Note 31 — ROJO’S NARRATIVE

Anda’s force, says Le Gentil (ii, p. 262) consisted of about 9,000 men, of whom 2,000 were armed with muskets, and about 300 Europeans, most of whom were French deserters from the British. To such an extent did the desertion of the French occur that the British sent those left them (about 150) back to India. Anda refused the offer of a French sergeant to endeavor to cause the desertion of the Sepoys, on the ground that they were Mahometans. Anda’s force, before he surrendered the command to Francisco de la Torre, is specified by Ayerbe (Sitio y conquista, pp. 132, 133), as follows: 12 infantry companies, consisting of 1,370 men, of whom 223 were deserters from the British; 2 cavalry companies, consisting of 293 men, of whom 100 were Spaniards, and the rest Cagayans, and 50 of whom had muskets, 50 blunderbusses, and the rest spears; 100 cavalry dragoons; 281 artillerymen, some of them deserters, most armed with sabers, and a few with muskets; 100 Indians commanded by the native colonel, Santos de los Angeles. 60 being infantry with muskets, and 40 cavalry with short firearms and spears; 300 native and mestizo commissary troops armed with muskets and bows and arrows, whose duty it was to prevent the entrance of food into Manila; 3 Boholans, armed with lance and shield, who acted as Anda’s bodyguard; 400 Visayans, armed with bows and arrows; 2,000 Indians, enlisted in the villages near Polo, as a reserve; in addition to the natives used in other employments. Le Gentil (ii, pp. 266–268) accuses Anda of inaction, although he had an army of more than 10,000 men. But he adds that Anda could not count on his native troops, and had no large guns. ↑