**',*; 
 
 - 
 

 .V 
 
...PICTORIAL HISTORY... 
 
 OF 
 
 OUR WAR WITH SPAIN 
 
 A THRILLING ACCOUNT OF THE LAND AND NAVAL OPERATIONS 
 
 OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND SAILORS IN OUR WAR 
 
 WITH SPAIN, AND THE HEROIC STRUGGLES OF 
 
 CUBAN PATRIOTS AGAINST SPANISH TYRANNY. 
 
 INCLUDING A DESCRIPTION AND HioTORY OF CUBA, SPAIN, PHIL- 
 IPPINE ISLANDS, OUR ARMY AND NAVY, FIGHTING 
 STRENGTH, COAST DEFENSES, AND OUR RELA- 
 TIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS, ETC., ETC. 
 
 TRUMBULL WHITE, 
 
 THE WELL KNOWN AND POPULAR AUTHOR, HISTORIAN 
 AND WAR CORRESPONDENT. 
 
 ELABORATELY ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS AND DRAW- 
 INGS OF BATTLES, ON SEA AND LAND, WAR 
 SHIPS, ETC., FROM LIFE. 
 
 MANUFACTURED AND SOLD BY 
 
 MONARCH BOOK COMPANY, 
 
 CHICAGO, ILL. PHILADELPHIA. PA. 
 
I/ 
 
 I 
 
 . 
 
 COPYRIGHTED 
 
 BY 
 
 K. T. BO LAND 
 1898 
 
CKAKPTON 
 AMCROFT UBBAIY 
 
 <S>ur Hmertcan IDolunteera 
 
GENERAL JOSEPH C. WHEELER 
 
 GENERAL WESLEY MERRITT 
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE 
 
CAPTAIN-GENERAL AUGUSTI 
 
 ADMIRAL CAMARA 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Information concerning the island of Cuba has been of an exceed- 
 ingly unsatisfactory character until the search-light of American 
 inquiry was thrown upon it from the beginning of the war for Cuban 
 liberty early in 1895. Although our next-door neighbor to the south, 
 with a perfect winter climate and a host of interesting and picturesque 
 attractions for travelers, tourists had been comparatively fe\v, 
 measured by the numbers that might have been expected. All of the 
 reasons for this were those which naturally followed the characteristic 
 Spanish rule of the island. Publicity was not welcomed, inquiry was 
 not welcomed, travelers were not welcomed. The cities and the 
 accommodations they offered were in many ways far behind those of 
 like a.ge and size in the other countries of the globe. Kailway construc- 
 tion and the making of highways had lagged disgracefully, because 
 the exorbitant taxes collected were looted by the officers of the govern- 
 ment as their own spoils. No other country so near to the highways of 
 ocean commerce and so accessible from the United States was so little 
 known. 
 
 A few travelers had journeyed to Cuba and had written books 
 descriptive of their experiences, which were read with interest by those 
 who had access to them. But these books were usually simply descrip- 
 tive of the people, the manner of life, the scenery, and the things of 
 surface interest. It is proverbial that Spanish rule conceals the re- 
 sources of a country instead of exploiting them. The person of inquir- 
 ing mind had no way in Cuba to obtain prompt information concerning 
 the material facts of the island's wealth of resource, because the 
 Spanish authorities themselves knew nothing about it. Spanish 
 statistics are notoriously unreliable and incomplete. No census of 
 Cuba worthy the name ever has been taken, and there are few schools 
 and few sources of accurate information. With all this handicap it 
 was a foregone conclusion that the casual traveler should confine him- 
 self to the things that were visible and that were near to the usual 
 paths of travelers. So until the beginning of the Cuban war for liberty 
 no book could be obtained which told the things which one really cares 
 
 i* 
 
14 PKEFACE. 
 
 to know. Picturesque descriptions there were, more than one, of con- 
 siderable interest, but the information was scattered. 
 
 Demand always creates supply, even if material is scant. When 
 the war began, the people of the United States wanted to know some- 
 thing of the people who were striving for their freedom, of their 
 characteristics, their conditions and their personality. Moreover, it 
 was an immediate necessity to know the geography of Cuba, its history, 
 its natural conditions, its material resources, and a host of things that 
 unite to make a comprehensive knowledge of any country. There were 
 men who knew Cuba from years of residence there in industrial and 
 commercial enterprises. They were drawn upon for their knowledge. 
 Then the newspapers of the United States gave another demonstration 
 of their unvarying enterprise and covered the points of interest in the 
 insurrection most exhaustively. Their correspondents shared the 
 camps of insurgent chiefs, witnessed the daring machete charges of the 
 Cubans, saw every detail of armed life in the field. Others kept close 
 watch of the movements of the Spanish forces in Havana and the 
 fortified towns, as well as in the field. One was shot in action. Another 
 was macheted to death after his capture, by a Spanish officer who 
 waited only to be sure that the prisoner was an American before 
 ordering him to death. Others were incarcerated in Morro and 
 Cabanas fortresses and in the other Spanish prisons in Cuba because 
 they insisted on telling the truth to America and the world. They 
 were the ones who told of the horrors of reconcentration under that 
 infamous order of Captain General Weyler. They have been the real 
 historians of Cuba. 
 
 It is to all of these sources and others that the information con- 
 tained in the present volume is owed. The writer takes pleasure in 
 acknowledging the courteous permission to use salient facts contained 
 in some volumes of merit published prior to this time. But more than 
 all the obligation is to the newspaper correspondents who worked with 
 him in Cuba in the days when the war was but an insurrection and 
 afterward when the insurrection became our own war against Spain 
 for the liberty of Cuba. They are the ones who have gathered the 
 most exhaustive information on the whole subject of Cuban affairs. 
 They have been able by virtue of their intimate knowledge of Cuba and 
 the Cubans to be of invaluable assistance to the commanders of army 
 and navy alike, not only in advice as to the forming of plans, but in 
 executing them. One who has seen the things knows that to exag- 
 
PEEFACE. 15 
 
 gerate the horrors of Spanish cruelty and the oppression of Spanish 
 rule in Cuba is an impossibility. No newspaper could have printed 
 the plain truth of a score of shocking affairs, simply because the public 
 prints are no place for the exploiting of such tales of vicious crime 
 against humanity as have been perpetrated. The most sensational 
 tales have never reached the limits of the truth. 
 
 It is hoped that the reader will find in this volume not only a com- 
 prehensive current history of our war with Spain for Cuba's freedom, 
 but also much of the other mattter that will be of interest and value 
 in considering the future of the liberated island. Its history, its people, 
 its resources and other salient subjects are included, with certain matter 
 on Spain and her own affairs, with Puerto Rico and the Philippine 
 islands, which chapters serve to make the volume a work for general 
 reference and reading on the whole subject of the war. 
 
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Photograph Group President McKinley and His Cabinet. 
 
 Photograph Group Dewey, Sampson, Evans, Schley, and Gridley. 
 
 Photograph Group Shafter, Merritt, Wheeler, Brooke and Koosevelt. 
 
 Photograph Group Sagasta, Weyler, Don Carlos, August! and Camara. 
 
 Fierce Fighting at El Caney, showing the Block House. 
 
 Services at the Burial of the "Maine" Victims. 
 
 Headquarters of Cuban Patriots Key West. 
 
 Cuban Soldiers and Recruiting Officer in the Insurgent Army Cuba. 
 
 A Cuban Home. 
 
 Harbor View San Juan. 
 
 Panoramic View of San Juan. 
 
 Main Business Street in Manila. 
 
 Patrol Boats Guarding American Fleet at Night. 
 
 The Heroic Dash of the Seventy-First New York Volunteers. 
 
 An Artillery Dash. 
 
 Troop Transports leaving San Francisco for Manila. 
 
 Field Practice with Artillery and Surgical Work. 
 
 Clara Barton and Her Work in a Cuban Hospital. 
 
 U. S. Artillery to the Front. 
 
 Captain Sigsbee of the Ill-fated "Maine." 
 
 General Stewart L. Woodford Late TJ. S. Minister to Spain. 
 
 General Nelson A. Miles. 
 
 United States Soldiers Marching to the Front. 
 
 General Fitzhugh Lee, Ex-Consul General to Havana. 
 
 General Fitzhugh Lee's Departure from Havana before the War. 
 
 General Maximo Gomez. 
 
 General Maceo. 
 
 The Battleship "Maine" Previous to Her Destruction. 
 
 Harbor of Havana, showing Ports, Sand Batteries, etc. 
 
 Morro Castle and Fortress Havana. 
 
 City of Havana and Harbor. 
 
 The Harbor Entrance to Havana. 
 
 Machine Gun and Operator. 
 
 Admiral Cervera. 
 
 A Common Scene in Havana. 
 
 Blanco. 
 
 21 
 
22 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 A Street Scene among the Poor Cuba. 
 Alfonso, King of Spain. 
 Royal Palace Madrid. 
 Hotel Inglaterre and Central Park Havana. 
 The Valley of Yumuri Cuba. 
 Armored Cruiser "New York." 
 Armored Cruiser "Brooklyn." 
 Battleship "Oregon." 
 Battleship "Texas." 
 Battleship "Iowa." 
 Forward Deck of the "Indiana." 
 Coastline Battleship "Indiana." 
 Coastline Battleship "Massachusetts." 
 Naval Battle at Manila. 
 Double-Turreted Monitor "Terror." 
 Wreck of the Battleship "Maine." 
 
 Battle of Mobile Bay, where Dewey got His First Experience in Naval War- 
 fare. 
 
 Protected Cruiser "Minneapolis." 
 Protected Cruiser "San Francisco." 
 Protected Cruiser "Boston." 
 Protected Cruiser "Atlanta." 
 Gunboat "Nashville." 
 Gunboat "Yorktown." 
 Torpedo Boat "Ericsson." 
 Dispatch Boat "Dolphin." 
 Gunboat "Concord." 
 Protected Cruiser "Chicago." 
 Protected Cruiser "Columbia." 
 Protected Cruiser "Philadelphia." 
 Clara Barton, the Angel of the Sick-room. 
 Departure of Third Relief for Manila. 
 Lieutenant Hobson and the Scenes of his Heroic Exploits. 
 Entrance to Harbor Santiago de Cuba. 
 Destruction of Cervera's Fleet. 
 
 A Cuban Cavalry Surprising and Capturing a Spanish Camp. 
 Heroic Dash of American Soldiers Near Santiago. 
 The Company Cook Colored. 
 Types of the Philippines No. 1. 
 Types of the Philippines No. 2. 
 A Sugar Factory in Manila. 
 Lamp Helio. 
 
 Scene in the Turret of a Battleship during Engagement. 
 Nickel Steel Ingot for Tube of a 16-inch Breech-Loading Rifle. 
 Cast-Iron Projectiles. 
 Loading Siege Guns on Transports 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 I. A War for Liberty and Humanity 33 
 
 II. How Columbus Found the "Pearl of the Antilles" 63 
 
 III. Spain's Black Historical Record 73 
 
 IV. Buccaneering in the Spanish Main 83 
 
 V. Commercial Development of Cuba 94 
 
 VI. Beauties of a Tropical Island 109 
 
 VII. Wealth from Nature's Store in the Forest and Fields of Cuba. 116 
 
 VIII. The Cubans and How They Live 124 
 
 IX. Havana, the Island Metropolis 133 
 
 X. The Cities of Cuba 139 
 
 XI. Mutterings of Insurrection 151 
 
 XII. Outbreak of the Ten Years' War 156 
 
 XIII. Massacre of the Virginius Officers and Crew 159 
 
 XIV. Operations of the Ten Years' War 168 
 
 XV. The Peace of Zanjon and Its Violated Pledges 171 
 
 XVI. Preparations for Another Rebellion 175 
 
 XVII. The Cuban Junta and Its Work 179 
 
 XVIII. Key West and the Cubans 191 
 
 XIX. Another Stroke for Freedom 196 
 
 XX. Jose Marti and Other Cuban Heroes 205 
 
 XXI. Desperate Battles with Machete and Rifle 211 
 
 XXII. Filibusters from Florida 218 
 
 XXIII. Weyler the Butcher '. 226 
 
 XXIV. Cuba Under the Scourge 233 
 
 XXV. Fitzhugh Lee to the Front 240 
 
 XXVI. Americans in Spanish Dungeons 245 
 
 XXVII. Maceo Dead by Treachery 254 
 
 XXVIII. Weyler's Reconcentration Policy and Its Horrors 257 
 
 XXIX. American Indignation Growing 269 
 
 XXX, Outrages on Americans in Cuba 279 
 
 21 
 
24 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 XXXI. McKinley Succeeds Cleveland 286 
 
 XXXII. The Case of Evangelina Cisneros 294 
 
 XXXIII. Work of Clara Barton and the Red Cross 301 
 
 XXXIV. The Catastrophe to the Maine 308 
 
 XXXV. Patience at the Vanishing Point 314 
 
 XXXVI. Events in the American Congress 320 
 
 XXXVII. President McKinley Acts 324 
 
 XXXVIII. Strength of the Opposing Squadron and Armies 331 
 
 XXXIX. Battleships and Troops Begin to Move 348 
 
 XL. Diplomatic Relations Terminate 356 
 
 XLI. First Guns and First Prizes of the War 361 
 
 XLII. Declaration of War 367 
 
 XLIII. Call for the National Guard, Our Citizen Soldiery 372 
 
 XLIV. Blockade of Cuban Ports 378 
 
 XLV. Spanish Dissensions at Home 383 
 
 XLVI. The Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Other Colonies of Spain . . . 395 
 
 XLVII. Progress of Hostilities 408 
 
 XLVIII. Sea Fight off Manila, Americans Victorious 415 
 
 XLIX. Hawaii, and Our Annexation Policy 430 
 
 L. Continued Success for American Soldiers and Sailors 443 
 
 LI. The Invasion of Puerto Rico 503 
 
 LII. The, Surrender of Manila 510 
 
 LIIL Victorious Close of the War 523 
 
 LIV. Personal Reminiscences . 530 
 
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INTRODUCTION. 
 
 When, on the 22d day of April, 1898, Michael Mallia, gun -captain of 
 the United States cruiser Nashville, sent a shell across the bows of the 
 Spanish ship Buena Ventura, he gave the signal shot that ushered in a 
 war for liberty for the slaves of Spain. 
 
 The world has never seen a contest like it. Nations have fought for 
 territory and for gold, but they have not fought for the happiness of 
 others. Nations have resisted the encroachments of barbarism, but 
 until the nineteenth century they have not fought to uproot barbarism 
 and cast it out of its established place. Nations have fought to pre- 
 serve the integrity of their own empire, but they have not fought a 
 foreign foe" to set others free. Men have gone on crusades to fight for 
 holy tombs and symbols, but armies have not been put in motion to 
 overthrow vicious political systems and regenerate iniquitous govern- 
 ments for other peoples. 
 
 For more than four centuries Spain has held the island of Cuba as 
 her chattel, and there she has revelled in corruption, and wantoned in 
 luxury wrung from slaves with the cruel hand of unchecked power. 
 She has been the unjust and merciless court of last resort. From her 
 malignant verdict there has been no possible appeal, no power to which 
 her victims could turn for help. 
 
 But the end has come at last. The woe, the grief, the humiliation, 
 the agony, the despair that Spain has heaped upon the helpless, and 
 multiplied in the world until the world is sickened with it, will be 
 piled in one avalanche on her own head. 
 
 Liberty has grown slowly. Civilization has been on the defensive. 
 Now liberty fights for liberty, and civilization takes the aggressive in 
 the holiest war the world has even known. 
 
 Never was there a war before in which so many stimulating deeds of 
 bravery were done in such a short time, and this in spite of the fact 
 that the public has been restless for more action. It is almost worth a 
 war to have inscribed such a deed of cool, intelligent heroism as that 
 of Hobson and his men with the Merrimac, in the entrance to the harbor 
 of Santiago de Cuba. That is an event in world history, one never to be 
 forgotten, and in the countries of Europe quite as generously recognized 
 as by our own people. There is a word to say for the Spanish admiral. 
 
 27 
 
28 INTEODUCTION". 
 
 In his chivalry after that act of heroism, Cervera proved himself a 
 worthy adversary, who could realize and admire bravery in a foe, even 
 when it had been directed against himself with such signal success. 
 Not every commander would be great enough in that circumstance to 
 send a flag of truce to the opposing admiral, in order to inform him that 
 his brave men were safe and that they were honored as brave men by 
 their captors. 
 
 Of another sort was the bravery of Dewey at Manila, more notable 
 in its results but in no other way surpassing that of Hobson and his 
 men. Dewey went forward in spite of unknown dangers of torpedoes, 
 to engage an enemy in the place it had selected as most favorable for 
 Spanish arms, an enemy with more ships, more men, more guns than 
 had the American. A day later the nation was at the feet of Dewey 
 and the United States had taken a position among the powers of the 
 world never before admitted by them. In larger degree than ever 
 before, from that moment the United States became a factor in the 
 international history of the world. At this, writing one cannot tell 
 what will be the end of the relations of the United States to the Philip- 
 pines and the Orient, but the solution cannot fail to be of profit to this 
 nation. This was a holy war for the liberty of Cuba, but like many 
 another good deed it is bringing its additional rewards. Cuba, Puerto 
 Rico, the Philippines and the Caroline islands are to be liberated, four 
 colonies of Spain instead of one, and the direct and indirect profit, 
 looked at from a purely commercial basis, will be far more than enough 
 to compensate the United States for the cost of the war. The annexa- 
 tion of the Hawaiian islands as a war measure must be credited to the 
 same cause, for the success of that effort under any other circumstances 
 was problematical. 
 
 Yet another sort of bravery was that in the harbor of Cardenas when 
 the little torpedo boat Winslow lay a helpless hulk under the rain of 
 fire from the shore batteries, without rudder or engine to serve, and 
 the Hudson, a mere tugboat with a few little guns on deck, stood by 
 for forty minutes to pass a hawser and tow the disabled vessel out of 
 range. Both were riddled, the Winslow had half her total complement 
 of men killed and wounded by a single shell, but there was no faltering, 
 and they all worked away as coolly as if nothing were happening. 
 
 If one started to catalogue the instances of personal bravery that 
 the war brought out in its first few months, the list would be a cum- 
 bersome one. It is enough here to say that there have been a hundred 
 
INTKODUCTION. 29 
 
 times when personal courage was needed to be shown, and never a 
 moment's hesitancy on the part of any man to whom the call came. 
 Furthermore, in every case in which a particularly hazardous under- 
 taking was contemplated, and volunteers were called for, the number 
 offering has been in every instance far more than was needed. This 
 was eminently notable on the occasion of Hobson's sinking of the 
 Merrimac, when more than a thousand in the fleet volunteered for a 
 service requiring but six, and from which it seemed impossible that any 
 could come out alive. 
 
 The public must know all about the war, and the only avenue of 
 information is the press. Never before has any war been covered as 
 to its news features with the accuracy and energy which have 
 characterized this. American journalism has outstripped the world. 
 The expense of a news service for this war is something enormous, with 
 little return compensation. Yet the work is done, metropolitan papers 
 have from ten to twenty correspondents in the field, and the public 
 has the benefit. Dispatch boats follow the fleets and are present at 
 every battle. They must be near enough to see, which means that they 
 are in as much danger at times as are the ships of the fighting squadron, 
 far more if one remembers that the former are in no way protected. 
 Some of them are heavy sea-going tugs and others are yachts. The 
 expense of charter, insurance and running cost amounts to from $200 
 to f 400 a day each, and yet some metropolitan newspapers have fleets 
 of these boats to the number of six. 
 
 All the foregoing facts are related in detail in the volume which 
 these paragraphs introduce. The only object in reiterating them here is 
 that they are entitled to emphasis for their prominence, and it is desired 
 to call special attention to them and their accompanying matter when 
 the book itself shall be read. The number of those who believe we 
 are engaged in a righteous war is overwhelming. The records of the 
 brave deeds of our men afloat and ashore will inspire Americans to be 
 better citizens as long as time shall last. The country has proven its 
 faith in the cause by giving to the needs of war hundreds of thousands 
 of young men to fight for the liberty of others. From every corner of 
 the land regiments of volunteer soldiers have sprung in an instant at 
 the call of the President, while as many more are waiting for another 
 call to include those for whom there was not room the first time. The 
 country which can show such an inspiring movement has little to fear 
 in the race of progress among the nations of the world. 
 
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 X 
 
PANORAMIC VIEW OF SAN JUAN 
 
 HARBOR VIEW, SAN JUAN 
 
OUR WAR WITH SPAIN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 Again at War with a Foreign Power Spain's Significant Flag Three Years 
 Without an American Flag in Cuban Waters Visit of the Maine to 
 Havana Harbor The Maine Blown Up by Submerged Mine Action 
 of President and Congress Spain Defies America Martial Spirit 
 Spreading First Guns Are Fired Cuban Ports Blockaded Many 
 Spanish Ships Captured -Excitement in Havana Spain and the 
 United States Both Declare War Internal Dissension Threatens Spain 
 President McKinley Calls a Volunteer Army. 
 
 Civilization against barbarism, freedom against oppression, educa- 
 tion against ignorance, progress against retrogression, the West against 
 the East, the United States against Spain. In this cause the flag of 
 freedom was again unfurled in the face of a foreign foe, and our nation 
 entered war against the people of another land, carrying the star 
 spangled banner through successive victories in the name of liberty and 
 humanit} 7 . 
 
 It is a proud banner, which stands the whole world over for freedom 
 and right, with few stains of defeat or injustice upon its folds. The 
 great heart of the nation swelled with pride at the righteousness of the 
 cause, with an assurance that eternal history would praise America 
 for the unselfish work. On land and sea the boys in blue gave new 
 fame to the flag, and their proud record in the past was more than 
 justified by the honors that they won. 
 
 Two wars with Great Britain and one with Mexico were the more 
 notable predecessors of this conflict with Spain. If to these should 
 be added the hostilities between the United States and the Barbary 
 pirates of Algiers, Morocco and Tripoli, and the scattered brushes w T ith 
 two or three Oriental and South American countries, the list might be 
 extended. But those affairs are not rememberer! as wars in the true 
 sense of the word. 
 
 33 
 
34 A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 Except for protection against Indian outbreaks, the United States 
 had been at peace for thirty years, when the war cloud began to loom 
 in the horizon. It, was with a full realization of the blessings of peace 
 that the American people yielded to the demands of humanity and 
 righteous justice, to take up arms again in the cause of liberty. There 
 w T as no haste, no lack of caution, no excited plunge into hostilities with- 
 out proper grounds. The nation made sure that it was right. An intol- 
 erable condition of affairs resulting from years of agony in a neighbor 
 island, with half a dozen immediate reasons, any one sufficient, was the 
 absolute justification for this holy war. 
 
 Spain is the Turk of the West. Spain is an obsolete nation. Living 
 in the past, and lacking cause for pride to-day, she gloats over her 
 glorious explorations and her intellectual prowess of the middle ages 
 when much of Europe was in darkness. Then Spain's flag led pioneers 
 throughout the world. But her pride was based on achievements, man} 7 
 of which, to the people of any other nation, would have been the disgrace 
 of its history. No indictment of Spain can ever be more severe, more 
 scathing, if its true significance be considered, than the famous phrase 
 which one of her proudest poets created to characterize her flag of red 
 and yellow. 
 
 "Sangre y oro," he said, "blood and gold a stream of gold between 
 two rivers of blood." 
 
 It is almost a sufficient characterization to indicate the whole na- 
 tional spirit of Spain, to recall that this phrase is the proud expres- 
 sion used by the Spanish people to glorify their own flag. That senti- 
 ment is in no stronger contrast to the American phrase, "the star-span- 
 gled banner," than are the people of Spain to the people of the United 
 States. 
 
 "Remember the Maine." 
 
 From the day of the outbreak of the Cuban revolution, early in 1895, 
 until nearly the end of January, 1898, there had been no flag of the 
 United States seen in any harbor of Cuba except upon merchant vessels. 
 Always before, it had been the policy of our government to have ships 
 of w r ar make friendly calls in the harbors of all countries of the world 
 at frequent intervals, and Cuban waters had shared these courtesies. 
 
 So careful were the officers of the Cleveland administration to avoid 
 the appearance of offense or threat against the authority of Spain, with 
 which we were living in amity, that immediately upon the outbreak 
 of hostilities in Cuba this practice was suspended, so far as it applied 
 
A WAR FOB LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 35 
 
 to that island. Our ships cruised through the oceans of the world and 
 called at all ports where they were not needed, but the waters of 
 Havana harbor for three years were never disturbed by an Amer- 
 ican keel. 
 
 Out of deference to the expressed wishes of the local Spanish author- 
 ities in Havana, Dr. Burg-ess, the splendid surgeon of the United States 
 Marine Hospital service in Havana, who for thirty years has guarded 
 our southern ports from the epidemics of yellow fever and smallpox, 
 which would invade us annually as a result of Spanish misgovernment 
 in Cuba, except for his watchfulness, ceased flying the American flag on 
 his steam launch, by means of which he carried out his official duties 
 in those foul waters. The American flag was a disturbing influence 
 upon the minds of the Cubans who might see it flashing in the clear 
 sunlight of the tropic sky, suggested the Captain General. 
 
 It must have been the language of diplomacy that was in mind, 
 when the satirist explained that "language was intended as a medium 
 for concealing thought." President McKinley, in his message to Con- 
 gress transmitting the report of the naval board concerning the catas- 
 trophe to the Maine, explained that for some time prior to the visit of 
 the battle-ship to Havana harbor, it had been considered a proper 
 change in the policy, in order to accustom the people to the presence of 
 our flag as a symbol of good will. The decision to send the vessel to 
 that harbor was reached, it was explained, after conference with the 
 Spanish minister, and, through our diplomats, with the Spanish author- 
 ities at Madrid and Havana. It was declared that this intention was 
 received by the Spanish government with high appreciation of the cour- 
 tesy intended, which it was offered to return by sending Spanish ships 
 to the principal ports of the United States. 
 
 We are bound to accept this expression from the officials on both 
 sides as frankly indicative of their feelings* But it is just as necessary 
 to recognize that to the mass of the people in both countries, the signifi- 
 cance of the Maine's courtesy call was very different. Americans be- 
 lieved that it indicated a changed policy on the part of the national 
 government at Washington which would be more strenuous and more 
 prompt in resenting outrages against the life and property of Amer- 
 ican citizens in Cuba. The people of the Cuban republic believed that 
 the change meant an expression of sympathy and friendship for their 
 cause, with probable interference in their behalf, and took courage 
 from that sign. Finally, the people of Spain resented the appearance 
 of the Maine in the harbor of Havana as an affront, and a direct threat 
 
36 A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 against them and in favor of the insurgents. If the policy of making 
 frequent calls in warships had never been interrupted, they would not 
 have had this sentiment in the matter, but the resumption of the 
 practice after three years' cessation, carried a threat with it in their 
 minds. 
 
 Treacherous Destruction of the Maine. 
 
 The Maine entered the harbor of Havana at sunrise on the 25th of 
 January and was anchored at a place indicated by the harbor-master. 
 Her arrival was marked with no special incident, except the exchange 
 of customary salutes and ceremonial visits. Three weeks from that 
 night, at forty minutes past nine o'clock in the evening of the 15th 
 of February, the Maine was destroyed by an explosion, by which the 
 entire forward part of the ship was wrecked. In this frightful catas- 
 trophe 264 of her crew and two officers perished, those who were not. 
 killed outright by the explosion being penned between decks by the 
 tangle of wreckage and drowned by the immediate sinking of her hull. 
 
 In spite of the fact that the American public was urged to suspend 
 judgment as to the causes of this disaster, and that the Spanish authori- 
 ties in Havana and in Madrid expressed grief and sympathy, it was 
 impossible to subdue a general belief that in some way Spanish treach- 
 ery was responsible for the calamity. With the history of Spanish 
 cruelty in Cuba before them, and the memory of Spanish barbarities 
 through all their existence as a nation, the people could not disabuse 
 their minds of this suspicion. 
 
 One month later this popular judgment was verified by the finding 
 of the naval court of inquiry which had made an exhaustive examina- 
 tion of the wreck, and had taken testimony from every available source. 
 With this confirmation and the aroused sentiment of the country con- 
 cerning conditions in Cuba, the logic of events was irresistibly drawing 
 the country toward war with Spain, and all efforts of diplomacy and 
 expressions of polite regard exchanged between the governments of the 
 two nations were unable to avert it. 
 
 For a few weeks, history was made rapidly. Conservative and emi- 
 nent American senators visited Cuba in order to obtain personal infor- 
 mation of conditions there, and upon their return gave to Congress and 
 to the country, in eloquent speeches, the story of the sufferings they 
 had found in that unhappy island. The loss of the Maine had focused 
 American attention upon the Cuban situation as it had never been be- 
 fore, and though there were no more reasons for sympathetic interfer- 
 
A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 37 
 
 ence than there had been for many months, people began to realize 
 as the} 7 had not before, the horrors that were being enacted at their 
 thresholds. 
 
 The sailors who died with the Maine, even though they were not able 
 to fight their country's foes, have not died in vain, for it is their death 
 that will be remembered as the culminating influence for American 
 intervention and the salvation of scores of thousands of lives of starving 
 Cuban women and children. Vessels were loaded with supplies of pro- 
 visions and clothing for the suffering and were sent to the harbors 
 of Cuba, w^here distribution was made by Miss Clara Barton and her 
 trusted associates in the American National Red Cross. Some of these 
 vessels were merchant steamers, but others were American cruisers, 
 and Cubans were not permitted to forget that there was a. flag which 
 typified liberty, not far away. The strain upon the national patience 
 increased every day, and w^as nearing the breaking point. 
 
 President and Congress Act. 
 
 After a period of restlessness in Congress w T hich was shared by the 
 whole country, the President finally transmitted an important message. 
 It included a resume of the progress of the Cuban revolution from its 
 beginning and considered in some detail the workings of that devastat- 
 ing policy of General Weyler, known as reconcentration. The message 
 related the progress of diplomatic negotiations with Spain, and dis- 
 closed a surprising succession of events in w T hich the Spanish govern- 
 ment had submitted to various requests and recommendations of the 
 American government. The message ended with a request that Con- 
 gress authorize and empower the President to take measures to secure 
 a full and final termination of the intolerable conditions on the island 
 of Cuba. Having exhausted the powers of the executive in these efforts, 
 it was left to the legislative authority of the American people to estab- 
 lish such policies as would be finally efficient. 
 
 Congress rose to the occasion. The facts were at command of both 
 houses, their sj^mpathies were enlisted at the side of their reason and 
 there was little time lost in acting. The House and the Senate, after 
 mutual concessions on minor details, passed as a, law of the land fox' 
 the President's signature, an act directing him and empowering him 
 to require Spain to withdraw her troops and relinquish all authority 
 over the island of Cuba,. The President was authorized to employ the 
 army and navy of the United States for the 'purpose of carrying into 
 
38 A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND 
 
 effect this instruction and the interference was directed to be made 
 at once. Best of all, from the point of view of the Cuban patriots, the 
 act declared that the people of Cuba are and ought to be free and inde- 
 pendent. But a few days more of diplomacy, and war was to begin. 
 
 Spain Defies America. 
 
 It was hardly to be expected that the Spanish government and the 
 Spanish people would yield to the demands of the United States with- 
 out a protest. So feeble is the hold of the present dynasty upon the 
 throne of Spain, that it was readily understood that any concession 
 upon the part of the Queen Kegent would arouse Spanish indignation 
 beyond the limits of endurance. The Queen-mother had to think of her 
 baby son's crown. If she were to yield to the superior power of the 
 United States without a struggle, Spanish revolutionists would over- 
 throw the dynasty before he could come to the throne. However well 
 she might know that the logical outcome of a, war would be overwhelm- 
 ing defeat to Spanish arms, political necessities compelled her to take 
 the position dictated by Spanish pride. 
 
 The Spanish Cortes met in special session at Madrid, and on the 
 20th of April the Queen .Regent delivered her speech before that legis- 
 lative body and declared that her parliament was summoned in the 
 hour of peril to defend her country's rights and her child's throne, 
 whatever sacrifice might be entailed. It was on that same day that 
 President McKinley presented the ultimatum of the United States to 
 Spain, in language diplomatic in form, but carrying with it a definite 
 notice to yield Cuba's freedom and relinquish her pretense of authority 
 in that island without delay. A copy of the ultimatum was forwarded 
 to the Spanish ambassador at Washington, Senor Polo y Bernabe, w r ho 
 responded by asking for his passports and safe conduct out of the 
 country. 
 
 Having reached the point where diplomacy no longer availed, the 
 Spanish government for the first time made an aggressive move against 
 the United States. Instead of waiting for the transmission of the ulti- 
 matum by American Minister Stewart L. Woodford, the ministry fore- 
 stalled him and dismissed him from Madrid without affording him an 
 opportunity to present that important document. It had been trans- 
 mitted to Madrid by cable from the Spanish Minister in Washington, 
 and the government felt no need to wait for formal messages from the 
 enemy's representative in Spain. Minister Woodford left Madrid with- 
 
A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 39 
 
 out delay, and finally reached the French frontier, after being subjected 
 to many insults and attacks upon his train during the journey from 
 the Spanish capital. 
 
 Martial Spirit Spreading. 
 
 A wave of national patriotic enthusiasm swept over the United 
 States. North and South, East and West, there was hardly a discord- 
 ant note in the great chorus of fervent applause which rose when 
 it was understood that at last the forces of the nation were to be united 
 in the cause of liberty and humanity. 
 
 But sentiment could not fight battles, unless backed by material 
 equipment. The nation was preparing for war. From all parts of the 
 United States the troops of the regular army were hurried by special 
 trains southeastward to camps at Chickamauga and Tampa. In every 
 navy yard work was hurried night and day upon all incomplete battle- 
 ships and cruisers. Already the fleets of the American navy had been 
 concentrated at points of vantage so that little was left to be done 
 on that score. Congress lost no time in providing the sinews of war 
 by generous appropriations for the regular channels of supply, in addi- 
 tion to one passed by unanimous vote of both houses granting $50.000,- 
 000 as a special fund to be at the disposal of the President. The war 
 appropriation bill and the naval appropriation bill carried with them 
 emergency clauses. Preparations were made for the reorganization of 
 the regular army to more than double its normal size, and the President 
 was authorized to call for a volunteer army of 125,000 men. Looking 
 to the future, and the possibility of a long and expensive conflict, finan- 
 cial measures were prepared which would raise war revenues through 
 the regular channels of taxation and the issue of bonds. Americans 
 were ready to put their hands in their pockets and pay for the privi- 
 lege of teaching a worthy lesson to the world. 
 
 American sense of humor never fails, and even in this period of 
 stress the people took time to smile over the story of the Spanish Min- 
 ister's journey from Washington to Canada, In Toronto, Senor Polo 
 sought to discredit the ass-aults that had been made on Minister Wood- 
 ford's train in Spain, and related that he himself had been the victim 
 of assaults at two or three important cities on his journey through New 
 York, which threatened great danger to himself and the train on which 
 he was riding. 
 
 Upon inquiry it was revealed that the assaults which had aroused 
 
40 A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 his fear were not quite as hostile as he believed. At the division sta- 
 tions on the line, the railway employees, according to custom, passed 
 along the cars^ tapping the tires of the wheels with steel hammers to 
 test them for a possible flaw or break in the wheel, and it was this 
 that made the Spanish Minister believe that he was the victim of an 
 American outrage. 
 
 First Guns Are Fired. 
 
 The United States cruiser Nashville of the North Atlantic squadron, 
 with headquarters at Key Wesft, had the honor of firing the first shot 
 in our war with Spain. 
 
 Early on the morning of Friday, April 22, the American fleet sailed 
 from Key West, and, steaming southward across the straits of Florida, 
 came in sight of Havana, and the frowning fortifications of Morro Castle 
 before six o'clock the same afternoon. 
 
 The sailing of the fleet, as dawn was creeping over the Florida keys, 
 was a beautiful sight and a significant one, for from the time the first 
 signals were hoisted until many days after, there was hardly an hour 
 of inactivity. It was at three o'clock in the morning that the signal 
 lights began to flash from the New York, Admiral Sampson's flagship. 
 Answering signals appeared on the warships all along the line, and in 
 a few moments black smoke began to belch from the funnels of all the 
 ships and the crews woke from quietness to activity. 
 
 As soon as day began to break, the cruisers and gunboats inside 
 the harbor hoisted anchors and moved out to join the big battleships 
 which were already lined outside the bar. At five o'clock, when all 
 the fleet were gathered around the battleships, Captain Sampson 
 signaled from the New York to go ahead. The formation of the line 
 had been agreed upon some time before and each vessel was in position 
 for line of battle, the New York in the center and the Iowa and Indiana 
 on either beam. The ships presented a most beautiful appearance as 
 they swept out on the ocean without a vestige of anything not abso- 
 lutely necessary on the decks. They were stripped of all useless super- 
 structure, awnings, gun-covers and everything that goes to adorn a 
 ship. Officers paced the bridge, marines were drawn up on deck and 
 every man was at his post. They appeared as they were, grim fighting 
 machines, not naval vessels out on cruise nor a squadron of evolution 
 and maneuver, but warships out for business. 
 
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A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 45 
 
 First Spanish Ship Captured. 
 
 The fleet had proceeded twelve miles from Sand Key Light, which 
 lies seven miles southeast of Key West, when the Nashville signaled 
 the flagship that a vessel flying the Spanish colors had been sighted. 
 Admiral Sampson signaled from the New York for the Nashville to 
 go and take it. The Nashville bore down on the Spanish ship and fired 
 a blank shot from the port guns aft. This did not stop the Spaniard, 
 and, to give a more definite hint, a solid shot was fired close over its 
 bows. The Spanish ship immediately hove to and waited to know its 
 fate. 
 
 The vessel proved to be the Buena Ventura, with a crew of about 
 thirty men, bound from Pascagoula to Rotterdam with a cargo of 
 lumber, cattle and miscellaneous freight. As soon as possible a boat 
 was lowered from the Nashville and an officer was sent aboard the 
 Buena Ventura. When the Spanish captain was informed that his ship 
 could not proceed, he took his capture gracefully, shrugged his shoul- 
 ders, and said he supposed it was only the fortune of war. It was sug- 
 gested to him that the capture of a ship bearing that name, which, 
 translated, means "good fortune," as the first prize of the American 
 fleet in the war, seemed to be a striking coincidence. A prize crew of 
 marines under Ensign T. P. Magruder was placed aboard, and, with the 
 Nashville in the lead, both ships set out for Key West. 
 
 Inasmuch as the Buena Ventura was the first capture by the Amer- 
 ican navy in the war, it had a more definite interest than a success of 
 the same sort would have a few months later. The first shot was fired 
 by Gunner Michael Mallia of the Nashville, who therefore has the dis- 
 tinction of firing the first shot in the war. The prize was a rich one, 
 estimated to be worth, including vessel and cargo, nearly $500,000, 
 and the prize money resulting became a tempting amount. Captain 
 W r ashburne Maynard, commander of the Nashville, who gained the dis- 
 tinction of making the first capture, is a native of Knoxville, Tenn. He 
 is a son of former United States Senator Horace Maynard, and at the 
 time of the capture was about fifty years old. He entered the An- 
 napolis Naval Academy at the age of seventeen and graduated at the 
 head of his class. He was for a number of years stationed in Alaska, 
 and at the time of gaining his present distinction had been in command 
 of the Nashville for four years. 
 
 Blockade of Havana Begun. 
 
 After the Nashville left the fleet to return to Key West with its 
 prize, the remaining vessels of the squadron steamed onward toward 
 
46 A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 the Cuban coast. Coming within fifteen miles of Morro Castle, the fleet 
 scattered in a more open line of battle, some of the vessels turning to 
 the east and others to the west, and making the blockade of the port 
 complete. No ship could enter or leave the harbor, and every day 
 brought new prizes to the vessels of the blockading squadron. 
 
 The blockade of the Cuban metropolis was well in progress by the 
 time the formal notification of it was issued. The President issued 
 warning to the nations of the world that the Cuban ports were sealed 
 by the authority of the United States, in the following formal proclam- 
 ation: 
 
 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Whereas, By a joint resolution passed by the Congress and approved April 
 20, 1898, and communicated to the government of Spain, it was demanded that 
 said government at once relinquish its authority and government in the island 
 of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters; 
 and the President of the United States was directed and empowered to use 
 the entire land and naval forces of the United States and to call into the actual 
 service of the United States the militia of the several States to such extent 
 as might be necessary to carry said resolution into effect; and 
 
 W T hereas, In carrying into effect this resolution the President of the 
 United States deems it necessary to set on foot and maintain a blockade of the 
 north coast of Cuba, including all ports of said coast between Cardenas and 
 Bahia Honda and the port of Cienfuegos, on the south coast of Cuba; 
 
 Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, 
 in order to enforce the said resolution, do hereby declare and proclaim that the 
 United States of America has instituted and will maintain a blockade of the 
 north coast of Cuba, including ports on said coast between Cardenas and 
 Bahia Honda, and the port of Cienfuegos on the south coast of Cuba, afore- 
 said, in pursuance of the laws of the United States and the law of nations ap- 
 plicable to such cases. 
 
 An efficient force will be posted so as to prevent the entrance and exit of 
 vessels from the ports aforesaid. Any neutral vessel approaching said ports, 
 or attempting to leave the same, without notice or knowledge of the estab- 
 lishment of such blockade, will be duly warned by the commander of the 
 blockading forces, who will indorse on her register the fact and the date 
 of such warning, where such indorsement was made; and if the same vessel 
 shall again attempt to enter any blockaded port she will be captured and sent 
 to the nearest convenient port for such proceedings against her and her cargo 
 as prize as may be deemed advisable. Neutral vessels lying in any of said 
 ports at the time of the establishment of such blockade will be allowed thirty 
 days to issue therefrom. 
 
A WAR FOB LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 4t 
 
 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
 of the United States to be affixed. 
 
 Done at the city of Washington this 22d day of April, A. D. 1898, and of 
 the independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-second. 
 
 By the President: WILLIAM M'KINLEY. 
 
 JOHN SHEEMAN, Secretary of State. 
 
 More Spanish Prizes Taken. 
 
 The blockade was not a mere paper blockade, but an exceedingly 
 effective one. Before two days had passed, the prizes taken began to 
 multiply in numbers and in value. The second capture was the Spanish 
 freighter Pedro, of Bilboa, which was taken by the New York in the 
 afternoon of the first day's cruising. 
 
 When the fleet approached the Cuban coast and spread out for patrol 
 duty, the New York turned eastward for her own watch, not knowing 
 what might be found in the neighborhood. Far off against the dim, 
 vague background of Cuban hills, half seen, half guessed, could be 
 traced a faint film of gray smoke, the one visible evidence of a Spanish 
 freighter striving vainly to race out the day without being discovered 
 by the great gray monsters that blackened the sky to the west with a 
 solid mass of black cloud from their roaring furnaces. 
 
 Vainly the Spaniard raced. Charging along at trial test speed, the 
 New r York soon lay across the bows of the Spanish ship, and the crash- 
 ing challenge blazed from the deck of the cruiser. A huge puff of white 
 smoke rolled out from the side of the flagship, and far off, just in front of 
 the Spaniard, a fountain of white foam leaped into the air. In a 
 moment the course of the strange Spaniard was changed, and she 
 hove to. 
 
 Shortly after, the New York led her prize further but from shore 
 and laid her to. Crew 7 and captain could be seen rushing about the 
 deck of the ship like a nest of ants, hiding their valuables and striving 
 to avert some impending fate they could only guess at in their ignorance. 
 As she came around her name could be clearly read on her stern, Pedro 
 of Bilboa. 
 
 As soon as she w r as laid alongside, the Pedro w r as boarded by Ensign 
 Frank Marble of the New York. Ensign Marble led a prize crew, con- 
 sisting of a file of marines and seamen. With great formality the en- 
 sign sw r ung aboard and assumed command. A burly, bare-footed Ameri- 
 can tar shoved the Spanish quartermaster aw r ay from the wheel and 
 
48 A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 began to set the course of the Spaniard. The Spanish crew gathered in 
 a terrified huddle near the forecastle and awaited developments. 
 
 Hardly had the prize crew been put on board before another freighter 
 was seen going down the coast to the eastward. The New York, leaving 
 the captured Spanish craft in charge of the prize crew, drew across the 
 bows of the stranger and sent a shot into the water directly in front of 
 her bows. She paid no attention to the challenge, but kept steadily 
 on, and a few seconds later another shot was sent hurtling across the 
 water in front of her. After this hostile demonstration she hauled up 
 and soon followed the New York out to sea. It was discovered, how- 
 ever, that she flew the German flag, and consequently was permitted 
 to proceed. 
 
 The prize crew from the New York took the captured vessel into 
 port at Key West under its own steam. The ship was bound from 
 Havana to Santiago with a valuable cargo of rice, iron and beer. On 
 the same day two other captures were made, one by the torpedo boat 
 Ericsson, which seized a fishing schooner under the very guns of Morro 
 Castle and by the torpedo boat, Porter, which took the Spanish schooner, 
 Mathilde, after a lively chase and a number of shots. Both of these 
 prizes were taken to Key West to join their unfortunate friends. 
 
 Excitement in Havana. 
 
 It was nearly five o'clock in the afternoon of that lucky Friday, when 
 the semaphore by the lighthouse in Morro Castle signaled to the people 
 of Havana that a fleet had been sighted. It was said to be without any 
 colors to show its nationality. At that time La Punta, the fort on the 
 side of the harbor opposite Morro Castle, was crowded with curious 
 people, including many ladies. In addition, crowds of people could be 
 seen at various points of vantage, many of them gathering on the roofs 
 of houses. At 6 p. m. the semaphore signaled that it was the United 
 States fleet which was in sight, and at 6:15 p. m. a red flag was run up 
 at the signal station, warning guns were fired from Morro Castle, and 
 afterward from Cabanas fortress, adjoining it. This caused excitement 
 throughout the city, and was the first real note of war. When the first 
 signal came from the semaphore station a, British schooner which was 
 in the harbor put to sea. She was immediately followed by the German 
 steamer Remus. Some time afterward the American steamer Saratoga 
 put to sea. 
 
 The cannon shots from the fortresses stirred up the regular troops 
 
A WAK FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 49 
 
 and volunteers throughout Havana and its vicinity and there was a 
 rush to quarters. The signal guns from the fortifications echoed to 
 the palace and through the streets, causing people to rush from their 
 houses, with the result that all the thoroughfares were soon crowded 
 with excited inhabitants. Captain General Blanco heard the shots while 
 at the palace, to which place the generals and commanders of the volun- 
 teers promptly reported, full of excitement and warlike enthusiasm. 
 Some time afterward the Captain General, accompanied by his staff, 
 the generals and others, left the palace and was warmly acclaimed by 
 the soldiers and populace. The General then made a brief final inspec- 
 tion of the fortifications and went to a spot from which he could see the 
 approaching fleet. 
 
 There was no sign of alarm anywhere. The Spaniards were con- 
 fident that Havana was prepared for any eventuality, and they had 
 great faith in the strength of their forts, batteries, etc., and in the 
 effectiveness of their heavy artillery. In fact, there was a feeling of 
 satisfaction at the warlike tremors which spread everywhere when it 
 was seen that the hour of battle was apparently approaching and that 
 the Spaniards were soon to give battle to their enemies. 
 
 Ag the time passed, more people crowded to the spot from which 
 the fleets could be most favorably seen. By 8:30 p. m. there was a great 
 movement of the masses through all the streets and on all the squares. 
 The coffee-houses and clubs were crowded with excited people, discuss- 
 ing the arrival of the American war ships. The Spaniards expressed 
 themselves as anxious to measure arms with the "invaders," and there 
 was no expression of doubt as to the result. The civil and military 
 authorities of Havana were in consultation at the palace, and every 
 precaution possible to the Spaniards was taken to guard against a night 
 surprise and to resist an attack if the bombardment commenced. 
 
 Spain's Days of Grace Expire. 
 
 When President McKinley sent his ultimatum to Spain, he indicated 
 that it was to expire at noon on Saturday, April 23, and at that time 
 the period allowed Spain to give up Cuba peacefully was ended. Spain, 
 however, had not waited to take advantage of this time limit, but by 
 her own preparations during the days that had passed, as well as by her 
 diplomatic actions, had indicated plainly that war was to come. The 
 action of Minister Polo in demanding his passport and leaving the 
 United States, and the action of the Spanish government in ejecting 
 
56 A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 Minister Woodford, were sufficient notifications of the policy which 
 to be pursued. It had been unnecessary, therefore, for the fleet to wait 
 for a more explicit answer before investing Havana, Not until the 
 expiration of the time allotted by President McKinley to Spain, did he 
 take definite action which committed the country to a distinct war 
 policy in advance of the declaration of war by Congress. But at noon 
 on Saturday the President issued the following proclamation calling for 
 125,000 troops to serve two years if the war should last so long: 
 
 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Whereas, by a joint resolution of Congress, approved the 22d of April, 
 1898, entitled "Joint resolution for the recognition of the independence of the 
 people of Cuba, demanding that the government of Spain relinquish its author- 
 ity and government in the island of Cuba, to withdraw its land and naval 
 forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the 
 United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry 
 these resolutions into effect," and, 
 
 Whereas, by an act of Congress, entitled "An act to provide for the in- 
 creasing of the military establishment of the United States in time of war 
 and for other purposes," approved April 22, 1898, the President was author- 
 ized in order to raise a volunteer army to issue his proclamation calling for 
 volunteers to serve in the army of the United States. 
 
 Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, by 
 the power vested in me by the constitution and laws, and deeming sufficient 
 occasion to exist, have thought fit to call for and hereby do call for volun- 
 teers to the aggregate number of 125,000, in order to carry into effect the 
 purpose of the said resolution, the same to be apportioned, as far as practi- 
 cable, among the several States and Territories and the District of Columbia, 
 according to population, and to serve for two years unless sooner discharged. 
 The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the proper 
 authorities through the war department. 
 
 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of 
 the United States to be affixed. 
 
 Done at Washington this 23d day of April, 1898, and of the independence 
 of the United States the one hundred and twenty-second. 
 
 By the President: WILLIAM M'KINLEY. 
 
 JOHN SHERMAN, Secretary of State. 
 
 States Begin to Collect Their Troops. 
 
 Although it was decided that formal notification to the Governors 
 of the states of the call for volunteers should not be made until the fol- 
 
A WAR FOE LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 51 
 
 lowing Monday, the first step was taken immediately after the signing 
 of the proclamation, by the issuance of orders to the organized militia 
 of the District of Columbia. Before dinner time the drums were beating 
 and the roll was being called within sight and sound of the White 
 House, and before night the drum beats were heard from the Atlantic 
 to the Pacific and from the Gulf _of Mexico to the Great Lakes. 
 
 There was no interruption in the sequence of captures by the Ameri- 
 can fleet around Havana, and two prizes of considerable value were 
 added to the list. On Saturday the gunboat Helena took the big steamer 
 Miguel Jover, a vessel of more than 2,000 tons, with a full cargo of cot- 
 ton and staves on board. The prize was worth not less than f 400,000. 
 Friday night the Helena left Key West to follow the main fleet, but 
 instead of sailing directly for Havana, turned westward toward the 
 west end of the island of Cuba. The dark, cloudy night had barely 
 broken to a brilliant Cuban sunrise, when the Helena saw smoke on 
 the western horizon and gave chase. 
 
 It was soon evident that the quarry had sighted the hunter and was 
 making a run for it. The freighter was no match in speed for the gun- 
 boat, however, and the Helena was soon near enough to fire a shot. 
 Only one blank shot was required. The fugitive steamer shook out the 
 Spanish flag and hove to. When the Helena came up the captain tried 
 to talk Captain Swinburne out of his prize. He urged that he was from 
 an American port, New Orleans, and knew nothing of a declaration of 
 war. The talk did him no good. He was taken on board the Helena 
 and a prize crew of a dozen sailors and sixteen marines, under Ensigns 
 M. C. Davis and H. G. McFarland, was put aboard the Jover. 
 
 The first the fleet knew of the capture was when the Helena came 
 steaming up with her prize and signaled the flagship. The other ships 
 cheered and the Helena started off for Key West, the Jover being 
 worked by its own men, superintended by the prize crew. 
 
 Valuable Prize Captured. 
 
 The most valuable prize yet taken was the transatlantic liner, Cat- 
 alina,. which was taken by the Detroit The vessel's tonnage was 6,000, 
 and with its general cargo the prize was considered worth nearly f 600,- 
 000. The big ship was bound from New Orleans to Barcelona, via 
 Havana, with a large general cargo. Twelve miles before making port 
 the steamer was stopped by two shots, and a prize crew under Ensign 
 H. H. Christy, consisting of sixteen men from the Detroit and New 
 York, was put on hoard to take the vessel back to Key West. 
 
52 A WAK FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 In addition to these notable captures the torpedo boat, Porter, took 
 the Spanish schooner, Antonio, laden with sugar for Havana, and the 
 revenue cutter, Winona, added the Spanish steamer Saturaina to the 
 list. 
 
 If it had not been for the excitement of taking occasional prizes, 
 the blockading of Havana would have been dull business for the Jack 
 Tars aboard the North Atlantic squadron. Saturday night they had to 
 listen to the roar of the guns of Morro Castle and see the flashes of fire 
 from their muzzles, without a reply from the fleet. Havana officials 
 have declared that the discharge of those guns was only for signaling 
 purposes and was not an attack on the fleet, but it would be difficult to 
 make the sailors believe that Spanish marksmanship was not respon- 
 sible for the fact that no balls fell near them. 
 
 Spain Declares War. 
 
 The Spanish government did not wait for further aggression on the 
 part of the United States, but herself made the next formal move by 
 issuing a declaration of the fact that war existed, and defining the con- 
 ditions under which the Spanish government expected to carry on the 
 conflict. This decree was gazetted in Madrid on Sunday, April 24, in the 
 following terms: 
 
 Diplomatic relations are broken off between Spain and the United States, 
 and the state of war having begun between the two countries numerous ques- 
 tions of international law arise which must be precisely defined chiefly be- 
 cause the injustice and provocation come from our adversaries and it is they 
 who, by their detestable conduct, have caused this grave conflict. 
 
 We have observed with strictest fidelity the principles of international 
 law and have shown the most scrupulous respect for morality and the right 
 of government. There is an opinion that the fact that we have not adhered 
 to the declaration of Paris does not exempt us from the duty of respecting 
 the principles therein enunciated. The principle Spain unquestionably re- 
 fused to admit then w r as the abolition of privateering. The government now 
 considers it most indispensable to make absolute reserve on this point in 
 order to maintain our liberty of action and uncontested right to have recourse 
 to privateering when we consider it expedient, first by organizing immediately 
 a force of cruisers auxiliary to the navy, which will be composed of vessels 
 of our mercantile marine and with equal distinction, in the work of our navy. 
 
 Clause 1 The state of war existing between Spain and the United States 
 annuls the treaty of peace and amity of Oct 27, 1795, and the protocol of 
 Jan. 12, 1877, and all other agreements, treaties, or conventions in force 
 between the two countries. 
 
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A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 55 
 
 Clause 2 From the publication of these presents thirty days are granted 
 to all ships of the United States anchored in our harbors to take their de- 
 parture free of hindrance. 
 
 Clause 3 Notwithstanding that Spain has not adhered to the declaration 
 of Paris the government, respecting the principles of the law of nations, pro- 
 poses to observe, and hereby orders to be observed, the following regu- 
 lations of maritime law: 
 
 1. Neutral flags cover the enemy's merchandise except contraband of 
 war. 
 
 2. Neutral merchandise, except contraband of war, is not seizable under 
 the enemy's flag. 
 
 3. A blockade to be obligatory must be effective viz. : It must be main- 
 tained with sufficient force to prevent access to the enemy's littoral. 
 
 4. The Spanish government, upholding its right to grant letters of 
 marque, will at present confine itself to organizing, with the vessels of the 
 mercantile marine, a force of auxiliary cruisers which will co-operate with the 
 navy according to the needs of the campaign and will be under naval 
 control. 
 
 5. In order to capture the enemy's ships and confiscate the enemy's mer- 
 chandise and contraband of war under whatever form, the auxiliary cruisers 
 will exercise the right of search on the high seas and in the waters under 
 the enemy's jurisdiction, in accordance with international law and the regu- 
 lations which will be published. 
 
 6. Defines what is included in contraband of war, naming weapons, am- 
 munition, equipments, engines, and, in general, all the appliances used in war. 
 
 7. To be regarded and judged as pirates with all the rigor of the law 
 are captains, masters, officers, and two-thirds of the crews of vessels which, 
 not being American, shall commit acts of war against Spain, even if provided 
 with letters of marque issued by the United States. 
 
 Following is a summary of the more important of the five clauses 
 outlining the rules Spain announced she would observe during the war: 
 
 The United States Makes Reply. 
 
 It took the House of Kepresentatives just one minute and forty-one 
 seconds on Monday to pass a declaration of war which replied to that 
 of Spain. The Senate acted almost as promptly, and their respective 
 presiding officers and the President of the United States signed the Act 
 of Congress immediately, so that it became at once a law of the land. 
 The declaration of war was passed by Congress in response to a message 
 from the President requesting that action in the following terms: 
 
 3 
 
56 A WAR FOB LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 
 
 I transmit to Congress for its consideration and appropriate action copies 
 of correspondence recently had with the representative of Spain in the 
 United States, with the United States Minister at Madrid, and through the 
 latter with the government of Spain, showing the action taken under the 
 joint resolution approved April 20, 1898, "for the recognition of the inde- 
 pendence of the people of Cuba, demanding that the government of Spain 
 relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba and to with- 
 draw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing 
 the President of the United States to carry these resolutions into effect." 
 
 Upon communicating with the Spanish Minister in Washington the de- 
 mand which it became the duty of the executive to address to the government 
 of Spain, in obedience to said resolution, the said Minister asked for his pass- 
 ports and withdrew. The United States Minister at Madrid was in turn 
 notified by the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs that the withdrawal of 
 the Spanish representative from the United States had terminated diplo- 
 matic relations between the two countries, and that all official communica- 
 tions between their respective representatives ceased therewith. 
 
 I recommend to your special attention the note addressed to the United 
 States Minister at Madrid by the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs on the 
 21st inst., whereby the foregoing notification was conveyed. It will be per- 
 ceived therefrom that the government of Spain, having cognizance of the 
 joint resolution of the United States Congress, and in view of things which 
 the President is thereby required and authorized to do, responds by treating 
 the representative demands of this government as measures of hostility, fol- 
 lowing with that instant and complete severance of relations by its action 
 whereby the usage of nations accompanies an existent state of war between 
 sovereign powers. 
 
 The position of Spain being thus made known, and the demands of the 
 United States being denied, with a complete rupture of intercourse by the act 
 of Spain, I have been constrained, in exercise of the power and authority 
 conferred upon me by the joint resolution aforesaid, to proclaim, under date of 
 April 22, 1898, a blockade of certain ports on the north coast of Cuba lying 
 between Cardenas and Bahia Honda, and of the port of Cienfuegos on the 
 south coast of Cuba; and further, in exercise of my constitutional powers, 
 and using the authority conferred upon me by the act of Congress approved 
 April 22, 1898, to issue my proclamation, dated April 23, 1898, calling for 
 volunteers in order to carry into effect the said resolutions of April 20, 1898. 
 Copies of these proclamations are hereto appended. 
 
 In view of the measures so taken, and with a view to the adoption of such 
 other measures as may be necessary to enable me to carry out the expressed 
 will of the Congress of the United States in the premises, I now recommend 
 
A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 57 
 
 to your honorable body the adoption of a joint resolution declaring that a 
 state of war exists between the United States of America and the Kingdom 
 of Spain, and I urge speedy action thereon, to the end that the definition 
 of the international status of the United States as a belligerent power may be 
 made known, and the assertion of all its rights and the maintenance of all 
 its duties in the conduct of a public war may be assured. 
 
 WILLIAM M'KINLEY. 
 Executive Mansion, Washington, April 25, 1898. 
 
 War Is Declared. 
 
 The formal declaration of war as passed by the houses of Congress 
 was short and pointed, worthy of recollection as a model for such un- 
 pleasant documents. It read as follows: 
 
 A BILL DECLARING THAT WAR EXISTS BETWEEN THE UNITED 
 
 STATES OF AMERICA AND THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN. 
 Be it enacted, etc.: 
 
 First That war be and the same is hereby declared to exist and that war 
 has existed since the 21st day of April, A. D. 1898, including said day, between 
 the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain. 
 
 Second That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, 
 directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United 
 States and to call into the actual service of the United States the militia of 
 the several States to such extent as may be necessary to carry this act 
 into effect. 
 
 Diplomacy was still taking a hand in the war. Spain was indignant 
 at the attack on Spanish possessions and endeavored to arouse sympathy 
 among her European neighbors. The Queen Regent addressed tele- 
 grams to all the sovereigns of Europe protesting against the vitiation 
 of the rights of Spain by the United States, and declaring that her gov- 
 ernment was firmly resolved never to yield until crushed. This was a 
 personal communication from one sovereign to her brother sovereigns 
 of the continental kingdom. At the same time there was made public 
 Spain's memorandum to all the European powers which was an official 
 utterance of the Spanish ministry and signed by Senor Gullon, the 
 Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs. 
 
 The memorandum began by recording the "moral and material aid 
 the Cuban rebels have received from the United States" in filibustering 
 expeditions and the operations of the junta. It mentioned Spain's re- 
 
58 A WAR FOE LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 peated and positive denials to the allegations of cruelty toward the 
 Cubans, and laid great stress upon President Cleveland's dispatch of 
 Dec. 7, 1896, to the effect that peace would be possible if Spain gave a 
 sufficient autonomy to Cuba, 
 
 The memorandum contended that, in the face of the new liberal 
 constitution granted Cuba, which "has already borne fruits," it was 
 difficult to understand why President McKinley, in his message of Dec. 
 6, 1897, and General Woodford, in the note of Dec. 20, 1897, should still 
 doubt Spain's loyalty. 
 
 The document then spoke at some length of the Maine accident, and 
 asserted that the Americans, under the pretext of the extra territori- 
 ality of the vessel, never allowed the Spanish authorities to visit the 
 wreck for purposes of investigation; and it most solemnly asserted the 
 absolute innocence of Spanish officials and of Spanish subjects gen- 
 erally. 
 
 The fairness and loyalty of Spain were then shown by a reference to 
 the equitable treatment which American filibusters, more especially 
 those of the Competitor, received at the hands of Spain, and in order 
 to show more fully how pacific and correct have been the attitude of 
 the Spanish government the memorandum enumerated the four clauses 
 of the Spanish proposals. They were: 
 
 Proposals of Spain, 
 
 1. An offer to submit all questions arising from the Maine affair to 
 arbitration. 
 
 2. An order to Governor-General Blanco to retire into the western 
 provinces and to apply 3,000,000 pesetas for the relief of the agricultural 
 population, with an acceptance by the Spanish government of relief 
 for Cubans sent by the United States, provided such relief were sent in 
 merchant vessels. 
 
 3. The co-operation of the Cuban parliament in formulating the 
 extent of the powers to be reserved for the central government. 
 
 4. In view of the Cuban parliament not meeting before May 4, the 
 proclamation of an immediate armistice. 
 
 The memorandum proceeded to declare that the United States had 
 not accepted even these far-reaching concessions, and that the good 
 offices of the pope had been equally unavailing. It asserted that the 
 Maine accident was used by political parties in America as a means of 
 hurling "most gratuitous and intolerable calumnies at the Spanish 
 
A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 59 
 
 government,'' and yet, the document said, Mr. Olney, in an official note 
 dated April 4, 1896, to the Spanish minister in Washington, himself 
 expressed very serious apprehensions lest the only existing bond of 
 union in Cuba should disappear in the event of Spain withdrawing 
 from that island. Mr. Olney, as the memorandum argued, feared at 
 that time that a war of races would ensue, all the more sanguinary in 
 proportion to the experience and discipline acquired during the insur- 
 rection, and that two republics would at once be formed one white, 
 the other black the upshot being that one of the two would swallow 
 the other. 
 
 The grave view thus taken by Mr. Olney of the future of Cuba freed 
 from Spain's rule was then enlarged upon, and inevitable racial wars 
 were foreshadowed, which were "certain to wreck the existence of Cuba 
 as a state, should Spain be deprived of sovereignty" over the island. 
 Thus, being convinced, as Spain was, that right and equity are on her 
 side, "she will not and cannot surrender her sovereignty in Cuba." 
 
 Trouble for Spain at Home. 
 
 Spain's embarrassments at home were multiplying, and threatening 
 danger only less than that from the hostilities of the United States. 
 Twenty thousand republicans of all shades of opinion in Madrid 
 signed and addressed to Seilor Castelar, the republican leader, under 
 the pretext of congratulating him upon his recovery from recent 
 sickness, but in reality offering him their services if he would proclaim 
 a republic. 
 
 At the same time Don Carlos, the pretender to the Spanish throne, 
 was a disturbing element, threatening a revolution against the present 
 dynasty if an opportunity were to offer. 
 
 During all these complications, which included at one time even a 
 threat that the Spanish ministry would resign, there was no discordant 
 note of any sort in the United States. Secretary of State John Sherman 
 and Postmaster General Gary resigned from President McKinley's 
 cabinet because of ill health, in order that the government might be 
 in no way handicapped during the time of emergency. Secretary Sher- 
 man was succeeded by Assistant Secretary Judge William R. Day of 
 Canton, Ohio, who had displayed remarkable aptitude for the office 
 during his term of service, while Mr. Gary's successor was the Honor- 
 able Charles Emory Smith, of Philadelphia, a newspaper editor and 
 formerly ambassador to Russia. 
 
60 A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 Along the Cuban Coast. 
 
 It was the torpedo boats which kept things exciting during the early 
 blockade of Cuban ports. They are like hornets, which travel faster 
 than anything that tries to escape them, sting when they strike, and 
 vanish in an instant. Two of these brisk fighters distinguished them- 
 selves on Sunday, while the diplomats were busy in the cabinets of the 
 world. The torpedo boat Porter, which is as fleet as an express train, 
 has a dare-devil crew and an intrepid commander with an honored 
 name. He is Lieutenant John C. Fremont, a son of the famous "Path- 
 finder," who himself never- hesitated to lead the way, whether in wilder- 
 ness exploration or any other duty that came before him. 
 
 Lieutenant Fremont, with the Porter, made a landing on the north 
 coast of Cuba with a small force of his men, in search of certain informa- 
 tion which was desired by Admiral Sampson for the guidance of his 
 plans. It was a dangerous undertaking, for the squad might have been 
 wiped out in spite of their readiness to fight, if they had stumbled upon 
 Spanish troops. None were met, however, the journey was made in 
 safety, and the landing party returned to the fleet in triumph with the 
 distinction of being the first actual invaders of the Cuban soil in this 
 warfare. 
 
 Earlier in the same day the torpedo boat Foote, in command of 
 Lieutenant W. L. Rogers, was directed to take soundings of the ap- 
 proach to the harbor of Matanzas, an important city on the north coast 
 of Cuba fifty miles east of Havana. The Foote drew the first fire 
 definitely known to be directed against the blockading squadron. The 
 little scout was taking soundings within three hundred yards of shore, 
 when a Spanish masked battery on the east side of the harbor, command- 
 ing the entrance, fired three shots in quick succession. They all went 
 wide of the mark, striking the water nearly a quarter of a mile away 
 from the boat. The officers and men were momentarily startled by the 
 volley, and then continued their observation. The cruiser Cincinnati, 
 which was not far away, was hailed by the torpedo boat and Lieutenant 
 Rogers reported his experience. The orders of Captain Chester, in 
 command of the Cincinnati, did not permit him to shell Matanzas, so 
 the fire from the masked battery was not returned. 
 
 The Call to Arms. 
 
 It was on Monday, the 25th of April, that the national authorities 
 notified the governors of each state that they would be expected to fur- 
 
A WAR FOE LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 61 
 
 nish volunteers for our war with Spain. The response was immediate. 
 In every state of the Union the call to arms was heard with delight 
 and troops gathered at their armories for prompt enlistment. The speed 
 and facility with which a trained and efficient army could be mobilized 
 was an amazement to those who had not been familiar with the details 
 of the organization of the National Guard of America. Within twenty- 
 four hours after the receipt of the order, thousands of troops were 
 moving to the state encampments where they had been directed to 
 gather. Illinois was an example of this promptness, in sending nearly 
 5,000 men out of Chicago without delay, but this was no more notable 
 than the record made by many other states in every part of the Union. 
 The cheers and the blessings of hundreds of thousands of loyal citizens 
 stimulated those who were to go to the front with the banner of free- 
 dom, and they realized that they were representing the sentiment of a 
 united nation. 
 
 Those days near the end of April were exciting times. The whole 
 nation was keyed up to a nervous tension of anxiety to know what 
 would be the next event recorded on land or sea. The armies of the 
 United States were preparing for the struggle, the coast defenses were 
 brought to completion, and the government was ready for any emergency 
 that might arise. Admiral Sampson's splendid North Atlantic squad- 
 ron was blockading the ports of Cuba. Admiral Schley, with the flying 
 squadron at Hampton Roads, was ready for prompt action in any 
 direction where it might be effective, whether to protect the Atlantic 
 coast cities from a threatened assault by Spanish warships, or to descend 
 upon the Spanish fleet for a, naval battle. 
 
 Admiral Dewey with the Asiatic squadron had been driven out of 
 Hong Kong by application of the neutrality laws, and international 
 obligations might embarrass him unless he took the aggressive, and 
 made for himself a base of supplies in the Philippine Islands. It was 
 expected every day that he would make an assault upon Manila, 
 the capital of the Philippines, and that the first naval engagement 
 of consequence in the war would be with the Spanish fleet in those 
 waters. No one doubted that the Asiatic squadron would be able to 
 give a good account of itself, although the fleet which was to oppose 
 it did not lack efficient guns and fighting strength. 
 
 The capture of that valuable Spanish colony, in which rebellion 
 against the government was in progress, would be not only a severe 
 blow to the Spanish arms, but would also strengthen the position of the 
 
63 A WAR FOR LIBERTY AND HUMANITY. 
 
 United States in the Orient by the capture of large supplies of coal and 
 naval equipment, as well as a splendid base of operations. 
 
 But while these preparations were going on for the conflict w r hich 
 was destined to cost Spain her possessions in the w r estern world, there 
 were a few individuals who were still making desperate efforts to induce 
 the administration at Washington to effect a compromise at any cost. 
 Not even the actual declaration of war, and the call for volunteers, 
 could bring the members of this peace-at-any-price party to a realization 
 of the fact that patience has ceased to 'be a virtue, .that we could no 
 longer turn a deaf ear to the appeals of an oppressed people, and that 
 the brave men who w r ent dow r n with the Maine must be avenged. 
 
 Every true American felt that the hour had come when we must 
 defend the honor of our great nation, and it w r as evident to all that 
 the time w r as near at hand when actual warfare w^as to begin both on 
 land and sea. 
 
 The insurgents in Cuba, who have been struggling against almost 
 overwhelming odds for so many months, received the glad tidings of 
 American intervention with unbounded joy, and at once sent repre- 
 sentatives to the United States to arrange for co-operation in the 
 invasion of Cuba, and to assist in planning a systematic campaign 
 against the Spanish forces. Every arrangement was completed for 
 final action and with men and money, munitions of war and ships, all 
 in ample supply, it was evident that the crucial test was soon to come, 
 and that war was at last an actual fact. 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 HOW COLUMBUS FOUND THE "PEAKL OF THE ANTILLES." 
 
 Ingratitude of Spain to the Great Discoverer Who Gave Her a New World 
 How Spain's Evil Colonial Policy Lost the Western Hemisphere to 
 That Obsolete Nation Early Settlement of Cuba Character of the 
 Natives at the Time of the Discovery Founding of the First Cities 
 Havana Becomes the Island Capital Docility of the Natives and 
 Their Extermination by Spanish Oppressors. 
 
 Cuba and Columbus are names inseparably connected. This largest 
 and most fruitful island of the Spanish Main was discovered by the 
 great navigator himself on the 28th day of October, 1492, only a short 
 time after his first landing upon the soil of the western hemisphere on 
 the island of San Salvador. There is a sentimental association to 
 Americans in the thought that the discovery of our own continent was 
 due to the pioneer expeditions sent from Spain. But any regret in 
 one's mind that animosities have risen between the two nations, may 
 be mollified by the memory that Columbus was himself an Italian, that 
 it had required years of his efforts to induce sufficient interest on the 
 part of Spanish monarchs to father his undertaking, and that Ms life 
 in the service of Spain was marred by th basest ID gratitude on the 
 part of those whom he had served. 
 
 Upon the handsome monument erected to the memory of Columbus 
 in Seville by Ferdinand and Isabella, is the simple inscription, "A Cas- 
 tile y Leon, nuevo mundo dio Colon" "to Castile and Leon, Columbus 
 gave a new world." 
 
 This was the tardy recognition granted to the discoverer by those to 
 whom he had made the marvelous gift. Recognition had been denied 
 him in his life, except after years of persistent urging, second only to 
 those years he wasted in his effort to arouse Spanish interest and en- 
 terprise. Once he was removed from his West Indian governorship and 
 returned to Spain in chains. The titles and honors which had been 
 promised him before, were denied after he had earned them. He 
 was a victim of foul ingratitude, and no American need permit senti- 
 ment to blind him for the sake of Columbus. 
 
64 HOW COLUMBUS FOUND THE "PEARL OF THE ANTILLES." 
 
 The splendid new world which Columbus gave to Spain, was the 
 most marvelous addition 'of territory that has ever come into the pos- 
 session of any nation upon earth. It included the whole of South Amer- 
 ica, except Brazil, which was acquired by Portugal, and the small col- 
 onies known as British, Dutch ajid. French Guiana. It included the 
 whole of Central America and Mexico. It included the whole of what 
 is now the United States west of the Mississippi river. It included the 
 whole of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and the peninsula of Florida 
 to the southern limit of Alabama and Georgia, and except for a few 
 scattered islands, it included every foot of land in the Gulf of Mexico 
 and the Caribbean sea, all the coral rocks, as well' as the greater islands 
 of the West Indies and the Antilles. To-day not a, foot of all that 
 enormous possession remains to Spain undisputed, except the islands 
 of Cuba and Puerto Kico. These hundreds of thousands of square 
 miles are inhabited by a free and peaceful people, most of them as repub- 
 lics, and the few exceptions under civilized and liberal colonial policies. 
 Spain's hold on Cuba has vanished and Puerto Kico is slipping away. 
 Spain could not preserve the gifts of Columbus. 
 
 Spains Colonial Policies. 
 
 The logic of events and the progress of civilization have commanded 
 that Spain should withdraw from her possessions in the western hemi- 
 sphere. Never has there been such a record of ferocity and barbarity in 
 conquest, as that which blackens the pages of Spanish history in con- 
 nection with Spain's acquisition and subjection of her newly discovered 
 territories. Whether it was the peaceful Indians of the Antilles, the 
 highly civilized Aztecs of Mexico, or the Incas of Peru, the policy pur- 
 sued was always the same. First, treacherous friendship, then robbery 
 and massacre, then slavery, and finally extermination, was the unvary- 
 ing programme. And so, instead of winning favor and loyalty with 
 their consequent happiness and prosperity from the native tribes, Span- 
 ish conquerors implanted in the possessors of the country an over-mas- 
 tering and ineradicable hatred, which grew with association, until in 
 colony after colony the bonds were burst by violence. 
 
 When Great Britain lost her American colonies by reason of her 
 misgovernment and oppression of them, it was a lesson which her peo- 
 ple never fogot From that day, the colonial policy of the British gov- 
 ernment was altered, and the spirit of liberality and generosity began 
 to dominate. To-day, every colony of Great Britain that enjoys repre- 
 
HOW COLUMBUS FOUND THE "PEARL OF THE ANTILLES." 65 
 
 sentative government Canada, Australia, Cape Colony and many 
 others, owes to the United States the liberty which Great Britain grants. 
 
 But Spain could learn no such lessons. Her cruelty and misgov- 
 ernment aroused colony after colony to rebellion ending in freedom, 
 but her policies remained unaltered. One by one possessions of fabu- 
 lous wealth dropped away until at last this old crone of nations has 
 been left to shiver alone by her fireside, abandoned in her misery by 
 all the children whose memory of her is nothing but that of vicious 
 cruelty. The only pity to which Spain is entitled, is the pity that is 
 due for her ignorance and her mistakes, not pity for the penalties that 
 these have brought upon her. 
 
 Spain was once the intellectual leader of the world, as well as the 
 pioneer of discovery. Spanish universities were centers of learning 
 long before northern Europe had its intellectual birth. Spanish mari- 
 ners sailed every sea and Spanish adventurers explored every land. If 
 learning and advancement bring obligations, as they are admitted to do, 
 it was Spain's obligation to be a leader in strife for liberty of mind -and 
 body, but the two most notable things in her history are the Spanish 
 inquisition against freedom of thought, and the Spanish ferocities which 
 enslaved a new world for many a year. Now she has reaped the harvest 
 of her own misdeeds. 
 
 The Early Settlement of Cuba. 
 
 Every one knows that Columbus was not looking for a western 
 hemisphere, but for the Orient, and that when he found Cuba he believed 
 he had reached the East Indies and the islands of gold and spice which 
 had been reported from that mysterious land. His first island discov- 
 eries he believed to be the outlying portions of that eastern archipelago 
 and when the natives told him of a greater land near bv, which he 
 
 CJ */ / 
 
 reached a few days later, he believed that at last he had reached Cipan- 
 go, as Japan then was called. 
 
 The first name given to the island was Juana, in honor of Prince 
 Juan, the son of Ferdinand and Isabella of Aragon and Castile. After 
 Ferdinand's death, in his honor the name was changed to Fernandina. 
 Still later it received the name of Santiago, as a mark of reverence for 
 the patron saint of Spain, and another change was made a few years 
 afterward^ when the inhabitants, as a proof of their piety, called it 
 Ave Maria, in honor of the Holy Virgin. In spite of all this effort at 
 establishing a Spanish name, the original Indian name of Cuba, which 
 
66 HOW COLUMBUS FOUND THE "PEARL OF THE ANTILLES." 
 
 it bore when the great navigator first landed on its shores, has asserted 
 itself triumphantly through all the centuries and is now ineradicable. 
 
 According to the accounts given by Spanish writers who were con- 
 temporary with the discovery, and the century immediately following, 
 the aboriginal inhabitants of Cuba were a generous, gentle, hospitable 
 people, by no means energetic, but heartily cordial and courteous to 
 the strangers who reached their shores. The mildness of their climate 
 did not stimulate them to much activity in cultivation of the soil, be- 
 cause tropical fruits and vegetables came with scarcely an effort on the 
 part of the natives. Their implements and utensils were crude and 
 their life simple. 
 
 The system of government was by no means complicated. The island 
 was divided into nine independent principalities, each under a Cacique, 
 all living in harmony, and warfare being almost unknown. Their relig- 
 ion was a peaceful one, without human sacrifices or cannibalism, but the 
 priests had great power through their pretense of influence with spirits 
 good and evil. 
 
 Of all the people discovered by the Spanish in their colonization 
 of the western hemisphere, the Cubans were the most tractable to the 
 influences of Christianity so far as their willingness to .accept the doc- 
 trines was concerned. Christianity, as practiced by the Spanish con- 
 querors, was scarcely that of the highest type of the faith, and the 
 inducements to accept it were somewhat violent. Nevertheless it must 
 be noted that it is from Spanish sources this testimony as to the docility 
 of the Cuban natives comes. Under these circumstances it becomes a 
 magnified crime that the Spanish conquerors absolutely exterminated 
 the hundreds of thousands of native Cubans whom they found at the 
 time of the discovery, and that within little more than a century, there 
 was absolutely not a trace of native stock to be found anywhere in the 
 island. 
 
 When Columbus first rested his eyes on the island of Cuba it 
 seemed to him an enchanted land. He was charmed with its lofty 
 mountains, its beautiful rivers, and its blossoming groves, and in his 
 account of the voyage he said: "Everything is green as April in An- 
 dalusia. The singing of the birds is such that it seems as if one would 
 never desire to depart. There are flocks of parrots that obscure the 
 sun. There are trees of a thousand species, each having its particular 
 fruit, and all of marvelous flavor." 
 
 Columbus was first of the opinion that he had found an island, but 
 
HOW COLUMBUS FOUND THE <TEARL OF THE ANTILLES." C7 
 
 after following the shores for many miles he concluded that it was a 
 continent. He retained the latter belief until his death, for it was not 
 until 1508 that the island was circumnavigated, when it was discovered 
 that it was of about the same area as England. In a subsequent expe- 
 dition he reached the coast of South America, but he had no apprecia- 
 tion of the magnitude of that continent, and to him Cuba was the 
 grandest of his discoveries in the New World. 
 
 Cuba was twice visited by Columbus after its discovery, in April, 
 1494, and again in 1502, and these visits but confirmed his first opinion 
 regarding the salubrity of the climate and the wealth of the soil. His 
 sailors wrested from the natives large sums of gold and silver, ^and 
 this led to the mistaken belief that mines of great richness were with- 
 in their grasp. 
 
 Spain's Heartless Treatment of Columbus. 
 
 Biography furnishes no parallel to the life of Columbus. Great 
 men there have been who have met with injustice and disappoint- 
 ments, but there is perhaps no other instance of a man whom disap- 
 pointments and injustice did not dishearten and disgust; who had 
 his greatness recognized in his lifetime, and yet was robbed of the re- 
 wards that it entitled him to. 
 
 It is probable that before his death Columbus confided his belief 
 in the wealth to be found in Cuba to his son Diego Columbus, for in 
 1511 the latter fitted out an expedition for the purpose of colonizing 
 the island. This company consisted of about 300 men, under Diego 
 Velasquez, who had accompanied the great explorer on his second 
 voyage. The first settlement was made at Baracoa, in the extreme 
 eastern section, and this village was regarded as the capital of the 
 colony for several years. In the meantime extensive settlements had 
 been made by the Spaniards in the island of Jamaica, and in 1514 the 
 towns of Santiago and Trinidad were founded on the southern coast 
 of Cuba, in order that the inhabitants of the two colonies might be 
 brought into closer communication. As immigration increased, other 
 towns of importance sprung up, and the island became the base for 
 the various operations against Mexico. Baracoa grew largely in pop- 
 ulation, and the towns of Puerto Principe and Sancti Espiritus were 
 established in the central section, and San Juan de log Remedies on 
 the north coast. In July, 1515, the city of San Cristobal de la Habana 
 was planted, deriving its name from the great Discoverer, but this 
 
8 HOW COLUMBUS FOUND THE "PEARL OF THE ANTILLES." 
 
 name was transferred in 1519 to the present capital, and the original 
 town was called Batabano. 
 
 In 1518 the capital was fixed at Baracoa, which had by this time 
 becoine a city of considerable importance, and the diocese of the col- 
 ony. In 1522 both the seat of government and the bishopric were re- 
 moved to Santiago de Cuba. In 1538 Havana was reduced to ashes by 
 a French privateer; and to prevent a similar disaster in future, the 
 Castillo de la Fuerza, a fortress which still exists, was built by Fer- 
 nando de Soto, governor of Cuba, and afterwards famous for his ex- 
 plorations in the southern and western portions of North America, as 
 well as for the discovery of the Mississippi. 
 
 Using a modern expression, this great fortress, added to her almost 
 perfect harbor, gave Havana a wonderful "boom," and the city expe- 
 rienced a remarkable growth. The Spanish merchantmen were ac- 
 tively employed in carrying the wealth of Mexico to the Peninsula, and 
 Havana was a convenient port for them to secure supplies of provis- 
 ions and water. In 1549 Gonzales Perez de Angulo was appointed 
 governor of the island, and he was so impressed with the beauties of 
 the city, that he chose it as his residence. Several of his successors fol- 
 lowed his example, and in 1589 it was legally made the capital of Cuba. 
 
 Early Government of Cuba. 
 
 The early records of the island were kept in so imperfect a manner 
 that it is not possible to give an accurate account of the early govern- 
 ors and their lieutenants. It is certain, however, that the seat of gov- 
 ernment was at Santiago de Cuba, and that Havana and other towns 
 of minor importance were ruled by lieutenants. In 1538, Hernando 
 de Soto, adelantado of Florida, and also governor of Cuba, landed at 
 Santiago, and remained a few days before proceeding to the main- 
 land. On his departure he left the government of the island in charge 
 of a lady, Dona Isabel de Bobadilla, and gave her for a colleague Don 
 Juan de Rojas, who had at one time been lieutenant governor of Ha- 
 vana. It is from this date that the gradual transference of the seat of 
 power from Santiago to Havana may be said to have arisen. 
 
 Don Antonio de Chavez assumed the government in 1547, and he 
 it was who gave Havana its first regular supply of water, bringing it 
 a distance of about six miles from the river Chorrera. 
 
 The early settlers devoted themselves principally to the raising of 
 cattle, paying very little attention to agricultural pursuits, or in fact 
 
HOW COLUMBUS FOUND THE "PEARL OF THE ANTILLES.' 4 69 
 
 to any means of livelihood that called for manual labor. Much time 
 and money was wasted in explorations for gold and silver, but these 
 were invariably unsuccessful, for while the precious metals have oc- 
 casionally been found in the island, the quantity has never been suffi- 
 cient to repay the labor of the search. 
 
 A Letter Written by Columbus. 
 
 Nothing more interesting for tne conclusion of this chapter can be 
 offered than Columbus' own account of his first view of the island of 
 Cuba. It is as follows 
 
 "When I reached Juana, I followed its coast to the westward, and 
 found it so large that I thought it must 'be mainland, the province of 
 Cathay; and as I found neither towns nor villages on the sea coast, but 
 only some hamlets, with the inhabitants of which I could not hold con- 
 versation, because they all immediately fled, I kept on the same route, 
 thinking that I could not fail to light upon some large cities or towns. 
 At length, after the 1 proceeding of many leagues, and finding that noth- 
 ing new presented itself, and that the coast was leading me northwards 
 (which I wished to avoid, because the winter had already set in, and 
 it was my intention to move southwards; and because moreover the 
 winds were contrary), I resolved not to wait for a change in the 
 weather, but to return to a certain harbor which I had remarked, and 
 from which I sent two men ashore to ascertain whether there was any 
 king or large cities in that part. They journeyed for three days, and 
 found countless small hamlets, with numberless inhabitants, but with 
 nothing like order; they therefore returned. In the meantime I had 
 learned from some other Indians, whom I had seized, that this land 
 was certainly an island; accordingly, I followed the coast eastward 
 for a distance of 107 leagues, where it ended in a cape. From this cape 
 I saw another island to the eastward, at a distance of eighteen leagues 
 from the former, to which I gave the name of La Espanola. Thither I 
 went and followed its northern coast, (just the same as I had done with 
 the coast of Juana}, 118 full miles due east. This island, like all 
 others, is extraordinarily large, and this one extremely so. In it are 
 many seaports, with which none that I know in Christendom can bear 
 comparison, so good and capacious that it is a wonder to see. The 
 lands are high, and there are many lofty mountains, with which the 
 islands of Teneriffe cannot be compared. They are x all most beautiful, 
 of a thousand different shapes, accessible, and covered with trees of 
 
70 HOW COLUMBUS FOUND THE "PEARL OF THE ANTILLES." 
 
 a thousand kinds, of such great height that they seem to reach the 
 skies. I am told that the trees never lose their foliage, and I can well 
 understand it, for I observed that they were as green and luxuriant as 
 in Spain in the month of May. Some were in bloom, others bearing 
 fruit, and others otherwise, according to their nature. The nightin- 
 gale was singing, as well as other little birds of a thousand different 
 kinds, and that in November, the month in which I was roaming 
 amongst them. There are palm trees of six or eight kinds, wonderful 
 in their beautiful variety; but this is the case with all other trees and 
 fruits and grasses. It contains extraordinary pine groves and very 
 extensive plains. There is also honey and a great variety of birds, and 
 many different kinds of fruits. In the interior there are many mines 
 of metals, and a population innumerable." 
 

 CLARA BARTON AND HER WORK IN A CUBAN HOSPITAL 
 
g 
 
 [I] 
 
 X 
 H 
 
 O 
 H 
 
r HISTORICAL RECORD. 75 
 
 opanish Powers of "Resistance. 
 
 tory are more remarkable than the ease with 
 atry naturally fitted for defense, was subdued by a 
 invaders. The misgovernment of the Visigoths, the 
 .us and jealousies, and the discontent of numerous 
 .ably the Jews, co-operated to facilitate the conquest and 
 ,'.n the power of resistance. These conquerors were of the Mo- 
 jdan faith, but while they were united by religion, they were of 
 rent races. Besides the Moors there were the Arabs, the Egyp- 
 .ns and the Syrians, and when the task of conquest was achieved, 
 .nd the need for unity removed, quarrels arose between them. So diffi- 
 cult was it to prevent these quarrels, that it was found necessary to 
 subdivide the conquered territory, and to allot separate settlements to 
 the different tribes. 
 
 During the period of Moorish domination a number of small inde- 
 pendent kingdoms were formed in opposition to Moslem rule. These 
 comprised Castile, Leon, Navarre and Aragon, and sometimes sepa- 
 rately, sometimes in combination, they were in constant war with the 
 common enemy. The age of the great crusades came, and all Chris- 
 tendom was absorbed in the struggle against the infidel, both in the 
 East and West. Spain, like Palestine, had its crusading orders, which 
 vied with the Templars and the Hospitallers both in wealth and mili- 
 tary distinction. The decisive battle was fought in July, 1212, when 
 the combined forces of Castile, Leon, Navarre, Aragon and Portugal 
 met the Mohammedan army, and gained the most celebrated victory 
 ever obtained by the Christians over their Moslem foes, the latter 
 losing, according to the account transmitted to the pope, 100,000 killed 
 Jind 50,000 prisoners. The king of Grenada w r as speedily forced to be- 
 come a vassal of Castile, and from this period all danger from Moor- 
 ish rule was over. 
 
 Following this time until the different kingdoms became as one, 
 there is nothing in their history deserving a detailed account. The 
 history of Spain as a united state dates from the union of Castile and 
 Aragon by the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand, the respective rul- 
 ers of those kingdoms, in 1469. Grenada, the last remaining posses- 
 sion of the Moors, fell before the Spanish forces in 1492, and Navarre 
 was acquired in 15X2, 
 
ORICAL RECORD. 
 
 milcar Barca, at the head of 
 ibraltar and commenced 
 and which resulted in 
 almost all of Spain, 
 g of the second 
 After a 
 ns were com- 
 of Rome. 
 Silly sub- 
 Hi than 
 the 
 al 
 
 Spain. 
 
 . 
 
 x 
 
 H 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 
 IX 
 
 w 
 
SPAIN'S BLACK HISTORICAL RECORD. 75 
 
 Weakness of Spanish Powers of "Resistance. 
 
 Few things in history are more remarkable than the ease with 
 which Spain, a country naturally fitted for defense, was subdued by a 
 mere handful of invaders. The misgovernment of the Visigoths, the 
 internal factions and jealousies, and the discontent of numerous 
 classes, notably the Jews, co-operated to facilitate the conquest and 
 to. weaken the power of resistance. These conquerors were of the Mo- 
 hammedan faith, but while they were united by religion, they were of 
 different races. Besides the Moors there were the Arabs, the Egyp- 
 tians and the Syrians, and when the task of conquest was achieved, 
 and the need for unity removed, quarrels arose between them. So diffi- 
 cult was it to prevent these quarrels, that it was found necessary to 
 subdivide the conquered territory, and to allot separate settlements to 
 the different tribes. 
 
 During the period of Moorish domination a number of small inde- 
 pendent kingdoms were formed in opposition to Moslem rule. These 
 comprised Castile, Leon, Navarre and Aragon, and sometimes sepa- 
 rately, sometimes in combination, they were in constant war with the 
 common enemy. The age of the great crusades came, and all Chris- 
 tendom was absorbed in the struggle against the infidel, both in the 
 East and West. Spain, like Palestine, had its crusading orders, which 
 vied with the Templars and the Hospitallers both in wealth and mili- 
 ta^ry distinction. The decisive battle was fought in July, 1212, when 
 the combined forces of Castile, Leon, Navarre, Aragon and Portugal 
 met the Mohammedan army, and gained the most celebrated victory 
 ever obtained by the Christians over their Moslem foes, the latter 
 losing, according to the account transmitted to the pope, 100,000 killed 
 und 50,000 prisoners. The king of Grenada was speedily forced to be- 
 come a vassal of Castile, and from this period all danger from Moor- 
 ish rule was over. 
 
 Following this time until the different kingdoms became as one, 
 there is nothing in their history deserving a detailed account. The 
 history of Spain as a united state dates from the union of Castile and 
 Aragon by the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand, the respective rul- 
 ers of those kingdoms, in 1469. Grenada, the last remaining posses- 
 sion of the Moors, fell before the Spanish forces in 1492, and Navarre 
 was acquired in 1512, 
 
4. 
 
 76 SPAIN'S BLACK HISTORICAL RECORD. 
 
 Discoveries in America. 
 
 The year 1492, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, wit- 
 nessed the discovery of America* Spain had become consolidated into 
 one empire from the Pyrenees to the strait of Gibraltar, and civil wars 
 were at an end. Maritime exploration was the task of the age, and 
 under the patronage of Isabella, Columbus planted the flag of Spain 
 in the West Indies. This grand achievement led to the opening of a 
 splendid continent, teeming with riches, for Spanish adventure and 
 despoliation. In 1498, Columbus landed on the continent of South 
 America, and in a few years the entire western coast was explored by 
 subsequent adventurers. In 1512, Ponce de Leon discovered Florida, 
 and the following year, Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Darien, and 
 gazed for the first time upon the Pacific. 
 
 The history of Spain, in connection with its discovery and settle- 
 ment of the New World, is one long record of revolting crime. New 
 England was settled by a people who came to turn the wilderness 
 into a city, but the Spanish invaders went to the southern shores to 
 turn the cities of the natives into a wilderness. In Mexico and Peru 
 they found a civilization the equal and in many respects the superior 
 of their own. With cross and sword in hand, in the name of religion, 
 but with the lust for gold in their hearts, their coming was invaria- 
 bly a signal for every kind of attack that malignity could devise or 
 avarice invent. Wherever they went, desolation followed them. They 
 looted the towns, pillaged the cities, murdered the people; they 
 burned alike the hovels of the poor, and the palaces of the rich. 
 
 The value of the treasure that Spain secured from Mexico and 
 Peru never can be known accurately; but it is certain that within 
 sixty years from the time of the landing of Columbus she had ad- 
 vanced to the position of the richest and most powerful nation in 
 Europe. Victorious in Africa and Italy, Philip II., who was then the 
 reigning monarch, carried war into France, and ruled in Germany, as 
 well as in those provinces now known as Belgium and Holland. The 
 money necessary to carry on these vast wars of conquest was undoubt- 
 edly acquired in the New World. When Cortez approached the palace 
 of Montezuma, the King's messengers met him, bearing presents from 
 their lord. These gifts included 200 pounds of gold for the comman- 
 der, and two pounds of gold for each of his army. Prescott, in his 
 "Conquest of Peru," says that when the Spanish soldiers captured the 
 
SPAIN'S BLACK HISTORICAL RECORD. W 
 
 capital of that country they spent days in melting down the golden 
 vessels which they found in temples and palaces. On one voyage a 
 single ship carried to Spain f 15,500,000 in gold, besides vast treasures 
 of silver and jewels. 
 
 The Horrors of the Inquisition. 
 
 The Inquisition was a tribunal in the Roman Catholic church for 
 the discovery, repression and punishment of heresy and unbelief. It 
 originated in Rome when Christianity was established as the religion 
 of the Empire, but its history in Spain and her dependencies has ab- 
 sorbed almost entirely the real interest in the painful subject. 
 
 As an ordinary tribunal, similar to those of other countries, it had 
 existed there from an early period. Its functions, however, in those 
 times were little more than nominal; but early in the reign of Ferdi- 
 nand and Isabella, on account of the alleged discovery of a plot among 
 the Jews to overthrow the government, an application was made to 
 the Pope to permit its re-organization. But in reviving the tribunal, 
 the Crown assumed to itself the right of appointing the inquisitors, 
 and of controlling their entire action. For this reason Catholic writ- 
 ers regard the Spanish inquisition as a state tribunal, and refer to the 
 bull of the Pope, Sixtus IV., protesting against it. Notwithstanding 
 this protest, however, the Spanish Crown maintained its assumption. 
 Inquisitors were appointed, and in 1483 the tribunal commenced its 
 terrible career, under Thomas de Torquemada. 
 
 The inquisition arrested on suspicion, tortured for confession, and 
 then punished with fire. One witness brought the victim to the rack, 
 two to the flames. The prisoner was not confronted with his accuser, 
 nor were their names ever made known to him. The court was held 
 in a gloomy dungeon at midnight, a dim light gleamed from smoking 
 torches, and the grand inquisitor, enveloped in a black robe, glared at 
 his victim through holes cut in the hood. Before the examination, the 
 accused, whether man, maid or matron, was stripped and stretched 
 upon the rack, where tendons could be strained without cracking, 
 bones crushed without breaking, and the body tortured without 
 dying. 
 
 When the prisoner was found guilty, his tongue was cut out, so 
 that he could neither speak nor swallow. On the morning of the exe- 
 cution a breakfast of rare delicacies was placed before the sufferer, 
 and with ironical invitation he was urged to enjoy his last repast. 
 
78 SPAIN'S BLACK HISTORICAL RECORD. 
 
 Then the prisoner was led to the funeral pyre, where an address was 
 given, lauding the inquisition, condemning heresy, and commanding 
 obedience to the Pope and the Emperor. Then, while hymns were 
 sung, blazing fagots were piled about the victim, until his body was 
 reduced to a heap of ashes. 
 
