232 



CUBA. 



By taking a course far to the east the vessel avoided 

 the Spanish cruisers that were on the watch, and 

 finally made a landing in eastern Cuba. With some 

 off the munitions that were not landed the vessel 

 proceeded to Puerto Cortez, where the arms were 

 seized by the Honduras Government. The " Com- 

 petitor" was captured in April by a Spanish vessel 

 off the coast of Pinar del Rio after Col. Jose Mon- 

 zon had landed an expedition of more than 100 

 men, half of them Americans, with 3,000 rifles, 

 400,000 cartridges, a quantity of dynamite, and 

 several Hotchkiss and Gatling guns in the harbor 

 of Mariel. 



Gen. Collazo and 57 men were transferred off 

 Alligator Key from a schooner to the new steamer 

 "Three Friends," which took the "Mallory" in 

 tow with her cargo, consisting of 900,000 rounds of 

 ammunition and 1,600 rifles, 1,000 pounds of dyna- 

 mite, a 12-pound Hotchkiss cannon, revolvers, and 

 machetes, and landed them on the coast of Matan- 

 zas province on March 25, where a part of the expe- 

 dition was lost in an encounter with the Spaniards. 

 The Danish steamer "Horsa" was seized by the 

 United States authorities for carrying an armed 

 expedition intended for Cuba, and her captain and 

 mates were tried and sentenced to sixteen months' 

 imprisonment for violating the neutrality laws. 

 The "Commodore" got off with a filibustering ex- 

 pedition from Charleston on March 12 and reached 

 Cuba in safety. In April several expeditions were 

 landed at different points on the coast. On April 

 27 the "Bermuda" sailed from Jacksonville with 

 another cargo of arms and ammunition, including 

 machine guns and torpedoes and a company of 

 about 400 men, nearly half of them Americans, 

 under Col. Layte Vidal and Col. Torres. When a 

 part of the men and arms were being landed in 

 small boats a Spanish gunboat sank one of the 

 boats. The "Bermuda" steamed away to Hon- 

 duras with the rest of the expedition and the arms 

 and ammunition were thrown overboard. Another 

 expedition under A. F. Gonzalez left Fort Meyers 

 on May 12. On May 16 the "Three Friends" 

 slipped away from Jacksonville on her second voy- 

 age with a large quantity of munitions, which were 

 landed on May 29 in Santa Clara. The " Laurada " 

 landed a cargo of arms and a company under Gen. 

 Juan Fernandez Ruz on May 16, and on May 25 

 sailed from Charliton with another expedition 

 organized by Rafael Portuonto, the Cuban Secre- 

 tary of State. On June 18 the " Three Friends " 

 made a fourth trip, carrying an expedition com- 

 manded by Julian Zarraga, and on June 26 a fifth 

 under Dr. Joaquin de Castillo, who landed men, 

 arms, and dynamite close to Havana. On its return 

 that vessel and the " City of Richmond," with arms 

 on board, were seized at Key West by a United 

 States revenue cutter. The steamer " Commodore," 

 which was carrying another party of Cubans with 

 military supplies, was chased in Tampa Bay by a 

 .revenue cutter, but escaped. The filibusters ar- 

 rested on the "City of Richmond," having been 

 acquitted by a jury, sailed with the munitions, 

 which had been restored, on the " Three Friends." 

 They landed near Havana, but before the rebel 

 guides arrived a Spanish detatchment appeared, 

 and the filibusters fled. Before they reached the 

 insurgents several perished in the forest and others 

 were intercepted and killed by the Spaniards. On 

 July 12 the "Laurada" sailed from Philadelphia. 

 Late in July Capt. Cabrera landed an expedition in 

 the vicinity of Cienfuegos. 



