CUBA. 



313 



This double obligation, contracted in the presence 

 of free America, before the liberal world, and, what 

 is more, before our own conscience, Dignifies our de- 

 termination to be heroic and to be virtuous. 



Cubans 1 On your heroism I rely for the constim- 

 mation of our independence, and on your virtue I 

 count to consolidate the republic. 



You may count on my abnegation of self. 



CARLOS MANUEL DE CESPEDES. 



GUAIMABO, April 11, 1869. 



Two days afterward appeared the following 

 proclamation of General Quesada : 



Citizen Chiefs. Officers, and Soldiers of the Liberat- 

 ing Army of Cuba : When I returned to my country 

 to place my sword at its service, fulfilling the most 

 sacred of duties, realizing the most intense aspiration 

 of my life, the vote of the Camagueyans, to my sur- 

 prise, honored me by conferring on me the command 

 of their army. Notwithstanding my poor merits and 

 capacity, I accepted the post, because I expected to 

 find, and did find, in the Camagueyans civic virtues 

 well established, and this has rendered supportable 

 the charge of the responsibility which I assumed. 



Now the legislative power of the republic has filled 

 me with greater surprise, promoting me to the com- 

 mand-in-chief of the liberating army of Cuba. The 

 want of confidence in my own resources naturally 

 moves me anew upon stronger grounds, although 

 it also strengthens the conviction that the patriot- 

 ism of my brethren will supply the insufficiency of 

 my capacity. 



Camagueyans! You have given me undoubted 

 proofs of your virtues. You are models of subor- 

 dination and enthusiasm. Preserve and extend your 

 discipline. 



Soldiers of the East ! Initiators of our sacred revo- 

 lution ! Veterans of Cuba ! I salute you with sincere 

 aft'ection, counting on your gallant chiefs, in order 

 that they may aid me in realizing the eminent work 

 which we have undertaken, and I hop'e that union 

 will strengthen our forces. 



Soldiers of the villas I You have already struggled 

 with the despot. I felicitate you for the efforts made, 

 and invite you to continue them. You are patriots. 

 You will be victors. 



Soldiers of the "West ! I know your heroic ex- 

 ploits, and venerate them. I am well aware of the 

 disadvantage of the situation in which you find your- 

 selves, in contrast with our oppressors, and it is our 

 purpose to remedy this. 



Accept the homage of my admiration and the suc- 

 cor of my arms. 



Citizen chiefs, officers, and soldiers of the Cuban 

 army 1 Unionj discipline, and perseverance. 



The rapid increase which the glorious revolution 

 of Cuba has taken frightens our oppressors, who now 

 are suffering the pangs of desperation, and carrying 

 on a war of vengeance, not of principles. 



The tyrant Valmaseda rambles with, the incendiary's 

 torch and the homicidal knife over the fields of Cuba. 

 He has never done otherwise, but now he adds to his 

 crime the still greater one of publishing it by a proc- 

 lamation, which we can only describe by pronoun- 

 cing it to be a proclamation worthy of the Spanish 

 Government. Thereby our property is menaced by 

 fire and pillage. This is nothing. It threatens us 

 with death, and this is nothing. But even our 

 mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters, are menaced 

 with resort to violence. * * * 



Ferocity is the valor of cowards. 



I implore you, sons of Cuba, to recollect at all hours 

 the proclamation of Valmaseda. That document 

 will shorten the time necessary for the triumph of 

 our cause. That document is an additional proof of 

 the character of our enemies. Those beings appear 

 deprived even of those gifts which Nature has con- 

 ceded to the irrationals the instinct of foresight and 

 of warning. We have to struggle with tyrants, al- 

 ways such the very same ones of the Inquisition, of 



the Conquest, and of Spanish domination in America, 

 In birth and in death they live and succeed the 

 Torquemadas, the Pizarros, the Boves, the Morillos, 

 the Tacons, the Conchas, and the Valmasedas. We 

 have to combat with the assassins of the old women 

 and of children, with the mutilators of the dead, with 

 the idolaters of gold I 



Cubans 1 If you would save your honor and that 

 of your families ; if you would conquer forever your 

 liberty be soldiers. War leads you to peace and to 

 happiness. Inertia precipitates you to misfortune and 

 to dishonor. 



Viva Cuba ! Viva the President of the Eepublic ! 

 Viva the Liberating Army ! Patria and liberty ! 

 MANUEL QUESADA. 



GUIAMARO, April 13, 1869. 



The proclamation of Yalmaseda, spoken of 

 so severely in the foregoing address, was is- 

 sued by him at Bayamo on the 4th of April, 

 and reads as follows : 



INHABITANTS OF THE COUNTRY : 



The forces which I expected have arrived. With 

 them I will afford protection to the good, and sum- 

 marily punish all those who still rebel against the 

 government of the metropolis. 



Know ye that I have pardoned those who have 

 fought against us, armed ; know ye that your wives, 

 mothers, and sisters, have in me found the protection 

 they admired and which you rejected ; know, also, 

 that many of the pardoned have turned against me. 

 After all these excesses, after so much ingratitude, 

 and so much villany, it is impossible for me to be 

 the man I was heretofore. Deceptive neutrality is 

 no longer possible. " He that is not with me is 

 against me," and, in order that my soldiers may 

 know how to distinguish you, hearken to the orders 

 given them : 



Every man from the age of fifteen upward, found 

 beyond his farm, will be shot, unless a justification 

 for his absence be proven. 



Every hut that is found uninhabited will be burned 

 by the troops. 



Every hamlet ; where a white cloth, in the shape of 

 a flag, is not hoisted in token that its inhabitants de- 

 sire peace, will be reduced to ashes. 



The women who are not found in their respective 

 dwellings, or in those of their relatives, will return to 

 the towns of Jiguani or Bayamo, where they will be 

 duly provided for. Those who fail to do so will be 

 taken by compulsion. These orders will be in force 

 on and after the 14th inst. 



COUNT VALMASEDA. 



BAYAMO, April 4, 1869. 



In April the Government concentrated troops 

 to the north and south of Puerto Principe. 

 General Dulce decreed an augmentation of 

 1,000 " guardian civil," for the better protection 

 of Cardenas, Colon, Sagua, Cienfuegos, Santa 

 Clara, and Eemedios. The insurgents, on the 

 other hand, closely besieged Trinidad, and cut 

 off all communication with the town on the land 

 side. They continued burning plantations around 

 Sagua la Grande, Kemedios, and Santiago de 

 Cuba. The Government officials continued 

 active in confiscating the property of ab- 

 sentees. To prevent further destruction, de- 

 tachments of ten men were detailed for each 

 estate. The powerless condition of the Govern- 

 ment, as opposed to the volunteers, began to 

 excite grave apprehensions among the more 

 intelligent and wealthy Spaniards. Many 

 sales of establishments were made for half 

 their value. The officers of the regular army, 

 unaccustomed to being ruled by their men, 



