The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-03-16

i
States and Spain the island Of Cuba
would be freed from Spanish rule
much more easily than is generally
imagined. This country would not
need to send large army to the is
land to fight the Spaniards in the
field. Neither would it need to bonn
bard Habana nor attackitin any other
way. Perhaps the war would end as
far as Cuba is concerned, without the
Americans firing single shot either
by land or sea. Though these state
naents may at first appear astonishing,
they are the mere logical conclusion
to be derived from the knowledge Of
the real state Of affairs in the strug-
Cling island.
The Spaniards with an army Of l5O,-
600 men, of which not 10000 are reg
sular troops, all that is left Of the 2OO,-
iOeO soldiers sent from Spain since
1895, and decimated by battle and
sickness, control only the seaports
and the strongly fortified towns Of the
interior. The country from east to
west is in the hands of the insurgents.
The eastern part of the island, includ-
ing Santiago de Cuba and Puerto
Principe, is held by the Cuban gener-
ais, Calixto Garcia, Jesus Rabi and
Lope Recio Loynaz. There the Cu-
bans are stronger than in any other
section Of the island. They have in
these two provinces 10000 men at
least, armed and with plenty of am
munition. There they hold the Span
ish columns in constant check, and
the recent defeats Of Gen. Pando in
Santiago de Cuba, at the entrance Of
the Caute river, and Of Gen. Jimenez
eastlellanos at La Esperanza, almost
within sight Of Puerto Principe city,
show conclusively what the power OF
the Cubans is in the east.
The central part Of the island, that
is to az, the province Of Santa Clara,
is controlled by Gen. Maxine Gomez.
The Cuban commander-in-chief has at
least 10, GOO men there under his or
ders, With Carrillo, Monteagudo, Al
yarez and several others as subordi-
nate commanders.
There are about 5000 insurgents in
the provinces Of Mantanzas and Ha-
bara. This is where the. Cubans are
weakest, the Spanish fortified towns
being nearer to one another and the
Spanish army more numerous. But
nevertheless they have strength
enough to keep up very lively guer-
.rilla warfare, raiding almost daily the
most important towns and making
dashing attacks on the outskirts Of
iHabana city itself. The recent death
Of their plucky leader, Gen. Arangu-
rem, has not abated their ardor. Gen.
Betaacourt, Gen. Alexandra Rodri-
guez, Gen. Rafael de Cardenas, and
Coils. Dayalos, Collazo and others are
cntting out great deal Of work every
day for the Spanish and guerrillas in
the Habana and Mantanzas provinces.
Pinar del Rio province, the western
extremity, is Cuban stronghold.
The Cubans there are as strong as in
Santa Clara and hold the long and i'm
spregnable chain of mountains extend
ing through the province. They do
not allow the spaniards to get out Of
their towns. Gems. Delgado and Du-
casi are the principal Cuban leaders in
=
that province.
The result Of this situation is that
the Spaniards cannot exist on the pro-
ducts Of the country in any part of
the island. The country near the
towns was laid waste by Gen. Weyler
and the gaunt spectre of famine stalks
all over Cuba. The determination of
the peaceable inhabitants by hunger
is going on rapidly. All these facts
are too notorious to be denied at this
time. The receBsentrados, or nen-
csmbatants, starve and die by thsus-
ands snly because the country on
which they exclusively depend, IL not
producing food. The insurgents keep
zones Of cultivation Of their own,
where they raise vegetables and store
their cattle, but they do act divide
their provisions with the nsn-com-
batants, nor do they allow vegetables
to be raised or cattle kept by any one
BUT themselves, because it is their
psliey to prevent the Spanish array
fran obtaining any kind Of resources
in the country.
The Spanish array, therefore, ex-
elusively depends upes the provision.