CUBA. 



231 



despite the existence of war. Gen. Weyler 

 therefore anxious to raise tin- stat. ;i the 



provinces uf Pinar del Kid. Havana, and Matanzas. 

 On March s (ii-n. Weyk-r issued an edict in pur- 

 suance of his plan to insure the occupation of the 

 two first provinces before the date of the elections. 

 He ordered that <inanlin riril. or rural military 

 police, should be restored to regular duty, and per- 

 mitted a guerrilla force to lie organized by each 

 town. The insurgent bands operating in the west- 

 ern provinces were practically placed under the 

 bandit laws of Spain. Amnesty was offered to all 

 rebels who surrendered within fifteen days, except 

 members of bands that had been guilty of robbing 

 or burning property. The town authorities were 

 required to report the names of all persons who 

 had joined the rebel forces, and unless the latter 

 - up within the stated period their 

 property would be confiscated. All residents along 

 the line's of railroads and telegraphs were made re- 

 -ible for prompt information of damages done 

 to the lines, and were required to co-operate ac- 

 tively in the work of repairs a dangerous task, 

 since the insurgents were in the habit of hanging 

 or shooting persons thus engaged. Another circu- 

 lar, dated "March 5. offered terms of amnesty to the 

 rebels of Matanzas. Santa Clara, Puerto Principe, 

 and Santiago de Cuba, provided they had been 

 guilty of no other crimes than that of rebellion, on 

 condition that they surrendered themselves with 

 their arms. Those who thus surrendered would re- 

 main under surveillance, and if they came without 

 arms they would be confined in the towns or for- 

 '!i March 9 he published a circular grant- 

 ing pardon to all persons who had been arrested in 

 Havana and Pinar del Rio provinces provided they 

 denied having belonged to rebel bands, had no 

 charges of common crime against them, and were 

 willing to take the oath of allegiance to Spain. At 

 the same time numbers of fresh prisoners 

 being brought to Morro Castle from Santa Clara. 

 There Lieut. -Gen. Pando issued an order for the en- 

 listment of all persons able to bear arms, those be- 

 tween the ages of twenty and forty years in the 

 battalions of volunteers and those between forty 

 and sixty in the home guards, those failing to com- 

 ply to be treated as This order was not 

 approved by the Captain General, nor were the 

 wholesale arrests of suspects. The elections were 

 ordered to be held on April 12. The Reformist 

 party declined to take part. Then the Autonomists, 

 in spite of the entreaties and threats of the Captain 

 General, refused to nominate candidates or t< 

 except for representatives of the university and 

 the Economical Society of Havana. Consequently 

 the Conservative or Union Constitutional candi- 

 dates were the only ones named, and they were de- 

 clared elected. 



With the view of inflicting a serious blow on 

 Weyler at the very time when the Captain General 

 nnouncing the pacification of the western end 

 of the island. Gen. Maceo determined to attack 

 Batabano. which the Spaniards regarded as one of 

 their strongest ports. Entering the town in the 

 evening of March 13 in three columns, the Cuban 

 infantry overcame the garrison and captured 50 

 guns and destroyed the town before withdrawing. 

 A larire detachment under Leoncio Vidal was sent 

 by Gomez into the city of Santa Clara in the night 

 of March 22. The rebels compelled the volui: 

 to surrender 240,000 rounds of ammunition, all 

 there was in the city. Similar raids in smaller 

 places became frequent, and they were facilitated 

 by a recent decree of Gen. Weyler forbidding the 

 sale of petroleum. After joining the column of 

 Perico Garcia. Maceo. on March 15. entered Pinar 

 del Rio. At the sugar estate of Xeptuno his cav- 



alry compelled a force of Spanish infantry to re- 

 treat, and when another Spanish column ('aim- up. 

 he attacked it so impetuously that it retired with- 

 out being able td u>e its artillery. < n March 16. 

 near Candelaria. V., . ,1 ;( Spaniel force 



commanded by (fen. Linaiv* and Col. Inclan and 

 routed it by a timely cavalry charge, capturing 

 many prisoners with their arms and thou-ai, 

 rounds of ammunition and killing and wounding 

 hundreds. < >n March IS. after the Cuban cavalry 

 had again forced a Spanish column to retreat, a 

 strong force made a fierce attack mi Maceo m-ar 

 Cayajabo? and the Spanish artillery was brought 

 into action with effect, but with his strong cavalry 

 force Maceo was able to flank the Spaniards and 

 finally compel them to retire with a loss of :{iiu. 

 made an attack on the town of Pinar del 

 Rio, which he held for several hours, destroying 

 many buildings. 



iez. who invaded Santa Clara province while 

 Maceo was beginning his fresh campaign in Pinar 

 del Rio. established his headquarters within 15 

 miles of Las Cruzes. when Gen. Pando. rather than 

 risk a battle with the rebels, who were about 8.000 

 strong, retired to the port of Cienfuegos. For this 

 Gen. Pando was relieved of his command and sent 

 back to Spain. So also were several other distin- 

 guished generals. Gen. Gomez was not hindered in 

 his operations in Santa Clara by the Spanish f 

 though they largely outnumbered his. Gen. Go- 

 - force, which was placed in ambush to entrap 

 7. on March 24. fired by mistake on another 

 Spanish column led by Gen. Holguin. and in the 

 encounter IT soldiers were killed and 89 wounded. 

 Blunders of this kind were frequent. 



The Spanish forces after the arrival of the ninth 

 expedition numbered about 130.000 officers and 

 men. The number killed in the last three-months' 

 campaign of Marshal Campos was 1.900, and on 

 March 1 there were 5.500 sick and wounded in the 

 hospitals. The insurgent forces increased after the 

 arrival of Gen. Weyler to 44.^00 men, sufficient to 

 keep the royal army employed protecting the sea- 

 ports and large towns and guarding the coasts and 

 railroads, leaving but a small force available for 

 a^i.'resMve field operations and none for the protec- 

 tion of plantations and small towns, which duty de- 

 volved upon the local volunteer forces. 



Filibustering Expeditions. An attempt to 

 land 300 men and a large quantity of military sup- 

 plies in Cuba was made by Gen. Calixto Garcia, one 

 of the leaders of the former rebellion, but the 

 "Hawkins." on which the expedition sailed, was 

 lost at sea. The "Bermuda," a fleet British 

 steamer, when laden with arms and ammunition, 

 on Feb. 24. 1896. was detained by United States 

 federal officers in the harbor of New York, together 

 with the lighter " Stranahan.'* but the vessels were 

 surrendered to their owners on March 1. (f-n. Ca- 

 lixto Garcia and others who were about to sail on 

 the "Bermuda" were arrested and tried on the 

 charge of setting on foot a military expedition 

 against Cuba. On March 3 the "Stephen R. Mai- 

 lory." which Enrique Collazo and his friends had 

 loaded with munitions of war at Cedar Key-, 

 chased and seized by a United States revenue cut- 

 ter. A day or two later a vessel put out from Phila- 

 delphia with arms and ammunition, which were 

 safely landed in eastern Cuba and delivered into 

 the hands of the insurgents. Another expedition 

 left Philadelphia on March 11. The rifles, field 

 guns, machine guns, nwchfte*. and ammunition 

 taken from the "Bermuda " and afterward restored 

 to the Cuban patriots were placed on board that 

 vessel again, which sailed from Xew York on March 

 15. and off Atlantic City took on board the expedi- 

 tion, consisting of Gen. Garcia and 108 followers. 



