The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-03-13


But MaCeo had already obtained some
notable triumphs. and Martinez Cam
pos decided To carry re-enforcementS to
the Spanish towns in the interior. which
were in great danger of attack by the in
surEents. While Martinez Campos was
on the way to Bayamo Maceo offered
him battle near Peralejo Maceo-and
To this unhappy chance Gen. Martinez
CamDos owed his life-did not know
that the Spaniards were commanded by
Martinez Campos himself. He thought
that the Spanish column of 5000 men
was led by Gen. F'eidel Santocildes. be
cause such was the information given
to him by Spanish prisoner.
Had | known at the beginning ne
wrote afterward. that Martinez Cam
pos was there. there | would have sac
rificed 1000 of my soldiers to catch
him, alive or dead.
The engagement was a pitched bat
tie. and the Cubans. not numbering over
5000 carried the ray. Gen. Santocildes
fell dead near Gen. Martinez Campos.
The Spaniards lost all their ammun-
ton and their horses Completely
routed. body of Them awaiting them
selves of the darkness of the evening,
fed to Bayamo. carrying Martinez Cam
pos on a stretcher borne by four sol
diers. lie was exhausted By fatigue
and filed with despair. More than $40
Spanish soldiers were left dead on the
field. With the splendid booty secured
by him. Maceo completed the arming
of his patriots
From April to October Gomez success
fully carried the war through Puerto
Principe province and laid his plans for
the invasion of the west. On October %
Maceo, having received orders from Go
mez, who was appointed commander-in-
chief of the army, in September, by the
assembly of representatives,, started for
the east with 1000 of his men. On Octo-
Der 30 Gomez invaded Las Villas Maceo
joined him on November % near a place
called Los Guayos. From there they be
gan their triumphant march, On De-
cember the Spanish Colonel Segura was
defeated by the insurgents at Iguara and
had to leave his dead the field. togeth-
er with a great supply of arms and am
munitiOn- On December -. the Spanish
battalfons of CanariaS and Tire vino were
routed by Maceo al Nal TEMPO. after the
most gallant charge with machetes of the
Cuban cavalry. led by Maceo himself, that
has ever been seen in the Cuban wars
On December q the victory of FL Desquite
cleared the way. for the invaders to the
province of Matanzas. Martinez Campos
| then made a desperate effort to check the
two Cuban leaders. Until that moment he
had been reCOiling before the invaders
with his columns, hoping that they would
stop. But he saw that each step of the
patriots to the west was a decisive tri-
umph for their cause. The enthusiasm
| for the revolution was growing day by
| day throughout the country. The Cuban
| ranks were filled by volunteers from all
the cities and towns by which Gomez and
Maceo passed. Martinez Campos rallied
| his almost dispersed men and presented
| battle at FL Coliseo on December %
The action was sharp and decisive
Martinez Campos behaved bravely. Lead
| ing one of his wings in a charge against
| Gomez. but Maceo falling on the Spanish
won the day for Cuba and compelled Mar
| tinez to retire. The captain general hur-
riedfy entered Havana, making prepara-
| lions to defend the city, and he confess
ed MS defeat to the astoniShed Spanish
volunteers and residents of the capital.
On the night of December q the cap
| tain general made that avowaI few
days later. the rabid Spanards of the
| city compelled him to tender his resigna-
| ton to Madrid. They demanded from
Canovas a captain-general, framed in the
| old iron cast of the Spanish conquerors.
| not to fight battles and risk his life on
| the field, but to exterminate the native
| population. In their belief. women, chill
| dren. everyone born in Cuba should be
! held responsible for the situation They
| did not like q soldier with gallant ca
reer and personal courage. They wanted
| an executioner. Canovas satisfied them
| and appointed Don ValerianO Weyler
| Nicolau to succeed Martinez Campos
| The question may be asked why the
| patriots after so many victories did not
| invest the city of Havana and end there
with the Spanish dominion. The answer
| Is very clear After the battle of COIiseo
| Gen. Gomez reviewed his troops and found
| that each soldier had only three cart
| ridges. The Cubans in the United States
| were making vain efforts to send a big ex-
| petition to the patriots. a hostile Adj
| ministration checked them. If the Span
| ish army was defeated in the fields of
| Cuba. Spanish diplomacy was triumphant
| at Washington. At Guira de Melena on
| January 1. 1896 the patriots had to fight
| with their machetes to enter the province
| of Havana For such a state of affairs
| Gen Gomez considered his best plan to be
! TO organize armies in all the provinces
! invaded. so far as his resources permitted
| him to do, and try to raise the war in
| Pinar del Rio province. At CAIRO on Jan
uary the patriots routed Spanish col
| umn and entered Pinar del Rio Gen Go
mez then withdrew to the east while
| MaceO proceeded 70 the west on Janu-
| airy II he obtained another victory at the
| very gates of Pinar del Rio city. and on
January % he took the town of Banes at
the western extremity of the island three
months after his departure from Baragua
| in Santiago de Cuba.
| On February - Maceo returned to Ha-
| vana province. Gen. Weyler publicly de-
| clared Pinar del Rio pacified, and the gall
| liant Cuban leader returned TO that prov
| ince on March 10.
Before This Weyler had already shown
| the sangunary spirit and plans of muir
der. Prisoners of war and innocent per
sons unjustly charged with aiding the re-
| belliOn We're shot every day in Havana.
The most summary court-martial preced-
| ed the executions as mere formality.
| In other cases the victims were murder
| ed in cold blood in their dungeons or
| thrown alive into the sea during the night
| at the entrance of the harbOr TO feed the
| sharks. The horrors of the council of
| blood under Alva. look pale when compar-
| ed with the crimes of Weyler. In the coun-
| try his troops had orders to outrage
women and to kill every uon-combatant
without regard 10 age. In the cities he
appointed as inspectors of police the most
infamous murdercrs and thieves from the
Spanish penal colonies in Africa
In Il short time more than 100 900 per
sons emigrated from Cuba pauic-stricken.
| But Weyler WAS not satisfied. He in
tended to destroy the country and to
eXterminate the natives. Seeing that the
executions in the forts were too slow a
method and that the destruction wrought
by his columns was not enough TO ruin
the island. he conceived one Of the most
mOnstrOus crimes ever cOmmit ted against
humanity. On February 16. 1896 he is
sued his two famous DEGREES of concen-
| tratiOn. BY them every human being in
the country districts was compelled to
leave home, after it had been DESTROYED
by the Spanish columns. and go to one
of the fortified towns under the vigilance
of the Spanish soldiery. With the homes
of the reconceutrados their cultivated