 Some conception of the appalling cruelty of the inquisition under 
 Torquemada may be formed from the statement that during the six- 
 teen years of his tenure of office nearly 10,000 persons were condemned 
 to the flames, and the property of 97,000 others was confiscated. 
 
 Spanish Rule in Holland. 
 
 Horrible as the atrocities of the inquisition were in the mother 
 country, it is doubtful if they ever reached the acme of savage cruelty 
 that they attained during the period when Spain was seeking to 
 strengthen the fetters with which she nominally held Holland in her 
 grasp. The Spanish government, from the time when it first acquired 
 a place among nations, has never been satisfied with a reasonable 
 tribute from its dependencies. Its plan ever has been to exact all, 
 and leave nothing to supply more than a miserable existence. So it 
 was in the middle of the sixteenth century, when Philip II., greedy of 
 the treasures of Holland, determined to spoil them of their wealth, 
 and planned to establish the inquisition among them by the sword. 
 
 The duke of Alva, already famous for his harshness and bigotry, 
 was named commander of the forces, with almost unlimited powers 
 He entered the Netherlands with about 20,000 tried troops, ready foi 
 cruelties, and all hopes of peace or mercy fled before them. There was 
 a great and desperate exodus of the inhabitants; thousands took 
 refuge in England, Denmark and Germany, and despair and helpless- 
 ness alone remained to greet the cold Spaniard and his train of ortho- 
 dox executioners. The Council of Troubles the "Blood-tribunal" 
 was immediately established, and the land was filled, with blood. In 
 a short time he totally annihilated every privilege of the people, and 
 with unrelenting cruelty put multitudes of them to death. 
 
 The more the peasants rebelled, the crueler were the methods of 
 Alva. Men were tortured, beheaded, roasted before slow fires, 
 pinched to death with hot tongs, broken on the wheel, flayed alive. 
 On one occasion the skins of leaders were stripped, from their living 
 bodies, and stretched, upon drums for beating the funeral march of 
 r brethren to the gallows. During the course of six years A"va 
 
SPAIN'S BLACK HISTORICAL RECORD. 79 
 
 brought charges of heresy and treason against 30,000 inhabitants, and 
 made the infamous boast that, in addition to the multitudes killed in 
 battle and massacred after victory, he had consigned 18,000 persons 
 to the executioner. 
 
 This unholy war with the Netherlands lasted with occasional ces- 
 sations of hostilities for eighty years, and during its progress Spain 
 buried 350,000 of her sons and allies in Holland, spent untold millions 
 in the attempted destruction of freedom, and sunk from the first power 
 in Europe, an empire whose proud boast it had been that upon her pos- 
 sessions the sun never set, to the level of a fourth-rate country, cruel 
 in government, superstitious in religion, and ever an enemy to 
 progress. 
 
 Expulsion of the Moors. 
 
 In addition to the terrible drain upon the country from losses in 
 war, the expulsion of the Jews and the Moors was productive of the 
 direst results. In 1609 all the Moriscoes were ordered to depart from 
 the Peninsula within three days. The penalty of death was declared 
 against all who failed to obey, and against any Christians who should 
 stielter the recalcitrant. The edict was obeyed, but it was a blow from 
 which Spain never recovered. The Moriscoes were the back-bone of 
 the industrial population, not only in trade and manufactures, but 
 also in agriculture. The haughty and indolent Spaniards had will- 
 ingly left what they considered degrading employment to their in- 
 feriors. The Moors had introduced into Spain the cultivation of sugar, 
 cotton, rice and silk. In manufactures and commerce they had shown 
 superiority to the Christian inhabitants, and many of their products 
 were eagerly sought for by other countries. All these advantages 
 were sacrificed to an insane desire for religious unity. 
 
 The reigns of Philip III. and Philip IV. witnessed a fearful accel- 
 eration in the decline of Spain by the contests with the Dutch and 
 with the German Protestants in the Thirty Years' War, the wars with 
 France, and the rebellion of Portugal in 1640, which had been united 
 to Spain by Philip II. The reign of Charles II. was still more unfor- 
 tunate, and his death was the occasion of the war of the Spanish suc- 
 cession. 
 
 Under Charles III. (1759-1788), a wise and enlightened prince, the 
 second great revival of the country commenced, and trade and 
 commerce began to show signs of returning activity. Previous to his 
 
80 SPAIN'S BLACK HISTORICAL RECORD. 
 
 accession to the throne, Spain appeared to be a corpse, over which the 
 powers of Europe could contend at will. Suddenly men were 
 astounded to see that country rise with renewed vigor to play once 
 more an important part on the international stage. Commerce and 
 agriculture were developed, native manufactures were encouraged in 
 every way possible, and an attempt w r as made to remove all prejudices 
 against trade, among the nobles. Meritorious as these reforms w^ere, 
 it would give a false impression to represent them as wholly success- 
 ful. The regeneration of Spain was by no means accomplished, and 
 many of the abuses w r hich had been growing for centuries, survived 
 the attempt to effect their annihilation. One of the chief causes of this 
 failure was the corruption and ignorance of the low r er officials; and a 
 large portion of the population remained, to a great extent, sunk in 
 sloth and superstition, in spite of all that was done in their behalf. 
 
 During the inglorious reign of Charles 'IV. (1788-1808), who left the 
 management of affairs in the hands of the incapable Godoy, (at once 
 the queen's lover and the king's prime minister), a war^ broke out with 
 Britain, which was productive of nothing but disaster to the Span- 
 iard's. Charles finally abdicated in favor of his son, the Prince of Astu- 
 rias, who ascended the throne as Ferdinand VII. Forced by Napoleon 
 to resign all claims to the Spanish crown, Ferdinand became the pris- 
 oner of the French in the year of his accession, and in the same year, 
 Joseph, the brother of the French emperor, was declared King of 
 Spain, and set out for Madrid to assume the kingdom thus assigned 
 him. But Spanish loyalty was too profound to be daunted even by the 
 awe-inspiring pow r er of the great Napoleon. For the first time he 
 found himself confronted, not by terrified and selfish rulers, but by an 
 infuriated people. The rising on Spain commenced the popular move- 
 ment which ultimately proved fatal to his power. 
 
 In July, 1808, England, on solicitation, made peace with Spain, 
 recognized Ferdinand VII. as king, and sent an army to aid the Span- 
 ish insurrection. Joseph invaded the country on July 9, defeated the 
 Spaniards at Rio Seco, and entered Madrid on the 20th. But the de- 
 feat of Dupont at Baylen by the veteran Spanish general Castanos 
 somewhat altered the position of affairs, and Joseph, after a residence 
 of ten days in his capital, was compelled to evacuate it. 
 
 Meanwhile Sir Arthur Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington, 
 at the head of the British auxiliary force, had landed at Mondego bay, 
 and began the Peninsular war by defeating the French at Roliza and 
 
SPAIN'S BLACK HISTORICAL RECORD. 81 
 
 Vimiero. In November, 1808, Napoleon, who had been preceded by 
 Ney with 100,000 men, entered Spain and assumed the command. For 
 a time his armies were completely successful. In less than a week the 
 Spanish forces were broken through and scattered, and Joseph was 
 returned to Madrid. The victory was a short-lived one, however, for, 
 in April, 1809, General Wellesley arrived in Portugal and at once com- 
 menced operations. By dint of masterly generalship and bold enter- 
 prise he finally succeeded in driving the French from the country. 
 Napoleon, loth to lose his hold in the Peninsula, sent Soult, his most 
 trusted general, to stop the ingress of the British into France, but the 
 battles of the Pyrenees, (24th July 1st August, 1813), and of the 
 Nivelle, Orthez, and Toulouse, in the beginning of 1814, brought to a 
 victorious conclusion this long and obstinate contest. 
 
 Loss of American Colonies. 
 
 T. 
 
 After the convulsions it had endured, Spain required a period of 
 firm but conciliatory government, but the ill fate of the country gave 
 the throne at this crisis one of her worst rulers. Ferdinand VII. had 
 no conception of the duties of a sovereign; his public conduct was 
 regulated by pride and superstition, and his private life was stained 
 by the grossest dissipations. 
 
 For six years Spain groaned under a "Reign of terror," and isolated 
 revolts only served as the occasion for fresh cruelties. The finances 
 were squandered in futile expeditions to recover the South American 
 colonies, which had taken advantage of Napoleon's conquest of Spain 
 to establish their independence. In his straits for money, Ferdinand 
 ventured to outrage national sentiment by selling Florida to the 
 United States in 1819. Louisiana had been ceded to France in 1803, 
 and when Mexico gained her independence in 1822, the last of the ter- 
 ritory under Spanish rule in North America was lost to her. 
 
 The reign of Ferdinand's daughter, Isabella II., was disturbed by 
 the Carlist rebellion in 1834-1839, in which England -aided the Queen 
 with an army commanded by Sir De Lacy Evans. Spain, under Isa- 
 bella II., presents a dismal picture of faction and intrigue. Policies of 
 state had forced her into a distasteful marriage with her cousin, Fran- 
 cis of Assisi, and she sought compensation in sensual indulgences, en- 
 deavoring to cover the dissoluteness of her private life by a supersti- 
 tious devotion to religion. She had to contend with continual revolts, 
 
82 SPAIN'S BLACK HISTORICAL RECORD. 
 
 and was finally compelled, in 1868, to abdicate the throne and fly to 
 France for her life. 
 
 A provisional government was formed with Serrano as President, 
 and a new constitution w T as formed, by which an hereditary king was 
 to rule, in conjunction with a senate and a popular chamber. The 
 throne was offered to Amadeus of Aosta, the second son of Victor 
 Emmanuel, in 1870, and he made an honest effort to discharge the diffi- 
 cult duties of the office. But he found the task too hard, and 'too dis- 
 tasteful, and resigned in 1873. A provisional republic was then 
 formed, of which Castelar was the guiding spirit. But the Spaniards, 
 trained to regard monarchy with superstitious reverence, had no sym- 
 pathy with republican institutions. Don Carlos seized the opportunity 
 to revive the claim of inalienable male succession, and raised the 
 standard of revolt. Castelar finally threw up the office in disgust, and 
 the administration was undertaken by a committee of officers. 
 Anarchy was suppressed with a strong hand, but it was obvious that 
 order could only be restored by reviving the monarchy. Foreign princes 
 were no longer thought of, and Alfonso XII., the young son of the 
 exiled Isabella, was restored to the throne in 1874. His first task was 
 to terminate the Carlist war, which still continued in the North, and 
 this was successfully accomplished in 1876. He died in 1885, and the 
 regency was entrusted to his widow, Christina ol Austria. On May 
 17th, 1886, a posthumous son was born, who is now the titular King 
 of Spain. 
 
CHAPTEK IV. 
 BUCCANEERING AND THE WARFARE IN THE SPANISH MAIN. 
 
 Spam's Stolen Treasures from Mexico and Peru Tempt Her European Rivals 
 The Spanish Main the Scene of Piratical Plundering for Many Years 
 Havana and Other Cities Threatened Great Britain Takes Santo 
 Domingo American Troops from the British Colonies Capture Havana 
 Victory on Land and Sea Is Saddened by Many Deaths of Brave 
 Americans from Fever Lessons of the First Capture of Havana. 
 
 After the acquisition of rich and populous countries in the western 
 hemisphere had begun, Spain* discovered that her new-found wealth 
 was not to be hers without a struggle. From the harbors of Mexico and 
 Peru, Spanish galleons sailed with their loads of treasure, stolen from 
 the Montezumas and the Incas. Year after year, rich argosies, laden 
 with gold and silver to replenish the extravagant treasury of the Span- 
 ish crown, crossed the seas. The Atlantic ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and 
 the Caribbean sea were furrowed with the keels of Spanish fleets, at a 
 time when the European nations scarcely maintained the pretense of 
 friendship with one another. 
 
 It was hardly to be expected that these rich prizes should go un- 
 molested. England and France knew quite well that they were plun- 
 dered from the native treasuries of the new world, and no reason ap- 
 peared why Spain in turn should not be robbed of her plunder. So 
 the Spanish Main, the Caribbean sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the 
 adjacent waters, became the haunt of buccaneers and pirates, some 
 under flags of European nations, and others under the black flag. Des- 
 perate fights were the lot of almost every Spanish galleon that sailed 
 those seas, and fabulous prizes sometimes were taken under the skull 
 and crossbones. Spanish men of war sailed back and forth to convoy 
 the merchant fleets^ but their protection was not always sufficient. 
 Pirates could obtain frigates with guns as good as those of Spain, and 
 with the temptation of wealth before them they braved conflict when- 
 ever it was necessary. 
 
 The harbors of Key West, the Dry Tortugas and others along the 
 Florida keys, as well as many of those in the Bahamas, the West Indies 
 
 83 
 
84 BUCCANEERING IN THE SPANISH MAIN. 
 
 and the Antilles, were the haunts of buccaneers and privateers who 
 careened their ships on shore for repairs, or held high revel on the 
 .beaches after their triumph over some Spanish treasure fleet. Those 
 were bloody days, full of dramatic excitement. From them some of 
 the most notable writers of fiction have drawn their tales, which enter- 
 tain readers of to-day. 
 
 What was done with all the gold thus garnered in sea fights before 
 it reached the ports of Spain, is hard to know. Sometimes mysterious 
 strangers appeared in the seaport towns of France and England and 
 even the American colonies in their younger days, to spend money 
 lavishly for a short time and then disappear as mysteriously as they 
 came. These men were reputed to be pirate chiefs seeking relaxation 
 from their customary life. Others .of the buccaneers hoarded their 
 wealth in hiding places known only to themselves, the secret of which 
 must have died with them, while the gold remains undiscovered. All 
 through the Florida keys and the WestIndia islands, as well as along 
 the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas, traditions still exist in relation 
 to these treasure hoards. Sanguine people are still digging in the 
 sands of these beaches, in the hope that some day they will unearth a 
 sea chest full of Spanish doubloons, or the golden ornaments stripped 
 from Aztec idols. Some finds indeed have been made, but those who 
 make them are not apt to reveal the secret which might guide another 
 to a successful search. 
 
 Piratical Raids Trouble Havana. 
 
 Having discovered the wealth that could be obtained by attacks 
 upon the Spanish fleets, the pirates began to think of the cities which 
 were themselves the source of much of this wealth. The result of this 
 was that they began to make descents upon the coasts, not only of Cuba, 
 but of the neighboring islands of Jamaica and Santo Domingo. The ex- 
 pense occasioned by the attempts to suppress these incursions became so 
 great toward the end of the sixteenth century, that it became necessary 
 to impose a special tax to cover it. 
 
 Fortresses at all the fortified harbors were improved, and the power 
 of the military officials increased as their importance increased, and that 
 of the civil governors diminished. It was as a direct result of these 
 conditions that the office of Captain General was created, in which the 
 governor shared military and civil authority alike. Havana fortifica- 
 tions were hastened to completion and the preparations for defense 
 
BUCCANEERING IN THE SPANISH MAIN. 8K 
 
 began, which never have been materially improved to this day. The 
 three fortresses of El Morro, La Punta and La Cabana were built before 
 the end of the sixteenth century and still were standing as the most 
 effective defenses of Havana when our w r ar with Spain began. 
 
 It was during the same period, that African negroes were first in- 
 troduced into Cuba. Slavery had proved so severe upon the aborigines, 
 that their numbers had almost reached the vanishing point, and there 
 was a lack of sufficient labor for the cultivation of tobacco and sugar 
 cane, the chief products of Spanish agriculture in the island. It was to 
 promote the production of these new luxuries that the African slave 
 trade was begun. A royal license from the King of Spain was obtained 
 to guarantee the privilege of importing negroes. 
 
 Then began that foul commerce which was another black stain on 
 the history of Spanish colonization of the western hemisphere. Spanish 
 ships descended upon the African coasts and kidnapped thousands of 
 negroes for service in the Cuban cane and tobacco fields. The horrors 
 of the trade cannot be magnified and are too distressing for repetition. 
 It is sufficient to say that in Havana it is understood that the harbor 
 was free from sharks which now swarm there, until they followed the 
 slave ships from the African coasts in multitudes, for the feast of slaves 
 who were thrown overboard on the long voyage. Scores and hundreds 
 of Africans died during the journey, from the hardships they were 
 compelled to undergo, and Havana harbor itself was the last grave of 
 many of these hapless ones. 
 
 Great Britain Threatens Spanish Possessions. 
 
 It was just after the middle of the seventeenth century and during 
 the rule of Oliver Cromwell in England, that the Spanish governors of 
 Cuba began to fear an attack by a British fleet. A squadron sailed in 
 1655 with the design of capturing Jamaica, a purpose which was easily 
 accomplished. That island was taken by Great Britain, the Spanish 
 forces defending it were utterly defeated, the governor was killed, and 
 many of the inhabitants removed, in consequence, to Cuba. From 
 Jamaica the same fleet sailed for Havana, but the attack was repulsed 
 and the ships abandoned the attempt. Except for the encroachments of 
 the French upon the island of Santo Domingo, and the continual pirati- 
 cal incursions of French and English buccaneers, the Spanish in the 
 West Indies were not threatened with any more hostilities except by 
 
86 BUCCANEERING IN THE SPANISH MAIN. 
 
 their own internal dissensions until 1762. At that time Spain and Eng- 
 land were at war, Spain in alliance with the French, and it was decided 
 by the British government that Cuba was a vulnerable possession and 
 a valuable one that ought to be taken. 
 
 The capture of Havana by forces under the English flag fills little 
 space in the history of England and Spain, because of the rriagnitude 
 of the interests involved elsewhere. It is almost forgotten in America, 
 in spite of the bearing of all its contemporarj' incidents upon the rap- 
 idly approaching revolution, and yet it was an achievement of the col- 
 onial troops and consequently the first assault upon Cuba by Americans. 
 
 It was an event of the first importance in its own day and contained 
 lessons of the first moment for the guidance of those who had to plan 
 the conduct of the war against Spain in 1898. It proved that American 
 troops under efficient officers could take the field w T ith success against 
 double their number of Spaniards fully provisioned and strongly in- 
 trenched. It proved that Havana could be successfully assaulted by a 
 combined military and naval force, regardless of her picturesque but 
 obsolete fortifications. Spain's lack of administrative ability in the 
 later war as well as in the first, destroying any advantage to be derived 
 from balls and cannon. On the other side it proved that Americans had 
 to look forward to a considerable loss of life as a result of climatic 
 conditions, if they attempted to conduct hostile operations in Cuba dur- 
 ing the summer season. 
 
 The utter incapacity for straightforward, pertinacious fighting, which 
 both Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington found in the Spanish army 
 during the Peninsular war, was as conspicuous fifty years before, when 
 the Americans took Havana, and may rightly be argued as perpetually 
 inherent in the national character; for though the annals of Spain are 
 filled with instances of individual courage of the first rank, demoraliza- 
 tion sets in as soon as they come together in numbers in the face of a 
 civilized foe. Their chief maneuver in the course of a century and a 
 half, has been just plain running away. The victorious Wellington, 
 seeing his Spanish allies running for dear life just after he had whipped 
 the opposing French line in the last battle of the peninsular campaign, 
 was moved to remark that he had seen many curious things in his life, 
 but never before 20,000 men engaged in a foot race. 
 
 Yet the fight made by the Spaniards in Havana during the attack 
 of the British and colonial forces in 1762 is the one notable instance of 
 a prolonged struggle between men who speak English and men who 
 speak Spanish. History may be searched in vain, either in the old or 
 
BUCCANEERING IN THE SPANISH MAIN. 87 
 
 new world, for a defense as able in point of generalship or as stubborn 
 in resistance as the Spaniards made at the siege of Havana. In all 
 other cases, from the Elizabethan campaigns in Holland to the war 
 with Mexico, the men educated in the Spanish school of arms have 
 been content to spend their energies upon a single assault and then 
 flee, sometimes even when the odds were greatly in their favor. 
 
 The English Armada left Portsmouth .on March 5th, 1762, under 
 the command of the gallant Admiral Pococke and Lord Albemarle, the 
 force moving in seven divisions. It consisted of nineteen ships of the 
 line, eighteen frigates or smaller men-of-war, and 150 transports con- 
 taining about 10,000 soldiers, nearly all infantry. At the Island of 
 Hayti, then called Hispanola, the British were joined by the success- 
 ful expedition from Martinique. Together they sat, down before 
 Havana, July 6th, 1762. 
 
 Spain's Intellectual Dry Rot. 
 
 Spain, suffering, as it suffers to-day, from intellectual dry rot, had 
 known for weeks of the intended beleagtierinent. Then, as now, noth- 
 ing adequate was done to meet it. The Governor of Havana, the Mar- 
 quis de Gonzalez, was a gallant soldier, as he was to prove; but that 
 ounce of prevention which is proverbially worth more than the pound 
 of cure, was not taken by him, and the British found the fortifications 
 in a partially ruinous condition, and the fourteen ships of the line 
 which were lying in the harbor before the city in such a state that they 
 could hardly be called in commission. The Spanish army of defense 
 numbered 27,000 men, .and was in better condition; but the Spanish 
 sailors were utterly demoralized by the granting of too much shore lib- 
 erty, and the best use the Spaniard could put his fighting ships to was 
 by sinking them at the entrance to the anchorage to prevent the en- 
 trance of the British fleet. Once the enemy was before tlje city, how- 
 ever, all was activity. The fortifications, which were too newly erected 
 to be quite incapable of repair, were set in order, the guns of Morro 
 Castle and of the fort known as the Puntal, across from it, were 
 trained on the advancing foe, and the Spanish ships were sunk, as has 
 been said. 
 
 Those familiar with the history of English administrative methods 
 during this period will find little to choose between them and the 
 methods of Spain. The season of the year most unwholesome to the 
 inhabitants 01 c temperate climate had already set in, with all its 
 
88 BUCCANEERING IN THE SPANISH MAIN. 
 
 train of pestilences, when the British arrived. Though deluged by the 
 tremendous rains of the tropics from day to day, the water supply was 
 wholly insufficient, and the little obtainable was so tainted as to make 
 its use fraught with danger. There was no pilot who knew the road- 
 stead in order to lead the ships against the Morro and the Puntal for 
 many days. In throwing up the parallels and approaches to the walls 
 of the city on the landward side, the soldiers found such scarcity of 
 earth, the blanket over the rocks being of the thinnest sort, that this 
 necessary material for covering an attack had to be brought from a 
 distance. Then, too, it was charged with the germs of disease, and all 
 who handled it suffered extremely. Despite all the precautions of the 
 officers, the sanitary condition surrounding the camp was horrible, and 
 the troops died like dogs. 
 
 Yankees in Cuba. 
 
 Meanwhile there was a large force of British regulars in North 
 America, stationed there ever since the fall of the French empire in 
 the new world in 1760. Four thousand of these soldiers were gathered 
 in New York City. To them the colonies of East and West Jersey 
 added a regiment of 500 men, New York another of 800, while Lyman 
 raised a full thousand in Connecticut. When these, too, had been 
 assembled in New York, Lyman was made Brigadier General of the 
 colonial troops, and his Lieutenant Colonel, Israel Putnam, was made 
 Colonel of the Connecticut soldiers in his stead. This was the same 
 Putnam who fought the wolf single-handed in its cave, and who was 
 to take that breakneck ride a few years later to' escape the very troops 
 with whom he was now associated. The entire force of 2,300 provin- 
 cials under General Lyman's command was not a mere bevy of raw mili- 
 tia. Nearly all of them had seen service against the French in those 
 well trained and active forces which were given the general name of 
 "Rangers;" the officers especially, of whom Putnam was hardly more 
 than a type, being men of extended experience. The fact that so many 
 men were willing to volunteer in this arduous and, as it turned out, 
 desperate service for the King, speaks volumes for what could have 
 been done with such men had Pitt and not Bute been at the head of the 
 English nation at that time. The advices from Havana showed that 
 the army there was in great need of reinforcements, so b} 7 great efforts 
 the regulars and provincials were stowed way in fourteen transports, 
 and with an escort of a few frigates they set sail for the South about 
 
CAPTAIN SIGSBEE OF THE ILL-FATED "MAINE" NOW COMMANDER OF THE 
 
 CRUISER ST. PAUL 
 
GENERAL STEWART L. WOODFORD LAST U. S. MINISTER TO SPAIN 
 
BUCCANEERING IN THE SPANISH MAIN. 91 
 
 the middle of May. There were the usual shouts of an admiring popu- 
 lace and the tears of sweethearts and wives; but it is easy to say that 
 there would have been no rejoicing if the people of Connecticut, the 
 Jerseys, and New York could have foreseen that hardly one of every 
 fifty of their volunteers would see his home again. 
 
 Americans Were Wrecked. 
 
 Just before the arrival of these welcome reinforcements on July 20, 
 some English merchantmen had come along with cargoes of cotton 
 bags, which were pressed into immediate use for the lines which were 
 now closing around Havana; and in the ships were also found several 
 pilots. Then the forces from the North came amidst general rejoicings, 
 but without Putnam and 500 of his Yankees. These, in a transport 
 which was skirting the dangerous coast much too closely, were ship- 
 wrecked on one of the treacherous shoals thereabouts. Putnam, with 
 true New England fertility of resource, extemporized rafts from the 
 fragments of the vessel and got all his men ashore without the loss of 
 a life. They landed near the City of Carthagena, threw up breast- 
 works, and were found ready to repel a force of thousands of Span- 
 iards when the ships from before Havana arrived for their rescue, 
 their own companions wisely pressing on and sending aid back from 
 the headquarters. 
 
 The American troops went bravely to work, engaging themselves 
 chiefly with the undermining of one of the walls. To reach this it was 
 necessary for them to pass along a narrow eminence where they were 
 in plain view and easy range of the Spaniards. A number were lost 
 in this dangerous enterprise, but their valor was dimmed neither by 
 this nor by the still heavier losses which came upon them through the 
 diseases prevalent in every portion of the British camp. Though men 
 of such hardiness that they must have been equal in resisting power 
 to the British, their losses were comparatively much greater, proving 
 that they occupied positions of greater danger, either from bullets or 
 the fevers of the region. 
 
 Morro Castle Taken. 
 
 Five days after the arrival of the reinforcements, Lord Albemarle 
 judged himself sufficiently strong to assault Morro Castle, and the 
 word was accordingly given. The sunken ships were blown up early 
 on the morning of July 25, and the British ships sailed into the fury 
 
92 BUCCANEERING IN THE SPANISH MAIN. 
 
 of the Spanish cannon, belching shot from all along the shore. The 
 big guns of the ships could not be elevated sufficiently to silence the 
 fire from Morro Castle, and this was accordingly left to be carried by 
 assault. The Puntal was silenced, troops landed, and after five days 
 of ferocious fighting, in which the British and American losses were 
 enormous by reason of their exposed position, and where every one 
 concerned exhibited the utmost valor, Morro Castle was carried by the 
 bayonet. The fighting within its walls after an entry had been made 
 was exceedingly fierce. The Marquis of Gonzalez was killed by his 
 own cowardly men for refusing to surrender. The cannon from the 
 other Spanish batteries were turned upon the Morro as soon as the 
 Spanish flag had been lowered, and the British ensign run up in its 
 place; and then the slow and disastrous work of the siege was taken 
 up again. 
 
 As the lines grew nearer and nearer, and the last hope of the Span- 
 iard for relief was given up, there was the usual attempt made to buy 
 the attacking party off. Though it would have been a hopeless under- 
 taking at any time, the amount offered for the ransom of the city was 
 so far below the treasure which was known to be in the town that the 
 offer was made a subject for derisive laughter. Fifteen days after 
 Morro Castle had fallen, though the mortality in the trenches was so 
 great that a few weeks more must have seen the abandonment of the 
 enterprise, the city fell, the garrison stipulating for a passage out with 
 all the honors of war, which was freely accorded them, owing to the 
 climatic predicament in which Lord Albemarle found himself. It was 
 also stipulated that private property should be respected. This was 
 strictly observed, though Spain had set repeated examples of giving a 
 captured city over to plunder in the face of a stipulation to the con- 
 trary. 
 
 August 14, 1762, the British entered, the glory of their victory over 
 such heavy odds even then dimmed by the enormous mortality. It 
 was reckoned that the few days of August had wrought more damage 
 to the invading forces than all the weeks of hard labor and open 
 assault which had gone before. In the city the Havannali, as it was 
 then called treasure was found to the amount of $7,000,000, much of 
 it in such shape that there had been abundant time to withdraw it 
 either to Spain or into the interior of the island, had there been any 
 other than Spaniards at the head of affairs. 
 
 The occupancy of the British and colonial forces lasted but a few 
 months. Lord Albemarle, with $120,000 of the prize money as his per- 
 
BUCCANEERING IN THE SPANISH MAIN. 93 
 
 sonal share, received notice of the conclusion of the treaty of Paris and 
 withdrew his army to Great Britain. A single ship sufficed to remove 
 the shattered remnant of the soldiers from Connecticut, the Jerseys, 
 and New York. Twenty-three hundred sailed; barely fifty returned. 
 It was a part of the good fortune of America all of the good fortune, 
 to be exact which brought Colonel Israel Putnam safely home again, 
 though the paralysis which shortened his labors not many years after 
 the Declaration of Independence was unquestionably due to his ex- 
 posure to the vertical sun of Cuba and to the poisons of its pestilential 
 coast. 
 
 In the hands of George III., then King of England, all this suffering 
 and deprivation amounted to virtually nothing. He was a coward at 
 heart, a man who could not even avail himself of such hardly gained 
 victories. The peace of Paris was signed, and by its terms George 
 yielded up Cuba and the Philippines again to the power that has 
 never ceased to misuse the advantages so obtained. 
 
 The belief gained ground in Havana, in 1807, that the English gov- 
 ernment again contemplated a descent on the island; and measures 
 were taken to put it in a more respectable state of defense, although, 
 from want of funds in the treasury-, and the scarcity of indispensable 
 supplies, the prospect of an invasion was sufficiently gloomy. The 
 militia and the troops of the garrison were carefully drilled, and com- 
 panies of volunteers were formed wherever materials for them could 
 be found. The French, also, not content with mere preparations, made 
 an actual descent on the island, first threatening Santiago, and after- 
 wards landing at Batabano. 
 
 The invaders consisted chiefly of refugees from St. Domingo; and 
 their intention seems to have been to take possession with a view to 
 colonize and cultivate a portion of the unappropriated, or at least un- 
 occupied, territory on the south side of the island, as their countrymen 
 had formerly done in St. Domingo. Without recurring to actual force, 
 the captain-general prevailed on them to take their departure by offering 
 transportation either to St. Domingo or to France. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA. 
 
 Efforts of the Early Governors to Encourage Trade Cultivation of Sugar One 
 of the First Industries Decree Defining Powers of the Captain Gen- 
 eral 'Attempted Annexation to the United States The Ostend Mani- 
 festo Its Wonderful Predictions, in the Light of Later Events Ex-, 
 ports and Imports Between Cuba and Spain The Future of Commer- 
 cial Cuba. 
 
 The commerce of Cuba has grown in spite of the limitations that 
 have been placed upon it and not because of any encouragement that has 
 been given to it. Columbus called Cuba the most beautiful land that 
 eyes had ever seen. Its resources, granted by a generous nature, have 
 enabled it to recuperate after destructive warfare with a rapidity sim- 
 ply amazing to those accustomed only to the climate and the soil of 
 the temperate zone. The immense industries of Cuba have been ham- 
 pered from the beginning by Spanish oppression and the fact that 
 they have flourished under such unfavorable conditions is a striking 
 evidence of what may be expected under a policy of encouragement 
 and freedom. Sugar, tobacco, and other tropical products have made 
 fortunes for Cuba every year, only to have them stolen by Spanish 
 officeholders, sent there to plunder all they could get their hands upon. 
 With peace assured, the opportunities for the extension of industries 
 in the "Pearl of the Antilles" will be enormous. 
 
 The commercial development of Cuba has come through centuries 
 of disturbance, warfare, and oppression. A simple catalogue of all the 
 evils with w r hich the Cubans have had to contend would fill a volume. 
 All that can be done here is to indicate briefly some of the more notable 
 events in the history of the island after the British conquests and the 
 relinquishment of the prize to the Spanish authorities upon the return 
 of peace. Near the end of the last century there came a period which 
 offered more encouragement to the hope of permanent prosperity in 
 Cuba than had been offered before. The successive governors ap- 
 pointed varied in character, it is true, but several of them were liberal 
 minded, public spirited men who gave to the colony far better admin- 
 
 84 
 
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA. 95 
 
 istration that it bad been accustomed to. One of these was Luis de 
 Las Casas, who imparted a new impulse to the agriculture and com- 
 merce of the island. It was under his guidance that trade with the 
 United States began to assume importance, and to his efforts was due 
 the transfer of the remains of Columbus from Santo Domingo to their 
 present resting place in the cathedral at Havana. He encouraged lit- 
 erature, science, the fine arts and the erection of various public charit- 
 able and educational institutions. He was the founder of the first pub- 
 lic library and the first newspaper which had existed in the island. He 
 showed his ability as an executive by restraining the restless popula- 
 tion under the excitement which accompanied the revolution in the 
 neighboring colony of Santo Domingo, which ended by the loss to 
 Spain of that island. 
 
 One of the earliest causes of ill feeling between the islanders of 
 Cuba and the people of Spain occurred just at the end of the adminis- 
 tration of Las Casas in 1796. In the seventy years prior to that time a 
 great: navy yard grew up on the Bay of Havana, and 114 war vessels 
 were built there to convoy the Spanish treasure ships. All at once this 
 flourishing industry was closed on the demand of the ship-builders of 
 Spain that the work should be done in the mother country. As might 
 have been expected, this aroused great indignation among a large 
 number of people in Havana who had been dependent upon the in- 
 dustry. 
 
 It was about the same time, or just a hundred years before the out- 
 break of our war with Spain, that sugar became an important article 
 of general commerce. Even then, however, it was not an article of 
 common consumption, and was held at extravagantly high prices, 
 measured by the present cheapness of the article. Market reports of 
 the time show that the price approximated forty cents a pound, and 
 this at a time when the purchasing power of money was at least twice 
 as great as it is now. As the price has fallen, the product and the con- 
 sumption have increased, until of late years it has been an enormous 
 source of revenue to the Island of Cuba. When Napoleon Bonaparte 
 abducted the royal family of Spain and deposed the Bourbon dynasty 
 in 1808, every member of the provincial counsel of Cuba took an oath 
 to preserve the island for their legitimate sovereign. The Colonial 
 government immediately declared war against Napoleon and pro- 
 claimed Ferdinand VII. as king. It was by this action that the colony 
 earned its title of "The ever-faithful isle," which has been excellent as 
 
96 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA. 
 
 a complimentary phrase, but hardly justified by the actual facts. For 
 some years following this action, affairs in the island were in an em- 
 barrassing condition, owing to the progress of the. Napoleonic wars in 
 Europe, w^hich kept all trade disturbed and Spain in a constant condi- 
 tion of disorder. If it had not been for the fortunate election of one 
 or two of the governors things might have been even worse than they 
 were, and it was considered that Cuba was enjoying quite as much 
 peace and prosperity as were her neighbor colonies and the mother 
 governments of Europe. In 1812 a negro conspiracy broke out and at- 
 tained considerable success, and as a result of it the Spanish governors 
 began to be more and more severe in their administrations. 
 
 Under the influence of the spirit of freedom which was spreading 
 all around them, Cubans became more and more restless. The revolu- 
 tionary movements in Spanish America had begun in 1810, and after 
 fourteen years of guerrilla warfare, European power had vanished in 
 the Western hemisphere from the Northern boundary of the United 
 States to Cape Horn, except for the Colonies of British Honduras and 
 the Guianas, and a few of the West Indian Islands. In 1821, Santo 
 Domingo became independent, and in the same year Florida came into 
 the possession of the United States. Secret societies, with the purpose 
 of revolution as their motive, began to spring up in Cuba, and the pop- 
 ulation divided into well-defined factions. There was indeed an at- 
 tempt at opcxi revolt made in 1823 by one of these societies known as 
 the "Soles De Bolivar," but it was averted before the actual outbreak 
 came, and those leaders of it who were not able to escape from Cuba 
 were arrested a.nd punished. It was as a result of these successive 
 events that the office of Captain General was created and invested 
 with all the powders of Oriental despotism. The functions of the Cap- 
 tain General were defined by a royal decree of May 28, 1825, to the fol- 
 lowing effect: 
 
 His Majesty, the King Our Lord, desiring to obviate the inconveniences 
 that might in extraordinary cases result from a division of command, and 
 from the interferences and prerogatives of the respective officers: for the 
 important end of preserving in that precious island his legitimate sovereign 
 authority and the public tranquillity through proper means, has resolved in 
 accordance with the opinion of his council of ministers to give to your Excel- 
 lency the fullest authority, bestowing upon you all the powers which by the 
 royal ordinances are granted to the governors of besieged cities. In conse- 
 quence of this, his Majesty gives to your Excellency the most ample and 
 
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA. 97 
 
 unbounded power, not only to send away from the island any persons in 
 office, whatever their occupation, rank, class, or condition, whose continuance 
 therein your Excellency may deem injurious, or whose conduct, public or 
 private, may alarm you, replacing them with persons faithful to his Majesty 
 and deserving of all the confidence of your Excellency; but also to suspend 
 the execution of any order whatsoever, or any general provision made con- 
 cerning any branch of the administration as your Excellency may think most 
 suitable to the Royal Service. 
 
 This decree since that time has been substantially the supreme law 
 of Cuba, and has never been radically modified by any concessions 
 except those given as a last and lingering effort to preserve the sov- 
 ereignty of Spain, when after three years' progress of the revolution 
 she realized that her colony had slipped away from her authority. 
 The decree quoted in itself offers sufficient justification for the 
 Cuban revolution in the name of liberty. 
 
 Attempted Annexation to the United States. 
 
 During the present century there have been a number of attempts 
 on the part of men prominent in public life, both in the United States 
 and Cuba, to arrange a peaceable annexation by the purchase by this 
 country of the island from Spain. Statesmen of both nations have 
 been of the opinion that such a settlement of the difficulty would be 
 mutually advantageous, and have used every diplomatic endeavor to 
 that end. 
 
 During Thomas Jefferson's term of office, while Spain bowed be- 
 neath the yoke of France, from which there was then no prospect of 
 relief, the people of Cuba, feeling themselves imcompetent in force 
 to maintain their independence, sent a deputation to Washington, 
 proposing the annexation of the island to the federal system of North 
 America. 
 
 In 1854 President Pearce instructed Wm. L. Marcy, his Secretary 
 of State, to arrange a conference of the Ministers of the United States 
 to England, France and Spain, to be held with a view to the acquisi- 
 tion of Cuba. 
 
 The conference met at Ostend on the 9th of October, 1854, and 
 adjourned to Aix-la-Chapelle, where notes were prepared. Mr. Soule, 
 then our Minister to Spain, said in a letter to Mr. Marcy, transmit- 
 
98 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA. 
 
 ting the joint report: "The question of the acquisition of Cuba by us 
 is gaining ground as it grows to be more seriously agitated and con- 
 sidered. Now is the moment for us to be done with it, and if it is to 
 bring upon us the calamity of war, let it be now, while the great 
 powers of this continent are engaged in that stupendous struggle 
 which cannot but engage all their strength and tax all their energies 
 as long as it lasts, and may, before it ends, convulse them all. Neither 
 England nor France would be likely to interfere with us. England 
 could not bear to be suddenly shut out of our market, and see her 
 manufactures paralyzed, even by a temporary suspension of her in- 
 tercourse with us. And France, with the heavy task now on her 
 hands, and when she so eagerly aspires to take her seat as the 
 acknowledged chief of the European family, would have no induce- 
 ment to assume the burden of another war." 
 
 The result of this conference is so interesting in its application to 
 present conditions that its reproduction is required to make intel- 
 ligible the whole story of Cuba, and we give it here: 
 
 The Ostend Manifesto. 
 
 Sir: The undersigned, in compliance with the wish expressed by the 
 president in the several confidential despatches you have addressed to us 
 respectively, to that effect, we have met in conference, first at Ostend, in Bel- 
 gium, on the 9th, 10th, and llth instant, and then at Aix-la-Chapelle, in Prus- 
 sia, on the days next following, up to the date hereof. 
 
 There has been a full and unreserved interchange of views and senti- 
 ments between us, which we are most happy to inform you has resulted 
 in a cordial coincidence of opinion on the grave and important subjects sub- 
 mitted to our consideration. 
 
 We have arrived at the conclusion, and are thoroughly convinced that 
 an immediate and earnest effort ought to be made by the government of the 
 United States to purchase Cuba from Spain at any price for which it can 
 be obtained, not exceeding the sum of $ 
 
 The proposal should, in our opinion, be made in such a manner as to 
 be presented through the necessary diplomatic forms to the Supreme Con- 
 stituent Cortes about to assemble. On this momentous question, in which the 
 people, both of Spain and the United States, are so deeply interested, all 
 our proceedings ought to be open, frank and public. They should be of 
 such a character as to challenge the approbation of the world. 
 
 We firmly believe that, in the progress of human events, the time has 
 arrived when the vital interests of Spain are as seriously involved in the 
 
NELSON A. MILES GENERAL COMMANDING THE U. S. ARMY 
 
UNITED STATES SOLDIERS MARCHING TO THE FRONT 
 
GENERAL FITZHUGH LEE EX.CONSUL.GENERAL TO HAVANA 
 
LEE'S DEPARTURE FROM HAVANA PRIOR TO 
 DECLARATION OF WAR 
 
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA. 103 
 
 sale, as those of the United States in the purchase, of the island, and that 
 the transaction will prove equally honorable to both nations. 
 
 Under these circumstances we cannot anticipate a failure, unless possibly 
 through the malign influence of foreign powers who possess no right what- 
 ever to interfere in the matter. 
 
 We proceed to state some of the reasons which have brought us to this, 
 conclusion, and for the sake of clearness, we shall specify them under two 
 distinct heads: 
 
 1. The United States ought, if practicable, to purchase Cuba with as 
 little delay as possible. 
 
 2. The probability is great that the government and Cortes of Spain 
 will prove willing to sell it, because this would essentially promote the 
 highest and best interests of the Spanish people. 
 
 Then, 1. It must be clear to every reflecting mind that, from the pe- 
 culiarity of its geographical position, and the considerations attendant on it, 
 Cuba is as necessary to the North American republic as any of its present 
 members, and that it belongs naturally to that great family of states of 
 which the Union is the providential nursery. 
 
 From its locality it commands the mouth of the Mississippi and the im- 
 fnense and annually increasing trade which must seek this avenue to the 
 ocean. 
 
 On the numerous navigable streams, measuring an aggregate course of 
 some thirty thousand miles, which disembogue themselves through this 
 magnificent river into the Gulf of Mexico, the increase of the population 
 within the last ten years amounts to more than that of the entire Union at 
 the time Louisiana was annexed to it. 
 
 The natural and main outlet to the products of this entire population, 
 the highway of their direct intercourse with the Atlantic and the Pacific 
 States, can never be secure, but must ever be endangered whilst Cuba is a 
 dependency of a distant power in whose possession it has proved to be a 
 source of constant annoyance and embarrassment to their interests. 
 
 Indeed the Union can never enjoy repose, nor possess reliable security, as 
 long as Cuba is not embraced within its boundaries. 
 
 Its immediate acquisition by our government is of paramount impor- 
 tance, and we cannot doubt but that it is a consummation devoutly wished 
 for by its inhabitants. 
 
 The intercourse which its proximity to our coast begets and encourages 
 between them and the citizens of the United States, has, in the progress of 
 time, so united their interests and blended their fortunes that they now 
 look upon each other as if they were one people, and had but one destiny. 
 
 Considerations exist which render delay in the acquisition of this island 
 exceedingly dangerous to the United States. 
 
 The system of immigration and labor lately organized within its limits, 
 
104 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA. 
 
 and the tyranny and oppression which characterize its immediate rulers 
 threaten an insurrection at every moment, which may result in direful conse- 
 quences to the American people. 
 
 Cuba has thus become to us an unceasing danger, and a permanent 
 cause of anxiety and alarm. 
 
 But we need not enlarge on these topics. It can scarcely be apprehended 
 that foreign powers, in violation of international law, would interpose their 
 influence with Spain to prevent our acquisition of the island. Its inhabitants 
 are now suffering under the worst of all possible governments, that of abso- 
 lute despotism, delegated by a distant power to irresponsible agents, who 
 are changed at short intervals, and who are tempted to improve their brief 
 opportunity thus afforded to accumulate fortunes by the basest means. 
 
 As long as this system shall endure, humanity may in vain demand the 
 suppression of the African slave trade in the island. This is rendered im- 
 possible whilst that infamous traffic remains an irresistible temptation and 
 a source of immense profit to needy and avaricious officials, who, to attain 
 their ends, scruple not to trample the most sacred principles under foot. 
 
 The Spanish government at home may be well disposed, but experience 
 has proved that it cannot control these remote depositaries of its power. 
 
 Besides, the commercial nations of the world cannot fail to perceive 
 and appreciate the great advantages which w r ould result to their people from 
 a dissolution of the! forced and unnatural connection between Spain and 
 Cuba, and the annexation of the latter to the United States. The trade of 
 England and France with Cuba would, in ,that event, assume at once an 
 important and profitable character, and rapidly extend with the increasing 
 population and prosperity of the island. 
 
 2. But if the United States and every commercial nation would be 
 benefited by this transfer, the interests of Spain would also be greatly and 
 essentially promoted. 
 
 She cannot but see that such a sum of money as we are willing to pay 
 for the island would affect it in the development of her vast natural resources. 
 
 Two-thirds of this sum, if employed in the construction of a system of 
 railroads, would ultimately prove a source of greater wealth to the Spanish 
 people than that opened to their vision by Cortez. Their prosperity would 
 date from the ratification of the treaty of cession. 
 
 France has already constructed continuous lines of railways from Havre, 
 Marseilles, Valenciennes, and Strasburg, via Paris, to the Spanish frontier, 
 and anxiously awaits the day when Spain shall find herself in a condition 
 to extend these roads through her northern provinces to Madrid, Seville, 
 Cadiz, Malaga, and the frontiers of Portugal. 
 
 This object once accomplished, Spain would become a center of attrac- 
 tion for the traveling world, and secure a permanent and profitable market 
 for her various productions. Her fields, under the stimulus given to in- 
 
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA. 105 
 
 dustry by remunerating prices, would teem with cereal grain, and her vine- 
 yards would bring forth a vastly increased quantity of choice wines. Spain 
 would speedily become what a bountiful Providence intended she should be, 
 one of the first nations of continental Europe rich, powerful and contented. 
 
 Whilst two-thirds of the price of the island would be ample for the com- 
 pletion of her most important public improvements, she might with the 
 remaining forty millions satisfy the demands now pressing so heavily upon 
 her credit, and create a sinking fund which would gradually relieve her 
 from the overwhelming debt now paralyzing her energies. 
 
 Such is her present wretched financial condition, that her best bonds are 
 sold upon her own bourse at about one-third of their par value; whilst another 
 class, on which she pays no interest, have but a nominal value, and are 
 quoted at about one-sixth of the amount for which they were issued. Be- 
 sides, these latter are held principally by British creditors, who may, from 
 day to day, obtain the effective interposition of their own government for 
 the purpose of coercing payment. Intimations to that effect have already 
 been thrown out from high quarters, and unless some new sources of revenue 
 shall enable Spain to provide for such exigencies, it is not improbable that 
 they may be realized. 
 
 Should Spain reject the present golden opportunity for developing her 
 resources and removing her financial embarrassments, it may never again 
 return. 
 
 Cuba, in her palmiest days, never yielded her exchequer, after deducting 
 the expense of its government, a clear annual income of more than a million 
 and a half of dollars. These expenses have increased to such a degree as to 
 leave a deficit, chargeable on the treasury of Spain, to the amount of six 
 hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 In a pecuniary point of view, therefore, the island is an encumbrance 
 instead of a source of profit to the mother country. 
 
 Under no probable circumstance can Cuba ever yield to Spain one 
 per cent, on the large amount which the United States are willing to pay 
 for its acquisition. But Spain is in imminent danger of losing Cuba without 
 remuneration. 
 
 Extreme oppression, it is now universally admitted, justifies any people 
 in endeavoring to relieve themselves from the yoke of their oppressors. 
 The sufferings which corrupt, arbitrary and unrelenting local administration 
 necessarily entail upon the inhabitants of Cuba cannot fail to stimulate and, 
 keep alive that spirit of resistance and revolution against Spain which has 
 of late years been so often manifested. In this condition of affairs it is vain 
 to expect that the sympathies of tne people of the United States will not 
 be warmly enlisted in favor of their oppressed neighbors. 
 
 We know that the President is justly inflexible in his determination to 
 
106 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA. 
 
 execute tlie neutrality laws; but should the Cubans themselves rise in revolt 
 against the oppression which they suffer, no human power could prevent citi- 
 zens of the United States and liberal-minded men of other countries from 
 rushing to their assistance. Besides, the present is an age of adventure in 
 which restless and daring spirits abound in every portion of the world. 
 
 It is not improbable, therefore, that Cuba may be wrested from Spain 
 by a successful revolution; and in that event she will lose both the island 
 
 and the price which we are now willing to pay for it a price far bevond 
 
 what was ever paid by one people to another for any province. 
 
 It may also be remarked that the settlement of this vexed question, 
 by the cession of Cuba to the United States, would forever prevent the 
 dangerous complications between nations to which it may otherwise give 
 birth. 
 
 It is certain that, should the Cubans themselves organize an insurrection 
 against the Spanish government, and should other independent nations come 
 to the aid of Spain in the contest, no human power could, in our opinion, 
 prevent the people and government of the United States from taking part in 
 such a civil war in support of their neighbors and friends. 
 
 But if Spain, dead to the voice of her own interest, and actuated by a 
 stubborn pride and a false sense of honor, should refuse to sell Cuba to the 
 United States, then the question will arise, What ought to be the course of 
 the American government under such circumstances? 
 
 Self-preservation is the first law of nature with States as well as with 
 individuals. All nations have, at different periods, acted upon this maxim. 
 Although it has been made the pretext for committing flagrant injustice, as in 
 the partition of Poland and other similar cases which history records, yet the 
 principle itself, though often abused, has always been recognized. 
 
 The United States has never acquired a foot of territory except by fair- 
 purchase, or, as in the case of Texas, upon the free and voluntary application 
 of the people of that independent State, who desired to blend their destinies 
 with our own. 
 
 Even our acquisitions from Mexico are no exception to this rule because, 
 although we might have claimed them by right of conquest, in a just way, 
 yet we purchased them for what w r as then considered by both parties a full 
 and ample equivalent. 
 
 Our past history forbids that we should acquire the island of Cuba 
 without the consent of Spain, unless justified by the great law of self-preser- 
 vation. We must, in any event, preserve our own conscious rectitude and 
 our own self-respect. 
 
 Whilst pursuing this course we can afford to disregard the censures of 
 the world, to which we have been so often and so unjustly exposed. 
 
 After we have offered Spain a fair price for Cuba, far beyond its present 
 
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUBA. 107 
 
 value, and this shall have been refused, it will then be time to consider the 
 question, does Cuba, in the possession of Spain, seriously endanger our in- 
 ternal peace and the existence of our cherished Union? 
 
 Should this question be answered in the affirmative, then, by every law, 
 human and divine, we shall be justified in wresting it from Spain, if we 
 possess the power; and this upon the very same principle that would justify 
 an individual in tearing down the burning house of his neighbor if there 
 were no other means of preventing the flames from destroying his own home. 
 
 Under such circumstances we ought neither to count the cost, nor regard 
 the odds which Spain might enlist against us. We forbear to enter into 
 the question, whether the present condition of the island would justify such 
 a measure. We should, however, be recreant to our duty," be unworthy of 
 our gallant forefathers, and commit base treason against our posterity, 
 should we permit Cuba to be Africanized and become a second San Domingo, 
 with all its attendant horrors to the white race, and suffer the flames to 
 extend to our own neighboring shores, seriously to endanger, or actually to 
 consume, the fair fabric of our Union. 
 
 We fear that the course and current of events are rapidly tending toward 
 such a catastrophe. We, however, hope for the best, though we ought 
 certainly to be prepared for the worst. 
 
 We also forbear to investigate the present condition of the questions at 
 issue between the United States and Spain. A long series of injuries to our 
 people have been committed in Cuba by Spanish officials, and are unre- 
 dressed. But recently a most flagrant outrage on the rights of American 
 citizens, and on the flag of the United States, was perpetrated in the harbor 
 of Havana under circumstances which, without immediate redress, would 
 have justified a resort to measures of war in vindication of national honor. 
 That outrage is not only unatoned, but the Spanish government has deliber- 
 ately sanctioned the acts of its subordinates, and assumed the responsibility 
 attaching to them. 
 
 Nothing could more impressively teach us the danger to which those 
 peaceful relations it has ever been the policy of the United States to cherish 
 with foreign nations, are constantly exposed, than the circumstances of that 
 case. Situated as Spain and the United States are, the latter has forborne 
 to resort to extreme measures. 
 
 But this course cannot, with due regard to their own dignity as an inde- 
 pendent nation, continue; and our recommendations, now submitted, are 
 dictated by the firm belief that the cession of Cuba to the United States, 
 w r ith stipulations as beneficial to Spain as those suggested, is the only effective 
 mode of settling all past differences, and cf securing the two countries against 
 future collisions. 
 
108 COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OP CUBA. 
 
 We have already witnessed the happy results for both countries which 
 followed a similar arrangement in regard to Florida. 
 
 Yours, very respectfully, 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 J. Y. MASON. 
 PIERRE SOULE. 
 HON. WM. L. MARCY, Secretary of State. 
 
 Unfortunately for Cuba the suggestions offered by this commis- 
 sion were not acted upon, although it is not probable that Spain, ever 
 blind to her own interests, would have admitted the justice or reason 
 of the argument, had the offer to purchase been made to her. 
 
 Exports and Imports. 
 
 A table showing the amount of trade between Cuba and Spain 
 d'uring the year 1894 (the last authentic report), is instructive: 
 
 Importations in Cuba from Spain f 7,492,622 
 
 Exportation from Cuba to Spain 23,412,376 
 
 Difference in favor of export $15,919,754 
 
 The Future of Commercial Cuba. 
 
 Under happier conditions, there can be no doubt that Cuba will 
 iBpeedily attain a much higher state of commercial importance and 
 prosperity than it has yet enjoyed. Great as its productiveness has 
 been in the past, well-informed writers assert that proper development 
 of its resources will increase the value five-fold, and a liberal system 
 of government will enable it to take advantage of its admirable posi- 
 tion to gain greater prominence in the commercial world. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 BEAUTIES OF A TROPICAL ISLAND. 
 
 A Delightful Climate Grand Scenic Surprises The Caves of Bellamar 
 The Valley of the Yumuri Under Nature's Dome Gorgeous Sunsets 
 The Palm Tree Groves The Home of Fruits and Flowers The 
 Zodiacal Light. 
 
 When the little island of Cuba, "The Pearl of the Antilles," was 
 assigned a place upon the terrestrial globe, Nature must have been 
 in her most generous mood. Certainly no land beneath the skies was 
 given a more perfect combination of mountains and rivers, forests and 
 plains. Situated within and near the border of the northern tropical 
 zone, the temperature of the low coast lands is that of the torrid zone, 
 but the high interior of the island enjoys a delightful climate, and the 
 verdure-clad hills, with the graceful palm and cocoa tree clear against 
 the pure blue sky, may be seen at all seasons of the year. 
 
 As in other countries on the borders of the tropics, the year is 
 divided between a hot and wet season, corresponding to the northern 
 declination of the sun, and a cool and dry period. The months from 
 the beginning of May to October are called the wet season, though 
 some rain falls in every month of the year. 
 
 With May, spring begins in the island, rain and thunder are of 
 almost daily occurrence, and the temperature rises high, with little 
 daily variation. The period from November to April is called the dry 
 season by contrast. 
 
 On a mean of seven years the rain-fall at Havana in the wet season 
 has been observed to be 27.8 inches, of the dry months, 12.7, or 40.5 
 inches for the year. 
 
 July and August are the warmest months, and during this period 
 the average temperature at Havana is 82 Fahr., fluctuating between a 
 maximum of 88 and a minimum of 76. In the cooler months of De- 
 cember and January the thermometer averages 72, the maximum 
 being 78, and minimum 58. The average temperature of the year at 
 Havana on a mean of seven years is 77. , 
 
 But in the interior, at elevations of over 300 feet above the level 
 of the sea, the thermometer occasionally falls to the freezing point in 
 
 109 
 
110 BEAUTIES OF A TROPICAL ISLAND. 
 
 winter. Frost is not uncommon, and during north winds, thin ice 
 may form, though snow is unknown in any part of the island. 
 
 The prevailing wind is the easterly trade breeze, but from Novem- 
 ber to February, cool north winds, rarely lasting more than forty- 
 eight hours, are experienced in the western part of the island, to 
 which they add a third seasonal change. Hurricanes may occur from 
 August to October, but they are rare and sometimes five or six years 
 pass without such a storm. 
 
 Grand Scenic Surprises. 
 
 Many "globe-trotters" who have never included this little corner 
 of the world in their itinerary, do not appreciate the fact that nowhere 
 under the sun can be found a more perfect climate, grander mountain 
 scenery, more charming valleys, more picturesque ruins, and fertile 
 fields than Cuba offers to their view. 
 
 In another portion of this work will be found descriptions of the 
 cities of Cuba, and brief mention here of some of the beauties of the 
 country may not be amiss. 
 
 One of the grandest bits of scenery in the known world is to be 
 found in the valley of the Yumuri, rivaling in sublimity the far-famed 
 Lookout Mountain view and the Yosemite of the Sierra Nevadas. 
 The journey leads over a winding trail, easily traversed by the native 
 horses, up a steep hill, until, after a continuous climb of an hour and 
 a half, the road turns around the edge of a grassy precipice, and the 
 beautiful valley, with its patches of green and gold, spreads away in 
 the distance. The little river of Yumuri winds its way through its 
 flower -decked banks until it reaches the bay beyond, while in the dis- 
 tance rise the mighty mountains, clad in their coats of evergreen, and 
 over all the fleecy clouds, and the sky of azure blue. 
 
 In this vicinity an opportunity is given the sight-seer to visit a 
 sugar house and gain an idea, of the sugar-making process, though on 
 a very small scale, and enjoy a half an hour in the study of the natives, 
 
 and their home life. 
 
 i 
 
 A traveler, in writing of this place, says: 
 
 "Our interview with the little black 'nines' was highly amusing. 
 On entering the court yard of the negfo quarters, a dozen little black 
 imps, of all ages and sexes and sizes, perfectly naked, rushed towards 
 us, and crossing their arms upon their breasts, fell upon their knees 
 before us, and jabbered and muttered, out of which could be distin- 
 
GENERAL MAXIMO GOMEZ LEADER OF THE INSURGENTS OF CUBA 
 A HERO WITH A HISTORY 
 
GENERAL MACEO A LEADER OF THE INSURGENT ARMY OF CUBA 
 
BEAUTIES OF A TROPICAL ISLAND. 113 
 
 guished, 'Master, master, give us thy blessing,' which we interpreted 
 to mean 'tin;' whereupon we scattered sundry 'medios' among them! 
 Hey! presto! what a change! The little black devils fell over one 
 another, fought, tugged, and scrambled to secure a prize, while any- 
 one who had been lucky enough to obtain a coin, marched off in a 
 state of dignified delight, his distended little stomach going before 
 him like a small beer barrel, while the owner of it kept shouting out, 
 'Medio, yo tengo medio' (five cents, I have five cents)." 
 
 The Caves of Bellamar. 
 
 One of the most interesting trips that can be made is to the "Oaves 
 of Bellamar," which may be found about two and a half miles south- 
 east of the city of Matanzas. 
 
 The journey takes the traveler up a winding and rugged road to 
 the top of a hill, where the "Gave house" is reached, a large frame 
 structure built over the entrance, and containing, among other objects 
 of interest, a large collection of beautiful crystal formations found in 
 the cave. 
 
 Here the tourist enters his name in the visitors' register, pays his 
 dollar, and follows the boy guide down the stairs into the cave. About 
 one hundred and fifty feet from the entrance a small bridge is crossed, 
 and the "Gothic Temple" is reached. The only light comes from a few 
 scattered lanterns, and is consequently very obscure, but one can see 
 the millions of crystals, the thousand weird forms, and realize that it 
 is surpassingly beautiful. The temple is about two hundred feet in 
 length and seventy feet in width, and while it does not equal in size 
 or solemn grandeur the temple of the same name in the Mammoth 
 cave of Kentucky, it greatly excels it in the richness and splendor of 
 its crystal formations and beautiful effects. 
 
 The spectator possessed of strongly developed imaginative powers 
 cannot fail to feel himself in fairy land. From the gloomy corners' 
 come gnomes and demons, and in the crystal shadows he sees sprites 
 and lovely fairies, keeping gay revel to dreamy airs, played on invisi : 
 ble strings by spirit hands. 
 
 One of the most beautiful objects in the cave is the "Fountain of 
 Snow," a name given to one of the great pillars, called by the natives 
 the "Cloak of the Virgin." Others are known as "Columbus Mantle," 
 "The Altar," and "The Guardian Spirit." 
 
 "Who has not seen the Caves of Bellamar has not seen Cuba," 
 
 6 
 
114 BEAUTIES OF A TROPICAL ISLAND. 
 
 Under Nature's Dome. 
 
 One of the most vivid pieces of descriptive writing, referring to the 
 beauties of Cuban skies, is from the pen of James M. Phillippo: 
 
 "The splendor of the early dawn in Cuba, as in the tropical islands 
 in its vicinity, has been referred to. The whole sky is often so re- 
 splendent that it is difficult to determine where the orb of day will 
 appear. Small fleecy clouds are often seen floating on the north wind, 
 and as they hover over the mountains and meet the rays of the sun, 
 are changed into liquid gold and a hundred intensely beautiful dyes 
 more splendid than the tints of the rainbow. During the cooler 
 months, the mornings are delightful till about ten o'clock, the air soon 
 after dawn becoming agreeably elastic, and so transparent that dis- 
 tant objects appear as if delineated upon the bright surface of the air; 
 the scenery everywhere, especially when viewed from an eminence, is 
 indescribably rich and glowing; the tops of the rising grounds and 
 the summits of the mountains are radiant with a flood of light, while 
 the vapor is seen creeping along the valleys, here concealing the 
 entrance to some beautiful glen, and there wreathing itself fantastic- 
 ally around a tall spire or groves of palm trees that mark the site of 
 a populous village. 
 
 "The finest and most gorgeous sunsets occur in the West Indian 
 Archipelago during the rainy seasons. The sky is then sublimely 
 mantled with gigantic masses of cloud, glowing with a thousand gor- 
 geous dyes, and seeming to collect at the close of day as though to 
 form a couch for the sun's repose. In these he sinks, flooding them 
 with glory, touching both heavens and earth with gold and amber 
 brightness long after he has flung his beams across the other hemi- 
 sphere, or perhaps half revealing himself through gauze-like clouds, a 
 crimson sphere, at once rayless and of portentous size. 
 
 "The azure arch, which by an optical illusion limits our view on 
 every side, seems here, and in the tropics generally, higher than in 
 England, even tiigher than in Italy. Here is seen, in a perfection com- 
 pared to which even Italian skies are vapid and uninteresting, that 
 pure, serene, boundless sky, that atmosphere of clear blue, or vivid 
 red, which so much contributes to enrich the pencil of Claude Lor- 
 raine. The atmosphere of Cuba, as everywhere within the tropics, 
 except when the high winds prevail, is so unpolluted, so thin, so elas- 
 tic, so dry, so serene, and so almost inconceivably transparent and 
 
BEAUTIES OF A TROPICAL ISLAND. 115 
 
 brilliant, that every object is distinct and clearly defined as if cut out 
 of the clear blue sky. All travelers agree in praising the calm depths 
 of the intensely blue and gloriously bright skies of inter-tropical lati- 
 tudes. In the temperate zone, it is estimated that about 1,000 stars 
 are visible to the naked eye at one time; but here, from the increased 
 elevation and wider extent of the vault, owing to the clearness of the 
 atmosphere, especially as seen from a high mountain chain, the num- 
 ber is greatly augmented. If, however, these luminaries may not be 
 seen here in greater numbers, they certainly shine with greater bril- 
 liancy. The different constellations are indeed so greatly magnified as 
 to give the impression that the power of the eye is increased. Venus 
 rises like a little moon, and in the absence of the greater casts a dis- 
 tinguishable shadow. 
 
 "The Milky Way, which in the temperate zone has the appearance 
 of a luminous phosphorescent cloud, and, as is well known, derives its 
 brightness from the diffused light of myriads of stars condensed into 
 so small space that fifty thousand of them are estimated to pass across 
 the disc of the telescope in an hour, is here seen divided into constella- 
 tions, and the whole galaxy is of so dazzling a whiteness as to make 
 it resemble a pure flame of silvery light thrown across the heavens, 
 turning the atmosphere into a kind of green transparency. Besides 
 this, there are vast masses of stellar nebula of indefinite diversity and 
 form, oval, oblate, elliptical, as well as of different degrees of density, 
 diffused over the firmament, and discoverable through a common tele- 
 scope, all novel to an inhabitant of temperate climes, and recalling the 
 exclamation of the psalmist: 'The heavens declare the glory of God. 
 . . . the firmament showeth forth His handiwork.' 
 
 " The stars 
 
 Are elder scripture, writ of God's own hand, 
 Scripture authentic, uncorrupt by man.' 
 
 "An interesting phenomenon sometimes occurs here, as in other 
 islands of the West Indies, which was long supposed to be seen 
 only in the eastern hemisphere. A short time before sunrise or sunset, 
 a flush of strong, white light, like that of the Aurora Borealis, extends 
 from the horizon a considerable way up the zenith, and so resembles 
 the dawn as to prove greatly deceptive to a stranger. As he watches 
 the luminous track he sees it decrease instead of becoming more vivid, 
 and at length totally disappear, leaving the heavens nearly as dark as 
 previous to its appearance. This is the zodiacal light." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 WEALTH FEOM NATURE'S STORES IN THE FORESTS AND FIELDS 
 
 OF CUBA. 
 
 The Palm Tree, the Queen of the Cuban Forests Sugar Cane and Its Culti- 
 vation The Tobacco Industry Tropical Fruits and Flowers Beauties 
 of a Garden in Cuba Enormous Shipments to Spain The Wealth of 
 the Island. 
 
 The forests of Cuba are of vast extent, and so dense as to be almost 
 impenetrable. It is estimated that of about 20,000,000 acres of land 
 still remaining perfectly wild and uncultivated', nearly 13,000,000 are 
 uncleared forest. Mahogany and other hard woods, such as the Cuban 
 ebony, cedar, and granadilla, valuable for manufactures, cabinet work 
 and ship building are indigenous, and are exported to a considerable 
 extent. 
 
 The palm is the queen of the Cuban forests and is its most valuable 
 tree. It grows in every part of the island, but especially in the west, 
 giving at once character and beauty to the scenery. The royal palm 
 is the most common variety, and. frequently grows to a height of one 
 hundred and twenty feet, the branches numbering from twenty to 
 twenty-five, in the center of which, are the hearts or buds of the plant, 
 elevating themselves perpendicularly with needle-like points. 
 
 This heart, enveloped in wrappers of tender white leaves, makes a 
 most delicious salad, and it is also boiled like cauliflower, and served 
 with a delicate white sauce. The trunk of the palm is composed of 
 fibrous matter, which is stripped off and dried, forming a narrow, thin 
 board, which the natives use for the walls of their cottages. The 
 boughs are sometimes made to serve for roofing, though palm leaves 
 are usually used for this purpose, as well as for the linings of the 
 walls. "El yarey" is another variety of the palm tree that is of great 
 utility. From it the native women make the palm leaf bats that are 
 w r orn by almost all the villagers and country people of Cuba* 
 
 116 
 
.WEALTH FROM NATURE'S STORES. 11 7 
 
 Tropical Fruits in Abundance. 
 
 The fruits of Cuba are those common to the tropics. Bananas, pine- 
 apples, oranges, lemons and bread-fruit all grow in abundance, deli- 
 cious to the taste and delightful to the eye. 
 
 Eichard Henry Dana, Jr., after returning from a vacation trip to 
 Cuba, wrote a charming description of a fruit garden that it was his 
 good fortune to visit there: 
 
 "The garden contained a remarkable variety of trees, including 
 some thrifty exotics. Here the mango, with its peach-like foliage, was 
 bending on the ground with the weight of its ripening fruit; the alli- 
 gator pear was marvelously beautiful in its full blossom, suggesting, 
 in form and color, the passion flower; the soft, delicate foliage of the 
 tamarind was like our sensitive plant; the banana trees were in full 
 bearing, the deep green fruit (it is ripened and turns yellow off the 
 tree), being in clusters of a hundred, more or less, tipped at the same 
 time by a single, pendent, glutinous bud, nearly as large as a pine- 
 apple. The date palm, so suggestive of the far east, and the only one 
 we had seen in Cuba,, was represented by a choice specimen, imported 
 in its youth. There was also the star-apple tree, remarkable for its 
 uniform and graceful shape, full of green fruit, with here and there 
 a ripening specimen; so, also, was the favorite zapota, its rusty coated 
 fruit hanging in tempting abundance. From low, broad spreading 
 trees depended the grape fruit, as large as an infant's head and yellow 
 as gold, while the orange, lime and lemon trees, bearing blossoms, 
 green and ripe fruit all together, met the eye at every turn, and filled 
 the garden with fragrance. The cocoanut palm, with its tall, straight 
 stem, and clustering fruit, dominated all the rest. Guava, fig, custard 
 apple, and bread-fruit trees, all were in bearing. 
 
 "Our hospitable host plucked freely of the choicest for the benefit 
 of his chance visitors. Was there ever such a fruit garden before, or 
 elsewhere? It told of fertility of soil and deliciousness of climate, of 
 care, judgment, and liberal expenditure, all of which combined had 
 turned these half a dozen acres of land into a Gan Eden. Through his 
 orchard of Hesperides, we were accompanied also by the proprietor's 
 two lovely children, under nine years of age, with such wealth of 
 promise in their large black eyes and sweet faces as to fix them on our 
 memory with photographic fidelity. Before leaving the garden we 
 returned with our intelligent host once more to examine his beautiful 
 
118 ^WEALTH PROM NATURE'S STORES. 
 
 specimens of bananas, which, with its sister fruit, the plantain, forms 
 so important a staple of fruit in Cuba and throughout all tropical 
 regions. It seems that the female banana tree bears more fruit than 
 the male, but not so large. The average clusters of the former com- 
 prise here about one hundred, but the latter rarely bears over sixty or 
 seventy distinct specimens of the cucumber-shaped product. From 
 the center of its large, broad leaves, which gather at the top, when it 
 has reached the height of twelve or fifteen feet, there springs forth a 
 large purple bud ten inches long, shaped like a huge acorn, though 
 more pointed. This cone hangs suspended from a strong stem, upon 
 which a leaf unfolds, displaying a cluster of young fruit. As soon as 
 these are large enough to support the heat of the sun and the chill of 
 the rain, this sheltering leaf drops off, and another unfolds, exposing 
 its little brood of fruit; and so the process goes on, until six or eight 
 rings of young bananas are started, forming, as we have said, bunches 
 numbering from seventy to a hundred. The banana is a herbaceous 
 plant, and after fruiting, its top dies; but it annually sprouts up again 
 fresh from the roots. From the unripe fruit, dried in the sun, a palat- 
 able and nutritious flour is made." 
 
 The Tobacco Industry. 
 
 Cuban tobacco is famous throughout the world, and is one of the 
 most profitable of all its products. Prior to 1791 the crop w r as sent to 
 the national factories in Spain, by the "Commercial Company of 
 Havana," under government contract, but during that year the "Fac- 
 toria de Tobacco" was established in Havana by the government. The 
 tobacco was classified as superior, medium and inferior, and was re- 
 ceived from the growers at fixed prices. In 1804 these were six, five 
 and two and a half dollars per arrobe (a Spanish unit of weight, sub- 
 ject to local variations, but averaging about twenty-seven pounds 
 avoirdupois). 
 
 By comparing the different prices with the quantity of each class 
 of tobacco produced, we find that the "Factoria" paid an average price 
 of $16 per hundred pounds for the leaf tobacco. With the expense of 
 manufacture, the cigars cost the government seventy-five cents per 
 pound; snuff, fine grain and good color, forty-three cents, and com- 
 mon soft, or Seville, nineteen cents a pound in Havana. In good years, 
 when the crop amounted to 350,000 arrobes of leaf, 128,000 arrobes 
 were manufactured for Spain, 80,000 for Havana, 9,200 for Peru, 6,000 
 
WEALTH FROM NATURE'S STORES. 119 
 
 for Buenos Ayres, 2,240 for Mexico, and 1,100 for Caracas and Cam- 
 peachy. 
 
 In order to make up the amount of 315,000 arrobes, (for the crop 
 loses ten per cent, of its weight, in loss and damage in the transporta- 
 tion and manufacture) we must suppose that 80,000 arrobes were cen- 
 sumed in the interior of the island; that is, in the country, where the 
 royal monopoly did not extend. The maintenance of 120 slaves and 
 the expenses of manufacture did not exceed $12,000 yearly; but the 
 salaries of the officers; of the "Factoria" amounted to $541,000. The 
 value of the 128,000 arrobes of tobacco sent to Spain, in the abundant 
 years, either in cigars, leaf or snuff, at the customary prices there, 
 exceeded the sum of five million dollars. 
 
 It is surprising to see in the returns of the exports from Havana 
 (documents published by the Consulado), that the exports for 1816 
 were only 3,400 arrobes; for the year 1823, only 13,900 arrobes of leaf 
 tobacco; and in 1825 only 70,302 pounds of cigars and 167,100 pounds 
 of leaf tobacco and strips; but we must remember that no branch of 
 the contraband trade is more active than that in cigars. The tobacco 
 of the Vuelta de Abajo is the most celebrated, but large quantities are 
 exported which are produced in other parts of the island. The cultiva- 
 tion of tobacco has been one of the most uncertain branches of indus- 
 try in Cuba. Trammeled by restrictions and exactions, it was con- 
 fined almost entirely to the poorer classes of the population, who were 
 enabled to raise a scanty and uncertain crop through the advances of 
 capital made them by the "Factoria." Since the suppression of this 
 monopoly, it has had to contend with the more popular and profitable 
 pursuit of sugar planting, which has successfully competed with it for 
 the employment of the capital, skill and labor of the island. 
 
 Sugar Cane and Its Cultivation. 
 
 Maturin Ballou, in his "Cuba Past and Present," published in 1885, 
 when the sugar industry was in its best days, writes an interesting 
 account of cane cultivation: 
 
 "Sugar cane is cultivated like Indian corn, which it also resembles 
 in appearance. It is first planted in rows, not in hills, and must be 
 hoed and weeded until it gets high enough to shade its roots. Then 
 it may be left to itself until it reaches maturity. This refers to the 
 first laying out of a plantation, which will afterwards continue fruit- 
 ful for years, by very simple processes of renewal. When thoroughly 
 
120 WEALTH FROM NATURE'S STORES. 
 
 ripe the cane is of a light golden yellow, streaked here and there with 
 red. The top is dark green, with long, narrow leaves depending, very 
 much like those of the corn stalk, from the center of which shoots 
 upward a silvery stem, a couple of feet in height, and from its tip 
 grows a white fringed plume of a delicate lilac hue. The effect of a 
 large field at its maturity, lying under a torrid sun, and gently yield- 
 ing to the breeze, is very fine, a picture to live in the memory ever 
 after. 
 
 "In the competition between the products of beet-root sugar and 
 that from sugar cane, the former controls the market, because it can 
 be produced at a cheaper rate, besides which its production is stimu- 
 lated by nearly all of the European states, through the means of lib- 
 eral subsidies both to the farmer and to the manufacturer. Beet 
 sugar, however, does not possess so high a percentage of true sac- 
 charine matter as the product of the cane, the latter seeming to be 
 nature's most direct mode of supplying us with the article. The 
 Cuban planters have one advantage over all other sugar-cane produc- 
 ing countries, in the great and inexhaustible fertility of the soil of 
 the island. For instance, one or two hogsheads of sugar to the acre 
 is considered a good yield in Jamaica, but in Cuba three hogsheads 
 are the average. Fertilizing of any sort is rarely employed in the cane 
 fields, while in beet farming it is the principal agent of success. 
 Though the modern machinery, as lately adopted on the plantations, 
 is very expensive, still the result achieved by it is so much superior to 
 that of the old methods of manufacture, that the small planters are 
 being driven from the market. Slave labor cannot compete with 
 machinery. The low price of sugar renders economy imperative in all 
 branches of the business, in order to leave a margin for profit. 
 
 "A planter informed the author that he should spread 1 all of his 
 molasses upon the cane fields this year as a fertilizer, rather than send 
 it to a distant market and receive only what it cost. He further said 
 that thousands of acres of sugar cane would be allowed to rot in the 
 fields this season, as it would cost more to cut, grind, pack and send 
 it to market than could be realized for the manufactured article. Had 
 the price of sugar remained this year at a figure which would afford 
 the planters a fair profit, it might have been the means of tiding over 
 the chasm of bankruptcy which has long stared them in the face, and 
 upon the brink of which they now stand. But with a more than 
 average crop, both as to quantity and quality, whether to gather it or 
 not is a problem. Under these circumstances it is difficult to say what 
 
WEALTH FROM NATURE'S STORES. 121 
 
 is to become, financially, of the people of Cuba, Sugar is their great 
 staple, but all business has been equally suppressed upon the island, 
 under the bane of civil laws, extortionate taxation, and oppressive 
 rule. 
 
 "The sugar cane yields but one crop a year. There are several 
 varieties, but the Otaheitan seems to be the most generally cultivated. 
 Between the time when enough of the cane is ripe to warrant the get- 
 ting up of steam at the grinding mill, and the time when the heat and 
 the rain spoils its qualities, all the sugar for the season must be made, 
 hence the necessity for great industry on large estates. In Louisiana 
 the grinding lasts but about eight weeks. In Cuba it continues four 
 months. In analyzing the sugar produced on the island, and compar- 
 ing it with that of the main land, the growth of Louisiana, chemists 
 could find no difference as to the quality of the true saccharine prin- 
 ciple contained in each. 
 
 "The great sugar estates lie in the Vueltra Arriba, the region of 
 the famous red earth. The face of this region smiles with prosperity. 
 In every direction the traveler rides astonished through a garden of 
 plenty, equally impressed by the magnificent extent, and the profuse 
 fertility of the estates, whose palm avenues, plantain orchards, and 
 cane fields succeed each other in almost unbroken succession. So pro- 
 ductive are the estates, and so steady is the demand for the planter's 
 crop, that the great sugar planters are, in truth, princes of agriculture. 
 
 "The imposing scale of operations on a great plantation, imparts a 
 character of barbaric regal state to the life one leads there. Look- 
 ing at them simply as an entertainment, the mills of these great sugar 
 estates are not incongruous with the easy delight of the place. Every- 
 thing is open and airy, and the processes of the beautiful steam ma- 
 chinery go on without the odors as without the noises that make most 
 manufactories odious. In the centrifugal process of sugar making, the 
 molasses passes into a large vat, by the side of which is a row of 
 double cylinders, the outer one of solid metal, the inner of wire gauze. 
 These cylinders revolve each on an axis attached by a horizontal 
 wheel and band to a shaft which communicates with the central 
 engine. The molasses is ladled out into the spaces between the exter- 
 nal and internal cylinders, and the axes are set in motion at the rate 
 of nineteen hundred revolutions a minute. For three minutes you see 
 only a white indistinct whirling, then the motion is arrested, slowly 
 and more slowly the cylinders revolve, then stop, and behold! the 
 whole inner surface of the inner cylinder is covered with beautiful 
 
122 WEALTH FROM NATURE'S STORES. 
 
 crystallizations of a light yellow sugar. Watching this ingenious 
 process, I used to fancy that somewhat in this wise might the nebulae 
 of space be slowly fashioning into worlds." 
 
 How Cuba Has Been Robbed by Spain. 
 
 Some knowledge of the enormous wealth that has accrued to Spain 
 from her Cuban possessions may be gained from the following quota- 
 tion from "Cuba and the Cubans," published in New York in 1850 by 
 Raimundo Cabrera: 
 
 "Oh, we are truly rich! 
 
 "From 1812 to 1826, Cuba, with her own resources, covered the 
 expenditures of the treasury. Our opulence dates from that period. 
 We had already sufficient negro slaves to cut down our virgin forests, 
 and ample authority to force them to work 
 
 "By means of our vices and our luxury, and in spite of the hatred 
 of everything Spanish, which Moreno attributed to us, we sent, in 
 1827, the first little million of hard cash to the treasury of the nation. 
 From that time until 1864 we continued to send yearly to the mother 
 country two millions and a half of the same stuff. According to sev- 
 eral Spanish statisticians, these sumsi amounted, in 1864, to $89,107,- 
 287. We were very rich, don't you see? tremendously rich. We con- 
 tributed more than five million dollars towards the requirements of 
 the Peninsular $5,372,205. We paid, in great part, the cost of the 
 war in Africa. The individual donations alone amounting to fabulous 
 sums. 
 
 "But of course we have never voted for our own imposts; they 
 have been forced upon us because we are so rich. In 1862, we had in 
 a state of production the following estates: 2,712 stock farms, 1,521 
 sugar plantations, 782 coffee plantations, 6,175 cattle ranches, 18 
 cocoa plantations, 35 cotton plantations, 22,748 produce farms, 11,737 
 truck farms, 11,541 tobacco plantations, 1,731 apiaries, 153 country 
 resorts, 243 distilleries, 468 tile works, 504 lime kilns, 63 charcoal fur- 
 naces, 54 cassava-bread factories, and 61 tanneries. To-day I do not 
 know what we possess, because there are no statistics, and because 
 the recently organized assessment is a hodge podge and a new bur- 
 den; but we have more than at that time; surely we must have a 
 great deal more. 
 
 "For a very long time we have borne the expenses of the convict 
 settlement of Fernando Po. We paid for the ill-starred Mexican expe- 
 
WEALTH FROM NATURE'S STORES. 123 
 
 dition, the costs of the war in San Domingo, and with the republics of 
 the Pacific. How can we possibly be poor? While England, France 
 and Holland appropriate large sums for the requirements of their col- 
 onies, Spain does not contribute a single cent for hers. We do not 
 need it, we are wading deep in rivers of gold. If the fertility of our 
 soil did not come to our rescue, we must, perforce, have become 
 enriched by the system of protection to the commerce of the mother 
 
 country The four columns of the tariff are indeed a 
 
 sublime invention.. Our agricultural industries require foreign ma- 
 chinery, tools and utensils, which Spain does not supply, but, as she 
 knows that we have gold to spare, she may make us pay for them very 
 high. And since our sugar is to be sold to the United States . . 
 never mind what they cost. When there are earthquakes in Andalusia 
 and inundations in Murcia, hatred does not prevent us from sending 
 to our afflicted brethren large sumsi . . . (which sometimes fail 
 to reach their destination.) 
 
 "We are opulent? Let us see if we are. From the earliest times 
 down to the present, the officials who come to Cuba, amass, in the 
 briefest space of time, fortunes, to be dissipated in Madrid, and which 
 appear never to disturb their consciences. This country is very rich, 
 incalculably rich. In 1830 we contributed $6,120,934; in 1840, $9,605,- 
 877; in 1850, $10,074,677; in 1860, $29,610,779. During the war we 
 did not merely contribute, we bled. We had to carry the budget of 
 $82,000,000. 
 
 "We count 1,500,000 inhabitants, that is to say, one million and a 
 half of vicious, voluptuous, pompous spendthrifts, full of hatred and 
 low passions, who contribute to the public charges, and never receive 
 a cent in exchange, who have given as much as $92 per capita, and 
 who at the present moment pay to the state what no other taxpayers 
 the world over have ever contributed. Does anyone say that we are 
 not prodigiously, enviably rich?" 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE CUBANS, AND HOW THEY LIVE. 
 
 Life in the Rural Districts A Cuban Bill of Fare The Amusements of the 
 Country People Sports of the Carnival Native Dances An Island 
 Farm Fruit Used for Bread Cattle Ranches and Stock Farms Pop- 
 ulation of the Island Education and Religion Railways and Steam 
 ship Lines. 
 
 The traveler from the north, landing for the first time on Cuban 
 shores, will discover his greatest delight in the radical changes he 
 finds from everything he has been accustomed to in his own land. If 
 he has read Prescott and Irving, he knows something of Castilian 
 manners and customs in theory, but as the peculiarities of the people, 
 their home life, their amusements, their religious observances, and 
 their business methods are -brought before him in reality, he is im- 
 pressed with the constant charm of novelty. 
 
 In times of peace, the native of Cuban soil in the rural districts 
 knows nothing of the struggle for existence which faces the majority 
 of mankind in colder climes. He "toils not, neither does he spin," for 
 the reason that nature provides so freely that very little exertion is 
 necessary to secure her gifts. .Occasionally he may plow, or sow a 
 little grain, or even pick fruit, but, as a rule, he leaves the labor to 
 the negroes. If he lives on a main-traveled road, he may possibly pro- 
 vide entertainment for man and beast, where he delights in gossiping 
 with all who come his way, and is ready to drink whenever invited. 
 
 Neither does his raiment possess the glory of Solomon's, for it 
 generally consists of a pair of loose trousers, belted with a leather 
 band, a linen shirt of brilliant hue, frequently worn outside his panta- 
 loons, a silk handkerchief fastened about his head, a palm-leaf hat, 
 and bare feet encased in leather slippers. 
 
 He is astute, though frank, boastful, though brave, and supersti- 
 tious, if not religious. Gambling is his chief delight, and his fighting 
 cocks receive more attention than his wife and family. 
 
 His better half is more reserved than her lord, especially with 
 strangers. She is an adept horse-woman, though she sometimes 
 
 124 
 
THE CUBANS AND HOW THEY LIVE. 125 
 
 shares the animal's back with her husband, riding in front of him, 
 almost on the neck of the horse. Her dress is the acme of simplicity 
 (sometimes rather too simple to suit conventional ideas), and consists 
 of a loose frock, and a handkerchief tied around her neck. Like her 
 husband she dispenses with stockings, except on occasions of cere- 
 mony. Her pride is her hair, on which she bestows a great deal of 
 attention, and she delights in displaying it at every possible oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 A Cuban Bill of Fare. 
 
 The mode of life among the people of these rural districts is entirely 
 unlike that of the residents of the cities. This difference extends even 
 to their food and the manner of preparing it. In the populous centers, 
 especially among the better classes, the table service is of the French 
 mode, but among the country people will be found the real Cuban 
 cuisine. 
 
 The morning meal usually consists of fried pork, of which they are 
 very fond, boiled rice, and roasted plantain, which serves them for 
 bread. Beef, birds or roast pork are served for dinner, together with 
 plantains and a stew composed of fresh meat, dried meat, green plan- 
 tains, and all kinds of vegetables. These are cooked in a broth, thick- 
 ened with a farinaceous root called malanga, and flavored with lemon 
 juice. Rice is a staple article of diet, and no meal is complete with- 
 out it 
 
 Rural Amusements. 
 
 It is not in gastronomy alone that the Cubans of the country dis- 
 tricts differ from their city cousins. They have their special amuse- 
 ments, some of which seem cruel to people of refinement, but it may be 
 .said in their defense that football is not a popular game on the island. 
 
 Cock fighting is the national sport, and men, women and children 
 will wager their last possession on the result of an encounter between 
 chickens of fighting blood. The goose fight is another cruel sport. 
 Two poles are placed in the ground, with a rope stretched between 
 them, on which a live goose is hung with its feet securely tied, and 
 its head thoroughly greased. The contestants are on horseback, and 
 ride at full speed past the goose, endeavoring to seize its head and sep- 
 arate it from the body as they pass. The fowl usually dies before the 
 
126 THE CUBANS AND HOW THEY LIVE. 
 
 efforts are successful, but the rider who finally succeeds in the noble 
 endeavor gains the glory and the prize. 
 
 There is a patron saint for every village, for whom there is a feast 
 day, which is celebrated by masses at the church, and afterwards by 
 games and dances. A procession is always arranged on this day, in 
 which a little girl, dressed as an image, rides in a wagon, decorated 
 with banners and flowers. Men in costumes of Indians lead the way, 
 followed by others clad as Moors. A band is a necessary adjunct, and 
 bringing up the rear are the inhabitants, marching and singing to the 
 music of the band. When the church is reached, the people gather 
 about the child, and she recites a composition written for the occa- 
 sion. 
 
 During carnival time, processions of mountebanks, cavaliers, 
 dressed as knights of old, on horses splendidly adorned, races, 
 masques, balls and all manner of revelries are indulged in. 
 
 Dancing is a universal accomplishment, in which the young and 
 old find enjoyment in all places and at all seasons. The Zapato, a 
 dance peculiar to Cuba, is performed to the music of the guitar, accom- 
 panied by the voices of the dancers. It consists of fantastic posings, 
 fancy marches, and graceful figures, and resembles in some details 
 the "cake walks" of the negroes of our own country. 
 
 An Island Farm, 
 
 In the neighborhood of the larger cities are hundreds of "Estan- 
 cias," which correspond to what are known as market gardens in the 
 United States. These farms usually consist of less than a hundred 
 acres each, and on them are raised vegetables, chickens, small fruits 
 and other table delicacies, for the city trade. Properly looked after, 
 this business might be one of great profit, but the land is, as a. rule, 
 cultivated by tenants, who pay a rental of about five dollars per acre 
 a year, and who are too indolent to give it the care necessary to gain 
 lucrative returns. 
 
 The principal vegetable raised on these farms is the sweet potato, 
 of which there are two varieties, the yellow and the white. The soil 
 and the climate are not favorable to the cultivation of the Irish po- 
 tato, and it is necessary to import this luxury, which accounts for the 
 fact that they are seldom seen outside the cities. 
 
 Plantains are raised in large quantities. This product is to the 
 
THE CUBANS AND HOW THEY LIVE. 127 
 
 Cuban what bread is to us, and may be characterized as the standard 
 article of food. Though less nutritious than wheat or potatoes, it is 
 produced in vastly larger quantities from the same area, and with far 
 less effort. It closely resembles the banana, and is in fact often re- 
 garded as a variety of that fruit. A fanciful name for it among the 
 natives is "Adam's apple," and the story is that it was the forbidden 
 fruit of the. Garden of Eden. 
 
 On a number of these places the business of farming has been 
 entirely abandoned, and kilns built, where the burning of lime is car- 
 ried on extensively. 
 
 Cattle Ranches and Stock Farms. 
 
 The raising of cattle is one of the important industries of Cuba, 
 and as it costs comparatively nothing to fit the stock for the market, 
 handsome profits are realized. Herds of vast numbers roam over the 
 prairies, receiving no attention from their owners, and are sold with- 
 out any preliminary fattening. Fabulous prices are received for the 
 fierce bulls which are used for the bull fights in the cities, and the 
 breeding of these animals brings large returns. 
 
 Hides are one of the principal exports of the island, and bone 
 black, prepared from the bones, is sold in immense quantities to the 
 sugar-makers, for use in the manufacture of that article. 
 
 The finest horses raised in Cuba come from Puerto Principe, and 
 magnificent specimens of the noble animal they are. They are noted 
 for their powers of endurance, and can journey day after day, cover- 
 ing sixty to seventy miles, at an easy gait, without showing signs of 
 fatigue. As horses were unknown to the original inhabitants of the 
 island, it is supposed that the Cuban horse of to-day comes from Span- 
 ish stock, and the fa,ct that it differs so greatly from those animals, 
 both in appearance and quality, is explained by the changed climatic 
 conditions in its breeding. Whatever its origin may be, it is certain 
 that there are no finer specimens of horse flesh than are to be found 
 in Cuba, and the natives take great care of them, almost regarding 
 them as belonging to the family. Like the Irishman who "kept his pig 
 in the parlor," the Cuban often stables his horse in a room of his 
 house. 
 
128 THE CUBANS AND HOW THEY LIVE. 
 
 Peculiar Funeral Ceremonies. 
 
 One of the strangest customs that is likely to be observed by the 
 tourist in the interior sections, is the ceremony attendant on the burial 
 of the dead. First come small boys, with white linen gowns over thei* 
 clothes, short enough to display their ragged trousers and dirty shoes. 
 A boy in the center bears a tall pole, upon the top of which is a silver 
 cross, partially draped, while each of the other boys carries a tall can- 
 dlestick. 
 
 Behind them comes the priest, in shabby attire, in one hand his 
 prayer book, from which he is chanting from time to time, while in 
 the other hand, the sun being hot, he carries an umbrella. Following 
 him, a venerable old man comes tottering along, personating the aco- 
 lyth, the bell-ringer, the sacristan, or other church dignitary, as may 
 be necessary, croning out in his dreary voice, as he swings the burning 
 censor, the second to the chants of the priest. The coffin then makes 
 its appearance, made of rough boards, but covered with black paper 
 muslin, and borne upon the shoulders of four villagers, a crowd of 
 whom, all uncovered, bring up the rear. 
 
 Here, as in all other Catholic countries, the spectators uncover their 
 heads at the passing of a funeral cortege. At the church are ceremo- 
 nies of reading prayers, burning candles, and sprinkling the coffin 
 with holy water, after which the priest goes his way, and the proces- 
 sion takes up its line of march for the newly-made grave, in the dilapi- 
 dated and neglected cemetery, where the coffin is deposited without 
 further ceremony. No females are present during the whole affair. 
 
 A family in mourning in Cuba, not only dress in dark clothes, upon 
 which there is no luster, but they keep the windows of the house shut 
 for six months. In fact, by an ordinance of the government, it is now 
 prohibited to display the corpse to the public through the open win- 
 dows, as was formerly done, both windows and doors being now 
 required to be shut. 
 
 An Hospitable People. 
 
 The Cuban of the better class is noted for his hospitality. His door 
 is always open to receive whomsoever calls, be he acquaintance, friend 
 or stranger. There is a place at his table for the visitor at all times, 
 without money and without price, and no one having the slightest 
 claim to courtesy of this kind need hesitate to accept the invitation. 
 
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THE CUBANS AND HOW THEY LIVE. 131 
 
 There is little travel or communication on the island, so even if the 
 guest be an entire stranger, his host will feel amply repaid for his hos- 
 pitality by the news the traveler brings from the outside world. There 
 is a good old custom among the Danes, that when the first toast is 
 drunk, it is to the roof of the house which covers everyone in it, mean- 
 ing thereby it is all one family. This same custom might appropri- 
 ately be kept up amongst the Cuban planters, for when one takes his 
 sent at the table, he is immediately installed as one of the family 
 circle. 
 
 Education and Religion. 
 
 Education is woefully backward on the island. In the absence of 
 recent statistics it is estimated that not one-tenth of the children 
 receive lettered education of any kind, and even among the higher 
 classes of society, liberal education is very far from being universally 
 diffused. A few literary and scientific men are to be found both in the 
 higher and middle ranks, and previous to the revolution, the question 
 of public instruction excited some interest among the Creole popula- 
 tion. 
 
 At Havana is the royal university with a rector and thirty profes- 
 sors, and medical and law schools, as well as an institution called the 
 Royal College of Havana. There is a similar establishment at Puerto 
 Principe, in the eastern interior, and both at Havana and Santiago de 
 Cuba there is a college in which the branches of ecclesiastical educa- 
 tion are taught, together with the humanities and philosophy. Besides 
 this there are several private schools, but these are not accessible to 
 the masses. The inhabitants can scarcely be said to. have any litera- 
 ture, a few daily and weekly journals, under a rigid censorship, sup- 
 ply almost all the taste for letters in the island. 
 
 To show how little liberty of opinion the newspapers of Cuba enjoy, 
 we quote a decree issued by General Weyler, formerly Captain-Gen- 
 eral of the island: 
 
 Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, Marquis of Tenerife, governor-general, 
 captain-general of the Island of Cuba, and general-in-chief of this army. 
 
 Under the authority of the law of public order, dated the 23rd of 
 April, 1870. 
 
 I Order and Command, 
 
 1st. No newspaper shall publish any news concerning the war which 
 is not authorized b the staff officers. 
 
132 THE CUBANS AND HOW THEY LIVE. 
 
 2nd. Neither shall be published any telegraphic communications of a 
 political character without the authority given by the secretary of the gov- 
 ernor general in Havana, or by the civil officers in the other provinces. 
 
 3rd. It is hereby forbidden to publish any editorials, or other articles or 
 illustrations, which may directly or indirectly tend to lessen the prestige of 
 the mother-country, the army, or the authorities, or to exaggerate the forces 
 and the importance of the insurrection, or in any way to favor the latter, or to 
 cause unfounded alarm, or excite the feelings of the people. 
 
 4th. The infractions of this decree, not included in Articles first and 
 sixth of the decree of February 16th last, will make the offenders liable to 
 the penalties named in Article 36, of the law of the 23rd of April, 1870. 
 
 5th. All persons referred to in Article 14 of the Penal Code of the 
 Peninsula, which is in force in this Island, will be held responsible for said 
 infractions in the same order as established by the said Article. 
 
 6th. Whenever a newspaper has twice incurred the penalty of said 
 offense, and shall give cause for a third penalty, it may be then suppressed. 
 
 7th. The civil governors are in charge of the fulfillment of this decree, 
 and against their resolutions, which must be always well founded, the inter- 
 ested parties may appeal within twenty-four hours following their notifica- 
 tion. VALERIANO WEYLEB. 
 
