UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



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called upon to give to satisfy the aspirations of the 

 people ; that the autonomist form of government 

 was as ample as that of the British colonies, and 

 would be made more ample still if such a course 

 were judged to be necessary by the Autonomist 

 Congress. All the new laws were to go into force 

 on July 1. 



Attempts to Relieve the Cubans. Soon after 

 a state of war was declared Lieut.-Col. Joseph II. 

 Dorst was ordered to investigate the strength of 

 the rebellion in western Cuba, while Lieut. A. S. 

 Rowan was sent to confer with leaders in the east, 

 and Lieut. Henry Whitney was detailed to visit 

 Gen. Gomez in central Cuba. Col. Dorst, after visit- 

 ing the coast of Pinar del Rio in the " Leyden," and 

 conferring with the Cubans near Banes, took charge 

 of a cargo of rifles and ammunition for Perico 

 Delgado's force, which were conveyed on the 

 steamer " Gussie," whose departure and destination, 

 with the details of the intended landing, were pub- 

 lished in the American newspapers despite the 

 admonitions given to reporters by the naval author- 

 ities. The result was that when the " Gussie " at- 

 tempted a landing east of Mariel, and afterward at 

 Banes, instead of the insurgents, who were expected 

 to receive the supplies, large bodies of Spanish 

 troops were found patrolling the shore. After this 

 a censorship of press dispatches was instituted 

 which was strictly administered during the whole 

 war. Gen. Greely, chief of the Signal Service, first 

 issued orders directing the suppression of all mes- 

 sages " inimical to the United States," which were 

 afterward modified so as to cover press messages 

 containing information of prospective naval move- 

 ments or current military operations. 



Lieut. Rowan, landing on April 26, traversed the 

 province of Santiago de Cuba, which had been 

 evacuated by the Spaniards, except three towns and 

 the blockhouses defending the railroad. Gen. 

 Pando, the military commandant of the province, 

 had sent a third of his force of 18,000 men to Ha- 

 vana. He withdrew on April 25 to Manzanillo 

 from Bayamo, which was immediately occupied by 

 Gen. Calixto Garcia, who issued a proclamation 

 declaring that the property and civil rights of the 

 Spaniards would be respected. Lieut. Rowan 

 brought back the information that the Cuban gen- 

 eral could furnish a contingent of at least 8,000 

 well-armed men to co-operate with an army of in- 

 vasion, and that as guides the Cubans would prove 

 invaluable, as they had a rapid method of trans- 

 mitting information from all parts of the island. 



The Cuban forces increased at a rapid rate after 

 the declaration of war, all the Captain General's 

 efforts to induce the Cubans to accept any form of 

 autonomy that they themselves might dictate and 

 Join the Spaniards in fighting the Americans hav- 

 ing proved useless. His orders forbidding the sale 

 of food, and confiscating for the use of the soldiers 

 the supplies contributed by Americans for the suc- 

 cor of the reconcentrados, caused an enormous in- 

 crease of mortality among the latter. Those who 

 could travel left the towns in droves to join the in- 

 surgents, who were unable to relieve their neces- 

 sities, and turned away all except a few who were 

 able-bodied and had friends in their ranks. The 

 Spanish troops in central Cuba were withdrawn 

 from Sancti Spiritus and other towns, which were 

 destroyed, and were concentrated on the Jucaro- 

 Moron trocha to prevent a junction of Gen. Garcia 

 and Gen. Gomez. The Cuban general-in-chief 

 deprecated the invasion of Cuba by an Amer- 

 ican army, believing that with arms and supplies 

 furnished by the United States, and aided only by 

 a force of American artillery, the Cubans could 

 compel the Spanish garrison to evacuate the island. 

 Gomez feared perhaps a prolonged American oc- 



cupation and dictation in the political reconstruc- 

 tion of Cuba. He had under arms and within call 

 a force not exceeding :},500 men, including 800 

 infantry commanded by Gen. Gonzalez, amn-.l with 

 Mausers and Remingtons, and 150 cavalry and 700 

 infantry led by the American Joseph Desrampes, 

 an expert artillerist, which formed his immediate 

 command. He asked for 40,000 rifles and several 

 million cartridges to arm the entire Cuban army, 

 and a small supply of provisions landed at several 

 points, promising that if the American fleet main- 

 tained an effective blockade he would free Cuba 

 without spilling a drop of American blood or l.s- 

 ing a man from sickni . 



The Spaniards from their reduced area of occu- 

 pation began in the beginning of May to prosecute 

 more actively their operations against Gen. Goim /. 

 Lieut. Whitney was landed on the coast, met a 

 Cuban escort, and, after a brush with the Spani.-h 

 patrol, reached the camp of Maximo Gomez in 

 Santa Clara on April 28. He arranged for the 

 landing of supplies and of Cuban volunteers that 

 had been enlisted in the United States. 



A body of 750 Cubans was recruited under the 

 auspices of the Cuban junta and placed under the 

 command of Gen. Lacret, recently commander of 

 insurgents in Matanzas, after being armed and 

 equipped by the United States Government and 

 trained by regular army officers. Gen. Gomez 

 called together his scattered bands until he had 

 concentrated 3,000 men. With these he waited two 

 weeks on the coast for the expedition, until his men 

 were obliged to kill their horses for food. Finally, 

 giving up hope of receiving the promised munitions 

 and supplies, he ordered the men to disperse. The 

 " Gussie " and " Suwanee " attempted to land the 

 expedition, but were unable to effect a landing on 

 the north coast. The " Gussie " returned to Tampa, 

 while the " Suwanee " went round to the south 

 coast in search of an unguarded landing pltfce on 

 that side of Santa Clara province, but Rear- Ad- 

 miral Sampson stopped her at Santiago and had 

 the supplies handed over to the Cubans under Gen. 

 Cabreco. The Vice-President of the provisional 

 Cuban republic. Domingo Mendez Capote, went to 

 the United States before the end of May to inform 

 the Government authorities at Washington of the 

 needs and resources of the insurgent forces, which 

 he acknowledged were in sore straits and greatly 

 reduced in numbers. Yet he declared that they 

 would not permit American interference or control 

 in Cuba, however beneficent that control might be. 

 Capt. Dorst left Tampa on May 16 with 450 Cubans 

 under Gen. Lacret, a large number of mules, and 

 quantities of ammunition and rifles and of cloth- 

 ing for the troops of Gen. Garcia. Gen. Baldomero 

 Acosta and other Cubans who had joined the in- 

 surgents in Pinar del Rio from the "Leyden," after 

 a skirmish with Spanish cavalry, explained to Del- 

 gado the plans for the landing of supplies and 

 arms. 



The " Gussie " reached the entrance of Mariel Bay 

 on May 12. and under cover of the guns of the 

 Manning" and " Wasp" landed near Cabafias a 

 party of United States regulars under the command 

 of Lieut. Crofton, who were opposed by a force of 

 Spanish infantry. The Spaniards wore put to 

 flight by the firing of the landing party from the 

 bush and the shells of the ^boats, losing twehr 

 or more men in the retreat, but they had effectually 

 intercepted the Cubans and prevented the delivery 

 of the arms and ammunition intended for them, so 

 that the troops were obliged to re-embark without 

 accomplishing their purpose of landing a cargo of 

 nearly 7.000 rifles. 200.000 cartridges, canned food, 

 and clothing. These were the munitions and sup- 

 plies that the " Gussie" had failed to land in Cuba. 



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