The record-union., 1898-03-17
SPANISH ARMY IN CUBA.
HOW THE RAW SPANISH RE-
CRUITS ARE TREATED.
Blind Obedience to Orders Their
Creed-Continued Neglect and
Abuse Their Reward.

Take a raw peasant lad from any of
| the provinces of Spain, dress him in i'll
fitting blouse and trousers of blue
striped cotton drill, fiimsy canvas shoes
with hempen soles, and a coarse, wide
brlmmed straw hat, and put a MauseI
III his hand, and you have a Spanish
soldier such as you find in Cuba. y
more unsoldierly figure could hardly be
imagined, and We're it not for his weapon
no suspicion of a military calling would
| ever attach to him.
Surely these are not really soldiers!
is the incredulous exclamation of Ameri-
can visitors in Havana on seeing for the
| first time a squad of Spanish infantry
men, ragged and unkempt. with rusty,
battered arms and accoutrements, strag
Cling through the streets without the
/ slightest semblance Of military order
And yet it is not fair to judge these
poor fellows merely by appearances.
| While they cut a deplorable figure as
compared with England's Tommy At
/ kins, with the smart, clean troops of our
own National Guard, or, for that matter,
with the soldiers of any civilized ma
| ton, yet they are not without certain
qualities that entitle them to respect.
Two great virtues they undoubtedly
possess-an all pervading spirit of pat
Iiotism and an absolutely blind obedi-
ence to orders. These poor, ignorant
| peasant lads, torn from thSr homes and
/ brought by the thousand TO march and
starve and die in the pestilentiaI wilder
ness of Cuba, have but the faintest idea
of what the war is all about. But ask
I - n h Io
you will see the slouchy figure straighten
up proudly and the dull eyes brighten as
! he replies "Por la patria."
"All the poor fellow knows is that
/ the "Fatherland" has need of him, and
for it he will give his life if need be.
The Spanish recruit sees little of Ha-
vana, for on his arrival he is drafted
from the troop ship to Morro Castle or
| Castillo del Principe, where he is fur
nished with his Mauser and roughly in
structed in its manipulation. A very
few lessons in the simplest rudiments of
a soldiers duty qualify him for active
service, and he goes to the field without
ever having fired his rife, and with just
enough knowledge of drill to enable him
to comprehend the orders to advance.
halt, or turn to the right or left.
tached to a battalion engaged in active
operations, in which case he will march
wearily day after day, in all weathers,
broiled during the day and chilled at
night, rarely seeing the enemy, unshel-
tered, overworked and underfed, until
the inevitable breakdown occurs and he
can march no longer. Then. if he still
retains remnant of strength, he may
be detailed to the garrison of one of the
! thousands of tiny blockhouses that are
strung along the trocha or form the de-
! fences of country towns.
! [ know of no more pitiful sight than is
! presented by the living skeletons who
garrison these noisome little forts, when
they are called on to turn out and stand
by the roadside at salute when some
general and his staff ride by. / have
| seen such men so weak that they could
barely bring their pieces to the salute.
Any other troops in the world who had
! been subjected to the continued neglect
and abuse that has fallen to the lot of
the Spanish soldier in Cuba would long
ago have broken out in open mutiny,
but these poor fellows plod on without q
! thought of resistance until death over
takes them.
! The condition of the cavalry in the field
/ is occasionally better than that of the
/ infantry, and as a scouting force it is
capable of doing fairly good work. Thair
horses are small and wiry, requiring lit
/ tie attention. and the men as a rule ride
we'll; but their clothing and equipments
are in the last stages of dilapidation.
! It must not be supposed, however, that
all Spain's troops resemble the poor fell
! lows who are forced to bear the brunt
| of the war. There are, in addition to the
regulars, two crack troops of military
police-the Guardia Civil and the Orden
4 Publico, both composed of picked men,
/ handsomely uniformed, well armed, and
i presenting an appearance which would
give the severest military critic little to
cavil at.
| The Guardia Civil is rarely seen in
| Havana, forming as it does the rural
! police of the island, with guard houses
/ in all the villages and minor towns. They
/ wear showy, and, to our eyes, rather
theatrical uniform of blue tunic and
/ trousers faced and striped with scarlet
with a wide brimmed hat of gray felt,
/ the brim caught up at one side and fas-
/ tened to the crown with a circular badge
/ OF scarapalla, formed of the Spanish
/ colors of crimson and gold.
The Guardia Civil Cavalry a numer-
/ Gus and splendidly mounted body, is
| equipped like the infantry, except that
they carry a saber and carbine instead
of the short sword and the Remington
rife. The discipline of this force leaves
nothing to be desired. During the late
riots in Havana excellent work was done
by the squadrons of Guardia Civil Cav
airy.
/ The companion body, the Orden Pub
/ lico, consists of picked men from the
( best home regiments in the Spanish
army. While their duties as policemen
are nominally of civil character they
are to all intents and purposes a strictly
military body, carefully drilled and ca
pable of maneuvering with the crack
troops of the service. They wear a uni
/ form somewhat similar to the Guardia
/ Civil, but with jaunty French kept in
stead Of the felt hat
On ordinary duty they are equipped
with a heavy revolver worn in front, on
/ the right side, and a short, straight two
edged sword In times of public dis
turbance they carry the regulation Rem
/ ington rifle instead of the revolver. The
/ mounted section of the Orden Publico
! is a SDlendid b0dv of caya Ir.v The rnar