Omaha daily bee., 1895-10-06
AMERICANS FIGHT FOR CUBA
Interesting Letter from the Field by a
Former Nebraskan.
G. C. WATSON AND HIS DARING DEEDS
Authentic Account OF Several En-
rngcmcpts I'm which Those
Trained I'm the United states
Army Showed Great skin.

De pledbeu Win ltS contents, as III Is the nrSt
authentic and reliable Information received
from Cuban soil in this part of the country.
Watson was formerly a private in the Twen-
ty-first United States infantry, stationed at
Fort Sidney:
I'm CAMP, SANTIAGO DE CUBA. Sept.
16.-R. s. Oberfelder, Sidney. Neb., U. S.
A.: My Dear Sir-You will be surprised to
receive a letter from me at this point, but I
know a full report of the doings Of the
Cuban revolution will be of interest to you
and all my Sidney friends. l got my commits
sion at Tampa, Fla, on March /, 1895. for a
captaincy in the Cuban army at 500 per
month, payable in gold land 1 get iD, but
the conditions were that l was to take charge
OF an independent company and to have the
pick OF my own men. l went to New Orleans
and, as luck would have II, got five ex-United
states cavalrymen and a very smart German
who graduated at Leipsic, Germany, in chem
istry and is an expert in making all kinds
or explosives. l also picked up a young
gradual OF Rush Medical college and got
him a commission at SIS per month. We
started from Tampa, Fla, on a small
steamer on March IL, 1895. and landed with
out any trouble near Santiago de Cuba. /
reported in person to General Maceo and he
gave me carte blanche to pick out my men.
/ selected forty-two whites and fifty colored
and l have the best drilled and disciplined
men in the Cuban army.
II selected from the armory 100 44-caliber
rifles, 10000 rounds of ammunition and a
complete reloading outfit. My camp e~quipage
1s not OF the best. l have plenty of bedding
and canvas paulins, two tents and at all
times plenty OF grub. I established head
quarters near a small town where we had
plenty of sympathlZers.
Now l will describe the soldiers that were
sent from Spain. They are a young lot of
boys, who are not acclimated and are dying
like sheep. They have little bedding and a
small rubber cape to cover their shoulders
and all are armed with the Mansur rifles and
machetes. A machete is a fiat piece OF steel
with a sharp edge and a long handle and
looks like a scythe used by the section men
on the American railroads for cutting weeds,
and Is as much use in a charge as a club.
NY commission gives me the privilege to
forage on the enemy and destroy all prop
erty belonging to the sympathizers of the
government. Since my arrival here my COM
psny has been In several engagements. I
sent out a scouting party, In charge Of Lieu
tenant Hamilton. a former private in the
Seventh United States cavalry. He returned
In two hours. reporting that he came across
twenty-five Spanish soldiers in camp, eating
dinner and with no guards out. He ap-
preached within 200 yards OF their camp.
DETAILS OF AN ENGAGEMENT.
II took seventy-fve men at once and ar
rived at the camp at 2:20 p. m, surrounding
them, and In ten minutes after our arrival
captured one officer, thirteen men and killed
SIX, TWO getting away. l was well rewarded
IN my hrst engagement with the Spanish.
we also took twenty-one Mansur rifles 2 600
rounds OF ammunition, ten boxes OF hard
tack, five cases Of canned meat, as well as
camp equipage and 1915 in gold. The latter
was very acceptable in this stage of the
game. e
81 returned to headquarters and turned
over the prisoners to General Maceo. who
gave me his blessings. We have daily on
countered small bands of Spanish troops, an
initiating them like you would grouse on a
cold and frosty mnrntno On,. n
was on July 5. Sergeant Wilson. formerly
a private In the Fourth United States cav.
. airy, after a two days scout returned and
reported seventy-ive Spanish soldiers coming
this way, escorting three government o6Bcers
we started with eighty-fve men, and Instead
OF finding seventy-ive Spanish troops we
ran into a hornets nest of 1000. We ra-
treated the best We could, but lost twelve
good men. among them Sergeant Joseph l..
Rounds, formerly Of the First United states
cavalry, whose folks live At 81
Louis, Mo. II had plenty Of men
1 would have shot Sergeant Wilson for not re-.
porting the correct number of the enemy.
l reduced him to the ranks, and since than T.
has been smooth sailing. We lost one man
since July 5, and that was by fever. Our
doctor is the best one in the Cuban army
and looks after our welfare splendidly. God
bless him. NV
Our headquarters look like a large funk
shop. We have everything from n pocket
knife to a German repeating cannon withont
any ammunition. On August 26 we moved
our headquarters thirty miles further
north and rhe following day sent Lieutenant
Hamilton with a detachment of twenty men
TO scout the country. He reportcd
1000 Spanish troops encamped nj
a small town twenty-six miles south of ne
and that they were holding a fair or festival
and were having horse races and bull fights
They had erected a large grand stand and
the farmers and soldiers were in daily at
tendance. We held a council of war and
our chemist. Herr Donzlemann, suggested
that we dress as farmers ten of our men
and blow the grand stand up with dynamite.
There was his first opportunity to show
what he could do. They left camp at 5 a. m.
and arrived at the camp of the Spanish
troops at 1890. He and the men mingled
with the soldiers until 5 p. m. when he
placed under the amphitheater twelve pounds
or dynamite at four different locations and
exploded 1t by electricity. Our men escaped.
but the explosion killed two of the Spanish
officers, sixty-eight men and wounded 1l3.
That was the best days work we have done
yet. subsequently WI have blown up bridges
and RACED to the ground all buildings on plan
tations OF Spanish sympathizers.
I'm my next / hope to be enabled to in
form you that the Lone Star flag is floating
over the government buildings at Havana.
Send my mail to Tampa, Fla, and also a
batch or newspapers, as | have seen but
one American paper since my arrival here.
Yours truly, EDWIN C. WATSON"
Fails City Brevities.
FALLS CITY. Neb., Oct. 5.-(Special)-
Emma j, Gannt. wife of Hon. Amos e. Gannt,