American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1869-04-10
The Cuban Revolution as Seen bv an
Eye Witness.

VI "hoiAo Oul1sk lTOIii
Mr.. Charles Mccormack, who has
resided for several years in the city
of Puerto Principe, where he was
employed as master machiIiist of the
Puerto Principe and Nuevitas Rail.
road. Mr.. Mccormack having tray-
eled on horseback from the pIaee OF
his late residence through the heart
of the island to the first railway
station which he could taEe the cars
to Havana, and passed through the
lnsurgent and Spanish lines, a dis
tance of more than one hundred
leagues, during which time he held
frequent intercourse with all classes
OF the population, has had the oppor-
tunlty to. form a valuable apprpcia.
ton OF the revolution now on foot.
TESTIMONY THAT is WORTH SOME.
THING.
The occupation of the line of rail-
road from Puerto Principe TO
Nuevitas having left me without em.
ployment, l determined to return TO
the United States. / procured the
necessary papers from Col. Mena, the
spanish Governor of the city, and
started with companion on horse
back, by land, for Havana, on the
18th of February last.
coLoRED REGIMENTS JOINING THE
PATRIOTS.
AT that time the native male popu.
lation, with the exception of the
small children and very old men,
had entirely left the city in con,
sequence of the revolutionary move.
meut. The native Spaniarls, must.
ly shopkeepers, had enrolled them.
selves in the volunteer corps, and
were exceedingly bitter In their hos,
tllities to the Cubans. These, with
the small number of regular troops
in the city, gave Col. Mena a force
Of about 5000 men, well supplied
with arms and ammunition and a
few field pieces. There had been a
regiment of colored troops IN the
garrison, but these had nearly all
deserted to the insurgents, taking
their arms with them. The roads
leading into the town were all barri-
caded by the Spanish troops in the
CUBANs ALL FOR FREE CUBA,
The feeling of the natives of all
classes is very decided for the revo.
luton. and young and old, rich and
poor, have gone into it. Gen. Dulce's
proclamations of amnesty and reform
at first produced some effect, and
IN my were in favor of accepting
them. Among these were one, if.not
two, of the Arangos. and one of them
had begun negotiations to that
effect. For this purpose he had held
communication with Col. Mena. and
appointed II day when he would come
in unarmed under a flag of truce to
confer with him. 1t is stated in
Principe that Col. Mena's order to
the squad sent to meet Arrange were
to bring him the corpse of that rebel.
The fact was that he was shot as
soon as he approached the suburbs
of the town, and then the remains
were hacked and disfigured after
death. The event stopped entirely
the feeling in favor OF accepting the
and reforms among the
CubanS.
EQUIPMENT OF PATRIOT FORCES.
The insurgent force gathered
around Puerto Principe amounts to
about 1000 men, and I was inform.
ed thit 5000 more were holding the
line of railroad between that CITY
and Nuevitas. They are very en-
in the cause, but are badly
and i'll supplied with ammuni.
tion. Their only cannen are a few
pieces of iron pipe. well plugged and
bound round with banded strips of
the hard woods of the country
Every available instrument was ap-
piled to the making of weapon for
offensive pur poses, and lance and
mochete-a short. heavy sword-were
the general armament. A few had
breech-loading rifles, captured from
the Spaniards, bnt the want of the
proper ammunition rendered them of
little service. There was but little
among the forces of the
revolution, although Gen. Quesada
was recognized as the chief com
mand. Every leader had raised and
kept together what men he could.
and the camp seemed more like "A
Of private bands than a
regular force.
HARASsING THE SPANIARDS.
The war is carried on by the ca.
bans more as a guerrilla war than by
regular operations. Whenever a
force of Spanish troops appears any.
where, the Cubans scatter from its
front, and seek, by ambuscading be-
hind trees and in the thick woods, to
annoy the troops and diminish their
numbers. The great objects among
the insurgents in these encounters is
to get hold of the muSket and khan.
sack OF every one !lcy can wound or
kill. In this they will run extraortli-
nary risks, three or four running ont
from the bush at every Spaniard
who falls
SPANISH TRADERS RUINED.
The feeling among the Spaniards
is very bitter indeed. They formed
entirely the trailing popula.
ton of the country, and every cross
road and country village was occue
pied with their shops. These are
now abandoned wherever the insur.
gents have appeared, and their own.
rrs have withdrawn to points held
10y the troops. Thus the country is
bare of goods. At first a lenient
policy prevailed; but the Spanish
volunteers have now become so vic.
lent that they shoot nearly all thew
capture, calling them leaders At
the time | was with the insurgents
they had not executed any prisoners.
but the feeling in favor of retaliation
was becoming very strong.
NO CIVIL GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTED
No regular civil government, exists
III the districts held by the lmsur
gents. and no formal attempt has vet
been made to organize one. In the
CpntFal Don9 rfmapt Con Ovae,1.,,u