allied troops from bataan became prisoners and were forced on the
Battle of Bataan 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,[1] 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.[4] Soon afterwards, Filipino and U.S. prisoners of war were forced into the Bataan Death March.[5]