 Havana, April 27, 1S96. 
 
 Population of the Island. 
 
 Conflicting accounts render it impossible to arrive at anything like 
 a certainty as to the number of inhabitants in Cuba at the; time of its 
 conquest, but it may be estimated at from 300,000 to 400,000. There is 
 but little doubt, however, that before 1560 the whole of this popula- 
 tion had. disappeared from the island. The first census was taken in 
 1774, when the population was 171,620. In 1791 it was 272,300. 
 
 Owing to the disturbed condition of the island, no census of the 
 inhabitants has been taken since that of 1887, when the total popula- 
 tion was 1,631,687. Of this number, 1,111,303 were whites, and 520,684 
 were of negro blood. These figures make questionable the claim that 
 the war for liberty is simply an insurrection of the colored against the 
 Caucasian race. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 HAVANA, THE METROPOLIS OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 Havana and Its Attractions for Tourists How to Reach Cuba Description 
 of the Harbor of Havana How the Proverbial Unhealthfulness of the 
 City May Be Remedied Characteristics of the Business Quarter 
 Residences and How the People Live Parks and Boulevards Other 
 Features of Life in the City . 
 
 In spite of the little encouragement which American tourists have 
 had for visiting the city of Havana, for many years it has been a pop- 
 ular place of resort for the few who have .tried it or have been recom- 
 mended to it by their friends. With the attractions it has had during 
 Spanish administration, when an air of constraint and suspicion marked 
 the intercourse with every American, it will not be surprising if under 
 changed auspices and in an atmosphere of genuine freedom, Americans 
 will find it one of the most delightful and easily accessible places possi- 
 ble for them to visit. It is not all pleasant, but the unpleasant things 
 are sometimes quite as interesting as the pleasant ones. If the traveler 
 forms his judgments according to the actual comforts he may obtain, 
 he will be pleased from beginning to end of his stay. If the measure of 
 his good opinion is whether or not things are like those to which he is 
 accustomed, he will be disappointed, because novelty reigns. But nov- 
 elty does not necessarily mean discomfort. 
 
 Havana may be reached by a sea voyage of three or four days from 
 New York, on any one of several excellent steamers under the American 
 flag, and even in winter the latter portion of the voyage will be a pleas- 
 ant feature of the journey. Or the path of the American invading squad- 
 ron may be followed, and the traveler, after passing through Florida by 
 rail, may journey from Tampa by the mail steamers, and touching at 
 Key West for a few hours, reach Havana after a voyage of two nights 
 and a day. 
 
 The Florida straits, between Cuba and the Florida keys, which were 
 the scene of the first hostilities of the war, are but ninety miles wide, 
 and the voyage is made from Key West in a few hours. The current of 
 
 133 
 
134 HAVANA, THE METROPOLIS OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 the gulf stream makes the channel a trifle reminiscent of the English 
 channel, but once under the lee of the Cuban coast the water is still 
 and the harbor of the old city offers shelter. 
 
 In the days before the war, Morro Castle had an added interest to 
 the traveler from the fact that behind its frowning guns and under 
 the rocks on which it was built, were the cells of scores of sad prisoners, 
 some of them for years in the dungeons, wbose walls could tell secrets 
 like those of the inquisition in Spain if they could but speak. Between 
 Morro Castle and its neighbor across the way, La Punta, the vessels 
 steam into that bay, foul with four hundred years of Spanish misrule 
 and filth, where three hundred years of the slave trade centered, and 
 into which the sewers of a great city poured their filth. Once inside the 
 harbor, Cabana Castle frowns from tlie hills behind Morro, and on the 
 opposite shore rise the buildings of the city itself. 
 
 The harbor always has been a busy one, for the commerce of the 
 island and of the city has been large. In times of peace, scores of vessels 
 lie at anchor in the murky waters. The American anchorage for mail 
 steamers for years has been in the extremest part of the bay from the 
 city of Havana itself, in order to avoid the contagion which was threat- 
 ened by a nearer anchorage. Until the Maine was guided to her ill- 
 fated station by the harbor master, it had been long since any American 
 vessel had stopped in that part of the harbor. 
 
 Perfect Sanitary Condition Easily Created. 
 
 The shallow harbor of Havana has its entrance from the ocean 
 through a channel hardly more than three hundred yards wide, and 
 nearly half a mile long, after which it, broadens and ramifies until its 
 area becomes several square miles. No fresh water stream, large or 
 small, flows into it to purify the waters. The harbor entrance is so nar- 
 row, and the tides along that coast have so little rise and fall, that the 
 level of water in the harbor hardly shows perceptible change day after 
 day. 
 
 The result of this is that the constant inflow of sewage from the great 
 city pouring into the harbor is never diluted, and through the summer 
 is simply a festering mass of corruption, fronting the whole sea wall and 
 throwing a stench into the air which must be breathed by everyone on 
 shipboard. There is one part of the harbor known as "dead man's hole," 
 from which it is said no ship has ever sailed after an anchorage of more 
 
HAVANA, THE METROPOLIS OF THE ISLAND. 135 
 
 than one day, without bearing the infection of yellow fever among its 
 crew. 
 
 Along the shores of this very harbor are great warehouses for thfe 
 sugar and tobacco shipped into the United States by the thousands of 
 tons every year. To preserve our national health, our government has 
 maintained an expensive marine hospital service and quarantine sys- 
 tem along our southern ports which trade with Havana, in addition to 
 supporting a marine hospital service under the eminent Dr. Burgess in 
 Havana itself. To the rigid enforcement of this system, and the untiring 
 vigilance of Dr. Burgess, must be credited the immunity which the 
 United States has had from annual epidemics of yellow fever and small- 
 pox. 
 
 The guilt of Spain in permitting this shocking condition to continue 2 
 cannot in any w T ay be palliated. For four hundred years she has had 
 sway in the island, free to work her own will, and drawing millions of 
 dollars of surplus revenue out of the grinding taxes she has imposed. 
 The installation of a sanitary system of sewage, which should discharge 
 into the open sea instead of into this cesspool which lies at the city's feet, 
 would have been the first solution of the difficulty. The threat of danger 
 would have been finally averted by the expenditure of a few hundred 
 thousand dollars, which would open a channel from the further ex- 
 tremity of the harbor to the ocean eastward. The distance is but a few 
 miles and the engineering problem a simple one. This and the con- 
 struction of a jetty northwestward from the point on which Morro 
 Castle stands, would divert a portion of the current of the noble gulf 
 stream into the harbor entrance, and the foul pond of to-day would be 
 scoured of its filth by a perennial flood which could never fail. 
 
 Vera Cruz, on the Mexican coast, has proven that it is possible to ex- 
 terminate yellow fever, and it is a duty owed to civilization that Havana 
 shall follow along the same path. If all other excuses were to be ig- 
 nored, the United States for years has had ample cause for intervention 
 in Cuban affairs, as a measure of safety to the health of her own citizens, 
 as truly as one man may complain to the authorities if his neighbor 
 maintains a nuisance in the adjoining yard. 
 
 The Business Quarters of Havana. 
 
 Once anchored in the safest place in the harbor, the mail steamers 
 are surrounded without delay by a fleet of peculiar boats of a sort seen 
 only in the bay of Havana, For a bit of silver, the traveler is taken 
 
136 HAVANA, THE METROPOLIS OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 ashore, the journey to the landing stage being a matter of but a few 
 moments. The journey through the custom house is not a formidable 
 one, for unless there is suspicion of some contraband goods, the customs 
 officers are not exacting upon travelers. At the door of the custom 
 house, or aduana, wait the cabs, which are cheaper in Havana than in 
 any other city of the new world, and they serve as a conveyance to the 
 hotels, which are all grouped in the same neighborhood. 
 
 The streets through which the traveler passes are picturesque, but 
 hardly practical, from the American point of view. Some of them are 
 so narrow that carriages cannot pass, and all traffic must go in one 
 direction. Nearly all of the business streets have awnings extending 
 from one side to the other, between the roofs, as a protection from the 
 tropic sun. The sidewalks on some of the most pretentious streets are 
 not wide enough for three persons to walk abreast, and on others two 
 cannot pass. On every hand one gets the impression of antiquity, and 
 antiquity even greater than the four hundred years of Spanish occu- 
 pancy actually measures. Spanish architecture, however modern it 
 may be, sometimes adds to that impression and one might believe him- 
 self, with little stretch of the imagination, to be in one of the ancient 
 cities of the old world. 
 
 The streets are paved with blocks of granite and other stone, roughly 
 cut and consequently exceedingly noisy, but ujxm these narrow streets 
 front some shops as fine as one might expect to discover in New York 
 or Paris, It is true that they are not large, but they do not need to be, 
 for nearly all are devoted to specialties, instead of carrying stocks of 
 goods of the American diversity. The one who wants to shop will not 
 lack for temptations. The selection is ample in any line that may be 
 named, the styles are modern and in exquisite taste, and altogether the 
 shops are a considerable surprise to one who judges them first from 
 the exterior. Stores devoted exclusively to fans, parasols, gloves, laces, 
 jewels, bronzes, silks and the beautiful cloth of pineapple fiber known 
 as nipe cloth, are an indication of the variety that may be found. The 
 shoes and other articles of men's and women's clothing are nearly all 
 direct importations from Paris, and where Parisian styles dominate one 
 may be assured that the selection is not a scanty one. Clerks are 
 courteous even to the traditional point of Castilian obsequiousness, and 
 altogether a shopping expedition along this Obispo street is an experi- 
 ence to be remembered with pleasure. 
 
HAVANA, THE METROPOLIS OF THE ISLAND. 137 
 
 Havana Homes. 
 
 You notice that everything is made to serve comfort and coolness. 
 Instead of having panes of glass, the windows are open and guarded by 
 light iron railings, and the heavy wooden doors are left ajar. You see 
 into many houses as you pass along, and very cool and clean they look. 
 There are marble floors, cane-seated chairs and lounges, thin lace cur- 
 tains, and glimpses of courts in the center of each building, often with 
 green plants or gaudy flowers growing in them between the parlor and 
 the kitchen. 
 
 You find much the same plan at your hotel. You may walk in at 
 the doors or the dining room windows just as you please, for the sides 
 of the house seem capable of being all thrown open; while in the center 
 of the building you see the blue sky overhead. Equally cool do all the in- 
 habitants appear to be, and the wise man who consults his own comfort 
 will do well to follow the general example. Even the soldiers wear 
 straw hate. The gentlemen are clad in underwear of silk or lisle thread 
 and suits of linen, drill or silk, and the ladies are equally coolly ap- 
 parelled. 
 
 Havana is a dressy place, and you will be astonished at the neatness 
 and style to which the tissue-like goods worn there are made to conform. 
 
 But come and see the apartment you are to rest in every night. Ten 
 to one the ceiling is higher than you ever saw one in a private house, and 
 the huge windows open upon a balcony overlooking a verdant plaza. 
 The floor is of marble or tiling, and the bed is an ornate iron or brass 
 affair, with a tightly stretched sheet of canvas or fine wire netting in 
 place of the mattress you are used to. You could not sleep on a mat- 
 tress with any proper degree of comfort in the tropics. There is a canopy 
 with curtains overhead, and everything about the room is pretty certain 
 to be scrupulously clean. Conspicuous there and everywhere else that 
 you go is a rocking chair. Rocking chairs are to be found in the houses, 
 and in regiments in the clubs. 
 
 Havana is the metropolis of the West Indies. It has more life and 
 bustle than all the rest of the archipelago put together. If you are 
 German, English, Scotch, Dutch, American, French or whatever you 
 are, you will find fellow countrymen among its 250,000 souls. There is 
 a public spirit there which is rare in these climes. The theaters astonish 
 you by their size and elegance. The aristocratic club is the Union, but 
 
138 HAVANA, THE METROPOLIS OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 the popular one is the Casino Espanol, whose club house is a marvel of 
 tropical elegance and beauty. Nearly all these attractions are on or 
 near the broad, shady and imposing thoroughfare, the Prado a suc- 
 cession of parks leading from the water opposite Morro Castle almost 
 across the city. 
 
 In one or another of these parks a military band plays on three 
 evenings of the week, and the scene on such occasions is wholly new to 
 English eyes. It is at such times that one may see the beautiful Spanish 
 and Cuban women. They do not leave their houses in the heat of the 
 day unless something requires them to do so, and when they do they 
 remain in their carriages, and are accompanied by a servant or an elder- 
 ly companion. So strict is the privacy with which they are surrounded 
 that you shall see them shopping without quitting their carriages, 
 waited on by the clerks, who bring the goods out to the vehicles. 
 
 But when there is music under the laurels or palms the senoritas, 
 in their light draperies, and wearing nothing on their heads save 
 the picturesque mantilla of Old Spain, assemble on the paths, the seats, 
 the sidewalks and in their carriages, and there the masculine element 
 repairs and is very gallant, indeed. 
 
 Here youw T ill listen to the dreamy melody of these latitudes, Spanish 
 love songs and Cuban waltzes so softly pretty that you wonder all the 
 world does not sing and play them. On other nights the walk or drive 
 along the Prado is very interesting. You pass some of the most elegant 
 of the houses, and notice that they are two stories high, and that the 
 family apartments are on the upper stories, so that you miss the furtive 
 views of the families at meals and of the ladies reclining in the broad- 
 tiled window sills that you have in the older one-story sections of the 
 city. 
 
CHAPTEK X. 
 
 THE CITIES OF CUBA. 
 
 The Harbor of Matanzas Sports of the Carnival Santiago de Cuba and Its 
 Beautiful Bay Cardinas, the Commercial Center Enormous Exports 
 of Sugar The Beauties of Trinidad Other Cities of Importance. 
 
 The city of Havana may be said to stand in the same relation to 
 Cuba that Paris does to France, for in it are centered the culture, the 
 refinement, and the wealth of the island, but there are several other 
 towns of considerable importance, and many of them have become 
 places of interest since the struggle for liberty has attracted the atten- 
 tion of the civilized world. 
 
 Chief among these is Matanzas. This city, with a normal popula- 
 tion of about 60,000, is situated fifty miles east of Havana, with which it 
 is connected by rail and water. Its shipping interests are second only 
 to those of the capital, as it is the outlet of many of the richest agricul- 
 tural districts of the island. 
 
 The city is situated on the flats on both sides of the San Juan river, 
 which brings down large quantities of mud and greatly impedes inland 
 navigation. As an offset the bay is spacious, easy of access and shel- 
 tered from the violent gulf storms which prevail at some seasons. This 
 makes the port a favorite with marine men. A large amount of money 
 has been spent by the government to fortify and protect the city, and it 
 has been connected by rail with all the principal towns and producing 
 centers of the provinces. Thus it is a particularly favorite port of entry 
 for all the supplies required in the plantations food staples and ma- 
 chinery. Its exports consist principally of sugar, coffee, molasses, to- 
 bacco, honey, wax and fruits. 
 
 The city is built principally of masonry and in a most substantial 
 manner, though little effort has been made to secure architectural 
 beauty. The pride of the city is the new theater, which is pointed out 
 as the handsomest building in Cuba, The Empresa Academy also takes 
 rank equal with any for the excellence of its educational facilities. 
 
 There is no more charming spot in Cuba than Matanzas. The 
 
 139 
 
140 THE CITIES OF CUBA. 
 
 is like a crescent in shape, and receives the waters of the Yumuri and 
 Matanzas rivers, two small unnavigajble streams. A high bridge sepa- 
 rates them. On this ridge back of the town stands a cathedral dedicated 
 to the black virgin. It is a reproduction of a cathedral in the Balearic 
 Islands. The view from its steeple is magnificent. Looking backward 
 the valley of the Yumuri stretches to the right. It is about ten miles 
 wide and sixty miles long, dotted with palms, and as level as a barn 
 floor. The Yumuri breaks through the mountains near Matanzas bay 
 something like the Arkansas river at Canon City. Carpeted with living 
 green and surrounded with mountains this valley is one of the gems of 
 Cuba. 
 
 About ten miles from Matanzas, on the left of the road, stand what 
 are known as the Breadloaf Mountains. They rise from the plain like 
 the Spanish peaks in Colorado. These mountains are the headquarters 
 of General Betancourt, who commands the insurgents in the province. 
 The Spaniards have offered f 1,000 reward for his head. Several efforts 
 have been made to secure it, but in all cases the would-be captor has lost 
 his own head. 
 
 In accordance with the Weyler edict 11,000 reconcentrados were 
 herded together at Matanzas, and within a year over 9,000 of them died 
 in the city. In the Plaza, under the shadow of the Governor's residence, 
 twenty-three people died from starvation in one day. The province of 
 Matanzas is not larger in area than the state of Delaware, yet 55,000 
 people have perished from starvation and incident diseases since the 
 order went into effect, 
 
 But all the people of Matanzas are not reconcentrados, and even 
 in the midst of war's alarms they find time for amusement, as the fol- 
 lowing description of a carnival ball will prove: 
 
 "It was our good fortune to be in Matanzas during the last three 
 days of the Carnival; and while the whole time was occupied by noisy 
 processions and grotesque street masqueraders, the crowning cere- 
 monies were on the last Sunday night. Then the whole town used every 
 effort to wind up the season in a 'feu de joie' of pleasure and amusement. 
 In almost every town of any importance there is an association of young 
 men, generally known as 'El Liceo,' organized for artistic and literary 
 purposes, and for social recreation. A fine large building is generally 
 occupied by the association, with ample space for theatrical representa- 
 tions, balls, etc.; in addition to which there are billiard rooms, and read- 
 ing rooms, adorned, probably with fine paintings. In Matanzas this 
 
THE CITIES OF CUBA. 141 
 
 association is known as 'El Liceo Artistico y Literario de Matanzas,' 
 and is a particularly fine one, being composed of the elite of the city, 
 with a fine large house, to which they made an addition by purchasing 
 the 'Club,' beautifully situated upon the Plaza. 
 
 "Thanks to our letter of introduction, we were, through the kind 
 offices of the members, permitted to enjoy the pleasures of their grand 
 ball, called the 'Pinata,' which was indeed a very grand affair, attended 
 by the beauty and fashion of Matanzas. The ball commenced at the 
 seasonable hour of 8 o'clock in the evening; and at entering, each one 
 was required to give up his ticket to a committee of managers, who thus 
 had a kind of general inspection of all those admitted. 
 
 "The ball room was a long, large hall, at the other end of which 
 was a pretty stage for theatrical representations; on each side of the 
 room was an arched colonnade, over which were the galleries, where 
 the band was posted. Kanged in double rows of chairs the full length 
 of the room in front of the colonnade, sat hundreds of dark-eyed angels, 
 calm, dignified, and appearing, most of them, to be mere lookers on; 
 not a black coat among them. All of these, with the exception of a few 
 courageous ones that were facing all this beauty, were huddled to- 
 gether at the other end of the room, wanting the courage (it could not 
 be the inclination) to pay their respects to 'las Senoritas.' 
 
 "What is exactly the trouble in Cuba between the gentlemen and 
 the ladies I never have been able to quite understand. The men are 
 polished and gentlemanly, as a general thing sufficiently intelligent, 
 apparently; while the ladies are dignified and pretty. And yet I have 
 never seen that appearance of easy and pleasant intercourse between the 
 sexes which makes our society so charming. 
 
 "I am inclined to believe that it is the fault of custom, in a> great 
 degree, which surrounds women in Cuba with etiquette, iron bars and 
 formality. This would seem to apply to the natives only, for nothing 
 can be kinder, more friendly and courteous than the manners of the 
 Cuban ladies to strangers, at least, judging from what is seen. It may 
 be as a lady with whom I was arguing the point said: 'It is very differ- 
 ent with strangers, Senor, and particularly with the Americans, who 
 are celebrated for their chivalric gallantry to ladies.' Now I call that a 
 very pretty national compliment. 
 
 "Taking the arm of my friend, we walk up and down to see, as he 
 expresses it, 'who there is to be presented to,' and faith, if beauty is to 
 be the test, it would seem to be a hard matter to make up one's mind, 
 
142 THE CITIES OF CUBA. 
 
 there is so much of it, but after a turn or two around the room, this 
 form is gone through with, and one begins to feel at home and ready to 
 enjoy one's self. 
 
 "When one finds ladies (and-there are numbers) who have been edu- 
 cated abroad, either in the United States or Europe, he finds them 
 highly accomplished and entertaining. Several that I had the pleasure 
 of meeting on this and other occasions spoke French perfectly, some 
 English, and one or two both of these in addition to their native tongue. 
 
 "But let us return to the ball, which is all the time going on with 
 great eclat. It opens with the advent upon the stage of a dozen or more 
 young men, under the direction of a leader, in some fancy costume very 
 handsomely made, who, after making their bow to the audience, go 
 through some novel kind of a dance. The performers take this means 
 of filling up the intervals of the general dance, and amusing the audi- 
 ence. 
 
 "It is now getting late, and the rooms are terribly w T arm. The fans 
 of the long rows of lovely sitters, who have not moved out of their places 
 the whole evening, keep up a constant flutter, and one begins to sigh for a 
 breath of fresh air, and relief from the discomforts of a full dress suit. 
 But the grand affair of the evening is yet to come off, we are told, so 
 we linger on, and are finally rewarded by the grand ceremony of the 
 'Pinata/ from which the ball takes its name. This word I can hardly 
 give the meaning of as applied to this ceremony, which consists in 
 having pendent from the ceiling a form of ribbands and flow T ers, the rib- 
 bands numbered and hanging from the flowers, the rights to pull which 
 are draw r n like prizes in a lottery. Of these ribbands, one is fastened 
 to a beautiful crow r n of flowers, which, when the ribband to which it is 
 attached is pulled, falls into the hands of the lucky person, who has the 
 privilege of crowning any lady he may deem worthy of the honor 'Queen 
 of the Ball/ to whom every one is obliged to yield obedience, homage, 
 and admiration. There is, also, the same opportunity afforded to the 
 ladies to crown a king. The whole ceremony is 1 pretty, and creates 
 much merriment and amusement. 
 
 "This ceremony over, at midnight we sally out into the open air. 
 But what a sight greets us there! Lights blaze in such profusion that 
 it seems more- than day. Music and dancing are everywhere. Songs 
 and mirth have taken complete possession of the place, while people of 
 all ages, sexes and colors are mixed together, in what seems inextricable 
 confusion, intent upon having a good time in the open air while their 
 
THE CITIES OF CUBA. 143 
 
 masters and betters are doing the same thing under cover. This is a 
 carnival sight indeed, and only to be seen in a tropical clime." 
 
 Guantanamo, the Home of the Pirates. 
 
 Approaching Cuba as Columbus did across the narrow stretch of 
 sea from San Domingo you first sight the long, low promontory of the 
 eastern tip, which the discoverer named Point Maysi. So different is 
 the prospect from that seen at the other end of the island, as you come 
 down in the usual route from New York or Florida, that you can hardly 
 believe it is the same small country. From Maysi Point the land rises 
 in sharp terraces, backed by high hills and higher mountains, all so 
 vague in mist and cloud that you do not know where land ends and sky 
 begins. Coming nearer, gray ridges are evolved, which look like cowled 
 monks peering over each other's shoulders, with here and there a 
 majestic peak towering far above his fellows like the Pico Turquino, 
 11,000 feet above the sea. Sailing westward along this south shore, the 
 "Queen of the Antilles" looks desolate and forbidding, as compared to 
 other portions of the West Indies; a panorama of wild heights and 
 sterile shores, and surge-beaten cliffs covered with screaming sea birds. 
 At rare intervals an opening in the rock-bound coast betrays a tiny 
 harbor, bordered by cocoa palms, so guarded and concealed by hills, and 
 its sudden revelation, when close upon it, astonishes you as it did the 
 first explorer. 
 
 According to tradition, everyone of these was once a pirate's lair, in 
 the good old days we read about, when "long, low, suspicious-looking 
 craft, with raking masts," used to steal out from sheltered coves to 
 plunder the unwary. Each little bay, whose existence was unknown 
 to honest mariners, has a high wooded point near its entrance, where the 
 sea robbers kept perpetual watch for passing merchantmen and treas- 
 ure-laden galleons, their own swift-sailing vessels safe out of sight 
 within the cove; and then, at a given signal out they would dart upon 
 the unsuspecting prey like a spider from his web. Among the most 
 notorious piratical rendezvous was Gauntanamo, which our warships 
 are said to have shelled two or three times of late. In recent years its 
 narrow bay, branching far inland like a river, has become of consider- 
 able consequence, by reason of a railway which connects it with Santi- 
 ago, and also because the patriot army, hidden in the nearby mountains, 
 have entertained hopes of overcoming the Spanish garrison and making 
 
144 THE CITiES OF CUBA. 
 
 it a base for receiving outside assistance. Before the war there were 
 extensive sugar plantations in this city, now all devastated. The Cobre 
 mountains, looming darkly against the horizon, are the great copper and 
 iron range of Cuba, said to contain untold mineral wealth, waiting to 
 be developed by Yankee enterprise. In earlier days 14,000,000 a year 
 was the average value of Cuba's copper and iron exports; but in 1867 
 6,000,000 tons were taken out in less than ten months. Then Spain put 
 her foot in it, as usual. Not content with the lion's share, which she had 
 always realized in exorbitant taxes on the product, she increased the 
 excise charges to such an extent as to kill the industry outright. For 
 a long time afterward the ore lay undisturbed in the Cobre "pockets," 
 until the attention of Americans was turned this way. Their first 
 iron and copper claims in these mountains were recognized by the 
 Cuban government about seventeen years ago. Three Yankee corpora- 
 tions have developed rich tracts of mining territory hereabouts, built 
 railways from the coast to their works on the hills and exported ore to 
 the United States. The oldest of these companies employed 2,000 men, 
 and had 1,600 cars and a fleet of twenty steamers for the transportation 
 of its output. The Carnegie Company, whose product was shipped to 
 Philadelphia, also employed upwards of a thousand men. 
 
 Santiago de Cuba. 
 
 At last an abrupt termination of the stern, gray cliffs which mark 
 this shore line indicates the proximity of Santiago harbor, and a nearer 
 approach reveals the most picturesque fort or castle, as well as one of 
 the oldest, to be found on the western hemisphere. An enormous 
 rounding rock, whose base has been hollowed into great caverns by the 
 restless Caribbean, standing just at the entrance of the narrow channel 
 leading into the harbor, is carried up from the water's edge in a suc- 
 cession of walls, ramparts, towers and turrets, forming a perfect picture 
 of a rock-ribbed fortress of the middle ages. This is the famous castle 
 of San Jago, the Moro, which antedates the more familiar fortress of the 
 same name in Havana harbor by at least a hundred years. Words are 
 of little use in describing this antique, Moorish-looking stronghold, with 
 its crumbling, honey-combed battlements, queer little flanking turrets 
 and shadowy towers, perched upon the face of a dun-colored cliff 150 
 feet high so old, so odd, so different from anything in America with 
 which to compare it. A photograph, or pencil sketch is not much bet- 
 
THE CITIES OF CUBA. 145 
 
 ter, and even a paint brush could not reproduce the exact shadings of 
 its time-worn, weather-mellowed walls the Oriental pinks and old 
 blues and predominating yellows that give it half its charm. Upon the 
 lowermost wall, directly overhanging the sea, is a dome-shaped sentry 
 box of stone, flanked by antiquated cannon. Above it the lines of 
 masonry are sharply drawn, each guarded terrace receding upon the one 
 next higher, all set with cannon and dominated by a massive tower of 
 obsolete construction. 
 
 It takes a good while to see it all, for new stories and stair- 
 ways, wings and terraces, are constantly cropping out in un- 
 expected places, but as it occupies three sides of the rounding 
 cliff and the pilot who comes aboard at the entrance to the chan- 
 nel guides your steamer close up under the frowning battlements, 
 you have ample time to study it. Window holes cut into rock in all 
 directions show how extensive are the excavations. A large garrison is 
 always quartered here, even in time of peace, when their sole business 
 is searching for shady places along the walls against which to lean. 
 There are ranges above ranges of walks, connected by stairways cut into 
 the solid rock, each range covered with lolling soldiers. You pass so 
 near that you can hear them chattering together. Those on the topmost 
 parapet, dangling their blue woolen legs over, are so high and so directly 
 overhead that they remind you of flies on the ceiling. 
 
 In various places small niches have been excavated in the cliff, some 
 with crucifixes, or figures of saints, and in other places the bare, un- 
 broken wall of rock runs up, sheer straight 100 feet. Below, on the 
 ocean side, are caves, deep, dark and uncanny, worn deep into the rock. 
 Some of them are so extensive that they have not been explored in gen- 
 erations. 
 
 The broad and lofty entrances to one of them, hollowed by the 
 encroaching sea, is as perfect an arch as could be drawn by a skillful 
 architect, and with it a tradition is connected which dates back a couple 
 of centuries. A story or two above these wave-eaten caverns are many 
 small windows, each heavily barred with iron. They are dungeons dug 
 into the solid rock, and over them might well be written, "Leave hope 
 behind, ye who enter here!" A crowd of haggard, pallid faces are 
 pressed against the bars; and as you steam slowly by, so close that you 
 might speak to the wretched prisoners, it seems as if a shadow had sud- 
 denly fallen upon the bright sunshine, and a chill, like that of coming 
 death, oppresses the heart. Since time out of niind, the Moro of Santi- 
 
146 THE CITIES OF CUBA. 
 
 ago has furnished dungeons for those who have incurred the displeasure 
 of the government infinitely more to be dreaded than its namesake in 
 Havana, Had these slimy walls a tongue, what stories they might 
 reveal of crime and suffering, of tortures nobly undergone, of death 
 prolonged through dragging years and murders that will not "out" 
 until the judgment day. 
 
 Against that old tower, a quarter of a century ago our country- 
 men of the Virginius were butchered like sheep. Scores of later patriots 
 have been led out upon the ramparts and shot, their bodies, perhaps, 
 with life yet in them, falling into the sea, where they were snapped up 
 by sharks as soon as they touched the water. 
 
 The narrow, winding channel which leads from the open sea into 
 the harbor, pursues its sinuous course past several other fortifications 
 of quaint construction, but of little use against modern guns between 
 low hills and broad meadows, fishing hamlets and cocoanut groves. 
 Presently you turn a sharp angle, in the hills and enter a broad, land- 
 locked bay, inclosed on every side by ranges of hills with numerous 
 points and promontories jutting into the tranquil water, leaving deep 
 little coves behind them, all fringed with cocoa-palms. Between this 
 blue bay and a towering background of purple mountains lies the city 
 which Diego Velazquez, its founder, christened in honor of the patron 
 saint of Spain, as far back as the year 1514. It is the oldest standing 
 city in the new world, excepting Santo Domingo, which Columbus him- 
 self established only eighteen years earlier. By the way, San Jago, 
 San Diego and Santiago, are really the same name, rendered Saint 
 James in our language; and wherever the Spaniards have been are num- 
 bers of them. This particular city of Saint James occupies a sloping 
 hillside, 600 miles southeast from Havana, itself the capital of a depart- 
 ment, and ranks the third city of Cuba in commercial importance 
 Matanzas being second. As usual in all these southern ports, the water 
 is too shallow for large vessels to approach the dock and steamers 
 have to anchor a mile from shore. While waiting the coming of health 
 or customs officials, these lordly gentlemen who are never given to un- 
 dignified haste, you have ample time to admire the prospect, and if the 
 truth must be told, you will do well to turn about without going ashore, 
 if you wish to retain the first delightful impressions for this old city 
 of Spain's patron saint is one of the many to which distance lends en- 
 chantment. 
 
 Red-roofed buildings of stone and adobe entirely cover the hillside, 
 
w 
 j 
 H 
 en 
 < 
 
 
 O 
 a 
 
THE CITIES OF CUBA. 149 
 
 with here and there a dome, a tower, a church steeple shooting upward, 
 or a tall palm poking its head above a garden wall the glittering green 
 contrasting well with the ruddy tiles and the pink, gray, blue and yel- 
 low of the painted walls. In the golden light of a tropical morning it 
 looks like an oriental town, between sapphire sea and turquoise moun- 
 tains. Its low massive buildings, whose walls surround open courts, 
 with pillared balconies and corridors, the great open windows protected 
 by iron bars instead of glass, and roofs covered with earthen tiles are 
 a direct importation from Southern Spain, if not from further east. Tan- 
 giers, in Africa, is built upon a similar sloping hillside, and that capital 
 of Morocco does not look a bit more Moorish than Santiago de Cuba, On 
 the narrow strip of land bordering the eastern edge of the harbor, the 
 Moro at one end and the city at the other, are some villas, embowered 
 in groves and gardens, which, we are told, belong mostly to Americans 
 who are interested in the Cobre mines. The great iron piers on the right 
 belong to the American mining companies, built for loading ore upon 
 tbeir ships. 
 
 Cardinas. 
 
 Fifty miles east of Matanzas is the city of Cardinas, the last port 
 of any consequence on the north coast of the island. It has a popula- 
 tion of 25,000, and is the capital of a fertile district. It is one of the 
 main outlets of Cuba's richest province, Matanzas, and is the great rail- 
 road center of the island, or, more properly speaking, it ought to be, 
 as the railroads of the country form a junction fifteen miles inland, at 
 an insignificant station called Jouvellenes. 
 
 In time of peace Cardinas enjoys a thriving business, particularly 
 in sugar and molasses, its exports of the former sometimes amounting 
 to 100,000 tons a year. To the west and south stretch the great sugar 
 estates which have made this section of Spain's domain a prize to be 
 fought for. The water side of the town is faced with long wharves and 
 lined with warehouses, and its extensive railway depot would do credit 
 to any metropolis. 
 
 There are a few pretentious public buildings, including the customs* 
 house, hospital and college. Its cobble paved. streets are considerably 
 wider than those of Havana, and have two lines of horse cars. There 
 is gas and electric light, and more two-story houses than one is accus- 
 tomed to see on the island. 
 
 But, notwithstanding the broad, blue bay in front, and the Paseo, 
 8 
 
150 TUP] CITIES OF CUBA. 
 
 whose tall trees seem to be touching' finger tips across the road, con- 
 gratulating each other on the presence of eternal summer, Car.dinas is 
 not an attractive town. One misses the glamor of antiquity and his- 
 toric interest which pervades Havana, Matanzas and Santiago, and feels 
 somehow that the town is new without being modern, young but not 
 youthful. 
 
 Other Cities of Importance. 
 
 Puerto Principe, or to give it its full name in the Spanish tongue, 
 Santa Maria de Puerto Principe, is the capital of the Central depart- 
 ment, and is situated about midway between the north and south coasts, 
 305 miles southeast of Havana, and forty-five miles southwest of Nue- 
 vitas, its port, with which it is connected by railroad. Its population 
 is about 30,000 and it is surrounded by a rich agricultural district, the 
 chief products of which are sugar and tobacco. The climate is hot, 
 moist and unhealthy. It was at one time the seat of the supreme court 
 of all the Spanish colonies in America. 
 
 One of the most attractive cities of Cuba is Trinidad, which lies near 
 the south coast, three miles by rail from the port of Casildas. It is 
 beautifully situated on high land overlooking the sea, and on account of 
 its mild and very equable climate it is a favorite resort for tourists and 
 invalids. 
 
 Nuevitas, Sancti Espiritu, Baracoa and Cienfuegos are all centers 
 of population with many natural advantages, and with a just form of 
 government, and the advent of American enterprise and capital, they 
 might become prosperous, attractive, and of great commerical import- 
 ance. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 MUTTERINGS OF INSURRECTION. 
 
 Blavery in Cuba Horrible Tortures Inflicted The Conspiracy of Lopez 
 The United States Interferes Lopez Captured and Executed Seizure 
 of American Ships Our Government Demands and Secures Indemnity 
 From Spain Enormous Salaries of Cuban Officials Oppressive Taxa- 
 tion. 
 
 Slavery was a demoralizing influence to Cuba as it has been to 
 every other country in which the system has existed, and to its pres- 
 ence was traced one of the most sensational episodes in all the sensa- 
 tional history of the unhappy island. It is impossible to know to what 
 extent the suspected insurrection of sla,ves on the sugar plantations 
 about Matanzas was an actual threat. So horrible were the charges 
 made by the accusers that it is almost impossible to believe them. At 
 any rate, such an insurrection was anticipated, and the authorities 
 took measures to crush it out, more severe than any such govern- 
 mental movement has been since the days of the Spanish Inquisition 
 itself. It was impossible to obtain witnesses, by ordinary methods, so 
 the most shocking forms of torture were employed. Those who refused 
 to confess whatever charges happened to be brought against them 
 were tortured till they did confess, and then probably executed for 
 the crimes which they admitted under such circumstances. By such 
 "judicial" processes, 1,346 persons were convicted, of whom seventy- 
 eight were shot and the others punished less severely in various ways. 
 Hundreds of others died from the tortures to which they were sub- 
 jected, or in the foul prisons in which they were confined, and of these 
 we have no record. Of those convicted and punished under the alleged 
 forms of law, fourteen were white, 1,242 were free negroes, and fifty- 
 nine were slaves. The negroes of Cuba have never forgotten the bar- 
 barities to which their parents were subjected in that trying year. 
 
 The most notable outbreak of Cuban insurrectionary forces prior 
 to that of the Ten Years' war, which began in 1868, was that known 
 as the conspiracy of Lopez. 
 
 151 
 
152 MUTTERINGS OF INSURRECTION. 
 
 As early as May, 1847, Narcisso Lopez and a number of his asso- 
 ciates who had planned an insurrection in the central part of the 
 island, were pursued to the United States by Spanish agents, who had 
 kept track of their conspiracy. The Lone Star Society was in close 
 sympathy with these refugees, and to a certain extent the two were 
 co-existent. Lopez, in 1849, organized a military expedition to invade 
 Cuba. By the exertions of the officers of the United States govern- 
 ment the sailing of the expedition was prevented. Notwithstanding 
 the activity of the government, however, Lopez, in the following year, 
 got together a force of 600 men outside of the United States, shipped 
 arms and ammunition to them from this country, and on May 19, 
 1850, made a landing at Cardenas. 
 
 The United States authorities had put the Spanish government in 
 Cuba on the alert for this expedition. President Taylor had issued a 
 proclamation warning all citizens of the United States not to take 
 part in such an expedition or to assist it in any way. The expedition 
 was driven out to sea from Cardenas a few days after it landed, sailed 
 for Key West, and there disbanded. Meantime there were a number 
 of uprisings in the island between groups of unhappy natives who had 
 not the wisdom to co-operate in the effort to resist the oppressive hand 
 of the Spaniards. 
 
 In August of 1851, Lopez eluded the United States authorities at 
 the port of New Orleans, and sailed out into the Gulf of Mexico with 
 an expedition 450 strong. His lieutenant on this expedition was a 
 Colonel Crittenden, a native of the State of Kentucky. They landed 
 near Bahia Honda, about thirty miles west of Havana, and found the 
 government forces waiting for them. Colonel Crittenden, with a sub- 
 division of 150 men, was compelled to surrender, and the rest were 
 scattered. Lopez, with fifty others, was captured, taken to Havana, 
 and there executed. 
 
 The circumstances attending the Lopez failure, and several Span- 
 ish outrages against American citizens and vessels, aroused deep feel- 
 ing in the United States, and the sentiment was growing rapidly that 
 it was a national duty to our own peace, to do something that would 
 make the troublesome neighbor a pleasant one. It was fifty years 
 before action was taken, but, once begun, it was well done. 
 
 It w r as in 1848, prior to the Lopez invasion, that President Polk 
 made the first approaches to the Spanish government with a sugges- 
 tion to purchase the island for |100,000,000, but was refused with 
 
MUTTEKINGS OF INSURRECTION. 153 
 
 scant consideration. A few years later came the succession of attacks 
 on American merchant vessels by Spanish ships of war, on the pre- 
 text that the intercepted craft were in filibuster service. Some of 
 these were fired on, and the American mail bags opened, the steam- 
 ships Falcon and Crescent City being in this list. The most flagrant 
 case was that of the Black Warrior, a large steamer in coasting trade 
 between New York and Mobile. In February, 1850, while in the har- 
 bor of Havana, she was stopped, her cargo confiscated, and a fine of 
 twice its value declared. Her captain hauled down the colors, and 
 taking them with him, left the vessel as a Spanish capture. After five 
 years of "diplomacy," Spain paid an indemnity of $300,000 for the out- 
 rage. 
 
 It was in 1852 that the governments of Great Britain and France 
 tried to draw the United States into an agreement on the question of 
 Cuba, which was happily refused on genuinely American grounds. It 
 was suggested that all the parties should be bound not to acquire 
 Cuba themselves, nor to permit any other power to do so. Our gov- 
 ernment gave the proposal respectful consideration, but declined to 
 enter into any such arrangement, on the ground that we prefer to 
 avoid entangling foreign alliances, that it would be unwise, if not 
 unconstitutional, to tie our hands for the future regardless of what 
 might happen, and that on geographical grounds, while England and 
 France were making very slight concessions, we were asked to make 
 a very important one. 
 
 The United States came as near to the purchase of Cuba in 1854 
 as it ever was, but Spain gave the plan little encouragement. Three 
 'American ministers to European countries, Messrs. Buchanan, Mason 
 and Soule, met at Ostend and formulated a plan for the purchase, sign- 
 ing and issuing what came to be known as the Ostend manifesto. 
 They recommended the purchase of the island for $120,000,000, and 
 that in no event should it be allowed to come under the power of any 
 other European government than the one by which it was held. At 
 this time, and afterward, while filibustering expeditions were fre- 
 quent and disorder constantly threatening in Cuba, the subject of the 
 acquisition of Cuba was discussed in Congress, but no headway was 
 made in the matter. At last, conditions in the island became intol- 
 erable to the patriots there, and the Ten Years' war began. 
 
 It is necessary at this point to relate some of the causes of the fre- 
 quent disorders and uprisings in the islnnd of Cuba. Some of the 
 
154 MUTTERINGS OF INSURRECTION. 
 
 features of Spanish, misgovernment in the colony have been named, 
 but the catalogue is far from complete. 
 
 The most judicial writers, however bitterly they condemn Spain, 
 admit that that peninsular kingdom has itself suffered and that the 
 people have suffered almost beyond endurance themselves. Cuba is 
 not the only land with which we may share a little of our sympathy. 
 But sympathy for Spain must come from other things than oppression 
 from without. Her oppression is within her own borders, and her 
 authorities have tried to shift the burden of it to the colonists across 
 the sea. The debt of Spain has reached enormous proportions, and 
 having fallen from her high estate as a commercial nation, it has 
 become impossible for the great interest charges on her floating debt 
 to be paid by ordinary and correct methods. Says one writer: "To 
 pay the interest necessitates the most grinding oppression. The mov- 
 ing impulse is not malice, but the greed of the famishing; and 
 oppressor and oppressed alike are the objects for sympathy." 
 
 The annual revenue raised in the island of Cuba had reached 
 nearly $26,000,000 by the time of the outbreak of the Ten Years' war, 
 and preparations were in progress for largely increasing the exac- 
 tions. The large revenue raised was expended in ways to irritate the 
 Cubans or any one else who had to help pay it. The annual salary of 
 the captain general was $50,000, when the president of the United 
 States was getting only $25,000 a year. Each provincial governor in 
 Cuba got a salary of $12,000, while the prime minister of Spain 
 received only half that. 
 
 The bishop of Havana and the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba 
 each received a salary of $18,000. All offices, civil, military and eccle- 
 siastical, were productive of rich perquisites, except in those cases 
 where stealing was simpler. Wholesale corruption in the custom 
 houses was generally known and admitted by all. The thefts in the 
 custom houses in Havana was estimated at forty per cent, and in 
 Santiago at seventy per cent of the entire revenue. All offices except 
 the very lowest, in church and state alike, were filled by men sent 
 from Spain, with the frank understanding that as soon as he could, 
 each new appointee could garner a fortune by fair means and foul 
 combined, he should retire and let another be sent over to have a turn 
 at the plunder. The result of this was that strangers were always in 
 authority, men with no sympathy for local need, and no local reputa- 
 
MUTTEBINGS OP INSURRECTION. 155 
 
 tion to sustain. It is perfectly obvious what sort of a public service 
 such conditions would create. 
 
 As might have been expected, the result was the growth of two 
 parties, one the native-born Cubans, and called the insulares, the other 
 of those from Spain, and their adherents, known as the peninsulares. 
 The line between them has been sharply drawn for many years, and 
 they are on opposite sides of everything. It is from the ranks of the 
 continentals that the volunteer corps of Cuba has been drawn, one of 
 the most aggravating and threatening of all influences against peace 
 in Cuba. 
 
 Spain imposed differential duties in such a way as to virtually 
 monopolize the trade of the island. At the same time the prices of all 
 imports to Cuba were forced to an unnatural figure, to the great dis- 
 tress of the people. Petty oppression in postage and in baptismal 
 fees multiplied, so that instead of petty it became great. The increase 
 in taxation, of Cuba for use in Spain in two years prior to the outbreak 
 of the Ten Years' war was more than $14,000,000, and the next year 
 it was proposed to increase it still more. The cities were hopelessly 
 in debt and unable to make the most ordinary and most necessary 
 public improvements. What few schools there had been were nearly 
 all closed. Lacking insane asylums, the unfortunate of that class 
 were kept in the jails. The people saw a country separated from them 
 but by a narrow stretch of water, where freedom reigned. They saw 
 that they were being heavily oppressed with taxation for the benefit 
 of the people of Spain, and that, in addition, they were being robbed 
 mercilessly for the benefit of the authorities who were placed over 
 them temporarily. If the money collected from them had been 
 expended for their benefit in the island, or had been expended hon- 
 estly, the case might have been different. As it was, however, an 
 intolerable condition had been endured too long, and they rose against 
 it for the struggle known to history as the Ten Years' war. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 OUTBREAK OF THE TEN YEARS' WAR 
 
 Cuba Again Stirred to Turmoil The Taxes of the Island Increased A 
 Declaration of Independence Civil Government Organized Meeting 
 of the Legislature, and Election of Officers The Edict of a Tyrant. 
 
 Before the outbreak of the Ten Years' War, the reform party in 
 Cuba, which included all the most enlightened, wealthy and influential 
 citizens of the island, had. exhausted all the resources at their com- 
 mand to induce Spain to establish a more just and equitable adminis- 
 tration of affairs, but all to no avail. 
 
 It was proposed that Cuba receive an autonomist constitution. The 
 abolition of the supreme power of the Captain General, the freedom of 
 the press, the right of petition, the regulation of the chief frauds by 
 which elections were so arranged that no Cuban could hold govern- 
 ment o s ffice, the right of assembly, representation in the Cortes, and 
 complete local self-government were among the reforms asked for. 
 The plans were considered in Spain and were reconsidered, and con- 
 sidered again, and that was about all that ever came of them, except 
 that in June, 1868, Captain General Lersundi was permitted to raise 
 the direct taxes on the island ten per cent. 
 
 Finally, driven to a point where they could endure it no longer, 
 they made the start, for freedom, and began to fight for it, as brave 
 men should do and have done through the history of the world. 
 
 Several months before the revolution in Spain and the abdication 
 of Isabella, measures had been taken to prepare for the effort to 
 achieve independence. At last matters progressed so rapidly in the 
 mother country that the Cubans dared not wait for the completion of 
 their plans, but on October 10, 1868, began the hostilities. On that 
 day, Carlos M. de Cespedes, a lawyer of Bayamo, took the initiative 
 with 128 poorly armed men, and issued a declaration of independence 
 at Yara. This declaration justified itself by referring in the following 
 terms to the grievances that have been outlined: 
 
 "In arming ourselves against the tyrannical government of Spain, 
 we must, according to precedent in all civilized countries, proclaim 
 
 156 
 
OUTBREAK OF THE TEN YEARS' WAR. 157 
 
 before the world the cause that impels us to take this step, which, 
 though likely to entail considerable disturbances upon the present, 
 
 will ensure the happiness of the future And as Spain 
 
 has many a time promised us Cubans to respect our rights, without 
 having fulfilled her promises; and she continues to tax us heavily, and 
 by so doing is likely to destroy our wealth ; as we are in danger of los- 
 ing our property, our lives and our honor under Spanish dominion," etc. 
 
 Within a few weeks Cespedes was at the head of 15,000 men, ill- 
 prepared for war, so far as arms and equipment were concerned, but 
 well provided with resolution, bravery and a just cause. A civil gov- 
 ernment was organized, and a constitution drawn up, providing for an 
 elective president and vice-president, a cabinet, and a single legislative 
 chamber. It also declared the immediate abolition of slavery. This 
 constitution was promulgated at Guaimaro in Central Cuba, on the 
 10th of April, 1869. The legislature met soon after, and electee!. Ces- 
 pedes president, and Francisco M. Aguilero vice-president. 
 
 This insurrection soon assumed formidable dimensions, and the 
 following edict was issued by General Balmaceda: 
 
 Inhabitants of the country! The reinforcement of troops that I have 
 been waiting for have arrived. With them I shall give protection to the 
 good, and punish promptly those that still remain in rebellion against the 
 government of the metropolis. 
 
 You know that I have pardoned those who have fought us with arms; 
 that your wives, mothers and sisters have found in me the unexpected pro- 
 tection that you have refused them. You know, also, that many of those we 
 have pardoned have turned against us again. Before such ingratitude, such 
 villainy, it is not possible for me to be the man I have been; there is no 
 longer a place for a falsified neutrality; he that is not for me is against me; 
 and that my soldiers may know how to distinguish, you hear the order they 
 carry. 
 
 1st. Every man, from the age of fifteen years upward, found away from 
 his habitation (finca), and who does not prove a justified motive therefor, 
 will be shot. 
 
 2nd. Every habitation unoccupied will be burned by the troops. 
 
 3rd. Every habitation from which does not float a white flag, as a sig- 
 nal that its occupants desire peace, will be reduced to ashes. 
 
 Women that are not living in their own homes, or at the houses of their 
 relatives, will collect in the town of Jiguani, or Bayamo, where maintenance 
 will be provided. Those who do not present themselves will be conducted 
 forciblv. 
 
158 OUTBREAK OF THE TEN YEARS' WAR. 
 
 The foregoing determinations will commence to take effect on the 14th 
 of the present month. EL CONDE DE BALMAGEDA. 
 
 Bayamo, April 4, 1869. 
 
 Even Wej'ler, the "Butcher," has never succeeded in concocting a 
 manifesto that surpassed this in malicious excuses for the ancient 
 Spanish amusements of pillage, incendiarism and murder. 
 
 The Cause a Just One. 
 
 It is now conceded by high Spanish authorities that the insurgents 
 had just grounds for this revolt, and Senor Dupuy de Lome, formerly 
 the Spanish minister to the United States, admits in a letter to the 
 New York Herald that a very large majority of the leading citizens of 
 the island were in sympathy witli the struggle for liberty. 
 
 The new government received the moral support of nearly all of the 
 South American republics, but as many of them were troubled with 
 internal dissensions, and uncertain of their own security, they were 
 not in a condition to furnish assistance of a more practical nature, and 
 the revolutionists were left to work out their own salvation. 
 
 In an exhaustive review of the trouble between Spain and her 
 Cuban possessions, published in 1873, the Edinburg Review said: 
 
 "It is well known that Spain governs the island of Cuba with an 
 iron and bloodstained hand. The former holds the latter deprived oi 
 civil, political and religious liberty. Hence the unfortunate Cubans 
 being illegally prosecuted and sent into exile, or executed by military 
 commissions in time of peace; hence their being kept from public 
 meeting, and forbidden to speak or write on affairs of state; hence 
 their remonstrances against the evils that afflict them being looked 
 upon as the proceedings of rebels, from the fact that they are bound to 
 keep silence and obey; hence the never-ending plague of hungry 
 officials from Spain to devour the product of their industry and labor; 
 hence their exclusion from public stations, and want of opportunity to 
 fit themselves for the art of government; hence the restrictions to 
 which public instruction with them is subjected, in order to keep them 
 so ignorant as not to be able to know and enforce their rights in any 
 shape or form whatever; hence the navy and the standing army, 
 Avhich are kept in their country at an enormous expenditure from their 
 own wealth, to make them bend their knees and submit their necks to 
 the iron yoke that disgraces them; hence the grinding taxation under 
 which they labor, and which would make them all perish in misery but 
 for the marvelous fertility of their soil." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 THE MASSACRE OF THE VIRGINIUS OFFICERS AND CREW. 
 
 Bxertement in the United States over a Spanish Outrage of Twenty-five Years 
 Ago The Virginius a Blockade Runner Severity of the Spanish Court 
 Martial Insolence to the American Consul Indignation in the United 
 States Negotiations Between Washington and Madrid Settlement an 
 Unsatisfactory One to Most People No Just Retribution Ever Made. 
 
 It was less than twenty-five years before the destruction of the 
 Maine, that another vessel whose crew met its fate in a Spanish port in 
 Cuba was the subject of as intense public interest in the United States 
 as that created by the catastrophe of 1898. The hopeful progress of the 
 Cuban revolution of 1868-78 had stimulated their friends in the United 
 States to aid the insurgents in every way possible, by money, men and 
 the munitions of war. Filibustering was constant and. scarcely discour- 
 aged by the people of the United States, in spite of the protest of Spain. 
 It was as a result of this condition that the terrible affair of the Virgin- 
 ius occurred. 
 
 The case of the Virginius had in it elements of tragedy that made it 
 more spectacular and dramatic than that of the Maine, aCnd American 
 spirit was worked to an even higher tension than it is now, before diplo- 
 macy and caution averted a war between the United States and Spain. 
 In the case of the Virginius the facts of Spanish aggression were in no 
 way denied, but, on the contrary, avowed for a time with pride, until 
 the authorities at Madrid subdued their people, who were making a set- 
 tlement more difficult by their talk. The only controversy was as to 
 whether or not Spam's action in the matter was within its rights. But 
 the settlement, however it might have left the rights of the vessel still 
 unsolved, was a rebuke to Spain, and for its execution of American citi- 
 zens with scarcely a formality of law Spain has never been forgiven by 
 those who remember it, whatever diplomacy decided as to being satis- 
 fied. 
 
 The Virginius was originally an English-built sidewheel steamer 
 called the Virgin, and during the war between the States was one of the 
 most famous of blockade runners until captured by a vessel of the 
 
 159 
 
160 THE MASSACRE OF THE VIKGINIUS. 
 
 United States. In 1870 she was sold in Washington to an agent of the 
 Cuban Junta at New York, her name was changed to Virginius, and she 
 cleared for Curacoa in the West Indies. From that time till her un- 
 happy fate she was never in United States waters. At Aspinwall and 
 in the ports of Venezuela and the West Indies she was known for three 
 years as the most daring and the most successful of filibusters, making 
 repeated landings on the Cuban coast with supplies of arms, ammuni- 
 tion, food and clothes for the insurgents who were then fighting the Ten- 
 Years' war. In all her filibustering it was claimed, however, that the 
 Virginius never lost her character as an American ship, though the 
 Cuban flag was kept at the masthead whenever that practice served any 
 good purpose. 
 
 The vessel sailed on the fatal voyage from Kingston, Jamaica, Octo- 
 ber 23, 1873, having cleared at the United States consulate as a United 
 States vessel bound for Port Simon, Costa Kica. The commander was 
 Captain Joseph Fry, a citizen of the United States. The cargo was made 
 up of munitions of war for the Cuban insurgents, and the crew was part 
 of Cuban and part of American citizens. There were also on board a, 
 number of enlisted men on their way to join the insurgent army. 
 
 It was not until October 31 that the Virginius approached the coast 
 of Cuba to make her landing, and was intercepted by the Spanish gun' 
 boat Tornado. The Tornado had been built by the same English firm 
 that constructed the Virginius, also for blockade running, but in the 
 race that followed the Virginius was unable to equal the speed of her 
 Spanish pursuer. The chase lasted eight hours. Finally, at 10 o'clock 
 at night, the Virginius was stopped and surrendered in response to the 
 cannon shots of the Tornado, which had come in range. The captain 
 protested that his papers were regular and that the Virginius was "an 
 American ship, carrying American colors and papers, with an American 
 captain and an American crew." In response he was told that he was< a 
 pirate, his flag was lowered and trampled upon, and the Spanish flag 
 w T as hoisted in its place. 
 
 During the chase after the Virginius, the passengers and crew of 
 the fated vessel were in a state of panic. The cargo, which was made 
 up of war material, was thrown overboard, and all persons on the vessel 
 emptied their trunks of whatever might be considered suspicious. 
 Almost from the instant of the capture the fate of the unfortunate men 
 was assured, and they soon realized the extent of the danger that threat- 
 ened them. 
 
THE MASSACRE OF THE ViRGINIL'S. 161 
 
 Verdict of the Spanish Court-Martial. 
 
 When the Tornado and the Virginius reached Santiago de Cuba the 
 next day the 155 men captured were placed in close confinement and a 
 court-martial was convened at once. The various courts-martial con- 
 demned most if not all of the prisoners to death, this summary proceed- 
 ing being, as was alleged, in accordance with Spanish laws, so far at 
 least as the character of the court and the nature of the judicial forms 
 were concerned. The first executions were on the morning of November 
 4, when four men were shot, one of them being Brigadier Washington 
 Ryan, who claimed British citizenship, as a Canadian, although he had 
 served in the Union army during the late war. The victims were shot in 
 the back, and their bodies were afterward beheaded, the heads dis- 
 played on spikes and the trunks trampled by horses. George W. Sher- 
 man, the correspondent of the New York Herald, tried to sketch the 
 scene and was imprisoned for four days for his attempt. A guard kept 
 the American consul in his house, so he could not appear to protest. 
 
 As the Virginius had displayed the American colors and was char- 
 tered and cleared as an American vessel, she had a prima facie claim to 
 protection as such, until her right should be disproved. Hence Mr. E. G. 
 Schmitt, the American vice-consul at Santiago, was prompt and urgent 
 in demanding access to the prisoners, with a view to protecting the 
 rights of the vessel and any on board who might be American citizens. 
 He was treated with great discourtesy by the provincial governor, who 
 told him in effect that it was none of his business, and persisted in de- 
 claring that they were all pirates and would be dealt with as such. Mr. 
 Schmitt was even refused the use of the submarine cable to consult 
 with the consul at Kingston, Jamaica. He would thus have been left 
 entirely helpless but for the friendly aid of the British and French con- 
 suls. 
 
 On the 8th of November twelve more men were executed, and on the 
 13th thirty-seven were executed, this last batch including the officers 
 and crew of the Virginius and most of the American citizens. At 4 
 o'clock in the afternoon the condemned men were marched to the place 
 of execution, passing and saluting the American consulate, where the 
 flag was not flying from its staff.. 
 
 Captain Fry was shot first, and was the only man, though the 
 soldiers stood but ten feet away, who fell dead at the first volley. The 
 majority of the poor fellows, as the firing continued, were wounded, and 
 
162 THE MASSACRE OF THE VLBGLN1US. 
 
 killed as they lay on the ground by the usual Spanish fashion of firing: 
 rifles in the mouths of those who were disabled. The second engineer 
 of the Virginius was among those executed. He had made a declaration 
 to the Spanish that he had tampered with the engines and cut down the 
 speed of the vessel so that she could be captured, and was marched witk 
 the rest to prevent his comrades from knowing that he was to be spared. 
 He was shot by mistake while making frantic protests and explanations, 
 but, as he was a traitor in one wa}^ or the other, his death was the only 
 
 one of all that was never regretted. 
 
 Protests Were Unheeded. 
 
 During all this time the consuls at Santiago were not idle, but they 
 were helpless. E. G. Schmitt, the American vice-consul, and Theodore 
 Brooks, the British vice-consul, made all sorts of protests that were un- 
 availing. Schmitt was not permitted to see the prisoners before or after 
 the court-martial, until the very end, when he reached Captain Fry and 
 signed his protest with him. He was not permitted the use of the tele- 
 graph in order to communicate with the government at Washington by 
 way of Kingston, Jamaica. 
 
 He wrote repeated notes to Gen. Burriel, the Spanish commander at 
 Santiago, getting no answer to them, until at last an answer came that 
 was more irritating than silence. Burriel told him that he should have 
 known that the previous day was a day of religious festival, during 
 which he and all his officers were engaged in "meditation of the divine 
 mysteries," and could not consider temporal affairs. He also informed 
 the consul that he might be expelled from the island for trying to em- 
 broil the United States and Spain in difficulties if he were not careful. 
 
 Then came the only bright spot in the whole affair. News of what 
 was going on reached Jamaica, and the British gunboat Niobe, Captain 
 Sir Larnbton Lorraine, left for the scene of massacre, sailing in such a 
 hurry that he left some of the crew ashore. The Captain landed at San- 
 tiago before his ship was anchored, and demanded that the slaughter be 
 stopped instantly. He declared that he represented the United States 
 as well as, England, and that he would bombard the city if there wa 
 another American citizen executed. Ninety-three men were under sen- 
 tence of death, many of whom were Americans, but the sentences were 
 immediately suspended and the lives were saved. The Spanish after- 
 ward asserted that the executions were stopped because of orders re- 
 ceived from Madrid. 
 
THE MABSACKE OF THE VIRGINIU8. 1G3 
 
 The next time Sir Lambton Lorraine was in New York he was 
 offered a reception, which he declined. He was presented, however, with 
 a silver brick, on which were engraved the words: "Blood is thicker 
 than water." A resolution of thanks to him was laid on the table in the 
 House of Representatives and never passed. 
 
 American Demands for Vengeance. 
 
 When the news of all this reached the United States, public indigna- 
 tion rose rapidly. Mass-meetings were held demanding vengeance on 
 Spain. President Grant sent special messages to Congress, and the state 
 department began diplomatic negotiations. Hamilton Fish, secretary 
 of state, declared that the Virginius, having been registered as an 
 American vessel carrying official documents regular upon their face and' 
 bearing the United States flag, was entirely beyond the jurisdiction of 
 any other power on the high seas in the time of peace; that if she had 
 secured fraudulent entry or committed any other fraud against the laws 
 of the United States it was for her to be turned over to the United States 
 courts for punishment, and not for her to be captured and punished by 
 some other power. 
 
 The Spanish minister of foreign affairs at that time was Admiral 
 Polo dfc Bernabe, father of the new Spanish minister who succeeded 
 Dupuy de Lome. He wanted to submit the matter to arbitration, and 
 Secretary Fish replied to him that the "United States was ready to refer 
 to arbitration all questions properly subjects for reference, but that the 
 question of an indignity to the flag of the nation and the capture in time 
 of peace on the high sea,s of a vessel bearing that, flag and having also 
 the register and papers of an American ship, is not deemed to be one 
 referable to other powers to determine. A nation must be the judge 
 and custodian of its own honor." 
 
 Most of the men were executed after protests to Madrid began to b** 
 made* Madrid mobs made a demonstration against the American min- 
 ister, General Sickles. November 4, Secretary Fish cabled Sickles: "In 
 case of refusal of satisfactory reparation within twelve days from this 
 date close your legation and leave Madrid." Ten days later, when the 
 executions were over, he telegraphed: "If Spain cannot redress these 
 outrages, the United States will." Ten days after that he wired : "If no 
 settlement is reached by the close of to-morrow, leave." Next day Spain 
 became tractable and war was averted. 
 
164 THE MASSACRE OF THE VIRGINIUS 
 
 By his conduct in Madrid at that time General Sickles made many 
 friends of those Americans who wanted to see energetic action, and 
 many enemies among those who wanted peace at any price. It was 
 alleged afterward that the latter influence became dominant, and that 
 his recall from that post was the result of their work to punish him for 
 his energy that was not always diplomatic in its forms. 
 
 Settlement of the Trouble. 
 
 The terms of settlement of the trouble were that the Virginius 
 should be surrendered to an American warship, with the survivors of 
 those who had been captured with her, and that on December 25 the 
 United States fla,g should be saluted by the Tornado. The surrender 
 was made in the obscure harbor of Bahia Honda, December 16, the 
 Spanish having taken the Virginius there to avoid the humiliation of a 
 surrender in Santiago or Havana, where it should have been made. 
 Captain W. D. Whiting, the chief of staff of the North Atlantic Squad- 
 ron, was appointed to receive the surrender of the Virginius, and the 
 gunboat Dispatch was sent to Bahia Honda with him for that purpose. 
 Lieut. Adolph Marix was the flag lieutenant of the Dispatch, the same 
 who was afterwards the judge-advocate of the court of inquiry on the 
 Maine disaster. The Virginius was delivered with the flag flying, but 
 she was unseaworthy, and, struck by a storm off Cape Hatteras, was 
 sunk on her way to New York. The salute to the flag that had been ar- 
 ranged was waived by the United States because the attorney-general 
 gave an opinion that the Virginius had no right to fly the American 
 flag when she was captured. 
 
 Major Moses P. Handy, afterwards famous as a journalist, was pres- 
 ent at the surrender of the Virginius to the American men of war in 
 the harbor of Bahia Honda, and gives a graphic account of the circum- 
 stances attending that ceremony. In concluding the tale he says: "The 
 surrender of the surviving prisoners of the massacre took place in the 
 course of time at Santiago, owing more to British insistence than to our 
 feeble representation. As to the fifty-three who were killed, Spain 
 never gave us any real satisfaction. For a long time the Madrid govern- 
 ment unblushingly denied that there had been any killing, and when 
 forced to acknowledge the fact they put us off with preposterous ex- 
 cuses. 'Butcher Borriel,' by whose orders the outrage was perpetrated, 
 was considered at Madrid to have been justified by circumstances. It 
 was pretended that orders to suspend the execution of Ryan and his 
 
THE MASSACRE OF THE VIRGINIUS. 167 
 
 associates were 'unfortunately' received too late, owing to interruption 
 of telegraph lines by the insurgents, to whose broad and bleeding shoul- 
 ders an attempt was thus made to shift the responsibility. 
 
 "There was a nominal repudiation of Borriel's act and a promise was 
 made to inflict punishment upon 'those who have offended,' but no pun- 
 ishment was inflicted upon anybody. The Spanish government, with 
 characteristic double dealing, resorted to procrastination, prevarication 
 and trickery, and thus gained time, until new issues effaced in the Amer- 
 ican mind the memory of old wrongs unavenged. Instead of being de- 
 graded, Borriel was promoted. Never to this day has there been any 
 adequate atonement by Spain, much less an apology or expression of 
 regret for the Virginius massacre." 
 
 The amount of money paid to the United States government for dis- 
 tribution among the families of American sufferers b} 7 this affair was 
 $80,000. And that is the extent of the reparation made for the shocking 
 crime. 
 
 The Virginius, although the most conspicuous, was not the only 
 American victim of Spanish misgovernment in Cuba during the Ten 
 Years' war. In 1877 the three whaling vessels, Kising Sun, Ellen Kiz- 
 pah, and Edward Lee, while pursuing their legitimate business under 
 the American flag, outside of Cuban waters, were fired upon and de- 
 tained for days, with circumstances of peculiar hardship and brutality. 
 The United States government investigated the outrage with care, and 
 demanded of Spain an indemnity of $19,500. The demand, however, was 
 not enforced, and the sum of $10,000 was accepted as a compromise set- 
 tlement. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 OPERATIONS OF THE TEN YEARS' WAR. 
 
 The Two Wars Compared The Havana Volunteers The Slaughter at the 
 Villaneuva Theater The Court Martial of the Students A Holiday 
 in Havana The Close of the War The Treaty of Zanjon. 
 
 The reader who has watched closely the struggle in Cuba for the 
 past three years need not be told that Spain has had every advantage 
 in men, money, arms and ammunition. The same state of affairs ex- 
 isted during the Ten Years' War. In fact, the inequality was even 
 greater, for the Spanish army was then composed of experienced sol- 
 diers who were well fed, well clothed and paid regularly. In the pres- 
 ent conflict many of them are boys who have been sent from home to 
 make targets for insurgent bullets. They know comparatively noth- 
 ing of military tactics, they have not been paid for months, and they 
 lack food and clothing. The equipment of the insurgent forces in the 
 former rebellion was even more limited than it has been in this one. 
 While they did not experience serious difficulty in obtaining food, the 
 implements of war in any quantities were beyond their reach. But 
 the same spirit that gave courage to our American heroes in revolu- 
 tionary times was in them, and for ten years they struggled bravely 
 against overwhelming odds. 
 
 It is not possible to tell in detail of the monstrous cruelties practiced 
 by the Spanish army during those years of carnage. Here is the testi- 
 mony of one officer: 
 
 "We captured seventeen, thirteen of whom were shot outright; on 
 dying they shouted, 'Hurrah for Free Cuba, hurrah for independence/ 
 A mulatto said, 'Hurrah for Cespedes/ On the following day we killed 
 a Cuban officer and another man. Among the thirteen that we shot 
 the first day we found three sons and their father. The father wit- 
 nessed the execution of his sons without even changing color, and 
 when his turn came he said he died for the independence of his coun- 
 try. On coming back we brought along with us three carts filled with 
 women and children, the families of those we had shot, and they asked 
 
 168 
 
OPERATIONS OF THE TEN YEARS' WAR. 16l> 
 
 us to shoot them, because they would rather die than lire among Span- 
 iards." 
 
 Another wrote: 
 
 "Not a single Cuban will remain in this island, because we shoot 
 all that we find in the fields, on the farms and in every hovel. We do 
 not leave a creature alive where we pass, be it man or animal. If we 
 find cows we kill them, if horses, ditto, if hogs, ditto, men, women or 
 children, ditto. As to the houses, we burn them. So every one receives 
 his due, the men in balls, the animals in bayonet thrusts. The island 
 will remain a desert." 
 
 In the cities, outrages equally barbarous were committed. 
 
 The Havana Volunteers. 
 
 The Havana volunteers, made up of the Spanish-born residents, in 
 whose favor the government of the island has always been arranged, 
 took possession of Havana, and put it under mob rule. In May, 1870, 
 they marched out in front of the Villaneuva theater and fired volleys 
 into the crowds that were entering. They had reason to believe, some 
 of them said, that the performance to be given there was to raise funds 
 for the insurgent cause. 
 
 So powerful was this organization that shortly after this outrage 
 they placed the Captain-General of the island under arrest, and finally 
 shipped him to Spain, sending word to the home government that he 
 was not severe enough in his rule to suit their views, and suggesting 
 that in case there were no Peninsulars who had the necessary stamina 
 to govern Cuba according to their ideas, they might feel it advisable to 
 assume command themselves* 
 
 On another occasion the dead body of one of these volunteers was 
 placed in a public tomb in Havana, and the repository was found to 
 have been defaced by scurrilous writing on the glass of the door. For 
 no known reason, except a blood-thirsty desire for vengeance on some- 
 one, no matter whether guilty or innocent, it was claimed that the 
 outrage was committed by some of the students of the university, and 
 on complaint of the volunteer corps, forty-three of these young meni 
 were arrested. 
 
 They were arraigned before the military tribunal, and so mani- 
 festly unjust was the accusation that an officer of the regular army of 
 Spain volunteered to defend them. There was absolutely no proof 
 against them, and they were acquitted. But the volunteers were deter* 
 
170 OPERATIONS OF THE TEN YEARS' WAR. 
 
 mined that their victims should not escape, and taking advantage of 
 the fear in which they were held, even by the Havana officials, they 
 forced the Governor-General to issue an order for a second court- 
 martial. At this examination they manipulated matters so that two 
 thirds of the members of the trial board were connected with their 
 organization, and a verdict of guilty was quickly rendered against all 
 of the prisoners. Eight of them were sentenced to be shot, and the 
 others to long terms of imprisonment at hard labor. 
 
 The day of the execution was a holiday in Havana. Bands of music 
 paraded the streets, followed by the volunteers, 15,000 strong, while 
 behind them, bound in chains, and under military guard, came the 
 eight boys who had been condemned to die. Conscious of their inno- 
 cence of any crime, they did not falter, but marched bravely to the 
 place of execution, where they faced their murderers and fell, riddled 
 fey bullets from the rifles of the volunteers. The report of this affair 
 sent a thrill of horror throughout the whole of the civilized world, and 
 the perpetrators of the outrage were severely censured by the Span- 
 ish Cortes, but there was no attempt at punishment, nor were the ones 
 who had been imprisoned released. 
 
 Meantime the war was being carried on in the provinces with vary- 
 ing success, but dissensions finally arose between the civil and mili- 
 tary authorities of the republic of Cuba, and as "a house divided against 
 itself cannot stand," the effectiveness of the campaign was destroyed, 
 and, in 1878, concessions were offered by the Spanish government, 
 which were accepted by the revolutionists, and the struggle was aban- 
 doned. 
 
 What the outcome of the contest might have been, could it have 
 been continued with the leaders united for its success, is an open ques- 
 tion. As the years went by the rank and file of the Cuban army seemed 
 to be more determined than ever to throw off the yoke, and the gov- 
 ernment in Spain became less prompt in sending supplies of men and 
 money to carry on the war. They eagerly seized the opportunity to 
 bring it to a close, and the treaty of Zanjon, which was signed by Gen- 
 eral Martinez Campos, the Spanish Governor-General of the island, 
 and General Maximo Gomez, Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban army, 
 promised many reforms, and gave amnesty to all who had taken part 
 in the rebellion. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 THE PEACE OF ZANJON AND ITS VIOLATED PLEDGES. 
 
 Spanish Hypocrisy and Deceit Cubans Denied Representation Increase of 
 Taxation The Royal Edicts A Plausible Argument, Which Is Not 
 Borne Out by Facts Spain's Promises Always Broken. 
 
 If Spain had been sincere in the promises of reform she made her 
 Cuban colony when the treaty of Zanjon was signed, it is probable 
 that the present war would have never occurred. For while a few of 
 the leaders notably General Maceo refused to become pacified, the 
 great majority of the better classes were glad to accept a peaceful set- 
 tlement on terms that gave them, in fact, if not in name, nearly every 
 concession for which they had fought. 
 
 But it did not take them long to learn that they had been duped. 
 Spain granted to Cuba the liberties of Puerto Eico, which had none. 
 On this deceitful ground was laid the new situation, through which 
 ran a current of falsehood and hypocrisy. Spain, whose mind did not 
 change, hastened to change the name of things. The captain-general 
 was called the governor-general. The royal decrees took the name 
 of authorizations. The commercial monopoly of Spain was named 
 coasting trade. The right of banishment was transformed into the 
 law of vagrancy. The brutal attacks of defenseless citizens were called 
 "componte." The law of constitutional guarantees became the law of 
 public order. Taxation without the consent or knowledge of the Cuban 
 people was changed into the law of estimates (budget) voted by the 
 representatives of Spain. 
 
 The painful lesson of the Ten Years' War was entirely lost on 
 Spain. Instead of inaugurating a redeeming policy that would heal 
 the recent wounds, allay public anxiety, and quench the thirst for jus- 
 tice felt by the people, who were desirous to enjoy their natural rights, 
 the Peninsula, while lavish in promises of reform, persisted in carry- 
 ing on, unchanged, its old and crafty system, namely: to exclude 
 every native Cuban from every office that could give him any effective 
 influence and intervention in public affairs ; the ungovernable exploita- 
 tion of the colonists' labor for the benefit of Spanish commerce and 
 
 171 
 
172 TilE PEACE OF /AN JON. 
 
 Spanish bureaucracy, both civil and military. To carry out the latter 
 purpose it was necessary to maintain the former at any cost. 
 
 Mr. Clarence King, a recognized authority on political subjects con- 
 nected with Cuban affairs, says: 
 
 "The main concession for which the insurgents accepted peace was 
 the promise of constitutional reform, ^s a matter of fact, there 
 promptly followed four royaJ edicts as follows: June 9, entitling Cuba 
 to elect deputies to the Cortes, one for each 40,000 people; June 9, 
 dividing the island into the present six provinces; June 21, instituting 
 a system of provincial and municipal government, followed on August 
 16 by the necessary electoral regulations. But the system was imme- 
 diately seen to be the shadow without the substance of self-govern- 
 ment. The Provincial Assembly could nominate only three candidates 
 for presiding officer. It was the inevitable governor-general who had 
 the power to appoint, not necessarily one of the three nominees, but 
 any member of the Assembly he chose. But all this provincial machin- 
 ery is in reality an empty form, since expressly by law the governor- 
 general was given the power to prorogue the assemblies at will. The 
 deputies have never been able to accomplish anything in the Cortes. 
 Moreover the crux of the whole financial oppression tariff, taxes, and 
 absolute control and expenditure of the revenue remained with 
 Spain." 
 
 The loyal Spaniard insists that every agreement entered into by his 
 government was faithfully carried out; that the Cubans were given 
 from time to time even greater liberties than the treaty promised them ; 
 and that in several matters of importance, immunities have been 
 granted them that the people of the mother country did not share. 
 
 The Assistant Colonial Secretary of Spain concludes a voluminous 
 defense of the policy of his government in Cuba as follows: 
 
 There is thus no reason in Cuba to complain of the illiberality of 
 the laws. If there has been any shortcoming in respect to morals, the 
 nation is not to blame; none but the colonial provinces are to blame 
 for this; if we proposed to seek comfort in comparisons, it would not 
 be necessary to look for them in South America, in the countries that 
 have emancipated themselves from the Spanish mother-country, be- 
 cause examples (some of them very recent) of acts of violence, anarchj 
 and scandalous outbreaks c.ould be found in the States of the Union 
 itself. 
 
 In respect to another matter, a great deal of foolish talk is indulged 
 in. From the statements of some people it would appear that Cuba 
 
THE PEACE OF ZANJON. 173 
 
 does nothing but contribute, by the taxes which it pays, to alleviate 
 the burdens of the peninsular treasury, whereas, in reality, just the 
 contrary is the truth. The nation has, of late, guaranteed the conver- 
 sion of Spanish debts in Cuba, which took place in 1886 and 1890. 
 Owing to these operations, and to the fact that all taxes which did not 
 have to be met directly by its government have been rigorously elim- 
 inated from the budget of Cuba, it was possible to reduce the Cuban 
 budget from forty-six and one-half million dollars, which was its 
 amount at the close of the former war (for the fiscal year of 1878-79) to 
 a little more than twenty-three millions of dollars, as appears from the 
 budget of 1893. 
 
 The financial laws have been assimilated, and if the system of taxa- 
 tion has not been entirely assimilated, this is because of the fact that 
 direct taxes are very repugnant to the popular feeling in Cuba, espe- 
 cially the tax on land, which is the basis of the Peninsular budget. It 
 appears, however, that our Cuban brethren have no reason to complain 
 in this respect. The direct tax on rural property is two per cent, in 
 Cuba, whereas in Spain it is seventeen, and even twenty per cent. It 
 is evident that every budget must be based on something; in Cuba, as 
 in all other countries in which the natural conditions are similar, that 
 something must necessarily be the income from customs duties. Not- 
 withstanding this, it may be remarked that in the years when the 
 greatest financial distress prevailed, the Spanish Government never 
 hesitated to sacrifice that income when it was necessary to do so in 
 order to meet the especial need of the principal agricultural product 
 of Cuba. Consequently the Spanish commercial treaty with the 
 United States was concluded, which certainly had not been concluded 
 before, owing to any fault of the Spanish Government. Under that 
 treaty, the principal object of which was to encourage the exportation 
 of Cuban sugar, which found its chief market in the States of the 
 Union, many Spanish industries were sacrificed which have formerly 
 supplied the wants of the people of Cuba. That sacrifice was unhesi- 
 tatingly made, and now that the treaty is no longer in force, is due to 
 the fact that the new American tariff has stricken sugar from the free 
 list 
 
 Attention may also be called to the fact that the colonial provinces 
 alone enjoy exemption from the blood tax, Cuba never having been 
 obliged to furnish military recruits. 
 
 The disqualifications of the Cubans to hold public office is purely a 
 myth. Such disqualifications is found on the text of no law or regula- 
 
174 THE PEACE OF ZANJON. 
 
 tion, and in point of fact there is no such exclusion. In order to verify 
 this assertion it would be sufficient to examine the lists of Cuban 
 officers, especially of those employed in the administration of justice 
 and in all branches of instruction. Even if it were desired to make a 
 comparison of political offices, even of those connected with the func- 
 tions which are discharged in the Peninsula, the proportion would still 
 be shown in which Spaniards in Cuba aspire to both. The fact is that 
 a common fallacy is appealed to in the language habitually used by the 
 enemies of Spain, who call persons "Peninsulars" who were not born in 
 Cuba, but have resided there many years and have all their ties and 
 interests there, and do not call those "Cubans" who were born there 
 and have left the island in order to meet necessities connected, per- 
 haps, with their occupation. This was done in the Senate, when the 
 advocates of the separation of Cuba only were called "Cubans," while 
 those only who refused allegiance to the Spanish mother-country were 
 called patriots. 
 
 In conclusion, I will relate a fact which may appear to be a joke, 
 but which, in a certain way, furnished proof of what I have just said. 
 When Kafael Gasset returned from Habana, he came and asked me for 
 some data showing the proportion of Cubans holding office under our 
 Government. I asked him, as a preliminary question, for a definition 
 of what we were to understand by "Cuban" and what by "Peninsular!" 
 He immediately admitted that the decision of the whole question was 
 based upon that definition, and I called his attention to the fact that 
 here, in the Ministry of the Colonies, at the present time, there are 
 three high governmental functionaries. One is a representative from 
 Habana, being at the same time a professor in its University, and 
 another, viz., your humble servant, is a Spaniard because he was born 
 in Habana itself. Is the other man a Peninsular, and am I not a 
 Cuban? GUILLERMO. 
 
 Assistant Colonial Secretary of Spain. 
 
 This is the argument from the Peninsular standpoint, and it is prob- 
 ably made in good faith. But while the Spanish rule in Cuba may 
 seem to be just and equitable in theory, it is oppressive and tyrannical 
 in fact. While the government may have partly carried out the letter 
 of its promises, there has been no effort to fulfill the spirit of the com- 
 pact in the slighest degree, and the violated pledges of the treaty of 
 Zanjon only add new chapters to the long record of Spanish treachery 
 and deceit. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 PREPARATIONS FOR ANOTHER REBELLION. 
 
 Spam's Policy of Distrust The Cost of the Ten Years' War Work of the 
 Cuban Exiles Revolutionary Clubs in the Western Hemisphere An 
 Expedition Checked Heroism of Cuban Women The Struggle Begun. 
 
 Ever since Spain lost her colonies on the American continent the 
 Cubans have striven to gain their independence. The Ten Years War 
 cost the mother country 300,000,000 pesetas and 100,000 men, most of 
 them victims of yellow fever. When slavery was abolished in 1880 
 fresh disturbances ensued. The majority of slave holders, who received 
 no compensation, joined the party of independence. 
 
 Spain, adhering to her old policy of distrust, retained a large army 
 in Cuba and a navy round about her shores, the expenses of which caused 
 the budget to amount to $46,594,000 at a time when two-thirds of the 
 island was nothing but a mass of ruins, and when Cuba was beginning 
 to feel the effects of the competition with other sugar-producing 
 countries. 
 
 W r hile the European manufacturers received important bounties 
 those of Cuba had to pay export duties on their sugar, and the impor- 
 tation of all agricultural and industrial implements was subjected to 
 a tariff almost prohibitive. 
 
 Two laws were enacted in 1882 to regulate commerce between Cuba 
 and Spain. By the provisions of these laws the import duties on all 
 Spanish products were to be gradually diminished until their importa- 
 tion in Cuba became entirely free, while the Cubans had to pa}^ on their 
 imports to Spain duties which practically closed the Spanish market to 
 all their products. 
 
 Spanish goods, as a rule, are much inferior to those of English, 
 French or American manufacture, but the Cuban consumer was forced 
 to buy Spanish goods or pay an exorbitant price for those which he 
 would have preferred to buy at a fair price. An instance will suffice 
 to illustrate this: When the present war began in 1895 the duty on a 
 hundred kilogrammes of woolen cashmere was fifteen dollars and forty- 
 
 175 
 
376 PREPARATIONS FOR ANOTHER REBELLION. 
 
 seven cents if Spanish, three hundred dollars if foreign. These differ, 
 ential duties opened a reign of prosperity for industry in Spain, where 
 foreign goods were imported or smuggled, to be later sent to Cuba an 
 Spanish. 
 
 The injustice of these commercial laws was so evident and so det- 
 rimental to the interests of Cuba that in 1894 the Planters' Association, 
 the president of which, the Count de Diana, was a Spaniard, referred to 
 them as "destructive of our public wealth, a source of inextinguish- 
 able discontent and the germ of serious dissensions." 
 
 The insular budgets could never be covered, and the result was 
 that the public debt was kept on the increase. The expenditures were 
 classed as follows: For army and navy, 36.59 per cent of the budget's 
 total; for the debt, 40.89; for justice and government, 19.77, and for pub- 
 lic works, 2.75. No public work of any kind was begun in the seven- 
 teen years which intervened between the two wars. 
 
 The Cuban Treasury, between 1823 and 1864, sent to &pain 
 $82,165,436 in gold. This money entered the Spanish Treasury a 
 "Colonial surplus," but as a Spanish writer (Zaragoza) says in his book, 
 " Las Insurrecciones de Cuba," it was absurd to speak of a surplus 
 when not even the opening of a bad road was undertaken. 
 
 Politically, the condition of the Cubans after the restoration of 
 peace in 1878, was as bad as it had been before. Laws existed which 
 might lead unobserving persons to believe that the Cubans enjoyed 
 every liberty, but as a matter of fact the Cubans were kept under the 
 most unbearable vassalage. The Spaniards in Cuba before this war 
 numbered only 9.30 per cent of the island's population, but, availing 
 themselves of a law which gave to them a majority in the electoral 
 census, they were to return twenty-four of the thirty deputies which the 
 island then sent to the Spanish Cortes. 
 
 So restrictive was the electoral law that only 53,000 men were qual- 
 ified to vote in the entire island, although its population was 1,762,000. 
 Jn the municipal district of Guines, with a population of 12,500 Cubans 
 and 500 Spaniards, the electoral census included 400 Spaniards and 
 thirty-two Cubans. This is one among many similar instances. The 
 Board of Aldermen in Havana, the capital city of the island, has for 
 years been made up entirely of Spaniards, and the same may be said of 
 Cienfuegos and other important cities. 
 
 Despite all constitutional provisions the governor-general of the 
 island had the power to deport from the island, without a trial, anj 
 
PREPARATIONS FOB ANOTHER REBELLION. 177 
 
 person whose presence there he considered dangerous to the security 
 of the State. The island was at peace when Cepeda, Lopez de Brinas 
 and Marquez Sterling, all journalists, were deported. The liberty of 
 the press Avas and still is a myth. El Pais, the Autonomist organ, was 
 criminally prosecuted in 1889 because it denounced the appointment of 
 one of the sons of the president of the Havana Court of Appeals to a 
 place which he could not lawfully hold. 
 
 What liberty of association the Cubans enjoyed may be judged from 
 the fact that a delegate of the government had to be present at their 
 meetings, with power to dissolve them whenever he saw fit to do so. 
 
 No Cuban was able to obtain a place in the administration unless 
 he was rich enough to go to Madrid and there become acquainted with 
 some influential politician. Even so, Cubans seldom succeeded in being 
 appointed to places of importance. 
 
 The Cuban exiles in Key West, New York and other cities in the 
 United States, and in Costa Rica, Honduras, Santo Domingo and other 
 parts of Spanish America, had been planning a new uprising for several 
 years. The desire of the Cubans for national independence was quick- 
 ened by what they suffered from Spain's misgovern ment. For two or 
 three years the exiles in the United States and Spanish American 
 countries, veterans of the war of 1868-78, and younger champions of 
 free Cuba, organized clubs, collected a war fund, purchased munitions 
 of war and laid plans with their compatriots in Cuba for a new struggle 
 for independence. There were 140 revolutionary clubs in North and 
 South America, Cuba and other West India islands, affiliated under 
 the name of the revolutionary party, ready to support an uprising with 
 financial and moral aid. Cuban working-men in the United States prom- 
 ised to contribute a tenth of their earnings, or more if necessary. There 
 were firearms on the island that had remained concealed since the 
 former war, some had been bought from corrupt custodians of the gov- 
 ernment arsenals, who, finding it impossible to get pay due them from 
 Spain, took this method of securing what was rightfully theirs. 
 
 An Expedition Checked. 
 
 An expedition that planned to sail in the yacht Lagonda from 
 Fernandina, Fla., on January 14, 1895, was broken up by the United 
 States authorities. General Antonio Maceo, its leader, with Jose" Marti, 
 the political organizer of the new government, went to Santo Domingo, 
 "where they could confer with the revolutionist leaders living in Cuba. 
 
178 PREPARATIONS FOR ANOTHER REBELLION. 
 
 There Marti found Maximo Gomez, the veteran of a dozen struggles 
 and a brave and able soldier, and offered him the command and organiza- 
 tion of the army. Gomez accepted and began at once to arrange his 
 programme. 
 
 The plan of the revolutionists was to rise simultaneously in the six 
 provinces on February 24. The leaders on the island and the organizers 
 abroad had a thorough understanding. 
 
 Heroism of Cuban Women. 
 
 The men of Cuba were not alone in their plans for independence, 
 for their wives and sisters, mothers and sweethearts, were enthusiastic 
 and faithful allies. The island was full of devoted women reared in 
 indolence and luxury who were tireless in their successful efforts to 
 get word from one scattered rebel band to another, and to send them 
 food, medicines and clothing. These women were far better con- 
 spirators than .their fathers and brothers, for Cuban men must talk, but 
 the women seem to know the value of silence. 
 
 Beautiful and delicate senoritas would disguise themselves in men's 
 attire and steal out at night to the near-by haunts of lover or brother 
 in the "Long Grass," as the insurgents' camps are called, with food 
 secreted in false pockets, or letters, whose envelopes had been dipped 
 in ink, hidden in their black hair. Medicines were carried in canes, and 
 cloth for clothes or wounds was concealed in the lining of coats. One 
 girl, disguised as a vender, frequentty carried to the woods dynamite 
 in egg shells deftly put together. 
 
 She had many thrilling experiences, but her narrowest escape was 
 when a Spanish soldier by the roadside insisted on taking from the 
 basket an egg, to let its contents drop in a hot and ready pan. He 
 was with difficulty persuaded to forego the meal. The dynamite was 
 made by another woman, who carefully obtained the ingredients at 
 various times and at widely scattered drug stores. 
 
 And so, with almost every Cuban man, woman and child united in 
 a fixed determination to make the island one of the free and indepen- 
 dent nations of the earth, the final struggle was begun. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE CUBAN JUNTA AND ITS WORK. 
 
 Organization Which Has Represented the Insurgents in the United States 
 Splendid W r ork Done by Senor Tomas Estrada Palma and His Staff 
 Sources of the W T ar Funds Generosity of Cuban Cigar Makers Who 
 Have Supported the Revolution Liberal Gifts from Americans Some 
 Inside Facts about Filibustering American Sailors Do Not Like to 
 Capture Insurgent Supplies Palma's Address to the American People. 
 
 From the moment of the first outbreak of insurrection in Cuba, in 
 February, 1895, the name of the Cuban Junta has been a familiar phrase 
 to everyone in the United States, and yet its functions and its organiza- 
 tion have been by no means well understood. There have been those 
 in Congress and elsewhere who have spoken of it slightingly as an or- 
 ganization banded together for its own profit in some way, not realizing 
 that its members were the trusted representatives abroad of the whole 
 Cuban people. 
 
 The parallels between the Cuban insurrection and that of the Ameri- 
 can colonies against Great Britain in 1776, are far more numerous than 
 has been recognized. The Cuban army has been poorly clothed and 
 scantily fed at times, and equipped with all sorts of obsolete weapons of 
 offence. But these things are no disgrace, and indeed are the basis of 
 much of the pride that Americans take in the splendid work which their 
 ancestors did in that other insurrection, which, having resulted success- 
 fully, is now known as the American Revolution. There have been 
 sneers at the government of the Cuban republic because its officers have 
 had to move from place to place at various times, in order to avoid 
 threatened capture by the Spanish forces. But was there ever a more 
 peripatetic national government than that of the American colonies 
 during the Revolution, when the legislature and its officers sat succes- 
 sively in Philadelphia, Germantown, Princeton, New York and several 
 other places, driven out of each in turn by the same fear of capture by 
 British troops? 
 
 Finally, it ought to be remembered, though it may not be, that the 
 
 179 
 
ISO THE CUBAN JUNTA AND ITS WOKK 
 
 colonies maintained an organization exactly similar to that of the Cuban 
 Junta in New York, for the purpose of securing money and support from 
 the people and the governments of Europe, to whom they were ac- 
 credited. The only country which gave them welcome encouragement 
 was France. But Benjamin Franklin's position in Paris as the head of 
 what was virtually the American Junta was then and is now an honor 
 to his name and his countrymen. It enlisted the same aid from France 
 and French citizens that the Cuban Junta in New York has enlisted 
 from the United States and American citizens, and there is no reason to 
 form any less creditable judgment of the latter enterprise than the 
 former. 
 
 Character of the "Work of the Junta, 
 
 The Junta is the organization through which Cuba's friends reach 
 the Cubans in the field. In many places these friends are banded to- 
 gether and work for the Cuban cause as organizations. In the United 
 States and Europe there are 300 Cuban revolutionary clubs, with a 
 membership of more than 50,000. These clubs were the outcome of a 
 suggestion originating with Jose Marti, and their organization has been 
 accomplished by the delegation, with whom they are all in closest 
 touch, to whom they all account, and through whom they all make con- 
 tributions in money, clothing, provisions, arms, and munitions for those 
 who are enduring the hardships of the war. Before the revolution be- 
 gan these clubs had $100,000 in bank as a war fund. 
 
 These most vital contributions must reach the army in the field, and 
 it is the business of the delegation to see that they get there. And they 
 have been getting there under most adverse and trying circumstances, 
 and amid perils of land and sea where enemies are watching and where 
 a friendly government has had to guard against the violation of neutral- 
 ity laws. 
 
 For accomplishing its work the Junta has in no way been restricted 
 in authority, the Cuban government having even granted special author- 
 ity allowing Mr. Palma to issue a limited amount of bonds, coin money, 
 and grant letters of marque. 
 
 It has further been the business of the Junta attended by risk of 
 life to its agents to keep in communication with the insurgents. This 
 has been done by secret agents who come and go from New York to Key 
 West, from Key West to Havana, from Havana into Spanish cities of 
 Cuba and through the provinces of the island. 
 
THE CUBAN JUNTA AND ITS WORK. 181 
 
 The headquarters of the Junta bears no outward sign except that 
 the stars and stripes and the single starred flag of Cuba wave from the 
 third-story window, where is Mr. Palma's office. A narrow hall and tor- 
 tuous stairs lead to the office of the delegate, where on every side are 
 signs of active business, with shelves, tables, and desks holding heaps 
 of letters, books of accounts, and documents of various sorts. Here the 
 delegate works, receives his friends, coworkers, and agents. 
 
 Off the main room is a private office, w T here secret agents report and 
 are instructed, and where councils of moment are held and decisions of 
 vital import to the Cuban cause reached, to be followed by orders that 
 are of immense importance to the army of liberation. 
 
 The Cuban Junta, with its headquarters, represents the legation of 
 the Cuban republic abroad, and the head of the Junta, as it is called, is 
 T. Estrada Palma. Properly speaking he is the delegate, and with the 
 members of his ministerial and diplomatic household constitutes the 
 delegation of the Cuban republic. 
 
 The term "Junta" has been applied because such a body or council 
 was attached to the diplomatic department of Cuba during the Ten 
 Years' war. As the authority of the Junto frequently restricted the ac- 
 tion of the delegate, the promoters of the present revolution decided 
 to eliminate it; yet the name remains, and is used and accepted to desig- 
 nate Mr. Palma and his associates. 
 
 Authority of the Junta. 
 
 This Junta, as the representative of the Cuban republic, acts on high 
 authority, for the delegation was appointed on September 19, 1895, by 
 the Constituent Assembly that formed the government and commis- 
 sioned Maximo Gomez chief commander of the Cuban army. At the 
 same time it made Mr. Palma delegate and Cuban representative 
 abroad, with authority to appoint ministers to all governments and to 
 have control of all of Cuba's diplomatic relations and representatives 
 throughout the world. Besides this, Mr. Palma is the duly accredited 
 minister from Cuba to the United States, and in the event of the Cuban 
 republic being recognized would be received as such. 
 
 Under his authority Mr. Palma has appointed sub-delegates, or 
 diplomatic agents, in France, Italy, Mexico, and the Central and South 
 American republics. Cuba's independence not being acknowledged by 
 these nations, her ministers are not officially recognized, but are often 
 
182 THE CUBAN JUNTA AND ITS WORK. 
 
 unofficially received at the "back door," and exert an influence for the 
 benefit of Cuba in the countries to which they are appointed. 
 
 Mr. Palma is in reality the head of the Cuban revolutionary party 
 abroad, which is one of the three departments of the Cuban revolution- 
 ary government, the two others being the civil government and the army 
 of liberation. 
 
 This Cuban revolutionary branch was founded by Jose Marti, who is 
 regarded by the Cubans as the apostle and master mind of the Cuban 
 revolution. 
 
 Mr. Palma is not only the head and front of the Junta, but he is the 
 one person in whom its authority is centered. He was born in Cuba 
 about sixty years ago, and in his tender youth imbibed the spirit of lib- 
 erty for the island, a spirit which grew with him until it influenced his 
 every word and act, and finally received his entire devotion. So direct, 
 gentle, yet determined are his methods, and so unassuming and plain is 
 he in speech and manner that he soon became known as the "Cuban 
 Franklin," and more firmly has the name become attached to him since 
 the potent influence of his policy has been felt throughout the world. 
 
 During the Ten Years' war Mr. Palma was President of the Cuban re- 
 public; was made prisoner by Spanish troops, and sent to Spain, where 
 he was imprisoned until the close of the conflict. While in Spain, abso- 
 lutely suffering under the hardships of imprisonment, he was offered 
 freedom if he would swear allegiance to the Spanish crown. 
 
