Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1898-06-09
A CUBAN EXPEDITION.
How Gomez Received a Relief
Party From United States.
EXPERIENCE OF A CUBAN VETERAN

EXPERIENCE OF A CUBAN VETERAN
| He Tells of the Quick Move In New York
When Word Was Received That Fight
ing Had Started = Marching to the In
| surgents' Camp - Lying In Wait For
Spanish Cavalrymen Cubans' Fighting
| Methods.
81 wish that I could have been in
Cuba when the patriots received the
news of the outbreak of hostilities be-
tween the United States and Spain,
said member Of the insurgent army
who is recovering slowly in the United
States from the wounds received in ten
engagements fought with Gomez in
Cuba. IT left the island" he said in
speaking of his experience with the
grand general, as the Cubans call their
leader, 'before my countrymen had
heard the welcome tidings, and so can
only conceive of their joy by my own
feelings.
l. VI CdlS p11S SuDduS lave 1OOhSu
to the United States for assistance in
overcoming their enemies, and now that
the hope of years has been realized their
enthusiasm must be almost too great for
expression. I was connected with mer-
camille house in New York when the
Instruction broke out in Cuba, and I
we'll remember my feelings when upon
T ~,
few insurgents had taken up arms
against the Spaniards and hidden in the
marshes of Santiago ana Matanzas.
THE Cubans who live in New York
have always kept in touch with one an
other, and upon the receipt Of the news
in our colony here the sympathizers
with the cause gathered at the different
offices of the Cuban merchants and dis
cussed the situation. The junta was
soon formed, and we began the work of
recruiting. I Joined among the first and
started with filibustering expedition,
which consisted of many representative
Cubans.
"We reached the shore of the Ever
Faithful Isle after an uneventful voy-
age. Our captain, who was an old hand
at the business, kept off the shore until
nightfall. The ship in which we reach
ed the island was scarcely more than
tugboat and carried upon its deck one
small boat about the size of a dory. 1t
was capable of carrying only six men at
time and made the task Of transfer
ring the members of the party from the
ship to the shore extremely tedious.
AS the first boatload approached the
rocky shadows, which on the shore off
Matanzas project far out into the deep
water, one of the members of the party
whistled a phrase from The Depths Of
My Lady's Eyes as an old Spanish
serenade now famous in the Cuban army
is called. The signal was recognized on
shore by guides who had been sent by
Gomez to bring the recruits to his ar
my. The guides came down to the shore
and met the members of the first boats
company as they came on shore The
meeting between the guides and their
fellow patriots was enthusiastic in the
extreme. The men embraced, and from
the guides the new arrivals gathered
their first real information as to the sit
uation.
1.-The officer who had been sent by
Gomez to take charge of the recruits
decided not to attempt to make the pas
sage from the shore to the insurgent
camp that night, as troop Of Spanish
cavalry was encamped in the vicinity,
and he feared that.in the darkness the
expedition might run into the outposts.
Accordingly we made ourselves as COM
Portable as the rocky nature of the coun-
try permitted, and after stationing SEN
tries about the temporary camp at COM
handing points the others of our force
lay down among the rocks, taking care
to select positions which rendered them
as inconspicuous as possible.
The next morning at o'clock the
order to assemble was passed along from
man to man, and in absolute silence the
line set out through the forest, which
was almost jungle at that place. The
men marched in single file, with rifles
and revolvers cooked. We had tramped
for about two hours when one leader
gave a low hiss and waved to the column
to halt. The members Of the expedition,
many Of whom had had experience in
former instructions, stopped instantly
and without further orders sought places
OF concealment among the powders.
The jingling of accouterments was
soon heard as troop of Spanish horse
men trotted by on road which ran be-
low and around the lone bluff upon
which the party of filibusters was hid
den. We waited until the soldiers had
passed, without attempting to attack
them, as we were not prepared to make
rapid retreat, hampered as we were
with provisions and equipment BY 10
O'Clock that night we reached the place
where the main body of the insurgent
army was encamped.
"Our approach was heralded by
scouts, who ran ahead and warned the
sentries not to fire upon US. According
ly, when we entered the camp, we
found fires lighted at the corners of the
camp ground to guide us to the spot
and all the patriots who We're off duty
gathered about in groups in anticipa-