Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1869-05-20
CUBA.
The Recent Battles in Cuba.

in Chief, and some ], 800 Spaniards un-
der General Lesca, ut place called La
Minas, Oh the railroad between Nueyi-
tas and Puerto Principe, and that the
Spaniards repulsed with q eat slaughter
Las Minas lie the halfway station On the
Nuevitas and Puerto Principe Railroad
about thirty miles from either place
aud derives its name from some copper
mines in the neighbOrhood,
Quesada probably allowed the Span
iards TO advance on their way ts Prin-
cipe as rs ALA GrscIx; he defeated
them there on the first inst, and drove
hem a. far ss Las Minas, where he i.
now stated 10 have again attacked them
and forced them To IeiItxt to their port,
Nuevifas- San Miguel. which Quessd,4
reported TO have burned, is 4 -mAli
place opposite NUeviias. on Nusvitas
uay.
This, it has been said ali along, would
IT ihe tactics OF the Cubans: 10 tifs~ she
.SlE.niart:s 10 thr interior, 4w.N iron
i'eir supplies oi the sea coast, and ihsu
.ight them in detail
STRENGTH OF THE sPANIARI,s ANu
CuBANs.
Ii seems certain tii&i span hss gore
bout To the END Oi tuT Ge.aer ~ tAa
tsuIugaIIOn oil CubA. Size b&s lon. since
sent To the isiann every regiment u reg
ilats she could spSIe, tosioes s1ndry
.pecIaiiy Organized bodies OF volunteers
The coilsc.iptioH ia1 ixitiy eAec.ie eu
ia the old country produced sucii v,o
lent outbreaks in some al the cities thal
there is no earthly probability af the
experiment being repeated. Ar TO the
ct sr vital sinew of money--the
depleted colonial treasury has beef
from time 70 time repleDished by -eizur,
and confiscatisn of the property OF boil,
known and suspected patriots. BuI
even this resource, it would APPEAR i.
beginning to fail. The wealthy Cubans
have been enticed, threatened huilied
into leaving the island. and when once
gone their own houses and estates in
the country are seized and offered for
sale. The real estate is net easily dis
posed of by the Government, very fe v
even of the Spanisrds caring toinvest in
30 precarious a title.
The condition of the patriot force has
during the last four months been very
considerably ameliorated. The original
few hundred men armed-if armed they
can be called-with nothing but the
nlochete, kind of broad, short cutlass
used to cut cane, have been replaced, OF
have grown gradually into some 12,0O(
to $4,000 disciplined troops. of whom
some 5000 to 1900 are provided with
breech-loading muskets and revolvers
The financial position of the Cubans
is far better than that Of the Spaniards
The Cubans are not fighting for hire
and, Spanish reports to the contrary
notwithstanding, it is the Cubans who
are doing the fighting-not Americans
not Dominicans. The Spaniards having
discovered that, in any town away from
the coast, the cOmmissarist cannot rely
upon foraging expeditions, are still
forced to detail very large escorts to pro-
tect their provisions into the Interior
In many instances whole trains have
been captured on their return from the
coast, especially on the read between
Santa Cruz and Puerto Principe. Nc
such difficulty attends the Cubans. They
are willingly provisioned in whatever
part of ths island they may be.
In addition to the sources Of revolu.
tionary strength which we have already
mentioned, some account should be
taken of possible detection from the
Spanish regulars, whose hearts it Is well
known, are not in their work The Gu
bans have, moreover, another great raj
iy, whose advent must be close at hand.
WHAT OUR CONSUL AT HAVANA SAYS,
The Secretary of State has been en-.
d-avering to get trusty accounts of the
rebellion fro our copsuls in Cuba. He
IS received voiemipous Iisl,,tcf,
rom Mr. Plum nor ConsuI t5ruairaf
who stdtes that Il is almost inipD..;l.le
To arrive st a correct estimate e OF tie force
under the Cuban leaders The C,pSu]
incloses 4 letter from prominent Amer
cai merchant, residing in he IL. .teriur.
Ti'o estimates the Whole Cuban or..e :
rem Il. .Gfi to 20 Gn0 men This iir.,.,is.s
de ached parties sct;iis: a. .-uer-i:-z ss
well ss the regular force. ! ,etfer lU-
closed by the Consul fioni aEt,t.tt- Au.s.
lean merchant. States that the srti-@
fectIVe force O. he CIA.sIrs d.. c.g
amount to mefe Than 49G flec,. }-ea.,!
IN" these two statement de CCp7a
writes: 'Thetruth preJsh.y lies uetwesf
ne TWO extremes. | No nst linE tae
Cuban army amounts 70 sa,dfta men
but ii is certainly more than |. .40G." Ia
In another part at his dispatch, Mr..
Plumb says: From all that can he rs
certaIned there is net Cuban man. or
woman. or child, on the island rho d "a
not sympathize with the insu rrection.-
Some of them do this more openly than
others, but they are all amin, ted witt,
bitter hate toward Spain"
The battles referred to above. would
indicate that the Cucan army was much
larger than the low figures assigned to
it. They probably did not have all their
army in either engagement. and they
probably had more men than the Span
iards (wbo had 200 in the battle of Las
Minas,) inasmuch rs the Cubans, though
victorious, met with the largest loss.
The Moan Dsmscracy.
The late General Assembly must have
determined to leayr a n,onurnapt ~ -.