Emilio Aguinaldo have returned from exile in Hong Kong and is amassing a large force to drive out the Spanish from Cavite. General Leopoldo Garcia Peña, the Spanish military commander at Cavite, was hard-pressed with 2,800 Spanish troops scattered in various detachments in Cavite Province. The combined forces of Generals Luciano San Miguel, Mariano Noriel, Artemio Ricarte and Juan Cailles, having with them about 6,000-8,000 troops, who began attacking and decimating Peña's units one by one. A column of 500 infantrymen was rushed from Manila to reinforce Peña.