Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1896-12-17
MACEO ASSASSINATED.
Cuban Leader the Victim of
Spanish Treachery.
Flag of Truce Violated Was Decoyed
and Ambushed.


tonic Maceo, the famous Cuban leader,
was treacherously murdered by Span
iards on December while on his way to
attend a conference to which he had been
invited by the Marquis of Ahumada.
acting captain-general of Cuba while
Gen. Weyler was in the field.
This morning a letter was received by
c. NJ de Huau. head of the Cuban junta
in this city, giving detailed account OF
the assassination of Gen. Maceo and his
entire staff. with the exception of DR..
Zertucha. who was Maceo's physician.
The letter came from reliable source
in Havana. but the correspondent
name, of course, was not made publc,
for, as Mr. Juan said 'the writer would
be shot within an hour b.: Spanish au-
thorities if they knew who disclosed the
details of the most horrible atroclty ever
chrOnicled in modern warfare.
The Marquis of Ahumada sent a letter
to Gen. Maceo inviting him to a confer
ence.
Maceo. who was the soul of honor, new
er for 4 moment thought that treachery
was intended. especially as the invitation
came from such a prominent Spanlard as
the Marquis of 4Ahumada. lie lmme-
diately returned an answer SAYING tnat
he would be glad to meet the Spanish
general.
Accompanied by his staff, he went to
the rendezvous, little dreaming of the
awful fate that was in store for him.
On arriving at the trocha the Spanish
soldiers. acting under orders, actually
saluted the rebel chieftain as he passed,
but when he reached the rendezvous
Maceo was surprised to see, instead of
the Marquis of Ahumada. a large body
of Spanish soldiers, who seemed to come
from every side.
The actions of the troops were so sus-
pcous that Maceo felt that he had been
cruelty trapped and his suspicious were
confirmed when peremptory order came
from a mounted officer. whose name it
was subsequently learned was Mag. Cru
jcda. who dashed up to the gallant Gu
ban leader as he stood at bay surrounded
by his staff and demanded his uncondl~
tional surrender.
Never was the reply.
Hardly had the words been uttered
when volley after volley was poured into
the little band of patriots, who, although
hemmed in on all sides and Outnumbered
almost one hundred to one. struck spurs
to their horses. and with cries OF CUBA
lbre.' rode CALAMITY to their death.
Maceo Slain at the First Fire.
Maceo is reported to have fallen at the
first fire with a bullet through his head,
king the jaw. Another bullet hit
him i'll the abdomen. Both shots were
fatal.
Young Francisco Gomez, son of the
Cuban commander-inchief,w was the next
to fall, and in a few moments bloody
corpses, all shot almost beyond recognl-
ton. so fierce and concentrated was the
Spanish fire, were all that remained OF
the gallant Cubans who haA trusted to
Spanish honor.
Only one member of the staff escaped,
and that was DR.. Zertucha.
The corpseS were buried on the field,
and every precaution was taken to keep
the details of the horrible butchery from
being made public.
The Jacksonville Citizen tomorrow will
contain the following relative to the
death of Antonio Maceo:
Justo Carrillo, well-known Cuban of
this city. brother of the Cuban general,
Carrllo. has received the following let
ter from a trustworthy correspondent in
death of Antonio Maceo ana showing
that he was killed by treachery:
Havana, Dee, 9,--Dear Frie..d Justo:
Our brave general, Antonio Maceo, and
murdered by the Spanards, the Spanish
major, Cirujeda, acting the part OF as"
sassin. with DIR. Maxine Zertucha as an
assistant in the horrible drama.
"Convinced that. notwithstanding his
enormous army, he could do nothing
repea tedly defeated the Spanish generals
i'm Pinar del Rio, Weyler conceived the
idea of appeasng his beastly instincts by
cold-biooded murder. and, making the
best of the secret relations between Dr.
Zertucha and the Marquis of Ahumada,
he planned with the latter his hellish
scheme.
"Weyler took the field. and in his alb
sence Ahumada proposed through Ter
tucha a conference with Maceo to take
place at Il certain point in the province
of Havana. with the view of arranging
plans for the cessation of hostilitics:
"The basis was to be Cuba's indie
pendence and monetary indemnity to
Spain. together with certain advantages
that should be agreed upon for Spanish
commerce and Spanish capital invested
there.
Safety Guaranteed to Maceo.
''To carry out the PLAN the agreement
was that orders should be given to the
detachment of troops stationed on the
trocha in the section between Marel and
Guanajay to allow Maceo with his staff
to pass the military line unmolested
thine was required to mature these
arrangements. and. to give them all the
appearance of truth, Ahumada feigned
that before acting he must make them
known to Weyler for his previous APP
prevail.
This explains the sudden arrival of
Weyler in Havana and his prompt return
to Pinar del Rio.
The conditions and place of the meet
ing having been agreed on. Maceo crossed
the trocha over the road to Guanajay
without being molested by the forts. but
as soon as he arrived ut the place de-
cided upon he and his party We're greeted
by Il tremendous volley from the troops
under Maj. Cirujeda. who lay conven-
iently in ambush
Most of the officers on his staff fell
with Gen. Maceo.
'Xertucha is alive because he was
aware of the scheme and remained in the
rear.
Spanish Deny 1t.
Key West. Fla, Dec 14.-Advices
from Havana say that La Lucia and
other Spanish papers are quite bitter
over the story sent out regarding Maceos
assassination, and deny it emphatically.
Palace officials also deny it. and it is
stated that Gen. Weyler will deny it
over his own signature.