More on Pershing
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/johnjose.htm "In the hills of Western Mindanao, thirty miles from the sea, dwelt 100,000 Moros--proud, warlike Mammedans--whom the Spanish in 300 years had not been able to subjugate and who started a rebellion against the Americans as soon as the United States freed them from Spain. They were split up into dozens of bands, ruled over by sultans, and could defy all outside interference from supposedly impregnable jungle retreats. To Pershing, with the rank of only a captain in the Regular Army, was assigned the job of pacifying them.
Pershing prepared himself quietly for the ultimate job in his first two years in the islands, learning the native dialects and studying the Koran. His command included five troops of cavalry, a battalion of infantry, a battery of artillery and a company of engineers.
It was evident that to subjugate the Moros the Sultan of Bacolod, the most important of the Moro chiefs, must be conquered. This sultan held a strongly fortified position in the hills to the west of Lake Lanao with 600 fanatical
tribesmen. Captain Pershing tried by diplomacy to induce the Moros to lay down their arms, but they refused, and on April 5, 1903, he led his men against the fort in a clever surrounding movement and after defeating several small outpost groups of Moros charged the Moro entrenchments. This brought a halt to the insurrection and drew the congratulations of Secretary of War Elihu Root."