Lt./Capt. Leonard Furlong, PC

[galahad143]

Does anybody have info on Lt/Capt Leonard Furlong Philippine Constabulary 1911 during the Moro campaign?
All I found was a short paragraph on "Swish of the Kris."

[VeeVee]

That's tough. Maybe Ancestry.com may have some info about him?

[galahad143]

According to what I've read so far, Furlong was highly respected by his enemies; the Moros and would bow their heads in respect whenever his name was mentioned...I am trying to find more info about him and perhaps give this American Philippine Constabulary due honor and respects to his descendants.

[dimasalang]

Ive done my own little research on him a few years ago. I have quite a bit of history on Furlong...but it is all unorganized notes...so nothing I can really cut and paste to post up. Plus, with work being so ridiculous right now, I cant post much or write anything.

An eskrima group called Bakbakan had a somewhat lengthy bio on Furlong. This website also hosted "Swish of the Kris" and "Jungle Patrol: The story of the Philippine Constabulary". Bakbakan no longer has their website up. Jungle Patrol is also written by the same author, Vic Hurley. Vic Hurley wrote those books back in the 1930s and also traveled to Mindanao to do his own research and interviewed many of the Moros who lived during the Moro Rebellion era. Jungle Patrol has a bit more writings on Furlong. I have both books in original press. I definitely suggest looking for that book, I know it is online somewhere.

Info I remember off the top of my head.

• Furlongs men mentioned he was never afraid of dying and some believed he wanted to die..like he had a death wish. At one instance, in 6 years he never took furlough..he just stayed out in the field.
  
• Reading some of the military reports on his unit I found it funny, because in all honesty, he was like the terminator. He had a reputation. They would call him in to some troubled part of the Moro region and business would be handled with in a month.
  
• Furlong was said to always be the first to reach the walls of a Cotta. His signature move was to throw his hat inside the Cotta as a forewarning to all inside. Around the Moro region and warriors, his hat was believed to be his Anting Anting(spiritual protection and source of power)...and seeing the hat fly in meant death was around the corner. To see it, was to know Furlong was comin and your life may end shortly. The Moros fully believed he had some type of magical spiritual power that protected him. Another rumor mentions the throwing of the hat was a game or a bet...Furlongs men would try to retrieve it before Furlong could get it back...they never won and it is said Furlong never once lost his hat. Kind of find that one hard to believe.
  
• Leonard had a brother named Charles, I believe he also served in the Philippines. He was given Leonards personal belonging after he killed himself. Charles turned in boxes of papers which included his and Leonards military service to a College Library...I think it was Oregon? You can go there and do your own research.
  
• In one record, it showed Furlong was brought to trial for atrocities in one of his Moro battles. He was acquitted but it is believe this impacted Furlong mentally. When he returned to the field he was unstable...some say he was losing it and was nerve wracked. He was "ordered" to take time off. This is the point in time where he returned to Manila and committed suicide.
  
• None of the bios ever mentioned his ancestry. Which I think has some great significance. He is in fact descended from revolutionary war heroes of America. Both his great grandfathers(both mother and father side) fought in the Revolutionary War. One being part of the Lexington Alarm, which was the very first battle and the start of the American Revolution.
  

To bad nobody really remembers any of this. And its really a bigger shame nobody on the US side remembers him as a hero during the Moro Wars. Only a select few were given the Medal of Valor. Funny how US history does not really recognize or remember him, only his feared enemies remember and respect him after his death. There were a few other bios on the net about Furlong, but they all have disappeared...most probably due to it being so old and no longer hosted. Im also curious to know where Furlong is buried...I am thinking, most likely Manila. I never found that out.

[26th]

Dimasalang:

Well you sure showed that someone remembered. That was a lot of information and I do not even know who he was.

