Luther Kelly

In August 1899 Kelly received another commission as a captain, this time with the Army's 40th Volunteers, following Congress's authorization of an increase in the Army by 35,000 men to put down the insurgency in the Philippines. This war, unlike the six-month war with Spain with 500 combat deaths, "would drag on for three long years" and cost the lives of over 4,000 U.S. servicemen.

The 40th Regiment departed from [[Fort Riley]], [[Kansas]], by train in November 1899 for [[California]]. After two weeks there, they shipped out from the [[Presidio]], arriving in the [[Philippines]] in late December 1899. Kelly's company was under the command of [[Brigadier General]] [[James Bell (Medal of Honor)|James Bell]], who had served with Kelly during the [[Nez Perce War|Nez Perce campaigns]] of the [[Indian Wars]]. Captain Kelly's company aboard the vessel ''Venus'' departed [[Manila]] along with four other transports headed for the shores of [[San Miguel Bay]]. From there the companies began their marches inland to clear the areas of insurgents.

Kelly's company met heavy resistance on the outskirts of the town of LaLud. Insurgents under the command of a Colonel Legaspi opened fire on Kelly's advancing infantrymen with two [[field guns]], but Kelly's men managed to kill the enemy artillerymen and silence the guns. With heavy foliage flanking the enemy's position, Kelly led a frontal assault and routed them. In the process, Kelly captured Legaspi's ceremonial Spanish sword.

Kelly later served in the administration of the new civilian governor of the Philippines, future President [[William Howard Taft]]. By 1903, as Kelly wrote to a friend, "I have been in the Philippines so long now (3 years)... this country is a wearing one... my health is excellent, but three years is the limit." On November 15, 1903, Kelly was relieved of his duties in the Philippines and ordered to report back to [[Washington, D.C.]], for his next assignment, as [[Indian Agent]] for the [[San Carlos Indian Reservation]] in [[Arizona]].