 "No!" was his answer. "You may shoot me if you will, but if I am 
 shot it will be as the President of the Cuban republic." 
 
 Besides Mr. Palma, the only members of the delegation appointed 
 by the Cuban government are: Dr. Joaquin D. Castillo, the sub-dele- 
 gate; Benjamin J. Guerra, treasurer of the republic abroad, and Gon- 
 zalo de Quesada, charge d'affaires at Washington. 
 
 Dr. Castillo is vice-delegate and would take Mr. Palma's place in case 
 of his death or inability to act. 
 
 Sources of the War Funds. 
 
 The Junta, whose duty it has been to provide the funds for the carry- 
 ing on of the war, has had various sources of income, all of them dis- 
 tinctly creditable, both to the integrity of the Cuban authorities and to 
 the sentiments of those who have contributed the money. The larger 
 portion of the cash has come in small contributions from Cubans living 
 
ADMIRAL PASCUAL DE CERVERA 
 

 69. HAVANA. A CUBAN WINDOW. 
 
 A COMMON SCENE IN HAVANA CUBA 
 
THE CUBAN JUNTA AND ITS WORK. 185 
 
 in the United States. The cigarmakers of Key West, Tampa, Jackson- 
 ville, New York and other cities where large Cuban colonies have con- 
 gregated, have proven their patriotism and their adherence to the cause 
 by giving more generously of their earnings than has ever been done 
 before by the people of any country struggling for freedom. There is 
 scarcely an exception to the assertion that every Cuban in America has 
 shared in contributions to the war fund. 
 
 The minimum contribution has been ten per cent of the weekly earn- 
 ings, and this has brought an enormous sum into the coffers of the Junta 
 for war purposes. It is true that a war chest of $50,000 or $100,000 a 
 week would be hardly a drop in the bucket for the conduct of the war 
 after the established methods of organized armies. But this has been 
 a war for liberty, and the conditions have been unique. No soldier in all 
 the armies of Cuba Libre has ever drawn one dollar of pay for his 
 service. Thousands of them have been fighting from the first outbreak 
 of insurrection, without receiving a cent of money for it. If the pay of 
 an army be deducted from the expenses of a war, the largest item is 
 saved. 
 
 Nor has it been necessary to purchase many clothes, owing to the 
 mildness of the Cuban climate, which fights in favor of those who are 
 accustomed to it. The commissary department, too, has been almost 
 non-existent, and the soldiers in the field have lived by foraging and by 
 collecting the vegetables and fruits saved for them by the women and 
 children, whose hearts are as deep in the conflict as are their own. The 
 principal demand for money has been to procure arms, ammunition and 
 medical and surgical supplies. 
 
 In addition to the contributions which have come from patriotic 
 Cubans, another large source of income to the Junta has been the silent 
 liberality of many American citizens, who have proved their practical 
 sympathy to the cause of freedom by giving of their wealth to aid it. 
 Outside of these sources, the only income has been from the sale of 
 bonds of the Cuban republic, a means of obtaining money which has 
 been used conservatively, so that the infant republic should not be sad- 
 dled with a heavy debt at the outset of its career as an independent na- 
 tion. 
 
 Aside from the contributions of money to the Cuban powers, enor- 
 mous quantities of medical and surgical supplies and hospital delicacies 
 have been offered by the generous people of the United States, or- 
 ganized into Cuban Auxiliary Aid Societies in the various cities of the 
 
186 THE CUBAN JUNTA AND ITS WORK. 
 
 country. American women have taken a prominent part in this mare* 
 ment and have won thereby the undying gratitude of the Cubans. 
 
 Some Facts About Filibustering. 
 
 The sailing of vessels from New York and other ports with cargoes 
 of supplies for the Cuban revolutionists has been a frequent occurrence, 
 far more so than has been known to the public. Filibustering is a 
 phrase that has gained honor during these three years, such as it never 
 had before. Carried on in the cause of humanity and liberty, its motives 
 justified its irregularities, and there have been few to condemn the prac- 
 tice. In the fogs of an early morning, some fast steamer would slip 
 away from an Atlantic port, loaded with arms, ammunition, quinine, 
 and all sorts of hospital, medical and surgical supplies, accompanied 
 usually by a band of Cuban patriots, seeking the first opportunity to re- 
 turn to their beautiful island and take up arms for its liberation. There 
 have been a few such expeditions captured, but for everyone captured a 
 score have reached their destination on the Cuban coast without inter- 
 ruption, and have landed their cargo in safety in insurgent camps. 
 
 The United States government, in recognition of its diplomatic obli- 
 gations, spent millions of dollars prior to the outbreak of our war with 
 Spain, in carrying on a patrol sendee on the Atlantic coast and the Gulf 
 of Mexico, to prevent the sailing of filibustering expeditions. Now that 
 the day of such patrol service in the aid of Spain is ended forever, there 
 can be no harm in telling some of the details that might have been com- 
 promising before. 
 
 American cruisers and gunboats were stationed in the harbors 
 around the coast, from New York to New Orleans, and particularly on 
 both sides of the Florida peninsula. To one of these vessels would come 
 the news that a suspected filibustering craft was likely to sail from a 
 certain place at a certain time, and orders would be given to intercept 
 the rover if possible. To one who did not know the temper and the 
 spirit of American sailors from highest to lowest in the service of the 
 navy, the actions that followed might have been puzzling. In spite of 
 the proverbial alacrity and readiness with which an American vessel 
 can make sail, there was always a delay at such times. It was almost 
 certain that something would be wrong that would require some time to 
 correct before the anchor could be weighed. It might be necessary to 
 buy provisions or to take on coal before sailing, and then, more than 
 
THE CUBAN JUNT^ ^ND ITS WORK. 187 
 
 once after the anchor was weighed and the actual start begun, it would 
 be discovered that some minor accident had occurred to the machinery, 
 which would require another halt to repair it. Finally at sea, the 
 cruiser would steam away at full speed in the direction of the reported 
 filibuster, until her hull and even her smoke disappeared far down in the 
 horizon. 
 
 Capturing of Filibustering Vessels. 
 
 What happened after that no one ashore could know. But more 
 than once there were grave suspicions that other delays occurred as 
 soon as the vessel was well out of sight, or that the course was changed 
 in pursuit of some other passing vessel, until after a few hours' chase 
 it would be discovered to be an unoffending craft, and the course would 
 be resumed towards the goal, as first ordered. 
 
 However these things may be, it is certain that the capture of a fili- 
 bustering vessel before her cargo was discharged was an almost un- 
 known event, and that the capture of such a craft after her cargo was 
 discharged could in no way be disastrous to the Cuban cause when noth- 
 ing could be proved against the boat or her men. Certain it is that no 
 officer or sailor in the American navy ever wanted to capture a fili- 
 buster. To an American it was a blot on the honor of the ship that it 
 should be used to intercept arms and ammunition on their way to an 
 oppressed people struggling for their freedom. It is safe to siay that 
 the two or three captures which, were made of filibusters at such a time 
 that their confiscation and the conviction of their officers could not be 
 avoided, was a distinct grief to every man who participated in the 
 chase and the punishments that followed. 
 
 No one can deny the integrity or the ability of the men who are en- 
 listed in the cause of Cuba as the New York Junta, who knows the facts 
 as to their personality and the work they have done. Some of the diplo- 
 matic and state papers which have been issued by Senor Palma are 
 worthy to take rank with the utterances of any American who has 
 gained fame in national history for similar work. A notable instance 
 of the dignity and the eloquence with which he speaks, is found in the 
 proclamation to the people of the United States which he issued but a 
 few weeks before the outbreak of our war with Spain. He said : 
 
 Senor Palma on the Spanish Concessions. 
 
 "The persistency with which the American press has during the last 
 few days been treating of supposed administrative reforms to be in- 
 
188 THE CUBAN JUNTA AND ITS WOKK. 
 
 troduced in Cuba by the government of Spain, compels me to request 
 the publication of the following declarations, which I make in behalf of 
 my government, of the army of liberation of Cuba, and of the Cuban 
 revolutionary party. 
 
 "The question of the proposed reforms is not a matter which at all 
 concerns those who have already established an independent govern- 
 ment in Cuba and have resolved to shrink from no sacrifice of property 
 or life in order to emancipate the whole island from the Spanish yoke. 
 If the Spanish residents of the island who are favored by the Spanish 
 government with all sorts of privileges and monopolies, and if the 
 handful of Cubans, too pusillanimous or too proud to acknowledge their 
 error, or a few foreigners guided only by selfish interests, are satisfied 
 that Cuba should remain under Spanish domination, we who fight under 
 the flag of the solitary star, we who already constitute the Republic of 
 Cuba, and belong to a free people with its own government and its own 
 laws, are firmly resolved to listen to no compromise and to treat with 
 Spain on the basis of absolute independence for Cuba, 
 
 "If Spain has power to exterminate us, then let her convert the 
 island into a vast cemetery; if she has not and wishes to terminate the 
 war before the whole country is reduced to ashes, then let her adopt the 
 only measure that will put an end to it and recognize our independence. 
 Spain must know by this time that while there is a single living Cuban 
 with dignity and there are many thousands of them there will not be 
 peace in Cuba, nor even hope of it 
 
 "All good causes must finally triumph, and ours is a good ca,use. It 
 is the cause of justice treated with contempt, of right suppressed by 
 force, and of the dignity of a people offended to the last degree. 
 
 "We Cubans have a thousandfold more reason in our endeavors to 
 free ourselves from the Spanish yoke than the people of the thirteen 
 colonies had when in 1776 they rose in arms against the British govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Comparisons with the American Colonies. 
 
 "The people of these colonies were in full enjoyment of all the rights 
 of man; they had liberty of conscience, freedom of speech, liberty of the 
 press, the right of public meeting and the right of free locomotion; 
 they elected those who governed them, they made their own laws and, 
 in fact, enjoyed the blessings of self-government. They were not under 
 the sway of a captain-general with arbitrary powers, who at his will 
 
THE CUBAN JUNTA AND ITS WORK. 189 
 
 could imprison them, deport them to penal colonies, or order their execu- 
 tion even without the semblance of a court-martial. They did not have 
 to pay a permanent army and navy that they might be kept in subjec- 
 tion, nor to feed a swarm of hungry employes yearly sent over from the 
 metropolis to prey upon the country. 
 
 "They were never subjected to a stupid and crushing customs tariff 
 which compelled them to go to the home markets for millions of mer- 
 chandise annually, which they could buy much cheaper elsewhere; 
 they were never compelled to cover a budget of $26,000,000 or 
 $30,000,000 a year, without the consent of the tax-payers, and for the 
 purposes of defraying >the expenses of the army and navy of the op- 
 pressor, to pay the salaries of thousands of worthless European em- 
 ployes, the whole interest on a debt not incurred by the colony,. and 
 other expenditures from which the island received no benefit whatever; 
 for out of all those millions only the paltry sum of $700,000 was ap- 
 parently applied for works of internal improvement and one-half of 
 this invariably went into the pockets of the Spanish employes. 
 
 "We have thrown ourselves into the struggle advisedly and delib- 
 erately; we knew what we would have to face, and we decided unflinch- 
 ingly to persevere until we should emancipate ourselves from the Span- 
 ish government. And we know that we are able to do it, as we know 
 that we are competent to govern ourselves. 
 
 "Among other proofs which could be adduced of the ability of the 
 Cuban white and colored to rule themselves, is the strong organization 
 of the Cuban revolutionary party in America, It is composed of more 
 than 20,000 Cubans, living in different countries of the new world and 
 formed into clubs, the members of which yearly elect their leader. This 
 organization has been in existence over five years, during which every 
 member has strictly discharged his duties, has respected without any 
 interruption the regulations and obeyed the elected delegate loyally and 
 faithfully. Among the members of the clubs there are several Span- 
 iards, who enjoy the same rights as the Cubans, and who live with them 
 in fraternal harmony. This fact and that of the many Spaniards in- 
 corporated into our army, fully demonstrate that our revolution is not 
 the result of personal hatred, but an uprising inspired only by the 
 natural love of liberty and free institutions. The war in Cuba has for its 
 only object the overthrow of Spanish power, and to establish an inde- 
 pendent republic, under whose beneficent laws the Spaniards may con- 
 tinue to live side by side with the Cubans as members of the same com- 
 
190 THE CUBAN JUNTA AND ITS WORK. 
 
 munity and citizens of the same nation. This is our programme and we 
 strictly adhere to it. 
 
 "The revolution is powerful and deeply rooted in the hearts of the 
 Cuban people, and there is no Spanish power, no power in the world, 
 that can stop its march. The war, since General Weyler took command 
 of the Spanish army, has assumed a cruel character. His troops shoot 
 the Cuban prisoners, pursue and kill the sick and wounded, assassinate 
 the unarmed, and burn their houses. The Cuban troops, on their part, 
 destroy, as a war measure, the machinery and buildings of the sugar 
 plantations and are firmly resolved not to leave one stone upon another 
 during their campaign. 
 
 "Let those who can put an end to this war reflect that our liberty is 
 being gained with the blood of thousands of Cuban victims, among 
 whom is numbered Jose Marti, the apostle and martyr of our revolution. 
 Let them consider that before the sacred memory of this new redeemer 
 there is not a single Cuban who will withdraw from the work of eman- 
 cipation without feeling ashamed of abandoning the flag which on the 
 24th of February, 1895, was raised by the beloved master. 
 
 "It is time for the Cuban people to satisfy their just desire for a place 
 among the free nations of the world and let them not be accused if to 
 accomplish their noble purpose they are obliged to reduce to ashes the 
 Cuban land. Tomas Estrada Palma." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 KEY WEST AND THE CUBANS. 
 
 Cuban Refugees in Key West Their Devotion to the Cause Peculiarities 
 of the Town Odd Sights and Sounds Filibusters and Their Work 
 The First Authorized Expedition It Is a Failure The Second More 
 Successful Landing Supplies for the Insurgents Captain Jose La- 
 cret, and Some of His Adventures. 
 
 The island of Key West lies sixty miles south of Cape Sable, the 
 most southerly point of the mainland of Florida, and is seven miles 
 long and from one to two miles broad. The city covers nearly one-half 
 of the island and has a population of about 25,000. Key West has been 
 described as being "to Cuba what Gibraltar is to Ceuta, to the Gulf of 
 Mexico what Gibraltar is to the Mediterranean." It is one of the chief 
 naval stations of the United States and is strongly fortified. 
 
 The most important industry is the making of cigars, which gives 
 employment to thousands of Cubans, who make up a large majority of 
 the population, and many of whom are refugees, charged with political 
 crimes, with a price set upon their heads. One of the moat important 
 diA'isions of the Cuban Junta of the United States has its headquarters 
 here. Almost every Cuban in Key W 7 est gives regularly a portion of his 
 earnings to the cause, and many cargoes of arms, .ammunition and sup- 
 plies have been sent to the insurgents by their brethren on this little 
 island. 
 
 The city is unique in many respects. It is made up of innumerable 
 little wooden houses, without chimneys, but crowded in irregular 
 groups. Many of the houses have wooden shutters in place of glass 
 windows. 
 
 On most of the streets there are no sidewalks, but people stumble 
 over the jagged edges of coral rock. There are a great number of public 
 vehicles, and one can be hailed at any corner and engaged for 10 cents. 
 Some of these carriages are quite respectable in appearance. They are 
 generally double-seated affairs, which have been discarded in the north. 
 The horses are wrecks, and they show by their appearance that fodder 
 is dear and that they are not half fed. 
 
192 KEY WEST AND THE CUBANS. 
 
 One of the sounds of Key West is the whacking of the horses which 
 draw the carriages and the mules which move the street cars from place 
 to place. 
 
 The street cars look as if they had been dug up from the neighbor- 
 hood of the pyramids. Ropes are used for reins, and the only sub- 
 stantial thing about the whole outfit is the great rawhide whip, with 
 which the street-car driver labors incessantly. The people, as a rule, 
 are opposed to excessive exertion, but they make an exception in the 
 case of labor with a whip. 
 
 Journalism, Climate and Dogs. 
 
 The town has one struggling newspaper, which is worthy of a better 
 support. It is told of the editor that he came to Key W r est a barefooted 
 boy from Georgia, and worked his way up to his present eminent po- 
 sition of instructor in etiquette and ethics to the four hundred. 
 
 Hundreds of dogs, cats, roosters, goats, and "razorbacks" run at 
 large through the streets, and the three former combine to make night 
 hideous. In the early evening the sound of negro meetings and jubila- 
 tions predominates. Then the cats begin where the shouters leave off. 
 Later, the dogs, sneaking and sore-eyed, and more numerous than any 
 other species, take up the refrain. They howl and bark and keep on 
 howling and barking, until sleep seems impossible. At last, when the 
 wakeful man thinks the row is over, the roosters, the meanest, skinniest, 
 loudest-mouthed roosters in the world, continue the serenade until 
 death seems a welcome, especially the death of the roosters, 
 
 Negroes Alone are Patriotic. 
 
 There is a strange mixture of races at Key West, but the negroes are 
 the most patriotic class. They alone celebrate the Fourth of July and 
 other national holidays. W T hile the town has its enlightened and re- 
 spectable people, it also has a shoddy class, whose ignorance of the rest 
 of the world carries them to grotesque extremes in their efforts to pro- 
 claim their greatness. 
 
 Even in its schools Key West is peculiar. The schoolhouses are 
 built like cigar factories, and each has mounted upon the roof the bell 
 of an old locomotive. When the school bells are ringing it is easy to 
 close your eyes and imagine yourself in one of the great railway depots 
 of the north. 
 
KEY WEST AND THE CUBANS. , 193 
 
 The First Authorized Expedition. 
 
 Prior to the commencement of our war with Spain the United States 
 authorities kept a close watch on the Cubans in Key West, and made 
 every effort to prevent the shipment of supplies to the insurgentSw But 
 as soon as the conflict was begun there was a change in the policy and 
 the government assisted the work in every possible way. The first ex- 
 pedition was a failure. Under command of Captain Dorst of the United 
 States army the transport steamer Gussie sailed from Key West with 
 two companies of infantry, on board, in charge of 7,000 rifles and 300,000 
 rounds of ammunition, intended for the insurgents of Pinar del Rio. 
 The supplies were to be conveyed to General Gomez by a force of in- 
 surgents encamped three miles back from the coast. 
 
 But the cargo was not landed, for the reason that the insurgents 
 were unable to meet the landing party at the rendezvous, and Captain 
 Dorst was compelled to return to Key West with his cargo. The second 
 attempt was more successful. Nearly 400 men, with a pack train and 
 a large quantity of arms and ammunition, sailed on the Plant line 
 steamer Florida from Key West, on the night of May 21. These men 
 and the equipment constituted an expedition able to operate independ- 
 ently and to defend itself against any body of Spanish troops which 
 might oppose it. 
 
 The expedition was under the command of Captain Jose Lacret, 
 formerly insurgent commander in Matanzas province. He assumed the 
 direction of affairs immediately on the landing of the expedition. Un- 
 til then General Joaqnin Castillo was in control. 
 
 In the landing of the expedition the United States army was rep- 
 resented by Captain J. A. Dorst, and Tomas Estrada Palma was repre- 
 sented by J. E. Cartaya, who has been the landing agent of nearly every 
 filibustering expedition for more than a year. Messrs. Castillo, Cartaya 
 and Dorst returned to Key West. General Julio Sanguilly, on his way 
 to report to General Maximo Gomez, was also on the boat. 
 
 Most Powerful of Them All. 
 
 This was the most powerful anti-Spanish expedition sent to Cuba 
 up to that date. About 300 of the men were Cubans, the others Ameri- 
 cans. The engineer corps of the expedition was composed entirely of 
 Americans under Aurelian Ladd. 
 
 The men were dressed in canvas uniforms furnished by the United 
 
194 KEY WEST AND THE CUBANS. 
 
 States government, and the commissary department had rations enough 
 to last fifteen days after the landing. The pack train consisted of 
 seventy-five mules and twenty-five horses. The expedition carried 7,000 
 rifles and 3,000,000 rounds of ammunition for General Calixto Garcia. 
 
 General Sanguilly's Return. 
 
 General Sanguilly's return to Cuba is a remarkable incident in his 
 extraordinary career. His gallant services in the Ten Years' War, his 
 arrest in Havana at the beginning of the present insurrection, his sen- 
 tence to death and his release at the intercession of Secretary Sherman 
 on a promise to remain outside of Cuba have made him a conspicuous 
 man. 
 
 The expedition was convoyed by the cruiser Marblehead, the torpedo- 
 boat destroyer Eagle and other warships. Two younger brothers of 
 the late General Nestor Aranguren are with the expedition. 
 
 Some of Lacret's Adventures. 
 
 When the present revolution in Cuba began General Jos Lacret 
 Morlot, by which title he is popularly known, secured passage on the 
 steamer Mascotte for Jamaica on his way to Cuba. The English gov- 
 ernment had information regarding La,cret's movements and prevented 
 his sailing for Cuba from Jamaica. He then went to Mexico and later 
 to New York. At the latter place he consulted with the junta and re- 
 turned to Tampa. Here he embarked on the steamer Olivette for 
 Havana in the garb of a priest. 
 
 Still in this disguise he boarded a train for Sagua la Grande. Ac- 
 companying him were a large number of Spanish soldiers. His being 
 highly educated, a man of good presence and a "padre" were sufficient 
 to give him entrance into the best Spanish society of Sagua la Grande. 
 Lacret stopped at the finest hotel, and when in the cafe sat at the al- 
 calde's right hand. 
 
 After communicating with the insurgents the "padre" suddenly dis- 
 appeared from the hotel. He joined the insurgents, and, throwing off 
 his priestly disguise, has since performed valorous service for the cause 
 of Cuban freedom. He was transferred to the province of Matanzas 
 soon after his arrival, and his career there will form an interesting chap- 
 ter in the history of Cuba. From Matanzas province he was sent to the 
 eastward as a delegate to the assembly held in Puerto Principe last 
 February, at which the new government was formed. From this as- 
 
KEY WEST AND THE CUBANS. 195 
 
 sembly lie was directed to come to this country as a bearer of dispatches 
 to the junta. 
 
 When the Florida, escorted by the Osceola, drew up close to the 
 shore at the place selected for the landing, she sent scouts to see if all 
 was clear. These scouts were greeted by Generals Feria and Rojas, with 
 about 1,500 armed insurgents. Therefore, far from there being any hos- 
 tile demonstration upon the part of the Spaniards, the landing of the 
 expedition was in the nature of a triumphal invasion. The Cubans, who 
 were in waiting for the party, had a brass band and welcomed the new- 
 comers with national airs. 
 
 The work of unloading the cargo of the Florida w r as promptly begun 
 and carried on by the 432 men composing the expedition. There was 
 nothing in the nature of interruption and the work was soon finished. 
 
 Had It All Their Own Way. 
 
 While the cargo was being unloaded the Osceola, an auxiliary gun- 
 boat, with her guns ready for action, scouted about the vicinity looking 
 for an enemy. But the Spaniards apparently had no suspicion of what 
 was taking place. So easily was the dangerous mission accompli shed 
 that while some members of the party were getting the supplies ashore 
 others were providing themselves with fruit, sugar and other products 
 of the landing place, a large stock of which was brought back for Key 
 W T est friends. 
 
 The moment the work was concluded the Florida and the Osceola 
 slipped away, leaving the insurgents to convey their re-enforcements 
 into the interior, which was done without any casualty. 
 
 The returning members of the Florida party brought with them sev- 
 eral hundred private letters, which give a complete insight into the 
 conditions prevailing in the blockaded island. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 ANOTHER STROKE FOR FREEDOM. 
 
 The Beginning of the Revolt Martial Law Declared in Santiago and Ma* 
 tanzas Arrival of Campos The Blacks as Soldiers No Caste Preju- 
 dices General Santocildes Killed A Story of Maceo Campos' Cam- 
 paign Fails He Returns to Spain. 
 
 It was the intention of the insurgents to begin operations in the six 
 provinces on the same date, but at the appointed time three of them 
 failed to carry out the plan, and in only one was the aspect at all threat- 
 ening. In Havana and Matanzas the Spanish officials had no difficulty 
 in suppressing the insurrectionists, and the leader in the former prov- 
 ince, the editor of a newspaper, accepted a pardon and returned to his 
 work. 
 
 In Santiago, however, which is thinly settled, the movement gained 
 ground steadily. The landing of a party of revolutionists from San 
 Domingo aroused the patriots, and were welcomed warmly, being sup- 
 plied with re-enforcements wherever they appeared. The government 
 professed to be merely annoyed, nothing more, and pretended to look 
 upon the patriots as mere brigands. Calleja became alarmed at last 
 when the determination of the insurgents became known, and pro- 
 claimed martial law in Santiago and Matanzas, and sent forces to both 
 provinces. He could put only nine thousand men in the field, however, 
 and had only seven gunboats for coast duty at his command. The 
 commissary arrangements were miserable, and frequently caused the 
 interruption of important movements. The insurgents were most ubiq- 
 uitous, and would appear here and there without the slightest warning, 
 making raids on plantations, which they plundered, and from which 
 they enticed away the laborers, disappearing in the swamps, where pur- 
 suit was impossible, and appearing again in a day or so in some unex- 
 pected spot, and repeating the same maneuvers. In this manner they 
 terrorized the loyalists, and ruined their prospects of raising a crop, 
 and as many depended solely upon the soil for their living this method 
 of warfare struck them a vital blow. 
 
 At the end of March, 1895, Antonio Maceo, with sixteen comrades, 
 
ANOTHER STROKE FOR FREEDOM. 197 
 
 sailed from Costa Ilica and landed at Baracoa, on the eastern end of the 
 island. They were surprised by a Spanish cavalry, but kept up an 
 intermittent fight for several hours, when Maceo managed to elude his 
 enemies and escape. After living in the woods for ten days, making his 
 way westward, he met a party of rebels, was recognized and welcomed 
 with great enthusiasm. He took command of the insurgents in the 
 neighborhood and began to get recruits rapidly. He engaged in sev- 
 eral sharp encounters with the Spanish and did such effective service 
 that the moral effect was noticed immediately. He and his brother 
 Jose were made generals. 
 
 About the middle of April Maximo Gomez and Jose Marti landed 
 from San Domingo at about the same point where the Maceos had 
 landed. For days they were obliged to secrete themselves in a cave on 
 account of the presence of the enemy's pickets, but they finally reached 
 an insurgent camp, and Gomez entered upon his duties as commander- 
 in-chief. The insurgents now had an experienced leader at their head, 
 re-enforcements poured in, and they soon had a force of six thousand 
 men. 
 
 Arrival of Campos. 
 
 The government had issued new calls for troops, and in April no less 
 than twenty-five thousand men were raised. Martinez Campos came 
 over from Spain, arriving at Santiago on April 16, and went at once to 
 Havana, where he relieyed Calleja as captain-general. Campos was a 
 veteran, and expected to crush the insurrection at once, but day by day 
 his task grew more difficult. 
 
 Gomez and Maceo, instead of being driven hither and thither, led 
 Campos a dance, and he was prevented from solidifying the two trochas 
 he had formed. Gomez never attempted pitched battles or sieges, but 
 harassed the enemy in every way possible, cutting off their convoys, 
 picking them off in detail, getting up night alarms, and in every way 
 annoying them. His hardened soldiers, especially the negroes, could 
 stand hardships and still keep in good fighting condition, but with the 
 Europeans, what between yellow fever and the constant alarms of war, 
 it was a different story. No European soldier could live under the hard- 
 ships and exposures which seemed to put life into the negro soldiers. 
 
 No Caste Prejudices. 
 
 It must be understood that there is no caste feeling between the 
 negro and the pure-blooded Cuban. They march, eat and sleep side 
 
198 ANOTHER STROKE FOR FREEDOM. 
 
 by side. Moreover, the negroes make excellent soldiers, with finer 
 physique than the Cubans themselves, and equal powers of endurance. 
 
 The Cuban is small in stature compared to the American soldier, 
 but he is well set up, wiry, and apparently has unlimited staying 
 powers. He frequently lives on one meal a day, and that a poor one, 
 but he shows no signs whatever of being ill-fed; in fact, he seems to 
 thrive on it, and he has an uncomfortable habit of marching six hours 
 in the morning on an empty stomach, which would be fatal to the or- 
 dinary Anglo-Saxon. 
 
 About the first of July, Maceo, still in the province of Santiago, con- 
 centrated the forces in the Holguin district and moved against Bayamo, 
 capturing one provision train after another that were en route to that 
 place. Campos took fifteen hundred men, with General Santocildes sec- 
 ond in command, and went to the relief of Bayamo. About the middle 
 of July he was attacked several miles from Bayamo by Maceo with 
 twenty-seven hundred rebels. He and his entire staff narrowly escaped 
 capture, and only the bravery of General Santocildes averted this catas- 
 trophe. The brave general lost his life and the Spaniards were forced 
 to fly, after having fought for five hours, surrounded on all sides by the 
 rebels. They finally made their escape to Bayamo, the rear guard cov- 
 ering their retreat with great difficulty. 
 
 Flor Crombet had fallen in battle several w r eeks before this fight 
 and Marti had been killed in an insignificant fight at Dos Rios. Gomez 
 had passed into Camaguay to add fire to the insurrection and Maceo 
 had been left in command in the province of Santiago. To him was 
 Campos indebted for his defeat. He escaped capture as if by intuition. 
 A new snare had been spread for him by Maceo after the death of Santo- 
 cildes, and he was already within its meshes, when, intuitively divining 
 the situation, he came to an about face and fled to Bayamo by an unused 
 road, covered by impassable thickets in the rear of Maceo's victorious 
 troops. 
 
 The Spaniards were rapidly re-enforced after the escape to Bayamo, 
 and Maceo, with Quintin Bandero, began to fall back to his impregnable 
 mountain retreat at Jarahuica. This was in the heart of Santiago de 
 Cuba, over a hundred miles east of Bayamo and twenty-five miles north- 
 east of the port of Santiago. His war-worn army needed rest, recruits, 
 and supplies. Once in his mountain fastness, he was perfectly secure, 
 as no Spanish army would trust itself in the rocky range. News of his 
 movements had reached Santiago .and a strenuous effort was being 
 
ANOTHER STROKE FOR FREEDOM. 199 
 
 made to head him off at San Luis, a railroad town fifteen miles north- 
 west of that city. Nothing, however, escaped the observation of the 
 Cuban general. With wonderful prescience he anticipated .the move- 
 ments of the Spaniards. His troopers were armed with machetes and 
 the infantry with rifles and ammunition captured at Paralejo. Bandera 
 commanded this band of blacks. The march had been terrific, and 
 horses and men were nearly fagged. With sparse supplies the pace 
 had been kept up for hours. The sun had gone down and the moon 
 was flooding the fronds of the palms with pale, silvery light. Maceo 
 held a short conference with Quintin Bandera, and not long afterward 
 the blacks wheeled in column and disappeared. 
 
 Meantime the Cuban cavalry continued its course. By midnight it 
 had reached Cemetery Hill, overlooking the town of San Luis. The 
 moon was half way down the sky. Maceo sat upon his horse surveying 
 the scene below him long and silently. The little town was aglow with 
 electric lights and the whistle of locomotives resounded in the valley. 
 Over three thousand Spanish troops were quartered in the town and 
 their movements were plainly discernible. Trains were arriving hourly 
 from Santiago, bearing strong re-enforcements. Through a field-glass 
 Maceo watched the stirring scene. He turned the glass beyond the 
 town and gazed through it patiently, betraying a trace of anxiety. Final- 
 ly he alighted and conferred with Colonel Miro, his chief of staff. A 
 moment afterward came the order to dismount. Three hundred troop- 
 ers obeyed and were about to tether their horses when they were called 
 to attention. A second order reached their ears. They were told to 
 stand motionless, with both feet on the ground, and to await further 
 orders with their right hands on their saddles. In the moonlight be- 
 neath the scattered palms they stood as silent as if petrified. 
 
 A Story of Maceo. 
 
 Among them there was a newspaper correspondent who had known 
 Maceo many years, and who had parted with him at Port Limon, in 
 Central America, a few months before. He had joined the column just 
 after the battle of Paralejo. In obedience to orders he stood with his 
 arm over the back of his horse, blinking at the enlivening scene below 
 him. Exhausted by the day's march, his eyes closed and he fourd it 
 impossible to keep awake. A moment later he fastened the bridle to 
 his foot, wrapped himself in his rubber coat, placed a satchel under his 
 head, and fell asleep in the wet grass. The adjutant soon awoke him, 
 
200 ANOTHER STROKE FOK FREEDOM. 
 
 telling him that he had better get up, as they were going to have a fight. 
 He thanked the adjutant, who told him there were over three thousand 
 Spanish soldiers in San Luis and that it was surrounded with fourteen 
 blockhouses. The correspondent soon curled himself on the grass a 
 second time and was in a sound slumber, when he was again aroused 
 by the adjutant, who told him he was in positive danger if he persisted 
 in disobeying the order of General Maceo. A third time his heavy eye- 
 lids closed and he was in a dead sleep, when startled by a peremptory 
 shake. Jesus Mascons, Maceo's secretary, stood over him. "Get up 
 this instant," said he. "The general wants to see you immediately." 
 
 In a few seconds the correspondent was on his feet. The whistles 
 were still blowing and the electric lights still glowing in the valley, and 
 the moon was on the horizon. He went forward in some trepidation, 
 fancying that the general was going to upbraid him for disobeying his 
 orders. He was surprised to find him very pleasant. Maceo always 
 spoke in a low tone, as he had been shot twice through the lungs. 
 
 "Are you not hungry?" he asked. 
 
 "No," the correspondent replied, wondering what was in the wind. 
 
 "I thought possibly you might want something to eat," General Maceo 
 said, with a smile. "I have a boiled egg here and I want to divide it 
 with you." As he uttered these words he drew out his machete and cut 
 the egg straight through the center. Passing half of it to the corre- 
 spondent, he said: "Share it; it will do you good." The newspaper 
 man thanked the general and they ate the egg in silence. He said after- 
 ward that the incident reminded him of General Marion's breakfast 
 with a British officer. He had read the incident in Peter Parley's his- 
 tory of the revolution, when a schoolboy. Marion raked a baked sweet 
 potato out of the ashes of a camp fire and divided it with his British 
 guest. The officer regretted the absence of salt, and the correspondent 
 said he experienced the same regret when he ate his portion of General 
 Maceo's egg. 
 
 After munching the egg both men sat for some time observing the 
 stirring scene in the valley below them. The moon had gone down, but 
 in the glow of the electric lights they could see that the activity among 
 the Spaniards was as great as ever. Suddenly Maceo turned to the 
 correspondent and said abruptly: "Were you asleep when Jesus called 
 you?" 
 
 "Oh, no," the correspondent replied, "I was not asleep; I was only 
 just tired that was all." 
 
BLANCO GOVERNORxGENERAL OF CUBA 
 Generally known as the softest-hearted soldier in Spain 
 
g 
 
 2 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 z 
 
 I 
 
 w 
 
ANOTHER STROKE FOR FREEDOM. 203 
 
 The general looked at him searchingly and. then said: "Don't worry; 
 it is all right. We are going through that town in a few minutes. There 
 may be a fierce fight, and you will need a clear head. The egg will give 
 you strength." 
 
 Within twenty minutes the little columns of three hundred men 
 were on the move. They led their horses down the hill a,bout an hour 
 before daybreak, with the general in the lead. Silently and stealthily 
 they entered the outskirts of the town. The columns passed two block- 
 houses without being observed and at the break of day were beyond the 
 town on the main road to Banabacoa, Meantime the Spaniards had 
 discovered them. The town was aroused and a hundred and fifty Span- 
 ish cavalry headed the pursuit. The road wound through fields of 
 cane. A strong column of Spanish infantry followed the cavalry. 
 Maceo held his men in reserve and continued his march, the Spanish 
 troopers trailing after them like so many wildcats. 
 
 Suddenly, to their astonishment, Quintin Bandera's infantry arose 
 on either side of the road and almost annihilated the pursuing column. 
 Those who escaped alarmed the columns of infantry, who returned to 
 San Luis to fortify themselves. Maceo and Bandera camped on the 
 estate of Mejorana, about six miles away. It was here that Marti, 
 Gomez, the two Maceos, Crombet, Guerra, and Rabi met not long before 
 this to inaugurate the new revolution. Bandera and Maceo found 
 plenty of provisions at the estate, but no bread. A small Cuban boy 
 was sent to the Spanish commander at San Luis with a note requesting 
 him to be so kind as to send some bread to visitors at the Mejorana plan- 
 tation. The boy delivered the note and the Spanish commander asked 
 who sent him. Without a moment's hesitation he replied: "General 
 Maceo." The Spanish official laughed and replied: "Very well, a sup- 
 ply of bread will be sent. It will not be necessary for Maceo to come 
 after it." What is more remarkable is the fact that Maceo told the 
 correspondent beforehand that the bread would be sent, as the Span- 
 iards had been so frightened by Bandera on the previous day that they 
 did not want to invite another attack. That very evening the boy re- 
 turned, conveying many bags of bread. The Spaniards remained withi a 
 the town until Maceo had rested his army and departed for Jarahuica. 
 
 Campos' Campaign Fails. 
 
 Before the end of the year Campos' campaign was admitted to be a 
 
 failure. He could not depart from his humane policy, however, and at 
 11 
 
204 ANOTHER STROKE FOR FREEDOM. 
 
 the beginning of the year 1896 he returned to Spain. The rabid 
 Spaniards of Havana, having compelled Campos to tender his resigna- 
 tion, demanded from Canovas a captain-general framed in the old 
 iron cast of the Spanish conquerors, not to fight battles and risk his life 
 in the field, but to exterminate the native population. In their belief, 
 women, children, everyone born in Cuba, should be held responsible for 
 the situation. They did not like a soldier with a gallant career and 
 personal courage. They wanted an executioner. Canovas satisfied 
 them and appointed Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau to succeed Mar- 
 tinez Campos. 
 
 The question may be asked why the insurgents after so many vic- 
 tories did not invest the city of Havana, and end therewith the Spanish 
 dominion. The answer is very clear. After the battle of Coliseo 
 General Gomez reviewed his troops and found that each soldier had 
 only three cartridges. The Cubans in the United States were making 
 vain efforts to send a big expedition to the insurgents, but the policy 
 of our government was non-interference, and they were checked in their 
 plans. At Guira de Melena, on January 4, 1896, the Cubans had to 
 fight with their machetes to enter the Province of Havana. 
 
 If history does not afford a parallel of the stern resolution displayed 
 by the Cubans to die or to win in a struggle with all the odds against 
 them, neither does it present a case of stubborn resistance to justice 
 and human rights, and of barbarous cruelty, which equals the record of 
 Spain in Cuba. 
 
CHAPTEK XX. 
 
 JOSE MARTI AND OTHER CUBAN HEROES. 
 
 A Cuban Patriot A Life Devoted to the Cause First Work for Cuba 
 Banished From His Native Land He Returns to Fight for Freedom 
 His Death Maximo Gomez, General-in-Chief of the Cuban Forces 
 His Methods of Warfare Antonio Maceo, the Colored Commander 
 Other Military Men of Note in the Cuban Army. 
 
 When the day comes that Cuba shall take her place among the 
 free and independent nations of the earth, Jos6 Marti, who probably 
 did more than any other one man to arouse the insurgents to make 
 the final struggle for liberty, will not.be among them to share their 
 triumphs. Struck down by a Spanish bullet, almost at the commence- 
 ment of the last revolution, he sleeps beneath the southern skies, and 
 neither the clash of swords nor the thunder of the cannon over his 
 grave can distrub his rest. , 
 
 Born in Havana, the son of a Spanish army officer, he was taught 
 from his childhood days that the friends of Cuba's caiuse were rebels, 
 deserving of death. But as he grew older he commenced to think for 
 himself, and the more he learned of Spanish robbery, injustice and 
 cruelty, the more determined he became to devote his life to the cause 
 of his native land. 
 
 While yet a mere boy, he began the work. He published clan- 
 destine circulars, he wrote a play in which he depicted the wrongs 
 inflicted upon the island people; "Free Cuba" was his thought by day, 
 his dream at night. Through imprisonment and exile, in Spain, Mex- 
 ico and the United States, every action of his life was guided by the 
 one ambition. 
 
 On April 14th, 1895, in company with Maximo Gomez, Marti 
 landed on the coast of Cuba, at Cobonico. His coming gave the insur- 
 gents new courage, and their numbers increased rapidly. He was 
 made a Major General of the army, and in company with Gomez, who 
 had seen service in the previous campaign, he led a number of suc- 
 cessful attacks against detachments of the Spanish forces. 
 
 205 
 
206 JOSE MAKTI AND OTHER CUBAN HEROES. 
 
 After organizing an expedition that was to march to Puerto Prin- 
 cipe under Gomez's command, Marti intended to go to the seacoast in 
 order to return abroad and continue his work there in favor of the 
 secessionist revolution. 
 
 About this time a man named Chacon was captured by Colonel 
 Sandoval, of the Spanish forces, and letters from the rebels were found 
 in his possession, and some money with which he was going to make 
 purchases for the insurgent chiefs. This man gave information re- 
 garding the enemy's location, and acting upon this knowledge, Colonel 
 Sandoval, on the 19th of May, brought his army to La Brija, The 
 Hernan Oortez squadron, under Captain Capa, was in vanguard, and 
 attacked a band commanded by Bellito, which had come to meet the 
 column. 
 
 When Colonel Sandoval heard of it, he advanced, up to the plain 
 of Dos Rios, and ordered his infantry to open fire. A spirited combat 
 ensued, with fatal results to the insurgents, as the Spanish guide, 
 Antonio Oliva, running up to help a soldier who was surrounded by 
 a large group of the enemy, fired his rifle at a horseman, who fell to 
 the ground, and was found to be Jos Marti. Captain Enrique Satue 
 was the first to recognize him. A fight took place upon the spot, the 
 rebels trying hard to carry the corpse away, but they were repulsed. 
 Maximo Gomez was wounded in the encounter, which for some days 
 led to the belief that he too was dead. According to one narrative, 
 Gomez was in the midst of the battle from the beginning, and while 
 hurrying to recover the corpse of Marti, he was slightly wounded. 
 Others say that the famous chief, had already taken leave of Marti to 
 go to Camaguey, when, passing at some distance from Dos Rios, he 
 heard the report of musketry. He imagined what was happening, 
 and ran to rescue the civil chief of the revolution, but when he airived, 
 Marti had been killed. Gomez being wounded, Borrero took him on 
 his own horse, and in this manner carried him to a place of safety. The 
 Spaniards, after their victory, moved to Remanganagaus, where the 
 corpse of Marti was embalmed. From the latter town it was taken 
 to Santiago de Cuba, and while on the way there, the troops had to 
 repel an attack from the rebels, who intended to carry off the coffin. 
 On arriving at the city, the remains of Marti were exhibited at the 
 cemetery. Colonel Sandoval presided over the funeral ceremonies,, 
 and the dead leader was given a decent resting place. Here are San- 
 doval's words on the occasion: 
 
JOSE MARTI AND OTHER CUBAN HEROES. 207 
 
 Gentlemen: In presence of the corpse of him who in life was Jose 
 Marti, and in the absence of any relative or friend who might speak over his 
 remains such words as are customary, I request you not to consider these 
 remains to be those of an enemy any more, but simply those of a man, car- 
 ried by political discords to face Spanish soldiers. From the moment the 
 spirits have freed themselves of matter they are sheltered and magnanimously 
 pardoned by the Almighty, and the abandoned matter is left in our care, for 
 us to dispel all rancorous feelings, and give the corpse such Christian burial 
 as is due to the dead. 
 
 Maximo Gomez, the General-in-Chief. t " 
 
 The General-in-Chief of the Cuban forces is Maximo Gomez, a man 
 of scholarly attainments, great intellect, and long experience in mili- 
 tary affairs. Formerly an officer of Spain, he explains his present posi- 
 tion in the following words: 
 
 "When I gave up, in 1868, my uniform and rank as a Major of the 
 Spanish Army, it was because I knew that if I kept them I would have 
 some day to meet my own children in the field, and combat against 
 their just desire for liberty. Now, with my many years, I have come to 
 lead and counsel the new generation to ultimate victory." 
 
 Of his methods in war, Thomas Alvord says: 
 
 "General Gomez never has more than 300 or 400 men with him. 
 His favorite camp is near Arroyo Blanco, on a high plateau, difficult 
 to approach, and covered with dense thicket. He posts his outer pick- 
 ets at least three miles away, in directions from which the enemy 
 may come. The Spaniards, whenever possible, march by road, and, 
 with these highways well guarded, Gomez sleeps secure. He knows 
 that his pickets will be informed by some Cuban long before the Span- 
 ish column leaves or passes the nearest village to attack him. A shot 
 from the farthest sentry causes little or no excitement in Gomez's 
 camp. The report throws the Spanish column into fears of attack or 
 ambush, and it moves forward very slowly and carefully. Two pick- 
 ets at such a time have been known to hold 2,000 men at bay for a 
 whole day. If the column presses on, and General Gomez hears a 
 shot from a sentinel near by, he will rise leisurely from his hammock 
 and give orders to prepare to move camp. He has had so many expe- 
 riences of this kind that not until he hears the volley-shooting of the 
 oncoming Spaniards will he call for his horse, give the word to march, 
 and disappear, followed by his entire force, into the tropical under- 
 brush, which closes like curtain behind him, leaving the Spaniards to 
 
208 JOSE MARTI AND OTHER CUBAN HEROES. 
 
 discover a deserted camp, without the slightest trace of the path taken 
 by its recent occupants. 
 
 "Sometimes Gomez will move only a mile or two. The Spaniards 
 do not usually give chase. If they do, Gomez takes a keen delight in 
 leading them in a circle. If he can throw them off by nightfall, he 
 goes to sleep in his camp of the morning, happier than if he had won 
 a battle. The Spaniards learn nothing through such experiences. 
 Gomez varies the game occasionally by marching directly towards the 
 rear of the foe, and there, reinforced by other insurgent bands of the 
 neighborhood, falling upon the column and punishing it severely. 
 While his immediate force is but a handful, the General can call to 
 his aid, in a short time, nearly 6,000 men." 
 
 A Colored Commander. 
 
 As soon as the rebellion had assumed such proportions as to make 
 it possible to arrange a regular military organization among the insur- 
 gents, Antonio Maceo was made the second in command, under Gen- 
 eral Gomez, with the title of Lieutenant General. He had risen from 
 the ranks to the position of Major General in the Ten Years' war, 
 where, notwithstanding his colored blood, he had shown unusual abil- 
 ity as a leader of men. Sons of the first families of Cuba were proud 
 to enlist under his banner, and to recognize him as their superior 
 officer. Space is devoted in another part of this volume to an account 
 of the treacherous manner of his death. 
 
 The following letter, written by him to General Weyler, soon after 
 the arrival of the latter named in Cuba, shows that he could fight with 
 his pen as well as with his sword: 
 
 Republic of Cuba, Invading Army, 
 
 Second Corps, Cayajabos, Feb. 27, 189G. 
 General Valeriano Weyler, Havana: 
 
 In spite of all that the press has published in regard to you, I have never 
 been willing to give it belief and to base my judgment of your conduct on its 
 statements; such an accumulation of atrocities, so many crimes repugnant 
 and dishonoring to any man of honor, I thought it impossible for a soldier 
 holding your high rank to commit. 
 
 These accusations seemed to me rather to be made in bad faith, or to be 
 the utterances of personal enmity, and I expected that you would take care to 
 give the lie in due form to your detractors, rising to the height required of a 
 gentleman, and saving yourself from any imputation of that kind, by merely 
 
 * 
 
JOSE MARTI AND OTHER CUBAN HEROES. 209' 
 
 adopting in the treatment of the wounded and prisoners of war, the generous 
 course that has been pursued from the beginning by the revolutionists 
 towards the Spanish wounded and prisoners. 
 
 But, unfortunately, Spanish dominion must always be accompanied by 
 infamy, and although the errors and wrongful acts of the last war seemed 
 to be corrected at the beginning of this one, to-day it has become manifest 
 that it was only by closing our eyes to invariable personal antecedents and 
 incorrigible traditional arbitrariness that we could have imagined Spain 
 would forget forever her fatal characteristic of ferocity towards the defense- 
 less. But we cannot help believing evidence. In my mareh during the period 
 of this campaign I see with alarm, with horror, how the wretched reputation 
 you enjoy is confirmed, and how the deeds that disclose your barbarous irri- 
 tation are repeated. What! must even the peaceful inhabitants (I say noth- 
 ing of the wounded and prisoners of war), must they be sacrificed te the rage 
 that gave the Duke of Alva his name and fame? 
 
 Is it thus that Spain, through you, returns the elemency and kindness 
 with whick we, the redeemers of this suffering people, have acted in like cir- 
 cumstances? What a reproach for yourself and for Spain! The license t 
 burn the huts, assassinations like those at Nueva Paz and the villa El (Jato, 
 committed by Spanish columns, in particular those of Colonels Molina and 
 Vicuna, proclaim you guilty before all mankind. Your name will be forever 
 infamous, here and far from here, remembered with disgust and korror. 
 
 Out of humanity, yielding to the honorable and generous impulses which 
 are identified with both the spirit and the tendency of the revolution, I shall 
 never use reprisals that would be unworthy of the reputation and the power 
 of the liberating army of Cuba. But I nevertheless foresee that such abom- 
 inable conduct on your part and on that of your men, will arouse at no dis- 
 tant time private vengeances to which they will falJ victims, without my 
 being able to prevent it, even though I should punish hundreds of innoeent 
 persons. 
 
 For this last reason, since war should only touch combatants, and it is 
 inhuman to 'make others suffer from its consequences, I invite you to retrace 
 your steps, if you admit your guilt, or to repress these crimes with a heavy 
 hand, if they were committed without your consent. At all events, take care 
 that no drop of blood be shed outside the battle field. Be merciful to the 
 many unfortunate citizens. In so doing you will imitate in honorable emula- 
 tion our conduct and our proceedings. Yours, A. MACEO. 
 
 This letter could have been written by none but a brave and honor- 
 able soldier, resolved to present the cause of the oppressed non-com- 
 batants, even when he probably knew that his appeal was powerless 
 to lessen their sufferings in the slightest degree. 
 
210 JOSE MARTI AND OTHER CUBAN HEROES. 
 
 Love and War. 
 
 Among the many brave leaders of the insurgents there is perhaps 
 none who has shown more heroism than young De Robau. After the 
 breaking out of the revolution he was one of the first to join the stand- 
 ard of independence. At that time he was engaged to be married, yet 
 with him the call of duty was paramount over every selfish considera- 
 tion. After having served for some months with conspicuous credit, 
 he was sent with his command into the neighborhood of his fiance". 
 
 The men hitherto, it may be imagined, had not paid much atten- 
 tion to their appearance, but now there was a regular conventional 
 dress parade. A barber was requisitioned, accoutrements were fur- 
 bished up, and weather-beaten sombreros were ornamented with bril- 
 liant ribbons. When the metamorphosis was complete, De Robau 
 placed himself at the head of his dashing troop, and went in state to 
 call upon the lady of his affections. 
 
 His march was a triumph, as everywhere he was attended by 
 crowds of enthusiastic people, who had long known him, and who 
 now hailed him as a distinguished champion. How he sped in his 
 wooing may be gathered from the fact that an orderly was soon dis- 
 patched for the villa cura, and that there was a wedding which fairly 
 rivaled that of Camacho, so often and so fondly recalled by the re- 
 nowned Sancho. Since then the Senora de Robau has accompanied 
 her husband throughout the campaign, sharing the hard fare and the 
 dangers of the men, and adding another to the noble band of patriotic 
 Cuban women, who vie with their husbands and brothers in fidelity to 
 their native land. * 
 
 Other Commanders of Note 
 
 The cause has many other brave leaders, among whom may be 
 mentioned General Oalixto Garcia, General Serafin Sanchez, Fran- 
 cisco Corrillo, and Jose Maria Rodriguez. They are all veterans of the 
 war of 1868-1878, and are ready to sacrifice their lives in the struggle 
 for liberty. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 DESPERATE BATTLES WITH MACHETE AND RIFLE. 
 
 The Sword of Cuba Battle Cry of the Revolutionists Cavalry Charges 
 The Strategies of War Hand-to-Hand Encounters Maceo at the 
 Front Barbarities of the Spanish Soldiers Americans in the Cuban 
 Army A Fight for Life A Yankee Gunner How a Brave Man Died. 
 
 There is a story told of a great Roman General who, after having 
 conquered in many battles, beat his sword into a plowshare, and 
 turned from war's alarms to the peaceful pursuit of agriculture. The 
 Cuban has reversed the story. When he left his labors in the forests 
 and fields to fight his oppressors, he carried with him the implement 
 with which he had cut the sugar cane on Ms plantation, and made 
 paths through dense tropic vegetation. The machete is the sword 
 of the Cuban soldier, and it will be famous forever. Its blade is of 
 tempered steel, curved slightly at the end, with one edge sharp as a 
 razor. It has a handle of horn, and is carried in a leather scabbard, 
 attached to a narrow belt. 
 
 The weapon in the hands of one who understands its use is terribly 
 effective. Instances have been known where rifle barrels have been 
 cut in two by it, and heads have been severed from their bodies at a 
 single stroke. Its name, shrieked in a wild ferocious way, is the bat- 
 tle cry of the insurgents, and when shouted from an hundred throats, 
 it carries with it so awe-inspiring a sound, that it is little wonder that 
 the enemy is stricken with fear, for it means in reality "war to the 
 knife." 
 
 Cavalry Charges. 
 
 The Cubans are among the most skillful and daring rough riders 
 of the world, the equals of the cowboys of our western States, and the 
 far-famed Cossacks of Russia. The horses' backs have been their cra- 
 dles, and here they possess a decided advantage over their Spanish 
 foes, who know as little of the equestrian art as they seem to under- 
 stand of other's rights, or the amenities of war. A mounted band of 
 
 211 
 
212 BATTLES WITH MACHETE AND RIFLE. 
 
 insurgents, rushing down on a detachment of the enemy, waving aloft 
 the terrible machete, will carry with them terror and death, and con- 
 quer twice their number. 
 
 The heroic mulatto brothers, Antonio and Jos6 Maceo, adopted this 
 manner of fighting on every possible occasion, and it is a coincidence 
 worthy of note that they both met their death while leading machete 
 charges against their hated foes. 
 
 'Lack of Ammunition in the Cuban Ranks. 
 
 The lack of ammunition is one of the weaknesses of the insurgents. 
 Courage, ability and men they possess in abundance, but the lack of 
 cartridges has interfered with many of their best laid plans, and has 
 often prevented them from availing themselves of favorable opportuni- 
 ties. Three or four rounds a man is nothing in action, especially when 
 the Spaniards are always so abundantly supplied. However they are 
 determined, and as Spanish incapacity becomes daily more apparent, 
 they feel that it is only a question of a few months until the cause for 
 which they have so long and bravely fought will be gloriously woa, 
 
 Maceo at the Front. 
 
 Within three months of the time that Gomez and Maceo landed at 
 Baracoa they had all Santiago and Puerto Principe in a state of insur- 
 rection. They started out with comparatively a handful of men. The 
 most reliable sources agree that there were not more than 300, but 
 they were quickly joined by thousands of Cubans, who brought out 
 from hiding places arms and ammunition which they had been collect- ' 
 ing and concealing for years. 
 
 General Campos, the Spanish commander, had declared that Puerto 
 Principe would never rise against Spain, and he proposed at once a 
 plan to make it doubly sure. He procured special concessions from 
 Madrid for the foreign railroads, permitting them to import iron bridges 
 to replace their wooden structures, and pledging them $20,000 a month 
 until they had extended their lines and made connections to complete 
 a continuous road through the country, using the money to employ the 
 natives. This was to insure the peace of Puerto Principe and Santa 
 .Clara, both considered conservative, and to prevent the people joining 
 the revolutionary party. 
 
BATTLES WITH MACHETE AND RIFLE. 213 
 
 After the plan was announced, the revolutionists burned out the 
 wooden bridges, tore up the tracks in many places, and the roads have 
 been, for all practical purposes, in their hands ever since. Campos, 
 meantime, to prevent Gomez moving eastward, placed 10,000 troops 
 on the border between the provinces of Puerto Principe and Santiago, 
 but Gomez crossed the line on May 19th, after a battle at Boca del Dos 
 Rios, where a loss was suffered in the death of General Marti, which 
 was so great a blow to Cuba that Campos announced that the "death 
 blow to the bandits had been struck." 
 
 In Puerto Principe Gomez captured every town he attempted to 
 take, among them Alta Gracia, San Jeronimo and Coscorro. He took 
 Fort El Mulato, and in all the places secured large quantities of ammu- 
 nition. So enthusiastic was his reception in the provinces of Puerto 
 Principe and Santa Clara that in the latter 400 Spanish volunteers 
 joined him with their arms. 
 
 The most important battle of the summer occurred at Bayamo in 
 July, just as Gomez was near the Spanish line between Santa Clara 
 and Puerto Principe, where, in an engagement between the two 
 armies, with about 3,000 men on either side, the Spanish forces were 
 completely routed. 
 
 From that time on through the summer and far into the autumn, 
 every day was marked by skirmishes, the taking of important places, 
 and the threatening of the larger towns. It kept the Spanish columns 
 moving constantly, and the exposure in the rainy season killed thou- 
 sands. 
 
 Maceo now separated his forces from Gomez's command, and 
 marched westward, fighting as he went, and everywhere meeting with 
 success. He established the new government in the cities and towns 
 of Mantua, San Cristobal, Eemates, Palacios, Paso Eeal de San Diego, 
 Guane, Consolacion del Sur, Pilotos, Alonso de Eojas, San Luis, San 
 Juan y Martinez, and others of less importance. 
 
 Pinar del Bio City, the capital of the province, was the only city of 
 importance that held out, but it was cut off with communication with 
 its port, Colon, and was short of provisions. One supply sent by the 
 Spanish for its relief, 100,000 rations, fell into Maceo's hands. 
 
 In San Cristobal the Spanish flag on the government building was 
 replaced by the emblem of the new republic, a mayor and ?ity officials 
 were appointed, resolutions were adopted by the new autho nties, and, 
 after all the arms in the town had been collected, Maco remained a 
 
214 BATTLES WITH MACHETE AND RIFLE. 
 
 day to rest his men and horses, and moved on the following morning at 
 daybreak. 
 
 Generals Navarro and Luque were ordered to crush the insurgent 
 army at all hazards. Their combined forces consisted of 5,000 infan- 
 try, 200 cavalry, and 11 pieces of artillery. After a two-days' march 
 they were joined by General Arizon's command, which had encoun- 
 tered Maceo's rear guard the previous day, with disastrous results. 
 
 Near Quivera Hacha, Navarro's skirmishers encountered a small 
 band of insurgents, and fearing that all of Maceo's army was near, 
 lines of battle were quickly formed. The engagement lasted for less 
 than half an hour, when the insurgent forces withdrew, without 
 serious losses on either side. General Navarro finally discovered that 
 the principal part of Maceo's forces was at the Armendores estate, and 
 the seat of operations was changed. General Luque succeeded Navarro 
 in command, and several days now passed without any conflict of note. 
 Finally Luque led a charge upon Maceo's vanguard, in the vicinity of 
 Pinar del Kio, but the moment the attack was made he found himself 
 under fire from the top of low hills on both sides of the road, where 
 the insurgents were well protected, and he sustained severe losses with- 
 out inflicting much injury upon the enemy. So hot was the encounter 
 that Luque withdrew and prepared to charge upon two points where 
 the enemy were making a stand. He held the road with one battalion, 
 sending a detachment to the right, and another to the left. The attack 
 was successful. The Spanish made a magnificent effort under with- 
 ering fire, and swept Maceo's forces before them, not, however, until 
 they had left the field scattered with their own dead and wounded. 
 
 For some reason the cavalry had not been used. The artillery was 
 just coming up when the action had reached this point. The Spanish 
 found that the enemy had, instead of being routed, simply fallen back 
 and taken a position on another hill, and scattered firing went on for a 
 considerable time, while Luque prepared to attack again. Then, 
 against 2,000 of Maceo's men, was directed all of Luque's command, 
 over 4,000 infantry, 200 cavalry, and eleven pieces of artillery. 
 
 At least half of Maceo's army, certainly not less than 2,000 cavalry, 
 had been moving up to Luque's rear and came upon him, surprising 
 him just as this second attack was being made. 
 
 For a tr ie it was a question whether Luque's command would not 
 be wiped -/at. They were practically surrounded by Maceo's men, and 
 for fully an hour and a half the fighting was desperate. It is impossi- 
 
BATTLES WITH MACHETE AND RIFLE. 215 
 
 ble to unravel the stories of both sides so as to arrive at a clear idea 
 of the encounter. 
 
 When the cannonading ceased, four companies of infantry charged 
 up the hill and occupied it before the insurgents, who had been driven 
 out by the artillery, could regain it. Shortly the hill on the left of 
 the road was taken in the same way, and Luque, although at a great 
 loss, had repelled Maceo's attack from the rear. 
 
 The battle had lasted for a little over two hours. Maceo had about 
 forty of his men wounded and left four dead on the field, taking away 
 ten others. Twenty or more of his horses were killed. The Spanish 
 reported that he had 1,000 killed, the next day reduced the number 
 to 300, and finally to the statement that "the enemy's losses must have 
 been enormous," the usual phrase when the true number is humiliat- 
 ing. Luque's losses have never been officially reported, but it is 
 variously estimated at from seventy-five to a hundred men. 
 
 The Work of Fiends. 
 
 The Cubans give horrible details of a battle at Paso Real, between 
 General Luque's army and a division of Maceo's forces under Benuu- 
 dez. Witnesses of the encounter claim that the Spaniards invaded 
 the hospital and killed wounded insurgents in their beds, and that 
 Bermudez, in retaliation, formed a line, and shot thirty-seven Span- 
 ish prisoners. 
 
 Luque says in his report of this engagement: "The rebels made a 
 strong defense, firing from the tops of houses and along the fences 
 around the city. The Spanish vanguard, under Colonel. Hernandez, 
 attacked the vanguard, center and rear guard of the rebels in the cen- 
 tral streets of the town, driving them with continuous volleys and fierce 
 cavalry charges into the outskirts of the town. Up to this point we 
 had killed ten insurgents." 
 
 The people of Paso Real say this report is true, as far as it goes, but 
 that Luque neglects to add that he then attacked the hospital, and 
 murdered twenty-eight wounded men, firing at them as they lay on 
 their cots, through the windows, and finally breaking down the door, 
 and killing the rest with the bayonet. 
 
 Under date of February 8th we have an account of the operations 
 of the Spanish General Sabas Marin, who left Havana a short time 
 before. His campaign in search of General Gomez was disastrous, and 
 
1216 BATTLES WITH MACHETE AND RIFLE. 
 
 the official reports of Spanish victories were misleading. There were 
 losses on both sides, but Marin accomplished absolutely nothing of 
 what he intended to achieve. 
 
 The first misfortune which overtook the Spaniards was the rout of 
 Carnellas, on the very day on which Marin left Havana. Gomez sent 
 a detachment under Pedro Diaz to intercept him, and this force 
 reached Saladrigas in the early morning. In this section the country 
 is cut into small fields, divided by stone fences, and facing the road 
 there is *. high fence, with a ditch in front of it. Diaz placed 400 infan- 
 try behind this fence, and waited himself with 1,000 cavalry back of a 
 hill close by. When the Spanish forces appeared, the advance guard 
 was allowed to pass, and as soon as the main body was fairly in the 
 trap, volleys were poured into them, literally mowing them down. 
 At the sound of the first gun, Diaz led his thousand horsemen upon the 
 enemy's flank and rear. The charge was irresistible. Half of Diaz's 
 men did not even fire a shot, but yelling "machete," they rode furiously 
 upon the Spanish lines, cutting their w T ay through, and fighting with 
 terrible effect. 
 
 The Spanish issued no official report of this battle. So far as the 
 records show, it never occurred. One of the Spanish officers, who 
 fought in it, conceded a loss of 200 men, but it is probable that twice 
 that number would be nearer the correct figure. 
 
 Americans in the Cuban Army. 
 
 Colonel Frederick Funston, who returned to New York in January, 
 1898, told an interesting story of brave Yankee boys serving under 
 General Gomez and General Garcia in Eastern Cuba, and also gave an 
 account of the sad death of W. Dana Osgood, the famous football 
 player, formerly of the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Colonel Funston was with Gomez's army when they attacked Gui- 
 maro. They had with them a twelve-pound Hotchkiss rifle and four 
 American artillerymen, Osgood of Pennsylvania, Latrobe and Janney 
 of Baltimore, and Devine of Texas. 
 
 They attacked Guimaro in the morning, at ranges of from 400 to 
 600 yards, the infantry being protected by a breastwork of earth, in 
 which openings were left for the guns. 
 
 The Spanish garrison consisted of 200 men in eleven forts, and 
 they maintained a hot fire all day. Gradually, however, the Hotchkiss 
 
BATTLES WITH MACHETE AND KIFLE. 217 
 
 rifle, the fire of which was directed by Osgood, made the largest and 
 nearest fort untenable, and it was abandoned by the garrison. No 
 sooner had the Spanish forces left it than a band of the insurgents took 
 possession, and from this point of vantage the fighting was continued 
 with renewed vigor. As soon as darkness came on one of the Cuban 
 guns was moved forward and stationed in this fort, and on the following 
 day a storm of shot and shell was directed at the other forts. 
 
 Naturally the rifles of the garrison were trained most of the time 
 upon the man sighting the Hotchkiss in the captured fort, and there, 
 leaning over his gun in the early morning, the intrepid Osgood was shot 
 through the head. He was carried off by his comrades under fire, and 
 died four hours later. The death of this gallant young soldier was 
 universally lamented, and the Cubans honor his memory as one of the 
 first Americans to give his life while fighting for their cause. 
 
 With Gomez, with Garcia, and with Maceo, in every insurgent camp, 
 there were brave men, American born, who fought for the flag of Free 
 Cuba, side by side with the native soldier, and who gave their lives in 
 the war against Spanish tyranny and misrule. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 FILIBUSTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 First Expeditions Expense to the United States President Pierce's Action 
 The Uprising in 18GS The Patrol of the Coasts An Expedition on 
 the "Three Friends" Arms and Ammunition for the Insurgents Des- 
 perate Chances A Successful Landing. 
 
 The record of the last fifty years is the clearest and most convinc- 
 ing evidence that can be offered against the Spanish contention that 
 the' United States is not concerned with the question of government 
 in Cuba, and has not been tremendously injured by the inability of 
 Spanish administration to furnish the Cubans with a peaceful and 
 satisfactory government. The first bit of evidence to be submitted 
 comes from away back in 1848, when President Polk, on behalf of the 
 United States, announced that while the United States was willing 
 that Cuba should, be continued under Spanish ownership and govern- 
 ment, it would never consent to the occupation of the island by any 
 other European nation. 
 
 It was pointed out a.i that time by the American government that 
 were the United States to admit that Cuba was open to seizure by any 
 government that was able to throw Spain out the fact that it was 
 nearly surrounded, in Central and South America and in other West 
 Indian islands, by territory belonging to twelve other nations would 
 make it the ground of interminable squabbles. And these squabbles 
 were not matters which would be without interest and damage to the 
 commerce and peace of the United States. This was followed by an 
 offer of |100,000,000 to Spain for the island of Cuba, The offer was 
 promptly declined, and the United States was informed that Cuba 
 was not on the market. 
 
 First Filibustering Expedition. 
 
 Nevertheless, there was formed in the United States the Lone Star 
 Society, which had as its object "the acquisition of the island of Cuba 
 as part of the territory of the United States." 
 
 The "Conspiracy of Lopez," which is fully treated of in previous 
 
 218 
 
LITTLE KING ALFONSO OF SPAIN, WHOSE THRONE IS TOTTERING 
 

 W 
 
 u 
 
 U 
 
 s "S 
 
 W l| 
 
 P Is 
 
 O(/i t/> 
 i 
 
FILIBUSTERS FROM FLORIDA. 221 
 
 pages of this work, was the first filibustering expedition that attracted 
 particular attention from the authorities, and it was hoped that its 
 disastrous end would deter others from like attempts. But the hope 
 was a- vain one, for within two years a similar expedition, led by Gen- 
 eral Quitman of Mississippi, was organized in the United States. 
 Many men were enlisted and vessels chartered, but the expedition 
 was suppressed by the government of the United States. 
 
 f Expense to United States. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the fact that Spain had not been able to 
 govern Cuba peaceably has caused the United States great expense and 
 irritation for a much longer period than is usually taken into consid- 
 eration in these days. It is not the fault of the United States that its 
 citizens have been stirred to sympathy with the victims of the Span- 
 ish policy of government by robbery and murder. It is not the fault 
 of the United States that this country has been the refuge of men who 
 have been outlawed from the country of their birth because their pres- 
 ence there meant the irrepressible working in them of a desire for 
 freedom, a desire intolerable to Spanish institutions. 
 
 It is not the fault of the United States that these refugees, living 
 in the land of civil liberty, should desire to return to their native coun- 
 try and drive out those who made it miserable. But it would have been 
 the fault of the United States, under international law, if these exiled 
 Cubans were permitted to carry out their very natural and laudable 
 desire in concert with the Americans whose sympathy had been 
 stirred by the story of Spanish wrongs. To ferret out the plans for 
 expeditions conceived with such determination and perseverance was 
 not only a task requiring tremendous expenditure of money and 
 energy, but it was a miserably disagreeable and unpopular work for 
 the government to engage in. 
 
 On the 31st of May, 1854, President Pierce issued a proclamation 
 instructing citizens of the United States as to their duties in refrain- 
 ing from encouragement, aid, or participation in connection with the 
 Cuban insurrections. 
 
 The Uprising in 1868. 
 
 In the fall of 1868, after scattering uprisings and several battles 
 during the preceding year, plans for a concerted insurrection were 
 
 arranged. The plan was discovered and the insurrection was started 
 12 
 
222 FILIBUSTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 prematurely. There followed a campaign in which Spanish forces, 
 amounting to 110,000 men, were unable to hold in check the Cuban 
 force of about 26,000. In May the filibustering expeditions, that were 
 to prove such an immense expense and annoyance to the United 
 States, began again. The Spanish navy co-operated with the United 
 States government in the efforts to suppress these expeditions, but 
 many of them eluded the authorities, and aided the insurgents with 
 arms and provisions. 
 
 This was irritating to Spain and the United States alike, because 
 it cost just as much to keep up an unsuccessful anti-filibustering pa- 
 trol as it did actually to catch filibusters, and, moreover, every suc- 
 cessful expedition weakened the authority of the Federal government. 
 That authority in the Southern States just after the war was none too 
 strong, and it was not a good thing that the spectacle of defiance to 
 the United States should be flaunted along the Southern coast. 
 
 From 1878 until 1895,when the present insurrection gained strength 
 to become openly active, the island is supposed to have been at peace, 
 but in the latter year the open war and filibustering expeditions began 
 again. The name of President Cleveland was added to the list of Pres- 
 idents whose duty it was to interfere with efforts to aid Cuban liberty. 
 He issued appropriate proclamations on June 12, 1895, and July 30, 
 1896. Eevenue cutters and warships constantly patrolled the Florida 
 coast and, indeed, all the waters of the gulf, and sometimes New York 
 harbor, to head off filibustering expeditions. It is said to have cost 
 more to suppress the natural desire of citizens of the United States) to 
 relieve the political distress in Cuba than it has cost to enforce cus- 
 toms regulations from the same territory. 
 
 The Voyage of the "Three Friends." 
 
 As evidence of the fact that Cuban sympathizers have been suc- 
 cessful in escaping the patrol on American coasts and the enemy's 
 battleships in Cuban waters, we give the report of one of many expe- 
 ditions that have been made during the past three years. 
 
 The steamer "Three Friends," of Jacksonville, Florida, in command 
 of Captain Napoleon B. Broward, returned to Jacksonville on March 
 18th, having succeeded in landing in Cuba, General Enrique Collazo, 
 Major Charles Hernandez, and Duke Estrada, besides fifty-four men 
 taken off the schooner "Ardell" from Tampa, and the entire cargo of 
 arms and ammunition of the schooner "Mallory" from Cedar Key. It 
 
FILIBUSTERS FROM FLORIDA. 223 
 
 was by long odds the most important expedition that has set out 
 from this country, and the Cubans at Jacksonville, when they learned 
 that the "Three Friends" had safely fulfilled her mission, shouted 
 "Viva Cuba!" until they were hoarse. 
 
 They declared that it would change the character of the whole 
 war, as the unarmed men would now be armed, and that Maceo, who 
 had before been wary and cautious, would be more aggressive than 
 he had ever been before. The cargo of arms landed by the "Three 
 Friends" and the "Mallory" was as follows: 750,000 rounds of car- 
 tridges, 1,200 rifles, 2,100 machetes, 400 revolvers, besides stores, re- 
 loading tools, etc. 
 
 The "Three Friends" met the "Mallory" at Alligator Key. The 
 "Ardell" had just finished transferring the men to her. While they 
 were rendezvoused there behind the pines in a deep coral-walled creek, 
 three big Spanish men-of-war steamed slowly by, but they did not dis- 
 cover that there was anything suspicious looking in shore, although 
 with a glass men could be seen in their look-outs scanning the horizon, 
 as well as searching the shore. Sunday, about noon, no vessels being 
 in sight, the "Three Friends" took in tow the "Mallory" and steamed 
 southward under a good head of steam. 
 
 The "Three Friends" is a powerful tug, and by Monday night was 
 close enough to the Cuban' shore to hear the breakers. Several ship- 
 lights to the west were seen, one of which was evidently a Spanish 
 man-of-war, for she had a search-light at her bow, and was sweeping 
 the waves with it, but the "Three Friends" was a long way off, and had 
 no light, and so was out of the neighborhood of the Spaniard. 
 
 A Successful Landing. 
 
 At ten o'clock that night, by the aid of a naphtha launch and two 
 big surf boats, which had been taken out of Jacksonville, the "Three 
 Friends" landed the men and ammunition from her hold, and from that 
 of the "Mallory." It took four and a half hours to complete the job. 
 There were hundreds of men on shore to assist, and they did it silently, 
 appreciating the peril of the position. 
 
 The Cubans on shore recognized General Collazo immediately, and 
 no words can describe their joy on seeing him. He is; a veteran of 
 Cuban wars, and one whom Spain fears. In fact> it is known that 
 during his sojourn in Florida he was shadowed by detectives^ who had 
 been instructed to spare no expense to keep Collazo from reaching 
 
224 FILIBUSTERS FROM FLORIDA. 
 
 Cuba. When it was whispered that Collazo was really among them, 
 they seemed not to believe their ears, but came forward and looked, 
 and, seeing that there was really no mistake, threw up their arms and 
 wept for joy. Major Charles Hernandez and Duke Estrada were also 
 enthusiastically welcomed. 
 
 It was reported that night that Maceo had received the arms of the 
 first expedition that set forth three days before the "Three Friends" 
 landed. They were not from the "Commodore," for they reported that 
 they were now on the lookout for that vessel. They said, too, that at 
 the end of the week four expeditions were afloat. Two, including the 
 "Three Friends," had landed, and two more were on the way. Tues- 
 day morning, as the "Three Friends" was returning, she sighted a 
 steamer that answered to the description of the "Commodore." She 
 was headed 'southward, and pushing along apparently at the rate of 
 fifteen knots an hour. 
 
 Here is the story of the capture of an expedition, by Commander 
 Butron, of the Spanish gunboat "Mensagera": 
 
 "The 'Mensagera' was directed to watch the coast between Cayo 
 Julia and Morrillo, about one hundred miles. It was heard on the 
 afternoon of April 25 that a suspicious schooner had been seen near 
 Quebrados de Uvas. The gunboat followed, and found the 'Competi- 
 tor.' The usual signals were made, but the schooner tried to get closer 
 in shore, so as to land a rapid-fire gun. 
 
 "The 'Mensagera' was then moved forward and fired a shot, which 
 struck the schooner and exploded a box of cartridges which the men 
 were trying to take ashore. Several occupants of the schooner became 
 alarmed, and threw themselves into the water, feaHng an explosion of 
 dynamite. The gunboat's crew seized rifles and began shooting, kill- 
 ing three men. Several others reached shore. 
 
 "Three men were aboard the schooner when it was overhauled, 
 and they surrendered without resistance. Among them was Owen 
 Milton, editor of the Key West Mosquito. Sailors were sent ashore 
 to capture the arms landed. In the skirmish, two men, supposed to be 
 filibusters, and a horse were killed. They secured several abandoned 
 cases of cartridges. A body of insurgents had come to watch the land- 
 ing of the boat's crew. The 'Mensagera' came to Havana with the 
 arms and prisoners, who were very seasick. The schooner was towed 
 to Havana by the gunboat 'Vicente Yanez.' It is regarded as an object 
 of great curiosity by the crowds. It had the Spanish flag floating 
 
FILIBUSTERS FROM FLORIDA. 225 
 
 when captured. It is a neat, strong boat, and looks fast. One of the 
 prisoners captured steadily refuses to give his name." 
 
 An account of the trial, as sent from Havana, May 8th, reads as 
 follows: 
 
 "The court opened at the Arsenal. The prisoners were Alfredo 
 Laborde, born in New Orleans; Owen Milton, of Kansas; William 
 Kinlea, an Englishman, and Elias Vedia and Teodore Dela Maza, both 
 Cubans. Captain Ruiz a.cted as president of the court, which con- 
 sisted of nine other military and naval officers. The trial of the five 
 filibusters captured aboard the 'Competitor' was proceeded with 
 against the formal protest presented by Consul General Williams, 
 who declared that the trial was illegal and in violation of the treaty 
 between Spain and the United States. 
 
 "The prisoners^ were not served with a copy of the charges against 
 them and were not allowed to select their own counsel, but were 
 represented by a naval officer appointed by the government. They 
 were not permitted to call witnesses for their defense, the prosecution 
 calling all the witnesses. Owen Milton, of Kansas, testified through 
 an interpreter that he came on the expedition only to correspond for 
 a newspaper. William Kinlea, when called, was in his shirt sleeves. 
 He arose and said in English, 'I do not recognize your authority, and 
 appeal for protection to the American and English consuls.' " 
 
 Fortunately for these prisoners, the United States government in- 
 terfered, and they were eventually released. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 WEYLER THE BUTCHER. 
 
 His Ancestry A Soldier From His Youth He Succeeds General Campos 
 A Master of Diplomacy A Slave of Spain His Personal Appearance 
 His Interview With a Woman His Definition of War His Resig- 
 nation. 
 
 Early in 1896, when the Spanish government began to realize that 
 the insurrection was assuming serious proportions, arrangements were 
 made for the recall of General Campos, then Governor-General of 
 the island, and General Weyler was sent to assume the duties of the 
 office. It was the opinion in Spain that Campos was too mild in his 
 treatment of the rebels, and as Weyler was known to have no lamb- 
 like qualities, he was regarded as the ideal man for the position. That 
 he did not succeed in putting down the rebellion was certainly not 
 due to any lack of extreme measures on his part. He is known as the 
 "Butcher," and his management of affairs in Cuba certainly gives him 
 every right to the title. 
 
 Valeriano Weyler y Mcolau, to give him his full name, is only half 
 a Spaniard. His father was a Prussian, though Weyler himself was 
 born in Cadiz in 1839. His parents were in very moderate circum- 
 stances and not of noble birth. What Weyler has won he has acquired 
 through his own efforts. He has made his way single-handed. He 
 graduated from the infantry school at Toledo in 1857 and was at once 
 sent to Cuba as a subaltern. He was quickly made a captain and his 
 first work was to subdue a small revolt in San Domingo. 
 
 He rose rapidly in rank, and during the first Cuban revolt he was in 
 command in the province of Santiago, where he earned the title that 
 has since made him famous in the eyes of his supporters, but infamous 
 from a civilized point of view. But he put down the revolt. He was 
 rewarded' with the appointment of captain general of the Canary 
 islands. His administration was so successful that he was created 
 Marquis of Teneriffe. He was then barely thirty-nine years old. He 
 distinguished himself in the Carlist war and at its conclusion he was 
 made captain general of the Philippines, where he quelled an insur- 
 
 226 
 
WEYLEB THE BUTCHER. 227 
 
 rection and admittedly gave the islands the best administration they 
 had ever known. He returned to Spain in 1889 and was in command 
 at Barcelona until the present Cuban revolution began. 
 
 Here is a mental photograph of him by a newspaper correspond- 
 ent: 
 
 "Most men resemble their reputations, and if a life famously spent 
 is in the mind of one who visits a character of world-wide repute, he 
 quite naturally discovers peculiarities of facial expression and 
 physique which appear to account for the individuality of the man, 
 fighter, philosopher, criminal, reformer or whatever he may be. 
 
 "All this is true of General Weyler. He is one of those men who 
 create a first impression, the first sight of whom can never be effaced 
 from the mind, by whose presence the most careless observer is im- 
 pressed instantly, and yet, taken altogether, he is a man in whom the 
 elements of greatness are concealed under a cloak of impenetrable 
 obscurity. Inferior physically, unsoldierly in bearing, exhibiting no 
 trace of refined sensibilities nor pleasure in the gentle associations 
 that others live for, or at least seek as diversions, he is nevertheless 
 the embodiment of mental acuteness, crafty, unscrupulous, fearless 
 and of indomitable perseverance. 
 
 "I have talked with Campos, Marin and Weyler, the three Captain- 
 Generals to whom Spain has intrusted (thus far unsuccessfully) the 
 reconquest of Cuba. Keconquest seems an ill-chosen word, but one of 
 General Weyler's staff has so denominated this war, and Cuban revo- 
 lutions can be settled only by conquests, Campos was an exceptional 
 man. Marin was commonplace. Weyler is unique. Campos and Marin 
 affected gold lace, dignity and self-consciousness. Weyler ignores 
 them all as useless, unnecessary impediments, if anything, to the one 
 object of his existence. Campos was fat, good natured, wise, phil- 
 osophical, slow in his mental processes, clear in his judgment, em- 
 phatic in his opinions, outspoken, and, withal, lovable, humane, con- 
 servative, constructive, progressive, with but one project ever before 
 him, the glorification of Spain as a mother-land and a figure among 
 peaceful, enlightened nations. 
 
 "Weyler is lean, diminutive, shriveled, ambitious for immortality, 
 irrespective of its odor, a master of diplomacy, the slave of Spain, for 
 the glory of sitting at the right of her throne, unlovable, unloving, 
 exalted, and doubtless justly, in self-esteem, because he is unmistaken 
 in his estimation of his value to his Queen. His passion is success, 
 
228 WEYLEB THE BUTCHER. 
 
 per se, foul or fair consequences or the conventional ideas of human- 
 ity notwithstanding. 
 
 "He is a little man. An apparition of blacks black eyes, black 
 hair, black beard, dark, exceedingly dark, complexion^ a plain black 
 attire, black shoes, black tie, a very dirty shirt and soiled standing 
 collar, with no jewelry and not a relief from the aspect of darkness 
 anyw^here on his person. 
 
 "It is not remarkable that I momentarily hesitated to make cer- 
 tain that this was actually Weyler. Doubt was dispelled with a look 
 at his face. His eyes, far apart, bright, alert and striking, took me in 
 at a glance. His face seemed to run to his chin, his lower jaw pro- 
 truding far beyond any ordinary sign of firmness, persistence or will- 
 power. His forehead is neither high nor receding, neither is it that of 
 a thoughtful or philosophic man. His ears are set far back, and what 
 is called the region of intellect, in which are those mental attributes 
 that might be defined as powers of observation, calculation, judgment, 
 and execution, is strongly developed. The conformation of his head, 
 however, is not one that is generally accepted as an indication of any 
 marked possession of philoprogenitiveness or its kindred emotions and 
 inclinations. His nose is aquiline, bloodless and obtrusive. When he 
 speaks it is with a high nasal enunciation that is not disagreeable, 
 because it is not prolonged, and his sentences justify every impression 
 that has already been formed of -the man. They are short, crisp, em- 
 phatic and expressive. 
 
 " 'I have an aversion to speech,' he said. 'I am an enemy of publica- 
 tions. I prefer to act, not to talk. I am here to restore peace. When 
 peace is in the land I am going away. T am a soldier. When I am 
 gone, politicians will reconstruct Cuba, and probably they will upset 
 things again until they are as bad as they are now. I care not for 
 America, England, anyone, but only for the treaties we have with 
 them.' They are the law. I observe the law, and every letter of the 
 law. I have my ideas of Cuba's relation to Spain. I have never ex- 
 pressed them. Some politicians would agree with them, others would 
 not. No one would agree with all of them. I know I am merciless, 
 but mercy has no place in war. I know the reputation which has been 
 built up for me. Things that are charg'ed to me were done by officers 
 under me, and I was held responsible for all things in the Ten- Years' 
 war, including its victorious end. I do not conceal the fact that I 
 am here solely because it is believed I can crush this insurrection. I 
 
WEYLER THE BUTCHER. 229 
 
 care not what is said about me, unless it is a lie so great as to occasion 
 alarm. I am not a politician. I am Weyler.' " 
 
 A Woman's Interview with Weyler. 
 
 The following interview with the "Butcher" is by Mrs. Kate Mas- 
 terson, who bearded the lion in his den for an American newspaper: 
 
 "His Excellency, Captain-General Weyler, graciously gave me an 
 audience to-day. He received me with most charming courtesy, 
 escorted me through his apartments and presented me with a bunch 
 of roses from his own table. Before I left he had honored me with an 
 invitation to dine with him at the Palace. 
 
 "'Your Excellency/ I said to him through my interpreter, 'the 
 American women have a very bad opinion of you. I am very much 
 afraid of you myself, but I have come to ask the honor of an interview 
 with you, in order that I may write something which will reassure the 
 women of America that you are not treating women and children un- 
 mercifully.' 
 
 " 'I do not give interviews/ he said. 'I am willing, however, to 
 answer any question you wish to ask.' 
 
 " 'In the United States/ I said, 'an impression prevails that your 
 edict shutting out newspaper correspondents from the field is only to 
 conceal cruelties perpetrated upon the insurgent prisoners. Will your 
 Excellency tell me the real cause?' 
 
 " 'I have/ replied the General, 'shut out the Spanish and Cuban 
 papers from the field, as well as the American. In the last war the 
 correspondents created much jealousy by what they wrote. They 
 praised one and rebuked the other. They wrote what the prisoners 
 dictated, instead of facts. They even created ill-feeling between the 
 Spanish officers. They are a nuisance.' 
 
 " 'Then I can deny the stories as to your being cruel?' 
 
 "The General shrugged his heavy shoulders as he s&id carelessly: 
 'I have no time to pay attention to stories. Some of them are true and 
 some are not. If you will particularize I will give direct answers, but 
 these things are not important.' 
 
 " 'Does not your Excellency think that prisoners of war should be 
 treated with consideration and mercy?' 
 
 "The General's eyes glinted dangerously. 'The Spanish columns 
 attend to their prisoners just as well as any other country in time of 
 
230 WEYLEE THE BUTCHER. 
 
 war,' lie replied. 'War is war. You cannot make it otherwise, try as 
 you will.' 
 
 " 'Will not your Excellency allow me to go to the scene of battle 
 under an escort of soldiers, if necessary, that I may write of the situa- 
 tion as it really is, and correct the impression that prevails in Amer- 
 ica that inhuman treatment is being accorded to the insurgent pris- 
 oners?' 
 
 " 'Impossible/ answered the General. 'It would not be safe/ 
 
 " 'I am willing to take all the danger, if your Excellency will allow 
 me to go,' I exclaimed. 
 
 "General Weyler laughed. 'There would be no danger from the 
 rebels,' he said, 'but from the Spanish soldiers. They are of a very 
 affectionate disposition and would all fall in love with you.' 
 
 " 'I will keep a great distance from the fighting, if you will allow 
 me to go.' 
 
 "The General's lips closed tightly, and he said: 'Impossible! Im- 
 possible!' 
 
 " 'What would happen,' I asked, 'if I should be discovered cross- 
 ing the lines without permission?' 
 
 " 'You would be treated just the same as a man.' 
 
 "'Would I be sent to Castle Morro?' 
 
 " 'Yes,' he replied, nodding his head vigorously. That settled it. I 
 decided not to go. 
 
 " 'Why,' I asked him, 'is the rule incommunicado placed upon pris 
 oners? Is it not cruel to prevent a man from seeing his wife and chil- c 
 dren?' 
 
 " 'The rule incommunicado,' said the General, 'is a military law. 
 Prisoners are allowed to see their relatives as a favor, but we exercise 
 discretion in these cases.' 
 
 " 'There are stories that prisoners are shot in Castle Morro at day- 
 break each morning, and that the shots can be plainly heard across 
 the bay. Is this true?' 
 
 "The General's eyes looked unpleasant again. 'It is false!' he said 
 shortly. 'The prisoners go through a regular court-martial, and no 
 one could be shot at Morro without my orders, and I have not given 
 orders to shoot anyone since I have been here.' 
 
 " 'Do you not think it very cruel that innocent women and children 
 should be made to suffer in time of war?' 
 
 " 'No innocent women and children do suffer. It is only those who 
 
WEYLEB THE BUTCHER. 231 
 
 leave their homes and take part in battle who are injured. It is only 
 the rebels who destroy peaceful homes.' 
 
 " 'It is reported/ I said, 'that thirty women are fighting under 
 Maceo. Is this true?' 
 
 " 'Yes,' replied the General. 'We took one woman yesterday. She 
 was dressed in man's clothes and was wielding a machete. She is now 
 in Morro Castle. These women are fiercer than men. Many of them 
 are mulattoes. This particular woman was white.' 
 
 " 'What will be her fate?' 
 
 " 'She w r ill go through the regular form of trial.' 
 
 " 'Will no mercy be shown her?' 
 
 " 'Mercy is always shown to a woman. While the law is the same 
 for both sexes, there is a clause which admits of mercy to a woman.' 
 
 " 'There are several Cuban women insurgents in Morro and the 
 Cabanas. Would your Excellency,' I asked, 'allow me to visit them?' 
 
 " 'No,' he said. 'There is a law that no foreigner shall enter our 
 fortresses. It is a military law. We can make no exceptions. You 
 understand that I do not wish to be discourteous, senorita.' 
 
 " 'Some of these women,' I continued, 'are said to be imprisoned 
 for merely having Cuban flags in their homes. Is this possible?' 
 
 " 'Treason,' exclaimed the General, 'is always a crime, punishable 
 by imprisonment.' 
 
 " 'There is a newspaper correspondent at present in Morro. What 
 was his crime?' 
 
 "The General shrugged his shoulders again. 'I know nothing 
 about him,' he said. 'I think he has been freed.' 
 
 " 'Do you not think the life of a newspaper correspondent in 
 Havana is at present a most unhappy one?' 
 
 " 'I think it must be, for they make me unhappy. If they were all 
 like you it would be a pleasure.' 
 
 " 'Is it true that thumbscrews are used to extort confessions from 
 prisoners?' 
 
 " 'Not by the Spaniards. Rebels use all these things, similar to 
 those that were used in the Inquisition tortures.' 
 
 " 'What does your Excellency think of the Cubans as a race? Do 
 you not think them progressive and brave?' 
 
 " 'With the progress of all nations the Cubans have progressed,' 
 he replied. 'There are many Cubans in sympathy with Spain, but this 
 insurrection is a blot upon the Cuban race which nothing can ever 
 
232 WEYLER THE BUTCHER. 
 
 erase. It is a stain made with the blood of the slain and the tears of 
 the women. It injures the Cubans themselves more than any other.' " 
 
 In spite of Weyler's boasts when he assumed command of the 
 Spanish forces in Cuba that he would quickly put down the insurrec- 
 tion, his failure was as complete as that of General Campos had been, 
 and his recall was finally demanded. In his letter of protest to the 
 home government he said: 
 
 "If the functions with which the government had entrusted me had 
 been merely those of Governor General of Cuba, I should have hastened 
 to resign. But the twofold character of my mission and my duty as 
 commander-in-chief in the face of the enemy prevent my tendering a 
 resignation. 
 
 "Nevertheless, although I can rely upon the absolute, unconditional 
 support of the autonomist and constitutional parties, as well as upon 
 public opinion, this would be insufficient without the confidence of the 
 government, now more than ever necessary to me after the censure of 
 which I have been made the object by the members and journals of the 
 Liberal party and by public opinion in the United States, which latter 
 is largely influenced by the former. This confidence would be necessary 
 to enable me to put an end to the war, which has already been virtually 
 concluded from our lines at Jucaro to Cape Antonio." 
 
 Senor Sagasta replied: "I thank you for your explanation and value 
 your frankness, I wish to assure you that the government recognizes 
 your services and values them as they deserve, but it thinks a change of 
 policy, in order to succeed, requires that the authorities should be at 
 one with the ministry." 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 CUBA UNDER THE SCOURGE. 
 
 The Civil Guards and Their Crimes Horrible Murder of Eight Innocent 
 Men A Man After Weyler's Own Heart How the Spanish Gain 
 "Victories" Life, Liberty and Property Sacrificed The War Not a 
 Race War Resistance to the Bitter End. 
 
 Cuba has been under martial law for over fifty years, and its en- 
 forcement by the Civil guards (as the officers appointed by the Spanish 
 government are called) has been responsible for innumerable out- 
 rages against the lives and property of the inhabitants. These officials 
 have been guilty of every crime in the calendar, but protected by their 
 positions they have escaped legal punishment, and it has only been on 
 occasions when, driven to desperation, the people have acted as judges 
 and executioners by taking the law into their own hands that any re- 
 dress has been possible. 
 
 If for any reason these guards wish to persecute a man, the fact 
 that he is a non-combatant is no protection to him, nor to his family. 
 They have been the means of adding to the ranks of the insurrection- 
 ists, for frequently the man who has seen his relatives and friends 
 shot before his eyes, to satisfy some personal spite, or in order that 
 some officer may get credit for a battle, has left his fields and gone to 
 strike a manly blow for his country and his home. 
 
 The story of eight peaceable white men, who* were shot without 
 trial, at Campo Florida, near Havana, will serve as an example of 
 the work of these fiends. 
 
 These poor fellows were arrested, their arms were tied, and they 
 were taken to the police station. One of them had just completed a 
 coffin for a woma<n, and he was dragged to the station with a rope 
 about his neck. The next day, without even the pretense of a trial, 
 they were taken two at a time into a ravine near the fort, where a 
 trench had been lately dug, and in spite of the most pitiful pleas for 
 mercy, they were shot down in cold blood by the cruel guards, who 
 seemed to take fiendish delight in their work of blood. 
 
 The following statement was sent by Cuban patriots, with the 
 
 233 
 
234 CUBA UNDER THE SCOURGE. 
 
 request that it be given the widest publicity possible, among the peo 
 pie of the United States: 
 
 "If the government that unhappily rules the destinies of this un- 
 fortunate country should be true to the most rudimentary principles 
 of justice and morality, Colonel Jull, who has been recently appointed 
 Military Governor of Matanzas province, should be in the galleys 
 among criminals. It is but a short time since he was relieved by 
 General Martinez Campos of the military command at Cienfuegos, as 
 he had not once engaged any of the insurgent forces, but vented all 
 his ferocious instincts against innocent and inoffensive peasants. 
 
 "In Yaguaramas, a small town near Cienfuegos, he arrested as sus- 
 pects and spies Mr. Antonio Morejon, an honest and hard-working 
 man, and Mr. Ygnacio Chapi, who is well advanced in years, and 
 almost blind. Not being able to prove the charge against them, as 
 they were innocent, he ordered Major Moreno, of the Barcelona bat- 
 talion, doing garrison duty at Yaguaramas, to kill them with the 
 machete and have them buried immediately. Major Moreno answered 
 that he was a gentleman, who had come to fight for the integrity of 
 his country, and not to commit murder. This displeased the colonel 
 sorely, but, unfortunately, a volunteer sergeant, with six others, was 
 willing to execute the order of the colonel, and Morejon and Chapi 
 were murdered without pity. 
 
 "The order of Jull was executed in the most cruel manner. It hor- 
 rifies to even think of it. Mr. Chapi, who -knew the ways of Colonel 
 Jull^ on being awakened at three o'clock in the morning, and notified 
 by the guard that he and Morejon had to go out, suspected what was 
 to come, and told his companion to cry out for help as soon as they 
 were taken out of the fort. They did so, but those who were to exe- 
 cute the order of Jull were neither moved nor weakened in their pur- 
 pose. 
 
 A Horrible Sight. 
 
 "On the contrary, at the first screams of Chapi and Morejon they 
 threw a lasso over their heads, and pulled at it by the ends. In a 
 few moments they fell to the ground choked to death. They were 
 dragged on the earth, without pity, to the place where they were 
 buried. All this bloody scene was witnessed by Jull from a short dis- 
 tance. Providence had not willed that so much iniquity should re- 
 main hidden forever. In the hurry the grave where these two inno- 
 
CUBA UNDER THE SCOURGE. 235 
 
 cent men were buried was not dug deep enough, and part of the rope 
 with which they were choked remained outside. A neighbor, looking 
 for a lost cow, saw the rope, took hold of it, and, on pulling, disin- 
 terred the head of one of the victims. He was terror stricken, and 
 immediately gave notice to the judge, who, on ascertaining that the 
 men had been killed by order of Colonel Jull, suspended proceedings. 
 
