Litchfield enquirer., 1869-05-27
THE BIGGEST BATTLE YET IN CUBA. MASIA|sal. SIA|sal.;ImJ ImJilssl-.el ! ssl-.el i. ztan fan , latter

The following extract is from letter written by young Cuban patriot, and bearing the date of May G.
 aIaas al On the 30th all the necessary arrange assso naentsihad been made and orders had been adsmg given s6 be ready to surround Lesca on his kaimf fethfn from NneMtas and annihilate his sssiI a Iarmy not only by. sup eriority of numbers, ss. but also by displaying, such yalor as is de- F hs nbslsa caban cut n Issss y.sasEas to have arrived at the place where we Saa Axpeeted to surround him on the afternoon SoraM thA11sts hut judgeao of our surprise when TO e6geslearn6db bAhat our intended man~uyre CIV had heenf betrayed doaor' else disclosed by ssI1isoms ecareless official Quesada was furi- sd .eous,aa and calling 8 council of general off cers, he informed them that, notwithstand- ing the failure of his original plan, he was determined to fight and whip Lesca at any cost. Raising his voice, he added:-"Gen- tlemen, mean to fight, and you will fight, even ifsnot 8 single man escapes thes car baa maze alive but where or when, l keep to -xs myself and youewill hold yourself ready to obey such orders as may be handed to you by my staff officers" This short discourse was received with almost general satlsfac- ton, and during the afternoon orders were received to march toward Puerto Principe.
 A place named Sabana was reached at Q o,eiockg During the highland on the fol- . lowing morning, spies and advanced guards 'e1 e'.a arrived, announcing the approach of Les
 ca, the negroes and many whites Tn the meantime digging intrenchnents and rais- ing breastworks. Lesca's advance guard .-~-~eame up at about Il o'clock, but was not molested until it had passed the intrench- nents. when 8 yolley was poured upon them from both sides of the road, throw das ina them into confusion. They attempted aoosto fall back on the main body, but it was already too late, and Lesca, seeing the dan
 ger of his advance, advanced at 8 double
 quick to rescue them. In the mean time Quesada had placed his entire forces in
 available positions as to flank the ene- se Thy either to the right or to the left ob- ro,r iQue, the left being almost impassible,an s7e defended by 3 company of rifemea from
 Bayamo. He then organized picket rear
 guard of 45O men, composed of Domlnl- - cans, Americans and other foreigners, and Bembetas and Santa Lucias detachment of Puerto Principians, and gave them orders sa3to advance only in case of extremea neces- sity, but to fire in the ranks of the main body and march over them should they ylagwaver or retreat from the Spaniards. The bsldmain body, informed of these orders, sta- todted that they alone would annihilate the Go Spaniardso By that time the fire had be- qsscome general along the line. The front m0 rank stood coolly under the fire; few left the ranks and attempted to run toward the woods, but the determined stand of the rear guard and their undoubted intention to fire on any one who should attempt to fly, drovs the towards back into the line. ha,A,small body of Quesada's forces detached s1 themselves without orders from the main 5aubody, but was quickly driven back by the Spaniards, who advanced to attack the pa triots with the bayonet, but were soon. repulsed. A second attack met the same --fate, when the detachment b efore men, toned again left from the main body and advanced on the Spaniards, who with a yell attacked them and entered the in- on trenehments together with the detachment bstthus broken wavered, and everything seemed over, with victory for the Span iards, when Quesada ordered Colonels To- peg and Bembeta to advance with the rear guard, the very flower of the army. A rush like herd of cattle, single volley, end saw no more for a minute, pistol ball having almost blinded me and slightly grazed my head The advance guard had run over their own army, driving them in their impetuosity through the very midst of the Spanish center. Facing to the right and left after discharging volley, they then aAattacked the tSpaniards with such strength as to make them seek safety in flight and gather around their rear guard to reform themselves, while our main body, now plhCcO III tu0 ISdf tuu Ou Guo uaQk OI buo Spaniarda kept ups an 9ineessant3 fire. A false report was brought to Quesada that Letona with fresh troops was coming to aLescas rescue, but 1t proved untrue The day was ours and the battle won. We lost 300 killed and over 400 wounded; the aiSpaniards 200 killed and 2501 wounded, Aiwhich difference must be ascribed to their tisuperiority in respect of weapons. The forces engaged on both sides numbered 1,300to l,4O0 Spaniards, and about $500 Cubans, many of these badly armed. This is the first, but will not be the last, of 8 series of engagements. which will not only defeat the plans, of the Spaniards, but make us masters of the situation. and place <, the whole of the central and eastern de- partments with many slices from the cinco villas in our possession, before the rainy season has fairly commenced Cowant.
 ,Hsnsn STATE ITEMS
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