The History of Cuba Volume III Part 18

While these things were occurring in the "Ever Faithful Isle," there were doings of epochal significance in Peninsular Spain. Queen Isabella had, as we have seen, for some time been an exile, and on June 25, 1870, the Serrano republican government forced her to sign a final manifesto of abdication. The government itself, however, was far from strong, and was unable to stand against strong opposition in the Cortes. It was shortly overthrown by a vote of that body, and a monarchical form of government was re-established. The crown was formally offered to and accepted by Amadeus, son of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, on December 4, 1870. When this news reached Cuba, the Spanish troops on the island took formal oath of allegiance to the new king of Spain.

The reestablishment of a monarchy was, of course, exceedingly pleasing to the Volunteers, for they had no sympathy with a republic, and the freedom which it was supposed to entail, although in the case of the republic in Spain, few changes or concessions had been extended to its Cuban subjects. The Volunteers promptly took oath to support the monarchy, and denounced the republican const.i.tution. They embraced this as a favorable opportunity to further an end of their own. They had long suspected the Bishop of Havana of being in sympathy with the revolution.

He was at this time absent in attendance at the Vatican Council at Rome, and the Volunteers were able so to manipulate matters that, upon his return on April 13, 1871, he was refused permission to land.

Believing that the new government would give even more cordial support to their machinations than had the previous one, the Volunteers now began a system of persecutions against Cuban patriots. The Volunteer corps, in 1872, numbered eighty thousand members, and in 1870 and 1871 they could not have fallen far below that number. They were so powerful that the Captain-General must either conform to their wishes or sooner or later give way to a successor whom they selected. Now there was published in Havana a paper, called _La Voz de Cuba_, which was really the "_Voice of the Volunteers_," for its editor, Gonzalo Castanon, was a Colonel of that organization. It busied itself, among other things, with attacks on the patriots, and took occasion to voice some derogatory remarks concerning Cuban women. Naturally the Cuban husbands, sons, fathers and lovers were hot with indignation against such calumny.

Castanon paid the just penalty of his scurrilous lack of chivalry, for he was challenged by an outraged Cuban and in the duel which followed he received a mortal wound. He was buried in a tomb in the Espada Cemetery.

Some time afterward, a party of young students--hardly more than boys--from the University of Havana, visited the cemetery, and it was reported to the authorities that one of them had been heard, while standing near the tomb of Castanon, to make remarks derogatory to the dead Colonel. This information was given by a Spanish soldier, who claimed to have overheard the conversation, and when it was repeated to a Spanish judge, the accusation was added that the boy's companions had defaced the gla.s.s which closed the Castanon tomb. The Volunteers immediately pounced upon the happening, as a delightful opportunity to chastise and punish the members of wealthy families in Havana who were suspected of aiding and abetting the revolution. The power of the Captain-General was invoked, and forty-three students were arrested and brought to trial. They were ably defended by a Spanish officer, Senor Capdevilla, and he made such a good case for their innocence that they were acquitted. The Volunteers, however, were not satisfied. Injustice had in some manner miscarried, how they could not conceive, and justice had triumphed. Such things would not do in dealing with Cubans. They made a vigorous appeal to the Captain-General, and obtained from him an order for a.s.sembling a second court martial, and this time they saw to it that their own body was well represented in that body. The boys were again apprehended, and the trial which ensued was a tragic farce, in which they were given not the slightest chance for justice. Eight of them were condemned to death, and the others to imprisonment at hard labor. Consternation reigned among the best families of Cuba. One distracted father offered a ransom of a million dollars for the life of his son, but without avail. On November 27, 1871, the condemned criminals, whose worst offence, if indeed there was any offense at all, was the utterance of an indignant remark about a ruffian who had attacked those dearest to all loyal, chivalrous and patriotic hearts, the women of Cuba, were led out and shot in the presence of fifteen thousand Spanish Volunteers, all under arms. In after years when the wrong was beyond repair, justice was done to the memory of these martyred youths, for not only did the Spanish Cortes, with admirable fairness, investigate the matter and p.r.o.nounce in favor of the innocence of the students, but also the son of Castanon came to Cuba from Spain with the object of removing thither his father's remains, investigated the condition of the tomb, and made a sworn statement before a notary that it had never been disturbed.

The murder of the students of course created intense feeling in Cuba; Havana was in a turmoil, and the sentiment engendered by this and similar outrages committed or incited by the Volunteers swelled the list of those who were in sympathy with a speedy release for Cuba from Spanish rule. The scene of the tragedy has since been marked by the Cuban government with a tablet which bears this inscription:

"On the 27th of November, 1871, there were sacrificed in front of this place, by the Spanish Volunteers of Havana, the eight young Cuban students of the First Year of Medicine:

Alonzo Alvarez de la Campa, Carlos Augusto de Latorre, Pascual Rodriquiz Perez, Angel Laborde, Jose de Marcos Medina, Eladio Gonzales Toledo, Anacleto Bermudez, Carlos Verdugo.

