210 



CUBA. 



diaries, and robbers. To prevent further col- 

 lusion with American citizens, General Dulce 

 applied to the United States consul for the 

 names of all American residents in Cuba. At 

 La Lujas, five leagues from Cienfuegos, 1,500 

 insurgents burned, on February 20th, the ar- 

 chives of the police and the uniforms of the 

 civil guards, and took their arms and horses. 



The naval expedition from Havana against 

 the insurgents at La Guanaja was successful. 

 The fortifications erected there by the insur- 

 gents were first bombarded by the fleet. Troops 

 were then landed, and the works were carried 

 by assault. The rebels withdrew and retreated 

 into the country. A permanent garrison of 

 regulars was left in the town. 



Two battalions of troops marched from La 

 Guanaja to the relief of Puerto Principe, on 

 the 23d of February. Captain-General Dulce 

 addressed the sergeants and corporals of the 

 volunteer forces, exhorting them to maintain 

 order and obedience, and discountenance all 

 dangerous agitation. 



In several encounters between the Spanish 

 troops and the insurgents near Santa Cruz, in 

 February, the latter were defeated and forced 

 to fly to the mountains. Meanwhile General 

 Lesca, strongly reenforced, was pushing his way 

 into the interior from La Guanaja, and General 

 Puello arrived with his reinforcements at 

 Cienfuegos. An engagement took place at 

 Colonia de St. Domingo, in the province of 

 Sagua la Grande, in which many were killed 

 on both sides. In this gloomy state of affairs 

 the emigration of Cubans increased greatly. 

 There was no prospect of any decision for 

 some time. It was evident that additional're- 

 enforcements of troops were needed from Spain 

 to occupy the whole island and drive out the 

 insurgents. The troops actually did no more 

 than hold their own. The people in the coun- 

 try suffered great distress, and thousands left 

 their homes to seek refuge in the cities. Anoth- 

 er reenforcement of 1,000 men arrived on 

 March 3d from Spain, and were sent to the in- 

 terior. General Dulce recruited new battalions 

 of volunteers. To assist the Government by 

 money, the clergy offered it one-sixth of their 

 income. General Letona commenced a vigor- 

 ous campaign in the district of Cienfuegos, 

 while General Puello divided his command at 

 Santo Espiritu into three flying columns, to scour 

 the country. In the Eastern Department bands 

 were roaming between Holguin and Gibara, 

 and committed great depredations and out- 

 rages ; they carried the flag of the insurgents, 

 but were disowned by the latter and denounced 

 as bandits. General Lesca advanced from La 

 Guanaja to Puerto Principe. On this march 

 the heaviest engagement since the beginning 

 of the rebellion was fought. General Lesca 

 found the enemy, to the number of 4,000, 

 strongly intrenched on the Sierra de Cubitas. 

 Artillery was brought up and commenced a 

 vigorous fire upon the works. Covered by the 

 batteries, a column of regular troops, 1,500 



strong, attacked the enemy's fortifications with 

 the bayonet. Both sides fought with deter- 

 mination. General Lesca reports his loss at 

 thirty-one killed and eighty wounded ; other 

 accounts say the Spaniards lost about two 

 hundred men. The loss of the rebels was esti- 

 mated by the Spaniards at 1,000 killed and 

 wounded. 



About this time March, 1869 the entire 

 available strength of the rebel forces under 

 Quesada was 7,000 men. It was somewhat 

 strengthened by the landing of an expedition 

 under the command of Cisneros on the north 

 side of Cuba, near Mayari, where General 

 Cespedes was waiting for war material by a 

 steamer. This vessel brought about 100 Cu- 

 bans, all well armed with rifles, revolvers, and 

 swords, several pieces of field artillery, and a 

 number of expert artillerists. In addition to 

 these there were landed 5,000,000 of ball-cart- 

 ridges and a large assortment of other war ma- 

 terial. 



General Cespedes was at Mayari with a large 

 force ill supplied with munitions, but very en- 

 thusiastic and confident in the success of the 

 cause free Cuba. He continued the Fabian 

 policy in his war with the Spanish troops until 

 his forces should become better armed, and the 

 disparity in this respect between the two 

 armies should be reduced. Meanwhile irregu- 

 lar bands of insurgents were burning planta- 

 tions and scattering general destruction in the 

 vicinity of Manzanillo and Santa Cruz. , 



The insurgent Assembly of Representatives 

 for the Central Department decreed, in March, 

 the absolute abolition of slavery. The patriots 

 were to be indemnified for the loss of their 

 slaves, and the freedmen to become soldiers or 

 to remain cultivators of the soil. 



In order to strengthen their cause, the lead- 

 ers of the Cuban insurrection turned their 

 eyes to the United States, where much sympa- 

 thy and some help in men and arms had al- 

 ready encouraged them. On the occasion of 

 General Grant's accession to the presidency, 

 the following address was sent to him : 



To His Excellency the President of the United States : 



SIR : The people of Cuba, by their Grand Supreme 

 Civil Junta and through their General-in-Chief, Sefior 

 Cespedes, desire to submit to your Excellency the 

 following, among other reasons, why your Excel-, 

 lency, as President of the United States, should ac- 

 cord to them belligerent rights and a recognition of 

 their independence : 



Because from the hearts of nineteen-twentieths of 

 the inhabitants of the island of Cuba go up prayers 

 for the success of the armies of the republic ; and 

 from the sole and only want of arms and ammuni- 

 tion these patient people are kept under the tyran- 

 nical yoke of Spain. The unanimity of the masses 

 of the people for the republic is ominous. 



Because the republic nave armies numbering over 

 70,000 men actually in the field and doing duty. 

 These men are organized and governed on the prin- 

 ciples of civilized warfare. The prisoners whom 

 they take and so far they have taken three times as 

 many as their enemies have from them are treated 

 in every respect as the prisoners of war are used and 

 treated by the most civilized nations of the earth. 

 In the hope of recognition by the United States, they 



