The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-15

months later Marie captured, singie-hand-
ed, the colors of a battalion. Of spanish
infantry. For this act OF bravery sue Was
promoted and given command of a small
detachment OF Insurgents. A similar act
a month later won for her lieutenant
commission. Her one ambition was ven
geance and she never missed an opportu-
nifty 10 meet il out to any OF the opahlsn
officers who, as prisoners OF war iell INTO
her hands She possessed 1lhdomltaole
courage and it was not long oeiorS the
name of Antonio Rivas, the insurseht' was
known from one end of the Asiaho 10 1ne
other. the dreaded foe of the Spanish ana
for whose head. dead or alive, Weyler Of
fered a large reward. Posters IN spanish
were conspicuous wherever. the spanish
were in control giving the description OF
the insurgent lieutenant havana was
agog with gossip of his deeds o. Valor, ana
La Lucha called upon all Spaniards 10
leave no stone upturned IN seepfsisB lhe
capture OF the rebel who bad sent more
Spanish soHiers to death than any oihcer
of the insurgent forces and whose ven
geance was uneuualed." Hundreds of
spanish cavalry secured the nils 1or hln
and his handful of men, who were playing
havoc with the Spanish outpos,s'
From time to time her command was m
creased until she had in the neigheorhooo
of 500 men fairly we'll equippeqi IN q JsNlr-
mish in the Santa Clara. valley her smaih
force routed five times her own number
of troops, killing fifty officers ana cap
turing more than 200 men and twice tnat
number of arms, and one Calling gun
For this victory she was promoted 10 a.
captaincy and with the promotion came
the task that brought her dealh.
Col. Nunez after hearing of her success
sent her orders that the Spanish were
marching on Alacranes, and that she
a and dos
railroad between Alaeranes and Maian-
zas. Ii was a big task, yet Capt. Rivas
hesitated not, and orders were at once
given TO carry out the order to the letter.
While en- route her command was at
tackled by large force of troops, and al
though she gave them battle she was
forced 10 retreat with her troops INTO
the hills. Before doing so she mad de'
stroyed enough of the railroad 10 prevent
It being of any material use to the enemy
until they had replaced several bridges
and reconstructed some miles of the road
where it encrcled the hills near Matah-
zas.
The slxirmish lasted several hours, the
| loss on both sides being heavy. The par
| ticulars of the hattie were afterward tod
in Havana by one of the wounded Jnsur-
gents, who had been taken prisoner ten
days after the battle, as follows: I'VE
were tearing up the railroad and burning
| the bridges. Our rear was attacked by
| Spanish cavalry. We Immediately formed
and returned the attack, driving the cav
airy to cover. On the foothills were the
main body of the Spanish, and, sheltered
| by the trees, they forced us to retreat
was fighting by the side of Capt. Rivas
| when the Spanish turned their Calling
! guns on us and almost at the 7first svolley
our captain fell, his last words being Cuba
Libre
1.-The body of Capt. Rvas was'found sur
| rounded by nearly fifty dead. A big trench
was dug, and as they were about to place
the bodies In it one OF the men noticed
that the captain had his hand In the
bosom of his shirt firmly grasping some
thing. On opening the shirt 1t was seen
| that the captain had a firm grasp upon a
Cuban flag wrapped around mis- body. u
removing it the fact stood revealed that
| Capt. Rivas was a woman. A separate
grave on the hillside was dug to receive
| her remains"
When this news was told In Havana It
! appeared so incredible that the captain
| general ordered an Investigation TO be
made and a detachment of men sent out
to exhume the body in order to fully iden.
| fifty it. The story was found to have
| been truthfully told.
Nothing was heard of the younger Sis
| ter, Isabelle, until in September last, when
| a battalion of infantry surprised and cap
| tured a small insurgent hospital camp In
the hills near Cienfuegos. This camp
was filled with wounded men who had
! been sent here for care and treatment.
In the camp was Isabelle acting as n
nurse. She had discarded the disguise of
a boy. About thirty were taken prisoners
and all were removed to Havana 1sa-
belle was among the number, and 1t was
through tho interpleadings of American
| women of Havana who had heard the
story of her sisters bravery that Gen.
Lee interested himself in her behalf and
| secured her release on the promise that
she would leave Cuba and never return.