ANTONIO LUNA - Interesting Facts About The Fiercest General

ANTONIO LUNA – Interesting Facts About The Fiercest General

ANTONIO LUNA – Here are some of the interesting facts about the well-known fiercest general in Philippine history: Antonio Luna.

Antonio Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta is known to be one of the fiercest generals of his time. Luna fought in the Philippine-American War.

He also was well-known to organize professional soldiers known as the Luna Sharpshooters and Black Guard as he himself is a sharpshooter. He also made the Luna Defense Line, which gave American soldiers a hard time in their campaign in the northern provinces of Manila.

Here are some of the interesting facts about the fiercest general

Interesting Facts

1. A Scientist

Luna is also a man of science. He won the top prize from his paper in chemistry while he was studying literature and chemistry at the University of Sto. Tomas. He also got a license and a doctorate in pharmacy at the Universidad de Barcelona and Universidad Central de Madrid.

2. A brilliant writer.

Luna was a writer under the pen name Taga-ilog where he wrote articles in La Solidaridad. His work entitled Madrid Impressions contained criticism against Spaniards looking down on Filipinos which sparked controversy.

3. A sharpshooter and a martial artist

Aside from being a sharpshooter who also made Black Guard and Luna Sharpshooters, Luna is also a master of arnis and fencing.

4. He almost had a duel with Jose Rizal

Imagine two Filipinos killing each other due to a love triangle. Yes, both Luna and Rizal courted Nelly Boustead, who made it clear that she chose Rizal. Luna got drunk and lambasted Boustead, which resulted in both heroes having an altercation. Luckily, Luna sobered up and apologized.

5. His teacher in the art of war

Luna became one of the fiercest general thanks to his teacher Belgian General Gérard Leman. Under Leman, Luna studied guerilla warfare, fortifications and everything military related. Leman also became the first hero in World War I.

6. His proposal to initiate a pre-emptive strike on the Americans

Luna knew that the Americans were not in the country as liberators but as colonizers like the Spaniards. He proposed a pre-emptive strike so that the troops could not reach Manila. It was later rejected by Aguinaldo, a mistake which led to the Philippine-American war.

7. The first ever military academy for Filipinos

Before the Philippine Military Academy, Luna already made the Academia Militar due to his desire to make a professional army.