[6] While in Spain, Luna not only focused on his studies but also joined the Propaganda Movement, alongside prominent figures like José Rizal and Marcelo H. del Pilar.

[4] This was further proven when Pío Valenzuela, Andres Bonifacio's emissary, visited Dr. Jose Rizal in Dapitan in June 1896 to inform him of the plan of the Katipunan to launch a revolution.

However, when approached by Jose Alejandrino at the request of the Katipunan, Luna also turned down the offer with the same reason as Rizal: that a revolt at that time was premature and would fail.

[6] His more famous and controversial brother, Juan, who had been pardoned by the Spanish Queen Regent Maria Christina of Austria herself, left for Spain to use his influence to intercede for Antonio in August 1897.

General Gregorio del Pilar took charge of Pantaleon Garcia's force when the latter was wounded, taking Pritil, Tondo, Divisoria, and Paseo de Azcárraga, Noriel cleared Singalong and Paco, and held Ermita and Malate.

In quick succession, he was made the Director or Assistant Secretary of War and Supreme Chief of the Republican Army on September 28,[26] arousing the envy of the other generals who were fighting since the first phase of the Revolution.

Meanwhile, Luna felt that bureaucratic placebos were being thrown his way when all he wanted was to organize and discipline the enthusiastic but ill-fed and ill-trained troops into a real army.

Luna devised two courses of instruction, planned the reorganization, with a battalion of tiradores and a cavalry squadron, set up an inventory of guns and ammunition, arsenals, using convents and town halls, quartermasters, lookouts and communication systems.

He built trenches with the help of his chief engineer, General Jose Alejandrino, and had his brother Juan design the school's uniforms (the Filipino rayadillo).

[31] When the Treaty of Paris, under which Spain was to cede the Philippines to the United States, was made public in December 1898, Luna quickly decided to take military action.

He proposed a strategy that was designed to trap the Americans in Manila before more of their troops could land by executing surprise attacks (guerrilla warfare) while building up strength in the north.

If the American forces penetrated his lines, Luna determined that he would wage a series of delaying battles and prepare a fortress in northern Luzon, the Cordillera.

[34] Luna, after receiving orders from Aguinaldo, rushed to the front lines from his headquarters at Polo (present-day Valenzuela City) and led three companies to La Loma to engage General Arthur MacArthur's forces.

The Filipinos were subjected to a carefully planned attack with naval artillery, with Admiral George Dewey's US fleet firing from Manila Bay.

Containing five specific objects, it began with "Under the barbarous attack upon our army on February 4", and ended with "...war without quarter to false Americans who wish to enslave us.

The order labeled the US forces "an army of drunkards and thieves"[33] in response to the continued bombardment of the towns around Manila, the burning and looting of whole districts, and the raping of Filipino women by US troops.

[36] When Luna saw that the American advance had halted, mainly to stabilize their lines, he again mobilized his troops to attack La Loma on February 10.

[37] Caloocan has left with American forces in control of the southern terminus of the Manila to Dagupan railway, along with five engines, fifty passenger coaches, and a hundred freight cars.

The plan was to employ a pincer movement, using the battalions from the North and South, with the sharpshooters (the only professionally trained troops) at crucial points.

Secondly, Luna failed to relieve the Kapampangan militia, already past their prime, when the battalion from Kawit, Cavite, refused to replace the former, saying that they had orders to obey only instructions directly from Aguinaldo.

Such insubordination had become quite common among the Filipino forces at that time as most of the troops owed their loyalty to the officers from their provinces, towns, or districts and not to the central command.

Upon returning to the field, however, the Americans had broken through his defenses at the Bagbag River, forcing Luna to withdraw despite his heroic efforts to defend the remaining sectors.

[31][48] The Luna Defense Line was planned to create a series of delaying battles from Caloocan to Angeles, Pampanga,[3][page needed] as the Republic was constructing a guerrilla base in the Mountain Province.

As the American troops occupied each new position, they were subjected to a series of traps that had been set in the trenches, including bamboo spikes and poisonous reptiles.

Upon reaching safety, Luna realized that his wound was not very deep as most of the bullet's impact had been taken by a silk belt full of gold coins that his parents had given him.

As he went up the stairs, he ran into an officer whom he had previously disarmed for insubordination: Captain Pedro Janolino, commander of the Kawit Battalion, and an old enemy whom he had once threatened with arrest for favoring American autonomy.

[60] The death of Luna, acknowledged to be the most brilliant and capable of the Filipino generals at the time,[21] was a decisive factor in the fight against the American forces.

[62] General Frederick Funston, who captured Aguinaldo at Palanan, Isabela, stated that Luna was the "ablest and most aggressive leader of the Filipino Republic.

"[62] Meanwhile, Apolinario Mabini, former Prime Minister and Secretary of Foreign Affairs, had this to say: "If he was sometimes hasty and even cruel in his resolution, it was because the army had been brought to a desperate situation by the demoralization of the soldiers and the lack of ammunitions: nothing but action of rash courage and extraordinary energy could hinder its dissolution.

In his book, Malolos: The Crisis of the Republic, Agoncillo stated that the loss of Luna showed the existence of a lack of discipline among the regular Filipino soldiers and it was a major weakness that was never remedied during the course of the war.