 "The neighbors and all the civil and military authorities know 
 everything that has been related here, but such is the state of affairs 
 on the island that General Weyler has no objection to appointing this 
 monster, Colonel Jull, Military Governor of Matanzas. Such deeds 
 as those enumerated are common. The people of the town of Matan- 
 zas, with Jull as Governor, and Arolas at the head of a column, will 
 suffer in consequence of their pernicious and bloody instincts. 
 
 "That the readers may know in part who General Arolas is, it may 
 be well to relate what has happened in the Mercedes estate, near 
 Colon. It having come to his knowledge that a small body of rebels 
 was encamped on the sugar estate Mercedes, of Mr. Oarrillo, General 
 Arolas went to engage them, but the rebels, who were few in num- 
 bers, retreated. Much vexed at not being able to discharge one shot 
 at them, he made prisoners of three workmen who were out in the field 
 herding the animals of the estate and without any formality of trial 
 shot them. When the bodies were taken to the Central they were 
 recognized, and to cover his responsibility somewhat, General Arolas 
 said that when he challenged them they ran off, and at the first dis- 
 charge of musketry they fell dead 1 ." 
 
 Life, Liberty and Property Sacrificed. 
 
 Life, liberty and property have all been sacrificed by these deter- 
 mined patriots for the sake of the cause they love. Their towns have 
 been burned, their homes pillaged, their wives and children starved, 
 and in many sections of the island nothing but ruin and waste meets 
 the eye. Even their sick and wounded are not safe from the oppress- 
 or's sword, and wherever the insurgents have a hospital, they have a 
 garrison to protect it. Each of the six provinces has an insurgent hos- 
 pital, with a staff of physicans and nurses, and a detachment of the 
 army. 
 
 The largest of these lies in that part of Santa, Clara called the Isth- 
 mus of Zapata. It is a wild, swampy region, through which the na- 
 
236 CUBA UNDER THE SCOURGE. 
 
 tives alone can distinguish those precarious tracks, where the slight- 
 est deviation means being engulfed in the treacherous morass. 
 
 A Determined Resistance. 
 
 A prominent Cuban, who may be said to speak for his entire race, 
 makes this declaration: 
 
 "The population of the island is, in round numbers, 1,600,000, of 
 which less than 200,000 are Spaniards, some 500,000 are colored Cu- 
 bans, and over 800,000 white Cubans. Of the Spaniards, a small but 
 not inconsiderable fraction, although not taking an active part in the 
 defense of our cause, sympathize with, and are supporting it in various 
 ways. Of the Cubans, whether colored or white, all are in sympathy 
 with the revolution, with the exception of a few scattered individuals 
 who hold positions under the Spanish government or are engaged in 
 enterprises which cannot thrive without it. All of the Cubans who 
 have had the means and the opportunity to join the revolutionary army 
 have done so, while those who have been compelled for one reason or 
 another to remain in the cities are co-operating to the best of their 
 abilities. If the people of the small section of the western part of the 
 island, which yet remains quiet, were supplied with arms and ammu- 
 nition they would rise, to a man, within twenty-four hours. 
 
 ''This revolution of the whole Cuban people against the govern- 
 ment of Spain is what the Spanish officials are pleased to describe as 
 a disturbance caused by a few adventurers, robbers, bandits, and 
 assassins! But they have a purpose in so characterizing it, and it is 
 no other than to justify, in some way, the war of extermination which 
 the Prime Minister of Spain himself has declared will be waged by 
 his government against the Cuban people. They are not yet satisfied 
 with the rivers of human blood with which in times past they inun- 
 dated the fields of Italy, of the Low Countries, of our continent of 
 America, and only a few years ago, of Cuba itself. The Spanish news- 
 paper of Havana, 'El Pueblo,' urges the Spanish soldiers to give no 
 quarter, to spare no one, to kill all, all without exception, until they 
 shall have torrents of Cuban blood in which to bathe themselves. It 
 is well. The Cubans accept the challenge, but they will not imitate 
 their tyrants and cover themselves with infamy by waging a savage 
 war. The Cubans respect the lives of their Spanish prisoners, they 
 do not attack hospitals, and they cure and assist with the same care 
 and solicitude with which they cure and assist their own, the wounded 
 
CUBA UNDER THE SCOURGE. 239 
 
 Spaniards who may fall into their hands. They have done so from the 
 beginning of the war, and they will not change their humane policy. 
 
 "The Spanish officials have also attempted to convince you that 
 the Cuban war is a war of races. Of what races? Of the black against 
 the white? It is not true, and the facts plainly show that there is 
 nothing of the kind. Nor is the war waged by Cubans against the 
 Spaniards as such. No. The war is waged against the government e>f 
 Spain, and only against the government of Spain and the officials and 
 a few monopolists, who, under it, live and thrive upon the substance 
 of the Cubans. We have no ill feeling against the thousands of Span- 
 iards who industriously and honestly make their living in Cuba. 
 
 "But with the Spanish government we will make no peace, and we 
 will make no compromise. Under its rule there will be nothing for 
 our people but oppression and misery. For years and years the Cubap. 
 people have patiently suffered, and in the interests of the colony, as 
 well as in the interests of the metropolis, have earnestly prayed for 
 reforms. Spain has not only turned a .deaf ear to the prayers, but 
 instead of reforming the most glaring abuses, has allowed them to 
 increase and flourish, until such a point has been reached that the con 
 tinuation of Spanish rule means for the Cuban people utter destruc 
 tion." 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 FITZHUGH LEE TO THE FRONT. 
 
 Importance of the American Consulate at Havana in a Critical Time Gen- 
 eral Fitzhugh Lee the Man for the Place Sketch of the Life of Lee 
 A Nation's Confidence in Its Popular Hero How He Left Havana and 
 How He Promised to Return Wife and Family of General Leer 
 His Place During the Early Period of the War. 
 
 Never was there a more genuine and typical American gentleman 
 in a difficult position where a genuine and typical American gentleman 
 was needed, than Fitzhugh Lee, the American consul-general at Havana 
 during the most critical time prior to the outbreak of our war with 
 Spain. The Cuban consul generalship is an office of much greater im- 
 portance than others of the same name in other countries where diplo- 
 matic representatives are maintained. It includes the obligations of 
 diplomacy as well as those of commerce, and Lee was the man for both. 
 
 His predecessor in the office, Ramon Williams, had held the position 
 for many years and it was recognized by him as well as by the authori- 
 ties at Washington that a change should be made because of the un- 
 usual demands upon the office. His long and faithful service in the 
 tropical country had undermined his health so that his energies were 
 lessened thereby, at a time when they were most needed for the 
 safety of American interests. 
 
 It was in the spring of 1896 that President Cleveland, believing that 
 a man of unusual ability should represent the United States at 
 Havana, chose Fitzhugh Lee for the post. The selection was approved 
 from the first by everyone who knew him, and not many months had 
 passed until General Lee became an idol and a hero of the whole 
 American people. 
 
 His Havana record has been no surprise to those who knew of his 
 exploits during the war, or of his family. Blood will tell, and it has told 
 in the case of General Lee. His family has always been famous in 
 American history. How could the grandson of "Lighthorse Harry, 
 the Revolutionary hero," or the nephew of Robert E. Lee, be anything 
 else but courageous and possessed of tact and common sense? 
 
 240 
 
FITZHUGH LEE TO THE FRONT. 241 
 
 The son of a naval officer, he preferred the army as a career. Gradu- 
 ating from West Point, he fought on the frontier for six years before the 
 opening of the Kebellion, and was engaged in several desperate en- 
 counters with the Oomanche Indians in Texas. On one of these occa- 
 sions he was pierced through the lungs by an arrow, but he lived to tell 
 the story. On another occasion he grappled with a big Indian in a hand- 
 to-hand encounter, tjirew his antagonist on the ground and killed him. 
 
 Though only twenty-seven years of age, Lee was an instructor in 
 cavalry tactics at West Point when the war broke out. He "followed his 
 State" into the secession movement. His war record is a matter of 
 pride to every Virginian. The dashing young officer was an ideal 
 trooper, fearing nothing and loved by his men. He was modest, too. 
 After some brilliant movement of personal valor his brigade formed in 
 a body and determined to serenade him at his headquarters, expecting, 
 of course, a speech. But Lee got an inkling of the matter, and when he 
 saw them coming he slipped out of his tent and hid in the bushes. 
 After the disappointed troopers had called for him in vain and dis- 
 persed he peeped furtively from his hiding place, and in a subdued 
 tone asked, "Have they gone?" 
 
 Composure in Battle. 
 
 General Lee possessed remarkable composure in battle. He never 
 got the least rattled under the most trying conditions, except at Saylor's 
 Creek, on the retreat from Petersburg; he never betrayed anxiety, and, 
 though often under a rattling fire, no one ever saw him dodge. This 
 cannot be said of many of the gravest men. Sometimes a bullet will un- 
 expectedly whizz close to one's head, and the impulse to dodge is almost 
 irresistible, though it never did anybody any good. 
 
 One of the officers with him said once that the only time he had 
 been moved by the enemy's fire was at the battle of Winchester. He 
 and General Early met under an apple tree near the summit of a hill 
 and in a very exposed place. There was no firing at the time, but while 
 the two generals, still on their horses, were intently examining a map, 
 one shot was fired. It fell short and they paid no attention to it. But 
 lo! another came, struck the apple tree just above their heads, and as 
 the apples rained down on them they concluded the map could be bet- 
 ter examined in a less exposed position a conclusion in which all 
 others agreed with remarkable unanimity. And nobody stopped to get 
 apples. 
 
242 FITZHUGH LEE TO THE FRONT. 
 
 General Lee is a superb horseman. He rode a splendid mare named 
 Nellie. She had the form, the strength, the nimbleness of limb, the 
 tapering neck, the alert poise of the head, the bright and intelligent eyes 
 that made her a model worthy to bear any master. She was all grace 
 and beauty. When the confederate columns were broken in the same 
 battle and the rout began, for it was little less, General Lee was at a 
 very exposed point. The fire of thirty pieces of artillery was directed 
 against it. The air was full of exploding shells; horses were plunging 
 about on three legs, neighing piteously for a place of refuge; others 
 were disemboweled by the furious shot; others were loose, running to 
 and fro, bewildered by the terrible havoc, while the mutilated bodies 
 of men could be seen on every hand; numbers who were crippled were 
 hobbling away, and all seemed doomed to death. It was here that the 
 beautiful Nellie was gored by one fragment of shell and her master's 
 leg torn by another. 
 
 He was noted for his geniality and jollity. He loved humor and fun, 
 and got all there was to be had in those trying times. But his cheerful- 
 ness failed aft Appomattox. There he cried. 
 
 After the war had ended, General Lee settled in Stafford County as 
 a farmer and miller. His life was the quiet and uneventful one of a 
 country gentleman, caring for nothing but his wife, whom he married 
 in 1871, and his children. About 1875 he began to take an active part in 
 politics, and he attended the national convention of 1876 as a delegate. 
 In 1885 he was elected governor of Virginia. It was then that he again 
 became conspicuous. General Lee headed the southern division of the 
 inauguration parade, and his handsome presence and splendid horse- 
 manship forced the men on the sidewalks to cheer him with more vim 
 than they did anyone else. A similar demonstration occurred when, 
 four years later, General Lee led the Virginia troops in the Washington 
 centennial parade in New York to the stirring tune of "Dixie." On both 
 of these occasions he sat in the identical saddle which his uncle, General 
 Robert E. Lee, had used on his familiar gray war horse, Traveler. Who 
 could occupy it more worthily? Any one who has seen "Fitz" Lee 
 mounted like a centaur on a Virginia thoroughbred is certain to have in 
 memory ever afterward an ideal figure of a knightly "man on horse- 
 back." Afoot he is not so imposing, being only of medium stature, and, 
 of late years, quite portly. He has a fine head and face, with frank steel 
 blue eyes and. a ruddy complexion, set off by his now almost white hair, 
 
FITZHUGH LEE TO THE FRONT. 343 
 
 mustache and imperial. His bearing is alert and military. Altogether, 
 le does not look, and probably does not feel, his sixty-two years. 
 
 During Mr. Cleveland's second term he was made collector of in- 
 ternal revenue at Lynchburg, Va. 
 
 The Man for the Place at Havana. 
 
 Once settled in his position in Havana, General Lee's fame began 
 to multiply. The American opinion of him was voiced immediately 
 after the destruction of the Maine, by L. P. Sigsbee, the brother of 
 the commander of that ill-fated ship, when he said: "There's a, man 
 down there looking after the interests of this country who cannot be 
 blinded. He has more sand than anybody I know of, and if there's 
 anything treacherous in this explosion we'll know of it without delay. 
 The man I mean is General Fitzhugh Lee." 
 
 The same thought occurred to every American who had watched 
 his career. From first to last everybody had confidence in his Ameri- 
 canism, his bravery and his cool-headedness. He held his office through 
 merit alone, no politician gaining any success in the effort to win from 
 him that position of distinction and profit, after the change of admin- 
 istration when President McKinley assumed the executive chair. The 
 nation recognized that he was first an American and an interference 
 with him on partisan grounds would not have been tolerated. 
 
 Jealous of American honor, and firm in insisting upon the rights 
 of his countrymen, he has always kept cool. Courteous and polite as 
 well as courageous, he has never blustered and he has won the re- 
 spect and admiration of the Spaniards as well as their fear. 
 
 Throughout his service in Cuba, General Lee's figure was a famil- 
 iar one in Havana, and even by those most antagonistic to him be- 
 cause of their official position, he was heartily admired. No matter 
 what the threat of violence from hot-headed Spaniards, when the re- 
 lations were most strained between the two countries, General Lee 
 never admitted the slightest danger to himself and refused to accept 
 any guard except that which he himself was able to maintain for him- 
 self. Upon the streets and in the hotels and cafes he was exempt from 
 disrespect by the sheer force of his splendid personality. And never 
 until the last day of his stay in Havana when all diplomatic relations 
 were severed, did the Spanish authorities in that city omit any of the 
 forms of courtesy. 
 
244 PITZHUGH LEE TO THE FROKT. 
 
 General Lee Promises to Return. 
 
 On that day, when in company with the British Consul General he 
 went to bid farewell to Captain General Blanco, the latter refused to 
 see him upon the excuse that he was too busy. When the homeward 
 voyage was actually begun, in the little boat that carried to the 
 steamer the Consul General and the last newspaper correspondents 
 who remained in Havana till the end, the malice of the Spanish on- 
 lookers at the docks could restrain itself no longer. With impreca- 
 tions and scornful and insulting epithets they raised their voices 
 against him. With proper dignity General Lee ignored it all, except 
 to say in one definite last message, that he would be back again before 
 long with troops to stand by him. 
 
 In his office in the consulate at Havana, General Lee gained the 
 admiration and the confidence of every American who had occasion 
 to meet him. Brave as an American should be, and equally gentle 
 and tender-hearted, he was the man for the place. The Spanish out- 
 rages upon American citizens roused in him but two sentiments. One 
 was sympathy and grief for those who suffered. The other was indig- 
 nation and enmity against those who were guilty. To the extent of 
 all his power he guarded and aided those for whom that first senti- 
 ment was roused. He left Cuba with an accumulation of detestation 
 for Spanish outrages in that unhappy island against Americans and 
 Cubans, that would stimulate to deeds of valor through whatever war- 
 fare might follow in which he should be a leader. With a great heart, 
 a brilliant mind and a magnificent physique, General Lee combined 
 all the qualities which made him worthy of the American pride which 
 was centered upon him. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 AMERICANS IN SPANISH DUNGEONS. 
 
 Spanish Hatred of the American Nation Instances of Injustice The Case 
 of Dr. Ruiz His Death in a Dungeon Julio Sanguilly Action of the 
 United States Senate in His Behalf A Correspondent in Morro Castle 
 Walter Dygert's Experiences General Lee Shows His Mettle in the 
 Case of Charles Scott. 
 
 Not content with their cruel and inhuman treatment of Cuban 
 patriots, the Spanish officials ha.ve seemed to take special satisfaction 
 in imprisoning and even murdering American citizens on the slightest 
 pretext. The object of their most bitter hatred is the insurgent, but 
 if they are to be judged by their deeds, it would appear that the Amer- 
 ican occupies a close second place in their black-list. 
 
 Time and again our government has been compelled to interfere to 
 save the lives of its citizens, and unfortunately this interference has 
 on several occasions been too late. It is not possible to present a list 
 of all the men and women of American birth who have lost life, lib- 
 erty and property by Spanish authority, from the massacre of the crew 
 of the Virginius to the wrecking of the Maine, but a few instances 
 may be mentioned, which will prove conclusively that the retribution, 
 of which the glorious victory in Manila bay was but the commence- 
 ment, came none too soon. 
 
 The Case of Dr. Ruiz. 
 
 One of the most flagrant of these outrages was the imprisonment 
 of Dr. Ricardo Ruiz, a Cuban by birth, but a naturalized citizen of the 
 United States. He was a dentist by profession, having studied in a 
 Pennsylvania dental college, and after receiving his diploma, Tie re- 
 turned to his native country to practice his profession. 
 
 He was accused of being in sympathy with the revolutionists, ar- 
 rested and kept in prison for two years, when he died, probably from 
 violence. In the following letter, written from Havana* regarding the 
 case, will be seen the reasons for this supposition: 
 
 245 
 
246 AMERICANS IN SPANISH DUNGEONS. 
 
 "Ruiz died, according to the surgeons, from congestion of the 
 brain, caused by a blow or blows. When General Lee and Mr. Cal- 
 honn visited the jail in Guanabacoa, they were shown the cell in which 
 the Spanish say that Ruiz died. The guard explained to General Lee 
 and Mr. Calhoun that he heard thumping on the inside of the door, 
 and when he opened it and went in, Ruiz was running at the heavy 
 door and butting it with his head. Ruiz had only one wound on the 
 top of his head. Had he butted this door, as the jailer says, his scalp 
 must necessarily have been lacerated in several places." 
 
 Julio Sanguilly is another American citizen who was tried for 
 treason, and sentenced to life imprisonment. This case attracted a 
 great deal of attention in the United States, and a resolution was 
 passed by the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, making 
 a demand on the Spanish government for his release. During the de- 
 bate on this resolution, Senator Daniel, of Virginia, said: 
 
 "Two years ago yesterday, Julio Sanguilly, an American citizen, 
 was thrown into prison. Two years have gone by and this govern- 
 ment has done practically nothing for this citizen. Great Britain 
 would have released him as soon as one of her battleships could reach 
 Havana. He has been brutally treated and condemned on unsworn 
 testimony before military tribunals. This country and all civilization 
 have been disgraced by the treatment meted out to this unfortunate 
 man. Every citizen of this country would have patriotically ap- 
 plauded the President if he had sent a fleet of American battleships 
 and compelled the release of this American citizen, whose country 
 has been insulted by the treatment accorded to him and to our repre- 
 sentative in Cuba," 
 
 The Prime Minister at Madrid, realizing that trouble of a serious 
 nature was likely to come from this affair, cabled Weyler to discharge 
 the prisoner from custody, and banish him from the island. 
 
 Sanguilly immediately came to the United States, where he was 
 warmly received by his friends, and he has since been actively engaged 
 in work for Cuba's freedom. 
 
 Charles Scott, an employe, of the American Gas Company, was 
 arrested at Regla, charged with having Cuban postage stamps in his 
 possession. He was in solitary confinement, in a damp, empty cell, 
 five feet by eleven, for fourteen days. Once during his imprisonment 
 he was left for two days without even a drop of water. General Lee, 
 then United States Consul at Havana, cabled to Washington, asking 
 
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AMERICANS IN SPANISH DUNGEONS. 251 
 
 that arrangements be made to send war vessels to Havana, in case of 
 necessity, and declaring that unless his requests were complied with, 
 he would leave the island. In this affair, as in many others, General 
 Lee proved that he was the right man in the right place, for it was 
 due to his efforts in Scott's behalf that he was finally given his lib- 
 erty. 
 
 Mr. Charles Michaelson, a newspaper correspondent, and his inter- 
 preter, were imprisoned in Morro Castle as suspects. It required fine 
 detective work to discover this fact, for they were missing for some time 
 before it was definitely known that they were in the clutches of Wey- 
 ler, but the "Butcher" finally admitted it, and after a, short delay was 
 persuaded by the United States Consul to release them. Mr. Michael- 
 son's treatment wa,s almost brutal in its nature. 
 
 The interior of the castle is like a dungeon, and he was compelled 
 to sleep on the floor, as a hammock sent to him by friends outside was 
 not given to him till the d<ay of his release. His food was thrown to 
 him through the bars of the door, and meals sent in to him were eaten 
 by the guards. Rats were his constant companions, and when, occa- 
 sionally, he would sink into a light slumber, he would be suddenly 
 awakened to find one of the animals in his hair, another burrowing 
 under his coat, and still another making a meal on his shoes. On one 
 occasion he threw a shoe at a ra't, \vhich struck the door of his cell, 
 whereupon the guard threatened to punish him for a breach of prison 
 discipline, the noise being against the rules. 
 
 Walter Dygart relates his experience while the enforced guest of 
 the Spanish government. It is evident that the keeper of a prison in 
 Cuba has a profitable occupation. 
 
 "A child may weep at brambles' smart, 
 And maidens when their lovers part; 
 But woe worth a country when 
 She sees the tears of bearded men." 
 
 "These lines by the poet, Scott, recurred to me w^hen I saw aged 
 men weeping and heart-broken at being separated from their fami- 
 lies and shut up in this hell. But why does the Spanish government 
 shut up helpless cripples and non-combatants? This is a question that 
 puzzled me for some time, but I finally solved it, and will answer it 
 after I have described the food and water. 
 
 "A little after six in the morning we were, each of us, given a very 
 
253 AMERICANS IN SPANISH DUNGEONS. 
 
 small cup of coffee. The first meal of the day, if it could be called a 
 meal, came after nine o'clock. It consisted of a little rice, which was 
 generally dirty, a few small potatoes, boiled with their skins on, and 
 often partly rotten, a little piece of boiled salt beef, or beef cut up in 
 small bits, with soup, just about half enough, and of the poorest 
 quality. The meat was often spoiled and unfit for anything but a 
 vulture to eat. The second and last meal of the day came about four 
 in the afternoon, and was the same as the first. 
 
 "I had no opportunity to count the prisoners, but I learned that 
 there were about 180 on the average confined there. I learned as 
 definitely as I could, without seeing the contract, that a certain party 
 had the contract to feed these prisoners at twenty-five cents each per 
 day. Thus he gets $45 a day, and I learned that the food costs him 
 only $7 to $8 a day, and, as some of the prisoners did the cooking, his 
 profit can be readily seen. On such a contract he could afford to 
 divide with the judge and army officers to keep the prison full." 
 
 A Minister of the Gospel in Morro Castle. 
 
 The Southern Baptist Missionary Society has a mission in the city 
 of Havana, and it was formerly in charge of Kev. Alberto J. Diaz, 
 whose home is in the United States. Ever loyal to his flag, and be- 
 lieving in the institutions of his country, he lost no opportunity to 
 preach civil as well as religious liberty, and though often warned to 
 desist, by the Spanish authorities, he continued the course which he 
 regarded as his solemn duty. He gives particulars of his arrest as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "About three o'clock one morning I was aroused by a knock at 
 the door of my house, and when I opened it I saw some fifty or sixty 
 Spanish soldiers, with their guns leveled at me. I quickly shut the 
 door and talked through it. The captain said he must search the 
 house, and I consented to let three men come in. They spent seven 
 hours looking through two trunks full of sermons, and other papers, 
 and when the search was completed they had found no incriminating 
 documents." 
 
 Nevertheless, both Dr. Diaz and his brother were imprisoned in 
 Morro Castle. They were tried for treasonable utterances and sen- 
 tenced to death. Fortunately one of the sentries of the prison was a 
 member of Dr. Diaz's church, and through his kind offices, a message 
 was sent to the president of the Southern Baptist Missionary Society 
 
AMERICANS IN SPANISH DUNGEONS. 253 
 
 in Atlanta. He communicated with the authorities at Washington. 
 This resulted in the execution being postponed, and the brothers were 
 accorded more humane treatment than they had received heretofore. 
 
 Dr. Diaz now addressed a telegram to our Secretary of State, giv- 
 ing the particulars of the arrest, trial and conviction, and appealing 
 to him to demand their immediate release. The message was smug- 
 gled on board a boat bound for Key West, and Weyler, hearing of it, 
 at once cabled to Washington that Diaz had been released. He, with 
 his brother and his family, was compelled to leave the island by the 
 first steamer, and they returned to the United States. 
 
 In our treaty with Spain, which was in foi*ce up to the time of the 
 declaration of war, was the following clause: 
 
 "No citizen of the United States, residing in Spain, her adjacent 
 islands, or her ultramarine possessions, charged with acts of sedition, 
 treason, or conspiracy against the institutions, the public security, the 
 integrity of the territory, or against the supreme government, or any 
 other crime whatsoever, shall be subject to trial by any exceptionable 
 tribunal, but exclusively by the ordinary jurisdiction, except in the case 
 of being captured with arms in hand." 
 
 This treaty was supposed to protect American citizens from trial 
 by martial law, but it was disregarded by Spanish officials in Cuba 
 time and again, and, in fact, up to the time of General Lee's arrival 
 in Havana, an American citizen had very little advantage over a Cuban 
 insurgent, when the safety of his property or his person was concerned. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 MACEO DEAD BY TREACHERY. 
 
 A Great Leader in a Great Cause A Modern Judas The Worthy Son of a 
 Noble Sire The Farewell Letter An Estimate of Maceo's Character 
 Rejoicing Among Spanish Supporters Their Mistaken Belief Pa- 
 triotic Ardor of the Insurgents. 
 
 In the death of Antonio Maceo the Cuban cause lost one of its 
 strongest defenders. Besides being a man of acute intellect, and a gen- 
 eral of great military skill, he ha.d the rare gift of personal magnet- 
 ism, and no one ever followed his leadership who did not feel for him 
 the devotion which often gives courage to cowards and makes heroes 
 in the time of need. 
 
 That his death was due to treachery there is little doubt. Doctor 
 Zertucha, his physician and trusted friend, is accused of having be- 
 trayed him to the Spaniards. An Insurgent officer, who was with the 
 general when he received' his death wound, s'ays that they heard gun 
 shots in the vicinity of Punta Brava. Zertucha galloped into the 
 brush a short distance and returned, calling to them to follow him. 
 Maceo at once put spurs to his horse, and, followed by his aides, rode 
 swiftly after the physician, who plunged into the thick growth on the 
 side of the road. They had ridden only a short distance, when Zer- 
 tucha suddenly bent low in his saddle and swerved sharply to one 
 side, galloping away like mad. Almost at the same moment a volley 
 was fired by a party of Spanish soldiers hidden in the dense under- 
 brush, and Maceo and four of his aides dropped out of their saddles 
 mortally wounded. 
 
 The single survivor, the one who tells this story, managed to make 
 his way back to his own men, and brought them up to the scene of the 
 tragedy, but the bodies had been removed, and when they were finally 
 discovered, they had been mutilated in a most shocking manner. It 
 was then learned that one of the victims was Francisco Gomez, a son 
 of the Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban army, who was one of 
 Maceo's aides. It seems that his wound was not necessarily a fatal 
 one, but he refused to leave his dying commander, and rather than to 
 
 254 
 
MACEO DEAD BY TEEACHERY. 255 
 
 fall alive in the hands of his foes, he committed suicide. This letter 
 was found in his hand: 
 
 Dear Mamma, Papa, Dear Brothers: I die at my post. I did not want to 
 abandon the body of General Maceo, and I stayed with him. I was wounded 
 in two places, and as I did not fall into the hands of the enemy I have killed 
 myself. I am dying. I die pleased at being in the defense of the Cuban 
 cause. I wait for you in the other world. Your son, 
 
 FRANCISCO GOMEZ. 
 Torro in San Domingo. 
 
 (Friends or foes, please transmit to its destination, as requested by one 
 dead.) 
 
 Dr. Zertucha surrendered to a Spanish officer shortly after Maceo 
 was killed. He said that the dead leader was discouraged by the con- 
 tinual failures of the insurgents to make any headway against their 
 foes; that, on account of his color, the subordinate officers in the 
 Cuban ranks did not show proper respect for him, or obedience to his 
 commands, and that he had purposely placed himself in range of the 
 enemy's rifles, deliberately seeking death. 
 
 These statements are manifestly false, and go far to confirm the 
 belief that the coward who made them had a guilty knowledge con- 
 cerning the manner of the death of the brave soldier he maligned, 
 
 An Estimate of Maceo's Character. 
 
 A gentleman who made Maceo's acquaintance in Havana, prior to 
 the present insurrection, gives this estimate of his character: 
 
 "Maceo w r as a natural politician in that he had the genius of divin- 
 ing popular opinion, and taking the leadership of popular movements. 
 He was in Havana at that time sounding men and scheming for the 
 present revolution. He was always of the sunniest disposition, closely 
 attaching all people to him, and a man of the strictest moral integrity. 
 He never drank wine, he never smoked, and that in a land where to- 
 bacco is as common as potatoes in Ireland, and he never played cards. 
 He had a great abhorrence of men who drank to excess, and would 
 not tolerate them about him. 
 
 "He ahvays dressed, when in Havana, in the most finished style. 
 His massive frame he was about five feet ten inches in height and 
 unusually broad shouldered was displayed to advantage always in 
 
256 MAGEO DEAD BY TREACHERY. 
 
 frock coat, closely buttoned, and he usually wore a silk hat. He was 
 neat, even to fastidiousness, in his dress. He usually carried a cane. 
 
 "When Maceo took the field, however, he roughed it with his men, 
 and dressed accordingly. When in battle he carried a long-barreled 
 38-caliber revolver with a mother-of-pearl handle, and a Toledo blade 
 made in the form of a machete. The handle of this machete was 
 finely wrought silver and turquoise shell, and had four notches in it, 
 into which the fingers could easily fit. Maceo always had three horses 
 with him on his marches, the favorite being a big white one." 
 
 Probably no event in the war up to that time caused such general 
 satisfaction among the supporters of the existing government, both 
 in Cuba and in Spain, as the death of Maceo. W T hen Jose Marti was 
 killed, they were certain that the loss of that leader would compel 
 the insurrectionists to abandon hopes of success. On the contrary, 
 it inspired them with greater determination than before. But the 
 Spanish sympathizers learned nothing from that experience, and when 
 it was definitely known that Maceo was no longer to be feared, they 
 were unanimous in the belief that the end of the struggle was at hand. 
 Subsequent events have shown how little they knew of the kind of 
 men with whom they were at war. 
 
 "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church," and every 
 Cuban patriot who has fallen in this conquest of extermination has 
 but added fuel to the fires of liberty, which are sweeping Spanish 
 rule from the island, leaving the tyrants nothing but the ashes of 
 hopes. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 WEYLER'S RECONCENTRATION POLICY AND ITS HORRORS. 
 
 The Object of the Plan Slaves of Spain The Massacre of the Innocents 
 Deserted Fields and Farms A Fearful Mortality The Cubans the 
 Oldest Americans of Caucasian Blood Women and Children Doomed 
 to Die An Appeal for Help Our Manifest Duty. 
 
 When General Weyler promulgated his policy of reeoncentration 
 he hypocritically claimed that it was intended to protect the noncom- 
 batant peasantry of the island, but his sole object was to compel them 
 to put themselves wholly in the power of the Spanish officials. No 
 one knew better than the "Butcher" that the Cuban peasant, no mat- 
 ter what he might publicly profess, was bound with all his heart to 
 the cause of free Cuba, and that he never lost an opportunity to aid 
 the insurgents by every means in his power. And when he formulated 
 the plan compelling them to abandon their homes in the rural districts, 
 and to herd like sheep in the cities and towns which were still under 
 his rule, it was to prevent them from giving aid and information to -the 
 rebels. He must have known that the enforcement of this edict meant 
 certain starvation to thousands of the inoffensive inhabitants, but no 
 thought of the misery and injustice which he thus wrought upon them 
 deterred him in his determination to crush the unhappy people, and 
 keep them still the slaves of Spain. 
 
 The order found a very large proportion of the working classes 
 absolutely destitute of money, and the men, knowing there was no 
 work for them in the towns, hesitated about going with their families, 
 while they did not dare to remain in their poor homes, where, at least, 
 they could be sure of food. The consequence was that thousands of 
 homes were deserted. The women and children were sent to the towns 
 to look out for themselves as best they could, while the men joined the 
 insurgent army. In a number of cases wives refused to be separated 
 from their husbands, and followed them into the ranks of the revolu- 
 tionists, where they fought like the Amazons of old. Some of them 
 found a melancholy pleasure in nursing the sick and wounded, others 
 
 fought side by side w\th the men, and the fear of death was not half 
 
 257 
 
258 iWEYLER'S RECONCENTRATION POLICY. 
 
 as strong as the thoughts of the horrors which awaited them at their 
 homes, or among the reconcentrados in the towns. Marriages have 
 been solemnized, and children have been born upon the fields of battle. 
 Spain is nursing a forlorn hope when she counts on subduing patriots 
 like these. 
 
 Women and Children Doomed to Die. 
 
 Hon. C. W. Russell, an attache of the Department of Justice of the 
 United States, went to Cuba shortly after the order for reconcentra- 
 tion went into effect. It was his purpose to learn by personal observa- 
 tion how much or how little truth there was in the reports that had 
 eome to this country regarding the terrible suffering among the recon- 
 centrados. He states the result of his investigations as follows: 
 
 "I spent just two weeks in Cuba, visited Havana, went south to 
 Jaruco, southwest to Guines, northeast to Matanzas, eastwardly about 
 two hundred miles through the middle of the country to San Domingo, 
 Santa Clara and Sagua la Grande. I visited Marianao, a short dis- 
 tance west of Havana, and saw along the railroad thirty or forty towns 
 or stations. In Havana I visited the Fossos, the hospital prison at Alde- 
 coa, where I talked w r ith the father of Evangelina Cisneros, and a place 
 called the Jacoba. I found reconcentrados at all three places, and beg- 
 ging everywhere about the streets of Havana. 
 
 "The spectacle at the Fossos and Jacoba houses, of women and chil- 
 dren emaciated to skeletons and suffering from diseases produced by 
 starvation, was sickening. In Sagua I saw some sick and emaciated 
 little girls in a children's hospital, started three days before by charit- 
 able Cubans, and saw a crowd of miserable looking reconcentrados 
 with tin buckets and other receptacles getting small allowances 
 of food doled out to them in a yard. In the same city, in an old sugar 
 warehouse, I saw stationed around the inside walls the remnants of 
 twenty or thirty Cuban families. 
 
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 years old. In another case, where I talked to the people in broken 
 Spanish, there were four individuals, a mother, a girl of fourteen, and 
 two quite small girls. The smallest was then suffering from malarial 
 fever. The next had the signs on her hands, with which I had become 
 familiar, of having had that dreadful disease, the beri-beri. These four 
 were all that order of concentration had left alive of eleven. At San 
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WEYLER'S RECONCENTRATION POLICY. 261 
 
 women and children, one of the latter, as I remember, being swollen 
 up with the beri-beri, begging in the most earnest way of the few 
 passengers. 
 
 "San Domingo is little more than a railroad station in times of 
 peace, but at present it has a considerable population, living in cabins 
 thatched with the tops of royal palm trees, composed of the survivors 
 of the reconcentrados. The huts are arranged close together in a little 
 clump, and the concentration order required and apparently still re- 
 quires these people to live within a circle of small block houses, com- 
 monly dignified in the dispatches by the name of forts. They had no 
 work to do, no soil to till, no seed to plant, and only begging to live on. 
 I do not know the exact measure of the dead-line circle drawn around 
 them, but there was certainly nothing within it upon which a human 
 being could subsist. Practically they were prisoners. At every one 
 of the numerous stopping places along the road a similar collection of 
 huts could be seen, and at most of them beggars, often nice looking 
 women and beautiful children, invaded the cars. Between the sta- 
 tions, although I traveled always by daylight, as the trains do not run 
 at night, and I was observing as carefully as possible, I saw no signs of 
 the reconcentrados going away from the forts. If they had gone, .t 
 takes seed, instruments, land, and three or four months to raise the 
 vegetable which could be soonest produced, and nowhere away from 
 the block houses was there any sign of vegetables growing. Near the 
 larger towns the circle of concentration seemed to be somewhat larger, 
 and some planting of vegetables, tobacco, etc., seemed to be going on. 
 At this a very few persons, possibly some of the reconcentrados, found 
 employment. 
 
 Deserted Fields and Farms, 
 
 "All along the railroad, as far as could be seen, were stretches of 
 the most fertile and beautiful country, with very few trees, even on 
 the low mountains, and most of these royal palms. I saw many dozens 
 of burned canefields, and one evening, going from Guines to Havana, 
 saw the sky all lighted up along the road with fires, principally of the 
 tall grass of the country, but partly of cane. The whole land was lying 
 perfectly idle, except that I saw two or three or four sugar mills where 
 cane was growing, but in all such instances the mill and ca,ne were 
 surrounded by forts, manned by soldiers, who are paid, I was told, by 
 the owners. Except in the cities, I saw no indication that any relief 
 
 14 
 
262 WEYLER'S EECONCENTRATION POLICY. 
 
 whatever was being afforded to the starving people. Neither in 
 Havana nor elsewhere did any priest, religious woman or other person 
 seem to be paying any attention to the wants of the starving, except 
 that at the Fossos, and some other places, charitable Cubans were nurs- 
 ing the sick. The Church, being a state institution, was, so far as I 
 could see, leaving the victims without either bodily or spiritual relief. 
 In fact, the general air of indifference to suffering which seemed to 
 prevail everywhere was astonishing. 
 
 A Fearful Mortality. 
 
 "As the country was stripped of its population by the order of con- 
 centration, it is easy to believe that 400,000 persons were gathered 
 behind the forts without being given food, medicine, or means of any 
 kind to earn a living, except where in the larger cities some few could 
 find employment in menial offices. Judging by the orphans I was 
 shown at Jacoba, Aidecoa and elsewhere, and from all I saw and heard, 
 I believe that half of the 400,000 have died as the result of starvation. 
 I know from the official register of the city of Santa Clara, which ordi- 
 narily has a population of about 14,000, that the deaths for November 
 were over 1,000, and the number of deaths for December was over 900, 
 and showed an increase, considering the loss of the former 1,000, from 
 its total population. The exact figures for December are 971. At that 
 city the government was distributing 500 single rations per day out of 
 a total appropriation for the purpose of |15,000. This was not relief, 
 but a mere prolongation of the sufferings of a small part of the recon- 
 centrados of the city. 
 
 "So far as any evidence of relief was visible to my eyes or was even 
 heard of by me in all my talks on the island, the surviving 200,000 peo- 
 ple are in the same condition and have the same prospect of starvation 
 before them as had their kindred who have died. There is as much 
 need of medicine now as food, and they are getting neither. The reason 
 given by the Spanish sympathizers in Cuba is that the troops must be 
 first fed, and it is certain that many of the soldiers are sick and suffer- 
 ing for want of proper food. I saw many myself that looked so. I was 
 informed on all sides that they had not been paid for eight months, 
 and that most of the civil officials had not been paid for a similar 
 period. It is, therefore, most probable that Spain is practically unable 
 to supply the millions which are immediately necessary to prevent the 
 
WEYLER'S RECONCENTRATION POLICY. 363 
 
 death of most of the surviving reconcentrados, but this leads to polit- 
 ical questions, which I desire to avoid. 
 
 Our Manifest Duty. 
 
 "I wish merely to state in such a way as to be convincing that in 
 consequence of the concentration of the people, some 200,000 Cubans 
 are daily suffering and dying from diseases produced by a lack of 
 nourishment, in the midst of what I think must be the most fertile 
 country in the world, and that something must be done for them on a 
 large scale, and at once, or a few months will see their extermination. 
 So far as I could see, they are a patient, amiable, intelligent set of peo- 
 ple, some of them whom I saw begging having faces like Madonnas. 
 They are Americans, probably the oldest Americans of European 
 descent. Constant intercourse with the United States has made them 
 sympathize with and appreciate us, who are but six hours by boat from 
 them, if we do not sympathize with or care for them. No order or per- 
 mission from General Blanco can save the lives of many of them. 
 Indeed, many are too far gone to be saved by the best care and treat- 
 ment. 
 
 "There was no indication of a cessation of hostilities by the insur- 
 gents. If they do not voluntarily cease, their tactics are such that 
 Spain cannot conquer them, if at all, before the reconcentrados will 
 have had the. finishing stroke. But even the speedy termination of the 
 war would not save many of them. What they need is instant pecu- 
 niary assistance to the extent of $20,000 a day, distributed by our con- 
 suls. Private charity, it seems, will hardly produce the amount. 
 Twenty thousand dollars would be but ten cents apiece for medicine, 
 clothes and food. When I left Havana I was informed that Consul 
 General Lee had received $5,000 and some hundreds of cans of con- 
 densed milk. As there are about 30,000 sufferers in Havana alone, the 
 inadequacy of such contributions is manifest. Whether Congress 
 should make an appropriation, as in the case of the San Domingo 
 refugees and other cases, it is not for me to say, but I beg the charit- 
 able to believe the statement of facts which I have made, and try to 
 realize what they mean." 
 
 A correspondent in Cuba gives an interesting account of a case that 
 came under his notice among the reconcentrados in the town of Guad- 
 aloupe. It is substantially as follows: 
 
264 WEYLER'S RECONCENTRATION POLICY. 
 
 In all misery-ridden Cuba there is no town in which the reign of 
 misery is so absolute as in Guadaloupe. Even the situation of this 
 place might be said to be in "the valley of the shadow of death." It is 
 not upon the earth's surface, but far below, in a broad, deep hole. The 
 all-surrounding hills are not green, but black. For these up-sloping 
 fields, upon which many a rich tobacco crop has been raised, lie now 
 under blackening ashes the work of insurgent torches. In this low- 
 lying town 3,000 reconcentrados are naked, shelterless and starving. 
 That aid has not come to them till now is because of the ingratitude 
 and treachery of two of their own number. 
 
 As the two guilty ones have just paid the penalty of their crime, the 
 Red Cross Society will probably have a relief corps in Guadaloupe by 
 the time this letter is printed. 
 
 The tragedy of Guadaloupe, to the denouement of which I was an 
 eyewitness, shows that the insurgents have learned the art of butch- 
 ery as taught by the Spanish, and that a reconcentrado will sometimes 
 betray the Samaritan who helps him. A faithful mule carried me into 
 Guadaloupe at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the siesta hour. I had come 
 from the coast many miles away, over the hills. As I rode into the 
 town, I said to the mule: "The next artist who is given an order to 
 illustrate Dante's 'Inferno' ought to come here. He could draw from 
 life, pictures more infernal than a mere human mind could conceive." 
 
 Reconcentrados lay everywhere under the broiling sun. The mule 
 picked his way between human heaps that looked like so many little 
 mounds of rags. Skeleton legs and arms protruded from out the 
 heaps. Soft moans of mothers and the wailing of little children gave 
 evidence of so many living deaths. 
 
 One Kind-hearted Spaniard. 
 
 I presented my credentials to the commandante. He was the most 
 genial Spanish official I had met between Havana and Guadaloupe. 
 When he smiled, his face was all kindness. When he spoke of the 
 reconcentrados, tears welled from his eyes. Yet around his mouth and 
 chin were the cruel lines of a nature as stern as it was commiserative. 
 He told me that the hospital was full, always full; there was room in 
 its wards for only 200 patients, and only one doctor for all. All who 
 entered that place of sickness came out of it, not cured, but dead. Three 
 thousand human beings, mostly women and children, had passed away 
 
WEYLER'S RECONCENTRATION POLICY. 265 
 
 in that town in three months. Nearly all had died of starvation 
 exposure. When the cemetery was full, they began burying in the still 
 burning tobacco fields on the hillsides. 
 
 But it was the siesta hour. The commandante excused himself, 
 saying he would rest awhile and advised me to do the same. 
 
 The commandante's house was in the center of the town. Bound 
 about was a circle of the houses of those who had owned the tobacco 
 fields. Beyond these homes of the well-to-do were hundreds of huts. 
 In these lived the reconcentrados, several families in each, or as many 
 as could huddle within and not pull the roughly constructed frame of 
 palm stalks down about their heads. Outside the circle of huts were 
 the blackened fields and hills. On the tops of the hills, at intervals 
 of 200 yards, was a circle of small houses that looked like sentry boxes. 
 They were really little forts, with four soldiers in each. Beyond the 
 forts were, heaven only knows how many, insurgent guerillas, lynx- 
 eyed human watch dogs, always lurking and waiting for a chance to 
 swoop upon one of the little forts, slay the garrison of four and dash 
 back into the bushes. 
 
 A Soldier's Ghastly Burden, 
 
 At this moment not a soldier was in sight. Perhaps all were sleep- 
 ing, like the commandante. Or perhaps the soldiers always remained 
 inside the barricades surrounding their forts, fearing that to step out- 
 side would be to attract the bullets of the lurking insurgents. For 
 such is warfare in Cuba's hills to-day; much the same sort of warfare 
 our American forefathers knew when each man who stepped from his 
 doorway was likely to become a target for the arrows of the lurking 
 and invisible redskins. 
 
 I was making a mental note of this picture of war and misery, when 
 suddenly I saw a human form on the hilltop over which I had just 
 come. The peculiar shape of the white hat worn by this, apparition 
 told me it was a soldier. In the middle of the white road he stopped, 
 lowered a burden from his shoulders to the ground. What was that 
 soldier doing there and what was the nature of his apparently heavy 
 burden? From my perch on the balcony I beckoned to the sentry, who 
 was pacing up and down in front of the commandante's house. The 
 sentry came up to the balcony, took one look in the direction of my 
 pointing finger, and then rushed into the house. The next moment the 
 
266 WEYLEK'S BECONCENTRATION POLICY. 
 
 commandante appeared. With a field glass lie surveyed the figure on 
 the hilltop. 
 
 "He is carrying something," I said, as I watched the man in the dis- 
 tance reshoulder his burden and begin descending the hill. 
 
 "A dead man," said the commandante. And he closed the glasses, 
 thoughtfully. Then he gave me a long black cigar. 
 
 We waited. At the end of half an hour the soldier approached the 
 house. Yes, on his back he was carrying a corpse* 
 
 Tell-tale Scrap of Paper. 
 
 He laid his burden down in the road and saluted the commandante. 
 A group of officers and soldiers had gathered round. The body was 
 that of a noted insurgent captain. A scrap of paper was produced. It 
 had been found in the dead man's pocket by the soldier who had car- 
 ried the body into town. 
 
 The commandante read the paper. His brow contracted. Now he 
 was all sternness. 
 
 "Bring the man, Jose Manual, here," he said to a sergeant 
 
 Five minutes later an old man, all bones and skin, stood before us. 
 The miserable man trembled as with the palsy. 
 
 "Si, senor, I did it. I ran over the hill. I informed. I alone ani to 
 blame." 
 
 Evidently the wretch knew of what he was accused. It was also 
 apparent that he was not the only guilty one. 
 
 "Who wrote this for you?" the commandante asked. 
 
 "I did, senor; I wrote it." 
 
 "The man lies," murmured one of the officers. 
 
 "Bring hither the son of Jose Manual," was the next order. 
 
 W T ith that, another skeleton, a young one, stepped forward. 
 
 "I am here, senor, and I wrote the note. That is all. We two, senor. 
 I wrote and my father ran. He was stronger, that day, than even my 
 younger bones." 
 
 The commandante compressed his lips. He turned to the sergeant 
 and said : "At sunset have these two men shot." 
 
 The two men merely spat upon the ground. For them death evi- 
 dently had no terrors. As they were led away they made the sign of 
 the cross again and again upon their naked breasts. A hundred starv- 
 ing wretches followed them in silence. 
 
WEYL'fiK'fc KECOKCENTKATlON POLICY. 267' 
 
 When we were again alone on the balcony a, broad, square bal- 
 cony it was the commandante noticed my look of inquiry. 
 
 "The story can be briefly told," he said. "You are simply the wit- 
 ness of a tragedy that had its beginning on this very balcony one 
 month ago. I sent word by the priest to a lady in Havana an English 
 lady that we had 4,000 starving people in this town. Could she help 
 us? Always generous, beneficent, self-sacrificing, the lady responded 
 in person. She came by the coast steamer, landed at broad noon, trav- 
 ersed the two miles over which you came a few hours ago from the 
 coast, bringing with her seven ox-cart loads of provisions, clothing 
 and medicine. With her came her daughter, a young girl just over 
 from England. Their charity was distributed from this very balcony 
 to the starving people. The distribution occupied two entire days. 
 Out of 4,000 people, 2,000 were given food and clothing and medicine. 
 She promised the other half equal relief as soon as she could go to 
 Havana and return again with the stores. On the night before she 
 was to leave us the ladies and gentlemen of the leading families here, 
 together with the officers of my staff, proposed to give the good Samari- 
 tans a banquet. The proposal was accepted. All gathered for the 
 banquet on this balcony. I draped the front of the house in the Span- 
 ish colors, and hung out all the available lamps. That illumination 
 was our ruin. Thirty-four sat down to dine. Only thirty lived through 
 the first course. Of a sudden a hailstorm of bullets was poured into 
 our midst. A bottle of wine in front of me flew into bits. Not a whole 
 plate or a whole glass was left. We sprang up and fled into the house. 
 Not all of us, though. No. Three men three of my best officers had 
 fallen from their chairs, dead. The other oh, God!" 
 
 English Samaritan Murdered. 
 
 The commandante could not continue. He made a gesture indicat- 
 ing that I was to step into the house. 
 
 In his room he opened a huge wardrobe and took out a jacket, a 
 tiny coat, such as might be worn by a soldier boy. The sleeves were 
 loaded with the gold lace and golden stars of a colonel in the Spanish 
 army. On the left side of this jacket or coat was a ragged hole. 
 
 "The bullet entered here," the commandante said, sorrowfully. "It 
 pierced her heart. The poor mother carried her dead back to Havana. 
 That is all." 
 
268 WEYLEK'S RECONCENTJRATION POLICY. 
 
 I understood. A fatal volley had been poured into that dinner 
 party by insurgents on the hilltops. The house was in the center of the 
 town, and the lamps illuminating the Spanish colors had rendered the 
 balcony the best of targets. These Spanish officers and an innocent 
 young English girl, a Samaritan, were murdered. 
 
 And by whom? By the insurgents, who were guided to the hilltops 
 by two of the very reconcentrados whom the victims had saved that 
 day from starvation. One had written a note informing the insurgents 
 of the circumstance, time, and pi-ace of the banquet. The other had 
 delivered the note to one of the murderers. Father and son were 
 equally guilty of ingratitude and treachery. The incriminating note 
 had been found on the dead Jbody of the insurgent captain, carried into 
 town by the soldier of Spain. 
 
 The Sad Final Scene. 
 
 At sunset a squad of twenty men, armed and in charge of a first 
 lieutenant, filed out of the barracks. In front of the squad marched 
 the two prisoners, their arms tied together above the elbows, behind 
 their backs. Behind the soldiers came perhaps a thousand of the 
 wretched and starving. 
 
 No murmuring, no uplifting of arms, nothing but solemn silence. 
 In front of a wall, lining one of the blackened fields, the prisoners 
 were made to kneel down. A priest stood over them speaking the last 
 consoling words. 4 
 
 Out of the squad of twenty soldiers, eight stepped forth and leveled 
 their rifles at the kneeling father and son. 
 
 The eight shots sounded as one, and one of the blackest crimes of 
 this atrocious war was expiated. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 AMERICAN INDIGNATION GROWING. 
 
 The American People Favor Cuba Influence of the Press Hatred of 
 Weyler General Lee's Reports of the Horrors of the War The 
 Question of Annexation Spanish Soldiers Oppose American Aid for 
 the Suffering Consular Reports From the Island. 
 
 The people of the United States, from the commencement of the war; 
 have been deeply interested in the success of the Cuban cause. The 
 leading journals, with hardly an exception, have upheld the revolution- 
 ists, and have been largely instrumental in arousing our government to 
 action. The following editorial is one of many on the subject which 
 voiced the popular feeling, and gave hope to the struggling band of 
 patriots, both in the United States and Cuba: 
 
 "Cuba bleeds at every pore, and Liberty goes weeping through a 
 land desolated by cruel war and throttled by the iron hand of a foreign 
 despotism. We hold that this government would be justified not only 
 in recognizing Cuban belligerency, but also in recognizing Cuban inde- 
 pendence, on the sole ground of the rights and claims of outraged hu- 
 manity. ... In consequence of Weyler's barbarous decrees the 
 most harrowing scenes of savagery and brutality are of almost daily oc- 
 currence in this beautiful island, which is situated a hundred miles from 
 our Florida coast line. In the midst of these horrifying and terrorizing 
 spectacles Cuba extends her hand in supplication to this land of boasted 
 freedom, asking only for a kindly glance of friendly recognition. 
 
 "Shall we refuse this small crumb of comfort from our bounteous 
 board? Spain may have the right to expect American neutrality, but 
 she has no right to demand indifference on our part to the fate of a brave 
 people, whose territory almost touches our own, and is nearer to our na- 
 tional capital than are a number of the States of the Union, and whose 
 heroic struggle for liberty was largely inspired by our glorious example 
 of beneficent free institutions and successful self-government. 
 
 "Spanish rule in Cuba has been characterized by injustice, oppres- 
 sion, extortion, and demoralization. She has fettered the energies of 
 the people, while she has fattened upon their industry. She smiled but 
 
 269 
 
270 AMERICAN INDIGNATION GROWING. 
 
 to smite, and embraced but to crush. She has disheartened exertion, 
 disqualified merit, and destroyed patience and forbearance, by support- 
 ing in riotous luxury a horde of foreign officials at the expense of native 
 industry and frugality. 
 
 "Irritated into resistance, the Cubans are now the intended victims 
 of increased injustice. But the inhuman design will fail of accomplish- 
 ment. Cuban patriotism develops with the growth of oppression. The 
 aspiration for freedom increases in proportion to the weight of its multi- 
 plied chains. The dawn of Cuban liberty is rapidly approaching." 
 
 Consular Reports of Suffering in the Island. 
 
 General Lee's reports cover the period from November 17, 1897, to 
 April 1, 1898. Much of the correspondence is marked confidential. 
 Only excerpts are given in many instances. General Lee's first dispatch 
 related to the modifying of General Weyler's concentration order by 
 General Blanco. In his communication he says: 
 
 "First. The insurgents will not accept autonomy. 
 
 "Second. A large majority of the Spanish subjects who have com- 
 mercial and business interests and own property here will not accept 
 autonomy, but prefer annexation to the United States rather than an 
 independent republic or genuine autonomy under the Spanish flag." 
 
 The remainder of the letter is devoted to plans for the relief of the 
 reconcentrados. 
 
 "In this city," he writes, "matters are assuming better shape under 
 charitable committees. Large numbers are now cared for and fed by 
 private subscriptions. I witnessed many terrible scenes and saw some 
 die while I was present. I am told General Blanco will give $100,000 
 to the relief fund." 
 
 Annexation Desired. 
 
 General Lee writes on December 13: 
 
 "The contest for and against autonomy is most unequal. For it 
 there are five or six of the head officers at the Palace and twenty or 
 thirty other persons here in the city. Against it, first, are the insur- 
 gents, with or without arms, and the Cuban noncombatants; second, 
 the great mass of the Spaniards bearing or not bearing arms the latter 
 desiring, if there must be a change, annexation to the United States. 
 Indeed, there is the greatest apathy concerning autonomy in any form. 
 No one asks what it will be, or when or how it will come. 
 
AMERICAN INDIGNATION GROWING. 271 
 
 "I do not see how it could even be put into operation by force, be- 
 cause as long as the insurgents decline to accept it, so long, the Spanish 
 authorities say, the war must continue." 
 
 General Lee then describes the efforts to form an autonomistic cabi- 
 net in Cuba and the public disapprobation of the people. 
 
 On January 8 General Lee makes the following report: 
 
 "Sir I have the honor to state, as a matter of public interest, that 
 the reconcentrado order of General Weyler, formerly governor-general 
 of this island, transformed about four hundred thousand self-support- 
 ing people, principally women and children, into a multitude to be sus- 
 tained by the contributions of others, or die of starvation or of fevers 
 resulting from a low physical condition and being massed in large 
 bodies, without change of clothing and without food. 
 
 "Their homes were burned, their fields and plant beds destroyed, and 
 their live stock driven away or killed. 
 
 "I estimate that probably two hundred thousand of the rural popu- 
 lation in the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matanzas, and Santa 
 Clara have died of starvation or from resultant causes, and the deaths 
 of whole families .almost simultaneously, or within a few days of each 
 other, and of mothers praying for their children to be relieved of their 
 horrible sufferings by death are not the least of the many pitiable scenes 
 which were ever present. In the provinces of Puerto Principe and San- 
 tiago de Cuba, where the 'reconcentrado order' could not be enforced, 
 the great mass of the people are self-sustaining. . . . 
 
 "A daily average of ten cents' worth of food to two hundred thou- 
 sand people would be an expenditure of f 20,000 per day, arid, of course, 
 the most humane efforts upon the part of our citizens cannot hope to 
 accomplish such a gigantic relief, and a great portion of these people 
 will have to be abandoned to their fate." . . . 
 
 On January 12, 13, 14 and 15 General Lee sent brief cablegrams to 
 the department in regard to those rioting and the demonstrations 
 against autonomy and Blanco and the three ne\vspaper offices. 
 
 January 13 he said some of the rioters threatened to go to the United 
 States consulate. "Ships," he said, "are not needed, but may be later. 
 If Americans are in danger ships should move promptly for Havana. 
 Uncertainty and excitement widespread." The rioting ceased the next 
 day and General Lee reported all quiet. 
 
 On March 1 General Lee reports that the distribution of food, medi- 
 cines, and clothing to the destitute is proceeding satisfactorily. The 
 
AMERICAN INDIGNATION GROWING. 
 
 work, he says, has been well organized and systematized under the su- 
 pervision and direction of Miss Clara Barton, president of the Red Cross 
 of the United States, and her active, able, and experienced assistant. 
 He inclosed a letter on March 14 from Consul Barker, of Sagua, who re- 
 quests him to transmit the following letter, which is addressed to him 
 (General Lee): 
 
 "Dear Sir I will thank you to communicate to the department as 
 quickly as possible the fact that military commander and other military 
 officers positively refuse to allow the reconcentrados, to whom I am issu- 
 ing food in its raw state, to procure fuel with which to cook the food. 
 
 "In addition, they prohibited this class of people (I am only giving 
 food to about one-fifth of the destitute the authorities have quit alto- 
 gether) from gathering vegetables cultivated within the protection of 
 the forts, telling them 'the Americans propose to feed you, and to the 
 Americans you must look.' " 
 
 General Lee reports on March 28 that "instructions have been given 
 by the civil government of Havana that the alcaldes and other author- 
 ities shall not give out any facts about the reconcentrados, and if any 
 of the American relief committees should make inquiries concerning 
 them, all such inquiries must be referred to him." 
 
 General Lee's dispatches end with a dispatch under date of April 1, 
 transmitting the decree of the governor-general terminating the con- 
 centration order. 
 
 Consul Barker's Eeport. 
 
 Consul Barker covers the conditions existing in Santa Clara province 
 in several communications, beginning on November 20, 1897, and clos- 
 ing on March 24 last. His letters constitute one long story of distress, 
 of sickness, destitution and death, until, indeed, the picture, even as 
 drawn in the plain language of official communications, is revolting. 
 
 Mr. Barker devoted comparatively little space to political questions. 
 Only one or two of his letters are along these lines. Probably the most 
 notable of these is his communication of January 10 last: 
 
 "When Spain will admit defeat," he writes, "no mortal, in my hum- 
 ble judgment, dare predict. That her plan of settlement autonomy 
 is a failure, and that with this failure passes from under her dominion 
 the island, is not to be questioned. Pending this admission on her part 
 thousands of human beings, guiltless of bringing on or having any part 
 in the insurrection, are dying. for want of sustenance." 
 
AMERICAN INDIGNATION GROWING. 273 
 
 Mr. Barker then suggests that residents in Cuba be allowed to take 
 out first papers under the naturalization laws before a consul in Cuba, 
 and that by this scheme, he thinks, Spain will be rebuked and change 
 her laws. 
 
 He adds that the relief from the United States must be continued or 
 the people must starve, so long as there is an armed Spanish soldier in 
 the country, "since these people, for fear of being murdered, do not go 
 to their country homes." 
 
 On January 15 Mr. Barker writes: "In this consular district a reign 
 of terror and anarchy prevails, which the authorities, if so disposed, are 
 utterly powerless to control or in any measure to subdue. Aside from 
 the suffering and desperation caused by the unparalleled destitution, I 
 regard the situation as rapidly assuming a critical stage. As stated 
 heretofore, in no way have the authorities departed from the policy pur- 
 sued by the late, but not lamented, General Weyler. Spanish troops, 
 as well as the guerrillas under the cruel chiefs Carreraz, Clavarrietta, 
 and Lazo, continue to despoil the country and drench it with the blood 
 of noncombatants. Although the <bando' of the captain-general pro- 
 vides that laborers may return to estates, it restricts their operations to 
 those having a garrison. Last week a number belonging to the 'Sta. 
 Ana' estate, located within a league of Sagua, and owned by George 
 Thorndike of Newport, were driven off after returning, and refused a 
 permit as a protection by the military commander, Mayor Lemo, one of 
 the trusted officers under the Weyler regime." 
 
 Mr. Barker says that from February 15 to March 12 he cared for 
 twelve hundred persons, increasing the number on the relief list after 
 that date to two thousand. 
 
 On March 24 Mr. Barker increased his estimate as to the amount of 
 food necessary to keep life in the people of that province. He said that 
 one hundred and fifty tons a month were needful for that time, and 
 that the distress was far greater than his former reports had shown. 
 In the letter of this date he recounts the particulars of a visit to Santa 
 Clara, where, he says, he learned from his own agents and also from 
 the governor of the province that the number of persons in actual want 
 exceeded any estimate which he had previously sent to the government. 
 He had said only three days before that he thought twenty tons a month 
 should be added to the eighty tons previously suggested. In a com- 
 munication of March 20 Mr. Barker says: "The distress is simply heart- 
 rending. Whole families without clothing to hide nakedness are sleep- 
 
274 AMERICAN INDIGNATION GROWING. 
 
 ing on the bare ground, without bedding of any kind, without food, save 
 such as we have been able to reach with provisions sent by our own 
 noble people; and the most distressing feature is that fully 50 per cent 
 are ill, without medical attendance or medicine." 
 
 Soldiers Oppose Aid. 
 
 Mr. Barker adds that if $5,000 could be sent to Consul General Lee, 
 blankets, cots, and medicines could be purchased in Santa Clara, and 
 thus save thousands who must die if compelled to await the sending of 
 these supplies from the United States. 
 
 "I have," he says, "found the civil governor willing to lend every aid 
 in his power, but he admits that he can do nothing but assist with his 
 civil officers in expediting relief sent by the United States. The mili- 
 tary obstruct in every way possible." 
 
 Consul Hyatt's Report. 
 
 Writing on December 5, Mr. Hyatt said: "The reconcentration order 
 is relaxed, but not removed; but many people have reached a point 
 where it is a matter of entire indifference to them whether it is removed 
 or not, for they have lost all interest in the problem of existence. A 
 census of the island taken to-day, as compared with one taken three 
 years ago, I feel confident would show that two-thirds of the residents 
 are missing, and the Spanish army would make no better showing." 
 
 On December 14 Mr. Hyatt wrote: "The order of reconcentration 
 practically has been wiped out, and, so far as the Spanish government 
 is concerned, men go about nearly as they please. The insurgents and 
 their sympathizers will unquestionably take advantage of the revocation 
 to get from the towns and cities what they need and otherwise strength- 
 en their cause. The effects on agricultural pursuits will be disappoint- 
 ing, because the great majority of those who would or should take up 
 the work joined the insurgent forces when compelled to leave their 
 homes, and the portion which came within the lines of reconcentration 
 are women, children, old and sickly people, most of whom seem to have 
 little interest in the problem of life. There is no one to take these peo- 
 ple back to the fields and utilize their remaining strength. Their houses 
 are destroyed, the fields are overgrown with weeds, they have no seeds 
 to plant, and, if they had, they could not live sixty or eighty days until 
 the crop matured; which, when grown, would more than likely be taken 
 by one or the other of the contending parties." 
 
AMERICAN INDIGNATION GROWING. 275 
 
 Dying At His Door. 
 
 "As I write," Mr. Hyatt closes this communication, "a man is dying 
 in the street in front of my door, the third in a comparatively small 
 time." 
 
 Mr. Hyatt's letter of December 21 deals largely with the sickness and 
 the death rate on the island, which he characterizes as appalling. "Sta- 
 tistics," he says, "make a grievous showing, but come far short of the 
 truth. The disease is generally brought on by insufficient food. It is 
 sometimes called paludal fever, and at others la grippe, and it is epi- 
 demic rather than contagious. From 30 to 40 per cent of the people 
 were afflicted with it." 
 
 He also reported smallpox and yellow fever as prevailing, and said 
 that out of a total of sixteen thousand soldiers recently sent to Manza- 
 nillo, nearly five thousand were in hospitals or quartered on the people. 
 He says that Dr. Caminero, United States sanitary inspector, reported 
 at that time that there were more than twelve thousand people sick in 
 bed, not counting those in military hospitals. This is at least 35 per 
 cent of the present population. Mr. Hyatt adds that quinine, the only 
 remedy of avail, is sold ten times higher than in the United States. He 
 says that steamers coming into port give out soup once a day to the 
 waiting throngs, and that fresh meat sells at from 50 cents to $1 a pound. 
 
 Condemned to a Living Death. 
 
 Every ten days or so crowds of handcuffed men are driven through 
 the streets of Havana, which they will never tread again, on their way 
 to the transport ship which will convey them to the penal settlements 
 on the African coast. Many of these men represent the elite of Cuban 
 society. Seldom is a direct charge brought against them. Police spies 
 denounce them as Cuban sympathizers. They are given no trial, that 
 they may prove the charges false. On administrative order they are 
 sentenced to exile for life, and frequently the source of their mis- 
 fortune can be traced to private revenge or personal feeling. Since the 
 beginning of the war at least ten thousand prominent citizens have been 
 torn from their native island, families and friends, and sent to life exile 
 in the filthy, overcrowded, deadly swamps of Fernando Po. With a 
 little money and good health it is possible to survive in Ceuta, but none 
 ever returns from Fernando Po. On the 23d of March a large party of 
 
276 AMERICAN INDIGNATION GROWING. 
 
 citizens of the Matanzas district passed through Havana on their 
 to the transport. It was a sad procession. Hopeless, jaded, despair- 
 ing men, with arms tied behind them and feet shackled, forced to leave 
 Cuba and face a slow, horrible death. On the train from Matanzas two 
 of these unfortunates were literally shot to pieces. The guards reported 
 they tried to escape and were shot in the attempt, Their fellow-prison- 
 ers told a different story. "The two men were deliberately taken out 
 on the platform between the cars and fired upon. And the soldiers 
 would give no reason," The action could likely be traced to personal 
 revenge. 
 
 For three-quarters of a century the misgovernment of Spain in 
 Cuba was a neighborhood shame and scandal to the people of the 
 United States. Warning off the interference of any other foreign 
 nation, under the policy known as the "Monroe Doctrine," the American 
 people witnessed the repeated efforts of a less favored nation of this 
 hemisphere to release itself from the grasp of the oppressor. They wit- 
 nessed at the periods of each of these revolts their own ships of war 
 patroling the southern coast and the waters adjacent to Cuba to inter- 
 cept any young Americans whose sympathies might lead them to join 
 the Cuban cause, and they acquiesced, because the law as it stotfd 
 exacted it. They witnessed in more than one of these revolts, when 
 some young Americans, who had eluded the vigilance of United States 
 cruisers, landed on the island and were captured by Spanish troops. 
 These young men stood against the walls of Morro Castle and were shot 
 like dogs, because their government was powerless under the law to aid 
 them. They witnessed the offers on the part of their government at 
 various times to terminate the continued scandal upon civilized gov- 
 ernment at one of the doorways of their country by the purchase of 
 the island for a generous sum of money, and the rejections of such 
 propositions by Spain. 
 
 The American people finally realized that peace could never come 
 to Cuba until it was imposed by the action of the United States, and 
 the opinion gradually grew that neither international obligations nor 
 ,a desire for the maintenance of friendly relations with Spain could 
 justify our government in permitting these outrages to continue at our 
 doors. 
 

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CHAPTER XXX. 
 OUTRAGES ON AMERICANS IN CUBA. 
 
 IIow Spain Pays Her Debts An Old Soldier's Experience The Case of 
 Pedro Casanova Destruction of Property Robbery and Murder A 
 Cruel Attack The Insurgents to the Rescue Hiding in a Cane 
 Field The Appeal to the Consul Intervention Justifiable. 
 
 Many American citizens in Cuba have been confined in Spanish pris- 
 ons, a number have been sent to the penal colonies, the property of some 
 has been confiscated, and others have been murdered in cold blood. A 
 celebrated case, which shows how slowly the wheels of justice some- 
 times revolve, was that of Antonio Maximo, a naturalized American 
 citizen. He was condemned to death, and his estates declared the prop- 
 erty of the government, by order of a court-martial, in 1870. He was 
 charged with participating in the revolution then going on in Cuba and 
 convicted, in spite of the fact that he was not residing oil the island. 
 The United States demanded restitution and indemnification, and in 
 1873 the Spanish republic admitted that the claim was just. The decree 
 was confirmed in 1876 by the royal government, but the authorities in 
 Cuba delayed its execution until the estates were in ruins. Spain finally 
 offered the sum of 1,500,000 pesos as indemnity, and this offer was ac- 
 cepted in 1886. The Cortes, however, made no appropriation for the 
 payment, and in 1888 the Spanish minister of state attempted to affix 
 to the agreement the new condition that certain claims of Spanish sub- 
 jects should be adjudicated and settled simultaneously. Secretary Bay- 
 ard rejected the proposition, and our government continued to urge the 
 Spanish authorities to fufill their contract. On June 12, 1895, Secre- 
 tary Olney instructed Hannis Taylor, United States minister at Madrid, 
 to ask Spain to give assurances that she would settle the claim within 
 two months. The Spanish government then offered to pay the principal 
 of the claim, and the claimant agreed to forego the interest. On Sep- 
 tember 14, the original claimant having died, the Spanish government 
 paid |1,499,000, equal to 1,500,000 pesos, in settlement of the long-stand- 
 ing claim. 
 
 15 279 
 
280 OUTRAGES ON AMERICANS IN CUBA. 
 
 An Old Soldier's Experience. 
 
 William Ewing, of Buffalo, New York, served in the Seventeenth 
 United States infantry all through the civil war, and is a member of the 
 G. A. R. He went to Cuba, and invested f 7,000, all the money he had, 
 in a sugar plantation, and with his wife and daughter and his brother- 
 in-law, William Hamilton, he took up his abode on the island. 
 
 Finally, owing to the unsettled conditions resulting from the war, 
 he sent his family back to the United States, and joined the insurgent 
 army. His brother-in-law also espoused the Cuban cause, and was killed 
 in battle. Discouraged by his reverses, he decided to return to his 
 native land, and made his escape from the island by boarding a block- 
 ade runner, which landed him at Atlantic City, from where he walked 
 to New York. Grand Army comrades gave him food and shelter, and 
 assisted him to reach his family. This man has a personal interest in 
 the success of the cause, for when that time comes he hopes to regain 
 possession of his property. 
 
 The Case of Pedro Casanova. 
 
 Pedro Casanova, a citizen of the United States, resided near the little 
 railway station of San Miguel de Jaruca with his family, which consists 
 of his wife and three children and his nephew, the latter born in the 
 United States. He told the story of his wrongs at the hands of the 
 Spaniards to a representative of the New York Herald in the following 
 words: 
 
 "I have suffered great outrages from the Spanish soldiers. The sol- 
 diers recently passed on the road, and my wife called my attention to 
 the fact that they had broken into a vacant house where valuable prop- 
 erty was stored, and were pulling things in pieces. Just then I saw two 
 officers coming toward the house. I was very glad, and went out to meet 
 them, and invited them to enter the house and refresh themselves. They 
 accepted, and said they liked coffee. While they were drinking, one or 
 two soldiers came and spoke to the captain, who asked me, 'Who are 
 the men in the sugar house?' 'My employes,' I replied, 'including one 
 engineer. The others are engaged in repairs.' 
 
 "The captain said: 'I hear rebels are hidden there. I must take the 
 men before the major for examination; the major himself will be here 
 to-morrow.' 
 
OUTRAGES ON AMERICANS IN CUBA. 281 
 
 "After he left I found the door of the house on the hill broken open. 
 A quantity of bottled beer had been taken, also my saddles and bridles, 
 and many other things. Gloves and other articles of woman's apparel 
 were tossed in the yard. I went to the station. The drug store looked 
 as if it had been visited by a mad bull. All the shelves and drawers 
 were thrown out and smashed. An empty store opposite was in the 
 same condition. The counter was thrown down and the door posts 
 hacked by machetes. The large coffee mill was broken, and all was in 
 disorder. An account of this work was what the soldiers had whis- 
 pered to the captain. The officer had remarked to me with a sneer: 
 'The insurgents are very kind to you, as no harm has been done here.' 
 
 "I was surprised on the following Wednesday morning to hear shots 
 as of several volleys of musketry. About three hundred soldiers in- 
 fantry and cavalry were, in fact, outside, having surrounded my house. 
 More soon appeared under command of Captain Cerezo Martinez. In 
 most brutal and vulgar terms he ordered all in the house to go outside. 
 The soldiers mshed in and dragged me out by the coat collar. My wife, 
 with her baby, was taken out, a rifle being pointed at her breast. Eleut- 
 rie Zanabria, a negro servant, who was badly frightened, tried to hide. 
 He was pulled to the front, and before my eyes a soldier struck him a 
 heavy blow with his machete, cutting him deep in the head and arm, 
 leaving a pool of blood on the floor. The wound was serious. 
 
 "An order was then given to take into custody all men on the estate. 
 Near a tree beyond the hill, one hundred yards from the house, I stopped, 
 about forty paces from the others, to talk to the captain, who had been 
 at the house the week before. At that moment a young negro, Manuel 
 Febels, made a dash to escape. Some cavalrymen rushed after him, 
 firing. He fell, and they mutilated his body, taking out his eyes. The 
 officer, enraged at the negro's flight, pulled out his sabre, and shouted 
 to the others of the party: 'Get down on your knees!' They obeyed and 
 he had them bound and kept in that position a quarter of an hour. 
 
 "While I was talking to the captain my wife and five-year-old child 
 were begging for mercy for me. The cavalrymen helped themselves to 
 corn for their horses, and finally started. The officers told me that my 
 nephew's life and my own were only spared because we were Ameri- 
 cans, and they did not want to get into trouble with the United States. 
 They then ordered me to leave San Miguel without waiting a moment. 
 
 "Their explanation of the raid was that the rebels had fired upon 
 the troops, and that they saw one man run, as be fired, into my house, 
 
282 OUTRAGES ON AMERICANS IN CUBA. 
 
 and that, under the major's instructions, the whole family should have 
 been killed. My wife and children were in agony while I was away. 
 My employes were all taken away by the troops. 
 
 "An officer of high rank in the Spanish army passed my place after 
 I left, came to me here, and said: 'I know what 'has happened. The 
 man in command is unfit to be an officer of Spain.' I heard that my men 
 had been taken to the Spanish camp and shot while eating breakfast." 
 
 Destruction of Property. 
 
 The brothers Farrar, in presenting their claim for indemnity, made 
 the following statement: 
 
 "On Saturday, March 21, the dwelling house of the coffee planta- 
 tion Estrella was the object of a wanton attack by the column of Gen. 
 Bernat, operating in that region. The said building received cannon 
 shots of grape and cannister, breaking the door, one window, several 
 piazza columns, and greatly endangering the lives of the families of my 
 brothers, Don Tasio and Don Luis Farrar, both American citizens. 
 There were two small children in the house. From my information it 
 appears that the troops mentioned had sustained fire with a rebel band 
 in Paz plantation, a quarter-league from Estrella. The rebels having 
 fled to Pedroso and Buena Esperanza plantations, the government 
 troops advanced toward Estrella in quite an opposite direction from 
 that taken by the rebels. On arriving at the borders of Estrella planta- 
 tion the Spanish column began firing cannon at the dwelling house, and 
 it was immediately invaded by the soldiers, who ransacked it, carrying 
 off wardrobes, all jewelry and men's clothing which they contained, as 
 well as the sum of about $60 in money. They also took away everything 
 found in workmen's dwellings, arresting at the same time twelve of the 
 occupants, whom they conducted to Alquizar as insurgents. It should 
 be observed that the cannon were fired solely at the dwelling house of 
 the owners, although there were twenty other buildings on the planta- 
 tion, and the place was entirely clear of insurgents. 
 
 "In consideration of all the above, and particularly on account of 
 the danger to which his relatives were exposed, and also for the un- 
 justifiable looting on the part. of the regular troops in the service of a 
 constituted government, the undersigned does most solemnly protest, 
 and asks an immediate indemnity for the damages suffered, which he 
 values at $5,000, as all work has been stopped on the plantation and 
 everything abandoned," 
 
OUTRAGES ON AMERICANS IN CUBA. 283 
 
 A Cruel Attack. 
 
 The case of Dr. Deligado is a particularly pathetic one. His home 
 was in New York, where he was a practicing physician, but he went 
 to Cuba to take possession of some property which he had inherited. 
 His father told the story of their sufferings to a correspondent, and his 
 account w r as supplemented by additional particulars from the doctor 
 himself. The elder gentleman said : 
 
 "Our plantation is called Dolores, the old name being Morales. It 
 was about half past one on the 4th day of March when a regiment of 
 rebels, about four hundred or five hundred men, invaded the place. They 
 told us they were Maceo's men, and soon after them came Maceo, with 
 twenty-four women, sixteen whites and eight mulattoes. I understood 
 that these women were the wives of the officers. 
 
 "Maceo shook hands politely and asked if I would allow them to take 
 breakfast with us. Of course there was nothing to do but say yes, and 
 the men spread themselves over about seventy acres of the plantation, 
 the officers and ladies coming into the house. They had provisions with 
 them, but desired to cook and serve them, which they did. They sat 
 down at the table and were soon joking and laughing. Suddenly we 
 heard rifle shots. Hernandez yelled to his wife to hand him his ma- 
 chete. Then all went out and found that the firing had come from what 
 seemed to be an advance guard of the Spanish troops. There was some 
 skirmishing at a distance, and the insurgents rode away. They did not 
 wish to fight on the plantation, as they were on another mission. 
 
 "The Spaniards had fired the cane, thinking there were other insur- 
 gents hiding there. Spanish bullets rattled on the tiled roof of the 
 house, and farm hands who were plowing back of the house got fright- 
 ened and wished to come in. 
 
 "After a while I opened the window to see how matters stood and 
 saw two cavalrymen and a captain, with two soldiers. My son and the 
 farm hands went out toward the burning cane in an attempt to save 
 some oxen that were near the cane. When the captain saw them he 
 shouted: 'Who are those people ?> I told him they were our workmen, 
 and he then gave orders to clear the house. They rushed their horses 
 right through the house, the captain lea-ding them. I took out my 
 American papers and showed them to him to prove that I was a peace- 
 ful citizen. 'They are the worst documents you could have/ said the 
 captain. They answered my son in the same way, and the captain re- 
 
284 OUTRAGES ON AMERICANS IN CUBA. 
 
 peated tke order to clear the house. Then they ordered us to march on 
 as prisoners and told the women to stay back. My son asked them to 
 let me stay back with the women, and they allowed me to do so. Of 
 course the women were panic-stricken and screaming when they saw 
 their husbands being taken away. 
 
 "We heard shots and then a second volley. One of the women cried 
 out: 'They have killed my husband!' Her words were true. After 
 about three hours I ventured out, and I saw coming towards the house 
 the old farm hand, a man of about seventy. He seemed to be holding a 
 red handkerchief over his arm, but when I got nearer I saw that it was 
 covered with blood. He cried out when he saw me: 'They have killed 
 them." 'My son! My son!' I cried. 'He was the first one they killed,' he 
 said. 
 
 "I took the man in the house and tried to bind up his arm, which had 
 been shattered by a bullet. I endeavored to pacify the women, and told 
 them they should go to the nearest neighbors for help. The two white 
 farm hands, who had been hiding in the cane, then came over toward 
 the house, while I was trying to quiet the women. They were afraid to 
 move, panic-stricken, and would not go for help. 
 
 "Suddenly a young man dashed up to the house at full gallop. He 
 drew his revolver and told the farm hands to get cots and pillows and 
 medicine to bring to the missing men in case any of them should be still 
 alive. He said he would shoot them if they disobeyed, and they did as 
 he directed. They made up a litter, and we walked on till we found the 
 place where the men lay in a pool of blood. 
 
 "I looked into my son's face and cried out: 'My son, my son!' He 
 opened his eyes and whispered : 'Father, they have killed us.' ' 
 
 The old gentleman broke down in a passion of weeping ajt these 
 recollections of the awful scene, and the son gave his account of the hor- 
 rible butchery: 
 
 "They marched us along," said the Doctor, "and I spoke to the gen- 
 eral: 'General, I am an American citizen, and here are my papers from 
 Mr. Williams.' 'They are the worst things you could have,' he said. 'I 
 wish the Consul were here himself, so that 1 could treat him thus,' and 
 he struck me three times in the face. Then he sounded the bugle calling 
 the volunteers, and ordered us taken to the rear guard. Of course, we 
 knew that this meant death. They tied us in a line with our hands pin- 
 ioned. I knew the sergeant and said to him: 'Is it possible that you 
 are going to kill me?' 'How can I help it?' he answered. Then the order 
 
OUTRAGES ON AMERICANS IN CUBA. 285 
 
 was given and the soldiers rushed upon us with machetes. Their knives 
 cut our ropes as we tried to dodge the blows, and the soldiers fired two 
 volleys at us. The first shot grazed my head, and I dropped to the ground 
 as though dead. The old farm hand also threw himself to the earth. 
 This act saved our lives. 
 
 "The other four men who tried to fight were killed. At the second 
 discharge a bullet pierced my side. When we all lay as though dead 
 they came up and turned us over and searched our pockets mine first, 
 of course, as I was better dressed than the other men. One of the soldiers 
 noticed that my breast moved and shouted out: 'This fellow is not dead 
 yet. Give him another blow,' and he raised his machete and gave me a 
 slash across the face and throat. Then I became unconscious." 
 
 Delgado's father took up the story as his son left off: "The brave 
 young man who .brought us to the place where niy son was, now jumped 
 from his horse and gave orders to the men to lift my son on the litter, as 
 we found he was the only man still living. We put a pillow under his 
 head, and the two farm hands lifted the litter and carried it into the 
 cane field. Meanwhile the women relatives of the dead men came up 
 and began to wail and cry. The young man, whom we afterwards found 
 was an insurgent leader, told them they should be quiet, as their lamen- 
 tations would bring the Spanish troops upon the scene again. 
 
 "Then the litter was carried into the cane field. This young man said: 
 'You must immediately write to the American consul. I will furnish 
 you with a messenger, and you may rest safely in this cane field with 
 your son. I will put a guard of 500 men around it so that they cannot 
 burn it, as they do when they know people are hiding in the cane.' 
 
 "For five days I was in the cane field with my son. It rained upon 
 us, and then I put the pillows over my son's chest, in order to protect 
 him. I suffered greatly from rheumatism. Only the young man ap- 
 peared and said that General Maceo had sent a guard to escort me back 
 to my home. With my boy we* were taken there and guard kept around 
 our house. The messenger came back from the Consul, and I came on to 
 Havana to see General Weyler, who had my son brought here to the 
 city." 
 
 Stories of outrages on Americans that are unquestionably true might 
 be furnished in numbers sufficient to more than fill this entire volume, 
 but enough have been given to convince the most skeptical that the de- 
 mand for intervention was justified on our own account, as well as for 
 the sake of the people of Cuba. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 McKINLEY SUCCEEDS CLEVELAND. 
 
 The Cuban Question Not a New One The Efforts of Former Administrations 
 to Bring About a Settlement President Cleveland's Message Recom- 
 mendations of President McKinley The Spanish Minister's Insulting 
 Letter His Resignation Accepted The Apology of the Spanish Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 For more than ninety years the United States government has been 
 confronted with a Cuban question. At times it has disappeared from 
 our politics, but it has always reappeared. Once we thought it wise 
 to prevent the island from winning its independence from Spain, and 
 thereby, perhaps, we entered into moral bonds to make sure that Spain 
 governed it decently. Whether we definitely contracted such an obli- 
 gation or not, the Cuban question has never ceased to annoy us. The 
 controversies about it make a long series of chapters in one continuous 
 story of diplomatic trouble. Many of our ablest statesmen have had 
 to deal with it as Secretaries of State and as Ministers to Spain, and not 
 one of them has been able to settle it. One President after another 
 has taken it up, and every one has transmitted it to his successor. It 
 has at various times been a "plank'' in the platforms of all our political 
 parties as it was in both the party platforms of 1896 and it has been 
 the subject of messages of nearly all our Presidents, as it was of Pres- 
 ident Cleveland's message in December, 1896, in which he distinctly ex- 
 pressed the opinion that the United States might feel forced to recognize 
 "higher obligations" than neutrality to Spain. In spite of periods of 
 apparent quiet, the old trouble has always reappeared in an acute form, 
 and it has never been settled; nor has there recently been any strong- 
 reason for hope that it could be settled merely by diplomatic negotia- 
 tion with Spain. Our diplomats have long had an experience with 
 Spanish character and methods such as the public can better understand 
 since war has been in progress. The pathetic inefficiency and the con- 
 tinual indirection of the Spanish character are now apparent to the 
 world ; they were long ago apparent to those who have had our diplo- 
 matic duties to do. 
 
 286 
 

 
 
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McKlNLEY SUCCEEDS CLEVELAND. 289 
 
 Thus the negotiations dragged on. We were put to trouble and ex- 
 pense to prevent filibustering, and filibustering continued in spite of 
 ns. More than once heretofore has there been danger of international 
 conflict, as for instance when American sailors on the Virginius were 
 executed in Cuba in 1873. Propositions have been made to buy the 
 island, and plans have been formed to annex it. All the while there 
 have been great American interests in Cuba, Our citizens have owned 
 much property and made investments there, and done much to develop 
 its fertility. They have paid tribute, unlawful as well as lawful, both 
 to insurgents and to Spanish officials. They have lost property, for 
 which no indemnity has been paid. All the while we have had a trade 
 with the island, important during periods of quiet, irritating during 
 periods of unrest. 
 
 Trouble Not a New One. 
 
 The Cuban trouble is, therefore, not a new trouble, even in an acute 
 form. It had been moving forward toward a crisis for a long time. 
 Still, while our government suffered these diplomatic vexations, and 
 our citizens these losses, and our merchants these annoyances, the mass 
 of the American people gave little serious thought to it. The news- 
 papers kept us reminded of an opera bouffe war that was going on, and 
 UOAV and then there came information of delicate and troublesome dip- 
 lomatic duties for our Minister to Spain. If Cuba were within a hun- 
 dred miles of the coast of one of our populous States, and near one of 
 our great ports, periods of acute interest in its condition would doubt- 
 less have come earlier and oftener, and we should long ago have had 
 to deal with a crisis by warlike measures. Or if the insurgents had 
 commanded respect instead of mere pity, we should have paid heed to 
 their struggle sooner; for it is almost an American maxim that a people 
 cannot govern itself till it can win its own independence. 
 
 When it began to be known that Weyler's method of extermination 
 was producing want in the island, and when appeals were made to 
 American charity, we became more interested. President Cleveland 
 found increasing difficulty with the problem. Our Department of State 
 was again obliged to give it increasingly serious attention, and a reso- 
 lute determination was reached by the administration that this scandal 
 to civilization should cease we yet supposed peacefully and Spain 
 was informed of our resolution. When Mr. McKinley came to the Pres- 
 idency, the people, conscious of a Cuban problem, were yet not greatly 
 aroused about it. Indeed, a prediction of war made at the time of the 
 
290 McKINLEY SUCCEEDS CLEVELAND. 
 
 inauguration would have seemed wild and foolish. Most persons still 
 gave little thought to Cuba, and there seemed a likelihood that they 
 would go on indefinitely without giving serious thought to it: for neither 
 the insurgents, nor the Cuban junta, nor the Cuban party in the United 
 States, if there was such a party, commanded respect. 
 
 President McKinley's Message. 
 
 President McKinley sent a message to Congress a few weeks after 
 his inauguration, in which he recommended the appropriation of $50,- 
 000 for the relief of American citizens in Cuba. It read as follows: 
 
 "Official information from our Consuls in Cuba establishes the fact 
 that a large number of American citizens in the island are in a state 
 of destitution, suffering for want of food and medicines. This applies 
 particularly to the rural districts of the central and eastern parts. The 
 agricultural classes have been forced from their farms into the nearest 
 towns where they are without work or money. The local authorities of 
 the several towns, however kindly disposed, are unable to relieve the 
 needs of their own people, and are altogether powerless to help our 
 citizens. The latest report of Consul-General Lee estimates that 600 
 to 800 are without means of support. I have assured him that provision 
 would.be made at once to relieve them. To that end I recommend that 
 Congress make an appropriation of not less than $50,000, to be imme- 
 diately available for use under the direction of the Secretary of State. 
 
 "It is desirable that a part of the sum which may be appropriated 
 by Congress should, in the discretion of the Secretary of State, also be 
 used for the transportation of American citizens who, desiring to re- 
 turn to the United States, are without means to do so." 
 
 The joint resolution offered by Senator Gallinger, which embodied 
 the recommendations of President McKinley, passed both Houses with- 
 out a dissenting vote. 
 
 An influential journal printed the following editorial concerning this 
 measure: 
 
 "It is an essentially new departure in international affairs, and it 
 is in order for the sticklers for precedent to enter fussy protestation, as 
 they did in connection with the Venezuelan question, against the Mon- 
 roe doctrine, declaring it was not to be found in the code of interna- 
 tional law. It is certainly very unusual, if not unprecedented, for the 
 government to make a relief appropriation for its own people in some 
 foreign land. The truth is, this Cuban situation is wholly exceptional. 
 
McKINLEY SUCCEEDS CLEVELAND. 291 
 
 Here is a little island in a state of civil war. It is largely a sectional 
 war, one part of the island being in possession of one of the belligerents, 
 and the other section in possession of the other belligerent. 
 
 "Several hundreds of our American citizens are in that section of the 
 island occupied by Spanish armies, and are suffering, in common with 
 the Cubans themselves, from a deliberate policy of starvation. Weyler 
 is trying to conquer by famine. That is his fixed purpose, and, from 
 the nature of the case, no discrimination is made between Spanish sub- 
 jects in rebellion and American citizens sojourning in the island. If the 
 policy of starvation cannot be maintained without this indiscrimination 
 then so much the worse' for Weyler and his policy. Congress has only 
 to make the appropriation asked for, and the relief will go forward, 
 without regard to any collateral consequences." 
 
 Be Lome's Insulting Letter. 
 
 One of the most sensational incidents in connection with Spanish 
 .affairs prior to the destruction of the Maine was the publication of a 
 letter, which fell into the hands of the Cuban Junta, written by Senor 
 Dupuy De Lome, the representative of the Spanish government in 
 Washington, to the editor of a newspaper at Madrid. A translation of 
 the letter is given : 
 
 My Distinguished and Dear Friend: 
 
 You need not apologize for not having written to me. I ought to have 
 written to you, but have not done so on account of being weighed down with 
 work. 
 
 The situation here continues unchanged. Everything depends on the 
 political and military success in Cuba. The prologue of this second method of 
 warfare will end the day that the Colonial Cabinet will be appointed, and it 
 relieves us in the eyes of this country of a part of the responsibility of what 
 may happen there, and they must cast the responsibility upon the Cubans, 
 whom they believe to be so immaculate. 
 
 Until then we will not be able to see clearly, and I consider it to be a loss 
 of time and an advance by the wrong road, the sending of emissaries to the 
 rebel field, the negotiating with the autonomists, not yet declared to be le- 
 gally constituted, and the discovery of the intentions and purposes of this 
 government. The exiles will return one by one, and when they return will 
 come walking into the sheepfold, and the chiefs will gradually return. 
 
 Neither of these had the courage to leave en masse, and they will not have 
 the courage to thus return. The President's message has undeceived the in- 
 
292 McKINLEY SUCCEEDS CLEVELAND. 
 
 surgents, who expected something else, and has paralyzed the action of Con- 
 gress, but I consider it bad. 
 
 Besides the natural and inevitable coarseness with which he repeats all 
 that the press and public opinion of Spain has said of Weyler, it shows once 
 more what McKinley is weak and catering to the rabble, and, besides, a low 
 politician, who desires to leave a door open to me and to stand well with the 
 jingoes of his party. Nevertheless, as a matter of fact, it will only depend on 
 ourselves whether he will prove bad and adverse to us. 
 
 I agree entirely with you that without military success nothing will be ac- 
 complished there, and without military and political success there is here al- 
 ways danger that the insurgents will be encouraged, if not by the government, 
 at least by part of the public opinion. I do not believe you pay enough at- 
 tention to the role of England. Nearly all that newspaper canaille, which 
 swarm in your hotel, are English, and while they are correspondents of Amer- 
 ican journals, they are also correspondents of the best rfewspapers and re- 
 views of London. 
 
 Thus it has been since the beginning. To my mind, the only object of Eng- 
 land is that the Americans should occupy themselves with us and leave her 
 in peace, and if there is a war, so much the better. That would further remove 
 what is threatening her, although that will never happen. It would be most 
 important that you should agitate the question of commercial relations, even 
 though it would be only for effect, and that you should send here a man of im- 
 portance, in order that I might use him to make a propaganda among the sen- 
 ators and others, in opposition to the Junta and to win over exiles. 
 
 There goes Amblarad. I believe he comes too deeply taken up with polit- 
 ical matters, and there must be something great or we shall lose. Adela re- 
 turns your salutation, and we wish you in the new year to be a messenger of 
 peace and take this new year's present to poor Spain. 
 
 Always your attentive friend and servant, who kisses your hand, 
 
 ENRIQUE DUPUY DE LOME. 
 
 As soon as this letter was made public, De Lome cabled his res- 
 ignation to the Spanish government, and withdrew his passports from 
 the State Department in Washington, thus saving himself the morti- 
 fication of a dismissal. The Spanish government at Madrid sent the 
 following communication to Minister Woodford regarding the affair: 
 
 The Spanish Government, on learning of the incident in which Minister 
 Dupuy De Lome was concerned, and being advised of his objectionable com- 
 munication, with entire sincerity laments the incident, states that Minister De 
 Lome had presented his resignation, and it had been accepted before the pres- 
 entation of the matter by Minister Woodford. That the Spanish Ministry, in 
 accepting the resignation of a functionary whose services they have been util- 
 
McKINLEY SUCCEEDS CLEVELAND. 293 
 
 izing and valuing up to that time, leaves it perfectly well established that they 
 do not share, and rather, on the contrary, disauthorize the criticisms tending 
 to offend or censure the chief of a friendly State, although such criticisms had 
 been written within the field of friendship and had reached publicity by artful 
 and criminal means. 
 
 That this meaning had taken shape in a resolution by the Council of Min- 
 isters before General Woodford presented the matter, and at a time when the 
 Spanish Government had only vague telegraphic reports concerning the senti- 
 ments alluded to. That the Spanish nation, with equal and greater reason, af- 
 firms its view and decision after reading the words contained in the letter re- 
 flecting upon the President of the United States. 
 
 As to the paragraph concerning the desirability of negotiations of com- 
 mercial relations, if even for effect and importance of using a representative 
 for the purpose stated in Senor Dupuy De Lome's letter, the government ex- 
 presses concern that in the light of its conduct, long after the writing of the 
 letter, and in view of the unanswerable testimony of simultaneous and subse- 
 quent facts, any doubt should exist that the Spanish Government has given 
 proof of its real desire and of its innermost convictions with respect to the new 
 commercial system and the projected treaty of commerce. 
 
 That the Spanish Government does not now consider it necessary to lay 
 stress upon, or to demonstrate anew the truth and sincerity of its purpose and 
 the unstained good faith of its intentions. That publicly and solemnly, the 
 Government of Spain contracted before the mother country and its colonies 
 a responsibility for the political and tariff charges which it has inaugurated 
 in both Antilles, the natural ends of which, in domestic and international 
 spheres, it pursues with firmness, which will ever inspire its conduct. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE CASE OF EVANGELINA CISNEROS. 
 
 A Martyr to the Cause Filial Devotion Spanish Chivalry In a Spanish 
 Prison An American Rescuer Yankee Pluck Against Brute Force 
 The Escape Arrival in New York Enthusiastic Reception A Home 
 in the Land of Liberty. 
 
 Spanish officials in Cuba have always denied the charge that they 
 made war on women, and have insisted that the tales of persecution 
 of the weaker sex that have reached this country were inventions of 
 the insurgents, published to gain sympathy for their cause. In direct 
 contradiction to this claim is the story of Evangelina Cisneros, the 
 niece of the president of the Cuban republic. Her father, a Cuban 
 patriot of prominence, was banished to the Isle of Pines, and she 
 showed her filial devotion by leaving a luxurious home to share his 
 exile. While there, her beauty attracted the attention of a Spanish 
 General, who tried by every means in his power to gain her favor. It 
 was natural that she should despise anyone who wore the hated uni- 
 form of Spain, and, because she rejected his advances, she was charged 
 with conspiring against the government, and sent to a jail in Havana. 
 
