In the early morning of September 13, 1900, Captain Devereaux Shields led 51 soldiers of Company F,Twenty-ninth U.S. Infantry in reconnoitering the mountains near Torrijos town, Marinduque. After three hours of hiking, the company's vanguard stumbles upon a revolutionary camp and fires at it. Too late, they realize that they are almost completely encircled by guerillas hiding 300 yards to the north.