Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-31
DANDERA THE BUFFER
Four-FIushed His Way Into
Prominence.
HE WAS AN ETHIOPIAN
Lived in Ease While His Press Agent
Worked.
FOOLED MACE0 FOR AWHILE
But Later the General Dropped
Suggested That Quentin Clean
the Streets

HIS Ueatn at tue nauQS OF MS own peOple
in Cuba. was the embodiment Of one Of
those restless spirits which q. revolutionary
war always brings forth. Born a slave In
eastern Cuba, he Joined the insurgents in
the first war against Spain, distinguishing
himself by leading a party of young bucks
in an assault upon a Spanish column. arm
ed with no other weapon than the long
cane knife. which Is an evolution Of the
cutlass Of the early Spaniard. Quintin, as
ne was then called. was young strong and
energetic, perfect specimen OF the pure
FLOODED ethiopian and he soon proved
himself such a. foe to. the Spaniard and
such valuable acquisition to the cause
Of independence that his services were rec
ognized with commission as colonel in
the insurgent army.
Upon the breaking out Of the last insur-
rection against Spanish rule he was one
OF the first to appear in the field with q
following. all of which was composed Of
pure FLOODED Africans. Great hopes were
based upon his ability to secure and lead
an African contingent in this last war by
the rebel leaders: for it was well under
stood by them that the blacks, the best
guerrilla fighters in the island, would fight
as quickly on the side of the Spaniard as
against him. and SO Quintin, with his past
stoned as a brigadier general. He marched
with Maceo and his negro following
through the island to the province of Pr
mar del Rio. in what was then known as
CARELESS of all beliefs to the contrary he
not only proved a poor fighter but a poor
leader as well. although his name became
one to inspire terror in the hearts of
peaceful Cubans and Spaniards alike.
Quintin Lived High.
In those days little was known-owing to
the restrictions put upon newspaper cor
respondents by the captain general-Of
what was actually transpiring in the field.
especially among the insurgents. If 1t had
been the history Of Cuba would have been
differently written. While Maceo was pur-
suing Gomez's policy of concentrating all
non-sympathizers in the Spanish towns
and laying waste the country about, Gen.
Qutntfn was spending the most of his time
Cacajicara. where he maintained a sort of
seragl1o for his own pleasure and lived Off
the fat of the land as long as 1t remained
rat Upon his entrance into the province
he had been surprised by small force of
Spaniards, mostly Guardfa Civiles, in the
midst of a sudden tropical shower and he
and his band had been put to ignominious
night, Maeeo had reprimanded him for
this, ana so the old hero Of the first war
Iefused to take. any. more chances of de-
feat, and remained in the mountains with
his women and arfew trusted ones to do
his aging. -
=. Maeeo. however, found the name of this
duskx old warrior one to canjure with II.
originated from a method which Quintin
ta aa ssoPss of SafEys ban flag and
which he found undefended by Spaniards.
He would plant the flag in some conspic-
uous place and then proclaim the capture
OF the town in his own name, which he had
learned to write with a great scrawl that
locked as though 1t had been done with
a paint brush. He was also very fond of
Issuing military orders and DEGREES and
IN thn Sv>ov, ;eI,
comma aGers. which his secretary wrote
and he signed with his tar brush sigma
ture Thus by sort of advance agent
method his name became to be known.
and Maceo took advantage of It. first face.
uously and finally as good policy.
Became Bugaboo.
He found that the people had sort of
dread OF the negro general whom they had
never seen. but had heard of as a fierce
negro warrior. who rode a fiery steed with
band of other negroes naked to the
waist. welding long cane knives with
which they split open Spanish heads as
readily as pumpkins And so Maceo in his
raids would warn the country people
against giving information to the Span
fards or assisting them in any way, telling
them that If they refused to heed his warn
ings he would send Quintin Bandera to set
tie with them. The country people in turn
would express their fear of this imaginary
terror to the Spanish soldiers, and conse-
quently the fame of Quintin Bandera spread
without his ever doing much Of anything
beyond leading a life of comparative ease
In the mountains.
AS an example of the dread inspired by
his name, the Spanish battalion San Quin-
tim upon approaching garrison town one
night answered the challenge of the SEN
tries by calling out its own name, as was
usual in such cases. The sleepy soldiers
garrisoning the town heard only the name
''Quintin," which was enough to bestir
them to immediate wakefulness, and grab
bling their rifles they at once opened a
fierce fire upon their countrymen who were
approaching. The soldiers thus fired upon,
believing that the insurgents had possession
of the town. returned the fire and a fierce
battle ensued, all inspired by the simple
name of st. Quintin.
After Pinar del Rio had been reduced to
a barren wilderness Gen. Quintin Bandera
concluded that the time had arrived for
him to leave. In the meantime Gen. Wey-
Ter had constructed his trOcha across that
part of the island, for the purpose of
keeping Maceo and his insurgents where
they had no business to be, when he should
have used the resources expended on the
trocha to drive them out Of the country
which 1t was their purpose to devastate
and which they succeeded in devastating.
The Spaniards supposed that their trocha
was impossible and that neither insurgent
now old Quintin Bandera. who had been
among the mountains all this time. proved
himself equal to the occasion. He sent a
circular letter to the Spanish commanders
that he, the liberator Of his country. was
going to. cross, and the next thing heard
Of the dusky patriot he was in Havana
province, supposed to- be marching with
his army back to the east, whence
he came. But the supposed army of Gen.
Quintin now consisted of less than a dozen
negroes. their nakedness covered in some
instances with sugar sack and in others
shreds Of clothing or blanket. With this
remnant Of q following he, made his way
10 the general headquarters Of Maxine
Gomez, where there the doughty old war
Iior looked upon his tales Of great achieve
ments in the west with some degree of
credence. although doubt predominated.
He then ordered Quintin to show what he
could no by going into Santiago province
ard recruiting another army,
The Army Dwindled.
After lapse Of several months Gen.
Bandera sent word to Gomez that he had
recruited an army of nearly 1000 men and
that he was then on his march to join him. |
Gomez waited anxiously for the appearance |
of this army. and when it. did appear 1t |
a.,