The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-05-22
THE VAR IN CUBA.


THE TYAR IN CUBA.
THE BATTLES NEAR PUERTO PRINCIPE.
Conflicting Accounts-Ihc Cubnns Eight
Spanish ann Cuban Vcrsions-NIost
Important Engagement of the War
correspondence Of the New York Times.l
HAVANA, May 13.-The grand events Of the
past few days have been the accounts Of the
skirmshes between Lesca and Quesada on the
first and third Of this month at Las Minas
and at Altagracia, two small settlements on
the road from Nuevltas to Puerto Principe. AS
usual, the accounts vary considerably. To be-
gin With the Spanish version, according to the
Diario:
We have received news from Nuevitas to the
7th instant, according to which an effort to
stop the column OF General Lesca, with the
convoy Of which we have made mention al
ready, was made by very large numbers of in
surgents. Our soldiers attacked them with
their usual impctuousity, ard the rebels hav-
ing offered more resistance than usual, we arc
informed that the result of the combat was
terrible for them. The troops had one lieu
tenant-colonel, one captain, and six soldiers
killed and thirty wounded The settlement Of
San Miguel has been reduced to ashes.
The peculiar wording o. this item and the
strangeness of it's character, which differs to-
fally from the usual style Of the Diario, gave
rise to numerous conjectures, even among the
partisans of the Dario-the usual announce
ment Of the thousands of Cubans killed, their
aptness for running away, the deifed heroism
of the defenders of the faith, and the tacit ac-
acknowledgement that the rebels did not run
away, being wanting. The Diario was and un-
doubtedly is ashamed of this departure from
its rules, and, contrite, gave another and more
explicit account on the following day, which is
more Diario-like and throws more light on the
affair. The Dlario says:
On the Sd inst, about thirteen kilometers
from Puerto Principe, all the hordes composing
ar me army OF M the Ca &Gamagrey, attacked Brigadier
Key and Aragon, were conveying, nineteen
wagons, with nineteen hundred cargas of pro-
visions. The engagement lasted the entire
afternoon, and three grand bayonet attacks
were made, which caused terrible havoc among
the insurgents. An eyewitness calculates the
number of killed at two thousand-a figure
he repe .ts that the bayonet attacks were terri
pie. On our side we lost eight men killed and
twenty-four wounded. Nearly all the wound
ed will recover. their wounds being slight. On
chea killed two hundred rebels at Altagracia
and Bayatabo. On the 9Th the band Command
ed,y ed by Angel n Castillo burnt San Miguel 1.-THE
correspondent, the rebels will no longer be
able to sustain themselves.
Thus far the Diario fails to mention VIII ether
the Spaniards succeeded in their attempt to
carry the provisions and convoy to Puerto
Principe or not, and whether Lesca, after his
victory, ~ found himself in position to hold
his own and advance on Puerto Principe, or il
he had to retreat to Nuevitas. The rebels
must undoubtedly have gained some ad-
vantage, and not have been nearly SO dsor-
ganized as the DIario wishes us to believe, else
how could they, on the day after the fight, de-
tach portion Of their forces and burn town
under the very nose of the Spanish land and
naval forces.
The Voz de Cuba, not SO Munchausensh and
30 easily gulled as the Diario, and endowed
with more common sense, speaking Of this
affair, and under the heading "We Doubt"
says:
Our distinguished colleague. the Diario, pub
fishes to-day some details abo1t Lesca's en-
Eagements between Nuevtas and Puerto
and ddg tha the ae combat D lasted the ywhofe
afternoon; that the number OF killed rebels
amounted to 1000, .taccording to an eye-wit-
ness,) and that the battalions Of Union Rey and
what channel the Diario has received these
Details. which do not appear in General
Letona's account of the affair, although we
don't care to deny their correctness; but we
doubt whether the losses Of the enemy are so
great as is presumed, as. according to our
knowledge, the rebels never had two thousand
men together in the Central Department, and
1T would be very strange if, after the many re-
verses which they suffered and the troubles
among themselves, they should have been en-
abled to gather the powerful army necessary
TO sustain loss OF two thousand men in O
single encounter.
The voz de Cuba judges correctly as to the
nquIh ifNy nF %t>o
when the Voz says that the insurgents never
had two thousand men together, itrefutes it's
own statement concerning the Sierra Cubita
affair. and those published by all the Spanish
Journals OF the island, and accuses the Span
ish chief, who spoke Of three, four and FIVE
thousand men at Cubita, near Nuevtas, and
other places, of stretching the long bow. If
the Voz de Cuba is correct in it's statement, in
that case all the accounts from that vicinity
have been merely exaggerated, quality
which, by the way, they have enjoyed in the
opinion of the thinking classes for some time.
CUBAN VERSIONS.
But where 80 many Spanish versions are
afoat there must naturally be also an equal
number in favor of tho other side, and your
correspondent has boen fortunate enough to
read letter, alleged to have been written on
the field OF battle, or in it's vicinity, by young
relative of the gentleman in whose possession
asaw it. l must confess that it's tenor was
somewhat rambling and dsjointed but there
was, nevertheless, such an air Of fair dealing,
quaintness and real sof-sacri1cing patriotism
IN the eplstle as to stamp it with the imprint
OF truth. The letter was dated 1T Altagracia.
May 9, and written on very coarse and greasy
paper. give merely such extracts as bear on
the engagement with Lesca, and on the ulte-
1ior designs Of the insurgents.
On the 30th all tho necessary arrangements
mad been made and orders had been given to
ne ready to surround Lesca On his return from
Nueyltas and annlhiate his army, not only by
superiority OF numbers, but also by displaying
such valor as is denied to us by our enemies
put is nevertheless inherent in every Cuban.