The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-01-08
THE STRENGTH OF
THE CUBAN ARMY
Supported in Their Hills by Peace
fol Agricultural People.
THEY CANNOT BE DRIVEN OUT
Feed sspDly fer the Arny Is Ceod-rIssty
Of Cattle aad Vegetables
baseO Beias Raised.

Nov York. Jan IA Herall CORES
pondsni El Cu1a VINO has jest ros5cd the
saarid .on hory50Ark through the Cuban
and Spanish lines from Pinlr iel Rio to
tbe Jucaroa-MO-ou trocha. f5r the pur-
pp,c Of observing the actual strength ana
conditlon S the insu-gent forces. today
AMI their ability 70 continue the war.
writes:
"W1nen your orders reached tie I WAS
Sith the force Of Pedro Diaz. commander
in-Chief Of the sixth army corps IN Pirar
IA Itio province. We were encamped near
Cuzco. Under Diaz operating in that
province were General Loren.e. command
ing the r',-oorsi division. or the territory
vest Of Paso Real. and Vidal 1u clsse.
commanding the firs; division. or The dis
trict eas: nf Paa Real. Geneal Lorente
lias 1890 infantry ana 100 cavalry. well
arntA a;.A well fei, but lacking clothes.
Du ,asse has 2op Infantry ard 300 cav
airy in the same condition. Operating
against this force a month ago were only
th-ee columns Of spaniards. -hese never
succeeded in reaching the rebels strong
hold G.. the hills until General Parade
took the field The only lighting was wheo
uhc rebels invited IL.
From Cuzco l proceeded through the
Cuban lines TO Havana. I experienced
no difficulty In entering the capital Ha-
yana and Matanzas provinces are under
the command OF General Alexandra Rcd
rlguez, chief OF the fifth army corps I'm
dee General Rodriguez are Juan du Case,
Rafael Cnd sas Jaconto Hernandez, Juan
Delgado, Alberto Noriasse and Nestor
AranguereH. The total force under these
leaders ~ 1000 Infantry and 100 ccvalry.
all we'll equipqed. In Matanzas. which
belongs also to the iifth army corps. are
Brigsiier-General Be.ancourt. ColoreIs
Sanguily and Valencia with 1870 infantry
and 800 cavalry. Only about half this
force Is armed. This Is a difficult PROV
ince to operate In. The men remain In
the hills, cultiyating the soil. or watch
ing the coast
These western provinces have been IA
mIhar to me for the last year. during
N'aich time l have been continually with
the rebel forces. except wha; time was
necteSary 10 carry dispatches 20 Havana.
can vouch for thase figures. On the
trip to the Orient 1 broke new ground.
but the figures given ara from actual OBJ
servation. 1 took the field in Santa Clara
from Santo Domingo, riding out in broad
daylight with guides and within an hour
was with the insurgent forces under Ger
| eral Arando. That evening returned
with General Arando to suburban town
for supper. Arando had 100 infantry and
3 cavalry detailed to burn sugar cane.
The next morning | rode thirty miles
and Joined Colonel Alvarez who mad AOl
infantry and .lO0 cavalry. Here I met Or.
Joaquin CnsSia, the private physician of
General Gomez. on his way to join the
general J traveled with MIN the rest of
the way. Seven wounded soldiers in Al
yNrez' command the day previous had
sacked the town of San Juan Arroyo.
The next day l ro,ie 20 miles to the
camp of Bugenio Esquerra in the Plan.
tanO hills, two leagues north of the toNyr
OF ManicaraSua. Esquerra is chief OF the
Cienfugos brigade and had in camp 4O
infantry and $50 cavalry. From there
rode three days through the long grass
and over the mountains to the CMFWI
and over the mountains 15J miles TO III,
camp Of Brigadier-G General Nunez in tn,
Trinidad hills Nunez has 100 infantr,
and . cavalry engaged in raising vege
talbles.
Il next proceeded to the camp OF Ro
DeI'to Bermudez in uhe Montague hills. H
had loo infantry and % cavalry. Then
went to the camp of Brigadier-Genera
MoPteOguedo. He had 600 men IN cam
and assured me that his whole diviSioI
numbered 1000 Infantry and COO cavalry
believe that he told the truth. becaus,
riding in straight line through the fv,
camps just mentioned. l actually saw
1870 men.
After leaving Monteaguedo I entere,
what is called THE first division of Santi
Clara under commasd of Jose NIigue
Gomez. The whole strength of the frs
division i 2iOO infantry and 200 cavalry
hid not meet Jose Gomez, but near F
Mango struck the camp of Teyo Sar
chez, who had 200 infantry and 100 cav
llry. Near Remedies l entered the cam
of General Carrillo. chief Of the fourt
army corps or the whole Santa Clar
province. Garlic had in camp 600 mel
The whole strength Of his command q
shown by previous figures is 500 mel
Two days flNom Garlic | rode into II
camp Of Colonel Velsa Who Is in chars
Of tile outpotsts Of General Gomez cam
o and day later I had the pleasure
e saluting the commander-in-chief. Gei
p eral Gomez he's in his camp go infantI
e and 100 cavalry He seldom has more.
4 From official returns shown TO me
e General Gomez camp. estimate that
e Puerto Principe where the Cuban goveri
ment headquarters are established, Il