CUBA. 



229 



battle they could keep the Spanish army busy, for 

 they had complete intelligence of its movements. 

 At Paso Heal, however, they formed in line of 

 battle and charged the Spanish regulars command- 

 ed by (Jen. Luque. Afterward they besieged Can- 

 delaria until Gen. Canella came to its relief and 

 drove them out with artillery, his own infantry sus- 

 taining several - '//(? charges. Gen. Ma- 

 rin was obliged to send detachments to the relief of 

 ,tl oilier towns. While heavy fighting \\ a-- 

 going on in the west, the eastern rebels, by order 

 of Gomez, remained on the defensive, saving their 

 ammunition in case it should be needed for the 

 i-n campaign. On Feb. 11. at the sugar estate 

 of Nueva Empresa. near Candelaria. where Maceo 

 had his headquarters, a severe battle was fought, in 

 which the Spanish commander. Gen. Cornell, was 

 killed. On Feb. IS Maceo attacked the city of 

 Jaruco and captured the forts with 80 guns, but 

 retired after burning the place when Spanish troops 

 arrived by train. The next day he joined (Jen. 

 Gomez, and together they inflicted a defeat on a 

 Spanish column near the sugar estate of Moralito, 

 and afterward attacked Catalina de Guines and put 

 'the Spaniards to flight. A serious encounter oc- 

 curred near Elgato, where the Spaniards again 

 retired. After this they passed all the Spanish 

 lines and marched eastward. 



Gen. Weyler'* Policy. The Government at 

 Madrid appointed to succeed Martinez Camp 

 Captain General and commander-in-chief of the 

 forces Gen. Nicola Valeriano Weyler. the man most 

 desired by the vindictive Cuban Spaniards, who in 

 the former war had exasperated the Cubans by his 

 harsh and cruel acts, while the humane methods of 

 Campos brought the bitter struggle to an end. 

 Gen. Marin and Gen. Pando were continued in 

 high commands, while Gen. Jose Arderius and the 

 other coadjutors of Campos returned with him to 

 Spain. Autonomists who were mayors of towns or 

 officials under Gen. Campos resigned their post-. 

 Numbers of people left Havana on vessels, and a 

 great many escaped through the Spanish lines to 

 swell the ranks of the insurgents. 



The new Captain General arrived on a Spanish 

 cruiser on Feb. 10. About 18.000 Spanish troops 

 sailed for Cuba a few days later. A large propor- 

 tion of the re-enforcements were cavalry, for whom 

 horses were procured in Cuba and the United States. 

 The Spaniards hitherto, although contending with 

 a foe consisting mainly of mounted infantrymen, 

 had no effective mounted troops. Their cavalry 

 was weak and worthless alike for scouting or action 

 in masses, sometimes even being placed for safety 

 in the center of the Spanish squares. On Feb. 11 

 Gen. Weyler published a series of proclamations 

 addressed to the army and the inhabitants of Cuba. 

 He said that the recent march of the principal lead- 

 ers of the revolution indicated indifference on the 

 part of the inhabitants and also fear and discour- 

 agement, and that all who were on the Spanish side 

 musr demonstrate the fact with acts and sacrifices: 

 towns must establish their own defenses and guides 

 must be provided for the army and intelligence of 

 the enemy's movements promptly furnished so that 

 it should not again be the case that the insurgents 

 had better information than the Spanish command- 

 ers. The civil and military authorities were or- 

 dered to arrest all who show in any way help or 

 sympathy for the rebels. In his proclamation to 

 the people of Cuba he threatened that such persons 

 would be punished with the utmost rigor. He de- 

 clared that he had no political mission, but he 

 would not oppose the Government if. after he had 

 re-established peace and order, it should be thought 

 convenient to give reforms to Cuba in the spirit of 

 love that actuates a mother who gives all things to 



her children. One of Weyler's first acts was to can- 

 cel a decree under which some political prisoners 

 from Santiago were bring shipped to Ceuta. 



('apt. -(Jen. Weyler issued a derive on Feb. 16 de- 

 claring the following offenders to be liable to court- 

 martial and punishable with death or life impris- 

 onment : Those who invent or circulate news or in- 

 formation directly or indirectly favorable to the 

 rebellion: those who destroy or damage or inter- 

 rupt the operation of railroads, telegraphs, or tele- 

 phones : persons guilty of arson : those who sell, 

 carry, or deliver anr.s and ammunition to the ene- 

 my, or fail to cause the seizure of such arms or 

 ammunition ; telegraph operators delivering war 

 messages to other pel-sons than the proper officials; 

 those who by word of mouth, through the medium 

 of the press, or in any other manner belittle the 

 prestige of Spain or the army, the volunteers, or 

 any other forces operating with the army : those 

 who by the same means praise the enemy: T 

 furnishing the enemy with horses or other resources 

 of warfare : those who act as spies: those who act 

 as guides for the enemv and fail to surrender them- 

 selves immediately and give proof of their loyalty 

 and report the strength of the enemy's forces : 

 those who adulterate the food of the army or alter 

 the prices of provisions; those using explosives 

 without authority : and those employing pigeons, 

 rockets, or signals to convey news to the enemy. 

 Another proclamation of the same date required all 

 the inhabitants of the provinces of Santiago and 

 Puerto Principe and the district of Sancti Spiritus 

 to present themselves at the military headquarters 

 and provide themselves with a document proving 

 their identity, and forbade any person's going into 

 the country without obtaining a special pass from 

 the mayor or the military commander. It further 

 ordered all stores in the country districts to be va- 

 cated at once. The towns and plantations were 

 still deprived of their guards. Gen. Weyler requir- 

 ing the troops for operations in the field. Conse- 

 quently the rebels invaded the towns at their 

 pleasure and supplied themselves from the stores: 

 and they stopped all agricultural work, hanging 

 laborers who did not obey their decree. The ener- 

 getic campaign begun by Marin against Maceo was 

 carried on with still greater vigor after the arrival 

 of Gen. Weyler. In Santa Clara Col. Lopez at- 

 tacked near Palo Prieto the forces of Sera fin San- 

 chez and Mirabel as they were escorting the Cuban 

 President and his Cabinet, and after several bayo- 

 net charges on the one side and machete charges in 

 the other the revolutionary forces retreated, having 

 lost more than 100 killed and wounded. The insur- 

 gents became more active in this part of Cuba, de- 

 stroying bridges and attacking towns. Quintin 

 Bandera and Rodriguez were repelled by the Span- 

 ish garrison at Guaracabulla. Stations on the Ma- 

 tanzas Railroad were burned by rebels. When it 

 was reported that 24 political prisoners were shot 

 on Feb. 12 in the Cabanas prison. Gen. Gomez gave 

 notice that if Cubans in the cities were shot lie 

 would retaliate by shooting Spaniards in the inte- 

 rior. Gen. Weyler publicly announced that prison- 

 er- taken in action would be subject to summary 

 trial by court-martial, but required death sentences 

 to be submitted to him for ratification. Neverthe- 

 less from that time it was a common practice to 

 shoot prisoners captured by the Spaniards, and even 

 the wounded Cubans on the field of battle or in cap- 

 tured hospitals. Gen. Weyler endeavored to cuib 

 the inhumanity of his subordinates. Gen. Canella 

 he deprived of his command for shooting IT pris- 

 oners; but after he had appointed the ranking 

 military officers to fill the places of alcaldes whom 

 he distrusted, they applied military methods in 

 dealing with noncombatants and neutrals, think- 