Thanks
Rudy/26thCav

[hawkins2ndcav]

Wow! This is something to dig into. Good info! :-)

[galahad143]

Great info Dimasalang, thank you very much! I tried to find out more about him through Military records, but I did not find any, perhaps he was under Philippine military records? I live a short distance from Arlington cemetery in Arlington, VA, perhaps I should check their archives. Fort Myer is also nearby, somebody's got to know something more. Were the Constabulary under US Department of Defense/War back then or were they under the payroll of the Philippine territorial funding? I heard that if you follow the money trail, you'll eventually get to your query.
I would like to try to nominate Lt. Furlong into the US records as a recognized war hero, this is why I am interested in flowing him up, I believe it is his rightful place, much of the same caliber as Sgt. Murphy.

[dimasalang]

galahad,
The Philippine Constabulary fell under the Philippine Commission(US Civil Affairs of the Philippines and completely separate from the US Military). The PCs were designed to be the national police force, similar to US Marshals and having jurisdiction that could cross provincial/state lines. The Philippine Scouts fell under the US Military. This is most likely why you will not find any info on Lt Furlong, or rarely see any info in military records. Although, it is important to note, many units of the PS were at one time assigned under the PCs during the Post Fil-Am War fighting in Luzon, the Pulajane Era, and the Moro Rebellion Era. This is why you see so many PC and PS units commingled together from 1902-1913.

I have read during Furlongs trial, he vindicated himself in court...and what was brought out in court made him look like a true hero, thus the allegations taking the opposite effect on his status and reputation...going on to where it mentioned, rather then a courtmartial or a demotion, they promoted him to Captain. But he may have denied this promotion and still because of the trial of his acts and these allegations left a very terrible taste in his mouth. He seemed to be an extremely sensitive individual. I have only read about that promotion in one article, so I still have a hard time trusting that source. His trial is somewhere out there on record and documented, it would be nice to find that piece of evidence as it would contain a large chunk of his career and background.

I commend you on setting this up and giving Lt Furlong his due recognition. He finally deserves his due place in US and Philippine history. Please email me and I can send you what I have on Lt Furlong. And maybe we can both do a collaborative search on the life of Lt Furlong.

[e-mail]

[galahad143]

I found Leonard Furlong's brother, CW Furlong, he was a sort of Indiana Jones himself. He lived until 1965. His things were donated to the University of Oregon. However, there were not much mention of Leonard. I will dig deeper.

[dimasalang]

Nov 29, 2009 22:13:46 GMT -5 galahad143 said:

I found Leonard Furlong's brother, CW Furlong, he was a sort of Indiana Jones himself. He lived until 1965. His things were donated to the University of Oregon. However, there were not much mention of Leonard. I will dig deeper.

galahad143, I was hoping to hear from you but haven't. I wanted to share with you an old book I just received the other week with an entire chapter dedicated to the life of Leonard Furlong. Includes reference from Charles Furlong on his brothers life and death. As well as the diagnoses of Leonard and possibly what drove him over the edge. It also mentions he did reach the rank of Captain. Very interesting read.

[James]

I visited Leonard Furlong's grave in the North Manila cemetery a couple years ago. He is buried in the Philippine Constabulary section there. My wife actually found his grave marker among hundreds of others in the Constabulary section even though it was covered with grass and dirt. We cleaned it up, said a few prayers and took some pictures.
The North Manila cemetery is near the Chinese cemetery in Manila. His grave is to the left after you enter the Constabulary section.
An interesting man indeed; more should be written about him. J.

[VeeVee]

Do you have a picture of his gravestone?

[James]

Hi

Yes, I have a picture of his gravestone. Sorry that I didn't reply sooner, I just returned from India. I'll find it and send it to you and/or this site.
I apologize about my lack of computer ability. You will have to let me know how to do this. J.

