<P> The Battle of Bataan ( 7 January -- 9 April 1942 ) represented the most intense phase of Imperial Japan 's invasion of the Philippines during World War II . In January 1942 , forces of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy invaded Luzon along with several islands in the Philippine Archipelago after the bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor . The commander - in - chief of all Filipino and American forces in the islands , General Douglas MacArthur , consolidated all of his Luzon - based units on the Bataan Peninsula to fight against the Japanese invaders . By this time , the Japanese controlled nearly all of Southeast Asia . The Bataan peninsula and the island of Corregidor were the only remaining Allied strongholds in the region . Despite a lack of supplies , Filipino and American forces managed to fight the Japanese for three months , engaging them initially in a fighting retreat southward . As the combined Filipino and American forces made a last stand , the delay cost the Japanese valuable time and prevented immediate victory across the Pacific . The surrender at Bataan , with 76,000 soldiers surrendering in the Philippines altogether , was the largest in American and Filipino military histories , and was the largest United States surrender since the American Civil War 's Battle of Harper 's Ferry . Soon afterwards , Filipino and American prisoners of war were forced into the Bataan Death March . </P>
<P> The Battle of Bataan ( 7 January -- 9 April 1942 ) represented the most intense phase of Imperial Japan 's invasion of the Philippines during World War II . In January 1942 , forces of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy invaded Luzon along with several islands in the Philippine Archipelago after the bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor . The commander - in - chief of all Filipino and American forces in the islands , General Douglas MacArthur , consolidated all of his Luzon - based units on the Bataan Peninsula to fight against the Japanese invaders . By this time , the Japanese controlled nearly all of Southeast Asia . The Bataan peninsula and the island of Corregidor were the only remaining Allied strongholds in the region . Despite a lack of supplies , Filipino and American forces managed to fight the Japanese for three months , engaging them initially in a fighting retreat southward . As the combined Filipino and American forces made a last stand , the delay cost the Japanese valuable time and prevented immediate victory across the Pacific . The surrender at Bataan , with 76,000 soldiers surrendering in the Philippines altogether , was the largest in American and Filipino military histories , and was the largest United States surrender since the American Civil War 's Battle of Harper 's Ferry . Soon afterwards , Filipino and American prisoners of war were forced into the Bataan Death March . </P>
commander of the american and filipino forces in bataan
commander of the american and filipino forces in bataan
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur