According to available records, including the biography of General Gregorio del Pilar, entitled "Life and Death of a Boy General" (written by Teodoro Kalaw, former director of the National Library of the Philippines), a fort was constructed at Kakarong de Sili that was like a miniature city. It had streets, an independent police force, a military band, a military arsenal with factories for bolos and artillery, and repair shops for rifles and cartridges. The Kakarong Republic had a complete set of officials, with Canuto Villanueva as Supreme Chief and Captain General of the military forces, and Eusebio Roque, also known by his nom-de-guerre "Maestrong Sebio", then head of the Katipunan local organization, as Brigadier General of the Army of the Republic. The fort was attacked and completely destroyed on January 1, 1897, by a large Spanish force headed by General Olaguer-Feliu. General Gregorio del Pilar was only a lieutenant at that time, and the Battle of Kakarong de Sili was his first "baptism of fire". This was where he was first wounded and escaped to Manatal, a nearby barangay.