To their eternal memory, this tablet is dedicated, the 27th of November, 1899."

While these events were taking place, and in spite of the troubles which had beset them within their own ranks, the Cuban leaders maintained a force of fifty thousand men in the field, and gained an important victory in the vicinity of Mayari. This was more than offset by an occurrence which struck brutally at the very foundation of the Cuban army. In July, 1871, the Spanish defeated at Guantanamo a force of two hundred men, under General Quesada, but this was trivial compared with the catastrophe which it involved. General Quesada was taken prisoner, as was General Figueredo, and in August these two loyal patriots who had so ably supported the revolution, and the former of whom had been the brains of the army, were executed by the Spaniards. The deepest gloom filled the hearts of the Cuban leaders, and their discouragement is the only explanation which can be offered of what followed, when a force of Cubans, who had been operating in the central part of the island, under General Agramonte, deserted, and approaching the Spanish authorities, agreed to lay down their arms, provided their lives would be spared. The Spaniards accepted their offer, and promptly gave out a statement that the Cuban army was disrupted and that all that remained was a few slaves under General Agramonte. They were to learn, however, that the Cubans still had some fighting spirit left in them. Although the defection of so large a body of his command left only thirty-five men under Agramonte, he speedily recruited a new company, and was able to hara.s.s the Spanish for two years longer, until he was killed in battle.

The death of General Quesada left the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban army vacant, and General Modeste Diaz was elected to that office.

An official report made by the Cubans at this time shows the composition of the army to have been:

_Army Corps of Oriente._

Commander-in-Chief, General Modeste Diaz

Division of Santiago de Cuba; Major-General Commanding, Maximo Gomez

_Regiments_ _Commander_ _Localities_ _No. of Men_ 1 and 2 Col. Jesus Perez Cobre 600 3 Lt. Col. Prado Baracoa 450 4 Lt. Col. Guillermo Moncada Baracoa 550 5 Lt. Col. Pacheco Guantanamo 450 6 Brig. Calixto Garcia Jiguani 600 ----- Total 2,650

Division of Holguin--General Commanding, Jose Inclan

_Regiments_ _Commander_ _Localities_ _No. of Men_ 1 Co. Fco. Herrero West 300 2 Gen. Inclan East 500 --- Total 800

Division of Bayamo--General Commanding, Luis Figueredo

_Regiments_ _Commander_ _Localities_ _No. of Men_ 1 Maj. Gen. N. Garrido Manzanillo 550 2 Gen. Luis Figueredo Bayamo 450 ------ Total 1,000 Grand Total Army Corps of Oriente 4,300

_Army Corps of Camaguey_

Commander-in-Chief, General Vicente Garcia

Division of Las Tunas--General Commanding, Vicente Garcia

_Regiments_ _Commander_ _Localities_ _No. of Men_ 1 General Vincente Garcia Santa Rita 650 2 Brig. Francisco Vega Arenas 400 ------ Total 1,050

Division of Camaguey--General Commanding, Ignacio Agramonte

_Regiments_ _Commander_ _Localities_ _No. of Men_ 1 Lt. Col. La Rosa Guaican Amar 300 2 Col. Agramonte Porro Guaican Amar 400 3 Lt. Col. Espinosa Guaican Amar 250 4 Lt. Col. Manuel Suarez Guaimaro 300 5 Lt. Col. Antonio Rodriguez Cubitas 200 ------ Total 1,450 Grand Total Army Corps of Camaguey 2,600

_Army Corps of Las Villas_

Commander-in-Chief, Major-General Matso Casanova

_No. of Men_ Division of Trinidad, General Commanding, Brig. Juan Villegas 700 Division of Sancti Spiritus, General Com'ding, Brig. Jose Villamie 800 Division of Villa Clara, General Commanding, Brig. Carlos Ruloff 600 Division of Cienfuegos, General Commanding, Brig. Juan Villegas 700 Division of Remedios, General Commanding, Brig. Salome Hernandez 600 ------ Grand Army Total of Las Villas 3,400 Grand Total 10,300

In June, 1871, three regiments under General Maximo Gomez--that able soldier and patriot who was to figure so largely in the final struggle against Spain in 1895--were instructed to take up their position and endeavor to hold the line between Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo, and they accordingly entrenched themselves in the Loma de la Gallista, but they were almost immediately attacked by the Spanish. The battle was hotly contested for four hours and ended in a victory for the Cubans.

