by the Kawit Batallion from his headquarters in Bayambang that del Pilar would have gone down as Luna's killer. Del Pilar and Aguinaldo then descended upon General Concepcion's headquarters in Pampanga to relieve him of his position, as he was suspected to be partisan to the assassinated general. Troops surrounded Concepcion's headquarters and sentries were replaced by the presidential guards. Concepción was then relieved of his command on suspicions of a conspiracy being plotted against Aguinaldo. Del Pilar was then tasked with taking possession of Luna's old headquarters in Bayambang, and of liquidating Luna's former aides-de-camp, Manuel and José Bernal. He arrived in Bayambang on June 7 and managed to capture a younger Bernal brother, Angel, who was arrested and maltreated. Manuel Bernal was captured a few days later, located in the house of the Nable José family. Remedios or Dolores, daughters of the family, was said to be one of del Pilar's last loves. Manuel was tortured in the presence of his younger brother Angel by del Pilar and his brother Julian del Pilar for a week before he was killed. José Bernal was captured soon after, taken to Angeles, Pampanga and murdered by soldiers thereafter. After this, del Pilar was given command in Pangasinan, where he stayed for five months from June to November 1899. He was also posted in Pangasinan to defend against a possible mutiny from Ilocanos outraged with Luna's assassination, as well as to defend against the Guardia de Honor, a millenarian cult fashioned after the Katipunan. During this time, the American forces were unusually quiet but the revolutionary government failed to capitalize on this opportunity. Del Pilar himself, was engaged in a number of love affairs. In a letter sent to a relative in Bulacan, he asked for the finest of riding boots, while he ordered the best horses in Dagupan to show off his horsemanship. By November, Tarlac had fallen to the Americans and Aguinaldo was moving northward towards Bayambang. From Bayambang, the fleeing government led an expedition to Santa Barbara. Del Pilar, at the time, had 2,000 troops: 1,000 in the del Pilar Brigade, 350 in the Joven column, 400 in the Kawit Battalion, 100 in the Corps of Lancers, and two vanguard companies. del Pilar led the expedition northward towards Ilocos. During this time he carried a briefcase containing a girl's letter and a lock of hair, from one of his