Omaha daily bee., 1896-02-13
DAILY BULLETINS FROM HAVANA.
General oliver Claims n Victory over
the Snntn CInrn RcbeIs.

Clara capital of the province Of that name,
from General Oliver, the Spanish commander
in that district, announces a serious defeat
Of the insurgents under Serafn Sanchez and
Mirabe two Of the most important in
surgent leaders outside the province OF
Havana The following details have been
received here: General Oliver hearing that
Sanchez and Mrabel, at the head of
numerous force of insurgents, were moving
on Camajuani, ordered Colonel Lopez, at
the head Of 500 cavalry and infantry, to
leave Remedies, northeast of Camaiuan
where the troops were in garrison, to engage
the enemy. The Spanish troops lift Remedies
at o'clock in the morning date not given
supposed to be Monday and reached Cana
| juani at O'Clock the same night. The
| troops were aroused at an early hour the
next morning and left for Palo Prieto, where
| the advance guard of the insurgents were
| stationed The latter opened fire upon the
troops as soon as the soldiers were within
range. For some time the Spaniards did
! not reply, wishing to get within better
shooting distance before engaging the in
surgents. When the Spanish column was
well in hand and in battle formation Colonel
Lopez ordered the attack commenced. This
was done with effect, sharp and well
directed fire being kept up by the troops
until the advance guard of the insurgents
! retreated upon its main body, after having
replied vigorously. The Spaniards continued
to advance over difficult ground. The in
! surgent sharpshooters kept up harassing
/ fire as they retreated. But when the troops
/ reached a large open space Of territory,
having high ground to the right and left
| fiort, the insurgents suddenly appeared In
strong force to the right and left of the
troops and another body Of the enemy, after
| ward ascertained to be a strong reinforce
| ment of insurgents, under Leon Vidal and
Betancourt, moved upon Colonel Lopez's
| force in the center. Colonel Lopez was
thus in danger of being surrounded by
much superior and we'll armed force of in
surgents. To his right and on his left were
the main bodies of the attacking insurgents,
under Serafln Sanchez and Mirabel. They
were composed of mounted and dismounted
men in about equal numbers. But the center
force of the insurgents was mainly infantry.
Under these circumstances Colonel Lopez
ordered the troops to form square. This
was done with great cooness under the
fire of the enemy and eventually the In
surgents charged upon the square from the
three sides with machetes, the rear of the
Spanish column being somewhat protected
by stone wall and natural defenses in the
shape of thick brushwood and a ravine
difficult to cross.
The insurgents charged with the great
est courage, in spite of the fire Of the troops
waving their machetes in the air and
cheering for Cuba. Their first attack was
repulsed; but they were not long in return
ing to the charge with the same gallantry.
This time the insurgents reached almost up
to the Spanish square. But once more they
were driven back, this time in disorder. The
insurgent leaders made another attempt to
rally their forces and small body of in
surgent cavalry was led to the attack for
the third time. This stopped when about a
dozen Of their horses had been shot and
the whole force was thrown into confusion
The insurgents retreated for good after
keeping up for nearly an hour a scattering
fire, which was severe enough to prevent
the troops from following them.
GATHERED UP THE DEAD.
1t was not until o'clock in the afternoon
that firing ceased and fatigue parties were
sent out to gather up the insurgent dead
and wounded, while the Spanish cavalry
pursued the retreating bodies of the enemy
The soldiers found forty-eght dead insur
gents on the field and it estimated by
fairly accurate count that the enemy carried
away 1870 wounded men, in addition to a
number of their wounded who fell too close
to the Spanish square to permit Of their
friends carrying them off. The Spanish
cavalry, in pursuing the insurgents, cap
tured number Of country people, supposing
Them to have information regarding the
movements of the enemy. The prisoners,
after having been questioned by Colonel
Lopez, were released. They say the insur-
gents loss is much greater than estimated
by the Spanish officers, as they saw a num-
bsr of dead, apparently men of Importance,
being carried away by the insurgent cav
alrymen and the country people also assert
that the number of wounded carried off
by the enemy about 200.
The Spanish behaved throughout with the
greatest coolness and owing to the admirable
positions selected by Colonel Lopez for the
formation of the square the loss sustained
by the troops was slight, in view Of the fact
that the fighting lasted over six hours. The
troops lost Major Tones; Sergeant Otero and
four soldiers killed, and had a lieutenant,
one sergeant and fifty soldiers wounded.
The ravine behind the spot where the
Spanish square formed turned out to be an
admirable field hospital, for the army sur
geons were enabled to care for the wounded,
while the bullets of the enemy were whstl-
ing harmlessly over them.
General Oliver has complimented Colonel
Lopez upon the admirable manner in which
he has relieved Camajuani The troops,
when last heard from, were occupying that
place and no danger was apprehended of any
further movement of the insurgents upon
the town, which, by the way, is not far
from Santa Clara.
Colonel Lopez reports that he cannot
speak too highly of the discipline Of his
troops throughout the engagement. They
stood the enemy's fire unfnchngly and
laughed and jested as they repulsad the in
surgents.
The insurgents in this province yesterday
made a daring attack upon body of forty
recently mobilized troops, who were on their
way from San Nicolas TO Havana. The in
surgents were under the leadership of Perez
| anu MarlHeZ, Dut tHey were cOHpelleu tC
retreat when a detachment of the battalion
of volunteers of the nelghborhood WAS sent
against them. The enemy retreated to
Chicahca.
Near Itaba the insurgents have attacked
train escorted by volunteers of the Cune-
MICA battalion and a few regular soldiers.
The insurgents were beaten off with loss
OF five killed and quantity of arms and
ammunition. They retired with their
wounded. Five soldiers were wounded dur
ing the engagement.
A column of troops commanded by Cen
era Prat has had two skirmishes with the
, insurgents in the vicinity OF Jesus Maria,
, province OF Matanms During the first
exchange of shots the insurgents lost four
, killed and retreated. They were pursued
by the troops and a second skirmsh took
place, with the result that the insurgents lost
fifteen killed and the troops captured six
prisoners and number OF rifles. Only one
soldier was killed. although several were
wounded.
band of insurgents commanded by Cas-
| tillo made an attack yesterday upon the viii
lage of Managua, near this city. AS If this
was not bad enough detachment Of vol
unteers belonging to Nacerano, a village
Il I AInN.. ,ls l..