The Spanish losses included arms and ammunition which were eagerly appropriated by the conquerors. A few days later, a Spanish force renewed the attack, advancing fifteen hundred strong against the men under Gomez, and again they went down to defeat, their total losses in the two battles amounting to one hundred killed, and a large number wounded. In addition to this, the Cubans took fifteen Spaniards prisoners. What must have been still more gratifying was an encounter which a small band of Cubans had about this time with a company of Volunteers, in which twenty-five of the latter were made prisoners.

On July 3, Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Guevara with a company of Cubans was encamped at La Cabana del Estribo, when they were attacked by a force of three hundred Spaniards. He promptly ordered the camp abandoned, covering his retreat by a weak fire on the enemy. The Cubans were unable to make a more vigorous resistance, because they were inadequately supplied with ammunition, even though, with plenty of supplies, their position at La Cabana del Estribo might have been considered an advantageous one. But with the odds so greatly against them, the Cubans killed five Spaniards, and wounded forty others, among whom was Pedro Popa, one of those who had turned traitor to the cause of the revolution. But the Spaniards took vengeance on two practically defenseless persons. On their retreat, with their wounded, they met Major Baldoguin and two companions, who were on their way to see Lieutenant-Colonel Guevara, and captured Major Baldoguin. They took him to Bayamo, and in spite of the fact that he was severely wounded, they executed him at once upon arrival at that city.

A few days later, the same force which had attacked Lieutenant-Colonel Guevara at Estribo, were reported to be again advancing against him. He sent a company of infantry to meet them, and an engagement ensued which lasted for over an hour. The Spaniards retreated to Los Toros, leaving behind them fifty-three killed and wounded. On this occasion Guevara's son was wounded, and one private was killed.

A few days previous, on the evening of July 4, a small Cuban force attacked the Spanish camp at the village of Veguita, and hara.s.sed the enemy during the entire night, and the next day a company from the same division of the Cuban army had an engagement with a hundred and fifty Spanish cavalry, and put them to flight. The Cubans pursued them, and forced them to take a stand, when a fight took place which lasted an hour. The Cubans did not suffer a single casualty, while several of the Spaniards were killed, and they were obliged to retreat.

On July 25, Major Dominguez with a small force, attacked the sugar plantation of Las Ovas, and sacked it almost in the presence of the Spaniards, who were encamped only about half a mile distant, on the Esperanza estate. Having accomplished this feat, Major Dominguez's soldiers raided a nearby estate, which was owned by Tomas Ramirez, another of those who had turned traitor. All the buildings on this plantation were set on fire, and razed to the ground, as were also those on the estate of Antonio Lastes. Curiously enough, although the Spaniards in much larger numbers, were near at hand, and must have been cognizant of these happenings, they made no attempt to interfere.

A few days later, Major Noguera, with a small band, attacked forty of the enemy on a road leading to Bayamo, and put them to rout, capturing a considerable stock of supplies. This same band of patriots a little later encountered a company of fifty Spaniards, who were driving a herd of cattle toward El Huinilladero. They opened fire, and dispersed the Spaniards, wounding an officer, and taking possession of the cattle, together with a supply of cartridges, horses with their equipment, blankets and provisions.

On July 30, several companies from the division of Bayamo and Manzanillo attacked a force of a hundred Spaniards who were strongly entrenched near La Caridad. After a fight which lasted not over half an hour, the Spanish were dislodged from their trenches, and fled into a nearby wood.

The Cubans followed, forcing the Spaniards into the open, and, after a brief engagement, put them to rout. One Spaniard was captured, and he gave information that the Spanish forces had lost seventeen men killed, and that in their flight they had thrown away their rifles, which were afterward recovered by the Cubans, who also took possession of a large amount of supplies of all kinds.

The estate of La Indiana had been fortified by the Spaniards, and on August 4, General Gomez led an attack against it. The Spanish put up a strong resistance, but the Cubans were able to take the buildings, and capture thirty-five Spaniards. The entire district of Guantanamo was at this time practically controlled by the insurgents. They destroyed fourteen coffee plantations, and did other damage to the property of Spanish sympathizers. On August 8, the Spaniards made an attack at El Macio, but it was unsuccessful. For the next week there was one engagement after another, with victory first with the Spaniards and then with the Cubans, but the results were not of moment to either of the belligerents. The Cubans were not able to marshal a sufficiently large or well equipped force to venture a decisive battle, and so kept up an annoying guerrilla warfare. Late in the month they advanced to the outskirts of Santiago, destroying all plantations which lay along the line of march, and defeated the Volunteers in an unimportant engagement.

