548 ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF ARTILLERY IN CUBA. 
stances of the case. At present we are only concerned with the 
artillery. 
We are all aware that Field Artillery is employed with armies which 
operate in fairly level country ; that when this country becomes moun- 
tainous and abrupt we must adopt a lighter, simpler and more mobile 
branch of the arm—1in other words the Mountain Artillery. 
After these and other general considerations the author proceeds to 
investigate the peculiar conditions of the present Cuban insurrection 
and the means which, in his opinion, should be adopted to combat 
them. 
The actual theatre of operations in Cuba is, as a rule, mountainous 
and broken, with great extents of very thick copse and thicket in which 
grow large trees and an abundance of entangled and climbing plants, 
and obstinate leafy shoots and branches. The natives of the country 
call these thickets by the name manigua. There are intervals which 
are free from this jungle, where the ground is more open, and these are 
called sébanas. 
According to the papers the number of insurgents amounts to some 
5 or 6000 men. Their courage is not to be despised, but their quality 
from a military point of view would appear to be very defective. The 
resources at their disposal are probably sufficient with which to com- 
mence a campaign, they thoroughly know the ground they fight on 
and are not likely to fall short of provisions. They have modern 
weapons for their infantry and cavalry, and for choice they use the 
machete or short broad-bladed sword. ‘They have no artillery. 
Their usual system of fighting is by means of surprises, ambuscades 
and coups de main. They will not fight unless circumstances appear 
favourable, and retire in dispersed formation before a superior force. 
Their organization corresponds with their system of fighting. Up to 
the present they have but few leaders of prestige, but those they have 
are well acquainted with the strategy and tactics which they adopt, 
and they possess the advantage of an excellent system of espionage 
amongst persons who are adherents to their cause but not under arms. 
The author then proceeds to consider the question as to what sort of 
artillery would be best employed in such a country as Cuba and against 
an enemy as above described. 
Field Artillery is of course out of the question, and though at first 
sight Mountain Artillery may seem to be the most suitable, still when 
it ig borne in mind that the country is mostly covered with thick forest 
and undergrowth, it is more than probable that Mountain Artillery 
would in many cases be useless as it could not be properly carried and 
worked. What seems to be wanted is something more simple, more 
elementary and more easily manipulated than Mountain Artillery and 
yet capable of producing sufficient effect. Colonel Vidal reminds his 
readers that the English constructed in a very short space of time some 
guns for the Abyssinian campaign which were specially suited for the 
country they were to be used in, and he goes on to advocate the pro- 
vision of war rockets for usein Cuba. These projectiles can be thrown 
at convenient ranges without the aid of ordnance; they can be carried 
ona mule’s back in suitable boxes over undulating country, and when 
