[2] Atop Makahambus Hill near Cagayan de Misamis stood a small fort that served as the headquarters of the Western Mindanao Division of the Philippine Revolutionary Army.

Recognizing the fort's formidable defenses, the American forces initially attempted to negotiate a surrender from the Filipino defenders.

The Filipino forces had prepared the terrain with cunning defensive measures, including booby-trapped pits concealed with foliage and bristling with sharpened bamboo spears, which inflicted heavy casualties on the advancing American troops.

Despite repeated counterattacks, the Americans were unable to breach the fort's defenses and were repelled by continuous rifle fire from the entrenched Filipino forces.

The disaster prompted Maj. Gen. Arthur MacArthur Jr. to write a reprimand of Captains Elliot and Millar: “The palpable mismanagement in this affair consists in not having reconnoitered the enemy’s position, but there appears to be no means of reaching a force intrenched, as was this one, in a carefully selected position, which must be approached in single file through a pathless jungle, nor any reason why it should be attacked at all, because, under the circumstances, it does not threaten our troops nor any natives under their protection, and it is sufficient to keep it under observation.”[3] American losses totaled as many as 22 dead and wounded.