The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-01-04
TIE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

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The Cuban chief has beaten SPANS
greatest general, SO much is made clear
by the news from the "evcr-faithfUl isle"
General campos recently took the field in
person against the rebels. He had ten
men to their one. besides vast superiority
in equipment and supplies lie ~planne3
shrewd strategy. by which he meant
either TO capture the whole insurgru,
army. or to drive it into the swamps OF
the Zapata Peninsula. where 1t could
easily be kept harmless. He has now
been forced TO retreat. 10 forufy his
camps against attack, and to impress into
his service. for enforced military duty,
all the citizens he can get hold Of He
has been o~utgeneraled. outmaneuvered.
outianked and beaten in every engage
ment in the campaign. General Gomez
has broker through his lres and men
aced the rear of his army, nj marched
all around him. At present General Cam
pos seems to be standing at bay. fear
fully awaiting an attack and wondering
whether the next blow will fail upon him
or upon Matanzas or Havana Not long
ago he was planning TO put a line OF
soldiers clear across the island and march
them eastward. sweeping the rebels into
the sea at Cape MaysL. Now he is hop
ing the rebels will not march westward
in like manner and drive him into the sea
at Cape San Antonio.
The war has been in progress less than
a a General Campos has iga,e0 vet
teran troops at his command. with a
nation OF T.oa,eo at his back The rebel
army numbers about l6.eoo, with about
half a million to draw upon. The total
population Of Cuba is only abou l,5O,0N,
half being in garrisoned cities under
Spanish guard. and not more than one
third Of the population can be ~reckoned
as actively in revolt. The Spanish have,
Therefore, 10000 soldiers to suppress the
revolt Of 5o.oo or s0.Oo0 men. women and
children; as many soldiers, that is. as
there are men in the whole insurgent
population, combatant or non-combatant,
and ten times as many as the actual rebel
army. Yet they have been steadily los
ing ground. Today the insurgents hold
more than half the island, and are over
running more than half the remainder.
Draw a line across the map OF the island
at Santa Clara, from the mouth OF the
Sagua ri -er to Point de San Juan. All
east OF that-to-wit. half OF the province
OF Santa Clara and all OF Puerto Principe
and Santiago de Cuba-is in the hands Of
the rebels, with the exception Of less than
a score Of garrison towns and seaports.
Draw another line across, from Matanzas
to the Bay Of Broa. and the territory be-
tween 1t and the f~ormer-tO-wit. the rest
Of Santa Clara n nine-tenths Of Matan-
zas-is the present scene Of war. The
rest Of the island, west Of Matanzas. COM
prising the provinces Of Havana and
Pinar del Rio. is still undisturbed. though
the insurgents may invade 1t at any time
and hlibusters from Mexico may land up
on its shores.
In such a state OF affairs it is worse
than idle for Spain 10 keep up the nre.
tense that there is no war in Cuba, but
merely some desultory rioting. There Is
war. civil war, fully as much as there was
in this country thirty odd years ago, the
existence Of which Spain was 50 quick
to recognize; and we are inclined to think
the insurgents ave now far better prom
Use Of success than the C~onfederates in
this country ever had.