The hardest fighting in Intramuros was the 129th�s effort to capture Ft. Santiago in the northwest corner of the old walls.� They fought room to room, and then through subterranean dungeons and tunnels, using flamethrowers, phosphorus grenades, demolitions and bazookas.� In some cases, they poured gasoline or oil through holes in the floor then ignited it to flush out the die-in-place defenders.� The regiment did not secure the last of the fort�s tunnels until 1200 on 25 February. [xxxviii]

During the fighting in Intramuros, some Japanese troops attempted to exfiltrate wearing U.S. uniforms and carrying M1 rifles.� Others showed a white flag in the belfry of Del Monico church only to follow up with rifle fire.� None of this helped them.� Only twenty-five Japanese surrendered in the Intramuros fighting, all of them Formosans of the Imperial Japanese Labor Force.� At dawn on 26 February, seeing that the Intramuros stronghold had fallen, Rear Admiral Iwabuchi and his staff committed suicide at their headquarters in the Agriculture Building. [xxxix]

Despite the loss of Intramuros, the Japanese still held three strong positions, the Legislative, Finance and Agriculture Buildings, which lay just southeast of the old fortress.� Since Rear Adm. Iwabuchi had expected U.S. attacks to come from the south, he had fortified these buildings more thoroughly than the more northerly strongpoints.� It is probably also for this reason that Iwabuchi had put his headquarters in the Agriculture Building.� The Legislative, Finance and Agriculture Buildings were of reinforced concrete.� Window-sited machine guns covered exterior approaches.� Sandbags and barricades blocked all ground-level doors and windows.� Interiors were also fortified as in other strongpoints.�

The U.S. artillery preparation on the buildings began on 25 February.� However, the 1st Cavalry Division, then deployed along the bay shore west of Intramuros, reported shells falling on its positions.� These were 37th Infantry Division rounds that had overshot the government buildings to fall on the 1st Cavalry Division.� Major General Robert S. Beightler, commander of the 37th Infantry Division, immediately ordered a ceasefire at 1050 to resolve this problem by shifting troops out of the fire zone.� Fires resumed at 1245. [xl]

On 26 February, the148th Infantry Regiment assaulted the Legislative Building and secured it by 28 February.� The regiment�s troops were harassed by Japanese firing up through holes in the floor and had to withdraw after their first assault to allow more shelling of the still vigorously resisting defenders.� On 26 February, the 5th Cavalry Regiment assaulted the Agriculture Building after an artillery preparation, but troops had to withdraw because of withering Japanese covering fire from the nearby San Luis Terrace Apartments.� The 5th Cavalry Regiment had to spend 27 February clearing out the apartments.� On 28 February, the regiment returned to the Agriculture Building with a three-hour artillery preparation.� Point-blank 155mm howitzer fires alternated with point-blank tank and tank-destroyer fires, with all of these fires aimed no higher than the first floor of the Agriculture Building so as to avoid endangering friendly troops.� Much of the Agriculture Building thus pancaked on its own first floor, and the 5th Cavalry Regiment assaulted into what was left.� A flamethrower tank reduced a pillbox on the southeast corner, and other tanks swarmed around the building to provide point-blank 75mm fire.� The 5th Cavalry Regiment otherwise used flamethrowers, bazookas and small arms.�

On 1 March, the 5th Cavalry Regiment made a surrender appeal to Japanese survivors.� When there was no response, the regiment employed demolitions and burning gasoline and oil against remaining defenders.� An artillery preparation was applied against the sole remaining Japanese position, the Finance Building, on 28 February and 1 March.� A surrender appeal this time garnered twenty-five Japanese responses.� After more artillery preparation on 2 March, the 148th Infantry Regiment assaulted the building.� They cleared the last of the Japanese defenders from the elevator shaft on top of the building on the morning of 3 March. [xli]

On the afternoon of 3 March Lieutenant General Oscar W. Griswold, commander of 14th Corps, reported to Gen. Krueger of 6th Army that all resistance had ceased.� The struggle to capture Manila was over. [xlii] The struggle to administer the battle-torn city, however, was just beginning.�� U.S. military assets on the scene would play a major part in reviving and running Manila for several weeks after the battle.� The task of administering the city was complicated by the enormous toll the battle had taken.� U.S. casualties in the battle were 1,010 killed in action (KIA) and 5,565 wounded in action (WIA), for a total of 6,575. �Japanese counted dead were 16,665.� In addition, there were an estimated 100,000 civilian casualties, of varying degrees of seriousness and of diverse causes; most were probably generated by Japanese executions and atrocities toward Philippine civilians, by friendly fire from American artillery, and by mishap or exposure associated with dislocation.� Much of Manila itself was in ruins.� The water system within the city needed extensive repairs.� Sewage and garbage collection systems were not functioning.� The electrical system was out.� Most streets were ruined and public transportation no longer existed.� The major government buildings, the Philippine General Hospital, and the University of Philippines were destroyed, along with many residential districts.� The port installations were severely damaged.� Besides all this, numerous homeless civilians were milling about seeking food, shelter, and medical care. [xliii]

U.S. forces in Manila were immediately enlisted for occupation duty.� After the battle, the 37th Infantry Division bivouacked� near Grace Park, in the northern suburbs.� On 5 March, the division was removed from 14th Corps, placed directly under 6th Army, and given the mission of providing security for the city.� Troops from the division were distributed to Filipino police stations, and so they had to deal with collaborators brought in by civilians until the Counterintelligence Corps could investigate.� Looting was a major problem for the division�s security troops.� Large-scale looting was conducted during the battle by organized bands of Filipinos who moved just behind the American advance.� The looters placed a point man in the American front lines to identify where the spoils were richest, allowing those behind to carry off the goods without delay.� American security troops did not try to reverse the looting done during the battle.� They stopped further looting when the battle was over, however, by mounting guard and patrol duty throughout the city, 24 hours a day. [xliv]

Security forces faced the problem of the city being strewn with numerous mines, unexploded shells, and booby traps.� Areas where fighting had been heaviest were roped off from the public by military police until the 37th Infantry Division�s engineer companies could clear them.� On 8 March, the track was blown off a U.S. bulldozer on Dewey Boulevard.� There were occasional casualties from mines throughout March.� The 117th Engineer Battalion piled fifty tons of cleared mines and shells in Burnham Green Park, where on 16 March these exploded from causes unknown.� There were no casualties.� The 117th Engineers were also busy repairing warehouses, plumbing and electrical facilities, and building an airstrip and Red Cross recreation center. [xlv]

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