On July 30 a proclamation was issued by Presi- 

 dent Cleveland directing attention to the judicial 

 interpretation of the neutrality laws, according to 

 which any combinntion of persons organized in the 

 United States for the purpose of proceeding to and 



making war upon a foreign country with which the 

 United States are at peace, and provided with arms 

 to be used for such purpose, constitutes a military 

 expedition or enterprise within the meaning of said 

 neutrality laws, and the providing or preparing of 

 the means for such military expedition or enterprise 

 includes furnishing or aiding in transportation, and 

 therefore warning all citizens of the United States 

 and others that violations of these laws would be 

 vigorously prosecuted. 



Gen. Weyler published a decree offering a reward 

 of $24,000 to any person giving information leading 

 to the capture of a filibustering expedition on board 

 a steamer by a Spanish man-of-war, and one of 

 $9.000 for information of any expedition on board 

 a sailing vessel, and if the master of a vessel chose 

 to earn the reward by betraying his passengers and 

 cargo he was offered immunity from criminal re- 

 sponsibility. After President Cleveland issued his 

 E reclamation the filibusters were careful to trans- 

 ;>r shipments of arms to the blockade-runners on 

 the high seas. Gen. Carlos Roloff, the Cuban Secre- 

 tary of War, landed a large supply of cartridges 

 and dynamite and 4 Hotchkiss guns for Maceo on 

 the coast of Pinar del Rio. Two other expeditions 

 escaped the vigilance of the Spaniards. Lieut. Al- 

 vared brought 500 recruits for Maceo on the " Hart- 

 way," half of them American sharpshooters. Rafael 

 ( labrera conducted another of the expeditions, which 

 brought 1,900,000 rounds of ammunition. Later 

 Juan Ruiz Rivera landed in Bahia Honda from the 

 "Three Friends" 1,000 rifles, 460,000 cartridges, 

 2,000 pounds of dynamite, and a pneumatic dyna- 

 mite gun. .The "Dauntless" and other vessels 

 landed fresh supplies for Gomez in the east. Gen. 

 Carlos Roloff, Col. Emilio Nunez, and Dr. J. B. 

 Castillo were at different times arrested by the 

 United States authorities on the charge of fitting 

 out military expeditions. The "Dauntless," the 

 " Three Friends," and the " Commodore " were in 

 the St. John's river early in October, closely watched 

 by revenue cutters, with the man-of-war "Newark" 

 outside ready to intercept them if they sailed with 

 warlike cargoes. Nevertheless the " Dauntless " stole 

 out and took on a large quantity of arms, including 

 2 rnelenite guns, at Palm Beach. A large expedi- 

 tion from France, commanded by Fernando Freire 

 y Andrada, brought 5,000 rifles and 1.000,000 car- 

 tridges, which were landed at the extreme end of 

 Pinar del Rio. The "Commodore " sailed with an 

 expedition from Jacksonville on Jan. 1, 1897, but 

 foundered off the coast of Florida. 



Outrages on Americans. Consul-General Ra- 

 mon C. Williams had frequent controversies with 

 the Spanish Captain General over illegalities com- 

 mitted by the authorities or outrages by the offi- 

 cers or soldiers on American citizens. In the case 

 of Julio Sanguilly, who was sentenced to death by 

 court-martial as one of the chief instigators of the 

 rebellion, the American representative insisted, un- 

 der the treaty, on a civil trial, and when similar 

 cases arose later he took the same stand. Soon 

 after the arrival of Gen. Weyler the relations be- 

 tween him and the American consul general be- 

 came so unsatisfactory that Mr. Williams offered 

 his resignation, which was not accepted at the time. 

 Gen. Melguizo's men killed all the employees on the 

 Garrido estate and severely wounded Dr. Garrido, 

 an American citizen, on March 30. The killing of 

 pacificos by the troops of Melguizo, Bernal, Tort, 

 Segura, Molina, and other Spanish commanders gave 

 grounds for frequent complaints. The residence 

 of the brothers Farrar, Americans, who owned a 

 coffee plantation, was looted and destroyed by 

 Spanish soldiers. The French Government made 

 a claim for damages done to the estate of Domingo 

 Betarte and the murder of Duarte, the manager. 