[galahad143]

Dimasalang, I apologize for not being able to respond right away, I was on TDY OCONUS, but i have contacted Oregon U and they will be sending me info on Leonard that was together with Charles' box. They did indicate that it did not contain any events that happened in the Philippines, but however the box contained his journal. I requested for copies of a few pages of this journal and determine if it is worth getting the whole thing. Someone online also claimed that they have an old cannon with Capt. Leonard Furlong's name inscripted on it. I will email you. - Galahad143 (J.A. Mercado)

[galahad143]

James, wow...I can't wait to see the pictures. Now I know he is not burried at Arlington cemetery.

[dimasalang]

Jan 30, 2010 11:41:06 GMT -5 galahad143 said:

Dimasalang, I apologize for not being able to respond right away, I was on TDY OCONUS, but i have contacted Oregon U and they will be sending me info on Leonard that was together with Charles' box. They did indicate that it did not contain any events that happened in the Philippines, but however the box contained his journal. I requested for copies of a few pages of this journal and determine if it is worth getting the whole thing. Someone online also claimed that they have an old cannon with Capt. Leonard Furlong's name inscripted on it. I will email you. - Galahad143 (J.A. Mercado)

Hey hows it goin?! I got your email and sent you a reply. ;D

[galahad143]

Hey Dimasalang,
I received the photo copies from the University. They were all correspondence from various members of Leonard's unit addressed to CW Furlong describing how Leonard was when he was still alive. One affectionately referred to him as Nardo these dated back between 1915 to the 1930s. The other written in 1915 by a certain Sarah and Elizabeth Metcalf in which she described Leonard's grave to his brother. How he laid to rest in a former battle ground and how it was appropriate for a fallen warrior to be burried there, there were also talks of exhuming his body to be transported back to the states, I guess that did nto materialize. There was nothing among the papers sent from Leonard himself. I would have wanted to interview the authors of these letters to get more information of him. A certain Mr. White who wrote in scripts (I could not make out most of the writing) mentioned Swish of the Kris which mentions Furlong's exploits and he stated that "your brother should have had more credit in Hurley's book; "Swish of the Kris" for some of the captures and successful encounters with the Moros..." The letters were of great historical importance and also mentioned that Leonard's memory should not be forgotten. I would post the letters here, but the University stated that I cannot post it on any website.
I will inquire if there were more or if CW Furlong who should also be remembered as a living Indiana Jones had any actual journals about Leonard or his exploits. I know his effects were shipped in a box back to the states after he died, I wonder if CW was recorded as his next of kin.
- Galahad

[dimasalang]

Hi Galahad, Great to hear you got those letters. Interesting that Elizabeth Metcalf mentioned Leonard was buried in a former battle ground. We already received word he is buried in the PC section of North Cemetery. I would guess that she would be talking about the early battle at the start of the Phil-Am War that took place at La Loma and possibly on sections of what are now North Cemetery. I would also guess Mr White never read and never knew about Vic Hurleys "Jungle Patrol", which has a larger section devoted to Leonard Furlong.
Funny you mention CW Furlong, after I read about his accomplishments, it really does sound like the Indian Jones character is based off CW Furlong! HAHA

If we don't hear from James, I believe we can find some one, or possibly a member here that can venture off to North Cemetery and snap a photo of Leonards grave. Really curious now...I am thinking it is faded with weeds and vines all over it.

[galahad143]

Dimasalang,
A hand written letter by S.S. Metcalf (I suspect Sarah) stated that the location of Leonard's grave is (the letter was dated May 26, 1916) at Cemeterio del Norte Section 136, lot 4 Grave number 5. This should make it easier to whom ever wants to snap pictures of our fallen hero's grave site. On some of the Metcalf's letters, she mentions that she took photos of the grave but it didn't turn out well as the sun reflected the writting off, she did say that there was a wood carving at the foot of the cross which she took pictures of and came out good. She stated that she sent the photos along with that letter and the negatives to CW Furlong.
-Galahad

[galahad143]

I found a good website source for the Moroland wars... www.morolandhistory.com there are planty of pictures, maps and short history on several battles that took place. - Galahad