Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1898-12-21
TEE FORTRESS OF cABANA At HAVANA:
Clara and the Bateria sds Vslascois !! on

the water side, the only. ones Which
are commanded by brigadier-generals
are the Castillo del Principe and the
Castillo de 10, Cabanas All theEothers
are commanded iby majors of infantry,
captains, Oh first lieutenants of artil-
lery. Thus one knowns the impor-
tanoe in which Cabana is held. It oc-.
cupies front of 24O0 feet on the
heights, just within the entrance to
the bay; on the land side it aslthree
picturesque bastions, moat and o
drawbridge, contains accommod odatlons
for 1000 troops, and to perserslwhese
military eriterions have been received
through Sir Walter Scott and Alexan-
der Dumas it appears to be ilnpreg-
nable, SO thick are the concrateE walls,
SO we'll is .:.all-outdo excluded
from. thesgiew until one climbs TO the
overlapping parapets, and from these
the surrounding country Sc elns osbes
atone s. mercy. = y
Santa Clara ansa ~ s'{.scn
standing guard between Cabana and
the sea, look to be Of small account,
although Santa Clara and Yelasco are
about the only Havana Notifications
which have big and fairly modern
guns. From tidewater the walls of
Cabana rise dominant as high as o
twenty-five story New York building;
well-manned guns; ranging a circle of
eight miles, could reach nearly every
thing within sight by sea or land TO
get into it on foot OF. mounted there
are three entrances, two from the bay,
up zizzag common roads, and one
from the land, over drawbridge.
Once within the first wall there are
yet two 9th ers to conquer, and in the
centre Of all are the prisons and the
magazines and the quarters of the
soldiers.
There are now only three batteries
in Cabana; tie one just mentioned
aiming down over the harbor, one of five
old-fashioned cast-iron mortars which
points towards the mouth of the bay, and
one nearly over the sally-port keeping
watch on the land side. In ell there
are scarcely twenty guns, aud 1 should
not like to be back of one when the
match was applied to its touchhole.
We could not. say anything like this
to the polite lieutenant. of artillery
who presently offered to guide us
around the rest of the fortress, and
who broke the regulations to let us
see the dungeon prisoners. He and
the other officers fancy that Havana
has immensely powerful defenses, and
they regret that they did not have on
opportunity to defeat us in an attempt
to take the city, but it. was. merciful
to their pridethat we did not attempt
it.
What will the Cubans or Americans
do with Cabana? It would last for
ages yet unless hit with modern pro-
jectile. 1t would be difficult to disin-
feet i. sufficiently to serve as q bar
racks, for in the centuries it has been
occupied there have been mo closets,
no system of sanitation. and every
prison cell and borrack-room is vile.
Cubans will probably want to keep un-
touched the Laa n Ditch, or grassy
space between two Salls, where no less
than GOO patriots aave been executed.
"Here," said Jiss Lieutenant, our guide,
quite unconcernedly, ''is where politi-
cal prisoners were shot. They were
placed against that wall there, and the
soldiers were drawn up about fifteen
feet away; you can: see the marks LETT
by their bullets on the wall" The
whole side of the wall for fifty feet
and to the height of ten feet was closely
pitted with bullets that had first passed
through men who had dared to preach
that Cuba must be free of Spnin.
There have not been any executions
lately, but the prison contains several
political and many military prisoners.
As we passed, one of them called out
something about "Americanos" and
CELEBRATED" Our lieutenant never