San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-05-12
THE REBELLION
STILL SPREADING In CUBA.
SPANISH SOLDIERS ARE SUFFERING
GREAT PRIVATIONs.
And Meeting With Poor Success in
Downing the Revolt.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, May 3. Wis
Tampa, Fla, May lI.-Instead OF
the short, sharp and decisive cam.
paign which Gen. Martinez Cam
pos was to have inaugurated the
Spanish forces have shown their
utter inability to put down the in.
surrection, and 1T Is now plain that
the struggle is to be long continued
and attended with the sacrifice Of
many lives and the expenditure Of
many millions of dollars of Span.
ish money; even then there is nc
certainty that Spain will retain
the island of Cuba, for from the
moment that Campos landed his
troops, and now that Maceo,
Gomez and Marti have reached
the base Of Of operations, people
are leaving the plantations and
towns by hundreds to join them.
The plantations in the vicinity
OF Jarahuca are deserted and the
sugar crop is unfinished. Among
those now in the camp Of the in
surgents are many who fought in
the rebellion OF eighteen years ago.
The insurgents in the field are
nearly all blacks or mulattoes, but
they are courageous; they obey
orders, and they know how to
handle the gun. Their warfare is
that of the guerilla, but it is sys-
tematic and effective. Antonio
Maceo is major general and SUI
preme in command of the rebel
forces in the province of Santiago
de Cuba.
Jose Maceo is a general; Garcion,
Perse, Goulet and Planto are col
onels, and there are majors and
lieutenants as in regular army.
With each band are some mounted
men and bandits, and the Man
seollo district is said to have 800
horsemen. In all their recent
fights with Spanish troops the
guerillas have chosen the position,
and in most cases caught the reg
ulars unawares. Gen. Maceo has
ordered his chiefs to take no risks
by giving battle in the open field,
but to fight only when in superior
position or having superior num-
bers.
To understand the failure of the
Spanish troops in the field one
should follow regiment for
week after it's arrival from Spain !;
that interval transforms plump,
red checked soldiers into thin
wretches, footsore, weak and utter
ly incapable in fighting rough
mountaineers. The Spanish army
is an undisciplined mob. The
youthful conscripts are never
drilled and know nothing of range
or volley firing. They are treated
with the greatest inhumanity. The
army has absolutely nothing in
the shape of camp equipments,
and there is no commissary de-
partment for field work. Troops
are fed in the barracks, or when
they are long way from the bar
racks an interval of three DAYS be-
tween rations is not uncommon,
and this while the troops are
marching over terribly rough
roads under boiling sun with no
protection at night from the heavy
dews.
Gen. Salcedo's expedition in pur-
suit OF Maceo last week was fail
ure. Fifteen hundred men were
rushed in box cars to Songo, the
end Of the road, twenty-five miles
from here. They were then
marched twenty miles further to
Jarahuca, where they encountered
Maceo's rear guard, with whom
they exchanged shots and followed
to Ensenada.
Gen. Valdez is in command at
Gibara, and Gen. La Chambre at
Bayamo. Antonio Maceo is fully
advised as to this program, and
said he knew plenty of places in
the mountains where he could pass
such a line at any time. He had no
difficulty in passing the line in the
last rebellion. Additional troops
arrive from Spain nearly every day
now. Few of them remain here.
They are sent to other coast cities,
or to points along the railroads,
reaching into the interior. AtSon-
go, at a railway terminus, 200 men
are stationed, and the authorities
have levied subscription upon the
inhabitants to pay for the construc-
ton of a fort as the point is one OF
great strategic value, and will be
utilized as a base Of supplies for
operations against Maceo's encamp-
ment. At An Lucus, Morrian, dos
Caminos and other railroad towns
forts are to be built. The insur-
gents have not interfered with the
railroad, as the road is operated by
American capital. 1t is daily used
for the transportation of troops,
and it would not be surprising If
the insurgents cut it in two in
spite Of the American ownership.