1900 - 1946

The Philippine Scouts (PS) were composed of Filipino's enlisted as members of the regular United States Army. The units were generally officered by Americans and a few Filipino graduates of the U.S.M.A. at West Point. The enlisted men were paid at less than regular US Army rates. However, in the Philippines this made them among the better paid people in their home villages. With only one exception the Philippine Scout formations were segregated. By law their service was restricted to the Philippines except in time of war.

The first units were raised in company sized units during 1899-1900 to supplement regular American forces suppressing the Philippine War of Independence or the Philipine Insurrection [depends on one's point of view]. For purposes of administration they were classed as Quartermaster contractors. Following the cessation of substantial hostilities the PS units were grouped into battalions and regiments of Philippine Infantry. In 1919-1920 the regiments were reorganized and redesignated as the 43rd, 45th, and 57th Infantry Regiments (Philippine Scouts), the 24th and 25th Field Artillery Regiments (PS) and later the 26th Cavalry Regiment (PS). Later service and support formations were also organized including coast artillery, medical, and quartermaster units as well as an integrated Filipino-American military police company.

Following the creation of the Commonwealth responsibility for internal security devolved to the Philippine Constabulary. One of the few instances of sending in regular troops took place at Jolo, Palawan in the late 1930s. Elements of the US Army's 31st Infantry and PS units were sent to Jolo to support the Constabulary when banditry broke out. This was one of the few actual field operations during the interwar years

The Philippine Scouts made up the backbone of the regular American forces in the Philippines prior to World War II. With a pre-war strength of approximately 7,000 men they composed two infantry regiments, one horsed cavalry regiment, two coast artillery regiments, and two horsed field artillery regiments, plus some supporting units of the Philippine Division. All of these formations were considerably under normal war strength throughout most of their existence. This lead to remarkably stable rotsters. For example, in the summer of 1941 the average longevity among the enlisted ranks of the 26th Cavalry was 13 years. Beginning in 1939 a rapid expansion began. Political troubles came to the fore because of the differences in pay between Philippine Army, Philippine Constabulary and Philippine Scout formations.

At the beginning of the war in the Philippines were were approximately 11,000 Philippine Scouts in service.

Much to the credit of the men involved, when faced with certain death or capture by Japanese forces during the defense of Bataan, remarkably few of them deserted. It would have been very easy for the individual Scouts to have simply shed their uniforms and vanished into the general population.

26th Cavalry Regiment (P.S.)

The regiment was organized in 1922 from personnel transferred from the 25th Field Artillery (P.S.) which in turn had been formed from personnel of the 4th Philippine Infantry and the 45th Infantry (P.S.).

The 26th Cavalry was garrisoned at Fort Stotsenburg north of Manila. It was organized as a two squadron (six troop) regiment of 784 enlisted men and 54 officers. At the beginning of World War II the regiment provided coverage to the withdrawal of the combined American and Philippine armies on Luzon to the Bataan Peninsula during December 1941. In January 1942 elements of the regiment participated in the last organized horsed-cavalry actions conducted by American troops. During the defense of Bataan the regiment was essentially fought unto destruction while serving as mounted and dismounted cavalry.

The survivors of the regiment surrendered to Japanese forces at the fall of Bataan in April 1942. Individual members escaped the general surrender or were able to elude confinement as POWs. They continued to fight as guerrillas against the Japanese until liberation in 1944 and 1945.

Created by Philip Abbey. Updated 10 August, 1999 and 10 March 2005. Comments to pr_abbey@hotmail.com