The New York herald., 1868-12-16

Principe The tnsurgenW, Tor considerapo slnsc
previous and subsequent thereto, knew all the secret
orders which passed over the telegraph line as tney
had knowledge OF the cipher used and had attached
an instrument to the wires between Puerto riincipe
and Ciego de Avila II was for this reason that the
line was not interfered with for long .ihle, su @
from which was argued the .a hv local m papers
the anticipated arrival of the arms msntlonea me- anu
made their preparations accordingly. me possession
of them they being captured, has been stated IN
the HERALpI made the force much more emcient.
This success was followed BY very consideraDe I'M
Ravenet vino was M command OF the Eastern De-
partment suffered IN the esIaon oi ara ns mHa
by the reverses under Quros, Castillo and Ampuols
Another thing also brought him under the displea-
sure Of the Captain General. He seems from the
start to have had better appreciation than others
of the magnitude and importance OF the rebellion,
and in the moment Of success, when Quir0s had
%hcS was published II the oca
OF Santiago calling on the insurgents TO lay down
their arms for Spain had decided to grant to Cuba
vinces. This the Captain General neither believed
In nor approved Of and as the result, Ravenet was
& ana % sns 70 % s
Importance to the insurrection and determined to
send out Balmaseda, the secundo caoo or second
msnded at various places in the East, and, unlike
the great mass Of Spanish ot1clals was very popu-
lar he mad nsn r was y to s
the people lie is passionateiy fond Of cocknght-
hundred hun M COCKS Of his own, and IN the in.
dulgence Of this amusement he was often brought
in contact with the people in sue such manner e,
great physical strength and at times not averse to
displaying it ana thereby pleasing class who ad-
70 started
Havana on the 9th Of November, and proceeded
sx u vh a
were being organized In this city and elsewhere and
were sent on as fast as practicable to the seat Of
DALI &v1fn AnntS
new the attempt to reach but learning Of the
nfeasbility OF this he embarked his troops at Man
Havana, and leaving a small garrison behind, re-
turned along the coast to Vertientes. These troops
were embarked on the steamers villa Clara and
Damujo the latter very small one and the other by
no means large. He probably had with him 600 men,
He arrived at vertientes on the 1Sth and at Puerto
Principe on the 19th During these six days he was
letters Of his were forwarded from that point to
prominent Cubans In Puerto Principe stating that ne
was coming to visit his beloved city, that he would
not shed blood and other expressions quite In accord
ance with his ns,sy sanlpotico nature.
eary to glance for moment at the character Of the
people In that vicinity. The Comagueyan0s as the
people of Puerto Principe delight 70 DO called from
an old Indian namel are not unlike the Spanards OF
the sixteenth century. The men are mostly large
and powerful with very extravagant notions OF their
RIDGE of their common sense with these peculiari-
ties 1t ts not wonderful that they received Bama-
seda protesting the sentiments he did, with the ex-
Tested to their capital city when he arrived stated
may remark here that the people OF Bayamo-a
name which, though now applied to small jurtsdlc-
tion under the old nomenclature, takes In al the
eastern portion Of the isandare OF different char
acter. and that they have far more correct estimate
and constanlyn Is their motto; for, say they y0u
win confuse Spaniari and send HIM ''al abroad'
by so doing. sGive him no advantage which he will
seek through diplomacy and honeyed words, but at
tack ct oncen' With these ideas 1t will be readily
understood that they would never have permitted
unmolested, as did the chivart0 Camae ueyafOe.
On his arrival Balmesada began to make his ar
ranQements for war or peace. He twice visited the
rebel headquarters without any force, trusting i'm
plictly In his knowledge OF their character HIS In
terviews with the Marquis Of San Lucia and other
armed with Peabody rihes marched across the
country from Santi Espfrisu and o small force
marched by circuitous route from Nuev1tae, ayQd-
Ing the insurgents, and with the 1900 men which
Mena the Governor had before his arrival, 1t Is cal
culated that his enectve forco when he started out
During the time he was In Puerto Principe he re-
peated his statement that he had come 70 seek q
peaceful solution, and pot to shed blood He, how
ever, sent orders to Loho to Join him at certain
point, marching out from Mentti for that purpose.
That of1cer started In obedience to the command,
but met the insurgents IN such force that he was
compelled to return, and win probably 60 to Nuevl
Tha insurrection, from its small commencement
now covers more than half the island and within o
hundred leagues OF Havana The insurgents ore In
Santi Espritu and San Juan de Remedies State.
near Caibarlen. The rev0lutionists met after the
fight near Mar0n, az published In the ofnclal &C
counts The troops returned 70 that city 70 lind the
insurgents u possession.