 Her unhappy fate attracted the attention of Mr. W. E. Hearst, the 
 proprietor of the New York Journal, and he, actuated no doubt by 
 philanthropic motives, as well as the desire to advance the interests 
 of his paper, determined to make an effort for her release. 
 
 How this was accomplished is best told by Mr. Karl Decker, who 
 was Mr. Hearst's representative in carrying out the plot. 
 
 "I have broken the bars of prison and have set free the beautiful 
 captive of Monster Weyler, restoring her to her friends and relatives, 
 and doing by strength, skill and strategy what could not be accom- 
 plished by petition and urgent request of the Pope. Weyler could 
 blind the Queen to the real character of Evangelina, but he could not 
 build a jail that would hold against enterprise when properly set to 
 work. 
 
 "To-night all Havana rings with the story. It is the one topic of 
 conversation. Everything else pales into insignificance. No one re- 
 
 294 
 
THE CASE OF EVANGELINA CISNEROS. 295 
 
 members that there has beea a change in the Ministry. What matters 
 it if Weyler is to go? Evangelina Oisneros has escaped from the jail, 
 thought by everyone to be impregnable. A plot has been hatched right 
 in the heart of Havana a desperate plot as shown by the revolver 
 found on the roof of the house through which the escape was effected, 
 and as the result of this plot, put into effect under the very nose of 
 Spanish guards, Evangelina is free. How was it done? How could it 
 have been done? 
 
 Details of the Escape. 
 
 "These are the questions asked to-night by the frequenters of the 
 cafes throughout the city, where the people of Havana congregate. 
 It is conceded by all, by the officials of the palace included, to be the 
 most daring coup in the history of the war, and the audacity of the 
 deed is paralyzing. No one knows where Evangelina is now, nor can 
 know. 
 
 "To tell the story of the escape briefly, I came here three weeks 
 ago, having been told to go to Cuba and rescue from her prison Miss 
 Cisneros, a tenderly-reared girl, descended from one of the best fami- 
 lies in the island, and herself a martyr to the unsatisfied desires of a 
 beast in Spanish uniform. I arrived at Cienfuegos late in September, 
 telegraphed to a known and tried man in Santiago de Cuba to meet 
 me in Havana, and then went to Santa Clara, where I picked up a 
 second man, known to be as gritty as Sahara, and then proceeded to 
 Havana. 
 
 "Here I remained in almost absolute concealment, so as to avoid 
 the spies that dog one's steps wherever one may go, arid make impossi- 
 ble any clever work of this kind. Both the men who accompanied me, 
 Joseph Hernandon and Harrison Mallory, pursued the same course, 
 and remained quiet until all plans had been completed. 
 
 "The fact that Miss Cisneros was incommunicado made the attempt 
 seem at first beyond the possibility of success, but we finally, through 
 Hernandon, who was born on the island, and speaks Spanish like a 
 native, succeeded in sending a note to her through an old negress, who 
 called upon one of her friends in the 'prison. A keeper got this note 
 through two hands to Miss Cisneros, and three keepers later got to 
 her a package of drugged sweets. Having established communica- 
 tion with her, we began work without losing a day." 
 
?96 THE CASE OF EVANGELINA CISNEROS. 
 
 The Prison Left Behind. 
 
 Mr. Decker then tells how he rented a house adjoining the prison, 
 and instructed Miss Cisneros to give the drugged candies to the other 
 women who were in the prison with her. As soon as the drug pro- 
 duced the desired effect on them, the bars of the prison were cut from 
 the outside, and Miss Cisneros was assisted through the window, onto 
 the roof of the house Mr. Decker had rented, kept in concealment for 
 two days, and then smuggled on board a ship, bound for the land of 
 liberty. 
 
 Her arrival in New York is thus described: 
 
 "Evangeline Cisneros, one week ago a prisoner among the outcast 
 wretches in a Havana prison, is a guest at the Waldorf hotel. Sur- 
 rounded by luxury and elegance, she is alternately laughing and cry- 
 ing over the events of one short week. One week ago last night a cor- 
 respondent broke the bars of her cell and led her to liberty over the 
 flat roofs of the Cuban capital. It is the memory of those thrilling 
 few minutes that meant for her a lifetime of captivity or a future of 
 peace and liberty that most often occurs to her now. 
 
 "She arrived to-day on the Ward liner, Seneca, and was taken from 
 the steamer by a boat at quarantine, thanks to the courtesy of the 
 Government and the quarantine authorities. When the Seneca sailed 
 from Havana there figured on the passenger list one Juan Sola. A 
 girl who signed the name of Juana Sola to the declaration, exacted 
 by the Custom House officers, was the nearest passenger to making 
 good the lost one. Her declaration w T as that she brought nothing 
 dutiable into the country. 
 
 "If ever that declaration was truthfully made, it was made in the 
 case of this brown-eyed, chestnut-haired girl, who was so anxious to 
 please the man who made her sign. All she had was the simple red 
 gown she had on her back and a bundle that contained a suit of clothes 
 such as a planter's son might have worn. 
 
 "Those were the clothes that Juan Sola wore when he ran up the 
 gang-plank in Havana, with a big slouch hat over the chestnut hair, 
 that even danger of discovery could not tempt her to cut, and a fat 
 cigar between a red, laughing pair of lips that accidentally, maybe, 
 blew a cloud of smoke into the face of the chief of police, who was 
 watching that plank, and made the features of the young man very 
 indistinct indeed. 
 

 

 h | 
 
 w ^ 
 
 h s 
 .2 
 
THE CASE OF EVANGELINA CISNEROS. 299 
 
 "There was no reason why the chief of police should scan too closely 
 the young man with the big cigar. Juan Solans passport had been 
 duly issued by the Spanish government, and as far as the papers 
 showed, there was no reason to suspect him. 
 
 "Of course Juan Sola was the girl the correspondent had rescued 
 from prison, and the fame of whose escape was on every tongue in 
 Havana, the girl for whose capture the police had for three days been 
 breaking into houses and guarding the roads, and yet she passed under 
 their noses with no disguise but a boy's suit of clothes. 
 
 "Miss Cisneros did not court any more danger than was necessary, 
 and at once went to her cabin. The next day, however, when Morro 
 Castle was left far behind, she appeared on deck, transformed into 
 Senorita Juana Sola, alias Evangelina Cisneros. 
 
 "When the ship sighted Cape Hatteras light the young woman 
 asked what light it was, and when told that it was an American bea- 
 con, she knelt down in the saloon and prayed. After that she wept for 
 joy. She must have been all strung up with excitement over her expe- 
 riences, and when she saw the light she could contain herself no 
 longer, but simply overflowed. 
 
 "Nothing could be seen of the Cuban girl as the Seneca slowed 
 opposite quarantine to permit the boarding of the health officer. The 
 other passengers, after the habit of ocean travelers, grouped amid- 
 ships to scan the vessel of the tyrant, who had it in his power to lock 
 them all up in quarantine. The girl was hidden away in her state- 
 room, wondering what reception awaited her in the big city whose 
 sky-line broke the horizon ahead. 
 
 "The people on board were kind to her from the moment she re- 
 vealed her identity, but at this moment when she had reached the 
 haven of refuge, to gain which she and her gallant rescuers had 
 risked death itself, she fled from the new-found friends and would not 
 even look out of the door of her stateroom." 
 
 Miss Cisneros was given a great reception in Madison Square gar- 
 den, during her stay in New York, where many noted men and women 
 congratulated her on her happy escape, and welcomed her to "the land 
 of the free, and the home of the brave." Since then she has become 
 the protege of Mrs. John A. Logan, widow of the famous General, and 
 is now a member of her family. 
 
 It is suspected that General Weyler connived at the escape of Miss 
 Cisneros, as it is not probable that it could have been accomplished 
 16 
 
300 THE CASE OF EVANGELENA CISNEROS. 
 
 without the knowledge of the prison officials, and as they w r ere not 
 eallecl to account for their negligence, it would seem that they were 
 simply obeying orders in keeping their eyes conveniently closed. 
 
 The Military Judge of Havana issued a proclamation commanding 
 Miss Cisneros to return to prison, but it was evident that this was 
 merely a legal formality. There were men in Cuba, occupying high 
 official positions, who could not afford to have the story of the persecu- 
 tions of which she was a victim, while in voluntary exile with her father 
 in the Isle of Pines, made known, for it would have gained for them 
 the scorn and contempt of the civilized world. Her case had attracted 
 the attention of men and women of prominence, not only in our own 
 country, but in England, France and Germany as well, and it was 
 likely to become an international affair, and Weyler probably decided 
 to escape these complications by allowing her to be "rescued" from her 
 prison cell. 
 
 While all the details of the affair go to prove that this supposition 
 is correct, all concerned have guarded the secret well, and it is but just 
 to state that there is no direct proof to support the theory, and both 
 the man w r ho planned and the one who executed deserved all the honors 
 thev received. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 WORK OF MISS CLARA BARTON AND THE RED CROSS 
 
 The Geneva Conference Miss Barton's Work in the War of the Rebellion 
 Organization of the American Red Cross The Work in Cuba Appeal 
 to the Public A Floating Hospital Correspondence with Admiral 
 Sampson The Spanish Prisoners in Key West, and What the Red 
 Cross Did for Them. 
 
 Many attempts have been made to bring about an international 
 agreement for mitigating the horrors and mortality of battle. The first 
 successful movement ot this kind was started at the same time that the 
 civil war was raging in the United States. A conference of jurists and 
 others interested in humanitarian work was held in Geneva, Switzer- 
 land, in 1863. They drew up an international compact, which was ap- 
 proved by the Swiss government, and the support and sanction of the 
 French empire were won. It was several years, however, before the 
 articles of agreement were signed by all the civilized nations of the 
 w^orld, and, strange to relate, the United States was the last of the great 
 powers to officially recognize the rights to special protection secured 
 to the bearers of the Red Cross symbol. 
 
 In the autumn of 1881 a final effort was made to gain the agreement 
 of the United States to the stipulations of the convention of Geneva, and 
 assurances were given by President Arthur of his willingness to accede. 
 The President and the Senate subsequently formally recognized the 
 association, and the treaty was signed March 16, 1882. Pending this 
 action by the government, a national society was formed and incor- 
 porated under the laws of the District of Columbia, bearing the name 
 of the American Association of the Red Cross. 
 
 By this international treaty the Red Cross society is given peculiar 
 privileges in times of war, and its agents and officers are permitted to 
 carry on their work without hindrance from either of the belligerents, 
 but they are prohibited from having anything, however remote, to do 
 with military or naval operations. They deal exclusively with the 
 means provided to aid the wounded, relieve the suffering, and care for 
 the sick, in all of which the Red Cross agents know neither friend nor 
 
 301 
 
302 MISS CLAEA BARTON AND THE RED CROSS. 
 
 foe. In case of a battle the ambulances, surgeons and nurses of the 
 society go upon the field at soon as it is possible for them to do so and 
 carry out the work of mercy that has been undertaken. 
 
 The American society has been generous in extending its aid to other 
 countries in times of war, and during the Franco-Prussian hostilities in 
 1870-71 it sent to Paris from its own funds $120,000, while the French 
 branch expended $2,500,000. Even the Spanish branch contributed to 
 the humanitarian work of that war in the sum of f 4,000. In the Turko- 
 Russian, the Tunisian, the Tonquin, the Madagascar, the Grseco-Turkish 
 and several other wars the Red Cross has carried on its work of mercy. 
 
 Miss Clara Barton. 
 
 When the war of the Rebellion begun Miss Clara Barton was a clerk 
 in the Patent Office in Washington, She resigned her position to devote 
 herself to the care of wounded soldiers on the field of battle. In 1S64 
 she was appointed by General Butler "lady in charge" of the hospitals 
 at the front of the Army of the James. In 1865 she was sent to Ander- 
 sonville, Georgia, to identify and mark the graves of Union soldiers 
 buried there, and in the same year was placed by President Lincoln in 
 charge of the search for the missing men of the Union army, and while 
 engaged in this work she traced out the fate of 30,000 men. 
 
 In 1873 she inaugurated a movement to secure recognition of the 
 Red Cross society by the United States government, and finally, during 
 the administration of President Arthur, she saw her labors reAvarded. 
 She naturally became President of the American branch of the society, 
 which was founded in 1882, and she still holds that honored office. 
 
 Work in Cuba. 
 
 After Weyler's infamous order of reconcentration went into effect 
 the Red Cross society was not long in realizing that it had work to do 
 among the suffering people of Cuba. An appeal was made to the public, 
 and an expedition was dispatched to the island, with Miss Barton at its 
 head. In speaking of her work during that reign of terror, Senator 
 Proctor said in the course of his address to the Senate: 
 
 "Miss Barton needs no endorsement from me. I have known and 
 esteemed her for many years, but had not half appreciated her capability 
 and her devotion to her work. I especially looked into her business 
 methods, fearing here would be the greatest danger of mistake, that 
 
MISS CLARA BARTOK AttD THE RED CROSS. 303 
 
 there might be want of system, and waste and extravagance, but I found 
 that she could teach me on all those points. I visited the warehouse 
 where the supplies are received and distributed, saw the methods of 
 checking, visited the hospitals established or organized and supplied by 
 her, saw the food distributed in several cities and towns, and everything 
 seems to me to be conducted in the best possible manner." 
 
 When diplomatic relations were broken off between our country and 
 Spain, and the American consuls in Cuba were recalled, it was deemed 
 advisable that the representatives of the Red Cross then in Cuba should 
 come with them. Miss Barton and her assistants returned to New Yorl? 
 and immediately commenced the work of preparation to follow oui 
 army into Cuba. The following appeal was issued: 
 
 The American National Red Cross Relief Corps, acting under the auspices 
 of American National Red Cross, has for its objects the collection of funds for 
 providing medical and surgical attendance, nursing, medical supplies, food, 
 clothing, and such necessary assistance as may be required by the American 
 National Red Cross, upon call of the United States government, in order to 
 unify all endeavors to that end during the present war. 
 
 Under the provisions of the Geneva conference, from which every Na- 
 tional Red Cross society derives its authority, the American National Red 
 Cross is directed to provide such relief as may be required by all, without rec- 
 ognition of friend or foe, who may suffer from the calamities incidental to war, 
 pestilence or famine. 
 
 The Red Cross here, and throughout the civilized world, by a wide and 
 varied experience in recent wars, recognizing by international treaty the 
 sacred obligations of helpfulness for the suffering, wherever found, has so per- 
 fected its organization that it becomes the recognized and legitimate channel 
 for contributions from all classes of individuals, and every variety of auxiliary 
 association. 
 
 For the purpose of properly systemizing the benevolent impulses of the 
 general public, and of giving proper direction of efficient Red Cross work, the 
 committee solicits the co-operation of individuals and auxiliary associations 
 throughout the country, confident that through such means the various funds 
 and articles collected can most safely and most directly reach their ultimate 
 destination. 
 
 The steamer State of Texas was chartered and loaded with food, 
 medicines and hospital supplies, and headquarters were established 
 at Key West. 
 
 When Miss Barton joined the State of Texas at Key West on the 
 
304 MISS CLARA BARTON AND THE RED CROSS*. 
 
 29th of April, there seemed to be no immediate prospect of an invasion 
 of Cuba by the United States army, and, consequently, no prospect of 
 an opportunity to relieve the distress of the starving Cuban people. 
 Knowing that such distress must necessarily have been greatly intensi- 
 fied by the blockade, and anxious to do something to mitigate it or, at 
 least, to show the readiness of the Ked Cross to undertake its mitigation 
 Miss Barton wrote and sent to Admiral Sampson, Commander of the 
 Naval Forces on the North Atlantic Station, the following letter: 
 
 S. S. State of Texas, May 2, 1898. 
 Admiral W. T. Sampson, U. S. N., Commanding Fleet before Havana: 
 
 Admiral But for the introduction kindly proffered by our mutual ac- 
 quaintance Captain Harrington, I should scarcely presume to address you. 
 He will have made known to you the subject which I desire to bring to your 
 gracious consideration. 
 
 Papers forwarded by direction of our government will have shown the 
 charge intrusted to me; viz., to get food to the starving people of Cuba. I have 
 with me a cargo of 1,400 tons, under the flag of the Red Cross, the one inter- 
 national emblem of neutrality and humanity known to civilization. Spain 
 knows and regards it. 
 
 Fourteen months ago the entire Spanish government at Madrid cabled me 
 permission to take and distribute food to the suffering people in Cuba. This 
 official permission was broadly published. If read by our people, no response 
 was made and no action taken until two months ago, when, under the humane 
 and gracious call of our honored President, I did go and distribute food, un- 
 molested anywhere on the island, until arrangements were made by our gov- 
 ernment for all American citizens to leave Cuba. Persons must now be dying 
 there by hundreds, if not thousands, daily, for want of the food we are shutting 
 out. Will not the world hold us accountable? Will history write us blame- 
 less? Will it not be said of us that we completed the scheme of extermination 
 commenced by W T eyler? 
 
 Fortunately, I know the Spanish authorities in Cuba, Captain-General 
 Blanco and his assistants. We parted with perfect friendliness. They do not 
 regard me as an American merely, but as the National representative of an 
 international treaty to which they themselves are signatory and under which 
 they act. I believe they would receive and confer with me if such a thing were 
 made possible. 
 
 I should like to ask Spanish permission and protection to land and dis- 
 tribute food now on the State of Texas. Could I be permitted to ask to see 
 them under a flag of truce? If we make the effort and are refused, the blame 
 rests with them; if we fail to make it, it rests with us. I hold it good states- 
 manship at least to divide the responsibility. I am told that some days must 
 
MISS CLARA BARTON AND THE RED CROSS. 305 
 
 elapse before our troops can be in position to reach and feed these starving 
 people. Our food and our forces are here, ready to commence at once. 
 
 With assurances of highest regard, I am, Admiral, 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 [Signed] CLARA BARTON. 
 
 At the time when the above letter was written, the American 1 Ee<3 
 Cross was acting under the advice and direction of the State and Navy 
 Departments, the War Department having no force in the field. 
 
 Admiral Sampson replied as follows: 
 
 U. S. Flagship New York, First Rate, Key West, Fla., May 2, 1898. 
 Miss Clara Barton, President American National Red Cross: 
 
 1. I have received through the senior naval officer present a copy of a 
 letter from the State Department to the Secretary of the Navy; a copy of a 
 letter from the Secretary of the Navy to the Conimander-in-Chief of the naval 
 force at this station; and also a copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Navy 
 to the commandant of the naval station at Key West. 
 
 2. From these communications it appears that the destination of the S. S. 
 State of Texas, loaded with supplies for the starving reconcentrados in Cuba, 
 is left, in a measure, to my judgment. 
 
 3. At present I am acting under instructions from the Navy Department 
 to blockade the coast of Cuba for the purpose of preventing, among other 
 things, any food supply from reaching the Spanish forces in Cuba. Under 
 these circumstances it seems to me unwise to let a ship-load of such supplies 
 be sent to the reconceutrados, for, in my opinion, they would be distributed 
 to the Spanish army. Until some point be occupied in Cuba by our forces, 
 from which such distribution can be made to those for w T hom the supplies are 
 intended, I am unwilling that they should be landed on Cuban soil. 
 
 Yours very respectfully, 
 [Signed] W. T. SAMPSON, 
 
 Rear-Admiral U. S. N. 
 Commander-in-Chief U. S. Naval Force, North Atlantic Station. 
 
 After this exchange of letters Miss Barton had a conference with 
 Admiral Sampson, in the course of which the latter explained more fully 
 his reasons for declining to allow the State of Texas to enter any Cuban 
 port until such port had been occupied by American troops. 
 
 On the 3d of May Miss Barton sent the following telegram to Stephen 
 E. Barton, Chairman of the Central Cuban Relief Committee, in New 
 York: 
 
306 MISS CLARA BARTON AND THE RED CROSS. 
 
 Key West, May 3, 1898. 
 Stephen E. Barton, Chairman, etc.: 
 
 Herewith I transmit copies of letters passed between Admiral Sampson 
 and myself. I think it important that you should present immediately this cor^ 
 respondence personally to the government, as it will place before them the ex-- 
 act situation here. The utmost cordiality exists between Admiral Sampson and 
 myself. The Admiral feels it his duty, as chief of the blockading squadron, to 
 keep food out of Cuba, but recognizes that, from my standpoint, my duty is to 
 try to get food into Cuba. If I insist, Admiral Sampson will try to open commu- 
 nication under a flag of truce; but his letter expresses his opinion regarding 
 the best method. Advices from the government would enable us to reach a 
 decision. Unless there is objection at Washington, you are at liberty to pub- 
 lish this correspondence if you wish. 
 
 [Signed] CLARA BARTON. 
 
 On May 6 the Chairman of the Central Cuban Relief Committee re- 
 plied as follows: 
 
 Washington, D. C., May G, 1898. 
 Clara Barton, Key West, Fla.: 
 
 Submitted 3 T our message to President and Cabinet, and it was read with 
 moistened eyes. Considered serious and pathetic. Admiral Sampson's views 
 regarded as wisest at present. Hope to land 3*011 soon. President, Long, and 
 Moore send highest regards. 
 
 [Signed] BARTON. 
 
 Under these circumstances, of course, there was nothing- for the Red 
 Cross steamer to do but wait patiently in Key West until the army of 
 invasion should leave Tampa for the Cuban coast. 
 
 Meanwhile, however, Miss Barton had discovered a field of beneficent 
 activity for the Red Cross in Key West, where there were nearly 200 
 Spaniards, mostly fishermen, prisoners on vessels captured while run- 
 ning the blockade, and without means of subsistence. Most of these 
 unfortunate men lived on fish after they were captured and none of 
 them had a chance to obtain other food, as under the law they were 
 not permitted to leave their vessels. The naval officers had no authority 
 to supply the captives with food from the ships in the harbor, so their 
 lot was far from being enviable. 
 
 When Miss Clara Barton received word of their plight she sent Dr. 
 Egan, the chief medical officer of the expedition, with several attend- 
 ants, around among the fleet of prizes to distribute food. On one of 
 the larger smacks Dr. Egan found that the crew bad had nothing but 
 
MISS CLARA BARTON AND THE ttfit) CROSS. 307 
 
 fish to eat for several days. The well in the boat, in which there were 
 hundreds of live fish, contained also a large number of dead ones, which 
 were putrefied and were rapidly polluting the living ones. The physi- 
 cian immediately ordered the dead fish removed and fresh water pumped 
 into the well. He then furnished bread, potatoes and salt meat to the 
 crew, so that the continuity of Friday diet might be changed. 
 
 The Red Cross relief boats made a complete and accurate list of the 
 Spanish prizes in the harbor twenty-two in all with the numerical 
 strength of every crew, the amount of provisions, if any, on every vessel, 
 and the quantity and kind of food that each would require. This was at, 
 once provided, and thus almost the first work done by the Red Cross in 
 our war with Spain was the feeding of representatives of a nation that 
 had forced us into war mainly because of its policy of starvation of the 
 people of Cuba. 
 
 On the morning of June 20, the Red Cross steamer State of Texas 
 left Key West for Santiago, stocked with food and medicines, and having 
 on board Miss Barton, Mr. Kennan, and a complete working force of 
 doctors and nurses. They were warmly welcomed on their arrival on 
 Cuban shores, and the State of Texas was the first American ship to 
 enter the harbor of Santiago after the surrender. 
 
 The Red Cross has done a grand work on many battlefields in every 
 quarter of the globe, but never has it rendered more efficient aid to 
 suffering humanity than it did on the southern shores of the island of 
 Cuba. On the battlefield, braving the bullets of the foe, in the hos- 
 pitals, ministering to the wants of 'the wounded and the dying, among 
 the wretched non-combatants, giving food to the starving, and nursing 
 the fever-stricken refugees, these noble men and women w r ere ever 
 ready to answer to the cry of the needy and the helpless. 
 
CHAPTER XXX IV. 
 THE CATASTROPHE TO THE MAINE. 
 
 The Board of Inquiry in Session Its Report Received by Congress Spanish 
 Officials in Cuba Show Sympathy The Evidence of the Divers A Sub- 
 marine Mine The Officers and Men of the Maine Exonerated Respon- 
 sibility Not Fixed. 
 
 The story of the destruction of the battleship Maine has already 
 been told in these pages. The Naval Board appointed to inquire into 
 the causes of the disaster was composed of the following officers of the 
 United States Navy: Captain Sampson, of the Iowa; Captain Chad- 
 wick, of the New York; Captain Marix, of the Vermont, and Lieutenant 
 Commander Potter, of the New York. 
 
 After an investigation which lasted for more than three weeks, this 
 Board of Inquiry sent its report to President McKinley, who transmit- 
 ted it to Congress, accompanied by the following message: 
 
 To the Congress of the United States: 
 
 For some time prior to the visit of the Maine to Havana harbor our con- 
 sular representatives pointed out the advantages to flow from the visits of 
 national ships to the Cuban waters, in accustoming the people to the presence 
 of our flag as the symbol of good will and of our ships in the fulfillment of the 
 mission of protection to American interests, even though no immediate need 
 therefor might exist. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 24th of January last, after conference with the Span- 
 ish Minister, in which the renewal of visits of our war vessels to Spanish 
 waters was discussed and accepted, the peninsular authorities at Madrid and 
 Havana were advised of the purpose of this Government to resume friendly 
 naval visits at Cuban ports, and in that view the Maine would forthwith call 
 at the port of Havana. This announcement was received by the Spanish Gov- 
 ernment with appreciation of the friendly character of ihe visit of the Maine, 
 and with notification of intention to return the courtesy by sending Spanish 
 ships to the principal ports of the United States. Meanwhile the Maine en- 
 tered the port of Havana on the 25th of January, her arrival being marked 
 with no special incident besides the exchange of customary salutes and cer- 
 emonial visits. 
 
 The Maine continued in the harbor of Havana during the three weeks 
 
 308 
 
THE CATASTROPHE TO THE MAINE. 
 
 following her arrival. No appreciable excitement attended her stay; on the 
 contrary, a feeling of relief and confidence followed the resumption of the 
 long interrupted friendly intercourse. So noticeable was this immediate 
 effect of her visit that the Consul-General strongly urged that the presence 
 of our ships in Cuban waters should be kept up by retaining the Maine at 
 Havana, or, in the event of her recall, by sending another vessel there to take 
 ;her place. 
 
 At forty minutes past nine in the evening of the 15th of February the 
 Maine was destroyed by an explosion, by which the entire forward part of the 
 :ship was utterly wrecked. In this catastrophe two officers and two hundred 
 and sixty-four of her crew perished, those who were not killed outright by her 
 explosion being penned between decks by the tangle of wreckage and 
 drow*ncd by the immediate sinking of the hull. 
 
 Prompt assistance was rendered by the neighboring vessels anchored in 
 the harbor, aid being especially given by the boats of the Spanish cruiser Al- 
 phonse XII., and the Ward Line steamer City of Washington, which lay not 
 far distant. The wounded were generously cared for by the authorities of 
 Havana, the hospitals being freely opened to them, while the earliest recov- 
 ered bodies of the dead were interred by the municipality in the public ceme- 
 tery in the city. Tributes of grief and sympathy were offered from all official 
 quarters of the island. 
 
 The appalling calamity fell upon the people of our country with crushing 
 force and for a brief time an intense excitement prevailed, which in a commu- 
 nity less just and self-controlled than ours might have led to hasty acts of 
 blind resentment. This spirit, however, soon gave way to the calmer processes 
 of reason and to the resolve to investigate the facts and await material proof 
 before forming a judgment as to the cause, the responsibility, and, if the facts 
 warranted, the remedy. This course necessarily recommended itself from the 
 outset to the Executive, for only in the light of a dispassionately ascertained 
 certainty could it determine the nature and measure of its full duty in the 
 matter. 
 
 The usual procedure was followed, as in all cases of casualty or disaster 
 to national vessels of any maritime state. A Naval Court of Inquiry was at 
 once organized, composed of officers well qualified by rank and practical ex- 
 perience to discharge the duties imposed upon them. Aided by a strong force 
 of wreckers and divers, the court proceeded to make a thorough investigation 
 on the spot, employing every available means for the impartial and exact de- 
 termination of the causes of the explosion. Its operations have been con- 
 ducted with the utmost deliberation and judgment, and while independently 
 pursued, no source of information was neglected and the fullest opportunity 
 was allowed for a simultaneous investigation by the Spanish authorities. 
 
310 TfiE CATASTROPHE TO THE MAINE. 
 
 Report of the Board Received. 
 
 The finding of the Court of Inquiry was reached after twenty-three days 
 of continuous labor, on the 21st of March, and having been approved on the 
 22d by the commander-in-chief of the United States naval forces of the North 
 Atlantic station, was transmitted to the Executive. 
 
 It is herewith laid before Congress, together with the voluminous testi- 
 mony taken before the court. Its purport is in brief as follows: 
 
 When the Maine arrived at Havana she was conducted by the regular 
 government pilot to Buoy No. 5, to which she was moored in from five and 
 one-half to six fathoms of water. The state of discipline on board and the 
 condition of her magazines, boilers, coal bunkers and storage compartments 
 are passed in review, with the conclusion that excellent order prevailed and! 
 that no indication of any cause for an internal explosion existed in any 
 quarter. 
 
 At eight o'clock in the evening of February 15th everything had been re- 
 ported secure and all was quiet. At forty minutes past nine o'clock the vessel 
 was suddenly destroyed. There were two distinct explosions with a brief in- 
 terval between them. The first lifted the forward part of the ship very per- 
 ceptibly; the second, which was more open, prolonged and of greater volume, 
 is attributed by the court to the partial explosion of two or more of the for- 
 ward magazines. 
 
 The evidence of the divers establishes that the after part of the ship was 
 practically intact and sank in that condition a very few minutes after the ex- 
 plosion. The forward part was completely demolished. Upon the evidence 
 of a concurrent external cause the finding of the court is as follows: 
 
 At frame seventeen the outer shell of the ship, from a point eleven and 
 one-half feet from the middle line of the ship, and six feet above the keel, when 
 in its normal position, has been forced up so as to be now about four feet 
 above the surface of the water; therefore about thirty-four feet above where 
 it would be had the ship sunk uninjured. 
 
 The outside bottom plating is bent into a reversed V-shape, the after wing 
 of which, about fifteen feet broad and thirty-two feet in length (frame 17 to 
 frame 25), is doubled back upon itself against the continuation of the same 
 place extending forward. At frame 18 the vertical keel is broken in two and 
 the flat keel bent into an angle similar to the angle formed by the outside bot- 
 tom plate. This break is now about six feet below the surface of the water and 
 about thirty feet above its normal position. 
 
 A Submarine Mine. 
 
 In the opinion of the court this effect could have been produced only by 
 the explosion of a mine situated under the bottom of the ship, at about frame 
 18 and somewhat on the port side of the ship. 
 
THE CATASTROPHE TO THE MAINE. 311 
 
 The conclusions of the court are: That the loss of the Maine was not 
 in any respect due to fault or negligence on the part of any of the officers or 
 members of her crew; 
 
 That the ship was destroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine, which 
 caused the partial explosion of two or more of her forward magazines; and 
 
 That no evidence has been obtainable fixing the responsibility for the de- 
 struction of the Maine upon any person or persons. 
 
 I have directed that the finding of the Court of Inquiry and the views 
 of this Government thereon be communicated to the Government of Her 
 Majesty, the Queen Kegent, and I do not permit myself to doubt that the sense 
 of justice of the Spanish nation will dictate a course of action suggested by 
 honor and the friendly relations of the two governments. 
 
 It will be the duty of the Executive to advise the Congress of the result, 
 and in the meantime deliberate consideration is invoked. 
 
 (Signed,) WILLIAM McKINLEY. 
 
 Executive Mansion, March 28, 1898. 
 
 Report of the Investigating Board. 
 
 The text of the report of the Board of Investigation was as follows : 
 
 U. S. S. Iowa, first rate, Key West, Florida, Monday, March 21, 1898. 
 After full and mature consideration of all the testimony before it, the 
 court finds as follows: 
 
 1. That the United States battleship Maine arrived in the harbor of Ha- 
 vana, Cuba, on the twenty-fifth day o:f January, Eighteen Hundred and Ninety- 
 eight, and was taken to Buoy No. 4, iu from five and a half to six fathoms of 
 water, by the regular Government pMot. The United States Consul-General 
 at Havana had notified the author] ties at that place the previous evening of 
 the intended arrival of the Maine. 
 
 2. The state of 'discipline on board the Maine was excellent, and all 
 orders and regulations in regard to 1 the care and safety of the ship were strict- 
 ly carried out. All ammunition wa g stowed in accordance with prescribed in- 
 structions, and proper care was t aken whenever ammunition wa handled. 
 Nothing was stowed in any one o f the : magazines or shell rooms which was 
 not permitted to be stowed there. 
 
 The magazine and shell rooms were always locked after having been 
 opened, and after the destruction of tiie Maine the keys were found in their 
 proper place in the Captain's cabin, every thing having been reported secure 
 that evening at eight P. M. The t> *joap-eratures of the magazines and shell 
 room were taken daily and reported. . 'Tfoe only magazine which had an undue 
 amount of heat was the after 10-in 1)4. maigazine, and that did not explode at 
 the time the Maine was destroyed. 
 
312 THE CATASTROPHE TO THE MAINE. 
 
 The torpedo warheads were all stowed in the after part of the ship under" 
 the ward room, and neither caused nor participated in the destruction of the- 
 Maine. The dry gun cotton primers and detonators were stowed in the cabin: 
 aft, and remote from the scene of the explosion. 
 
 Waste was carefully looked after on board the Maine to obviate danger. 
 Special orders in regard to this had been given by the commanding officer. 
 Varnishes, dryers, alcohol and other combustibles of this nature were stowed 
 on or above the main deck and could not have had anything to do with the 
 destruction of the Maine. The medical stores were stored aft under the ward 
 room and remote from the scene of the explosion. No dangerous stores of any 
 kind were stowed below in any of the other store rooms. 
 
 The coal bunkers were inspected daily. Of those bunkers adjacent to the 
 forward magazines and shell rooms four were empty, namely, "B3, B4, B5 and 
 B6." "A5" had been in use that day and "A16"' was full of new river coal. 
 This coal had been carefully inspected before receiving it on board. The bun- 
 ker in w r hich it was stowed was accessible on three sides at all times, and the 
 fourth side at this time, on account of bunkers "B4" and "B6" being empty. 
 This bunker, "A16, v had been inspected Monday by the engineer officer on 
 duty. 
 
 The fire alarms in the bunkers were in working order, and there had never 
 been a case of spontaneous combustion of coal on board the Maine. The two- 
 after boilers of the ship were in use at the time of the disaster, but for auxil- 
 iary purposes only, with a comparatively low pressure of steam and being 
 tended by a reliable watch. These boilers could not have caused the explo- 
 sion of the ship. The four forward boilers have since been found by the divers 
 and are in a fair condition. 
 
 On the night of the destruction of the Maine everything had been reported 
 secure for the night at eight P. M. by reliable persons, through the proper 
 authorities, to the commanding officer. At the time the Maine was destroyed 
 the ship was quiet, and, therefore, least liable to accident caused by move- 
 ments from those on board. 
 
 3. The destruction of the Maine occurred at 9 :40 P . M. on the 15th day of 
 February, 1898, in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, she being at the time moored 
 to the same buoy to which she had been taken upon her arrival. 
 
 There were two explosions of a distinctly different character, with a very 
 short but distinct interval between them, and the forward part of the ship 
 was lifted to a marked degree at the time o i the first explosion. 
 
 The first explosion was more in the nat ure of a report, like that of a gun, 
 while the second explosion was more open, prolonged and of greater volume. 
 This second explosion was, in the opinion ctf the court, caused by the partial 
 explosion of two or more of the forward mugazines of the Maine. 
 
 The evidence bearing upon this, being principally obtained from divers, 
 did not enable the court to form a definite <<u<;lusion a to the condition of 
 
THE CATASTROPHE TO THE MAINE. 313 
 
 the wreck, although it was established that the after part of the ship was 
 practically intact and sank in that condition a very few minutes after the de- 
 struction of the forward part. 
 
 4. The following facts in regard to the forward part of the ship are, how- 
 ever, established by the testimony: That portion of the port side of the pro- 
 tective deck which extends from about frame 30 to about frame 41 was blown 
 up aft, and over to port, the main deck from about frame 30 to about frame 
 41 was blown up aft, and slightly over to starboard, folding the forward part 
 0^ the middle superstructure over and on top of the after part. 
 
 This was, in the opinion of the court, caused by the partial explosion of 
 two or more of the forward magazines of the Maine. 
 
 5. At frame 17 the outer shell of the ship, from a point eleven and one- 
 half feet from the middle line of the ship and six feet above the keel when in 
 its normal position, has been forced up so as to be now about four feet above 
 the surface of the water, therefore, about thirty-four feet above where it 
 would be had the ship sunk uninjured. The outside bottom plating is bent 
 into a reversed V-shape, the after wing of which, about fifteen feet broad and 
 thirty-two feet in length (from frame 17 to frame 25) is doubled back upon it- 
 self against the continuation of the same plating extending forward. 
 
 At frame 18 the vertical keel is broken in two and the flat keel bent into 1 
 an angle similar to the angle formed by the outside bottom plating. This; 
 break is now about six feet below the surface of the water and about thirty 
 feet above its normal position. 
 
 The Officers of the Maine Exonerated. 
 
 In the opinion of the court this effect could have been produced only by 
 the explosion of a mine situated under the bottom of the ship at about frame 
 18, and somewhat on the port side of the ship. 
 
 6. The court finds that the loss of the Maine on the occasion named was 
 not in any respect due to fault or negligence on the part of the officers or men 
 of the crew of said vessel. 
 
 7. In the opinion of the court the Maine was destroyed by the explosion 
 of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two of her for- 
 ward magazines. 
 
 8. The court has been unable to obtain evidence fixing the responsibility 
 for the destruction of the Maine upon any person or persons. 
 
 W. T. SAMPSON, 
 Captain U. S. N., President. 
 
 A. MARIX, 
 Lieutenant-Commander U. S. N., Judge Advocate. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 PATIENCE AT THE VANISHING POINT. 
 
 Our Former Troubles with Spain Eecalled The Verdict of the People 
 Spanish Rule a Blot on Civilization The Attitude of Other Nations 
 The Necessity for Delay The Message to Congress "The War in Cuba 
 Must Stop!" 
 
 The American people did not wait for the report of the Naval Board 
 to form an opinion as to the cause of the tragedy. The masses think 
 in events, and not in syllogisms, and this was an event. This event 
 provoked suspicions in the public mind. The thought of the whole 
 nation was instantly directed to Cuba. The fate of the sailors on the 
 Virginius, twenty-five years ago, was recalled. The public curiosity 
 about everything Cuban and Spanish became intense. The Weyler 
 method of warfare became more generally known. The story of our 
 long diplomatic trouble with Spain was recalled. Diplomacy was 
 obliged to proceed with doors less securely shut. The country watched 
 for news from Washington and from Madrid with eagerness. It hap- 
 pened to be a singularly quiet and even dull time in our own political 
 life a time favorable for the concentration of public attention on any 
 subject that prominently presented itself. 
 
 Leslie's Weekly voiced the popular sentiment in its issue of April 
 14 in the following language: 
 
 "If the report of the board of inquiry is accepted as final, then the 
 destruction of the Maine was an act of war. The Maine was in a Span- 
 ish harbor on a peaceful errand. Its location was fixed by the Spanish 
 authorities, and if a mine was planted in the harbor, it could only have 
 been planted by the Spaniards. To think otherwise is to discredit the 
 official report The verdict may be challenged by the Spanish govern- 
 ment. Spain may insist on the raising of the wreck and upon an expert 
 examination. If such an examination is made, and if the weight of 
 evidence controverts the verdict, our position will be humiliating. We 
 take it, therefore, that our government is entirely satisfied with the 
 examination, and that it accepts the verdict of the court of inquiry as 
 final and without appeal. This verdict makes Spain responsible for the 
 
 314 
 
I 
 
 u 
 
 Q 
 tu 
 f- 
 U 
 W 
 H 
 O 
 
PATIENCE AT THE VANISHING POINT. 317 
 
 loss of the Maine, the sacrifice of the lives of 266 heroes, and for all the 
 consequences involved. The indictment must be answered. Any other 
 nation than this would have demanded an immediate answer. We can 
 wait. On the answer made by Spain the issues of the future must de- 
 pend. No policy of evasion such as Spain has pursued in all her dealings 
 with us will enable her to escape. She is at the bar of judgment with 
 bloody fingers, and must plead guilty. No other plea can be accepted. 
 And the punishment must fit the crime." 
 
 Causes Leading to Strife. 
 
 The better the condition of Cuba was understood, the more de- 
 plorable it was seen to be; the more the government of the island w r as 
 examined, the wider seemed the divergence between Spain's methods 
 and our own ; the more the diplomatic history of the case was considered, 
 the plainer became Spain's purpose to brook no interference, whether 
 in the name of humanity or in the name of friendly commercial interests. 
 The calm report of the naval court of inquiry on the blowing up of the 
 Maine and Senator Proctor's report on the condition of Cuba put the 
 whole people in a serious mood. 
 
 These and more made their contributions to the rapidly rising excite- 
 ment. But all these together could not have driven us to war if we had 
 not been willing to be driven if the conviction had not become firm in 
 the minds of the people that Spanish rule in Cuba was a blot on 
 civilization that had now begun to bring reproach to us; and when the 
 President, who favored peace, declared it intolerable, the people were 
 ready to accept his judgment. 
 
 Congress, it is true, in quiet times, is likely to represent the shallows 
 and the passing excitement of our life rather than its deeper moods, 
 but there is among the members of Congress a considerable body of 
 conservative men; and the demand for war was practically unanimous, 
 and public opinion sustained it. Among the people during the period 
 when war seemed inevitable, but had not yet been declared a period 
 during which the powers of Europe found time and mind to express 
 a hope for peace hardly a peace meeting was held by influential men. 
 The President and his Cabinet were known to wish longer to try diplo- 
 matic means of averting war, but no organized peace party came into 
 existence. Except expressions of the hope of peace made by commercial 
 and ecclesiastical organizations, no protest was heard against the ap- 
 proaching action of Congress. Many thought that war could be post- 
 17 
 
318 PATIENCE AT THE VANISHING POINT. 
 
 poned, if not prevented, but the popular mood was at least acquiescent, 
 if not insistent, and it eventually became unmistakably approving. 
 
 Not only was there in the United States an unmistakable popular 
 approval of war as the only effective means of restoring civilization in 
 Cuba, but the judgment of the English people promptly approved it- 
 giving evidence of an instinctive -race and institutional sympathy. If 
 Anglo-Saxon institutions and methods stand for anything, the institu- 
 tions and methods of Spanish rule in Cuba were an abomination and a 
 reproach. And English sympathy was not more significant as an evi- 
 dence of the necessity of the war, and as a good omen for the future of 
 free institutions, than the equally instinctive sympathy with Spain that 
 was expressed by some of the decadent influences on the continent; in- 
 deed, the real meaning of the American civilization and ideals will 
 henceforth be somewhat more clearly understood in several quarters of 
 the world. 
 
 American character will be still better understood when the whole 
 world clearly perceives that the purpose of the war was only to remove 
 from our very doors this cruel and inefficient piece of mediaevalisin which 
 was one of the great scandals of the closing years of the century. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that we were on the very verge of war, with 
 all its horrors, all its possibilities of destruction to life and happiness, 
 the nation pursued its accustomed way, transacted its business by day, 
 and slept peacefully at night. Upon the shoulders of the Chief Execu- 
 tive rested the gravest of all responsibilities, and the nation trusted to 
 him to carry it safely. Hash and impetuous demands for hasty and 
 hostile action were heard. Congressmen, under the pressure of their 
 constituents, filled the air with cries for speedy action, but amid nil the 
 tumult the President stood serene. He realized, what the country, 
 strangely enough, had not comprehended, that we were drifting into a 
 conflict with a nation that, was on a war footing. He knew that we 
 were totally unprepared for war. Munitions, ships, stores, supplies, of 
 vast amount and infinite variety, were absolutely required before a 
 step could be taken. Harbor defenses, a closer connection between ex- 
 posed points, and the installation of modern armaments a thousand 
 things had to be done, and done at once. Modern guns required supplies 
 of modern ammunition, of which there was scarcely any to be obtained 
 on this side of the water. This was the situation, as the President, the 
 heads of the army and the navy, and the Cabinet saw it, and it was left 
 discreetly undisclosed to the world. 
 
PATIENCE AT THE VANISHING POINT. 319 
 
 They understood the necessity of delay as well as the necessity for 
 statesmanship of the highest quality in dealing with the Cuban question. 
 We lost nothing by their delay. We gained untold advantages by their 
 prudence, a prudence that never forsook them, even when the prepara- 
 tions for war were completed. The message to Congress was a calm, 
 dispassionate, judicial presentation of the case, and upon that presenta- 
 tion of facts and of evidence we went before the jury of the nations of the 
 world. There could be but one verdict rendered that the American 
 people could accept, and that verdict, whether it came by peace or-war, 
 was, in the language of the President's message, that "the war in Cuba 
 must stop!" 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 EVENTS IN THE AMERICAN CONGRESS. 
 
 Cuba's Friends in Congress Senator Proctor's Address to His Colleagues 
 A Notable Exhibition of Patriotism An Appropriation for the Na- 
 tional Defense Relief for the Survivors and Victims of the Maine 
 The Recognition of Cuban Independence. 
 
 From the date of the first attempt of the people of Cuba to secure 
 their independence from Spain, they have had advocates in the Ameri- 
 can Congress who have worked with voice and vote in their behalf. 
 After the commencement of the revolution in 1895 these champions 
 gradually increased in numbers and influence, until at the time of Mr. 
 McKinley's inauguration they included in their ranks many of the lead- 
 ers in both houses. 
 
 In February, 1898, several Senators and Representatives went to 
 Cuba for the purpose of studying the conditions on the island, and to 
 gain a personal knowledge of the results of Spain's policy of rule or ruin. 
 
 Senator Proctor was one of this committee, and after their return to 
 the United States, in a speech to his colleagues, he made the strongest 
 argument in favor of intervention in behalf of Cuba that was ever made 
 in the Senate of the United States. He had carefully prepared his 
 address, and he delivered it as an official report of what he had observed 
 on the island. He gave no opinion of w r hat action should be taken by the 
 government. He said the settlement "may well be left to an American 
 President and the American people." But while he did not make a 
 recommendation in so many* words, he left the impression with all who 
 heard him that he favored a declaration by our government of the in- 
 dependence of Cuba. He declared that he was opposed to annexation, 
 and, while many Cubans advocated the establishment of a protectorate 
 by the United States, he could not make up his mind that this would be 
 the best way out of the difficulty. He told his associates that he believed 
 the Cubans capable of governing themselves, and reinforced this state- 
 ment by the assertion that the Cuban population would never be sat- 
 isfied with any government under Spanish rule. The senator's remark- 
 able speech undoubtedly had a powerful effect, both in influencing con- 
 
EVENTS IN THE AMERICAN CONGRESS. 321 
 
 gressional action, and in swaying public opinion. As an able and re- 
 sponsible member of Congress and an ex-secretary of war, his words 
 would carry weight under any circumstances, but apart from these con- 
 siderations, the speech was notable because of its evident fidelity to 
 facts, and its restraint from everything resembling sensationalism. 
 
 A Notable Exhibition of Patriotism. 
 
 There was never a more notable exhibiton of harmony and patriotism 
 in any legislative body in the world than occurred in the House of Rep- 
 resentatives when Congressman Cannon presented a bill appropriating 
 150,000,000 for the national defense and placing this amount in Presi- 
 dent McKinley's hands, to be expended at his discretion. 
 
 Party lines were swept away, and with a unanimous voice Congress 
 voted its confidence in the administration. Many members who were 
 paired with absent colleagues took the responsibility of breaking their 
 pairs, an unprecedented thing in legislative annals, in order that they 
 might go on record in support of this vast appropriation to maintain 
 the dignity and honor of their country. Speaker Reed, who as the pre- 
 siding officer, seldom voted, except in case of a tie, had his name called 
 and voted in his capacity as representative. The scene of enthusiasm 
 which greeted the announcement of the vote yeas, 311; nays, none has 
 seldom been paralleled in the House. The bill passed the Senate with- 
 out a dissenting vote, and, on March 9, the President signed the measure, 
 thus making it a law. 
 
 Relief for the Survivors of the Maine. 
 
 On March 21, the House unanimously passed the bill for the relief 
 of the survivors and victims of the Maine disaster. The bill reimbursed 
 the surviving officers and men for the losses they sustained to an amount 
 not to exceed a year's sea pay, and directed the payment of a sum equal 
 to a year's pay to the legal heirs of those who perished. 
 
 When the President sent to Congress the report of the Naval Board 
 of Examiners the feeling of that body at once found open expression in 
 resolutions proposing a declaration of war, recognition of the indepen- 
 dence of Cuba, armed intervention, and other decisive and warlike steps 
 against Spain. Every group of senators talked of Cuba. Constant and 
 continual conferences were held, and all recognized the seriousness of 
 the occasion. On the House side it was apparent that the majority 
 
M* EVENTS IN THE AMERICAN CONGRESS. 
 
 could no longer be controlled by what was known as the conservative 
 element, led by the speaker. Groups of members in a state of excitement 
 were to be seen on every hand. It was generally acknowledged that a 
 serious condition had arisen, that a crisis was at hand. 
 
 On April 11 the long expected message was received. In it the 
 President asked Congress to authorize him to take measures to secure 
 a termination of hostilities in Cuba, and to secure in the island the es- 
 tablishment of a stable form of government, and to use the; military and 
 naval forces of the United States as might be necessary. The message 
 was received in silence. The most notable criticism made was the entire 
 absence of any reference to Cuban independence. The admission in the 
 message that the President had proposed an armistice to Spain until 
 October provoked vigorous comment. Bat conservative members were 
 highly pleased with the position taken by the President, and many still 
 hoped that war might be prevented. 
 
 However, this did not prevent the purchase of a number of armed 
 cruisers from foreign powers, which were transferred to the United 
 States flag. The ships of several passenger and mail lines were also 
 purchased, or leased as auxiliary cruisers, and were at once remanned 
 and put in commission. The most notable examples were the two Amer- 
 ican built ships, St. Paul and St. Louis of the American line. The new 
 purchases were fitted for their new uses at once, and the preparations 
 for war went on without delay. 
 
 Congress, taking its cue from the President, united upon the follow- 
 ing resolutions, which were signed by the President on April 20: 
 
 Joint resolutions for the recognition of the independence of the people of 
 Cuba demanding that the government of Spain relinquish its authority and 
 government in the island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval forces 
 from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the United States 
 to use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolutions 
 into effect. 
 
 Whereas, The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than 
 three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the 
 moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Chris- 
 tian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United 
 States battleship, with 260 of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit 
 in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured, as has been set forth 
 by the President of the United States in his message to Congress of April 11. 
 1898, upon which the action of Congress was invited; therefore, be it resolved: 
 
EVENTS IK THE AMERICAN CONGRESS. 323 
 
 First That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, 
 free and independent. 
 
 Second That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the gov- 
 ernment of the United States does hereby demand, that the government of 
 Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of Cuba 
 and Cuban waters. 
 
 Third That the President of the United States be, and hereby is, directed 
 and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United States, 
 and to call into the actual service of the United States the militia of the sev- 
 eral States to such an extent as may be necessary to carry these resolutions 
 into effect. 
 
 Fourth That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or in- 
 tention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over said island, except 
 for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination when that is accom- 
 plished to leave the government and control of the island to its people. 
 
 The Spanish government was deluded by the belief that in the event 
 of war our country would not be able to present a united front, and 
 tha.t sectional animosities would w r eaken our strength. The action of 
 Congress from the time of the first rumors of war to the end of the 
 session showed how little ground there was for this belief. The repre- 
 sentatives of the people from all sections of our broad land gave Presi- 
 dent McKinley loyal support in every undertaking, and the South 
 vied with the North, the East with the West, in expressions of devotion 
 to our nation and our flag. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 PRESIDENT McKINLEY ACTS. 
 
 The Message to Congress Loss of American Trade Terrible Increase in the 
 Death Rate American Aid for the Starving The President's Proposi- 
 tion to Spain Grounds for Intervention The Destruction of the 
 Maine The Addenda. 
 
 With the press and public of the entire country at a fever heat of 
 indignation, and the evident determination on the part of a large ma- 
 jority of the members of the Congress of the United States to bring mat- 
 ters to a crisis, it was evident to all that the time for action had arrived. 
 
 The President yielded to the popular demand, and on April 11 he 
 sent to Congress the following message: 
 
 To the Congress of the United States: 
 
 Obedient to that precept of the Constitution which commands the Presi- 
 dent to give from time to time to the Congress information of the state of the 
 Union, and to recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall 
 judge necessary and expedient, it becomes my duty now to address your body 
 with regard to the grave crisis that has arisen in the relations of the United 
 States to Spain by reason of the warfare that for more than three years has 
 raged in the neighboring island of Cuba. I do so because of the intimate con- 
 nection of the Cuban question with the state of our own Union, and the grave 
 relation the course of which it is now incumbent upon the nation to adopt, 
 must needs bear to the traditional policy of our Government if it is to accord 
 with the precepts laid down by the founders of the Republic and religiously 
 observed by succeeding administrations to the present day. 
 
 The present revolution is but the successor of other similar insurrections 
 which have occurred in Cuba against the dominion of Spain, extending over 
 a period of nearly half a century, each of which during its progress has sub- 
 jected the United States to great effort and expense in enforcing its neutrality 
 laws, caused enormous losses to American trade and commerce, caused irri- 
 tation, annoyance and disturbance among our citizens, and by the exercise of 
 croel, barbarous and uncivilized practices of warfare, shocked the sensibili- 
 ties and offended the humane sympathies of our people. 
 
 Since the present revolution began, in February, 1895, this country has 
 seen the fertile domain at our threshold ravaged by fire and sword in the 
 
 32 4, 
 
PRESIDENT McKINLEY ACTS. 325 
 
 course of a struggle unequaled in the history of the island, and rarely par- 
 alleled as to the number of the combatants and the bitterness of the contest 
 by any revolution of modern times, where a dependent people striving to be 
 free have been oppressed by the power of the sovereign State. Our people have 
 beheld a once prosperous community reduced to comparative want, its lucra- 
 tive commerce virtually paralyzed, its exceptional productiveness diminished, 
 its fields laid waste, its mills in ruins, and its people perishing by tens of thou- 
 sands from hunger and destitution. We have found ourselves constrained 
 in the observance of that strict neutrality which our laws enjoin, and which 
 the law of nations commands, to police our waters and watch our own sea- 
 ports in prevention of any unlawful act in aid of the Cubans. 
 
 Loss of American Trade. 
 
 Our trade has suffered, the capital invested by our citizens in Cuba has 
 been largely lost, and the temper and forbearance of our people have been so 
 seriously tried as to beget a perilous unrest among our 'own citizens, which 
 has inevitably found its expression from time to time in the National Legis- 
 lature, so that issues wholly external to our own body politic stand in the 
 way of that close devotion to domestic advancement that becomes a self-con- 
 tained commonwealth, whose primal maxim has been the avoidance of all 
 foreign entanglements. All this must needs awaken, and has indeed aroused, 
 the utmost concern on the part of this government, as well during my prede- 
 cessor's term as in my own. 
 
 In April, 1896, the evils from which our country suffered through the 
 Cuban war became so onerous that my predecessor made an effort to bring 
 about a peace through the mediation of this government in any way that 
 might tend to an honorable adjustment of the contest between Spain and her 
 revolted colony, on the basis of some effective scheme of self-government for 
 Cuba under the flag and sovereignty of Spain. It failed, through the refusal 
 of the Spanish Government then in power to consider any form of mediation, 
 or, indeed, any plan of settlement which did not begin with the actual sub- 
 misision of the insurgents to the mother country, and then only on such terms 
 as Spain herself might see fit to grant. The war continued unabated. The 
 resistance of the insurgents was in no wise diminished. 
 
 The efforts of Spain were increased, both by the despatch of fresh levies 
 to Cuba and by the addition to the horrors of the strife of a new and inhuman 
 phase, happily unprecedented in the modern history of civilized Christian 
 peoples. The policy of devastation and concentration by the Captain-Gen- 
 eral's bando of October, 1896, in the province of Pinar'del Kio was thence ex* 
 tended to embrace all of the island to which the power of the Spanish arms 
 was able to reach by occupation or by military operations. The peasantry; 
 including all dwelling in the open agricultural interior, were driven into the 
 
PRESIDENT MCKINLEY ACTS. 
 
 garrison towns or isolated places held by the troops. The raising and moving 
 of provisions of all kinds were interdicted. The fields were laid waste, dwell- 
 ings unroofed and fired, mills destroyed, and, in short, everything that could 
 desolate the land and render it unfit for human habitation or support was 
 commanded by one or the other of the contending parties and executed by all 
 the powers at their disposal. 
 
 By the time the present administration took office a year ago, reconcen- 
 tration so-called had been made effective over the better part of the four 
 central and western provinces, Santa Clara, Matanzas, Havana and Piiiar del 
 Rio. The agricultural population, to the estimated number of 300,000, or 
 more, was herded within the towns and their immediate vicinage, deprived of 
 the means of support, rendered destitute of shelter, left poorly clad, and ex- 
 posed to the most unsanitary conditions. As the scarcity of food increased 
 with the devastation of the depopulated areas of production, destitution and 
 want became misery and starvation. 
 
 Terrible Increase in the Death Rate. 
 
 Month by month the death rate increased in an alarming ratio. By March, 
 1897, according to conservative estimate from official Spanish sources, the 
 mortality among the reconcentrados, from starvation and the diseases thereto 
 incident, exceeded 50 per centum of their total number. No practical relief 
 was accorded to the destitute. The overburdened towns, already suffering 
 from the general dearth, could give no aid. 
 
 In this state of affairs my administration found itself confronted with 
 the grave problem of its duty. My message of last December reviewed the 
 situation, and narrated the steps taken with a view to relieving its acuteness 
 and opening the way to some form of honorable settlement. The assassina- 
 tion of the Prime Minister, Canovas, led to a change of government in Spain. 
 The former administration, pledged to subjugation without concession, gave 
 place to that of a more liberal party, committed long in advance to a policy of 
 reform involving the wider principle of home rule for Cuba and Puerto Rico. 
 
 The overtures of this government made through its new Envoy, General 
 Woodford, and looking to an immediate and effective amelioration of the con- 
 dition of the island, although not accepted to the extent of admitted media- 
 tion in any shape, were met by assurances that home rule, in an advanced 
 phase, would be forthwith offered to Cuba, without waiting for the war to end, 
 and that more humane methods should henceforth prevail in the conduct of 
 hostilities. 
 
 American Aid for the Starving. 
 
 While these negotiations were in progress, the increasing destitution of 
 the unfortunate reconcentrados and the alarming mortality among them 
 
PRESIDENT McKlNLEY ACTS. 
 
 claimed earnest attention. The success which had attended the limited meas- 
 ure of relief extended to the suffering American citizens among them by the 
 judicious expenditure through the Consular agencies of the money appro- 
 priated expressly for their succor by the joint resolution approved May 24, 
 1897, prompted the humane extension of a similar scheme of aid to the great 
 body of sufferers. A suggestion to this end was acquiesced in by the Spanish 
 authorities. On the 24th of December last I caused to be issued an appeal to 
 the American people inviting contributions in money or in kind for the suc- 
 cor of the starving sufferers in Cuba, followed this on the 8th of January by 
 a similar public announcement of the formation of a Central Cuban Relief 
 Committee, with headquarters in New York city, composed of three members 
 representing the National Red Cross and the religious and business elements 
 of the community. 
 
 Coincidentally with these declarations, the new Government of Spain con- 
 tinued to complete the policy already begun by its predecessor of testifying 
 friendly regard for this nation by releasing American citizens held under one 
 charge or another connected with the insurrection, so that, by the end of No- 
 vember, not a single person entitled in any way to our national protection 
 remained in a Spanish prison. 
 
 The war in Cuba is of such a nature that short of subjugation or extermi- 
 nation a final military victory for either side seems impracticable. The alter- 
 native lies in the physical exhaustion of the one or the other party, or perhaps 
 of both a condition which in effect ended the Ten Years' War by the truce of 
 Zanjon. The prospect of such a protraction and conclusion of the present 
 strife is a contingency hardly to be contemplated with equanimity by the civ- 
 ilized world, and least of all by the United States, affected and injured as we 
 are, deeply and intimately by its very existence. 
 
 Realizing this, it appeared to be my duty in a spirit of true friendliness, 
 no less to Spain than to the Cubans who have so much to lose by the prolon- 
 gation of the struggle, to seek to bring about an immediate termination of the 
 war. To this end I submitted on the 27th ultimo, as a result of much represen- 
 tation and correspondence through the United States Minister at Madrid, 
 propositions to the Spanish Government looking to an armistice until October 
 1, for the negotiation of peace with the good offices of the President. 
 
 The President's Proposition to Spain. 
 
 In addition I asked the immediate revocation of the order of reconcen- 
 tration so as to permit the people to return to their farms and the needy to 
 be relieved w T ith provisions and supplies from the United States, co-operating 
 with the Spanish authorities so as to afford full relief. 
 
 The reply of the Spanish Cabinet was received on the night of the 31st 
 ultimo. It offers as the means to bring about peace in Cuba, to confide the 
 
32S PRESIDENT McKINLEY ACTS. 
 
 preparation thereof to the Insular Parliament, inasmuch as the concurrence 
 of that body would be necesisary to reach a final result, it being, however, un- 
 derstood that the powers reserved by the Constitution to the central govern- 
 ment are not lessened or diminished. As the Cuban Parliament does not meet 
 until the 4th of May next, the Spanish Government would not object, for its 
 part, to accept at once a suspension of hostilities if asked for by the insurgents 
 from the General-in-Chief, to whom it would pertain in such a case to deter- 
 mine the duration and conditions of the armistice. 
 
 The propositions submitted by General Woodford and the reply of the 
 Spanish Government were both in the form of brief memoranda, the texts of 
 which are before me, and are substantially in the language above given. 
 
 There remain the alternative forms of intervention to end the war, either 
 as an impartial neutral by imposing a rational compromise between the con- 
 testants, or as the active ally of one party or the other. 
 
 As to the first, it is not to be forgotten that during the last few months 
 the relation of the United States has virtually been one of friendly interven- 
 tion in many ways, each not of itself conclusive, but all tending to the exertion 
 of a potential influence toward an ultimate pacific result just and honorable to 
 all interests concerned. The spirit of all our acts hitherto has been an ear- 
 nest, unselfish desire for peace and prosperity in Cuba, untarnished by differ- 
 ences between us and Spain and unstained by the blood of American citizens. 
 
 The forcible intervention of the United States as a neutral, to stop the 
 war, according to the large dictates of humanity and following many historical 
 precedents where neighboring States have interfered to check the hopeless 
 sacrifices of life by internecine conflicts beyond their borders, is justifiable on 
 rational grounds. It involves, however, hostile constraint upon both the par- 
 ties to the contest, as well to enforce a truce as to guide the eventual settle- 
 ment. 
 
 Grounds for Intervention. 
 
 The grounds for such intervention may be briefly summarized as follows: 
 
 First. In the cause of humanity and to put an end to the barbarities, 
 bloodshed, starvation and horrible miseries now existing there, and which 
 the parties to the conflict are either unable to or unwilling to stop or mitigate. 
 It is no answ r er to say this is all in another country, belonging to another 
 nation, and is therefore none of our business. It is specially our duty, for it 
 is right at our door. 
 
 Second. We owe it to our citizens in Cuba to afford them that protection 
 and indemnity for life and property which no government there can or will 
 afford, and to that end to terminate the conditions that deprive them of legal 
 protection. 
 
 Third. The right to intervene may be justified by the very serious injury 
 
PRESIDENT McKINLEY ACTS, 329 
 
 to the commerce, trade and business of our people, and by the wanton destruc- 
 tion of property and devastation of the island. 
 
 Fourth. Aid which is of the utmost importance. The present condition 
 of affairs in Cuba is a constant menace to our peace and entails upon this 
 Government an enormous expense. With such a conflict waged for years in an 
 island so near us, and with which our people have such trade and business 
 relations; when the lives and liberty of our citizens are in constant danger and 
 their property destroyed and themselves ruined; where our trading vessels 
 are liable to seizure and are seized at our very door by warships of a foreign 
 nation, the expeditions of filibustering that we are, powerless altogether to 
 prevent, and the irritating questions and entanglements thus arising all 
 these and others that I need not mention, with the resulting strained rela- 
 tions, are a constant menace to our peace and compel us to keep on a semi-war 
 footing with a nation with which we are at peace. 
 
 The Destruction of the Maine. 
 
 These elements of danger and disorder already pointed out have been 
 strikingly illustrated by a tragic event which has deeply and justly moved the 
 American people. I have already transmitted to Congress the report of the 
 Naval Court of Inquiry on the destruction of the battleship Maine in the har- 
 bor of Havana during the night of the 15th of February. The destruction of 
 that noble vessel has filled the national heart with inexpressible horror. Two 
 hundred and fifty-eight brave sailors and marines and two officers of our navy, 
 reposing in the fancied security of a friendly harbor, have been hurled to 
 death, grief and want brought to their homes and sorrow to the nation. 
 
 The Naval Court of Inquiry, which, it is needless to say, commands the 
 unqualified confidence of the Government, was unanimous in its conclusions 
 that the destruction of the Maine was caused by an exterior explosion that 
 of a submarine mine. It did not assume to place the responsibility. That 
 remains to be fixed. 
 
 In any event the destruction of the Maine, by whatever exterior cause, 
 is a patent and impressive proof of a state of things in Cuba that is intolerable. 
 That condition is thus shown to be such that the Spanish Government cannot 
 assure safety and security to a vessel of the American navy in the harbor of 
 Havana on a mission of peace and rightfully there. 
 
 Further referring in this connection to recent diplomatic correspondence, 
 a despatch from our Minister to Spain, of the 26th ultimo, contained the state- 
 ment that the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs assured him positively 
 that Spain would do all that the highest honor and justice required in the 
 matter of the Maine. The reply above referred to of the 31st ultimo also con- 
 tained an expression of the readiness of Spain to submit to an arbitration 
 all the differences which can arise in this matter, which is subsequently ex- 
 
330 PRESIDENT McKlNLEY ACTS. 
 
 plained by the note of the Spanish Minister at Washington of the 10th instant 
 as follows: 
 
 As to the question of fact which springs from the diversity of views be- 
 tween the report of the American and Spanish boards, Spain proposes that the 
 fact be ascertained by an impartial investigation by experts, whose decision 
 Spain accepts in advance. To this I have made no reply. 
 
 In view of these facts and Uiese considerations, I ask the Congress to 
 authorize and empower the President to take measures to secure a full and 
 final termination of hostilities between the Government of Spain and the peo- 
 ple of Cuba, and to secure in the island the establishment of a stable govern- 
 ment capable of maintaining order and observing its international obliga- 
 tions, insuring peace and tranquillity and the security of its citizens as well as 
 our own, and to use the military and naval forces of the United States as may 
 be necessary for these purposes. 
 
 And in the interest of humanity and to aid in preserving the lives of the 
 starving people of the island, I recommend that the distribution of food and 
 supplies be continued, and that an appropriation be made out of the public 
 treasury to supplement the charity of our citizens. The issue is now with Con- 
 gress. It is a solemn responsibility. I have exhausted every effort to relieve 
 the intolerable condition of affairs which is at our doors. 
 
 Prepared to execute every obligation imposed upon me by the Constitu- 
 tion and the law, I await your action. 
 
 The Addenda. 
 
 Yesterday, and since the preparation of the foregoing message, official in- 
 formation was received by me that the latest decree of the Queen Regent of 
 Spain directs General Blanco in order to prepare and facilitate peace, to pro- 
 claim a suspension of hostilities, the duration and details of which have not 
 yet been communicated to me. This fact, with every other pertinent considera- 
 tion, will, I am sure, have your just and careful attention in the solemn de- 
 liberations upon which you are about to enter. If this measure attains a suc- 
 cessful result, then our aspirations as a Christian, peace-loving people will 
 be realized. If it fails, it will be only another justification for our contem- 
 plated action. 
 
 (Signed,) WILLIAM McKINLEY. 
 
 Executive Mansion, April 11, 1898. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 STRENGTH OF THE OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 
 
 Growth of the White Squadron in a Single Decade Progress of Our Navy a 
 Gratifying One after It Was Fairly Started How the United States 
 Stands in Comparison with the Other Nations of the World List of 
 Ships in the American Navy List of Ships in the Navy of Spain at 
 the Beginning of the War Interest of All Countries Centered on the 
 Result of Our Naval Battles Modern Guns and Projectiles The 
 Armies of the Two Combatants Coast Defenses of the United States. 
 
 Three elements enter into the fighting efficiency of nations at war: 
 the strength of their navies, the strength of their armies and the con- 
 dition of their coast defences. For the first time in many years gen- 
 eral attention of the people of the United States was centered upon 
 these conditions when the outbreak of hostilities began to threaten. 
 Inasmuch as it was an admitted fact that most of the fighting would 
 be done at sea, or at least that the efficiency of our fleets would be the 
 most important factor, most of the attention was directed to a study 
 of the navy. 
 
 The constructions of what we call the new navy of the United States, 
 "the white squadron," which has placed us sixth in the rank of the 
 naval powers of the world, instead of so far down that we were scarcely 
 to be counted at all, has all been done in less than twelve years. It 
 may be that to stand sixth in rank is not yet high enough, but the 
 progress of a single decade certainly is remarkable. 
 
 After the Civil War, when hostilities on our own coast and com- 
 plications abroad seemed to be at an end, the care of the navy was 
 abandoned and ships were sold with scarcely a protest, almost as en- 
 tirely as had been done eighty years before, at the end of the Revolu- 
 tion. There was even less reason for this policy, because in 1785 the 
 country was poor and needed the money the ships brought, while in 
 the twenty years following the Civil War there was no such excuse of 
 national poverty. By 1885 there was no United States navy at all 
 worthy the name, for the wooden vessels on the list, with their obso- 
 lete guns, were of no value whatever in the event of hostilities with a 
 
 331 
 
STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 
 
 foreign power that had kept up its equipment with rifled guns and 
 ironclads. 
 
 The movement to repair the decay began when, in 1881, Secretary 
 of the Navy William H. Hunt appointed the first advisory board, pre- 
 sided over by Rear- Admiral John Rodgers, "to determine the require- 
 ments of a new navy." This board reported that the United States 
 should have twenty-one battleships, seventy unarmored cruisers of 
 various sizes and types, twenty torpedo boats, five rams and five tor- 
 pedo gunboats, all to be built of steel. The report was received by 
 Congress and the country with the attention it merited, but to get the 
 work started was another matter. 
 
 Policy of the Economists. 
 
 The economists had been praising the policy of idleness in naval 
 construction, claiming first that we were at peace and did not need 
 to spend money on expensive vessels and, next, that naval construc- 
 tion was in an experimental stage and that we should let the Euro- 
 pean nations go to the expense of the experiments, as they were doing, 
 and when some result had been reached, take advantage of it, instead 
 of wasting our ow r n money in work that would have to be thrown 
 awa} T in a few years. 
 
 When the country became convinced that a navy was needed, it 
 was found that we could not follow out that pleasant little theory. 
 Our naval authorities could not obtain the facts and the experience 
 they wanted from other nations, and our shipyards could not build 
 even one of the armored ships. We could not roll even the thinnest 
 of modern armor-plates, and could not make a gun that was worth 
 mounting on a modern vessel if we had it. 
 
 The shipyard of John Roach did the first work on the new navy, 
 and during Secretary Chandler's term of office built the Chicago, the 
 Boston, the Atlanta and the Dolphin. Instead of battleships, the first 
 of the fleet were third-rate cruisers. Armor-plate was bought in a 
 foreign market, and we actually went abroad for the plans of one our 
 largest cruisers the Charleston. 
 
 In 1885 the navy department came under the administration of 
 Secretary William C. Whitney, and it was beginning with his years of 
 service that the greatest progress was made. While our shipyards 
 were learning to build ships, the gunmakers and the makers of armor- 
 
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LOADING SIEGE GUNS ON TRANSPORTS 
 
 This picture shows the siege guns being hoisted on the transports. In the distance are the troops 
 embarking ifter their long wait in camp. 
 
STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 335 
 
 plate were learning their craft too, so that progress was along paral- 
 lel lines. In 1886 the sum of $2,128,000 was appropriated for modern 
 rifled guns. The first contract for armor-plate was signed in 1887. 
 Since that time the plants for construction have been completed and 
 armor-plate equal to the best in the world turned out from them. Ten 
 years of apprenticeship have taught us how to build whatever we need 
 to carry on naval warfare. 
 
 Takes the Bank of Sixth. 
 
 By 1894 the United States had risen to the sixth among the naval 
 powers of the world, the first ten and their relative strength expressed 
 in percentage of that of Great Britain being as follows: 
 
 Great Britain , . . . 100 United States 17 
 
 France 68 Spain 11 
 
 Italy 48 China 6 
 
 Russia 38 Austria 5 
 
 Germany 21 Turkey 3 
 
 Since that time the relative position of the leaders has not mate- 
 rially changed, although some estimates are to the effect that Russia 
 and Italy have changed places and that Spain has gained slightly on 
 the United States. Of the ones at the foot of the procession all have 
 dropped below the station assigned them, by the advance of Japan, 
 which has come from outside the file of the first ten and is now eighth, 
 ranking between Spain and China. The estimates are based on a cal- 
 culation of all the elements that enter into the efficiency of the navies, 
 such as tonnage, speed, armor, caliber and range of armament, num- 
 ber of enlisted men and their efficiency. Such calculations cannot be 
 absolute, for they cannot measure at all times the accuracy of the gun- 
 nery of a certain vessel. The human equation enters so prominently 
 into warfare that mathematical calculations must be at all times in- 
 complete. Americans will be slow to believe, however, that they are 
 at any disadvantage in this detail, whatever their material equipment 
 may be. 
 
 The following table shows the strength of the navy of the United 
 States. In that part of the table marked "first rate" the four ships 
 placed first are first-class battle ships, the Brooklyn and New York 
 are armored cruisers, the Columbia, Olympia and Minneapolis pro- 
 
336 
 
 STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 
 
 tected cruisers, the Texas a second-class battle ship and the Puritan 
 a double-turret monitor. Among the second-raters all but the Mian- 
 tonomah, Amphitrite, Monadnock and Terror (monitors) are protected 
 cruisers. The newly bought boats, New Orleans and Albany, belong 
 in this class. The third-raters are a heterogeneous lot, consisting of 
 cruisers, gunboats, old monitors and unprotected cruisers. Of the 
 fourth raters, Vesuvius is a dynamite ship, the Yankee and Michigan 
 are cruisers, the Petrel, Bancroft and Pinta are gunboats and the Fern 
 is a transport. The remaining classes of the table are homogeneous. 
 The government has recently purchased numerous tugs and yachts 
 not accounted for in the table: 
 
 . FIRST RATE. 
 
 Displace- Guns in Indicated 
 NAME. ment (tons).' main battery. horse power. Hull. 
 
 Iowa 11,340 18 12,105 Steel 
 
 Indiana 10,288 16 9,738 Steel 
 
 Massachusetts 10,288 16 10,403 Steel 
 
 Oregon 10,288 16 11,111 Steel 
 
 Brooklyn 9,215 20 18,769 Steel 
 
 New York 8,200 18 17,401 Steel 
 
 Columbia 7,375 11 18,509 Steel 
 
 Minneapolis 7,375 11 20,862 Steel 
 
 Texas 6,315 8 8,610 Steel 
 
 Puritan 6,060 10 3,700 Iron 
 
 Olympia .... 5,870 14 17,313 Steel 
 
 SECOND RATE. 
 
 Chicago 4,500 18 9,000 Steel 
 
 Baltimore 4,413 10 10,064 Steel 
 
 Philadelphia 4,324 12 8,815 Steel 
 
 Monterey 4,084 4 5,244 Steel 
 
 Newark 4,098 12 8,869 Steel 
 
 San Francisco 4,098 12 9,913 Steel 
 
 Charleston 3,730 8 6,666 Steel 
 
 Miantonomah 3,990 4 1,426 Iron 
 
 Amphitrite 3,990 6 1,600 Iron 
 
 Monadnock . 3,990 6 3,000 Iron 
 
STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 
 
 337 
 
 
 Displace- 
 
 Guns in 
 
 Indicated 
 
 NAME. 
 
 ment (tons) 
 
 . main battery. 
 
 horse power,, 
 
 Terror 
 
 3,990 
 
 4 
 
 1,600 
 
 Lancaster 
 
 3,250 
 
 12 
 
 1,000 
 
 Cincinnati 
 
 3,213 
 
 11 
 
 10,000 
 
 Raleigh 
 
 3,213 
 
 11 
 
 10,000 
 
 Atlanta 
 
 3,000 
 
 8 
 
 4,030 
 
 Boston 
 
 3,000 
 
 8 
 
 4,030 
 
 
 THIRD 
 
 RATE. 
 
 
 Hartford 
 
 . 2,790 
 
 13 
 
 2,000 
 
 Katahdin 
 
 2,155 
 
 4 
 
 5,068 
 
 Ajax 
 
 2,100 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Canonicus 
 
 2,100 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Mahopac 
 
 2,100 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Manhattan 
 
 2,100 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Wyandotte 
 
 2,100 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Detroit 
 
 2,089 
 
 10 
 
 5,227 
 
 Montgomery 
 
 2,089 
 
 10 
 
 5,580 
 
 Marblehead 
 
 2,089 
 
 10 
 
 5,451 
 
 Marion 
 
 1,900 
 
 8 
 
 1,100 
 
 Mohican 
 
 1,900 
 
 10 
 
 1,100- 
 
 Comanche 
 
 1,875 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Catskill 
 
 1,875 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Jason 
 
 1,875 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Lehigh 
 
 1,875 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Montauk 
 
 1,875 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Nahant 
 
 1,875 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Nantucket 
 
 1,875 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Passaic 
 
 1,875 
 
 2 
 
 340 
 
 Benningtou 
 
 1,710 
 
 6 
 
 3,436 
 
 Concord 
 
 1,710 
 
 6 
 
 3,405 
 
 Yorktown 
 
 1,710 
 
 6 
 
 3,392 
 
 Dolphin 
 
 1,486 
 
 2 
 
 2,253 
 
 Wilmington 
 
 1,392 
 
 8 
 
 1,894 
 
 Helena 
 
 1,392 
 
 8 
 
 1,988 
 
 Adams 
 
 1,375 
 
 6 
 
 800 
 
 Alliance 
 
 1,375 
 
 6 
 
 800 
 
 Essex 
 
 1,375 
 
 6 
 
 800 
 
 Enterprise 
 
 1,375 
 
 4 
 
 800 
 
 Nashville 
 
 1,371 
 
 8 
 
 2,536 
 
 Monocacy 
 
 1,370 
 
 6 
 
 850 
 
 Thetis 
 
 1,250 
 
 . . 
 
 530 
 
 Hull. 
 Iron 
 Wood 
 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 
 Wood 
 
 Steel 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 
 Wood 
 
 Wood 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 
 Wood 
 
 Wood 
 
 Wood 
 
 Wood 
 
 Steel 
 
 Iron 
 
 Wood 
 
338 
 
 STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 
 
 
 Displace- 
 
 Guns in 
 
 Indicated 
 
 
 NAME. 
 
 ment (tons). 
 
 main battery. 
 
 horse power. 
 
 Hull. 
 
 Castine 
 
 , 1,177 
 
 8 
 
 2,199 
 
 Steel 
 
 Machias 
 
 1,177 
 
 8 
 
 2,046 
 
 Steel 
 
 Alert 
 
 1,020 
 
 3 
 
 500 
 
 Iron 
 
 Ranger 
 
 1,020 
 
 6 
 
 500 
 
 Iron 
 
 Annapolis 
 
 1,000 
 
 6 
 
 1,227 
 
 Comp 
 
 Vicksburg 
 
 1,000 
 
 6 
 
 1,118 
 
 Comp 
 
 Wheeling 
 
 1,000 
 
 6 
 
 1,081 
 
 Comp 
 
 Marietta 
 
 1,000 
 
 6 
 
 1,054 
 
 Comp 
 
 Newport 
 
 1,000 
 
 6 
 
 1,008 
 
 Comp 
 
 
 FOURTH 
 
 RATE. 
 
 
 
 Vesuvius 
 
 929 
 
 3 
 
 3,795 
 
 Steel 
 
 Yantic 
 
 900 
 
 4 
 
 310 
 
 Wood 
 
 Petrel 
 
 , 892 
 
 4 
 
 1,095 
 
 Steel 
 
 Fern 
 
 840 
 
 . . 
 
 
 Wood 
 
 Bancroft 
 
 839 
 
 4 
 
 1,213 
 
 Steel 
 
 Michigan 
 
 685 
 
 4 
 
 365 
 
 Iron 
 
 Pinta 
 
 550 
 
 2 
 
 310 
 
 Iron 
 
 TORPEDO BOATS. 
 
 1 Cushing 105 3 
 
 2 Ericsson 120 3 
 
 3 Foote 142 3 
 
 4 Rodgers 142 3 
 
 5 Winslow 142 3 
 
 6 Porter 3 
 
 7 Du Pont 3 
 
 8 Rowan 182 3 
 
 9 Dahlgren 146 2 
 
 10 T. A. M. Craven 146 2 
 
 11 Farragut 273 2 
 
 12 Davis 132 3 
 
 13 Fox 132 3 
 
 14 Morris 103 3 
 
 15 Talbot 46$ 2 
 
 16 Gwin 46$ 2 
 
 17 Mackenzie 65 2 
 
 18 McKee 65 2 
 
 19 Stringham 340 2 
 
 20 Goldsborough 247$ 2 
 
 21 Bailey 235 2 
 
 Stiletto . 31 2 
 
 1,720 
 
 1,800 
 2,000 
 2,000 
 2,000 
 
 3,200 
 
 4,200 
 
 4,200 
 
 5,600 
 
 1,750 
 
 1,750 
 
 1,750 
 
 850 
 
 850 
 
 850 
 
 850 
 
 7,200 
 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Wood 
 
STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 
 
 339 
 
 TUGBOATS. 
 
 Displace- Guns in Indicated 
 
 NAME. ment (tons), main battery. Horse power. Hull. 
 
 Fortune 450 . . 340 Iron 
 
 Iwana 192 . . 300 Steel 
 
 Leyden 450 . . 340 Iron 
 
 Narkeeta 192 . . 300 Steel 
 
 Nina 357 . . 388 Iron 
 
 Rocket 187 . . 147 Wood 
 
 Standish 450 1 340 Iron 
 
 Traffic 280 . . ... Wood 
 
 Triton 212 . . 300 Steel 
 
 Waneta 192 . . 300 Steel 
 
 Unadilla . 345 . . 500 Steel 
 
 Samoset 225 . . 450 Steel 
 
 SAILING SHIPS. 
 
 Monongahela 2,100 4 Wood 
 
 Constellation 1,186 8 Wood 
 
 Jamestown 1,150 .. Wood 
 
 Portsmouth 1,125 12 Wood 
 
 Saratoga 1,025 . . Wood 
 
 St. Mary's 1,025 . . Wood 
 
 RECEIVING SHIPS. 
 
 Franklin 5,170 4 1,050 Wood 
 
 Wabash 4,650 . . 950 Wood 
 
 Vermont 4,150 . . Wood 
 
 Independence 3,270 6 Wood 
 
 Richmond 2,700 2 692 Wood 
 
 UNSERVICEABLE. 
 
 New Hampshire 4,150 6 Wood 
 
 Pensacola 3,000 . . 680 Wood 
 
 Omaha 2,400 . . 953 Wood 
 
 Constitution 2,200 4 Wood 
 
 Iroquois 1,575 . . 1,202 Wood 
 
 Nipsic 1,375 4 839 Wood 
 
 St. Lo'ais 830 .. Wood 
 
 Dale 675 .. Wood 
 
 Minnesota 4,700 9 1,000 Wood 
 
340 
 
 STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 
 
 UNDER CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 Displace- Guns in. Indicated 
 
 NAME. ment (tons), main battery. horse power. Hull. 
 
 Kearsarge 11,525 22 10,000 Steel 
 
 Kentucky 11,525 22 10,000 Steel 
 
 Illinois 11,525 18 10,000 Steel 
 
 Alabama 11,525 IS 10,000 Steel 
 
 Wisconsin 11,525 18 10,000 Steel 
 
 Princeton 1,000 6 800 Comp 
 
 Plunger 168 2 1,200 Steel 
 
 Tug No. 6 225 . . 450 Steel 
 
 Tug No. 7 225 .-. 450 Steel 
 
 Training ship 1,175 6 Coinp 
 
 Spain's Navy Is a Weaker One. 
 
 Spain's navy is decidedly weak when compared with that of the 
 United States. A mere glance at the two tables will be sufficient to 
 show the difference. Spain's list of unarmored cruisers is long, but four 
 of our battle ships or swift, modern, armored cruisers could blow the 
 lot out of the water. In torpedo boats we compare favorably with 
 Spain. In one respect Spain is stronger, that is in her six speedy tor- 
 pedo boat destroyers. This table accounts for every war ship Spain 
 lias, to say nothing of the few antique merchantmen of the Spanish 
 liner company which can be turned into cruisers. 
 
 FIRST-CLASS BATTLE SHIPS. 
 
 NAME. Tonnage. 
 
 Pelayo 9,900 
 
 Vitoria (inefficient) 7,250 
 
 Guns in 
 batteries. 
 
 22 
 
 Numancia 
 
 OLD BATTLE SHIPS. 
 7,250 10 
 
 Speed in 
 
 knots 
 
 per hour. 
 
 17.0 
 11.0 
 
 11.0 
 
 FIRST-CLASS ARMORED CRUISERS. 
 
 Carlos V 9,235 28 20.0 
 
 Cisneros 7,000 24 20.0 
 
 Cataluna 7,000 24 20.0 
 
 Hull. 
 
 Steel 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron 
 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 
STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 
 
 Speed in 
 
 knots 
 per hour. 
 
 20.0 
 20.0 
 20.0 
 20.0 
 20.0 
 
 Guns in 
 NAME. Tonnage. batteries. 
 
 Princess Asturias 7,000 24 
 
 Almirante Oquendo 7,000 30 
 
 Maria Teresa 7,000 30 
 
 Vizcaya 7,000 30 
 
 Cristobal Colon 6,840 40 
 
 SECOND-CLASS ARMORED CRUISERS. 
 
 Alfonso XIII 5,000 19 20.0 
 
 Lepanto 4,826 25 20.0 
 
 UNARMORED CRUISERS. 
 
 Reina Christina 3,520 21 
 
 Aragon 3,342 24 
 
 Cartilla 3,342 22 
 
 Navarra 3,342 16 
 
 Alfonso XII 3,090 23 
 
 Reina Mercedes 3,090 21 
 
 Velasco 1,152 7 
 
 C. de Venadito 1,130 13 
 
 Ulloa 1,130 12 
 
 Austria 1,130 12 
 
 Isabel 1,130 15 
 
 Isabel II 1,130 16 
 
 Isla de Cuba 1,030 12 
 
 Isla de Luzon 1,030 12 
 
 Ensenada 1,030 13 
 
 Quiros 315 
 
 Villabolas 315 
 
 . 935 5 
 
 * TORPEDO BOATS. 
 
 Alvaro de Bezan 830 
 
 Maria Molina 830 
 
 Destructor 458 
 
 Filipiuas 750 
 
 Galicia 571 
 
 Marques Vitoria 830 
 
 Marques Molina 571 
 
 17.5 
 17.5 
 17.5 
 17.5 
 17.5 
 17.5 
 14.3 
 14.0 
 14.0 
 14.0 
 14.0 
 14.0 
 16.0 
 16.0 
 15.0 
 
 20.0 
 20.0 
 20.0 
 20.0 
 20.0 
 20.0 
 20.0 
 
 Hull. 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Iron 
 Iron 
 Wood 
 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 
 * Armed with two and four torpedo tubes, six quick fire and two machine 
 
 guns. 
 
342 
 
 STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND AKMIES. 
 
 Speed in 
 
 Guns in knots 
 
 NAME. Tonnage. batteries. per hour. 
 
 Pinzon ! 571 .. 20.0 
 
 Nueva Espana 630 . . 20.0 
 
 Rapido 570 . . 20.0 
 
 Temerario 590 .. 20.0 
 
 Yanez Pinzon 571 . . 20.0 
 
 * GUNBOATS. 
 
 Hernon Cortes 300 1 12.0 
 
 Pizarro 300 2 12.0 
 
 Nunez Balboa 300 , 1 12.5 
 
 Diego Velasquez 200 3 12.0 
 
 Ponce de Leon 200 3 12.0 
 
 Alvarado 100 2 12.0 
 
 Sandoval 100 2 12.0 
 
 TORPEDO BOAT DESTROYERS. 
 
 Audaz 400 6 30.0 
 
 Furor 380 6 28.0 
 
 Terror 380 6 28.0 
 
 Osada 380 6 28.0 
 
 Pluton 380 . 6 28.0 
 
 Prosperina 380 6 28.0 
 
 SMALL TORPEDO BOATS. 
 
 Ariete 26.1 
 
 Rayo ... . . . 25.5 
 
 Azor . . 24.0 
 
 Halcon . . 24.0 
 
 Habana . . 21.3 
 
 Barcelo . . 19.5 
 
 Orion . . 21.5 
 
 Retamosa . . 20.5 
 
 Ordonez . . 20.1 
 
 Ejercito . . 19.1 
 
 Pollux . . 19.5 
 
 Castor . . 19.0 
 
 Aire 8.0 
 
 Hull. 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 Steel 
 
 * There are eighteen others of smaller size, which with the above were 
 built for service in Cuban waters, and are now there. 
 
STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 343 
 
 GUN VESSELS (SO-CALLED). 
 
 Speed in 
 
 Guns in knots 
 
 NAME. Tonnage. batteries. per hour. Hull. 
 
 General Concha 520 .. .... Steel 
 
 Elcano 524 .. .... Steel 
 
 General Lego 524 . . .... Steel 
 
 Magellanes 524 .. .... Steel 
 
 BUILDING. 
 
 (Battle ship.) 
 
 . . 10,000 .. ..... Steel 
 
 (Armored cruisers.) 
 10,500 . . .... Steel 
 
 Pedro d'Aragon 6,840 . . .... Steel 
 
 (Protected cruisers.) 
 
 Reina Regente 5,372 . . .... Steel 
 
 Rio de la Plata 1,775 . . Steel 
 
 (Torpedo boats.) 
 Five of Ariete type and one of 750 tons. 
 
 LINERS FOR CONVERSION. 
 
 Magellanes 6,932 .. 17.0 Steel 
 
 Buenos Aires 5,195 . . 14.0 Steel 
 
 Montevideo 5,096 . . 14.5 Steel 
 
 Alfonso XII 5,063 . . 15.0 Steel 
 
 Leon XIII 4,687 . . 15.0 Steel 
 
 Satrustegui 4,638 . . 15.0 Steel 
 
 Alfonso XIII 4,381 . . 16.0 Steel 
 
 Maria Cristina 4,381 . . 16.0 Steel 
 
 Luzon 4,252 . . 13.0 Steel 
 
 Mindanao 4,195 . . 13.5 Steel 
 
 Isla de Panay 3,636 . . 13.5 Steel 
 
 Cataluna 3,488 .. 14.0 Steel 
 
 City of Cadiz 3,084 . . 13.5 Steel 
 
 Interest in the Working of Modern War Ships. 
 
 The puzzle that was troubling every naval authority as well as 
 every statesman in the civilized world, at the outbreak of the war be- 
 tween the United States and Spain, was what would be the results 
 
344 STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 
 
 of a conflict at sea between the floating fortresses which now serve as 
 battle-ships. Since navies reached their modern form there had been 
 no war in which the test of the battle-ship was complete. Lessons 
 might be learned and opinions formed and prophesies made from the 
 action of battle-ships in the war between China and Japan, the war 
 between Chili and Peru, and from the disasters which had overtaken 
 the Maine in the harbor of Havana and the Victoria in her collision 
 with the Camperdown, as well as the wreck of the Keina Regente and 
 others. But in all these, combine the information as one might, there 
 was insufficient testimony to prove what would happen if two powers 
 of nearly equal strength were to meet for a fight to a finish. 
 
 Whatever was uncertain, it was known at least that there would 
 be no more sea fights like those of the last century and the first half 
 of this, when three-deck frigates and seventy -four-gun men-of-war 
 were lashed together, while their crews fought with small arms and 
 cutlasses for hours. Those were the days when "hearts of oak" and 
 "the wooden walls of England" made what romance there was in 
 naval warfare, and the ships of the young United States won respect 
 on every sea. In the fights of those days the vessels would float till 
 they were shot to pieces, and with the stimulus of close fighting the 
 men were ready to brave any odds in boarding an enemy's craft. It 
 was well understood that the changed conditions would make very 
 different battles between the fighting machines of to-day. 
 
 That a naval battle between modern fleets, armed with modern 
 guns, would be a terribly destructive one both to the ships and to the 
 lives of those who manned them, was conceded by all naval authori- 
 ties. The destructiveness would come not only from the tremendous 
 power and effectiveness of the guns, but also from the fact that the 
 shell had replaced the solid shot in all calibers dow r n to the one- 
 pounder, so that to the penetrating effect of the projectile was added 
 its explosive power and the scattering of its fragments in a destruc-, 
 tive and death-dealing circle many feet in diameter. 
 
 Modern Guns and Projectiles. 
 
 The modern armor-piercing shell, made of hardened steel, and with 
 its conical point carefully fashioned for the greatest penetrating 
 power, has all the armor-piercing effectiveness of a solid shot of the 
 same shape, while its explosiveness makes it infinitely more destruc- 
 
STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADKONS AND AKMIES. 345 
 
 tive. For the modern shell does not explode when it first strikes the 
 side or armor of an enemy's ship, but after it has pierced the side or 
 armor and has exhausted its penetrative effect The percussion fuse 
 is in the base of the shell, and is exploded by a plunger driven against 
 it by the force of the impact of the shell on striking. The time be- 
 tween the impact of the shell and its explosion is sufficient for it to 
 have done its full penetrative work. 
 
 It first must be understood that all modern guns on ships-of-war 
 are breech-loading and rifled, and that the smooth bore exists only as 
 a relic, or to be brought out in an emergency for coast defense, when 
 modern guns are not available. From the thirteen-inch down to the 
 four-inch, the guns are designated by their caliber, the diameter of 
 their bore, and the shot they throw, while from that to the one- 
 pounder they take their name from the weight of the shot. Every- 
 thing below the one-pounder is in the machine-gun class. 
 
 The base of rapid-fire work is the bringing together in one cart- 
 ridge of the primer, powder, and shell. When the limit of weight of 
 cartridge, easily handled by one man, is reached, the limit of rapid- 
 fire action is also reached; and, although the quick-moving breech 
 mechanisms have been applied abroad to guns of as large as eight- 
 inch caliber, such guns would rank as quick, rather than rapid firing, 
 and would require powder and shot to be loaded separately. 
 
 On the modern battle-ships the function of the great guns is the 
 penetration of the enemy's armor, either at the waterline belt or on 
 the turrets and gun positions, while that of the rapid-firers is the de- 
 struction of the unarmored parts or the disabling of the guns not 
 armor protected. The six, three, and one-pounders direct their rain of 
 shots at the turret portholes, gun shields, or unprotected parts of the 
 ship, having also an eye to torpedo-boats, while from the fighting 
 tops, the Gatlings rain a thousand shots a minute on any of the crew 
 in exposed positions. With such a storm of large and small projec- 
 tiles it would seem to be rather a question of who would be left alive 
 rather than who would be killed. 
 
 The guns in use in the United States navy are the 13-inch, 12-inch, 
 10-inch, 8-inch, . 6-inch, 5-inch, 4-inch, 6-pounders, 3-pounders, 1- 
 pounder, Ilotchkiss 37 mm. revolver cannon, and the machine guns. 
 In the following table is given the length and weight of these guns, as 
 well as of the shell they carry: 
 
346 STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 
 
 Length Powder Weight 
 
 of gun, charge, of shell, 
 
 GUNS. feet. pounds. pounds. 
 
 One-pounder 5.1 .3 1 
 
 Three-pounder 7.3 1.7 3 
 
 Six-pounder 8.9 3.0 6 
 
 Fourteen-pounder 11.6 8.0 14 
 
 Four-inch 13.7 14.0 33 
 
 Five-inch 17.4 30.0 50 
 
 Six-inch 21.3 50.0 100 
 
 Eight-inch 28.7 115.0 250 
 
 Ten-inch 31.2 240.0 500 
 
 Twelve-inch 36.8 425.0 850 
 
 Thirteen-inch 40.0 550.0 1,100 
 
 How the Big Guns Are Used. 
 
 The 14-pounder, although not included in the navy armament, is 
 given for the purpose of comparison, since it is with guns of this cali- 
 ber that some of the Spanish torpedo-boat destroyers are armed. The 
 largest gun ' as yet mounted on our largest torpedo-boats is the 
 S-pounder, while a single 1-pounder is the gun armament of the or- 
 dinary torpedo-boat. The Hotchkiss revolver cannon is not given in 
 the table because its caliber, etc., is the same as that of the l-pounder ? 
 and, in fact, the latter has superseded it in the latest armaments, so 
 that it is now found only on the older ships of the modern fleet. The 
 machine guns are not given because their effective work is practically 
 the same. The Gatling is of 45-caliber, and uses the government am- 
 munition for the Springfield rifle. 
 
