Enrique de las Morena y Fossi refused. Immediately, the Filipinos attacked Baler in a battle that was to last for seven months. Despite being outnumbered, hunger and disease, the battalion did not give up. In the meantime, Zayas and the rest of the battalion were totally unaware of the Spanish–American War that was going on. In August 1898, the hostilities between the United States and Spain came to an end. Spain ceded its claim over the Philippine Islands to the United States in accordance with the bilateral Treaty of Paris. Spanish surrender In May 1899, the battalion at Baler found out about the Spanish–American War and its aftermath. They had been unaware that they had been fighting for a possession that was no longer theirs to fight for. On June 2, 1899 the battalion's commander, Lieutenant Martín Cerezo surrendered to the Tagalos only after some conditions were met. Among the conditions were the following: That the Spaniards not be treated as prisoners of war and that they would not be harmed in their quest of reaching a Spanish ship that would take them back to Spain. The 32 survivors of Zayas's battalion were sent to Manila where they boarded a ship headed for their homeland. In Spain, they were given a hero's welcome and became known as "Los Últimos de Filipinas" () and also as "Los Últimos de Baler" (). Second Lieutenant Juan Alonso Zayas was not among the survivors. He died, on October 8, 1898, from beriberi and with several other members of his unit was buried in San Luis de Tolosa, the church of Baler. See also List of Puerto Ricans List of Puerto Rican military personnel References External links Juan Alonso Zayas Zayas, Juan Alonzo Zayas, Juan Alonzo Zayas, Juan Alonzo Zayas, Juan Alonzo People of the Spanish colonial Americas People of Spanish colonial Philippines People of the Spanish–American War Zayas, Juan Alonzo Zayas, Juan Alonzo Zayas, Juan Alonzo Zayas, Juan Alonzo 19th-century South American people Infectious disease deaths in the Philippines