villager named Januario Galut to determine the Filipino positions and outflank the defenders. While the flanking movement was still in progress, three American soldiers rushed to the battlefield but found themselves being targeted by Filipino fire. Two died, being the only Americans killed in the encounter, while the third was badly wounded. Later that day, the search party had succeeded their task, and the Americans fell upon the rear of the outnumbered defenders, defeating them. During the battle, 52 of the 60 Filipinos were killed, including General del Pilar, shot through the neck at the height or end of the struggle (depending upon which eye-witness account is to be believed). Despite nearly total annihilation, however, the Filipinos under Del Pilar held off the Americans long enough for Aguinaldo to escape. Major March broke off his pursuit of Aguinaldo on March 7. On September 6, 1900, Aguinaldo reached Palanan, Isabela, where he would continue to lead the guerrilla campaign he had begun on November 13, 1899. He was captured there on March 23, 1901 by men of General Frederick Funston. As for Del Pilar, who is the subject of the painting, his diary was recovered among the possessions looted by the victorious Americans. The exact wording of its poignant final entry, written on the night of December 1, differs somewhat between sources quoting it. One of two versions goes: “The General has given me the pick of all the men that can be spared and ordered me to defend the Pass. I realize what a terrible task has been given me. And yet I feel that this is the most glorious moment of my life. What I do is done for my beloved country. No sacrifice can be too great.” We will never know if Jorge Pineda was aware of del Pilar’s diaries, yet a message curiously written on the lower part of the painting reads: “I am surrounded by fearful odds that will overcome me and my gallant men but I am pleased that I die for my beloved country.” Battles always had to be glorious, chivalrous and above all, heroic, and Jorge Pineda paints Gen. del Pilar on a horse in a lively dramatic manner. Here Pineda depicted the fierceness of combat with unusual directness, yet without the literal depiction of bloodshed. The extraordinarily foreshortened forms –— the Texan sharpshooters in blue — extending in many planes accentuate Pineda’s virtuosity as a draftsman, and provide a controlled visual structure to the chaos of the battle scene. Pineda already acquired a reputation for painting wide and distant landscapes. Jorge Pineda was a famous student of Teodoro Buenaventura.