 A look over the table shows some general principles in the matter 
 of powder and shell used. The powder charge is about half the weight 
 of the shell, while the length of the shell is a little over three times its 
 diameter. 
 
 To attain its extreme range a gun must be given an elevation of 
 about fifteen degrees. The greatest elevation given any of the guns 
 on shipboard is about six degrees. This limit is made by two factors 
 the size of the portholes or opening in the turrets for the larger 
 guns, and the danger of driving the gun backward and downward 
 through the deck by any greater elevation. The practical range of 
 the great guns of a ship, the ten, twelve, and thirteen-inch, is not, 
 
STRENGTH OF OPPOSING SQUADRONS AND ARMIES. 347 
 
 therefore, believed to be over five or six miles, and even at that range 
 the chances of hitting a given object would be very small. A city 
 could, of course, be bombarded with effect at such a range, since a shell 
 would do tremendous damage wherever it might strike, but a, city to 
 which a ship could 1 approach no nearer than say seven miles would 
 be safe from bombardment. 
 
 The muzzle velocities given the shells from the guns of the navy 
 are something tremendous, while the muzzle energy is simply appall- 
 ing. The shell from the thirteen-inch gun leaves the muzzle at a 
 velocity of 2,100 feet a second, and with an energy of 33,627-foot tons, 
 or the power required to lift one ton one foot. From this velocity the 
 range is to 1,800 feet a second in the one-pounder, although from the 
 three-pounder at 2,050 feet it averages about the same as the thirteen* 
 inch. The five-inch rapid-fire gun has the greatest muzzle velocity at 
 2,250 feet. The muzzle energy is, of course, small in the smaller guns, 
 being only twenty-five-foot tons in the one-pounder and 500 tons in 
 the fourteen-pounder. 
 
 The power of penetration has already been given in a general way, 
 but the power of penetration of steel is much greater. At its muzzle 
 velocity the thirteen-inch shell will penetrate 26.66 inches of steel, the 
 twelve-inch, 24.16 inches; the ten-inch, 20 inches, and the five-inch, 9 
 inches. The one-pound shell bursts in piercing one-fourth and nine- 
 sixteenths-inch plates, scattering its fragments behind the target. 
 
 It may be interesting to note that the cost of one discharge of a 
 thirteen-inch gun is $800, and that when a battle-ship like the Massa- 
 chusetts lets loose her entire battery, both main and secondary, the 
 cost of a single discharge is $6,000. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 BATTLESHIPS AND TROOPS BEGIN TO MOVE. 
 
 The North Atlantic Squadron Sent to Key West Commodore Schley at 
 Hampton Roads The Voyage of the Oregon The Camp at Chicka- 
 mauga Where the Initial Work of Mobilizing the Troops Was Done 
 Life at Camp Thomas Life on the Famous Battle Field Rendezvous 
 at Fort Tampa The Great Artillery Camp. 
 
 Immediately following the action of Congress authorizing the Pres- 
 ident to call into service the army and navy of the United States, the 
 North Atlantic squadron, under command of Captain Sampson, was 
 mobilized at Key West. It consisted of the following vessels : Battle- 
 ships Iowa and Indiana, armored cruiser New York, the monitors Puri- 
 tan, Terror and Ainphitrite, the gunboats Nashville, Castine, Machias, 
 Wilmington and Helena, the cruisers Detroit, Cincinnati and Marble- 
 head, and the torpedo-boats Cushing, Ericsson, Dupont, Foote, Wlnslow, 
 Porter and Mayflower. 
 
 These comprised a hard fighting aggregation under a cool and dar- 
 ing fighter. The two first-class battleships were not equaled in fighting 
 power by anything in the Spanish navy, and the New York was one of 
 the best fighting ships of her kind in the world. 
 
 Commodore Winfield Scott Schley and the fighters of his flying 
 squadron were gathered at Hampton Roads, impatient for orders from 
 Washington to face the foe. Far away in Pacific waters Commodore 
 Dewey was cabled the command to hold himself in readiness to proceed 
 to Manila, and the good ship Oregon, under command of Captain Clarke, 
 was steaming her way around Cape Horn to join the fleet in Cuban 
 waters. 
 
 In the army equal activity was shown. 
 
 The Camp at Chickamauga, 
 
 Chickamauga Park, near Chattanooga, Tenn., was the point of con- 
 centration for the regular troops which were gathered for the war with. 
 Spain. It was the initial camp where the mobilization took place, and 
 
 24* 
 
BATTLESHIPS AND TKOOPS BEGIN TO MOVE. 349 
 
 from which soldiers and supplies were dispatched to seacoast towns 
 within easy striking distance of Cuba, When orders went out from 
 army headquarters at Washington for the movement of the regulars 
 to Chickamauga a thrill of soldierly pride swelled the breast of every 
 man who wore Uncle Sam's blue uniform, and there was a hasty dash for 
 the new camp. There is nothing an army man, officer or private, dis- 
 likes so much as inactivity. Fighting, especially against a foreign foe, 
 suits him better than dawdling away his time in idleness, and word to 
 "get to the front" is always welcome. 
 
 For nearly three weeks troops poured into Chickamauga on every 
 train. They came from all parts of the country, and from every regi- 
 ment and branch of the service. There were "dough-boys" and cavalry- 
 men, engineers and artillerymen; some regiments were there in force, 
 others were represented by detachments only. There were companies 
 and parts of companies, squadrons and parts of squadrons, batteries and 
 parts of batteries. It was a bringing together of Uncle Sam's soldier 
 boys from all conceivable sections of the country. They came from 
 posts in California and Texas, from Wyoming and Maine, from Colo- 
 rado and Minnesota. In time of peace the regular army is badly scat- 
 tered. It is seldom that an entire regiment is stationed at one post, the 
 companies being distributed over a wide area of territory. A mobili- 
 zation, therefore, like that at Chickamauga, tended to consolidate and 
 put new life into commands which had. been badly dismembered by the 
 exigencies of the service. Old comrades were brought together and there 
 was a sort of general reunion and glorification. Men who had been 
 doing police duty near big cities met those who had been watching In- 
 dians on the plains, or chasing greaser bandits on the border line. They 
 exchanged stories and prepared for the stern realities of war with a 
 vigor which boded ill for the foe they were to face. 
 
 Uncle Sam's soldier is a great grumbler when in idleness. He finds 
 fault with his officers, his food, his quarters, his clothing, his pay, and 
 even with himself. Nothing pleases him. He records big, sonorous 
 oaths about his idiocy in swearing away his liberty for a term of years. 
 But let the alarm of war sound, show him active preparations for a 
 scrimmage with the enemy, and the "regular" is happy. This was the 
 condition which prevailed at Chickamauga. The men were full of en- 
 thusiasm and worked as hard as the proverbial beavers. Drills once 
 distasteful and shirked whenever possible were gone through with alac- 
 rity and the "boy in blue" was a true soldier, every inch of him. There 
 was war in sight. 
 
350 BATTLESHIPS AND TROOPS BEGIN TO MOVE. 
 
 Life at Camp Thomas. 
 
 On one point at least there was an accord of opinion in rank and 
 file the camp was well named. "Camp George H. Thomas" they called 
 it, in memory of old "Pap," the hero of Chiekamauga, and men and 
 officers alike took a very visible pride in being residents of the tented 
 city. The establishment of the community at Camp Thomas was much 
 like the establishment of a colony in an unsettled land, in so far as do- 
 mestic conveniences were concerned. Everything had to be taken there, 
 and each regiment, which was a small canvas town in itself, had to de- 
 pend entirely upon its own resources. Dotted here and there through- 
 out the entire expanse of the fifteen-mile reservation, these cities of 
 tents were seen, and the brave men who lived in them, depended upon 
 themselves and each other for what little entertainment they got. A 
 description of the quarters of one officer will serve for all. An "A," or 
 wall tent, 10 by 12 feet, and some of them a size smaller, was his house. 
 On one side a folding camp cot, with a thin yet comfortable mattress 
 and an abundance of heavy, woolen army blankets. A table about 
 twenty inches square, with legs that fold up into the smallest possible 
 space, stood near the door at the foot of the cot. A folding chair or two 
 for his visitors, a large valise or a very small trunk, a bit of looking 
 glass hanging from a tent pole, a tubular lantern, or, if the tenant of 
 the tent was not so fortunate as to possess such a modern light, then a 
 candle attached to a stick in the ground beside his bed. Tie strings 
 attached to the rear wall of the tent afforded a hanging place for "his 
 other shirt" and a pair of extra shoes. His leggings and boots were on 
 his feet, and his belt, pistol and saber stood in a corner. A pad of writ- 
 ing paper, pocket inkstand, a razor strop, unless he had foresworn shav- 
 ing, a briar or corn-cob pipe, and a bag of tobacco completed the furnish- 
 ings of his house. Commanding officers, at regimental headquarters, 
 had an extra roof, or "tent fly," as an awning in front of their quarters, 
 but otherwise lived as other officers did. 
 
 The enlisted men, quartered in the conical wall tents now adopted 
 by the army, bunked with heads to the wall and feet toward the center, 
 from nine to twelve in a tent. Their bedding and blankets were good 
 and they were as comfortable as soldiers could hope to be in the field. 
 Some of the regiments from the remote Northwest had the Sibley conical 
 tent, which has no wall, but which has a small sheet iron stove. These 
 
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BATTLESHIPS AND TROOPS BEGIN TO MOVE. 353 
 
 were more than appreciated during the cold, rainy weather that pre- 
 vailed at Camp Thomas. 
 
 The mess tents and cookhouses are a,bout alike in all the arms of 
 the service. The "cuddy-bunk" oven, made of sheet iron, bakes well and 
 looks like two iron pans fastened together, one upon the top of the other. 
 Men detailed as cooks and waiters, or "kitchen police," as they are de- 
 nominated in the posts, attended to the preparation and serving of the 
 meals, and the soldiers lived well, indeed. Field rations were used when 
 in transit from point to point, but when in camp the company or troop 
 mess purchased fresh meats, vegetables, eggs, fruits, etc., and lived high. 
 
 Rendezvous at Port Tampa. 
 
 Twenty-eight batteries of artillery, almost the entire complement of 
 this branch of the United States army, were in camp at Port Tampa, 
 Fla., awaiting orders to make a descent upon the Spanish forces in 
 Cuba. This great gathering of artillery was the feature of the camp. 
 Infantry and cavalry troops were held there also, and their number in- 
 creased every day, but it was in the artillery that the civilian spectators 
 took the most interest. This may be said without disparagement of 
 the "dough boys" and "hostlers," notwithstanding the fact that there 
 were some of Uncle Sam's most famous fighters in both lines of service 
 stationed at Tampa, among them being the Ninth cavalry, and the 
 Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Thirteenth and Twenty-fourth infantry. No cav- 
 alry regiment has a finer record than the Ninth, the "buffalo" troopers, 
 who gave the Sioux and Apaches more fighting than they wanted, but 
 Southern people have no use for negro soldiers, and their laudations 
 went to the white artillerymen. 
 
 No such aggregation of light and heavy artillery has been gathered 
 before at any one city in the United States, even in war time. 
 
 Life in camp at Tampa was much the same as at Chickamauga, ex- 
 cept that the weather was much hotter. To offset this, however, the 
 boys had fine sea bathing, good opportunities for sailing parties, and the 
 best of fresh fish with which to leaven their rations of salt horse and 
 hardtack. It is astonishing how quickly a man learns to forage and cook 
 after joining the regular army. Three months of service will transform 
 the greenest of counter-jumpers into an expert in the art of enticing 
 chickens from their coops and turning them into savory stews. One of 
 the troopers of the Ninth cavalry was called "Chickens," from his pre- 
 dilections in this line. There were orders against foraging, of course; 
 
354 BATTLESHIPS AND TROOPS BEGIN TO MOVE. 
 
 there always are in friendly territory, but they never amount to much. 
 The officers knew they were disobeyed, but they winked the other eye 
 and said nothing. It is hinted that in this course may be often found 
 an explanation of the lavishness with which the officers' mess is served. 
 One night Major - - was smoking a nightcap cigar just outside his 
 tent, when he caught sight of "Chickens" stealing past in the shade of 
 the trees. "Chickens" of course was halted and asked why he was prowl- 
 ing around at that time of night. Before the culprit could frame an ex- 
 cuse the Major noticed a suspicious bulging of the front of the trooper's 
 blouse, and an uneasy, twisting motion w r ithin. It was plain to him 
 that "Chickens" had been foraging, and was getting back into quarters 
 with his plunder. 
 
 "Been foraging, hey?" said the Major. "Don't you know it's against 
 orders?" 
 
 "Chickens" stammered out a denial, when the Major, making a 
 sudden grab at the front of his blouse, tore it open, and ont fell two 
 plump pullets. 
 
 "Stealing hens, hey?" said the Major. "You'll go to the clink for 
 this." 
 
 "Ah didn't dun steal 'em, Majah," said "Chickens," with brazen ef- 
 frontery. "Ah 'clar to goodness Ah didn't know dem pullets was dar. 
 Mus' have crawled into mah blous t' keep wahm, Majah." 
 
 The reply tickled the veteran so much that he let "Chickens" pass, 
 and the next morning there was one officer at the post who had stewed 
 pullet for breakfast. 
 
 One of the most famous regiments of infantry at Tampa was the 
 Thirteenth. It has the well-earned reputation of being a good fighting 
 body. Some of the most distinguished officers of the army have been on 
 its rolls in time past, among them Sherman and Sheridan. The history 
 of the Thirteenth goes back to May 14, 1861, when President Lincoln 
 directed its organization. The first colonel was William T. Sherman, 
 who re-entered the army after a number of years engaged in banking 
 and. the practice of law. C. C. Augur was one of the majors, and Philip 
 H. Sheridan was a captain. Sheridan joined the regiment in Novem- 
 ber, 1861, but was soon appointed chief commissary and quartermaster 
 to the Army of Southwest Missouri, which practically severed his con- 
 nection with the regiment. 
 
 In 1862 the first battalion of the regiment entered on active service 
 in the Mississippi valley. It engaged in the Yazoo expedition under 
 
BATTLESHIPS AND TROOPS BEGIN TO MOVE. 355 
 
 Sherman, who was by that time a ma jor-general of volunteers, and took 
 part later in Grant's operations around Vicksburg. The battalion won 
 for its colors the proud inscription, "First Honor at Vicksburg," and lost 
 43.3 per cent of its force in the attack on the Confederates. Among 
 the dead was its then commander, who died on the parapet. Sherman's 
 nine-year-old son, Willie, who was with his father at Vicksburg, was 
 playfully christened a "sergeant" of the Thirteenth battalion, .and his 
 death of fever in October, 1863, called forth a sorrowful letter from 
 General Sherman to the commander of the Thirteenth. "Please convey 
 to the battalion my heartfelt thanks," he wrote, "and assure each and all 
 that if in after years they call on me or mine, and mention that they were 
 of the Thirteenth regulars when Willie was a sergeant, they will have a 
 key to the .affections of my family that will open all it has; that we will 
 share with them our last blanket, our last crust!" 
 
 After the war the regiment was transferred to the West. It was: 
 employed in Kansas, Montana, Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and elsewhere 
 until 1874, for a large part of the time serving almost continuously 
 against hostile Indians. In 1874 it was moved to New Orleans, and was 
 engaged on duty in the Department of the South for six years. During 
 the labor riots of 1877 all but two companies were on duty at Pittsburg, 
 Scranton, Wilkesbarre and other points in Pennsylvania. Then back 
 to the West it went again, and, with some slight vacations, remained on 
 the frontier until October, 1894, when it was transferred to various posts 
 in New York State. 
 
CHAPTER XL. 
 DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS TERMINATE. 
 
 Grave Responsibilities Bravely Met The Ultimatum to Spain The Spanish 
 Minister of Foreign Affairs Sends Minister Woodford His Transports 
 Our Consuls in Cuba Leave the Island Fate of Americans Left Behind 
 Spanish Spies at Work Playing a Desperate Game. 
 
 None but those who were close to the men at the head of our Govern- 
 ment just prior to the commencement of the war with Spain can realize 
 with what solicitude they watched the development of the preliminary 
 proceedings. 
 
 With full appreciation of their grave responsibilities, knowing the 
 power inherent in their positions to effect results, and yet cognizant as 
 the days went by of their inability to prevent the fulfillment of fate, they 
 endeavored to guide events so far as they could in a course which will 
 hold them and the people blameless in the sight of the world for what- 
 ever might follow. That they withstood the strain so well bears testi- 
 mony to their mental poise and strength of character. 
 
 The President's demeanor underwent a noticeable change. The af- 
 fable, cheery mood which formerly characterized him, gave way to a 
 sternness of manner which befits a humane but just judge called upon 
 to execute a righteous sentence. A curious illustration of Mr. McKin- 
 ley's temperament was shown in the difference in his bearing after the 
 passage of the resolutions which made war inevitable. So long as there 
 was the slightest chance for peace the pressure of uncertainty bore 
 heavily upon him, and his face assumed a wan and haggard look. That 
 look did not entirely disappear, but it was no longer marked by anxiety. 
 From the moment the decision was reached which imposed upon him the 
 leadership of a nation at war, he seemed to have experienced a sense of 
 relief, for he saw his pathway straight before him, no matter how rough 
 it might be. 
 
 Immediately after signing the resolutions declaring for interven- 
 tion by our Government, the President sent an ultimatum to Spain, quot- 
 ing the act of Congress, and notifying her that her army and navy must 
 be withdrawn from Cuba by noon of April 23. 
 
DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS TERMINATE. 357 
 
 The Spanish Minister, Polo y Bernabe, at once applied for his pass- 
 ports, and left the country. The Spanish Government, without waiting 
 for Minister Woodford to deliver the ultimatum of the United States 
 Government, sent him his transports, thus taking the initiative and 
 practically declaring war against this government. The official notifi- 
 cation to General Woodford, from the Spanish Minister of Foreign Af- 
 fairs, was as follows: 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 In compliance with a painful duty, I have the honor to inform you that 
 there has been sanctioned by the President of the Republic a resolution of 
 both chambers of the United States which denies the legitimate sovereignty 
 of Spain, and threatens immediate armed intervention in Cuba, which is equiv- 
 alent to a declaration of war. 
 
 The Government of Her Majesty has ordered her Minister at Washington 
 to retire without loss of time from the territory of North America with all 
 of the personality of the Legation. By this act the diplomatic relations which 
 formerly existed between the two countries, and all official communications 
 between their respective representatives cease. I am obliged to inform you, 
 so that on your part you can make such arrangements as you believe con- 
 venient. 
 
 I beg that at a suitable time Your Excellency will acknowledge receipt 
 of this and take this opportunity to reiterate the assurance of my most dis- 
 tinguished consideration. PIO GULLON. 
 
 General Woodford then turned over the Legation to the care of the 
 British Government, and ordered all American Consuls in Spain to cease 
 their offices and leave the country at once. He then made his own prepa- 
 rations to leave and started for Paris without delay. 
 
 Consuls in Cuba Leave the Island. 
 
 Anticipating the action taken by Congress, a peculiar form of notice 
 had been agreed upon between Consul-General Lee and the Consuls 
 some weeks previously. The telegram notifying them to leave the island 
 was to be in these words : "Appropriation for relief of American citizens 
 is exhausted." This form was devised for a reason which had its bear- 
 ing upon the unhappy fate of the Americans left on the island. Spaniards 
 of the vindictive class never got over the action of the United States in 
 undertaking the support of its citizens in Cuba, That action was in strik- 
 ing contrast with the course of the Spanish Government. The Span- 
 
358 DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS TERMINATE. 
 
 iards lost no opportunity to show their resentment toward the Amer- 
 icans. When local measures of relief were planned, the Americans were 
 taunted, and told to look to the United States for help and protection. 
 The charity extended by the United States brought upon the benefi- 
 ciaries persecution at the hands of the Spaniards. General Lee, realizing 
 the strength of this unworthy sentiment, thought that a message in the 
 language quoted would be so grateful to Spanish eyes that it would be 
 put through to the Consuls without delay. He was right about that. 
 The government attempted to make provision for the removal of the 
 Americans on the island at the same time that the Consuls were notified 
 to withdraw. Results showed that only a comparatively small number 
 availed themselves of the opportunities to go. A ship made its way 
 along the south coast of Cuba and removed from Santiago, Manzanillo 
 and Cienfuegos between 200 and 300 refugees, conveying them to Ja- 
 maica. This was. hardly one-half. From the northern coast the number 
 taken off the island was much smaller. At Havana there were on the 
 rolls of the Consulate over 600 Americans, of whom perhaps 200 elected 
 to take passage on the ships sent by the United States. At Matanzas, 
 Consul Brice had about 400 Americans. Consul Barker, at Sagua, had 
 about the same number, while Consul Hance, at Cardenas, had about 
 100. Very few of these wanted to leave their interests and relatives. 
 All of them were utterly destitute. They did not know what they could 
 do if they landed in the United States without friends. Many of them 
 were Cubans, who had lived in the United States only long enough to 
 obtain American citizenship. All their ties were in Cuba. They be- 
 lieved that the warships would come quickly with provisions. And so 
 they chose to stay. When the Consuls left they put food enough in the 
 possession of these Americans to last them from ten davs to two weeks. 
 
 V 
 
 The fate of these unfortunates can only be imagined. From the prejudice 
 which existed toward the American reconcentrados the Consuls know 
 that they would be the last to receive any consideration when the block- 
 ade began to bear heavily. 
 
 Spanish Spies at Work. 
 
 Just prior to the breaking out of actual hostilities between this coun- 
 try and Spain the military attache of the Spanish legation at Washing- 
 ton was compelled to leave this country, because it was known he had 
 been seeking to learn certain facts relative to the strength of our forts 
 and their defensive equipment. This man was Lieutenant Sobral, and 
 
DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS TERMINATE. 359 
 
 iu plain and uncompromising English, he was a spy, or member of the 
 Spanish secret service, which implies the same thing. 
 
 Before he left this country he had been ejected from several forts 
 along the South Atlantic coast, where he had been found endeavoring 
 to gain access to those mysteries which no man, unless he wears the blue 
 of the United States army, can righteously know aught of, even in times; 
 of peace. This was the first intimation this country had that Spain 
 would introduce here the same system of espionage she employs at home. 
 Following Sobral's expulsion from the country came the knowledge that 
 Spanish spies were working in Washington, watching every move made 
 there; that they swarmed in Key West and in New York city, where they 
 maintained a strict surveillance over the members of the Cuban Junta. 
 
 Many of these spies were American citizens, or at least nominally so, 
 for their work was done under the direction of a well-known detective 
 agency, acting, of course, with the Spanish representatives here. These 
 men were principally engaged in preventing the shipment of stores and 
 arms to Cuba. At one time it was impossible to enter or leave the 
 building where the Junta had its headquarters without observing one or 
 more men hanging about the place, apparently with nothing to do and 
 making a vain effort to do it as gracefully as possible. These were thril- 
 ling times in the annals of the Junta, when Kubens, Palma and Captain 
 O'Brien were regularly followed to and from their homes to their head- 
 quarters. These were good times, too, for the American detective 
 agency. But all this was mere clumsy work, more of an annoyance 
 than anything else, and scarcely any hindrance to the shipping of arms 
 and stores' when the Junta was fortunate enough to have the arms and 
 stores to ship. 
 
 But after the declaration of war, the spy question assumed an aspect 
 as serious as it was unlocked for. Spain worked silently, secretly and 
 through one of the best-handled branches of her government and with 
 all the Latins' natural love of intrigue. She no longer paid much heed 
 to Palma or Rubens, or to Captain O'Brien. She was playing a bigger 
 game. American detectives no longer represented her interests here 
 an impossibility under existing conditions, of course. Under Polo was 
 established a most complete department of espionage, which he con- 
 trolled from the refuge Canada offered him. 
 
 The gathering together of information and those facts which usually 
 concern the operation of secret sendee of civilized countries seemed to 
 be a side issue with this particular department. The scope of its opera- 
 
DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS TERMINATE, 
 tions was along different lines from those usually followed by the mere 
 
 spy. 
 
 Polo's intention appeared to be to carry the war into America in a 
 new and startling manner startling, because his movements could not 
 be seen or foretold until the blow was struck. He made use of the corps 
 under his control to place the bomb of the anarchist and apply the 
 torch of the incendiary under our arsenals and to those buildings where 
 the government stored its supplies for the army and navy. 
 
 For a time he was successful in his cowardly scheming and his em- 
 issaries celebrated his success with many tons of good American gun- 
 powder, and at the cost of some good American lives. Bombs were 
 found in the coal reserved for use aboard our men-of-war. They were 
 even taken from the coal bunkers of our ships and they were found in 
 certain of the government buildings at Washington. Indeed, the situa- 
 tion became so serious that finally strangers were not allowed to visit a 
 man-of-war or enter a fort. 
 
 It must be remembered that there are in America thousands of Span- 
 iards who, unless they commit some overt act of violence, can enjoy all 
 the privileges accorded to a citizen. This, together with our mixed pop- 
 ulation, in many quarters made up largely of the peoples of Southern 
 Europe, all more or less of one type, all speaking languages which, to un- 
 trained ears at least, are almost identical one with the other, gave the 
 Spanish spy in America a protection and freedom from suspicion and 
 surveillance he would hardly meet with in any other country, and which, 
 by the inverse, offered no opportunity for the American spy in Spain, 
 had we chosen to make use of the same methods. 
 
 Playing a Desperate Game. 
 
 These Spaniards were playing a desperate game, however. It was 
 literally at the peril of their necks, for should a man be apprehended, 
 there would be no possibility of escaping the ignominious death that 
 usually awaits on such services. Sobral was allowed to go, though 
 there was no question but that his conduct was so incriminating that he 
 was liable to arrest, trial, and, if convicted, death, had this country 
 cared to hold him. His fate abroad would be easy to foretell. His guilt 
 was almost as great as that which brought Major Andre to his death in 
 the times of the Revolution. 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 FIRST GUNS AND FIRST PRIZES OF THE WAR. 
 
 Capture of the LaFayette The Government Orders Her Release Towing 
 Prizes Into Key West The Spanish Set a Trap The Vicksburg and 
 the Morrill Take the Bait The Spanish Gunners Poor Marksmen 
 Another Narrow Escape. 
 
 Shortly after the proclamation of the blockade of Cuban ports a cap- 
 ture was made which threatened international complications. The 
 French mail steamer LaFayette was held up almost under the guns of 
 Morro Castle. 
 
 The Annapolis hailed her in the harbor offing and receiving no an- 
 swer but a show of the French tricolor plumped a six-pounder across 
 her bows and brought her up standing. 
 
 Prayers and Tears in Staterooms. 
 
 Of the 161 cabin passengers on the steamer eighty were women and 
 children. They locked themselves in the staterooms when the warning 
 shot was fired and the Annapolis and Wilmington approached, and gave 
 themselves up to prayers and tears. 
 
 Most of the passengers were Spaniards or Cubans, and there were a 
 few Mexicans. Nearly all were bound for Havana. 
 
 The steamer was filled to the hatches with medicines, provisions, 
 wines and cotton goods consigned to merchants in Havana and Vera 
 Cruz, Mexico. It is estimated that the value of the ship's cargo was 
 nearly $500,000. Her net tonnage is 4,000 tons. She hails from San- 
 tan der, France, and cleared from Corunna, Spain, April 23, two days 
 after the President issued the blockade proclamation, although Captain 
 Lechapelane declared he was not notified. 
 
 As soon as official notice of her capture reached Washington tele- 
 grams were sent ordering immediate release. 
 
 The explanation for this action on the part of the administration is 
 given in the statement which follows and which was issued from the 
 White House: 
 
 "The LaFayette was released in pursuance of orders which were is- 
 sued by the Navy Department previous to her seizure, but which had not 
 
 9 61 
 
362 FIRST GUNS AND FIRST PRIZES OF THE WAR, 
 
 been received by the commanding officers of the vessels that made the 
 capture. The facts are that on April 29 the French Embassy made an 
 informal inquiry as to whether the LaFayette, which left Saint Nazaire, 
 France, for Vera Cruz, by way of Havana, before war was declared or in- 
 formation of the blockade was received, would be allowed to land at Ha- 
 vana certain passengers, her mail bags and the dispatch bag of the Con- 
 sulate-General of France and take some French passengers on board. 
 An assurance w r as given that, if this privilege should be granted, the 
 steamer would be forbidden by the Franch Consul to land goods. 
 
 "The matter was duly considered and it was decided that, without 
 regard to the strict law of blockade and as an act of courtesy, the re- 
 quest of the French Government should be acceded to. Orders were ac- 
 cordingly sent on the 2d of May. When information w T as received of 
 the capture of the steamer and of her having been brought to Key West, 
 these orders were communicated to the captors, with instructions to re- 
 lease the steamer and see that the orders were duly delivered, so that 
 they might be carried into effect. No demand was made, either by or on 
 behalf of the French Government, directly or indirectly, for the steam- 
 er's release. The Wilmington, will escort the LaFayette to Havana to- 
 night." 
 
 On May 8th the British tramp steamer Strathdee, Captain Currie, at- 
 tempted to run the blockade, but was overhauled by the gunboat Ma- 
 chias. The Captain of the Strathdee claimed that the vessel was loaded 
 with sugar and that he had on board a number of Spanish refugees from 
 Sagua la Grande. He also said that the steamer was bound for Matan- 
 zas, where it was desired to disembark some of the refugees. The com- 
 mander of the Machias was skeptical of the story, however, and warned 
 the Captain of the Strathdee that if he attempted to take the vessel into 
 Matanzas she would be fired on, whereupon the Strathdee put about and 
 steamed away in the direction of New York. 
 
 Three Small Prizes Towed into Key West. 
 
 Three prizes were brought in May 9th. They were the brigantinc Lo- 
 renzo, taken by the Montgomery near Havana, on Friday, while bound 
 for Eio de la Plata with a cargo of dried beef. 
 
 The Espana, a little fishing sloop, was taken by the Merrill about 
 three miles off Mariel just after a sharp engagement. The Newport was 
 close at hand at the time, and a prize crew made up from both ships 
 brought the capture in. 
 
FIRST GUNS AND FIRST PRIZES OF THE WAR. 363 
 
 The third vessel taken was the schooner Padre de Dios, Master Mateo 
 Herrera, laden with fish. It was taken by the Newport off Mariel, and 
 was brought in by a petty officer and a prize crew. All three accepted 
 one blank shot apiece as sufficient. 
 
 Making Her Prize Work as Towboat. 
 
 One captive was seen taking another to port on the morning of May 
 9th. Both are prizes of the gunboat Newport, and were captured be- 
 tween Mariel and Havana. 
 
 It was about sunrise, just after an inexplicable shot had been fired 
 from a Havana battery, that a dispatch boat off Morro Castle sighted 
 the Newport with a big Norwegian tramp steamer, the Bratsberg, fol- 
 lowing obediently. Suddenly the Newport's stack blew clouds of black 
 smoke, and, looking for the cause, a pretty two-masted schooner was 
 seen, her sails wing and wing, flying from the northwest for Havana. 
 
 A blank shot sounded over the waters. The schooner stood no 
 chance, but she kept her course until a solid six-pounder from the New- 
 port skimmed across to her, and dropped ahead of the bowsprit. Then 
 she dropped her jib and came about quickly, sailing toward the warship, 
 as one has seen a dog run to his master at the snap of a lash. She was 
 the Fernandito, avaricious of the bounty Captain-General Blanco offered 
 for fish delivered to hungry Havana. A line was put aboard her, and the 
 Bratsberg was compelled to take the other end and go to Key West. 
 
 The Spanish set a trap one day during the blockade. The wily Span- 
 iards arranged a trap to send a couple of our ships to the bottom. A 
 small schooner was sent out from Havana harbor to draw some of the 
 Americans into the ambuscade. The ruse worked like a charm. The 
 Vicksburg and the Morrill, in the heat of the chase and in their contempt 
 for Spanish gunnery, walked straight into the trap that had bepn set for 
 them. Had the Spaniards possessed their souls in patience but five min- 
 utes longer, not even their bad gun practice would have saved our ships, 
 and two more of our vessels would lie at the bottom within two lengths 
 of the wreck of the ill-starred Maine. 
 
 Friday evening the Vicksburg and the Morrill, cruising to the west 
 of Morro Castle, were fired on by the big guns of the Cojimar batteries. 
 Two shots were fired at the Vicksburg and one at the Morrill. Both fell 
 short, and both vessels, without returning the fire, steamed out of range. 
 It would have been folly to have done otherwise. But this time the 
 Spaniards had better luck. The schooner they had sent out before day- 
 
364 FIRST GUNS AND FIRST PRIZES OF THE WAR. 
 
 light ran off to the eastward, hugging the shore, with the wind on her 
 starboard quarter. About three miles east of the entrance to the har- 
 bor she came over on the port tack. A light haze fringed the horizon and 
 she was not discovered until three miles off shore, when the Mayflower* 
 made her out and signaled the Morrill and Vicksburg. 
 
 They Take the Bait. 
 
 Captain Smith, of the Morrill, and Commander Lilly, of the Vicks- 
 burg, immediately slapped on all steam and started in pursuit. The 
 schooner instantly put about and ran for Morro Castle before the wind. 
 By doing so she would, according to the well-conceived Spanish plot, 
 lead the two American warships directly under the guns of the Santa 
 Clara batteries. These works are a short mile west of Morro, and are 
 a part of the defenses of the harbor. There are two batteries, one at the 
 shore, which has been recently thrown up, of sand and mortar, with wide 
 embrasures for eight-inch guns, and the other on the crest of the rocky 
 eminence which juts out into the water of the gulf at the point. 
 
 The upper battery mounts modern 10-inch and 12-inch Krupp guns 
 behind a six-foot stone parapet, in front of which are twenty feet of 
 earthwork and a belting of railroad iron. This battery is considered the 
 most formidable of Havana's defenses except Morro Castle. It is masked 
 and has not been absolutely located by the American warships. It is 
 probably due to the fact that the Spanish did not desire to expose its 
 position that the Vicksburg and Morrill are now afloat. 
 
 'The Morrill and Vicksburg were about six miles from the schooner 
 when the chase began. They steamed after her at full speed, the Morrill 
 leading until within a mile and a half of the Santa Clara batteries. 
 Commander Smith, of the Vicksburg, was the first to realize the danger 
 into w T hich the reckless pursuit had led them. He concluded it was 
 time to haul off and sent a shot' across the bow of the schooner. 
 
 Nearly Hit by Shrapnel Shells. 
 
 The Spanish skipper instantly brought his vessel about, but while she 
 was still rolling in the trough of the sea, with her sails flapping, an 8-inch 
 shrapnel shell came hurtling through the air from the water battery, a 
 mile and a half away. It passed over the Morrill between the pilot- 
 house and the smokestack and exploded less than fifty feet on the port 
 quarter. The small shot rattled against her side. It was a close call. 
 
FIRST GUNS AND FIRST PRIZES OF THE WAR. 365 
 
 Two more shots followed in quick succession, both shrapnel. One 
 burst close under the starboard quarter, filling the engine room with 
 the smoke of the explosion of the shell, and the other, like the first, 
 passed over and exploded just beyond. 
 
 The Spanish gunners had the range and their time fuses were ac- 
 curately set. The creAvs of both ships were at their guns. Lieutenant 
 Craig, who was in charge of the bow 4-inch rapid-fire gun of the Morrill, 
 asked for and obtained permission to return the fire. At the first shot 
 the Vicksburg, which was in the wake of the Merrill, slightly in-shore, 
 sheered off and passed to windward under the MorrilPs stern. 
 
 Another Narrow Escape. 
 
 In the meantime, Captain Smith also put his helm to port, and was 
 none too soon, for as the Morrill stood off a solid 8-inch shot grazed her 
 starboard quarter and kicked up tons of w~ater as it struck a wave 100 
 yards beyond. Captain Smith said afterward that this was undoubtedly 
 an 8-inch armor-piercing projectile, and that it would have passed 
 through the MorrilPs boilers had he not changed his course in the nick 
 of time. 
 
 All the guns of the water battery were now at work. One of them 
 cut the Jacob's ladder of the Vicksburg adrift, and another carried away 
 a portion of the rigging. As the Mprrill and the Vicksburg steamed 
 away their aft guns were used, but only a few shots were fired. The 
 MorrilPs 6-inch gun was elevated for 4,000 yards and struck the earth- 
 works repeatedly. The Vicksburg fired but three shots from her 
 6-pounder. 
 
 The 'Spaniards continued to fire shot and shell for twenty minutes, 
 but the shots were ineffective. Some of them were so wild that they 
 roused the American "Jackies" to jeers. The Spaniards only ceased fir- 
 ing when the Morrill and Vicksburg were completely out of range. 
 
 If all the Spanish gunners had been suffering from strabismup their 
 practice could not have been worse. But the officers of both the Morrill 
 and Vicksburg frankly admit their own recklessness and the narrow es- 
 cape of their vessels from destruction. They are firmly convinced that 
 the pursuit of the schooner was a neatly planned trick, which almost 
 proved successful. 
 
 If any one of the shots had struck the thin skin of either vessel it 
 w r ould have offered no more resistance than a piece of paper to a rifle 
 ball. 
 
366 FIRST GUNS AND FIRST PRIZES OF THE WAR. 
 
 The accurate range of the first few shots is accounted for by the fact 
 that the Spanish officers had ample time to make observations. The 
 bearings of the two vessels were probably taken with a range-finder at 
 the Santa Clara battery, and, as this battery is probably connected by 
 wire with Morro, they were able to take bearings from both points, and 
 by laborious calculations they fixed the positions of the vessels pretty 
 accurately. With such opportunity for observation it would have been 
 no great trick for an American gunner to drop a shell down the smoke- 
 stack of a vessel. 
 
 As soon as the ships sheered off after the first fire, the Spanish gun- 
 ners lost the range and their practice became ludicrous. If they had 
 waited five minutes longer before opening fire, Captain Smith says it 
 would haye been well-nigh impossible to have missed the target. 
 
 Prior to the invasion of Cuba by our army large stores of arms and 
 ammunition were sent to the insurgents. One of the most notable of 
 these expeditions was made by the tug Leyden, which carried 50,000 
 rounds of rifle cartridges and two chests of dynamite. She left Key 
 West with Colonel Acosta and some twenty-five other Cubans on board, 
 who were to join General Gomez in Santa Clara Province. The tug 
 reached the Cuban coast and after landing her passengers in safety 
 steamed to a point seventeen miles west of Havana, where she was met 
 by General Perico Delgado with about 100 Cubans on the beach. The 
 Leyden's crew began landing the ammunition, when a small body of 
 Spanish cavalry appeared some little distance back from the shore, and, 
 dismounting, began firing upon the Leyden. Several bullets had pene- 
 trated the tug's smoke-stack, when the boat drew off the shore some 
 three miles, where it met the gunboat Wilmington. 
 
 Returning under the protection of the gunboat, the Leyden again 
 began landing its cargo. The Spaniards soon returned, and, ignoring 
 a lively fusillade from Degaldo's insurgents, resumed their attack on 
 the Leyden. The Wilmington, which had taken up a position further 
 off shore, sent a three-pound shell into the midst of the cavalry, wound- 
 ing several of them and putting them to flight. The Leyden then fin- 
 ished the work of landing the ammunition, and returned to Key West. 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 
 DECLARATION OF WAR. 
 
 The Spanish Minister in Washington Demands His Passports Minister 
 Woodford Leaves Madrid Formal Declaration of War Our Govern- 
 ment Declares Its Intentions The War Feeling in Spain Effect of 
 the Declaration in Cuba Opinion of the Vice-President of the Cuban 
 Republic. 
 
 Spain was given until Saturday, April 23, at noon, to answer the 
 demand of our government expressed in. the joint Cuban resolutions, 
 passed by both Houses of Congress, and signed by the President. In 
 default of an answer by that time, the President declared his intention 
 to carry out the purpose of the ultimatum. A copy of this ultimatum 
 was delivered to Senor Polo, the Spanish Minister at Washington. Senor 
 Polo instantly demanded his passports, declared all diplomatic relations 
 between himself as Minister and the United States no longer possible, 
 and within a few hours was on his way to Canada. 
 
 At Madrid, before our Minister could comply with his instructions, 
 he was notified by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs that diplo- 
 matic relations were at an end. He at once asked for his passports, and 
 the same day left for Paris. 
 
 President McKinley rightly regarded the conduct of Spain in break- 
 ing off diplomatic intercourse and refusing even to receive his demand, 
 as an equivalent to an absolute refusal. There remained no reason to 
 await action till Saturday noon, as no possible reply could be expected 
 to a demand the very presentation of which had been positively rejected. 
 In short, Spain instantly showed that it regarded the act of Congress 
 and President as practically a declaration of war, and there remained 
 no resort except to arms. 
 
 On Monday, April 25, the President sent to Congress a message 
 asking for a joint resolution declaring that a state of war existed 
 between Spain and the United States,. and a bill was at once introduced 
 into the House declaring that war did exist, and had existed, since and 
 including April 21, which passed in less than two minutes. The Senate 
 promptly concurred and the bill became a law. 
 
 367 
 
3(58 DECLARATION OF WAE. 
 
 While the United States was not a party to the Declaration of Paris, 
 the government made known its intention to maintain its four cardinal 
 principles: (1) Privateering abolished, (2) Neutral flags to exempt 
 an enemy's goods from capture, except contraband of war. (3) Neutral 
 goods under an enemy's flag not to be seized (4) Blockade to be bind- 
 ing must be effective. Spain, on her part, issued a decree recognizing the 
 fact that a state of war existed, breaking off all treaties with the United 
 States, and promising to observe the rules just given, except that she 
 maintained her right to grant letters of marque to privateers. But this 
 exception was modified by Spain's declaring her intention to send out 
 only auxiliary cruisers taken from the mercantile marine and kept 
 under naval control. One consideration which may have influenced this 
 decision was the self-evident fact that the European Powers would cer- 
 tainly interfere, in the event that Spain attempted to carry on privateer- 
 ing under the old methods. 
 
 The War Feeling in Spain. 
 
 In Spain the war feeling was high. The Queen Kegent, in her speech 
 to the Cortes, declared "the unalterable resolution of my government to 
 defend our rights, whatsoever sacrifices may be imposed upon us in 
 accomplishing this task." She said further: 
 
 "Thus identifying myself with the nation, I not only fulfil the oath I 
 swore in accepting the regency, but I follow the dictates of a mother's 
 heart, trusting to the Spanish people to gather behind my son's throne 
 and to defend it until he is old enough to defend it himself, as well as 
 trusting to the Spanish people to defend the honor and territory of the 
 nation." 
 
 The Policy of the Administration. 
 
 The President and Congress undoubtedly acted on the lines of good 
 policy in making a formal declaration of war. As Mr. McKinley said in 
 his message to Congress, the trend of events compelled him to take meas- 
 ures of a hostile kind. A blockade had been established and Spanish 
 vessels had been captured. While every civilized power on earth imme- 
 diately learned the facts, there still remained the necessity of going 
 through the formal act of notifying them of this government's inten- 
 tions. In this instance, as in others in the nation's history, the actual 
 hostilities were begun before it seemed necessary for the government to 
 make a formal declaration. According to the authorities on interna- 
 tional law, "a declaration may be necessary, but is not essential." In 
 
From Photo. Copyright 1891 by H. G. Peabody, Boston, Mass. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES PROTECTED CRUISER "CHICAGO" 
 
 Thickness of protective deck is \% inches. Speed, 15 knots 
 
DECLARATION OF WAR. 371 
 
 this case, when it became so evident that a general conflict was immi- 
 nent, the administration did fairly by the commercial nations of the 
 world in formally stating its position, and giving them all warning as 
 to the consequences which might follow in the case of vessels attempting 
 to enter Cuban waters. 
 
 The resolutions were admirably brief and concise, merely declaring 
 the existence of a state of war, and authorizing the President to do what- 
 ever he thought best with the army and the navy. 
 
 By this act, while the situation was in itself no way changed, the 
 nation assumed a definite diplomatic status as a power at war, and was 
 free to proceed to any such acts as came within the laws of civilized 
 nations in time of war. 
 
 Effect of the Declaration in Cuba. 
 
 When the news of the action of the administration reached the in- 
 surgents in Cuba it caused great rejoicing among them, for they felt 
 that the hour of their deliverance was at last at hand. In speaking of 
 it, Dr. Capote, Vice-President of the Cuban Republic, said : 
 
 I desire to thank the great American people and their government for the 
 resolution they have made to free us from the tyrannical rule of Spain. The 
 people of Cuba believe in the good faith of the people of America. They be- 
 lieve in their honesty of purpose to free Cuba and are confident of their ability 
 to do so; but it must be borne in mind that the loadstar of the Cuban is not 
 merely freedom from the dominion of Spain, but independence from outside 
 control, however beneficent that control might be, and absolute non-interfer- 
 ence by others in the management of our own affairs. "Cuba free and inde- 
 pendent" is the watchword of Cuban liberty. 
 
 The Cuban commanders await some decisive step on the part of your gen- 
 erals. If you can open up and maintain communication with the Cuban armies, 
 and give us a plentiful supply of arms and ammunition, we will free Cuba with- 
 out the loss of an American soldier. Our position on 'the field is precarious. 
 For lack of supplies, we cannot concentrate our troops. Our camps shift from 
 place to place, according to food conditions. We are hampered and embar- 
 rassed for lack of ammunition. We cannot arm the men we are able to put in , 
 the field. Open up communication, give us arms and supplies, and we ask no 
 more. 
 
 As to the eventual settlement of the island, when the war is ended and 
 when the last Spanish soldier has left Cuba, the work of the provisional gov- 
 ernment will be ended. The people of Cuba, whatever the class or sympathy, 
 will then say how we shall be governed. There will be no reprisals, no confis- 
 cation, no distinctions. 
 
CHAPTER XLIII. 
 CALL FO& THE NATIONAL GUARD, OUR CITIZEN SOLDIERY. 
 
 Enthusiastic Answer to the Call Requirements of the War Department 
 Who May Enlist How the Army was Formed In the Training Camps 
 The American Makes the Best Soldier The "Rough Riders" Cow- 
 boys and Society Men Their Uniforms and Their Weapons Their 
 Fighting Leaders. 
 
 If all the men who showed a, desire to answer the call to arms had 
 been accepted, no nation in the world could have boasted of a larger 
 army. The demand was so limited and the supply so great that many 
 more had to be refused than were accepted, and many of the National 
 Guard, who were given the preference in all the States, were rejected at 
 the final examination, because they lacked some of the qualifications 
 necessary in a soldier of the United States. 
 
 According to the requirements of the war department applicants for 
 enlistment must be between the ages of 18 and 35 years, of good charac- 
 ter and habits, able-bodied, free from disease and must be able to speak 
 the English language. If one is addicted to the bad habit of smoking 
 cigarettes it is quite likely that he will not pass the physical examinar 
 tion. A man who has been a heavy drinker is apt to be rejected without 
 ceremony. 
 
 Married men will only be enlisted upon the approval of the regi- 
 mental commander. 
 
 Minors must not be enlisted without the written consent of father, 
 only surviving parent, or legally appointed guardian. Original enlist- 
 ment will be confined to persons who are citizens of the United States or 
 ' who have made legal declaration of their intention to become citizens 
 thereof. 
 
 These requirements fulfilled a man is permitted to take the physical 
 examination. Few understand just how rigid this examination is. 
 Many have been rejected who thought that they were in perfect physical 
 condition. A number of applicants who were confident that they would 
 be allowed to enlist were rejected by the physicians on account of vari- 
 
 372 
 
CALL FOK THE NATIONAL GUARD. 373 
 
 cose veins. Varicose veins are enlarged veins which are apt to burst 
 under the stress of long continued exertion. Closely allied to this is 
 varieocele, which threw out a surprisingly large proportion of the 
 National Guard and the recruits. 
 
 After a man is weighed and his height taken, he is turned over to the 
 doctor, who places the applicant's hands above his head and proceeds to 
 feel his flesh. If it is soft and of flabby fiber the physician is not well 
 pleased and if he finds that the bones are too delicate for the amount 
 of flesh he turns the applicant down. Fat men, however, get through 
 if their bones are solid and there is no organic weakness of any descrip- 
 tion. To discover the condition of the heart the applicant is made to 
 hop about five yards on one foot and back again on the other. The doc- 
 tor then listens to the beating of the heart. He lifts his head and says 
 to some apparently fine-looking specimen of manhood the simple word: 
 
 "Rejected." 
 
 This man has heart trouble, and, strange to say, he does not know it. 
 If a man be of a pale complexion or rather sallow, the doctors will ques- 
 tion him with regard to his stomach. Of course the lungs are thoroughly 
 tested. It is not often, however, that any one presents himself who is 
 suffering from lung trouble. One man in particular was rejected 
 because of the formation of his chest. He was what is commonly known 
 as "pigeon-breasted." The doctors said that there was not enough room 
 for air in the lungs, and yet the rejected applicant was a w r ell-known 
 athlete. 
 
 But after all organic centers have been found in excellent condition 
 several things yet remain to be tested. A man's feet must not blister 
 easily. His teeth must be good, because bad teeth interfere with diges- 
 tion and are apt to develop stomach troubles. Of course other things 
 taken into consideration a particular defect may be overlooked accord- 
 ing to the discretion of the doctor. A man with his index finger gone 
 stands no show. 
 
 A bow-legged man will be accepted, but a knocked-kneed man rarely. 
 
 The final test is of the eyes. At a distance of twenty feet one must 
 be able to read letters a half inch in size. Many tricks were played to 
 read the letters when the eager candidate could see only a blur before 
 him. The favorite method was to memorize the letters from those who 
 had taken the examination and knew in just what order the letters were 
 situated. 
 
374 CALL FOR THE NATIONAL GUARD 
 
 How an Army Is Formed. 
 
 The making of an army that is what it means to turn men of peace 
 to men of war, to fit the mechanic or the business man, the farmer or 
 the miner, for a passage at arms with a foreign foe has been for the 
 present generation a matter of conjecture and of lessons drawn from 
 previous passages in the nation's chronicles. In our war with Spain it 
 became a fact, and the progress made in the various stages forms a chap- 
 ter in the public history which is as interesting as any of those conquests 
 of either peace or war which brighten for every American the pages of 
 the achievements of the Union of the States. 
 
 It is impossible to tell just how an army is made. During the long 
 debates which preceded the declaration of war, eloquent men on both 
 sides of the chambers of Congress pictured the strength of American 
 arms, the shrillness of the scream of the eagle, and the sharpness of his 
 talons, and applauding galleries saw in the coming combat little but 
 the calling out of the vast body of the reserve strength of the American 
 people, its marching upon the enemy, and return, bearing captured 
 standards and leading prisoners in chains, to the music of the applaud- 
 ing nations, and the thanksgiving of a people made free by their strug- 
 gles. The other side was never touched. The nights of toil by staff 
 officers, the multiplied forces of mills and factories, the shriek of the 
 trains crossing the continent, bearing men and munitions, and the hours 
 of waiting for the completion of those warlike implements which the 
 peaceful American has never before contemplated in the expansion of 
 his industrial institutions, were entirely overlooked. 
 
 Not by all, however, for, from the moment the conflict seemed inev- 
 itable, stern-eyed men who had fought before began to count, not the 
 cost, but the hours between the giving of an order and its fulfillment, 
 between the calling and the coming, and finally when the results of their 
 labors were completed the story of what they did may be partly told. 
 
 All the processes of making a soldier are as distinct as are those 
 which mark the seed time and the harvest, the milling and the making 
 of the loaf. It can be readily seen that in a country where the standing 
 army is but 25,000, and the militia forces of the various States bears 
 such a slight proportion to the population, that manufactures of mate- 
 rials of use only in time of war could not flourish. Thus it was that at 
 the time of the commencement of hostilities there was available in the 
 
CALL FOR THE NATIONAL GUAED. 375 
 
 United States equipment for an army of less than one-fifth the size of that 
 which afterwards took the field, and patriotism and fidelity were shown 
 as much in the outfitting of that force, as can be shown in actual batt.le 
 by any volunteer or regular officer, whether he be posted in fort or field, 
 and win glory by brilliant dash, or simply doing his duty by holding his 
 post. 
 
 The ready response to the President's call for volunteers was suf- 
 ficient to prove that the people were eager to take up arms and ready to 
 go to the front. But enthusiasm, patriotism and readiness never make 
 an army. An army is a great machine, of which each individual is a 
 part, and there even the militia men of the various States, who had 
 spent so much time in preparing themselves for just such a struggle, 
 lacked the one great element without which no army can hope for suc- 
 cess: the capacity to move in unison. Few of the States had given their 
 men the training which makes of the simple company or regiment a 
 wheel in the brigade or division. 
 
 In the great camps at Ohickamauga, at Camp Alger, at Tampa, and 
 at San Francisco the task of making an army from men who a month 
 before had been working in the store, the mill or the field, went on. This 
 meant long, thorough drilling under competent instructors. Careful 
 study of the tactics and intelligent comprehension of the meaning of 
 an order makes the soldier. It is not possible to imagine anything more 
 difficult than the thorough training of the arms bearer, and for this 
 task the American seems better fitted than the men of any other country. 
 In an analysis of the soldiers of the world an authority would place the 
 American, combining as he does the blood of nations, at the head of the 
 list, for the reason that with his finer sensibility, his greater capacity to 
 think while acting and to act while thinking, all tend to produce in him. 
 that character capable of high and perfect development in the soldier. 
 
 At Chickamauga, under General Wade; at Washington, under Gen- 
 eral Graham; at Tampa, under General Shafter; at San Francisco, 
 under General Merriam, and on the New York and New England coasts 
 under brigadiers who had served East and West, the raw material was 
 formed, until at length the perfect soldier was produced, the soldier of 
 whom it could be said: 
 
 "Theirs not to reason why, 
 Theirs but to do and die." 
 
376 CALL FOR THE NATIONAL GUARD. 
 
 About the Eough Riders. 
 
 Those who are acquainted with the nature of the service usually re- 
 quired of cavalry in time of war will not question the usefulness of the 
 cowboy regiment rough riders as they are called that were raised in 
 the West to take part in the invasion of Cuba. 
 
 The cow r boy is a rapidly passing type. Barbed wire, the fencing in 
 of the range, together with the irrigation and cultivation of those 
 regions w r hich were once marked as deserts on the maps have been re- 
 sponsible for his undoing and he has made what may prove to be his last 
 stand, as a soldier. 
 
 The cowboy regiment was the idea of the assistant secretary of the 
 navy, Theodore Roosevelt, who had had some experience himself as a 
 cowboy on his Wyoming ranch and who was an expert in such matters 
 as branding, rope-throwing, broncho breaking and those other practices 
 which are peculiar to the "cow-puncher." 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt's regiment, which figures on the army 
 records as the "1st regiment of rifle rangers," but which the general 
 public from the first preferred to call "Roosevelt's rough riders," or more 
 simply still, "Teddy's terrors," was made up almost entirely of cowboys, 
 with a small sprinkling of society men, who had both a fondness and an 
 aptitude for horsemanship, which had found no other outlet than that 
 offered by the hunting field and the polo ground. 
 
 Made Up Almost Entirely of Cowboys. 
 
 In organization the regiment w r as not widely different from the 
 famous Texas Rangers, but the uniform was the same as that of the 
 cavalrymen of the regular army, slightly modified. Its personnel, with 
 the exception of the millionaire members was about the same, however, 
 as that of the Rangers. It included men from almost every State in the 
 Union, and they could one and all ride well, and shoot well, and many of 
 them smelled pow r der in more than one Indian war. 
 
 While Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt took the most active part in its 
 formation, he did not command the regiment. That responsibility was 
 delegated to Colonel Wood, who w r as almost as well known in the West 
 as Roosevelt was in the East. He entered the army as a. surgeon, but he 
 probably had much more to do with the making of wounds than their 
 healing. 
 
CALL FOR THE NATIONAL GUARD. 377 
 
 It is said of him that when he was first assigned for duty to an 
 Arizona post he arrived at the post one night at 7 o'clock, and the next 
 morning at 4 was in- the field and at work. This was during the Apache 
 campaign in 1885, and Surgeon Wood soon won for himself the name of 
 the fighting doctor. He was conspicuous in the famous Geronimo out- 
 break, having command at various times of the infantry and scouts 
 engaged in the chase after that wily savage. 
 
 The regiment was armed with the Krag-Jorgensen carbine and 
 revolvers, without which no cowboy would be complete even in time of 
 peace. And instead of 'the regular cavalry sw r ord, which is a rather 
 unwieldy instrument except in the hands of men trained to its use, the 
 rough riders adopted the Cuban machete, which even the inexperienced 
 can use successfully; but it was not intended that they should be swords- 
 men; their reliance was on the rifle and revolver. The machete was car- 
 ried merely as a possible dependence should ammunition fail, or a hand- 
 to-hand encounter with the cavalry of the enemy occur. In the develop- 
 ment of this plan of action it can be seen that Colonel Wood and Lieuten- 
 ent-Colonel Eoosevelt in the tactics they employed followed closely those 
 used by the mounted riflemen of the revolution. It was a band of this 
 sort that after a ride of sixty miles the last day met and utterly routed 
 the English under Colonel Ferguson. 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 BLOCKADE OF CUBAN PORTS. 
 
 Contraband of War Confiscation of Cargoes Establishment of a Blockade 
 Notice to Other Nations Prizes, Lawful and Unlawful Privateer- 
 ing Abolished Distribution of Prize Money The Use the Govern- 
 ment Makes of Its Share. 
 
 While the great blockade was in progress the air was full of talk 
 about "prizes," "contraband," "search," and "seizure," and some of the 
 terms proved rather puzzling to the average citizen who had never had 
 occasion to study the rules of war. 
 
 First about "contraband." It is one of the strictest rules of war that 
 neutral nations must not interfere nor in any way give help to either 
 party. To furnish ships or arms or ammunition might greatly prolong 
 the conflict or even change its result, especially where this assistance is 
 extended to a nation like Spain to-day ill supplied and of small 
 resources. This would be manifestly unfair, and for a neutral to offer or 
 abet such aid is a grave offense. For remissness in an aggravated case 
 of this sort (that of the Alabama) England was forced to pay us heavy 
 damages. Neither national sympathy nor national interests afford any 
 excuse. 
 
 That is why we restrained and punished those who organized expe- 
 ditions to help the Cubans while we were still at peace with Spain. But 
 nations engaged in war must not ask too much. They may insist that a 
 neutral shall allow no hostile operations to be carried on within its ter- 
 ritory, but they have no right to demand that it shall punish its private 
 citizens for engaging in trade in articles that may be helpful to the 
 enemy, for that would be imposing too much trouble and expense upon 
 a nation which has no concern in the quarrel. Such trade is punishable, 
 but it is the business of the nation injured by it to catch the ships 
 engaged in it and enforce the penalty which is usually confiscation of 
 the goods as "contraband of war." To do this it may stop and search any 
 ships except warships which it finds at sea; and so long as no out- 
 rages are committed the neutral must submit and has no ground for 
 
 378 
 
BLOCKADE OF CUBAN PORTS. 
 
 complaint. Trade in contraband goods is tolerated, but it is carried on 
 at the trader's own risk. His government will not undertake to protect 
 him from the legitimate consequences of his venture. 
 
 As has been stated, the contraband goods are confiscated by the 
 captor. The vessel, however, must be captured while the guilty goods 
 are still on board; to seize the proceeds after the cargo has been sold and 
 landed is not allowable, though it has sometimes been done. If the ship 
 belongs to the same owner as the forfeited goods, it, too, is confiscated; 
 otherwise it goes free after the goods are taken off. 
 
 It is very important to know just what articles are contraband and 
 what are not; but this is often hard to decide. There is no question 
 about weapons, military equipments and ammunition. These are 
 plainly contraband, and the materials from which they are made are 
 classed with them whenever they seem intended for military uses. Thus 
 sulphur and saltpeter are always contraband. The detached parts of 
 cannon and naval engines do escape by the trick of separation. 
 
 Cloth is not contraband in itself, but if of a quality evidently de- 
 signed for the manufacture of uniform it would probably be seized. 
 Horses are so useful in war that most nations treat them as contraband 
 though, oddly enough, Kussia has never done so. Still more objection- 
 able, nowadays, is coal, which will never be allowed to reach the bunkers 
 of hostile warships if it can be prevented. This shows plainly how uncer- 
 tain and changeful is the list, for fifty years ago coal was as free as pro- 
 visions, though even food must not be run through the lines of a 
 blockade. 
 
 Articles, such as coal, which are of great value in war, but are also 
 largely used for peaceful purposes, are called "occasional contraband" 
 and their seizure has given rise to endless disputes. There is no justice 
 in treating them as contraband except when they are obviously destined 
 for hostile use. Sometimes, in doubtful ca.ses, such goods, instead of 
 being confiscated, are seized and paid for to prevent their reaching the 
 enemy. This is called "pre-emption;" but, fair as it seems, there is much 
 danger that it will be made a pretext for appropriating goods which 
 ought to go quite free, and the practice is generally condemned. 
 
 Search at sea is extremely annoying, and ships entirely innocent of 
 contraband are often subjected to great inconvenience. That must be 
 endured; to attempt to resist or escape would make them liable to con- 
 fiscation, whatever their cargo might prove to be. Only properly com- 
 missioned vessels, however, are entitled to hold up merchantmen for this 
 purpose. Another kind of meddling in war for which a neutral citizen 
 
380 BLOCKADE OF CUBAN PORTS. 
 
 may be punished by confiscation, but for which his government is not 
 held responsible, is blockade running. 
 
 A blockade, such as we maintained around Cuba, is established by 
 stationing war vessels at the entrances of harbors and at intervals along 
 the blockaded coast. Its purpose is to cut 'off supplies and stop all com- 
 munication with the enemy by sea. The merchant ships of all nations 
 are therefore forbidden to pass or even to approach the line, and the 
 penalty for disobedience is the confiscation of both ship and cargo 
 whether the latter is contraband or not here makes no difference. If 
 the ship does not stop when hailed she may be fired upon, and if she is 
 sunk while endeavoring to escape it is her own fault. And unlike vessels 
 merely guilty of carrying contraband, she is no less liable to seizure on 
 her return voyage, after her cargo has been disposed of. Altogether, 
 blockade running is perilous business. It is usually attempted under 
 cover of night or stormy weather, and it is as full of excitement and 
 adventure as war itself. The motive is usually either to take advantage 
 of famine prices, or to aid the enemy by bringing supplies or carrying 
 dispatches- 
 Neutral ships, however, are entitled to some sort of warning that a 
 blockade exists. Notice is therefore sent to all neutral governments, 
 announcing the fact and stating exactly the extent of coast covered. 
 Besides this, until the blockade has lasted for some time and thus has 
 become generally known it is customary for the officers of the blockading 
 fleet to visit and warn every ship that approaches, the warning, with the 
 date, being entered upon her register. If, after that, she approaches the 
 forbidden coast, she is liable to confiscation though possibly great 
 stress of weather might excuse her provided she landed no cargo. In- 
 structions of this sort were issued by President McKinley to our squad- 
 ron blockading Cuba. A reasonable time, also, was granted to ships that 
 were lying in the blockaded ports at the time when the blockade was 
 declared, to make their escape. President McKinley allowed thirty 
 days for this purpose, which was unusually liberal. 
 
 Nations engaged in war have sometimes assumed that they could 
 establish a blockade by simply issuing a proclamation forbidding neu- 
 trals to approach the enemy's coast, without stationing ships to enforce 
 it. For example, during the Napoleonic wars, France declared the whole 
 coast of England to be blockaded at a time when she scarcely dared send 
 out a ship from her ports, having been soundly thrashed at Trafalgar. 
 But these "paper blockades" are a mere waste of time and ink. They 
 are not valid, and except in the way of angry and contemptuous protest, 
 
BLOCKADE OF CUBAN PORTS. 381 
 
 no nation would consider them worthy of the slightest attention. If 
 Spain, for instance, should attempt a desperate game of bluff by declar- 
 ing New Orleans, New York and Boston under blockade, all neutral 
 ships would come and go just the same, and she would meddle with them 
 at her peril. This question *-if it ever was a question was finally 
 decided by the epoch-making convention of the powers at the close of 
 the Crimean war (treaty of Paris, 1856), which, along with other rules 
 that have revolutionized naval warfare, declared that "blockades in 
 order to be binding must be effective." This means that they must be 
 maintained by a force actually stationed on the blockaded coast, strong 
 enough to make it decidedly dangerous to attempt to run through. The 
 temporary absence of some of the ships, however, either in pursuit of 
 an enemy or on account of a violent storm, would not invalidate the 
 blockade, and ships seeking to take advantage of such an opening would 
 be liable to the full penalty if caught 
 
 And now a few words about "prizes" a -particularly interesting and 
 timely theme, for during the very first week of the war our fleet captured 
 no fewer than fifteen of them. 
 
 In time of war properly commissioned ships are entitled to capture 
 not only the armed vessels but also the helpless merchantmen of the 
 enemy. It does seem a good deal like piracy, but it has been the uni- 
 versal practice from time immemorial. These captured vessels are taken 
 to some convenient port of the captor's own country that the courts may 
 pass judgment on them, and if there has been no mistake made in the 
 seizure they are forthwith condemned as "lawful prize." Then they are 
 sold, and "prize money" is awarded the captors in proportion to the value 
 of the prize. The cargo is treated in the same way, unless it happens 
 to belong to a neutral, in which case it is free; though the owner must 
 put up with the inconvenience and delay resulting from the seizure, 
 since he deliberately took that risk when he placed his goods in a hostile 
 craft. Formerly his property was sometimes confiscated under these cir- 
 cumstances, but the treaty of Paris, already mentioned, put a stop to 
 that. Formerly, too, the goods of enemies could be taken from neutral 
 ships and confiscated in the same manner as contraband of war, but the 
 treaty of Paris made an end of that also. 
 
 Another excellent rule adopted on that notable occasion abolished 
 privateering. Privateers were armed ships belonging to private citizens 
 who had obtained from their own government a commission (letter of 
 marque) which authorized them to make prize of the enemy's merchant 
 vessels and appropriate the proceeds. The abolition of privateering was 
 
382 BLOCKADE OF CUBAN POETS. 
 
 a long step in the right direction, for the privateer's motive was mainly 
 plunder, and the whole business was really close kin to piracy. Neither 
 the United States nor Spain signed the original agreement, but both 
 have acceded to it now Spain, evidently, very much against her will, 
 for her citizens thirsted for the rich booty of our commerce, a fact which 
 makes supremely ridiculous her crazy ravings against our legitimate 
 captures as "American piracy." 
 
 Distribution of Prize Money. 
 
 The prize money adjudged to captors is distributed in the following 
 proportions : 
 
 1. The commander of a fleet or squadron, one-twentieth part of all 
 prize money awarded to any vessel or vessels under his immediate com- 
 mand. 
 
 2. To the commander of a division of a fleet or squadron, a sum 
 equal to one-fiftieth of any prize money aAvarded to a vessel of the 
 division under his command, to be paid from the moiety due the United 
 States, if there be such moiety; if not, from the amount awarded the 
 captors. 
 
 3. To the fleet captain, one-hundredth part of all prize money 
 awarded to any vessel of the fleet in which he is serving, in which case 
 he shall share in proportion to his pay, with the other officers and men on 
 board such vessel. 
 
 4. To the commander of a single vessel, one-tenth of all the prize 
 money awarded to the vessel. 
 
 5. After the foregoing deductions, the residue is distributed among 
 the others doing duty on board, and borne upon the books of the ship, 
 in proportion to their respective rates of pay. 
 
 All vessels of the navy within signal distance of the vessel making 
 the capture, and in such condition as to be able to render effective aid if 
 required, will share in the prize. Any person temporarily absent from 
 his vessel may share in the captures made during his absence. The prize 
 court determines what vessels shall share in a prize, and also whether 
 a prize was superior or inferior to the vessel or vessels making the 
 capture. 
 
 The share of prize money awarded to the United States is set apart 
 forever as a fund for the payment of pensions to naval officers, seamen 
 and marines entitled to pensions. 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 
 SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME. 
 
 Spain Threatened with Interior Difficulties Danger that the Crown Might 
 Be Lost to the Baby King of Spain Don Carlos and the Carlists Are 
 Active Castelar Is Asked to Establish a Republic General Weyler as 
 a Possible Dictator History of the Carlist Movement and Sketch of 
 "the Pretender." 
 
 While these events were in progress in the international relations 
 of the United States and Spain, with a threat of a hopeless war hang- 
 ing over the latter, the embarrassments of the government of the 
 peninsular kingdom as to the conflict of its own affairs at home multi- 
 plied daily. Altogether aside from the prospective operations of the 
 WB.T itself the Queen Regent and her Ministry had more than one local 
 difficulty to face. 
 
 It was frankly recognized in their inner councils that a succession 
 of Spanish defeats, in all probability, would lose the throne to the 
 dynasty and that the boy king would never wear the crown of his 
 father. A second threat of danger was that in the midst of difficul- 
 ties abroad there would be an uprising of the adherents of Don Carlos 
 "The Pretender," who would take advantage of the situation to start 
 a civil war and seize the authority. In addition to all this, the repub- 
 licans of Spain, growing more restless under the misgovernment they 
 saw, united in an address to Castelar, who was formerly the president 
 of the Spanish republic, urging that he declare the republic again 
 established and promising to support him in such a movement. The 
 names of 20,000 of the best citizens of Spain were signed to this re- 
 quest, and it was an element of danger to the monarchy that was well 
 recognized. Finally, the partisans of General Weyler, who comprised 
 a large element of the proudest, and most influential people of Spain, 
 showed distinct signs of a desire to establish a dictatorship with that 
 ferocious general as the supreme authority. He had been recalled 
 from Cuba as a rebuke and in order to alter the policies which he had 
 established there. His friends were ready to resent the rebuke and 
 offer him higher place than he had had before. 
 
384 SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME. 
 
 Don Carlos and the Carlists. 
 
 Spain has been the scene of many revolutions, a fact easily under- 
 stood when the character of the government is known. Dishonesty 
 and oppression in an administration always breed the spirit of re- 
 bellion. Don Carlos, who regards Alfonso as a usurper, and believes 
 himself the true King of Spain, issued, April '13, from his retreat in 
 Switzerland, a manifesto to his supporters. In this he arraigned the 
 government, sought to inflame the excited Spanish populace against 
 the Queen Eegent, her son and her ministers, and declared that they 
 had permitted the Spanish standard to be dragged in the mud. He 
 said in part: 
 
 Twenty years of patriotic retirement have proved that I am neither am- 
 bitious nor a conspirator. The greater and better part of my life as a man 
 has been spent in the difficult task of restraining my natural impulses and 
 those of my enthusiastic Carlists, whose eagerness I was the first to appre- 
 ciate, but which nevertheless I curbed, although it rent my heart to do so. 
 To-day national honor speaks louder than anything, and. the same patriotic 
 duty which formerly bade me say "Wait yet a while," may lead me to cry, com- 
 manding the Carlists, "Forward," and not only the Carlists, but all Spaniards, 
 especially to the two national forces which still bravely withstand the enervat- 
 ing femininities of the regency, the people and the army. 
 
 If the glove which Washington has flung in the face of Spain is picked up 
 by Madrid I will continue the same example of abnegation as before, wretched 
 in that I cannot partake in the struggle other than by prayers and by the in- 
 fluence of my name. I will applaud from my soul those who have the good 
 fortune to face the fire, and I shall consider those Carlists as serving my 
 cause who embark in war against the United States. 
 
 But if everything leads me to fear that the policy of humiliation will again 
 prevail, we will snatch the reins of government from those who are unworthy 
 to hold them and we will occupy their places. 
 
 While their leader was talking in this strain, his supporters were 
 preparing to act. They believed that the conditions for a revolution 
 were more favorable than they had been for years, that the present 
 dynasty was doomed, and that Spain would be forced to choose be- 
 tween republicanism and Don Carlos. The only chance, they said, for 
 the retention of the present dynasty, would be for Spain to defeat the- 
 United States, and they were not so blind as to believe that such would 
 be the outcome of a war between the two powers. 
 
SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME. 385 
 
 Ready for Action. 
 
 Don Carlos himself believed that the time had come to act. He 
 journeyed to Ostend, where he consulted with Lord Ashburnham and 
 other Catholic Englishmen who were his supporters, and mapped out 
 a plan of campaign. He stood ready at any convenient moment to 
 cross the frontier and place himself at the head of his supporters. 
 
 Never since there was a pretender to the throne of Spain, and Don 
 Carlos is the third of the name, had the outlook been so favorable for 
 the fall of the constitutional monarchy. 
 
 Discontent has been widespread in Spain and it has been fomented 
 by the Carlists, with a splendid organization, with more than 2,000 
 clubs scattered in various parts of the kingdom. 
 
 Causes for discontent have not been lacking, and the Cuban and 
 Philippine revolts, together with the threatened trouble with the 
 United States, were not the 'only reasons for popular dissatisfaction. 
 Spain was bankrupt and found it difficult to borrow money from the 
 money lenders of London and Paris. With the increased expenses 
 due to the revolution there had been a decrease in receipts for the 
 same cause the usual revenues from Havana being lacking. The 
 people were poor and thousands of them starving. Additional taxa- 
 tion was out of the question, for the people were taxed to the limit. 
 
 These were the causes to which the strength of the Carlist agita- 
 tion was due. And that it was strong there can be no doubt. The 
 birthday of Don Carlos, March 30, was celebrated this year with an 
 enthusiasm and unprecedented degree of unanimity throughout the 
 kingdom, and the government did not feel itself strong enough to in- 
 terfere with them. 
 
 Toasted as King. 
 
 There were hundreds of fetes in cities, towns and villages, and 
 many of them were held in the open air, where the pretender was 
 toasted as "El Key" or "the king," and Alfonso was ignored. 
 
 This inaction could be due only to the fact that the government 
 was powerless. To say that they did not fear Don Carlos would be 
 ridiculous, as the latest manifesto of Don Carlos was suppressed, and 
 the government was really in fear a'nd trembling. A more plausible 
 reason would be^that the ministry wished to be in the good graces of 
 
38f> SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME. 
 
 Don Carlos should he win, and they were not ready to trust themselves 
 to absolute loyalty to the present dynasty. 
 
 Meanwhile, as this chapter is written, reports from Spain tell of 
 unprecedented Carlist activity. They are arming themselves. Arms 
 are pouring across the frontier in such quantities as to show that the 
 Carlists are preparing for an early rising, and all of the actions and 
 utterances of the leader show that they are only waiting for a favor- 
 able opportunity to begin the revolution. Strong proof of this is to 
 be found in the fact that since Don Carlos secured his second wife's 
 vast fortune he has been penurious, and it is not believed that he 
 would spend money in arms unless he believed the expenditure would 
 bring about some practical advantage to his cause. 
 
 His agents have been working among the army officers, and it is 
 said that they have secured many recruits for their cause. The throne 
 of Spain, like the throne of Russia, during the last century, or that of 
 Rome in the days of the empire, rests largely upon the army, and if 
 the army, discontented and dissatisfied as it certainly is, were to re- 
 volt, Don Carlos 7 success would be almost certain. 
 
 Ever since his marriage in 1894 with the Princess de Rohan, who 
 brought him a large fortune, Don Carlos has been watching a favora- 
 ble opportunity for ai coup. There cannot be a better one than that 
 which will be offered when Spain is defeated by the United States, 
 and it would not be surprising to see Don Carlos unfurl his banner to 
 the breeze and call for troops to rally to his standard. 
 
 Those who are supporters of the pretensions of Don Carlos believe 
 they have right on their side. His supporters love him with the 
 loyalty of the legitimists to the house of Stuart during the period be- 
 fore the restoration in England. His personality is attractive. He 
 has all the .elements of personal popularity with the masses* He is 
 brave and dashing. He does not sit and weep over the fallen glories 
 of his race, but he is always ready for action. He is ready at any mo- 
 ment to lead an army in a forlorn cause and will fight for what he be 
 lieves to be his rights. 
 
 Flower of Spain. 
 
 The position occupied in Spanish affairs by Don Carlos is similar 
 to that occupied by Prince Charles Edward toward the throne of 
 Great Britain during the last century. His family has been dispos- 
 sessed for about the same length of time and he has made a fight just 
 

SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME. 389 
 
 as romantic, but with more brilliant prospects, and at the head of the 
 heroic highlanders, dwellers in the Basque mountains. L ! j followers 
 are the flower of Spain, the most aristocratic families in the- kingdom, 
 willing to risk all in his support, setting property and life itself as 
 worth naught compared with their honor. 
 
 There have been three Carlist pretenders to the throne of Spain. 
 The first was Carlos V., born in 1788. He laid claim to the throne on 
 the death of his brother, Ferdinand VII., in 1833. 
 
 Ferdinand had had a stormy reign, torn by dissensions between 
 the court and the popular party. Napoleon compelled him to resign 
 in favor of Joseph Bonaparte, but he returned to the throne of his an- 
 cestors upon the fall of Bonaparte. During twenty-eight years he 
 married five wives in succession. By four of these he had no children, 
 but a daughter was born to the last, who had been Princess of Naples. 
 She secured an absolute mastery of the king, who was an imbecile un- 
 fitted to reign. The heir apparent to the throne was the grandfather 
 of the present Don Carlos, Carlos V., 'the brother of Ferdinand. Be- 
 tween Carlos and his brother there had been a long enmity. 
 
 Christina used her influence with her husband to persuade him to 
 disinherit his brother. By the Salic law females were excluded from 
 inheriting the throne of France. But through the influence of Ferdi- 
 nand and his spouse the cortes was persuaded to repeal the law, the 
 more willingly since Carlos was in favor of absolutism, while with a 
 woman as ruler the chances would be better for the perpetuation of 
 constitutionalism. The Carlists claim that during the last days Fer- 
 dinand repented his act and issued documents which would have 
 established Carlos' right to the succession, but that these wero sup- 
 pressed. However that may be, upon the death of Ferdinand his baby 
 daughter was declared Queen of Spain, with her mother as regent. 
 
 For five years there was civil war. The youth and weakness of 
 the baby queen proved her strength. The liberals believed that with 
 her as the nominal ruler the continuance of the constitutional mon- 
 archy would be assured. For the same reasons France and England 
 supported Isabella. These were odds against which Carlos could not 
 effectually fight, and in 1869 he retreated from Spain, and the his- 
 torians treat the succession as settled in favor of the young girl, who 
 even at that time was not in her teens. 
 
390 SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME, 
 
 Queen Isabella's Reign. 
 
 Isabella II., or rather her mother, for the latter was the real ruler, 
 did not rule with prudence. Scandals disgraced the reign, and led 
 to the regent's removal from the regency. Queen Isabella's ill-fated 
 marriage and other intrigues led to domestic disturbances which kept 
 alive the pretensions of the Carlists. 
 
 Upon the death of the first pretender, in 1853, a second arose in 
 the person of his son, Don Carlos, Count de Montemolim. lie at- 
 tempted to cause a revolution in 1860, but was arrested with his 
 brother, and they were not liberated until they had signed a renuncia- 
 tion of their claims to the throne, 
 
 The second pretender died in 1861, and then the present Don Car- 
 los arose. He was the son of Don Juan, and a brother of the two who 
 had renounced their claims to the Spanish throne, and he claimed 
 that their renunciation could not be binding on him. This was the 
 Don Carlos who is now the leader of the legitimists, and he has never 
 renounced his claim to the throne of his ancestors. 
 
 His name in full is Don Carlos de los Dolores Juan Isidore Josef 
 Francisco Quirino Antonio Miguel Gabriel Eafa,el. He was born in 
 the little village of Laibach in the Austrian Alps, while his parents 
 were on a journey through the country, and from his infancy his 
 career has been surrounded with a romance which has endeared him 
 to the hearts of his followers. His father, Don Juan, was an exile from 
 Spain and a royal wanderer seeking a place where he could end his 
 life in peace. 
 
 He and his wife were befriended by the Emperor Ferdinand of 
 Austria, who placed the young Don Carlos under the care of a Spanish 
 priest, who educated him for the priesthood. Even in his infancy he 
 cared nothing to become a priest in spite of his devout devotion to the 
 Eoman Catholic faith, but dreamed of the day when he would rule as 
 King of Spain. 
 
 Don Carlos was only seventeen years of age when he met and fell 
 in love with Margaret, the daughter of the Duke of Parma. She was 
 only fourteen, and the mother of the young prince persuaded them to 
 postpone the marriage for three years. With his wife the pretender 
 received a large fortune and he has been able to maintain a court in 
 the semblance of royalty for several years. 
 
 Thirty years ago Carlos might have been king. The crown was 
 
SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME. 391 
 
 then offered him by Priin and Sagasta, who journeyed to London for 
 the purpose. They said it should be his if he would support the lib- 
 eral constitution proposed for the country and would favor the sep- 
 aration of church and state. It was the latter idea that led to his re- 
 jection of the proffered honor. His strict Roman Catholic training 
 made him refuse, for religion was more to him than anything else. 
 
 Carlos' Scornful Refusal. 
 
 "When I come to my throne," he declared, "I shall rule my land as 
 I see fit." 
 
 These were the words with which he scornfully spurned their 
 offer. 
 
 The republicans never forgave him, and later when, after the de- 
 thronement of Isabella, his name was again proposed in the cortes by 
 his supporters, Prim and Sagasta were his most bitter enemies. 
 
 On Don Carlos' behalf, insurrections speedily repressed took 
 place in 1869 and 1872. But the insurrection headed by him in person 
 in 1873 proved much more formidable and kept the Basque provinces 
 in a great confusion till the beginning of 1876, when it was crushed. 
 
 Before the commencement of the war of 1872-76, Don Carlos de- 
 fined clearly his position and views in various manifestoes addressed 
 to the people of Spain. He declared that with him the revolutionary 
 doctrine should have no place. What Spain wanted, said Don Carlos, 
 was that no outrage should be offered to the faith of her fathers, for 
 in Catholicity reposed the truth, as she understood it, the symbol of 
 all her glories, the spirit of all her laws and the bond of concord be- 
 tween all good Spaniards. What Spain wanted was a real king and 
 a government worthy and energetic, strong and respected. 
 
 The opportunity for Don Carlos was found in the troublous times 
 that led to and followed the abdication of Amadeo I., Duke of Aosta, 
 who had been elected by the cortes. The four years' war commenced 
 in spring, 1872, and a year later Amadeo abdicated in a message say- 
 ing that he saw Spain in a continual struggle, and the era of peace 
 more distant; he sought remedies within the law, but did not find 
 them; his efforts were sterile. 
 
 Thereupon the two chambers combined a.s the sovereign power of 
 Spain and voted for a republic. The two years of the republic were 
 the stormiest in Spanish history, and it was then that the Carlists made 
 the greatest progress. They numbered probably one-third of the peo- 
 
592 SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME. 
 
 pie of Spain. A republic was not suited to the disposition of the 
 Spaniards, and Castelar, who had the helm of the ship of state, gave 
 up his task in disgust. Then Alfonso XII., son of the exiled Isabella, 
 was proclaimed heir to the throne. Alfonso XIII., is his son. 
 
 Alfonso XII.'s first task was to suppress the Carlists, and in this 
 he succeeded. The people were tired of the continual strife. Royal 
 ists and republicans alike welcomed the new monarch. 
 
 The number of his followers gradually dwindling and finding that 
 continued resistance would be unavailable, Don Carlos was finally 
 convinced that it would be useless to continue the struggle. So early 
 in 1876 his army disbanded. Accompanied by his bodyguard he 
 crossed the Pyrenees. As he stepped his foot on French soil he turned 
 as if to bid farew r ell to Spain, but his last words, energetically pro- 
 nounced, were: "Volvere, volvere! I will return, I will return!" And 
 it is the belief of his followers that his time is near at hand. 
 
 His Loyal Followers. 
 
 No man has more devoted followers. The army that fought for 
 him during the Carlist revolution was one of the most heroic that has 
 ever been gathered together. To his standard came young men of 
 good family from every nation. He was regarded as the representa- 
 tive of the old regime of monarchists, and in his ranks were those who 
 hoped for the re-establishment of the now obsolete divine right of 
 kings. He was the head of the house of Bourbon in all Europe. Ex- 
 cept for the existence of Maria Theresa, daughter of Ferdinand of 
 Modena, married the Prince Louis of Bavaria, Don Carlos would be 
 the legitimate representative of the royal house of Stuart, and, barr- 
 ing the English act of settlement, King of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 This fact may have had something to do with the cold shoulder 
 that was turned to him by all of the powers of Euro'pe. Don Carlos 
 was regarded as the representative of the half-dozen pretenders to 
 the throne who live in exile amid little courts of their own and build 
 air castles peopled with "things they will do when they mount the 
 thrones o:f which they believe themselves to have been defrauded. 
 
 The Carlists believe that with the support of one of the great gov- 
 ernments they would have won. But they could obtain no recogni- 
 tion even of their belligerency, and that was in spite of the fact that, 
 as early as 1873, the president of the Spanish Republic has declared 
 in the cortes: "We have a real civil war. * * * It has a real ad- 
 
SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME. 393 
 
 ministrative organization and collects taxes. You have presented to 
 you one state in front of another. It is in fact a great war." 
 
 Yet in spite of this declaration and in spite of the fact that the 
 five successive heads of the Madrid government recognized the bel- 
 ligerency of the Carlists by conventions; that treaties were made for 
 the running of railroads and for other purposes, and that the Carlists 
 had a mint, postoffice and all of the equipments of a regular govern- 
 ment, recognition was withheld by the powers. Everything depended 
 upon England, and General Kirkpatrick, a brigadier general in the 
 civil war, who represented the .Carlists as charge d'affaires at London, 
 was unable to secure that boon from Gladstone, and none of the con- 
 tinental powers would act until England had led the way. 
 
 After his retirement from Spain, when the war had exhausted his 
 resources, Don Carlos lived humbly and quietly at Paris. He had 
 ceased to love his wife and they led a miserable domestic life. He 
 would sell his ,war horse and fling the money to her on the bare table, 
 telling her to buy bread with it. Then his friends would buy the horse 
 back again. Once he disposed of the badge of the Order of Golden 
 Fleece that had decorated the son of his illustrious ancestor, Charles 
 V. The discreditable part of this action was not so much in the actual 
 act of pawning as that he put the blame for it on an old general who 
 had served him with fidelity for twenty years. He claimed that the 
 general had stolen it, imagining that the old soldier's devotion to his 
 interests would induce him to remain silent. But the general at once 
 told all of the facts in the case, and also told how Don Carlos had used 
 the money to satisfy the demands of a notorious demi-mondaine. 
 
 His financial difficulties came to an end with the death of the 
 Comte and Comtesse de Chambord, who bequeathed the larger part 
 of their immense wealth to their favorite niece, wife of Don Carlos. 
 The duchess kept the money in her own hands, but gave him all he 
 needed. At her death she was quite as provident, leaving the money 
 in trust for her children and giving only a small allowance to her hus- 
 band, from whom she had lived apart for fifteen years. 
 
 Married a Fortune. 
 
 This threw the pretender again into financial straits, for he has ex- 
 pensive tastes which require a large fortune to support. So he looked 
 around for a bride. His followers were startled to hear of his mar- 
 riage to the wealthy Princess Marie Berthe de Rohan. The marriage 
 took place April 29, 1894, and, although she was handsome and ex- 
 
394 SPANISH DISSENSIONS AT HOME. 
 
 ceedingly rich and a. member of the illustrious Rohan family, which 
 alone of all the noble families of France and Austria has the privilege 
 of calling the monarch cousin it was regarded as a, mesalliance by 
 all of the Carlists in Spain a.nd legitimists everywhere. They believed 
 that Don Carlos should have not married any but the scion of a royal 
 house. 
 
 By his first marriage Don Carlos had five children, among them 
 Don Jaime, now in his twenty-eighth year, who is regarded as heir to 
 the throne by the Carlists. Don Jaime is said to possess to a high de- 
 gree the strength of will and the determined character of his father. 
 He was educated in England and Austria, and is now serving in the 
 Russian army. Military science is his hobby, and he will be able to 
 fight for his throne, as his father has done, if it becomes necessary. 
 
 Don Carlos is now in Switzerland, that home of the exiled from 
 other lands, and where he spends his summers. His winter residence 
 is at the Palais de Loredane in Venice. 
 
 At the present date the Carlist party is one of the strongest polit- 
 ical parties in Spain. This does not appear in the representation in 
 the Spanish cortes, for under the present system the right to exercise 
 the franchise freely is a farce. 
 
 There is no doubt that Don Carlos' popularity is greater than that 
 of the little king. The queen is regarded a.s a foreigner and the king 
 is too young to awaken any admiration in spite of the fact that every 
 opportunity is taken to make him do so. To popularize the little king 
 the queen regent promenades the poor child through the provinces. 
 He makes childish speeches to the populace, touches the flags of the 
 volunteers and in every way seeks to revive the enthusiasm for the 
 house of Austria. But without avail. The wretched peasants, ground 
 down by taxes, find little to stir them in the sight. 
 
 On the contrary, Don Carlos is a great military hero, whose actions 
 have stirred the people to admiration in spite of his many bad quali- 
 ties. 
 
 That the present dynasty will endure when all of the evils from 
 which Spain suffers are considered, seems hard to believe. Unless a 
 miracle happens or the powers bolster up the throne of the little king, 
 the people are likely to turn to Don Carlos for relief. There are those 
 who believe that republicanism is also rampant and that the Carlist 
 agitation masks republican doctrines, and that Weyler will be dic- 
 tator. This may be. But Don Carlos seems nearer the throne than he 
 has been at any time during his career. 
 
CHAPTER XLVI. 
 THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES OF SPAIN. 
 
 The Philippines Another Example of the Shocking Misgovernment of Spain's 
 Outlying Possessions Interesting Facts About the Philippines 
 Spanish Oppression and Cruelty Manila, the Capital of the Islands 
 Manufactures and Trade of the Eastern Archipelago Puerto Rico 
 and Its History The Products and People Spirit of Insurrection Rife 
 The Colonies Off the Coast of Africa Where Spain Exiles Political 
 and Other Offenders The Canaries, Fernando Po and Ceuta. 
 
 From the very beginning of our war with Spain the peninsular 
 kingdom had reason to fear that the loss of Cuba would be but one of 
 the disasters to befall it in the war with the United States. It was 
 recognized in all quarters that the Queen Regent would have been 
 willing to let the Cuban insurrectionists have their island without 
 further protest, had it not been for the fact that giving up probably 
 would have incited an insurrection at home, resulting in a loss of the 
 crown to her son before he should have a chance to wear it. 
 
 It was quite well understood as a like probability that the Philip- 
 pine islands, that splendid colony of Spain in the East Indies, would 
 be lost to Spanish control at the same time, and that the island of 
 Puerto Rico, the last remnant of Spain's great colonial possessions in 
 the Western hemisphere, after Cuba's loss, would gain its freedom 
 too. The Queen Regent having spurned the only course in Cuban 
 affairs which the United States would permit, with American war- 
 ships threatening Manila, it became immediately apparent that the 
 other horn of the dilemma which had been chosen was as fatal to 
 Spanish sovereignty as the first would have been. 
 
 Even Cuba, with all its abominations, scarcely afforded so remark- 
 able a picture of Spanish oppression, miscalled government, as may be 
 seen in the Philippines. It is only the remoteness and isolation of these 
 unhappy islands that has prevented the atrocities there perpetrated 
 from arousing the indignation of the whole world. Readers are familiar 
 enough with the shocking barbarities practiced in times of disorder 
 by the Spanish authorities, and they do not need to be multiplied here, 
 but in the Philippines is demonstrated the utter incapacity of the Span- 
 
 395 
 
396 THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES. 
 
 ish for the exercise of civilized government over a dependent province 
 even in times of so-called peace. 
 
 The Philippines are extremely interesting in themselves, but are 
 seldom visited by tourists, partly in consequence of their lying out of 
 the ordinary lines of travel and partly because of the policy of Chinese 
 seclusion cultivated by the government. The climate, too, is unhealthy, 
 even beyond what is usual in the tropics, and the unsettled state of 
 the country, swarming with exasperated savages and bandits of the 
 worst description, makes excursions beyond the limits of the principal 
 cities very perilous. About 600 islands are included in the group, and 
 the total area is considerable some 150,000 square miles, three or 
 four times that of Cuba. Exact data, however, are difficult to obtain. 
 There are a multitude of insignificant islets hardly known except 
 upon the charts of. navigators ; but Luzon almost equals Cuba in extent. 
 Altogether the islands probably contain less than 8,000,000 souls; so 
 that Spanish cruelty finds plenty of raw material to work upon. 
 
 Characteristics of the Population. 
 
 And most of it is raw to the last degree a medley of diverse and 
 hostile races, ranging from the puny and dying remnant of the Negri- 
 tos, who live like wild beasts in the highlands, subsisting upon the 
 roots which they claw out of the ground, to the fierce and unsubdued 
 Mohammedan tribes that still keep up the bloody war of creeds which 
 raged in Spain itself for so many centuries. These latter are chiefly 
 of Malay origin and many of them are professional head-hunters, well 
 qualified to retort Spanish outrages in kind. There are also Chinese 
 in large numbers and half-castes of all varieties. The proportion of 
 Europeans is small, even in the cities. The resident Spaniards are all 
 soldiers or officials of some sort and are there simply for what they 
 can make by extortion and corrupt practices. 
 
 The Philippine islands were discovered in 1521 by Magellan, the 
 circumnavigator, and were conquered by Spain and made a colony in 
 the reign of Philip II., for whom they were named, half a century 
 later. Spanish sway never has extended over more than half of the 
 1,400 islands of the archipelago, the others remaining under their native 
 wild tribes and Mohammedan rulers. The conjectural area is about 
 120,000 square miles, and the estimated population about 7,500,000. 
 About half this area and three-quarters of this population are nominally 
 under Spanish rule, but the insurrection has left things in a good 
 
THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES. 397 
 
 deal of doubt. The remainder of the people are governed according 
 to their own customs, by independent native princes. Education is 
 exceedingly backward. The Eoman Catholic clergy have been in- 
 dustrious, and probably 2,500,000 natives are nominal converts to 
 the Christian religion; but education has advanced very little among 
 *them. There is a Roman Catholic archbishop of Manila, besides three 
 bishops. 
 
 The history of the Philippines has included a succession of revolu- 
 tions against Spanish authority, put down by ferocious warfare and 
 cruelty on the part of the victors. The conversion and subjugation of 
 the islands were not accompanied by quite the horrors that charac- 
 terized the Spanish conquest of South America, but the record is sec- 
 ond only to that. Manila was captured by the English in 1762 and 
 was held by them for two years until ransomed by the Spanish by a 
 payment of 1,000,000 pounds. Contests with rebellious tribes, attacks 
 by pirates, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tornadoes help to break 
 the monotony of the history. 
 
 Manila, the Capital of the Colony. 
 
 Manila, the capital city of the colony and of Luzon, the largest 
 island, lies 628 miles, or sixty hours' easy steaming, southeast of Hong- 
 kong, and twice that distance northeast of Singapore. The popula- 
 tion of the city is about 330,000, of whom only 10,000 including troops, 
 government officials and clergy are Europeans, and not more than 
 500 are English-speaking people. , A few American houses have 
 branches in Manila, so that there is an American population of per- 
 haps 100. The city faces a fine bay, into which flows the River Pasig. 
 Most of the Europeans live in Binondo, a beautiful suburb on higher 
 ground, across the river. There are many native dialects, but the 
 social, official and business idiom is Spanish. The army of Spanish 
 civil, religious, military and naval officials is a leech on the people in 
 the same fashion as it was in Cuba. All the places of profit are 
 monopolized by them, appointments to choice offices in the Philippines 
 being given to those whom it is desired to reward for service to the 
 government in Spain. It is quite well understood that such an appointee 
 is expected to gain a fortune as rapidly as he can, by any method 
 possible, so that he may give way for some one else to be brought over 
 from Spain for a similar reward. The policy is the same as the colonial 
 policy of Spain in Cuba was, and the same results have followed. 
 
 But, indeed, pillage of the wretched natives is the almost open aim 
 
398 THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES. 
 
 of the government the sole end for which it is organized and main- 
 tained; so why should petty officials be scrupulous? It is the old Ro- 
 man provincial system, denounced by Cicero 2,000 years ago, but in 
 Spain unforgotten and unimproved. What other use has she for de- 
 pendencies, except as a source of revenue wrung by torture from the 
 misery of slaves, and incidentally as a battening ground for her sav- 
 age war dogs? Here the detestable Weyler is said to have accumu- 
 lated a fortune of several millions of dollars in three years more 
 than twenty times the whole amount of his salary! 
 
 The methods employed in this legalized system of robbery are me- 
 dieval in character, but often highly ingenious. One of them is the 
 "cedula personal," a sort of passport. Every person in the islands and 
 over eighteen years of age and accessible to the authorities is required 
 to take out one of these documents; even the women are not exempt. 
 The cedula must be renewed annually and the cost is from f 1.50 to $25, 
 according to circumstances the chief circumstances being the vic- 
 tim's ability to pay. This in a country where wages sometimes fall as 
 low as five cents a day! And any one who holds a cedula costing less 
 than $3 is further required to render the government fifteen days of 
 unremunerated labor. 
 
 Instances of Petty Extortion. 
 
 But the cedula is only one device out of many for extracting gold 
 from the refractory ore of poverty. A hungry native cannot kill his 
 own hog or buffalo for meat without a special permit which, of 
 course, must be paid for. He is not allowed to press out a pint of co- 
 coanut oil from the fruit of his own orchard until he has obtained a 
 license, and this also has its price. The orchard itself is taxed; every- 
 thing is taxed in the Philippines. 
 
