The Sulu Archipelago and its people, by Sixto Y. Orosa ...

46 S ARCHIPELAGO AND ITS PEOPLE

for eventualities. General Pershing planned the attack
upon them, which lasted from June 11 to June 16, 1913.
More than 100 rifles were captured and,300 Moros were
killed. Captain Nichols, of the Philippine Scouts, and
14 men were killed.
On June 21, 1913, Captain V. L. Whitney, having
resigned from the Philippine Constabulary, became
the first civilian governor of Sulu. Under his administration the Constabulary continued to raid outlaws
and destroy their cottas.
Both the Philippine Constabulary and the Philippine
Scouts have rendered excellent service not only in
Sulu, but throughout the Islands, and theirsecords are
replete with instances of individual heroism. The
Constabulary are a force recruited in the Islands and
officered in part by Americans. They combine some
police duties with military duties, and they are under
the control of the Insular government. The Scouts
are a branch of the United States Army in which the
enlisted men and some of the officers are Filipinos
On August 10, 1913, the Talipao Moros, who refused
to pay the road tax and had fortified themselves in
Mt. Talipao, were routed and disbanded by Major G. S.
Shaw, of the Philippine Scouts. But they returned to
fortify Talipao once more; and there, on October 22,
1913, occurred the last engagement of magnitude up
to the present time. Captain McElderly was wounded
during the storming of the cottas, and died, after a
few days, at the Military Hospital.
On November 1, 1913, the preservation of order
throughout Sulu was placed entirely in the hands of the
Philippine Constabulary. The Scouts continued to
garrison the city of Jolo, with a sub-garrison at Asturias.