216 



CUBA. 



15,000 insurgents in the Oinco Villas district, 

 in addition to about 3,000 under General Ru- 

 loff, a Pole. Much depression was felt on ac- 

 count of the failure of most of the expeditions 

 from the United States, as more arms were 

 greatly needed. The most important expedi- 

 tion that reached Cuba was that organized 

 by General Goicuria. The steamship Lillian, 

 which had been lying at New Orleans, went to 

 Cedar Keys, off the Florida coast, where about 

 GOO men and several cannon and a large num- 

 ber of rifles with appropriate ammunition were 

 embarked. The expedition safely arrived, about 

 the 20th of October. Returning, the Lillian 

 put into the harbor of Nassau, where she was 

 seized by the British authorities, but was re- 

 leased after a short detention. 



In November the burning of sugar-plan- 

 tations became quite general. There were 

 over one hundred and sixty large sugar-plan- 

 tations belonging to Cubans who had fled, 

 which were confiscated by thdPSpaniards, with 

 the view of getting money out of the crops. To 

 prevent this, the Cubans set fire to the cane 

 on all these plantations. On November 20th 

 the Spanish arms suffered a reverse at Mogote, 

 where an attack upon a fortified position of 

 the insurgents was repulsed with loss. The 

 troops were commanded by Colonel Camara, 

 and the attack commenced by throwing a 

 shell, which was followed by a bayonet-charge. 

 The Cubans stood firm, and after a desperate 

 fight the Spaniards were repulsed. No details 

 of the losses are known, but they were heavy 

 on both sides. 



In November, the Cuban Junta in New York 

 City was reorganized. It consisted thenceforth 

 of six members, besides the newly-elected Pres- 

 ident, Sefior Miguel Aldama, of whom three 

 had previously been prominent members of the 

 Havana bar. The others had gained equal dis- 

 tinction in eminent business positions. 



The American general, Jordan, who, in the 

 meanwhile, had been appointed Adjutant-Gen- 

 eral of the Army of Cuba, stated' in a letter 

 that the Cuban army numbered 26,800 men, 

 supplied with arms ; that it was followed by 

 40,000 liberated slaves, armed with machetes, 

 and that, if the Cubans had 75,000 stands of 

 arms, the war could be ended in 90 days. 



In the beginning of the month of December, 

 General Cespedes issued a proclamation calling 

 on all faithful Cubans to destroy their sugar 

 and tobacco crops, in order to deprive the 

 Spaniards of this source of revenue. The op- 

 erations of the Cubans during the month ac- 



DELANGLE, CLAUDE A. 



cordingly were chiefly directed to the burning 

 of crops. 



The insurrection, at the end of 1869, had not 

 yet died out; and a report, published in De- 

 cember by the Havana papers, that the Cuban 

 Junta in New York had requested the leaders 

 of the insurgent forces to lay down their arms, 

 was indignantly denied. 



From the beginning of their uprising, the 

 Cuban insurgents met with the most cordial 

 sympathy in South America. The Govern- 

 ments of Chili and Peru formally recognized 

 the insurgents. The note of the President of 

 Peru, dated May 13th, to General Cespedes, 

 " Captain-General of the Liberating Army 

 of Cuba," contains the following paragraph : 

 " The President of Peru sympathizes deeply 

 with the noble cause of which your Excellency 

 constitutes himself the worthy champion, and 

 he will do his utmost to mark the interest 

 which that island, so worthy of taking its place 

 with the civilized nations of the world, inspires 

 him with. The Peruvian Government recog- 

 nizes as belligerents the party which is fighting 

 for the independence of Cuba, and will strive 

 its utmost to secure their recognition as such 

 by other nations ; and likewise that the war 

 should be properly regulated in conformity 

 with international usages and laws." The sym- 

 pathy in all the other republics was equally 

 outspoken, and the Cubans, at the close of the 

 year, were expecting a speedy recognition by 

 all of them. 



In the United States, the sympathy of public 

 opinion was at least equally strong, and showed 

 itself in a large number of mass meetings, in 

 resolutions of Congress, and in the fitting out 

 of a number of expeditions. This sympathy 

 was also openly expressed in the message of 

 President Grant, in December, 1869 ; on the 

 other hand, however, the message took the 

 ground that " the contest had at no time as- 

 sumed the conditions which amount to a war in 

 the sense of international law, or which would 

 show the existence of a de facto political or- 

 ganization of the insurgents sufficient to justi- 

 fy a recognition of belligerency." The Presi- 

 dent further remarked that the United States 

 had no disposition to interfere with the existing 

 relations between Spain and her colonial pos- 

 sessions on this continent, believing that in 

 due time Spain and other European powers 

 would find their interest in terminating those 

 relations. (On the negotiations between the 

 Governments of the United States and Spain, 

 arising out of the Cuban war, see SPAIN.) 



DELANGLE, CLAUDE ALPHONSE, a French 

 jurist, statesman, and cabinet minister, born at 

 Varzy (Nievre), France, April 6, 1797 ; died in 

 Pans, December 21, 1869. He, at first, sought 

 to qualify himself to become a teacher, but sub- 



sequently studied law with Dupin the younger, 

 and was admitted to the bar in Paris ; was elect- 

 ed member of the council of the order in 1831 ; 

 succeeded to Philip Dupin as director in 1837- 

 '38. He was appointed advocate-general to 