Perhaps the most serious defeat that they inflicted on the Spanish at this time was the destruction of the fortified camp at Miguel, in the district of Sagua de Tanamo. Earlier in the month they had attacked and taken a fortified camp in the neighborhood of Santa Isabel. All the buildings were burned to the ground, twenty-six Volunteers were killed, and a large quant.i.ty of stores was taken. There followed other engagements in which the odds and the victory were with the Spaniards, and the Cuban patriots were put to rout with heavy losses. But for the most part in guerrilla warfare the Cubans had the advantage and made the most of it.

Late in August, a force under Major Villanueva and Captain Rios surprised some Spanish soldiers at breakfast near Malangas. The Spaniards largely outnumbered the Cubans, but the attack was so sudden that they fled, leaving their rice and salted beef behind them. In this engagement eight Spaniards were killed.

On the first day of September, news reached Major Noguera that the enemy were convoying a stock of supplies in the neighborhood where he was stationed. He divided his men and concealed them at different points along the road over which the Spaniards must pa.s.s. Six Volunteers and one regular soldier were killed, and the enemy abandoned to the Cubans a number of carts, filled with food stuffs, carbines, machetes, and other supplies.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CALIXTO GARCIA

One of the most gallant figures in the patriot ranks in the Ten Years'

War and the War of Independence was that of Calixto Garcia e Iniguez.

Born at Bayamo on August 4, 1839, he was in the prime of young manhood when he took the field under General Marmol in 1868. Soon as a brigadier general he was the right-hand man of Maximo Gomez, and was made by him commander in chief in Oriente when Gomez himself marched westward. After six years of almost incessant and victorious fighting, he was surprised and surrounded at San Antonio de Baja, when, rather than be captured, he placed the muzzle of a pistol in his mouth and fired. The bullet pierced the roof of his mouth and came out at the centre of his forehead. The Spaniards then took him to a military hospital and, respecting his valor, nursed him back to health. After the Treaty of Zanjon he was released, whereupon he took the lead in the Little War. He was in Spain in 1895 and could not get into the War of Independence until March, 1896, but thereafter he was one of its chief warriors. After the close of the war he was sent to Was.h.i.+ngton on a diplomatic mission, and died there on December 11, 1898.]

September 18 was to be a memorable day in the year's fighting, for on that date General Calixto Garcia with three regiments advanced against Jiguani, where a large force of Spaniards were garrisoned. The latter defended the town for two hours, but in the end the Cubans were victorious, and gained control of the major portion of the town and its fortifications. Many houses were burned, and two hundred Spaniards lay dead in the streets. General Garcia then retreated, carrying with him a large quant.i.ty of captured supplies, since he did not have a large enough force to complete the occupation of Jiguani. He was pursued by the Spaniards who had been reinforced, but the patriots made good their escape with only slight losses.

Throughout the entire months of August and September the eastern part of the island was in a constant state of uproar and confusion. Attack and counter-attack followed in succession, and yet neither side was any nearer a significant victory or a decision.

On October 23, the Spaniards gained a victory over the Cubans at El Toro, and in November the insurgents turned the tables by defeating the Spanish forces under Captain Ferral y Mongs. So the war continued, the whole country witnessing the destruction of plantations, the burning of buildings, the pillaging of villages, and loss of life as well as of property. In the end it was the land of Cuba that suffered, for from a once prosperous country it bade fair to be transformed into waste lands.

Meanwhile the Cuban forces were slowly degenerating. The Spaniards were well fed, well clothed and well equipped, while the Cuban forces were poorly armed, often hungry, and in torn and ragged garments. The resources of Spain reinforced her army, but the patriots had to rely on chance help that came to them from their American sympathizers. Nothing in their existence was certain, and as the war was prolonged without their gaining a victory which seemed to bring the end nearer, the weaker spirits began to despair and there was dissension and an undercurrent of revolt among the common soldiers. In vain the leaders tried to put heart into their forces, and desertions became alarmingly common. The reductions in numbers compelled the Cuban leaders more and more to resort to guerrilla warfare. This involved deplorable destruction of property, valuable holdings of both loyalists and patriots were rendered valueless, and naturally the morale of both armies suffered from a spirit of lawlessness. By the end of 1871, two thirds of the farms and coffee and sugar plantations in the district of Trinidad were destroyed or abandoned, and the entire central portion of the island had suffered grievously.

Valmaseda on December 27, 1871, issued a proclamation to the effect that after the first of the year every prisoner would be shot, and every patriot who delivered himself up would suffer life imprisonment. This applied to both negroes and white men; while all white women captured would be banished, and all negro women would be returned to their owners, and condemned to wear chains for a period of four years.

However, prior to that date, only if four days distant, the leaders or any of the soldiers would lay down their arms and announce their allegiance to Spain, they would be received with kindness and clemency.

This might have had more effect than it did but for the fact that the Cubans were distrustful of promises of clemency, and feared that if they escaped the vengeance of the government, they would later suffer at the hands of the Volunteers.