Evening journal., 1898-05-06
A BATTLE IN CUBA.
Landing Expedition Attacked
by Spanish Cavalry.
THE LEYDEN'S WOODEN CANNON
Tug Mounted Timber Guns-sranish Re-
pulsed by Insurgents and by shots
From the Neutrality-suspicious.
and Ammunition Landed.

From the Neutrality-suspicious.
and Ammunition Landed.
KEY WEST, May 6.-The government
tug Leydsn, Captain j. II. Angus.
steamed into port yesterday and told
the following story Of a desperate en-
counter with Spanish troops on the
northern coast of Cuba: The Leyden
left here Monday afternoon with par
I ty Of insurgents under General Balda-
nero Acosta and including five Cuban
scouts under the leadership OF Captain
j. II. Dorst Of the United States caval-
~. The Leyden also carried a large
quantity Of arms and ammunition. The
tug proceeded to a certain spot and land
ed five men. with four boxes of ammu-
milton and two horses General Acosta
also landed and penetrated to the in
| terror, where he communicated with the
forces Of the insurgents. The Leyden
lay to outside the harbor until o'clock
in the morning, when, observing a
troop Of Spanish cavalry approaching,
She put TO sea and got safely away. The
same night She proceeded e. Matanzas
/ and Tuesday afternoon landed another
/ small party near there. Fearing at
tack by the Spaniards, she looked for
Il
/ which are on the blockade I'm that yi-
cinity but being unable TO locate them
! the Leyden returned to the original
| place reaching there early Wednesday
| morning. Here she was met by Acosta
and about 200 Cubans. half of whom
! were armed with rifles. They united
with the men on the tug and an at
tempt was made to land the remaining
arms and men. when a troop OF 200 OF
the villa Nicosa cavalry swooped down
on them. and fierce engagement Of
half an hours duration followed
When the Spanish cavalry discovered
the Leyden. they promptly opened fire.
The tug was taken at a disadvantage,
having no cannon aboard. but Com
! mander Angus decided upon a desper-
ate bluff. lie mounted an old nagpole
| and another round piece OF timber in
the bow Of the boat and stationed gun
ners' there, but the ruse was Of little
avail. The Spaniards took shelter near
| the biockhouse and poured in a fusillade
of bullets. Meanv lille the Ccbans at
tempted TO draw the Spanish f.e. with
a view of diverting the cavalry and
| giving the Leyden a chance to slip out
The Cubans finally repulsed the enc
my, driving them into the woods. Dur
let's went through the Leydens smoke
stack, but no one was injured. The
pluclIy little tug then went in search
of the flagship, found her lying near
Havana and reported the story Rear
Admiral Sampson sent the gunboat
Wilmington back with the Leyden. The
two vessels reached the scene of the
landing Wednesday afternoon and found
the Spanish cavalry IN waiting 10 well
come another attempted invasion.
The Wilmington lost no time I'm pre-
liminaries, but promptly opened fire on
a number of small houses marking the
entrance to the place. The gunboat fred
four shots, which Immediately drove
back the Spaniards. and Captain Dorst,
( with the ammunition, landed safely
Wednesday night. the Leyden return ng
here
The Leyden did not leave. however,
until she had taken General Acosta
aboard. He reported that he had reach
ed his destination and made an ex-
change of valuable information con-
cerning future movements.
The loss Of life in the engagement. If
any. was on the Spanish side. Thanks
to poor craftsmanship not an Ameri-
can or Cuban was lost and the only
]
Leyden's smokestack.
News reached here yesterday Of the
arrival at Havana Wednesday of the
/ British cruiser Talbot to take off Brit
ish subjects who desire TO leave the
city The Talbot was held up" by the
blockading vessels but finally asked
permission Of the flagship TO go in
which Rear Admiral Sampson readily
! granted. Admiral Sir John Richard
son, commanding the British West In
) dian naval station. was ON board the
2 Talbot. The Britishers had not heard
the news of the Manila victory, and
z when they learned of II they heartily
congratulated Admiral Sampson ant
) the other officers of the fleet.
Further information from the besieg-
ed island is to the effect that General
Blanco is urging the provincial au-
thorities in every locality TO stir up the
: patriotism Of the people, which is said
, TO be rapidly waning under the influ'
ence Of hunger and disease.
The Spanish soldiers captured on tn,
prize steamer Argonauta last week wer,
sent north yesterday morning on the
city Of Key West. They viii be lodged
in Fort Mcpherson as prisoners of wal
until the government decides what shal
be done with them. The prisoners ar,
Colonel Vincente dc Cortijo Of the Thir,
! Cavalry of Puerto Principe, First Lieu
tenant Lucas Saeyez of the sixth bat
TALON, lower peninsula; Surgeon Majo
sncion Garcia Julien and Second Lieu
tenant Luis Guion Tourmoue. viii
; Emilio Cabeza, Baldamero Aparici,
Zambrana and Juan Gonzalez Vergas
one sergeant and nine privates. Unde
the escort OF ten members Of the Twen
/ | ty-fifth infantry, commanded by Lieu
5 tenant Moss. the spaniards We're LANDED
on the dock. where they We're sur
= rounded by a crowd Of Cubans arr
, | Americans, who. however. offered n
ndignities. There they waited for NOR
than an hour for the arrival of the de
, layed steamer. The infantry detail ac
companies them TO Fort Mcpherson.
e other members OF Companies A an
4 c Of the Twenty-nfth infantry Ccolore i
4 went on government tugs yesterday {
g the Tortugas, where they win be sja
toned until further orders.
Five members of the naval reserve ar
b rived yesterday on the steamer Tar
e pom and a body Of army engineers fror
/ NvfIfotfa Point on the Mallory line