 The resident Chinese are further subjected to a special tax whether 
 for existing or for not being something else is not stated. They are 
 not popular and are treated with the most shameless injustice. This 
 the following incident will illustrate: 
 
 Fires are very frequent in Manila and very destructive, most of the 
 houses being of wood, while the poorer districts are a mere jumble of 
 bamboo huts, thousands of which are sometimes consumed in a day 
 without exciting much comment. A fire in the business portion, how- 
 ever, arouses more interest; it affords opportunities that are not to 
 be neglected. On one such occasion, where the scene of conflagration 
 was a quarter chiefly occupied by Chinese shops, the street was soon 
 
THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES. 399 
 
 thronged with an eager mob. The poor Chinamen, acting much like 
 crazed cattle, had fled into their upper chambers and locked the doors, 
 apparently preferring death by fire to the treatment they were likely 
 to receive outside. But there was no escape. 
 
 The "rescuers" Spanish soldiers quickly broke in with axes and 
 after emptying the money boxes, hurled the wretched Mongolians and 
 all their goods into the street, to be dealt with at discretion. It was a 
 mere pretext for robbery and outrage, as many of the shops were re- 
 mote from the fire and in no danger. The next morning the middle of 
 the street was piled high with soiled and broken goods; and any one 
 who cared to bribe the sentries was allowed to carry away as much as 
 he pleased. All day long the carts went to and fro, openly conveying 
 away the plunder. The owners were not in evidence; what had be- 
 come of them is not recorded. Such is the "fire department" in Manila, 
 
 Taxes are imposed for "improvements," but no improvements are 
 permitted even when backed by foreign capital. The roads remain 
 impassable canals of mud, education is a farce, the introduction of ma- 
 chinery is frowned upon and progress is obstructed. 
 
 The natural resources of the Philippines are very good, and under 
 a civilized administration these islands would be rich and prosperous, 
 But the mildew of Spanish misgovernment is upon everything and its 
 perennial blight is far more disastrous than the worst outbreaks ol 
 savagery in time of war. His total inability to maintain an endurable 
 government in time of peace is what marks the Spaniard as hopelessly 
 unfit to rule. 
 
 Manila has cable connection with the rest of the world, and res- 
 
 7 O 
 
 ular lines of passenger steamers. The European colony has its daily 
 papers, which are, however, under strict censorship, religious and mili- 
 tary, and keeps up with the news and the fashions of the day. Until 
 the insurrection of the last two years, the army, except two Spanish 
 brigades of artillery and a corps of engineers, was composed of natives 
 and consisted of seven regiments of infantry and one of cavalry. There 
 was also a body of Spanish militia in Manila, a volunteer corps similar 
 to the one which was always maintained in Havana under Spanish 
 rule, which could be called out by the captain-general in the event 
 of need. 
 
 Spain's Feeble Control of the Islands. 
 
 When the latest insurrection began, Spain shipped to its far-off col- 
 ony all the men who could be spared from service in Cuba, and after 
 
400 THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES. 
 
 a few months of fighting it was announced that the rebellion was 
 crushed. As a matter of fact, however, Spain has control of but a com- 
 paratively small part of the islands, and the natives elsewhere are as 
 free from obligation to pay Spanish taxes as they w r ere before the dis- 
 covery. 
 
 Trade restrictions have hampered the commercial progress of the 
 colony, but in spite of that fact their trade with the outside world is 
 a large one. For many years after the conquest but one vessel a year 
 was permitted to ply between Manila and the Spanish- American port 
 of Acapulco. Then the number was increased to five. Then a Spanish 
 chartered company was given a monopoly of the trade of the islands. 
 When that monopoly expired, other houses began business, until finally 
 many large English and German firms shared the trade, while Ameri- 
 can houses and American ships were by no means at the foot of the 
 list. The total volume of the exports and imports is about f 75,000,000 
 annually. 
 
 The manufactures of the Philippines consist chiefly of textile fab- 
 rics of pineapple fiber, silk and cotton; hats, mats, baskets, rope, fur- 
 niture, pottery and musical instruments. Vegetable products of great 
 value are indigo, cocoa, sugar, rice, bamboo, hemp and tobacco. Coffee, 
 pepper and cassia grow wild in sufficient quantity and quality to pro- 
 vide a living for those who wish to take advantage of w r hat nature has 
 provided. Coal, gold, iron and copper are mined with profit. The soil 
 is exceedingly fertile, and although the climate is tropical, with little 
 change except between wet and dry seasons, it has not been difficult 
 for Europeans to accustom themselves to it. The largest island is 
 nearly 500 .miles long and 125 miles wide, w r hile others are more than 
 half as large. It must be remembered that the interior of these great 
 islands, and the whole of hundreds of the smaller ones, are unexplored 
 and almost unvisited by travelers from civilized lands, as Spanish ex- 
 ploration has been of little practical value to the rest of the world or 
 to science. 
 
 Puerto Rico. 
 
 Puerto Kico, the smaller of the two islands which Spain held in 
 the West Indies, was discovered by Columbus in 1493 and occupied by 
 soldiers under Ponce de Leon early in the sixteenth century. It lies 
 well outside the Caribbean sea, in the open Atlantic, and for this rea- 
 son it is not at all affected climatically, as Cuba is, by proximity to the 
 continent. Its climate is determined mostly by the ocean, whose 
 
THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES. 401 
 
 breezes sweep constantly over the entire island, tempering deliciously 
 the tropical heat of the sun. 
 
 The surface of the island is equally favorable to excellent climatic 
 conditions. It has no mountains, but it has hills that extend from end 
 to end of it. and form a perfect watershed and afford drainage for 
 plains and valleys. Thirteen hundred rivers, forty-seven of them navig- 
 able, drain 3,500 square miles of territory, a territory as large as the 
 state of Delaware. All over its extent are, besides the principal range 
 of hills that are by some called mountains, round-topped hills of finest 
 soil, which are nearly every one cultivated. In summer the heat is not 
 excessive in the valleys and in winter ice never forms on the hills. It 
 is a purely agricultural country and the great majority of the natives 
 are farmers. In the population of 81*0,000 are 300,000 negroes, who are 
 now free, and since their freedom have gone into the towns and cities 
 and found work in the sugar mills and at similar employments. 
 
 The native Puerto Ricans adhere to the soil. Their labors are not 
 severe where the soil is loose and rich, as it is everywhere except near 
 the seashore, and for reasons already stated the climate is very favor- 
 able to a comfortable existence. The only drawback perhaps to this 
 comfort for dwellers on the island is lack of substantial bridges over 
 the many streams and the absence of good roads. 
 
 There are a number of extensive forests on the island, and while 
 they resemble in their main outlines those of the other West India 
 islands, certain varieties of trees and shrubs exist there that are not 
 seen elsewhere. Baron Eggers, who in 1883 had a coffee farm of 2,000 
 acres just coming into bearing, found leisure from his other employ- 
 ments to explore some of the forests and he being an authority on the 
 subject the facts he discovered and reported have been regarded of 
 interest by travelers and students. He found palms and a strange 
 variety of orchid, but the palms were not so lofty, nor the orchids so 
 rich as they both are on the Caribbean islands. But he found trees of 
 great beauty and great utility in manufactures that are not abundant 
 on the other islands, if, indeed, they are ever found on any of them. 
 
 The Baron describes w r ith rapture the sabino, so called by the na- 
 tives, but by him called the talauma; it is from fifteen to twenty feet 
 high, with spreading branches, having large silvery leaves and bearing 
 immense white, odorous flowers. The hietella is another tree that has 
 remarkable leaves and yields beautiful crimson flowers. He describes 
 still another tree, without naming it, as having orangelike foliage, large 
 purple flowers, and as having in its neighborhood other trees, different 
 
402 THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES. 
 
 from it, but resembling it and evidently allied to it. This tree, he says, 
 is not found elsewhere. Still another tree, the ortegon, whose flowers 
 are purple spikes a yard long, and whose wood is used for timber, is 
 common on the high lands near the coast. And there are dye woods, 
 mahogany and lignum vitae. Hence it is seen that the forests of Puerto 
 Rico are generally beautiful, and strange in some of their features. 
 
 The words Puerto Eico are, when translated, Eich Port, and they 
 are very applicable to this snug spot in the Atlantic ocean, only a short 
 distance off the United States coast. Every variety of soil is adapted to 
 the growth of a particular kind of crop. The highest hills, as the lowest 
 valleys, i re cultivated with reference to what they will best produce. 
 On the hills, rice; in the valleys, coffee, cotton and sugar cane; on the 
 rising grounds between the valleys and hills, tobacco. Puerto Eico rice, 
 unlike that of the Carolinas, grows on dry lands, even on the highest 
 hills, without watering. It is the staple food of the laborers. The con- 
 sular report to Washington for 1897 says the product of coffee that year 
 was 26,655 tons; of sugar, 54,205 tons, and of tobacco, 1,039 tons. The 
 number of bales of cotton is not given, but the consul expatiates on its 
 fine quality. The richness of the sugar lands may be judged from this 
 item in the report: "Three hogsheads of sugar is an average yield per 
 acre, without using fertilizers of any kind." 
 
 Puerto Eico is one of the finest grazing countries in the world. Its 
 herds of cattle are immense, and from them are supplied cattle of a 
 superior quality to the other West India islands. Great quantities of 
 hides are shipped to various countries. 
 
 Though richly agricultural as the island is, and entitled as it is to 
 be regarded as exclusively agricultural, in past times considerable min- 
 ing was done there, in gold, copper and salt. Indeed, copper is still 
 mined to a small extent, and salt is still so plentiful that the govern- 
 ment finds a profit in monopolizing the sale of it. 
 
 Puerto Eico is only 100 miles in length and from fifty to sixty miles 
 in breadth, and as square as a dry-goods box. East and west and north 
 and south its coast lines run almost as regularly as if projected by com- 
 pass. It is the delight of the sailorman, as its fertile soil is the joy of 
 the agriculturist. 
 
 The harbor of San Juan is the chief in Puerto Eico, and one of the 
 best of its size in the Caribbean sea. It is safe and sheltered, large and 
 land-locked, and though the entrance is somewhat "foul," ships draw- 
 ing three fathoms can enter and find anchorage within, good holding 
 ground being had at any depth up to six fathoms. The bay is broad as 
 
THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES. 403 
 
 well as beautiful, and opens toward the north, so that a vessel laying 
 her course from New York could, if there were no obstructions en route, 
 sail directly into the harbor. 
 
 The fortifications which surround the city of San Juan are, like the 
 Spanish pedigrees, ancient, flamboyant, beautiful to look at, but as 
 worthless withal. This city of about 25,000 inhabitants is completely 
 inclosed within imposing walls of stone and hardened mortar from 50 to 
 100 feet in height. They have picturesque gates and drawbridges, port- 
 cullises and demilunes, quaint old sentry boxes projecting into the sea, 
 frowning battlements, and all that; bv+ most of their cannon date back 
 from the last century. 
 
 In ancient times the chief fort or castle was called the "morro," or 
 Moorish tower, because it was generally round; and San Juan, like Ha- 
 vana, has its Morro as the mpst prominent point of its fortifications. It 
 stands on a bluff jutting out from the city walls and has a lighthouse 
 immediately in the rear of it. Against the seaw^ard front of the mas- 
 sive walls the ocean pounds and thunders, but the landward harbor is 
 quiet and safe for any craft. A broad parade ground is inclosed within 
 the walls, westward from the citadel, and not far off is the oldest house 
 in the city, no less a structure than the ancient castle of Ponce de Leon, 
 one-time governor here and discoverer of Florida. His ashes are also 
 kept here, in a leaden case, for Ponce the Lion-Hearted was a great man 
 in his day and cleaned out the Indians of this island with a thorough 
 ness that earned him an exceeding great reward. 
 
 Just under the northern wall of the castle is the public cemetery, the 
 gate to it overhung by an ornate sentry box, and the bones of evicted 
 tenants of graves whose terms of rental have expired, are piled in the 
 corners of the inclosure. The prevailing winds by day are from the sea 
 landward; by night, from the inland mountains toward the coast. Far 
 inland rises the conical summit of the great Luquillo, a mountain about 
 4,000 feet in height, and from whose sides descend streams that fertilize 
 the island. 
 
 It is about ninety miles from San Juan to Ponce, the southern port, 
 by a fine road diagonally across the island. The Spaniards generally 
 are poor road-builders, but in this island they have done better than in 
 Cuba, and one may travel here with a fair amount of comfort to the mile. 
 There are several lines of railroads building, a system being projected 
 around the island 340 miles in length. 
 
 The city of Ponce is the largest, w r ith a population of about 38,000 
 and an export trade of vast extent. It is the chief sugar-shipping point, 
 
404 THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES. 
 
 though it has no good harbor, and lies nearly three miles from the sea. 
 It is a rather fine city, with a pretty plaza and a grand cathedral, and 
 its houses, like those of San Juan, are all built of stone. 
 
 Other harbors are: On the east coast, Fajardo and Humacao; on the 
 north, besides San Juan, Arrecibo; on the west, Aguadilla and Maya- 
 guez, at the former of which Columbus watered his caravels in 1493, and 
 where the original spring still gushes forth. 
 
 Going with Puerto Kico are two small islands called Culebra and 
 Vieque, mainly inhabited by fishermen, but with fine forests of dye and 
 cabinet woods to be exploited. The commerce of the island is mainly 
 with the United States. We gained $1,000,000 a year in exports to this 
 island for the last ten years, and nearly $3,000,000 in imports. With 
 a staple government and under wise control, Puerto Rico will more 
 nearly attain to its full productiveness. The annual sugar yield is esti- 
 mated at near 70,000 tons; that of coffee, 17,000 tons; bananas, nearly 
 200,000,000; cocoanuts, 3,000,000, and tobacco, 7,000,000 pounds. Gold 
 was originally abundant here, and copper, iron and lead have been 
 found. With enterprise and protection to life and property they will 
 be profitably exploited. 
 
 Colonial Possessions of Spain. 
 
 The loss of Cuba and Puerto Rico did not leave Spain without 
 colonial possessions, as the subjoined table will show: 
 
 Area English ^ 
 square miles. Population. 
 
 Philippine Islands 114,326 7,000,000 
 
 Sulu Islands 950 75,000 
 
 Caroline Islands and Palaos 560 36,000 
 
 Marianne Islands 420 10,172 
 
 Total Asiatic possessions 116,256 7,121,172 
 
 Possessions in Africa 
 
 Rio de Oro and Adrar 243,000 100,000 
 
 Ifni 27 6,000 
 
 Fernando Po, Annabon, Corsico, Elobey, San Juan. . . . 850 30,000 
 
 Total African possessions 243,877 136.000 
 
 The Sulu archipelago lies southwest of the Island of Mindanao, and 
 directly south of Manila and the Mindora sea. The chief island gives 
 

 CLARA BARTON "THE ANGEL OF THE SICK ROOM" 
 
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THE PHILIPPINES, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER COLONIES. 407 
 
 its name to the group, which extends to the three-mile limit of Borneo. 
 The area of the whole is estimated at 950 square miles; the population 
 at 75,000 Melanesians. 
 
 The Caroline and Marianne, or Ladrone Islands, are more numerous, 
 but scarcely as important or as populous as the Sulu group. They be- 
 long to what is sometimes known as Micronesia, from the extreme di- 
 minutiveness of the land masses. The two groups are east and northeast 
 of the Philippines, and in easy sailing reach from Manila. From east 
 to west they are spread over 30-odd degrees of longitude, and from north 
 to south over 20 degrees of latitude. 
 
 The inhabited islands are of coral formation, generally not over ten 
 or twelve feet above high water mark. They are, in fact, heaps of sand 
 and seaweed blown over the coral reefs. Most of these islands are nar- 
 row bands of land from a few yards to a third of a mile across, with a 
 lagoon partly or wholly inclosed by the reef. Cocoanuts and fish are 
 the chief reliance of the natives, who are an inferior species, even for 
 Polynesians. 
 
 First and most attractive of the African dependencies, both by rea- 
 son of natural resources and of their advantages as a naval base, are the 
 Canaries, which are regarded as a part of the Spanish kingdom proper, 
 so long and so secure has been the hold of Spain upon them. 
 
 More extensive in area, if not more attractive for residence purposes, 
 is the sandy, partially desert stretch bearing the names of Rio de Oro 
 (River of Gold), and Adrar. The imaginary line familiar to schoolboys 
 under the name of the Tropic of Cancer has an especial fondness for this 
 region, passing near the north and south center. The district is close to 
 the Canaries on its northern edge, and it is ruled by a sub-governor 
 under the Governor of the Canaries. There are two small settlements 
 on the coast. The only glory Spain gets from this possession is that of 
 seeing its color mark on the maps of Africa. 
 
 Of the other African possessions enumerated some are hardly big 
 enough to be seen on an ordinary map without the aid of a microscope. 
 Corisco is a little stretch of coast around an inlet just south of Cape St. 
 John, near the equator. Fernando Po Island will be found right in the 
 inner crook of the big African elbow. Annabon Island is off Cape Lopez. 
 
 Another possession or claim of the decadent peninsula monarchy re- 
 mains to be catalogued the country on the banks of the Muni and 
 Campo rivers, 69,000 square miles, and containing a population of 500,- 
 000. The title to this section is also claimed by France. 
 
CHAPTER XLVII. 
 PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 
 
 Eagerness to Fight Matanzas Bombarded Weyler's Brother-in-law a Prin 
 oner pf War The Situation in Havana^ Blanco Makes a Persona? 
 Appeal to Gomez The Reply of a Patriot "One Race, Mankind"-- 
 The Momentum of War Our Position Among Nations. 
 
 The striking peculiarity at the commencement of the war was the 
 general eagerness to fight. There have been wars in which there was* 
 much maneuvering and blustering, but no coming to blows. There have 
 been campaigns on sea and land in which commanders exhausted the 
 devices, of strategy to keep out of each other's way, but in this war the 
 Americans strained strategy, evaded rules, and sought excuses to get at 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 Given a Spanish fortified town and an American fleet, and there was 
 a bombardment on short notice. Given a Spanish fort and a Yankee 
 gunboat, and there was a fight. There were no "all-quiet-on-the-Poto- 
 mac" or "nothing-new-before-Paris" refrains. The Americans knew 
 they were right, and they went ahead. 
 
 Matanzas Bombarded. 
 
 The first actual bombardment of Cuban forts took place on April 
 27th at Matanzas, when three ships of Admiral Sampson's fleet, the flag- 
 ship New York, the monitor Puritan, and the cruiser Cincinnati, opened 
 fire upon the fortifications. The Spaniards had been actively at work on 
 the fortifications at Punta Gorda, and it was the knowledge of this fact 
 that led Admiral Sampson to shell the place, the purpose being to pre- 
 vent their completion. 
 
 A small battery on the eastern side of the bay opened fire on the New 
 York, and the flagship quickly responded with her heavy guns. Prob- 
 ably tw T enty-five eight-inch shells were sent from the battery at our 
 ships, but all of them fell short. A few blank shells were also fired 
 from the incomplete battery. 
 
 One or two of those whizzed over Admiral Sampson's flagship. After 
 completing their work the ships put out to the open sea, the flagship 
 
 408 
 
PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 409 
 
 returning to its post off Havana, while the Cincinnati and the Puritan 
 remained on guard off Matanzas. While the flagship New York, her 
 sister cruiser, the Cincinnati, and the monitor Puritan were locating the 
 defenses of Matanzas harbor the batteries guarding the entrance opened 
 fire on the New York. Their answer was a broadside from Admiral 
 Sampson's flagship, the first fire being from the forward eight-inch gun 
 on the port side. The monitor attacked the Point Maya fortification, 
 the flagship went in close and shelled Bubalcaya Point, while the Cin- 
 cinnati was soon at work shelling the fortification on the west side of 
 the bay. In less than twenty minutes Admiral Sampson's warships 
 had silenced the Spanish batteries. 
 
 The explosive shells from the forts fell wide of the ships. The last 
 one fired from the shore was from Point Kubalcaya. The monitor 
 Puritan let go with a shot from one of her twelve-inch guns, and its effect 
 was seen when a part of the fortification went into the air. The battery 
 at Maya was the stronger of the two and its fire more constant, but all 
 its shells failed to hit our ships. 
 
 The target practice of the flagship was an inspiring sight. At every 
 shot from her batteries, clouds of dust and big pieces of stone showed 
 where the Spanish forts were suffering. The New York, after reducing 
 the range from over six thousand to three thousand yards, fired shells at 
 the rate of three a minute into the enemy's forts, each one creating 
 havoc. The Puritan took equally good care of Point Maya. When she 
 succeeded in getting the range, her gunners landed a shell inside the 
 works at every shot. 
 
 When permission was given to the Cincinnati to take part in the first 
 battle between Yankee and Spanish forces, the cruiser came up to 
 within 2,000 yards of the shore, and almost immediately her guns were 
 at work. Cadet Boone on the flagship fired the first gun in answer to 
 the Spanish batteries. 
 
 The Spanish mail steamer Argonauta, Captain Lage, was convoyed 
 into Key West harbor by the United States cruiser Marblehead on May 
 3. Colonel Vicente De Cortijo of the Third Spanish cavalry, who, with 
 nineteen other army officers, was taken on the prize, is a brother-in-law 
 of Lieutenant General Valeriano Weyler. Coltinel De Cortijo and the 
 other officers were transferred to the Guido and the privates to the 
 Ambrosio Bolivar, two other trophies of the first week of the war. 
 
 The Argonauta herself was no mean prize, being of 1,000 tons burden, 
 but the value of the capture was mainly in the prisoners of war and the 
 mail matter going to General Blanco. Her cargo was general mer- 
 
410 PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 
 
 chandise, with a large quantity of ammunition and supplies for the 
 Spanish troops in Cuba. 
 
 The Situation in Havana. 
 
 A correspondent wrote from Havana, on the 3d of May, as follows : 
 
 "The dispatch boat succeeded again to-day in opening communica- 
 tion with Havana, and your correspondent brought away with him the 
 morning papers of yesterday. 
 
 "The City of Havana is a sad sight. There are still a few of the 
 reconcentrados about the streets now, but starvation has ended the 
 misery of most of them, and their bones have been thrown into the 
 trenches outside of the city. 
 
 "Starvation now faces the Spanish citizens themselves. Havana is a 
 graveyard. Two-thirds of the inhabitants have fled. The other third is 
 beginning to feel the pangs of hunger. 
 
 "The prices rival those of Klondike. Beefsteak is f 1 a pound. Chick- 
 ens are f 1 each. Flour is $50 a barrel. Everything is being confiscated 
 for Blanco's army. Sleek, well-fed persons are daily threatened with 
 death to make them divulge the whereabouts of their hidden stores of 
 provisions. 
 
 "Several provision stores in the side streets have been broken into 
 and looted. General Blanco is being strongly urged to sink artesian 
 wells to provide water in the event of a siege, as a joint attack by the 
 Cuban and American forces would destroy the aqueduct. It is not 
 thought that Blanco will attempt this, as he will not have sufficient time. 
 
 "A bulletin posted on the wall of the palace this morning announced 
 that the mail steamship Aviles from Nuevitasa and the Cosine Herra 
 from Sagua arrived last night. It is also stated that the Spanish brig 
 Vigilante arrived .at Matanzas from Montevideo with food supplies for 
 the government. 
 
 "The palace of the Captain General is practically deserted since the ' 
 blockade began. Blanco has personally taken command of Mariena bat- 
 tery, and is directing the erection of new sand batteries all along the 
 water front west of the entrance to Havana Bay. Lieutenant General 
 Perrado is making Guanabacoa his headquarters, and is planting new 
 batteries and strengthening the fortifications as much as possible. Over 
 300 draymen are engaged in the hauling of sand from the mouth of 
 Almandres for use in the construction of the earthworks along the 
 coast, and in the city suburbs all draymen have been ordered to report 
 
PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 411 
 
 for volunteer duty with their drays. The streets are riotous with half- 
 drunken Spanish volunteers crying for American and Cuban blood. 
 
 "At night the city is wrapped in darkness, all gas and electric lights 
 being shut off by order of Blanco. Spanish soldiers are taking ad- 
 vantage of this to commit shocking outrages upon unprotected Cuban 
 families. In spite of these direful circumstances Blanco has ordered 
 the decoration of the city, hoping to incite the patriotism of the pop- 
 ulace." 
 
 Blanco Makes a Personal Appeal to Gomez. 
 
 On May 4 General Blanco made a supreme effort to win over the 
 Cuban forces, writing a letter to General Gomez. A copy of this letter 
 and the answer of General Gomez were found upon Commander Lima, 
 who was picked up by the Tecumseh fifteen miles from Havana. The let- 
 ter of General Blanco w r as as follows: 
 
 General Maximo Gomez, Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Forces: 
 
 Sir It cannot be concealed from you that the Cuban problem has radi 
 cally changed. We Spaniards and Cubans find ourselves facing a foreign 
 people of different race, of a naturally absorbent tendency, and with inten- 
 tions not only to deprive Spain of her flag over the Cuban soil, but also to 
 exterminate the Cuban people, due to its having Spanish blood. 
 
 The supreme moment has, therefore, arrived in which we should forget 
 cur past misunderstandings, and in which, united by the interests of our own 
 defense, we, Spaniards and Cubans, must repel the invader. 
 
 General, due to these reasons, I propose to make alliance of both armies 
 in the City of Santa Clara. The Cubans will receive the arms of the Spanish 
 army, and with the cry of "Viva Espana!" and "Viva Cuba!" we shall repel 
 the invader and free from a foreign yoke the descendants of the same people. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 RAMON BLANCO. 
 
 To this General Gomez replied as follows: 
 
 Sir I wonder how you dare to write me again about terms of peace when 
 you know that Cubans and Spaniards can never be at peace on the soil of 
 Cuba. You represent on this continent an old and discredited monarchy. 
 We are fighting for an American principle, the same as that of Bolivar and 
 Washington. 
 
 You say we belong to the same race and invite me to fight against a 
 foreign invader, but you are mistaken again, for there are no differences of 
 races and blood. I only believe in one race, mankind, and for me there are 
 but good and bad nations, Spain so far having been a bad one and the United 
 
412 PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 
 
 States performing in these movements toward Cuba a duty of humanity and 
 civilization. 
 
 From the wild, tawny Indian to the refined, blond Englishman, a man for 
 me is worthy of respect according to his honesty and feelings, no matter to 
 what country or race he belongs or what religion he professes. 
 
 So are nations for me, and up to the present I have had only reasons for 
 admiring the United States. I have written to President McKinley and 
 General Miles thanking them for American intervention in Cuba. I don't see 
 the danger of our extermination by the United States, to which you refer in 
 your letter. If it be so, history will judge. For the present I have to repeat 
 that it is too late for any understanding between my army and yours. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 MAXIMO GOMEZ. 
 
 One Race Mankind. 
 
 The reply of Gomez to Blanco will live in history. Blanco's strange 
 appeal to the Cuban general was characteristic of a Spaniard. It would 
 seem that an intelligent man would not have made such an appeal, well 
 knowing that it would be useless. For three years Gomez had waged 
 what to many seemed to be a hopeless fight. After these years of sacri- 
 fice he obtained the United States as an ally, an acquisition that assured 
 him of final success. Under these circumstances Blanco, the repre- 
 'sentative of the forces against which Gomez had been contending, ap- 
 pealed to Gomez to join with him in an effort to repel the United States 
 forces. Such an appeal under the circumstances, in view of the fact 
 that Blanco was regarded as an intelligent man, showed the Spaniard 
 to be incapable of appreciating the sentiments which prompted a people 
 to maintain a struggle for liberty. 
 
 General Blanco based his appeal upon the claim that the Cuban and 
 the Spaniard belonged to the same race and worshiped at the same 
 shrine. He sought to stir up within Gomez' breast racial and religious 
 prejudices, and went so far as to suggest that in the event Gomez 
 united his forces with those of Blanco, Spain would give liberty to Cuba, 
 and would "open her arms to another new daughter of the nations of 
 the new world who speak her language, profess her religion and feel in 
 their veins the noble Spanish blood." 
 
 Gomez' letter was interesting for several reasons. To those who had 
 pictured him as a coarse, illiterate man this letter was a revelation. " It 
 was not, however, a surprise to those who had carefully studied Gomez' 
 career and who understand that he was a scholarly man as well as a 
 thorough soldier. 
 
PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 413 
 
 "I only believe in one race, mankind," said Gomez, and that sentence 
 will occupy a conspicuous place in the history of this continent. 
 
 "From the wild, tawny Indian to the refined, blond Englishman," 
 said Gomez, "a man for me is respectful according to his honesty and 
 feelings, no matter to what country or race he belongs or what religion 
 he professes. So are nations for me." Such excellent sentiments were 
 doubtless wasted on the Spaniard, but men of all civilized nations, even 
 we of the United 'States, may find great value in these splendid ex- 
 pressions by. the Cuban general. 
 
 The man who believes that there is but one race to whom we owe 
 allegiance, that that race is mankind, and that to that race he owes all 
 allegiance, must have his heart in the right place. The man who dis- 
 cards the consideration of accident of birth and, ap-art from patriotic 
 affairs, applies the term "comrade" to all of God's creatures, that man 
 has not studied in vain the purposes of creation. The man who forms 
 his estimate of individuals according to the manhood displayed by the 
 individual, banishing from his mind all racial and religious prejudices, 
 must certainly have studied the lesson of life to good advantage. 
 
 "I only believe in one race, mankind." That is a sentiment that the 
 religious instructors and the sages have endeavored to impress upon 
 us. But 1she combined efforts of all the -instructors and all the sages in 
 teaching of the brotherhood of man have not been so impressive as was 
 the simple statement of this splendid patriot wherein he repelled the 
 temptation to racial and religious prejudice. 
 
 Mankind is the race, and the honest man's the man, no matter to 
 what country he belongs or what religion he professes. That was a 
 sentiment of Maximo Gomez, the Cuban'patriot, the clean-cut American, 
 a sentiment to which the intelligence of the world will subscribe and 
 in the light of which prejudice must finally fade away. 
 
 The Momentum of War. 
 
 As far .as the American people were concerned, the destruction of the 
 Maine was the beginning of hostilities. The Nation dropped, on the 
 instant, the slow-going habits of peace, and caught step to the intense 
 and swift impulse of war. Great events crowded one another to such 
 an extent that we made more history in sixty days than in the preceding 
 thirty years. The movement was not at wild drifting, but was as 
 straight, swift, and resistless as that of a cannon ball. There was an 
 object in view, and the government and the people went straight at it. 
 
414 PROGRESS OF HOSTILITIES. 
 
 When the Maine was destroyed our navy was scattered, our army 
 was at thirty different posts in as many States, there were no volunteers 
 in the field, no purpose of war in the minds of the people. The Spanish 
 hold on Cuba seemed secure; no one thought of Spain's yielding Puerto 
 Rico or the Philippine islands. The people could not be brought to 
 serious consideration of the Cuban question, and they were indifferent 
 to the fate of Hawaii. They held back when any one talked of our 
 rights in the Pacific, and had little enthusiasm in the plans to strengthen 
 our navy and our coast defenses. All these questions were urgent, but 
 the people hesitated and Congress hesitated with them. 
 
 The explosion that destroyed our battleship and slaughtered our 
 seamen cut e^ery rope that bound us to inaction. In a week the navy 
 was massed for offensive movement. In three weeks $50,000,000 had 
 been placed at the disposal of the President to forward the preparations 
 for national defense. In a month new war vessels had been purchased, 
 the old monitors had been repaired and put in commission, the Ameri- 
 can liners had been transferred to the navy. In two months war had 
 been declared, the reorganized North Atlantic squadron had blockaded 
 Cuban ports, and the regular army was moving hurriedly to rendezvous 
 in the South. In another week 125,000 volunteers were crowding the 
 State capitals. 
 
 Under the momentum of war we swept forward in a few weeks to 
 the most commanding position we had ever occupied among nations. 
 Without bluster or boast we impressed the world with our strength, 
 and made clear the righteousness of our cause. We proved that a repub- 
 lic wedded to peace can prepare quickly for war, and that a popular 
 government is as quick and powerful as a monarchy to avenge insuli or 
 wrong. 
 
CHAPTEK XLVIII. 
 SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 
 
 The Eyes of the World Fixed on the First Great Naval Battle of Our War 
 with Spain Asiatic Waters the Scene of the Notable Conflict Im- 
 portance of the Battle in Its Possible Influence on the Construction 
 of All the European Navies Bravery of Admiral Dewey and the 
 American Sailors of His Fleet A Glorious Victory for the Star- 
 Spangled Banner Capture of Manila and Destruction of the Spanish 
 Fleet. 
 
 Seldom has the attention of all the world been so directed upon an 
 expected event in a remote quarter of the globe, as during the few 
 days at the end of April when the American fleet in Asiatic waters 
 was steaming toward an attack on Manila, the capital of the Philip- 
 pine islands. The eyes of every civilized country w T ere strained to see 
 what would be the result of the encounter which was certain to come. 
 
 It was recognized frankly by the authorities on warfare every- 
 where, that the outcome of this first great naval battle would go far 
 toward deciding the fortunes of the entire war. But the importance 
 of the event from this point of view was less than that from another 
 which interested the governments of all Europe. This first test of the 
 modern fighting machine at sea was expected to furnish lessons by 
 which the merits of such vessels could be definitely judged. It might 
 be that they would prove far less efficient than had been calculated by 
 the lords of the admiralty, and that the millions and millions invested 
 in the fleets of Europe w r ould be found virtually wasted. It was this, 
 quite as much as its bearing on the war, that made universal attention 
 direct itself upon the meeting of the squadrons in the Philippines. 
 
 All America rejoiced at the news that came flashing over the cables 
 on Sunday, May 1, when the first word of the battle reached the United 
 States. Even Spanish phrases could not conceal the fact that the en- 
 counter had been a brilliant victory for the valor of American sailors, 
 and the strength of American ships. A Spanish fleet of superior size 
 virtually annihilated, a city in terror of capture, the insurgent armies 
 at the gates of Manila, the losses of Spanish soldiers and sailors ad- 
 mittedly great, and finally the sullen roar of discontent that was risin- 
 
 415 
 
413 SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 
 
 against the government in Madrid all these things indicated that the 
 victory had been an overwhelming one for the Asiatic squadron under 
 Admiral George Dewey. 
 
 As the details of the engagement began to multiply, in spite of 
 Spanish censorate over the cables, which garbled the facts as gener- 
 ously as possible in favor of the Spanish forces, the enthusiasm of the 
 people throughout the cities and villages of America swelled in a ris- 
 ing tide of jo} 7 and gratitude for the victory that had been given to 
 them. From Eastport to San Diego, and from Key West to Seattle, 
 flags flashed forth and cheers of multitudes rose toward the sky. 
 Around the newspaper bulletins, throngs gathered to read the first 
 brief reports, and then scattered to spread the news among their own 
 neighbors. Seldom has an event been known so widely throughout the 
 country with as little delay as was this news of an American victory 
 in the antipodes. There was a sense of elation and relief over the re- 
 sult, and an absolute assurance grew in every one's mind that no re- 
 verse to American arms could come in the threatened conflicts ashore 
 or at sea. 
 
 A Nation in Suspense. 
 
 But after the first news of victory was received there came a period 
 of delay. It was learned that the cable between Manila and Hong- 
 kong had been cut, and the only means of immediate communication 
 was suspended. 
 
 Then came fretful days of waiting and not a word further as to the 
 great battle. To add to the anxiety, from time to time came ugly 
 rumors about Admiral Dewey being trapped, and when all the cir- 
 cumstances of the case were considered it is not strange that some- 
 thing like a chill of apprehension began to be felt as to the fate of the 
 American fleet and its gallant coinrnancher. Manila bay w r as known 
 to be mined, and electric connections might again have been made. 
 The guns of the forts on the landlocked bay might not have been 
 silenced, and Spanish treachery and guile might have accomplished 
 what in open battle Spain's fleet had been unable to do. 
 
 But the morning of the 7th of May brought word from Hongkong 
 that sent a thrill of patriotic pride through all America. Our Yankee 
 tars had won the fight, and won it without the loss of a man. 
 
 Even those who witnessed the overwhelming victory could scarcely 
 understand how the ships and the men of Admiral Dewey's vessels 
 came out of the battle unhurt and practically unmarked. 
 
SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 417 
 
 Soon after midnight on Sunday morning, May 1, the American fleet, 
 led by the flagship Olympia, the largest vessel among them, passed 
 unnoticed the batteries which were attempting to guard the wide 
 entrance to the harbor. Each vessel had orders to keep 400 yards 
 behind the preceding one, and as there were nine vessels, including the 
 two transports and colliers Nanshan and Zafiro, in the American fleet, 
 the line was nearly a mile and three-quarters long, and at the rate of 
 steaming it was perhaps three-quarters of an hour from the time the. 
 Olympia came w r ithin range of the shore batteries until the two trans- 
 ports were safely inside the harbor. 
 
 The Olympia, Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel and Concord passed in. 
 safety and the land batteries might never have suspected the pres- 
 ence of the fleet but for a peculiar accident on the McCulloch. The soot 
 in the funnel caught fire. Flames spouted up from it, and the sparks 
 fell all over the deck. The batteries must have been awake and 
 watching. Five minutes later, or just at 11:50, signals w r ere seen on 
 the south shore, apparently on Limbones point. The flying sparks 
 from this boat made her the only target in the American line. She 
 continued to steam ahead, and at 12:15, May 1, just as she came be- 
 tween the fort at Restingo and the batteries on the island of Corregi- 
 dor she was fired upon by the fort at the south. 
 
 The Boston, just ahead, had her guns manned and ready, and she 
 responded to the shore fire with great promptness, sending an eight-inch 
 shell toward the curl of smoke seen rising from the battery. This was 
 the first shot fired by the Americans. It was not possible to judge of 
 its effect. There was another flash on shore and a shell went singing 
 past, only a few yards ahead of her bow. If it had struck fairly it 
 would have ripped up the unarmored cutter. This was the McCul- 
 loch's only chance to get into battle. She slowed down and stopped 
 and sent a six-pound shot at the shore battery and followed imme- 
 diately with another. 
 
 The Spaniards answered, but this time the shot went wild. The 
 McCulloch then sent a third shell, and almost immediately the Bos- 
 ton repeated with one of her big guns. After that the shore battery 
 ceased, and the last half of the fleet steamed into the bay without 
 further interruption. At no time did the batteries on Corregidor fire. 
 All the firing by the Spanish came from +he south battery, which was 
 much nearer. Five or six shells were fired by the Americans, and the 
 Spanish shot three times, doing absolutely no damage. There were 
 conflicting reports among the naval officers as to the firing at the en- 
 
418 SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 
 
 trance to the bay, but it is certain that the McCulloch fired three shots. 
 During this firing, the chief engineer of the McCulloch died of nervous 
 shock. 
 
 When Span'sh Ships Were Sighted. 
 
 After passing through the channel the American line moved very 
 slowly. The men on the McCulloch were in a fighting fever after the 
 brush at the entrance to the harbor, and were expecting every minute 
 to hear cannonading from the heavy ships ahead. The fleet crept on 
 and on, waiting under the cover of darkness, and not certain as to 
 their location or at all sure that they would not run into a nest of 
 mines at any moment. 
 
 It was nearly 1 o'clock when they were safely in the bay. Between 
 that hour and 4 :30 the fleet, moving slowly in a northeasterly direction, 
 headed for a point perhaps five miles to the north of Manila. After 
 covering about seventeen miles, and with the first light of day, the 
 Spanish ships were sighted off to the east under shelter of the strongly 
 fortified naval station at Cavite. The batteries and the town of Cavite 
 are about seven miles southwest of Manila,, and are on an arm of land 
 reaching northward to inclose a smaller harbor, known as Baker bay. 
 From where the fleet first stopped, the shapes of the larger Spanish 
 cruisers could be made out dimly, and also the irregular outline of the 
 shore batteries behind. It was evident, even to a landsman, that the 
 Spanish fleet would not fight unless our vessels made the attack, com- 
 ing within range of the Cavite batteries. 
 
 The signaling from the flagship and the hurried movement on 
 every deck showed that the fleet was about to attack. In the mean- 
 time the McCulloch received her orders. She was to lie well outside, 
 that is, to the west of the fighting line, and protect the two cargo ships, 
 Nanshan and Zafiro. The position assigned to her permitted the Ameri- 
 can fleet to carry on their fighting maneuvers and at the same time 
 to keep between the Spanish fleet and the three American ships which 
 were not qualified to go into the battle. 
 
 Governor-General's Proclamation. 
 
 Shortly before 5 o'clock Sunday morning and when every vessel 
 in the fleet had reported itself in readiness to move on Cavite, the 
 crews were drawn up and the remarkable proclamation issued by the 
 
SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 419 
 
 governor-general of the Philippine islands, on April 23, was read to 
 the men. Every American sailor went into battle determined to resent 
 the insults contained in the message, which was as follows: 
 
 Spaniards! Hostilities have broken out between Spain and the United 
 Htates. The moment has arrived for us to prove to the world that we possess 
 the spirit to conquer those who, pretending to be loyal friends, have taken 
 advantage of our misfortune and abused our hospitalities, using means 
 which civilized nations count unworthy and disreputable. 
 
 The North American people, constituted of all the social excrescences, 
 have exhausted our patience and provoked war with their perfidious 
 machinations, with their acts of treachery, with their outrages against laws 
 of nations and international conventions. The struggle will be short and 
 decisive, the God of victories will give us one as brilliant and complete as 
 the righteousness and justice of our cause demand. Spain, which counts on 
 the sympathies of all the nations, will emerge triumphantly from the new 
 test, humiliating and blasting the 'adventurers from those states that, with 
 out cohesion and without history, offer to humanity only infamous tradition 
 and the ungrateful spectacle of chambers in which appear united insolence, 
 cowardice and cynicism. A squadron, manned by foreigners possessing 
 neither instructions nor discipline, is preparing to come to this archipelago 
 with the ruffianly intention of robbing us of all that means life, honor and 
 liberty. 
 
 Pretending to be inspired by a courage of which they are incapable, the 
 North American seamen undertake as an enterprise capable of realization 
 the substitution of protestantism for the Catholic religion you profess, to 
 treat you as tribes refractory to civilization, to take possession of your 
 riches as if they were unacquainted with the rights of property, and kidnap 
 those persons whom they consider useful to man their ships or to be ex- 
 ploited in agricultural or individual labor. Vain design! Ridiculous boast- 
 ing! Your indomitable bravery will suffice to frustrate the attempt to carry 
 them into realization. You will not allow the faith you profess to be made 
 a mockery, impious hands to be placed on the temple of the true God, the 
 images you adore to be thrown down bly unbelief. The aggressors shall not 
 profane the tombs of your fathers. They shall not gratify their lustful pas- 
 sions at the cost of your wives' and daughters' honor or appropriate the 
 property that your industry has accumulated as a provision for your old 
 age. No! They shall not perpetrate the crimes inspired by their wicked- 
 ness and covetousness, because your valor and patriotism will suffice to 
 punish and abase the people that, claiming to be civilized and cultivated, 
 have exterminated the natives of North America instead of bringing to 
 them the life of civilization and progress. Men of the Philippines, prepare 
 for the struggle, and united under the glorious Spanish flag, which is ever 
 
420 SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 
 
 covered with laurels, let us fight with the conviction that victory will crown 
 our efforts, and to the calls of our enemies let us oppose with the decision 
 of the Christian and patriotic cry of "Viva Espana." Your governor, 
 
 BASILIO AUGUSTIN DIVILIO. 
 
 4 
 
 Exploding the Mines. 
 
 If the cry of "Kemember the Maine" were not enough to put the 
 American sailors in a fighting mood as the warships moved forward 
 in battle line, the memory of this insulting proclamation helped to put 
 them on their mettle. 
 
 The Olympia headed straight for the Spanish position a few min- 
 utes before 5 o'clock. She was moving at moderate speed. The other 
 vessels followed in the same order which had been observed in enter- 
 ing the bay. The Spaniards were impatient and showed bad judg- 
 ment. At 5:10 o'clock there was a puff of smoke from one of the Cavite 
 batteries and a shell dropped into the water far inshore from the flag- 
 ship. Several shots followed, but the range was too long. While the 
 American ships continued to crowd on, two uplifts of the water far in 
 the wake of the Olympia, and off at one side, were seen. Two mines 
 had been exploded from their land connections. They did not even 
 splash one of our boats, but those who were watching and following 
 behind, held their breath in dread, for they did not know at what 
 moment they might see one of the ships lifted into the air. But there 
 were no more mines. The Spaniards, in exploding them, had bungled, 
 as they did afterward at every stage of their desperate fighting. 
 
 Already there was a film of smoke over the land batteries and 
 along the line of Spanish ships inshore. The roar of their guns came 
 across the water. Our fleet paid no attention. 
 
 The Olympia, in the lead, counted ten Spanish warships, formed in 
 a semi-circle in front of the rounding peninsula of Cavite, so that they 
 were both backed and flanked by the land batteries. The ten vessels 
 which made the fighting line were the flagships Reina Christina, the 
 Castilla, the Antonio de Ulloa, the Isla de Cuba, the Isla de Luzon, the 
 El Correo, the Marquis del Duero, the Velasco, the Gen. Lezo and the 
 Mindanao, the latter being a mail steamer which the Spaniards had 
 hastily fitted with guns. The Castilla w T as moored head and stern, 
 evidently to give the fleet a fixed spot from which to maneuver, but 
 the other boats were under steam and prepared to move. 
 
 The Olympia opened fire for the American fleet when two miles 
 
SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 421 
 
 away from the enemy. She began .blazing away with her four eight- 
 inch turret guns. The thunders of sound came rolling across the 
 water and the flagships were almost hidden in smoke. Now our ships 
 circled to the north and east in the general direction of the city of 
 Manila. That is, the American fleet circling toward the northeast 
 and further in toward shore all the time, turned and came back in a 
 southwesterly direction, passing in parade line directly in front of the 
 Spanish fleet and batteries, so that the first general broadside was from 
 the port side, or the left of the ships as one stands on the stern 
 and faces the bow. The McCulloch had taken its position so that the 
 fleet, in delivering this first broadside, passed between it and the 
 enemy. The McCulloch and the Nanshan and Zafiro played in behind 
 the heavy line like the backs of a football team. 
 
 Having delivered the port broadside, the American fleet turned, 
 heading toward the shore, and moved back toward the northeast, de- 
 livering the starboard broadside. 
 
 As our ships passed to and fro, the stars and stripes could be seen 
 whirling out from the clouds of smoke, and as the line passed the sec- 
 ond and third times without a sign of any ship being injured, the sailors 
 began to feel that the Spaniards were not so formidable after all. 
 Their shots went tearing away over our ships or splashed the water 
 farther in shore. Some of the men who fought at the guns said that 
 after the first general broadside, the sailors laughed at the wild shots, 
 and exposed themselves recklessly, feeling that they were in no par- 
 ticular danger. 
 
 The story of the first general engagement is that the Americans 
 moved in front of the Spanish line five times, pouring in broadsides 
 with all the available guns. Each time the fleet drew nearer to shore, 
 and each time the firing became more terribly effective, while the 
 Spaniards failed to improve in marksmanship. Our gunners fired first 
 the port broadsides, then the starboard, then the port again, then the 
 starboard and then the port guns for a third time, and at this last, or 
 fifth, return for an engagement along the line they were within 1,500 
 yards of the Spanish position. Our whole line was choked with smoke, 
 but still unhurt. The Spanish fleet was already wounded beyond re- 
 covery. 
 
 Duel of the Flagships. 
 
 It was during the delivery of this last attack that the Reina Chris- 
 tina made a valiant attack. Up to that, time not a Spanish ship had 
 
422 SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 
 
 left the line of battle. As the Olympia approached, Admiral Montejo 
 gave orders, and the Reina Christina moved out from the line to engage 
 the big flagship of the American fleet. Admiral Dewey's boat wel- 
 comed the battle. Every battery on the Olympia was turned on the 
 Reina Christina. In the face of this awful fire she still advanced. The 
 American sailors had ridiculed the gunnery of the Spaniards, but they 
 had to admire this act of bravery. She came forward and attempted 
 to swing into action against the Olympia, but was struck fore and aft 
 by a perfect storm of projectiles. With the Olympia still pounding at 
 her, she swung around and started back for the protection of the navy 
 yard. Just after she had turned a w T ell-aimed shell from one of the 
 Olympia's eight-inch guns struck her, fairly wrecking the engine-room 
 and exploding a magazine. She was seen to be on fire, but she pain- 
 fully continued her way toward the shelter of Cavite and continued 
 firing until she was a mass of flames. It was during this retreat that 
 Captain Cadarso was killed. The bridge was shot from under Admiral 
 Montejo. The Spanish sailors could be seen swarming out of the burn- 
 ing ship and into the small boats. Admiral Montejo escaped and, trans- 
 ferred his pennant to the Castilla. He had been on the Castilla less 
 than five minutes when it was set on fire by an exploding shell. 
 
 Toward the close of the decisive engagement, and just after the 
 Reina Christina had been sent back, hammered to pieces and set on 
 fire, two small torpedo boats made a daring attempt to slip up on the 
 Olympia. A pall of smoke was hanging over the water. Taking ad- 
 vantage of this, they darted out from the Spanish lines and headed 
 straight for the American flagship. They were fully 800 yards in 
 advance of the Spanish line (or more than half of the way toward the 
 Olympia) when they were discovered. Admiral Dewey signaled his 
 men to concentrate all batteries on them. Every gun on the port side 
 of the Olympia was leveled on the two little craft which came flying 
 across the water. A fierce fire was opened, but they escaped the first 
 volley and came on at full speed. The flagship stopped. A second 
 broadside was delivered. The torpedo boats were either injured or else 
 alarmed, for they turned hastily and started for the shore. An eight- 
 inch shell struck one. It exploded and sunk immediately, with all on 
 board. The other, which had been hit, ran all the way to shore and 
 was beached. These were the only two attempts the Spanish made 
 to offer offensive battle. 
 
 It would be diflp, ^lt to describe in detail these first two hours of 
 terrific fighting. T^ne sounds were deafening, and at times the smoke 
 

 LIEUTENANT HOBSON AND THE SCENES OF HI? ~ROIC EXPLOITS 
 

SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 425 
 
 obscured almost the whole picture of battle. The American commander 
 himself could not estimate the injury to the enemy until after he had 
 withdrawn from the first general engagement and allowed the smoke 
 to clear away. Unfortunately, our fleet had no supply of smokeless 
 powder. All during the fighting of Sunday morning, Admiral Dewey 
 stood with Captain Lambertson on the forward bridge of the Olympia. 
 He was absolutely exposed to the heaviest firing, because the Spanish 
 fleet and the land batteries as well continually made a target of our 
 big flagship. Captain Wildes, on the Boston, carried a fan as he stood 
 on the bridge, and at one time drank a cup of coffee while continuing 
 to give orders to his gunners. 
 
 It was 7:45 when the American fleet withdrew out of range, not 
 because it had suffered any reverses, but merely to ascertain the dam- 
 ages and hold a consultation. 
 
 Not until the commanders had reported to Admiral Dewey did he 
 learn of the insignificant loss which his fleet had sustained. Not one 
 man had been killed and not one vessel was so badly injured but that 
 it was ready to put to sea at once. Through the glasses it could be 
 seen that the Eeina Christina and the Castilla were burning. The 
 smaller vessels had taken refuge behind the arsenal at Cavite. The 
 Mindanao had been driven ashore. Already the victory was almost 
 complete. The American sailors were wild with enthusiasm. Although 
 hardly one of them had slept the night before, and they had been fight- 
 ing in a burning temperature, they were more than anxious to return 
 to the engagement and finish the good work. It was thought best, 
 however, to take a rest for at least three hours. The decks were 
 cleaned and the guns readjusted, and after food had been served to the 
 men, the fleet formed and headed straight for Cavite again. The rem- 
 nant of the Spanish squadron offered very little resistance, but the 
 forts at Cavite continued their wild efforts to strike an American 
 warship. 
 
 Making the Second Attack. 
 
 This time the Baltimore was sent in advance. She headed boldly 
 to within range of the Cavite batteries. By this time the Americans 
 had a contempt for Spanish marksmanship. The Baltimore opened 
 fire and pounded away for thirty minutes. At the end of that time 
 every gun of the batteries had been silenced. Of the Spanish war- 
 ships the Antonio de Ulloa was the only one which came out of refuge 
 to offer battle with the Baltimore and she met with horrible punish- 
 
426 SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 
 
 ment. Her decks were literally swept with shell, but even after she 
 was apparently wrecked her lower guns were used with wonderful 
 persistence. 
 
 The Baltimore, having silenced the forts, turned all her guns on the 
 Spanish cruiser and actually riddled her. She sank and all her crew 
 went down with her. That was the end of Spanish resistance. Ad- 
 miral Dewey ordered his light-draught vessels to enter the navy yard 
 and destroy everything that might give future trouble. The Boston, 
 the Concord and the Petrel were detailed for this duty, but the Boston, 
 drawing twenty feet, ran aground twice, not knowing the shoals, and 
 had to leave the work to the Petrel and Concord. By the time these 
 two vessels reached the navy yard they found the vessels there aban- 
 doned and most of them on fire. They destroyed the fag end of the 
 Spanish fleet, and when Sunday afternoon came there was nothing 
 left above water to represent the Spanish naval force in Asiatic waters 
 except the transport Manila. The arsenal had been shelled to pieces. 
 
 At 12:45 o'clock the signal was given that the Spanish had sur- 
 rendered. The word was passed rapidly from ship to ship. The Ameri- 
 can sailors were crazy with delight. There was tremendous cheering 
 on every ship. The enthusiasm became even greater when the word 
 was passed that not one of our men had been killed and not one 
 American vessel had been injured. The eight men who were hurt by 
 the explosion on the Baltimore continued to fight until the end of the 
 battle. The Boston was struck once and the officers' quarters set 
 on fire. 
 
 For some reason the Spanish gunners seemed to think that the 
 Baltimore was especially dangerous, having the general build of a 
 battleship, and, next to the flagship, she had to withstand the greatest 
 amount of firing, and was struck several times, with no great damage. 
 Except for the torn rigging and a few dents here and there few signs 
 could be discovered that the vessels had engaged in one of the most 
 decisive naval battles of modern times. 
 
 The Concord and the Petrel were not hit at all, although the latter 
 went deeper into the enemy's position than any other vessel in our 
 fleet. The Olympia made a glorious record. She was struck thirteen 
 times, counting the shells which tore through her rigging, but she came 
 put as good as she went in. 
 
SEA F1GIIT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 427 
 
 Loss of the Spanish. 
 
 Compared with these trivial losses the damage done to the Spanish 
 was fearful. Five hundred and fifty of them were killed and 625 
 wounded. Eleven of their ships were totally demolished, and the 
 Americans captured one transport and several smaller vessels. Their 
 money loss by reason of the battle was not less than $5,000,000. 
 
 During the naval action a battery of 10-inch guns at Manila opened 
 an ineffectual fire on our fleet as it was moving into action north of 
 Cavite. The admiral did not return- the fire out of mercy for the people 
 of Manila, as any shots passing over the shore batteries would have 
 landed in a populous portion of the city. 
 
 On Monday, May 2, the Kaleigh and Baltimore were sent to demand 
 the surrender of the forts at the mouth of the bay. These forts were 
 taken without resistance. The troops had fled and only the com- 
 mandant remained to surrender himself. 
 
 In regard to the cutting of the cable, Admiral Dewey regarded the 
 action as necessary. He sent word to the governor by the British 
 consul that if he was permitted to send his dispatches to the United 
 States government the cable would not be cut. The governor refused 
 to promise and Admiral Dewey decided to stop all communication be- 
 tween Manila and Madrid. 
 
 On Monday, when the cable was cut, the commander established a 
 marine guard at Cavite to protect the hospitals and the Spanish 
 wounded. Surgeons and the hospital corps of the American fleet were 
 detailed to care for the wounded Spaniards, and they cared for them 
 as tenderly as if they were brothers in arms instead of enemies. 
 
 On Wednesday, May 4, several hundred of the wounded Spaniards 
 were conveyed under the Eed Cross flag to Manila and were cared for 
 in the hospitals there. 
 
 The Spaniards in Manila no longer .feared the Americans, but they 
 were in dread of capture by the insurgents. The rebels were over- 
 running Cavite and pillaging houses. The country back of Manila 
 was full of burning buildings and wrecked plantations. The reckless 
 insurgents were applying the torch right and left. 
 
 Admiral Montejo's Private Papers. 
 
 The most interesting capture made by the Americans was a bundle 
 of private papers belonging to Admiral Montejo f One of these com- 
 
428 SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 
 
 munications, bearing his signature, showed that it was his intention 
 to have a general review and inspection of the fleet at 7 o'clock on 
 Sunday morning. This proves that he was not expecting the American 
 fleet so soon. 
 
 Other papers showed that it had been his intention at one time to 
 intrust the defense of Manila to the land batteries and take the fleet 
 to Subig bay, north of Manila, believing that he could there take up 
 a strong position and have an advantage over an attacking fleet. 
 
 According to the reports from Manila the admiral first went ashore 
 at Cavite and had his wounds dressed. He succeeded in evading the 
 insurgents, who wished to capture him, and arrived in Manila twelve 
 hours after the fight. 
 
 There are some very interesting figures as to the amount of firing 
 done by our ships during the battle. The Olyuipia fired 1,764 shells, 
 aggregating twenty-five tons in weight. The Baltimore did even 
 heavier firing, being called upon to reduce the forts after the first en- 
 gagement, and sent no less than thirty-five tons of metal into the 
 Spanish ships and the land batteries. The remainder of the fleet shot 
 a total of eighty tons of metal, making a grand total of 140 tons. 
 
 The Spanish officers attributed the American victory to the rapidity 
 and the accuracy of our fire rather than to the weight of projectiles 
 used. Also, the fact that the American ships were painted a lead color 
 and did not stand out boldly against the water made them very un- 
 satisfactory targets and kept the Spanish gunners- guessing as to the 
 correct range. 
 
 In spite of his overwhelming defeat Admiral Montejo did not for- 
 get the courtesies of the occasion. On Monday he sent word by the 
 British consul to Admiral Dewey that he wished to compliment the 
 Americans on their marksmanship. He said that never before had 
 he witnessed such rapid and accurate firing. Admiral Dewey, not to 
 be outdone in the amenities of war, sent his compliments to the Span- 
 ish admiral and praised the Spaniards very highly for their courage 
 and resistance. He said that the Spanish force was stronger than he 
 had believed it would be before his arrival at the harbor, and he had 
 really expected a shorter and less stubborn battle. It is said that 
 this message, although complimentary to the Spanish, did not give 
 Admiral Montejo any real comfort. 
 
 The Spanish ships destroyed were: The Reina Christina, flagship 
 of Admiral Montejo; Cruiser Castilla (wooden); Cruiser Don Antonio 
 de Ulloa- Protected Cruiser Isla de Luzon Protected Cruiser Isla de 
 
SEA FIGHT OFF MANILA, AMERICANS VICTORIOUS. 
 
 Cuba; Gunboat General Lezo; Gunboat Marquis del Duero; Gunboat 
 El Cano; Gunboat El Velasco; the Steamer Mindanao, with supplies, 
 burned. 
 
 These were captured: Transport Manila, with supplies; Gunboat 
 Isabella I; Cruiser Don Juan de Austria; Gunboat Eapido; Gunboat 
 Hercules; two whaleboats; three steam launches. 
 
 Secretary Long sent this dispatch immediately to Acting Admira* 
 Dewey: 
 
 The President, in the name of the American people, thanks you and your 
 officers and men for your splendid achievement and overwhelming victory. 
 In recognition he has appointed you Acting Admiral, and will recommend a 
 vote of thanks to you by Congress as a foundation for further promotion. 
 
 Dewey's New Rank. 
 
 The Senate unanimously confirmed the President's nominatior 
 making George Dewey a rear admiral in the United States navy. Con- 
 gress made the place for him, and the President promoted him. 
 
 He bears on his shoulders two stars and an anchor instead of two 
 anchors and a star. His pay has been increased from f 5,000 a year to 
 $6,000 a year, while at sea and until he retires. He was presented 
 with ,a sword, and medals were struck for his men. His elevation in 
 rank, his increase in pay, are gratifying tributes to his greatness. But 
 there is a rank to which the President could not elevate him, a position 
 that Congress could not create, for he created it himself. In the hearts 
 of the people Admiral Dewey is the Hero of Manila, holding a place 
 prouder than a king's, a place in the love and admiration and grati- 
 tude of a great nation. 
 
 Greater than Farragut, greater than Hull, greater than Hawke or 
 Blake or Nelson, Dewey is the greatest of fleet commanders, the 
 grandest of the heroes of the sea. It will be recorded of him that he 
 was faithful to duty, true to his flag, magnanimous to his enemies and 
 modest in the hour of triumph. 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 
 HAWAII, AND OUR ANNEXATION POLICY. 
 
 Location of the Islands Their Population Honolulu, the Capital and the 
 Metropolis Political History The Traditional Policy of the United 
 States Former Propositions for Annexation Congressional Discus- 
 sion The Vote in the House of Representatives The Hawaiian Com- 
 mission. 
 
 A work of this character would be incomplete without mention of 
 the Hawaiian Islands, and their intimate political and commercial con- 
 nection with our own country. For many years prior to the commence- 
 ment of the war with Spain there had been a growing sentiment in 
 favor of their annexation to the United States, and events in Wash- 
 ington during the first month of that conflict showed conclusively that 
 a large majority of the members of both houses of Congress were 
 strongly in favor of the measure. 
 
 The Hawaiians are a group of eight inhabited and four uninhabited 
 islands lying in the North Pacific Ocean, distant from San Francisco 
 about 2,100 miles, from Sidney 4,500 miles, and from Hongkong 4,800 
 miles. They are the most important in the Polynesian group, and were 
 discovered by Captain Cook in 1788. Their combined area is 6,640 
 square miles, and their population is about 85,000. The islands are to 
 a great extent mountainous and volcanic, but the soil is highly pro- 
 ductive. Sugar, rice, and tropical fruits grow in abundance, and over 
 ninety per cent of the trade is with the United States. 
 
 Fortunes Easily Made. 
 
 The world knows comparatively nothing about the great fortunes 
 that have been amassed in Hawaii in the last thirty years. The chil- 
 dren of the Yankee missionaries who sailed from Boston and Gloucester 
 around the Horn to carry the gospel to the Sandwich islands in the '30s 
 and '40s are the richest and most aristocratic people in Honolulu. For 
 mer? songs the sons of missionaries obtained great tracts of marvel- 
 ously fertile soil for sugar planting in the valleys of the island, and 
 with their natural enterprise and inventive spirit they developed the 
 greatest sugar cane plantations in the world. 
 
 430 
 
HAWAII, AND OUE ANNEXATION POLICY. 431 
 
 When the United States gave a treaty to the Hawaiian kingdom 
 putting Hawaiian raw sugar on the free tariff list, the profits of the 
 sugar planters went up with a bound. For twenty-five years the divi- 
 dends of several of the Yankee companies operating sugar plantations 
 and mills on the islands ranged from 18 to 30 per cent a year. The 
 Hawaiian Commercial Sugar Company paid 25 per cent dividends an- 
 nually from 1870 to 1882. The world has never known productiveness 
 so rich as that of the valleys of Maui and Hawaii for sugar cane. The 
 seed had only to be planted and the rains fell and nature did the rest. 
 One tract of 12,000 acres of land on Maui was given to a young Amer- 
 ican, who married a bewitching Kanaka girl, by her father, who was 
 delighted to have a pale-faced son-in-law. It was worth about |200 
 at the time. The tract subsequently became a part of a great sugar 
 plantation. It was bought by Claus Spreckels for $175,000 and is worth 
 much more than that now. The Spreckles, Alexander, Bishop, Smith 
 and Akers accumulated millions in one generation of sugar cultivation 
 in the Hawaiian islands. 
 
 Hundreds of Volcanoes. 
 
 The volcanoes of Hawaii are a class by themselves. They are not 
 only the tallest, but the biggest and strangest in the whole world. 
 Considering that they reach from the bottom of the Pacific ocean (18,000 
 feet deep here) to over 15,000 feet above sea level, they really stand 
 33,000 feet high from their suboceanic base to their peaks. The active 
 craters on the islands number 300, but the dead craters, the ancient 
 chimneys of subterranean lava beds, are numbered by the thousands. 
 The islands are of lavic formation. Evidences of extinct volcanoes are 
 so common that one seldom notices them after a few weeks on the 
 islands. Ancient lava is present everywhere. The natives know all 
 its virtues, and, while some ancient deposits of lava are used as a 
 fertilizer for soils, other lava beds are blasted for building material 
 and for macadamizing roads. Titanic volcanic action is apparent on 
 every side. Every headland is an extinct volcano. Every island has 
 its special eruption, which, beginning at the unfathomable bottom of 
 the sea, has slowly built up a foundation and then a superstructure of 
 lava. On the island of Hawaii and on Molokai are huge cracks several 
 ' thousands of feet deep and many yards wide which were formed by the 
 bursting upward of lava beds ages and ages ago. The marks of the 
 tiijinic force are plainly visible. 
 
432 HAWAII, AND OUR ANNEXATION POLICY. 
 
 Mark Twain is authorit} 7 for saying that the two great active vol- 
 canoes, Mauna Loa and Kilauea, on the island of Hawaii, are the most 
 interesting in the world. Certainly they are the most unique. Mauna 
 Loa is 14,000 feet above sea level. Every six or seven years there is an 
 eruption from its sides and several times the flow of lava has threatened 
 the ruin of the town of Hilo, thirty miles away. The crater on Mauna 
 Loa is three miles in diameter and 600 feet deep. Over the crater hangs 
 an illuminated vapor which may be seen at night over 200 miles distant. 
 When Mauna Loa is in violent eruption a fountain of molten lava 
 spouts every minute over 250 feet in the air, bursting into 10,000 
 brilliantly colored balls, like a monstrous Eoman candle pyrotechnic. 
 
 Then there is Kilauea a shorter and flatter volcanic mountain 
 sixteen miles distant. It has the greatest crater known one nine miles 
 across and from 300 to 800 feet deep. And such a crater! In it is a 
 literal lake of molten lava all the time. At times the lava is over 
 100 feet deep and at other times it is 200 feet, according to the pressure 
 on it deep in the bowels of the earth. Signs of volcanic activity are 
 present all the time throughout the depth of the molten mass in the 
 form of steam, cracks, jets of sulphurous smoke and blowing cones. 
 The crater itself is constantly rent and shaken by earthquakes. Nearly 
 all tourists go to see the marvelous eruptions on Mauna Loa and Kil- 
 auea. Hotels have been built on the mountain sides for the accommo- 
 dation of sightseers, and there are plenty of guides about the craters. 
 
 Oahu has many places of interest outside of Honolulu. One may 
 visit the sugar plantations, rice farms, and may go to Pearl harbor or 
 the Punchbow T l. The latter is an extinct volcano rising a few hundred 
 feet above the town. Another resort is the Pali, the highest point in 
 the pass through the range of mountains that divides Oahu. It is 
 the fashion, and a very good fashion it is, to see the Pali and 
 praise its charms. It is the Yosemite of Hawaii. The view from this 
 height sweeps the whole island from north to south. In the direction- 
 of the capital the land slopes to a level two miles from. the sea and 
 then spreads flatly to the shore. The hillsides are not, as a rule, in a 
 state of cultivation, although the soil is fertile. The land is now cum- 
 bered with wild guava, which bears fruit as big as the lemon, and with 
 the lantana, the seeds of which are scattered broadcast by an imported 
 bird called the minah. On the lower ground small farmers, mostly 
 orientals, make their homes, and there are several cane plantations. 
 
 Honolulu, the capital and chief city, has a population of about 
 25,000, and presents more of the appearance of a civilized place than 
 
HAWAII, AND OUR ANNEXATION POLICY. 433 
 
 any other town in Polynesia. Although consisting largely of one-story 
 wooden houses, mingled with grass huts half smothered by foliage, its 
 streets are laid out in the American style, and are straight, neat and 
 tidy. Water-works supply the town from a neighboring valley, and 
 electric lights, telephones, street car lines, and other modern improve- 
 ments are not lacking. 
 
 The arrangement of the streets in Honolulu reminds many Ameri- 
 cans of those in Boston or the older part of New York. All the streets 
 are narrow, but well kept, and, with a few exceptions, they meander 
 here arid there at will. A dozen thoroughfares are crescent shaped 
 and twist and turn when one least expects. All the streets are smooth 
 and hard under a dressing of thousands of wagon loads of shells and 
 lava pounded down and crushed by an immense steam roller brought 
 from San Francisco. 
 
 The Independence of the Islands Declared. 
 
 In 1843 the independence of the Hawaiian Islands was formally 
 guaranteed by the English and French governments, and for a number 
 of years they were under a constitutional monarchy. On the death of 
 King Kalakaua in 1891, his sister, the Princess Liliuokalani, succeeded 
 to the throne, and soon proved herself to be an erratic and self-willed 
 ruler. She remained constantly at variance with her legislature and 
 advisers, ancl in January, 1893, attempted to promulgate a new consti- 
 tution, depriving foreigners of the right of franchise, and abrogating 
 the existing House of Nobles, at the same time giving herself power of 
 appointing a new House. This w r as resisted by the foreign element of 
 the community, who at once appointed a committee of safety, consisting 
 of thirteen members, who called a mass meeting of their class, at which 
 about 1,500 persons were present. The meeting unanimously adopted 
 resolutions condemning the action of the Queen, and authorizing a com- 
 mittee to take into further consideration whatever was necessary to pro- 
 tect the public safety. 
 
 The committee issued a proclamation to the Hawaiian people, 
 formed itself into a provisional government, took possession of the 
 national property, and sent commissioners to the United States inviting 
 this republic to annex the islands. The United States did not respond, 
 but continued the old relation of friendly guarantor. 
 
 A constitutional convention held session from May 20 to July 3, 1894, 
 and on July 4 the constitution was proclaimed, the new government 
 calling itself the "Republic of Hawaii." 
 
434 flAWAil, AND OU& ANNEXATION POLICY. 
 
 In refusing to grant this appeal for annexation, the officials at the 
 head of the United States government at that time were of the opinion 
 that such action would be in direct opposition to our traditional policy, 
 and the same argument has since been advanced by the opponents of 
 the plan. 
 
 We were thus brought face to face with the question, "What is 
 American policy?" Many statesmen of recent years have declared that 
 our great growth and increasing importance among nations imposed 
 obligations which should force us to take greater part in the affairs of" 
 the world. Following the lead of European statecraft, they also as- 
 serted that we should adopt this policy to encourage and protect our 
 expanding commercial interests. Not only were we facing problems 
 the war directly presented, but other nations seemed to think that we 
 were about to cast aside the advice of Washington concerning entan- 
 gling alliances, and establish the relation of an ally with Great Britain. 
 
 Edward Everett foresaw the extension of the republican idea, and 
 declared that "in the discharge of the duty devolved upon us by Provi- 
 dence, we have to carry the republican independence, which our fathers 
 achieved, with all the organized institutions of an enlightened com- 
 munity institutions of religion, law, education, charity, art and all 
 the thousand graces of the highest culture beyond the Missouri, be- 
 yond the Sierra Nevada; perhaps in time around the circuit of the 
 Antilles, perhaps to the archipelagoes of the central Pacific." 
 
 The treaty of 1783 with Great Britain defined the western boundary 
 of the United States as the Mississippi river, down to the Florida line 
 on the 31st parallel of north latitude. The original colonies comprised 
 less than half of this area, the rest being organized several years later 
 as the Northwest Territory. In 1803 the United States purchased from 
 Napoleon for $15,000,000 the province of Louisiana, over 1,000,000 
 square miles in area, including Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, the In- 
 dian Territory, most of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, the two 
 Dakotas, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and most of 
 Wyoming. With this cession came absolute ownership and control of 
 the Mississippi. 
 
 By the treaty of February 12, 1819, with Spain, Florida was next 
 acquired, and Spain abandoned all claims upon the territory between 
 the Rocky mountains and the Pacific, embraced in the Louisiana pur- 
 chase. Texas was annexed in 1845. Under the treaty of Guadaloupe 
 Hidalgo, in 1848, which ended the Mexican war, California, Nevada, 
 parts of Colorado and Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona became 
 
HAWAII, AND Otiit ANNEXATION POLICY. 435 
 
 a part of the United States. The Gadsden purchase of 1853 acquired 
 the portion of this territory south of the Gila river. Fourteen years 
 later the territory of Alaska was purchased from Russia, 
 
 Territorial acquisition has been the policy of successive periods of 
 American politics. Hitherto annexation has been confined to con- 
 tiguous territory, except in the case of Alaska, separated only by 
 narrow stretches of sea and land. But in the case of the Hawaiian 
 Islands an entirely different problem confronted us. 
 
 Hawaiian Annexation in History. 
 
 The question of annexation of the Hawaiian Islands has been before 
 the American people in some form for nearly fifty years. In 1851 a 
 deed of provisional cession of the islands to the United States was 
 executed by King Kamehameha III., and delivered to the United States 
 Minister at Honolulu the act being subsequently ratified by joint 
 resolution of the two Houses of the Hawaiian Legislature. In 1854 a 
 formal treaty of annexation was negotiated between King Kamehameha 
 and the Hon. David L. Gregg, in the capacity of commissioner, and 
 acting under special instructions of Secretary Marcy, then Secretary 
 of State under President Pierce. The King died, however, before the 
 engrossed copy of the treaty had been signed, which prevented the com- 
 pletion of the act. But for this there is every reason to believe that 
 annexation would have been an accomplished fact at that time, as the 
 administration of President Pierce was thoroughly committed to it. 
 The policy then distinctly enunciated was not to have the islands come 
 in as a State but as a Territory. 
 
 President Grant was a zealous advocate of annexation, and in 1874 
 a reciprocity treaty with the islands was entered into by Secretary Fish, 
 under which the Hawaiian government bound itself not to "lease or 
 otherwise dispose of or create any lien upon any port, harbor, or other 
 territory ... or grant any special privilege or right of use therein 
 to any other government," nor enter into any reciprocity treaty with 
 any other government. Thirteen years later (1887), under the admin- 
 istration of President Cleveland, there was a renewal of this treaty, 
 to which was added a clause giving to the United States authority for 
 the exclusive use of Pearl River (or harbor) as a coaling and repair 
 station for its vessels, with permission to improve the same. Article 
 IV of this treaty bound the respective governments to admit certain 
 specified articles free of duty and contained the following provision: 
 
436 HAW An, AND OTJR ANNEXATION POLICY. 
 
 "It is agreed, on the part of his Hawaiian Majesty, that so long as 
 this treaty shall remain, in force he will not lease or otherwise dispose 
 of or create any lien upon any port, harbor, or other territory in his 
 dominions, or grant any special privilege or rights of use therein, to any 
 other power, state, or government, nor make any treaty by which any 
 other nation shall obtain the same privileges, relative to the admission 
 of any articles free of duty, hereby secured to the United States." 
 
 This treaty was to remain in force seven years (until 1894), but, after 
 that date, was declared to be terminable by either party after twelve 
 months' notice to that effect. 
 
 There have been two treaties relating to annexation before Congress 
 within the last five years, the first negotiated by Secretary of State John 
 W. Foster during the administration of President Harrison in 1893, the 
 other by Secretary Sherman under the McKinley administration on the 
 16th day of June, 1897. The first was withdrawn by President Cleve- 
 land after his accession to the Presidency. Both were ratified by the 
 Hawaiian Legislature in accordance w r ith a provision of the constitution 
 of the republic, and that body, by unanimous vote of both Houses, on 
 May 27, 1896, declared: 
 
 "That the Legislature of the republic of Hawaii continues to be, as 
 heretofore, firmly and steadfastly in favor of the annexation of the 
 Hawaiian Islands to the United States of America, and in advocating 
 such policy it feels assured that it is expressing not only its own senti- 
 ments but those of the voters of this republic." 
 
 The necessity for a closer relation of the two republics than that pro- 
 vided for by a commercial treaty, terminable at the pleasure of either, 
 has been recognized by nearly every President and Secretary of State 
 from John Tyler down to President McKinley, by none more strongly 
 than by Daniel Webster in 1851 and by Secretary Marcy in 1854, while 
 like views have been favored by Secretaries Seward, Fish, Bayard, 
 Foster, and Sherman since. 
 
 The strategic value of the islands in case of war and their com- 
 mercial value at all times are so bound up together that it is impossible 
 to separate them. The former has been testified to by such eminent 
 military and naval authorities as General J. M. Schofield and General 
 Alexander of the United States army and Captain A. T. Mahan, Admiral 
 Belknap, Admiral Dupont, and George W. Mellville, Engineer in Chief 
 of the United States navy, and many others. Their commercial value 
 is demonstrated by the fact that their trade with the United States for 
 the fiscal year, ending June, 1897 (amounting to $18,385,000), exceeded 
 
HAWAII, AND OUR ANNEXATION POLICY. 437 
 
 that with either of the following States and confederations: Argen- 
 tina, Central America, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela, Russia, or Den- 
 mark; was more than twice that with Colombia or Sweden and Norway; 
 nearly three times that with Chile; four times that with Uruguay; 
 nearly four times that with Portugal; nearly seven times that with 
 Turkey; ten times greater than that with Peru, and greater than that 
 of Greece, Peru, Turkey, Portugal, and Sweden and Norway combined. 
 
 Vote for Annexation. 
 
 By a vote of 209 to 91 the House of Representatives on the afternoon 
 of June 15 adopted the Newlands resolutions, providing for the annex- 
 ation of Hawaii. The debate, which was continued without interrup- 
 tion for three days, was one of the most notable of Congress, the pro- 
 posed annexation being considered of great commercial and strategic 
 importance by its advocates, and being looked upon by its opponents 
 as involving a radical departure from the long-established policy of the 
 country and likely to be followed by the inauguration of a pronounced 
 policy of colonization, the abandonment of the Monroe doctrine and 
 participation in international wrangles. More than half a hundred 
 members participated in the debate. 
 
 Notable speeches were made by Messrs. Berry, Smith and Hepburn 
 for, and by Messrs. Johnson and Williams against the pending measure. 
 Few members were upon the floor until late in the afternoon and the 
 galleries had few occupants. As the hour of voting drew near, how- 
 ever, members began taking their places and there were few more than 
 a score of absentees when the first roll call was taken. The announce- 
 ment of the vote upon the passage of the resolutions was cheered upon 
 the floor and applauded generally by the spectators. 
 
 The resolutions adopted in a preamble relate the offer of the 
 Hawaiian republic to cede all of its sovereignty and absolute title to 
 the government and crown lands, and then by resolution accept the 
 cession and declare the islands annexed. The resolutions provide for 
 a commission of five, at least two of whom shall be resident Hawaiians, 
 to recommend to Congress such legislation as they may deem advisable. 
 The public debt of Plawaii, not to exceed $4,000,000, is assumed, Chinese 
 immigration is prohibited, all treaties with other powers are declared 
 null, and it is provided that until Congress shall provide for the govern- 
 ment of the islands all civil, judicial and military powers now exer- 
 cised by the officers of the existing government shall be exercised in 
 
438 HAWAII, AND OUR ANNEXATION POLICY. 
 
 such manner as the President shall direct, and he is given power to 
 appoint persons to put in effect a provisional government for the islands. 
 
 Mr. Fitzgerald spoke against the Newlands resolutions. In- the 
 course of his speech he emphasized the failure of the majority of Ha- 
 waiians to express their desire relative to annexation. He insisted 
 that every people had the right to the government of their choice. 
 Speaking further, Mr. Fitzgerald opposed annexation on the ground that 
 an injurious labor element would be brought into competition with 
 American laborers. 
 
 Supporting the resolution Mr. Berry devoted much of his time to 
 showing that annexation was in line with democratic policy. He re- 
 viewed the territorial additions to the original states to show that prac- 
 tically all had been made by democrats. 
 
 Mr. Berry digressed to speak of the Philippine situation, and while 
 not advocating the retention of the islands he declared the United States 
 should brook no interference upon the part of Germany. He said 
 America should resent any intervention with all her arms and warships. 
 Mr. Berry's remarks in this connection were applauded generously. 
 
 William Alden Smith, member of the committee on foreign affairs, 
 advocating annexation, said: 
 
 "Annexation is not new to us. In my humble opinion the whole 
 North American continent and every island in the gulf and the Carib- 
 bean sea and such islands in the Pacific as may be deemed desirable are 
 worthy of our ambition. Not that we are earth hungry, but, as a 
 measure of national protection and advantage, it is the duty of the 
 American people to lay peaceful conquest wherever opportunity may be 
 offered. 
 
 "It has been argued that our constitution makes no provision for a 
 colonial system, but if President Monroe had been merely a lawyer, if 
 he had contented himself by looking for precedent which he was unable 
 to find, if he had consulted the jurisprudence of his time and planned 
 his action along academic lines the greatest doctrine ever announced 
 to the civilized world, which now bears his name, though in unwritten 
 law, but in the inspiration, the hope, the security of every American 
 heart, would have found no voice potent enough and courageous enough 
 to have encircled the western hemisphere with his peaceful edict. 
 
 "Precedent, sir, may do for a rule of law upon which a fixed and 
 definite superstructure must be built, but it is the duty of statesman- 
 ship to cease looking at great public questions with a microscope and- 
 sweep the world's horizon with a telescope from a commanding height." 
 
HAWAII, AND OUR ANNEXATION POLICY. 439 
 
 Mr. Johnson then was recognized for a speech in opposition. He 
 laid down the three propositions that annexation was unnecessary as a 
 war measure in the present conflict with Spain; that annexation was 
 unnecessary to prevent the islands from falling into the hands of some 
 other power to be used against us, and that the proposition to annex 
 was inherently wrong and was the opening wedge upon an undesirable 
 and disastrous policy of colonization. 
 
 Advancing to the danger of annexation being the first step in coloni- 
 zation, he said gentlemen could not deny that the holding of the Philip- 
 pines was contemplated already. What was more deplorable and sig- 
 nificant, he said, was the expressed fear of the President lest Spain 
 should sue for peace before we could secure Puerto Eico. Mr. Johnson 
 said men were already speaking disparagingly of the Cubans and their 
 capacity for government, and it was useless to attempt to hide the truth 
 that American eyes of avarice were already turned to Cuba, although 
 but two months since action was taken to free and establish that island 
 as independent. 
 
 Reply by Mr. Dolliver. 
 
 Mr. Dolliver, speaking in support of the resolutions, complimented 
 the speech of the Indiana member, but suggested its success as an 
 applause-getter would be greater than as a maker of votes. 
 
 "I cannot understand," declared Mr. Dolliver, "how a man who dis- 
 trusts everything of his own country can fail utterly to suspect anything 
 upon the part of other great powers of the world." Concluding, Mr. 
 Dolliver refuted the charge that annexationists had any hidden motives 
 looking to colonial expansion. As to the future of the Philippines, 
 Cuba and Puerto Rico, he declared that he knew nothing, but he had 
 faith that in the providence of God the American people would be 
 guided aright and these questions would be met and disposed of prop- 
 erly when occasion should arise. 
 
 Mr. Cummings, in a ten-minute speech, supported annexation and 
 indulged in severe denunciation of former President Cleveland for his 
 effort to re-establish the monarchy in Hawaii and the hauling down of 
 the American flag by Commissioner Blount. 
 
 . Mr. Hepburn was recognized to conclude in support of the resolu- 
 tions, lie believed the people of the country were familiar with the 
 rssue involved, and the time was opportune for a vote and final action. 
 Answering the claim tjiat annexation would mean launching upoi? 
 
440 HAWAII, AND OUR ANNEXATION POLICY. 
 
 colonization, he disavowed any such understanding. He said he hoped 
 to see every Spanish possession fall into the possession of this country 
 in order to contribute to the enemy's injury, and that being accomplished 
 the question of their disposition would arise and be met when the war 
 should end. 
 
 The House resolution extending the sovereignty of the United 
 States over Hawaii was adopted in the Senate by a vote of forty-two 
 to twenty-one, and President McKinley's signature added that country 
 to our possessions. Tjie President appointed as commissioners to visit 
 the islands and draw up for the guidance of Congress a system of laws 
 for their government, the following gentlemen: Senator Shelby M. 
 Cullom, of Illinois; Senator John T. Morgan, of Alabama; Kepresenta- 
 tive Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois; President Sanford B. Dole, of Hawaii; 
 Justice W. F. Frear, of Hawaii. 
 
CHAPTER L. 
 
 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. 
 
 The Bombardment of San Juan The Engagement at Cardenas The Voyage 
 of the Oregon The Battle at Guantanamo Santiago Under Fire 
 Landing the Troops in Cuba The Charge of the Rough Riders The 
 Sinking of the Merrimac The Destruction of Cervera's Fleet The 
 Fall of Santiago. 
 
 On the morning of May 12, a portion of the fleet, commanded by 
 Admiral Sampson, made an attack on the forts of San Juan de Puerto 
 Rico. The engagement began at 5:15 a. m. and ended at 8:15 a. m. The 
 enemy's batteries were not silenced, but great damage was done to 
 them, and the town in the rear of the fortifications suffered great losses. 
 The ships taking part in the action were the Iowa, Indiana, New York, 
 Terror, Amphitrite, Detroit, Montgomery, Wampatuck, and Porter. 
 
 At 3 o'clock in the morning all hands were called on the Iowa, a 
 few final touches in clearing ship were made, and at 5 "general quar- 
 ters" sounded. The men were eager for the fight. 
 
 The tug Wampatuck went ahead and anchored its small boat to 
 the westward, showing ten fathoms, but there was not a sign of life 
 from the fort, which stood boldly against the sky on the eastern hills 
 hiding the town. 
 
 The Detroit steamed far to the eastward, opposite Valtern. The 
 Iowa headed straight for the shore. Suddenly its helm flew over,, 
 bringing the starboard battery to bear on the fortifications. 
 
 At 5:16 a. m. the Iowa's forward twelve-inch guns thundered out 
 at the sleeping hills, and for fourteen minutes they poured starboard 
 broadsides on the coast. Meanwhile the Indiana, the New York, and 
 other ships repeated the dose from the rear. The Iowa turned and canio 
 back to the Wampatuck's boat and again led the column, the forts 
 replying fiercely, concentrating on the Detroit, which was about 700 
 yards away, all the batteries on the eastward arm of the harbor. Thrice 
 the column passed from the entrance of the harbor to the extreme 
 eastward battery. 
 
 Utter indifference was shown for the enemy's fire. The wounded 
 
 443 
 
444 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 were quickly attended, the blood was washed away, and everything 
 proceeded like target practice. 
 
 Morro battery, on the eastward arm of the harbor, was the prin- 
 cipal point of attack. Rear Admiral Sampson and Captain Evans 
 were on the lower bridge of the Iowa and had a narrow escape from 
 flying splinters, which injured three men. The Iowa was hit eight 
 times, but the shells made no impression on its armor. The weather 
 was fine, but the heavy swells made accurate aim difficult. 
 
 The broadsides from the Iowa and Indiana rumbled in the hills 
 ashore for five minutes after they were delivered. Clouds of dust 
 showed where the shells struck, but the smoke hung over everything. 
 The shells screeching overhead and dropping around showed that the 
 Spaniards still stuck to their guns. 
 
 The enemy's firing was heavy, but wild, and the Iowa and New 
 York were the only ships hit. They went right up under the guns in 
 column, delivering broadsides, and then returned. The after-turret of 
 the Arnphitrite got out of order temporarily during the engagement, 
 but it banged away with its forward guns. After the first passage 
 before the forts, the Detroit and the Montgomery retired, their guns 
 being too small to do much damage. The Porter and Wampatuck also 
 stayed out of range. The smoke hung over everything, spoiling the aim 
 of the gunners and making it impossible to tell where our shots struck. 
 The officers and men of all the ships behaved with coolness and bravery. 
 The shots flew thick and fast over all our ships. 
 
 The men of the Iowa who were hurt during the action were injured 
 by splinters thrown by an eight-inch shell, which came through a boat 
 into the superstructure, and scattered fragments in all directions. The 
 shot's course was finally ended on an iron plate an inch thick. 
 
 At 7:45 a. m. Admiral Sampson signaled "Cease firing." "Retire" 
 was sounded on the Iowa, and it headed from the shore. 
 
 After the battle was over Admiral Sampson said: 
 
 "I am satisfied with the morning's work. I could have taken San 
 Juan, but had no force to hold it. I merely wished to punish the Span- 
 iards, and render the port unavailable as a refuge for the Spanish 
 fleet. I came to destroy that fleet and not to take San Juan." 
 
 The man killed by the fire from the forts was Frank Widemark, a 
 seaman on the flagship New York. A gunner's mate on the Amphi- 
 trite died during the action from prostration caused by the extreme 
 heat and excitement. 
 
 The Iowa, Indiana, New York, Terror, and Amphitrite went close 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 445 
 
 under the fortifications after the armed tug Wampatuck had piloted 
 the way and made soundings. 
 
 The Detroit and Montgomery soon drew out of the line of battle, 
 their guns being too small for effective work against fortifications. 
 
 Three times the great fighting ships swung past Morro and the 
 batteries, roaring out a continuous fire. Whenever the dense smoke 
 would lift, great gaps could be seen in the gray walls of Morro, while 
 from the batteries men could be seen scurrying in haste. 
 
 The Spanish fire was quick enough, but ludicrously uncertain. 
 This was shown after Admiral Sampson had given the order to cease 
 firing and retire. The monitor Terror evidently misunderstood the 
 order, for it remained well in range of the Spanish guns and continued 
 the bombardment alone. The few guns still served by the Spaniards 
 kept banging away at the Terror, and some of the shots missed it at 
 least a mile. It remained at its work for half an hour before retiring, 
 and in all this time was not once hit. 
 
 The First Americans Killed. 
 
 America's first dead fell on the llth of May in a fierce and bloody 
 combat off Cardenas, on the north coast of Cuba. Five men were 
 blown to pieces and five were w T ounded on the torpedo boat Winslow. 
 The battle was between the torpedo boat Winslow, the auxiliary tug 
 Hudson, and the gunboat Wilmington on one side, and the Cardenas 
 batteries and four Spanish gunboats on the other. The battle lasted 
 but thirty-five minutes, but was remarkable for terrific fighting. The 
 Winslow was the main target of the enemy, and was put out of service. 
 The other American vessels were not damaged, except that the Hud- 
 son's two ventilators were slightly scratched by flying shrapnel. The 
 Winslow was within 2,500 yards of the shore when the shells struck. 
 How it came to be so close was told by its commander, Lieutenant John 
 Bernadou. He said: 
 
 "We were making observations when the enemy opened fire on us. 
 The Wilmington ordered us to go in and attack the gunboats. We went 
 in under full steam and there's the result." 
 
 He was on the Hudson when he said this, and with the final words 
 he pointed to the huddle of American flags on the deck near by. Under 
 the Stars and Stripes were outlined five rigid forms. 
 
 List of the killed: Worth Bagley, ensign; John Daniels, first-class 
 fireman; John Tunnel, cabin cook; John Varveres, oiler. The wounded: 
 
446 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 J. B. Bernadou, lieutenant, commanding the Winslow; K. E. Cox, gun* 
 ner's mate; D. McKeowan, quartermaster; J. Patterson, fireman; F. 
 Gray. 
 
 Story of the Fight. 
 
 The story of the fight, as told by the Hudson's men, is as follows: 
 
 The Winslow, the Hudson, the Machias, and the Wilmington were 
 among the ships off Cardenas on the blockade, the Wilmington acting 
 as flagship. The Machias lay about twelve miles out. The others were 
 stationed close in, on what is called the inside line. At a quarter to 9 
 o'clock the Hudson, under Captain F. H. Newton, was taking soundings 
 in Diana Cay bars and Eomero Cay, just outside Cardenas, so close to 
 shore that it grounded, but it floated off easily into the shallow w r ater. 
 
 At half past 11 the Wilmington spoke the Hudson and the Winslow 
 and assigned them to duty, the Winslow to start to the eastern shore of 
 Cardenas Bay and the Hudson to the western shore, while the Wilming- 
 ton took its station in mid-channel. This work occupied two hours. 
 Nothing was discovered on either shore, and the boats were approach- 
 ing each other on their return when a puff of smoke was observed on 
 shore at Cardenas, and a shell whistled over them. The Winslow was 
 on the inside, nearer the shore. The Hudson and the Winslow reported 
 to the Wilmington, and orders came promptly to go in and open fire; 
 but the Spaniards had not w r aited for a reply to their first shot. The 
 Cardenas harbor shore had already become one dense cloud of smoke, 
 shot with flashes of fire and an avalanche of shells was bursting toward 
 the little Winslow: 
 
 This was at five minutes past 2 o'clock, and for twenty minutes the 
 firing continued from the shore without cessation, but none of the shots 
 had at that time found their mark, though they were striking danger- 
 ously near. Meanwhile the Hudson's two six-pounders were banging 
 away at a terrific rate. How many of the torpedo boat's shots took 
 effect is not known. The first two of the Hudson's shells fell short, 
 but after these two every one floated straight into the smoke-clouded 
 shore. The Spaniard's aim in the meantime was improving and it was 
 presently seen that two empty barks had been anchored off shore. It 
 was twenty-five minlites before 3 o'clock when a four-inch shell struck 
 the Winslow on the starboard beam, knocking out its forward boiler and 
 starboard engine and crippling the steering gear, but no one was injured. 
 
 Lieutenant Bernadou was standing forward watching the battle 
 .with calm interest and directing his men as coolly as if they were at 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 447 
 
 target practice. By the one-pounder amidships stood Ensign Bagley, 
 the oiler, the two firemen, and the cook. The little boat gasped and 
 throbbed and rolled helplessly from side to side. Lieutenant Bernadou 
 did not stop for an examination. He knew his boat was uncontrollable. 
 The Hudson was a short distance off still pounding away with her guns. 
 It was hailed and asked to take the Winslow in tow. It w r as a vital 
 moment. Guns roared from shore and sea. Lieutenant Scott, in charge 
 of the Hudson's aft gun, sat on a box and smoked a cigarette as he 
 directed the fire. 
 
 Captain Newton stood near Lieutenant Meed at the forward gun and 
 watched its workings with interest. Chief Engineer Gutchin never 
 missed his bell. A group of sailors was making ready to heave a line 
 to the Winslow, and Ensign Bagley and his four men stood on the port 
 side of the latter vessel, waiting to receive it. A vicious fire was singing 
 about them. The Spaniards seemed to have found the exact range. 
 
 Killed by a Bursting Shell. 
 
 There was a momentary delay in heaving the towline, and Ensign 
 Bagley suggested that the Hudson's men hurry. "Heave her," he called. 
 "Let her come; it's getting pretty warm here." The line was thrown 
 and grabbed by the Winslow's men. Grimy with sweat and powder, 
 they tugged at it and drew nearer foot by foot to the Hudson. Almost 
 at the same instant another four-inch shell shrieked through the smoke 
 and burst directly under them. Five bodies w r ent whirling through the 
 air. Two of the group were dead when they fell Ensign Bagley and 
 Fireman Daniels. The young ensign was literally, disemboweled, and 
 the entire lower portion of the fireman's body w r as torn away. The 
 other three died within a few minutes. A flying piece of shrapnel 
 struck Lieutenant Bernadou in the thigh and cut an ugly gash, but the 
 Lieutenant did not know it then. With the explosion of the shell the 
 hawser parted and the Winslow's helm went hard to starboard, and, 
 with its steering gear smashed, the torpedo boat floundered about in 
 the water at the mercy of the enemy's fire, which never relaxed. 
 
 The fire of the Americans was of the usual persistent character, and 
 the nerve of the men was marvelous. Even after the Winslow's star- 
 board engine and steering ^ear were wrecked the little boat continued 
 pouring shot into the Spaniards on shore until it was totally disabled. 
 
 Meanwhile the Wilmington from its outlying station was busy with 
 its bigger guns and sent shell after shell from its four-inch guns crash- 
 
448 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 ing into the works on shore, and their execution must have been deadly. 
 Not a fragment of shot or shell from the enemy reached the Wilmington. 
 
 The Hudson quickly threw another line to the Winslow, and the 
 helpless torpedo boat was made fast and pulled out of the Spainards' 
 exact range. The tug then towed it to Piedras Cay, a little island twelve 
 miles off, near which the Machias lay. There it was anchored for tem- 
 porary repairs, while the Hudson brought the ghastly cargo into Key 
 West, with Dr. Eichards of the Machias attending to the wounded. Not 
 until this mournful journey was begun was it learned that Lieutenant 
 Bernadou had been injured. He scoffed at the wound as a trifle, but sub- 
 mitted to treatment and is doing well. 
 
 When the Hudson drew up to the government dock at Key West the 
 flags at half mast told the few loiterers on shore that death had come to 
 some one, and the bunting spread on the deck, with here and there a 
 foot protruding from beneath, confirmed the news. Ambulances were 
 called and the wounded were carried quickly to the army barracks hos- 
 pital. The dead were taken to the lo-cal undertaker's shop, where they 
 lay all day on slabs, the mutilated forms draped with flags. The public 
 were permitted to view the remains, and all day a steady stream of 
 people flowed through the shop. 
 
 The American boats made furious havoc with Cardenas harbor and 
 town. The captain of the Hudson said: 
 
 "I know we destroyed a large part of their town near the wharves, 
 burned one of their gunboats, and I think destroyed two other torpedo 
 destroyers. We were in a vortex of shot, shell and smoke, and could not 
 tell accurately, but we saw one of their boats on fire and sinking soon 
 after the action began. Then a large building near the wharf, I think 
 the barracks, took fire, and many other buildings were soon burning. 
 The Spanish had masked batteries on all sides of us, hidden in bushes 
 and behind houses. They set a trap for us. As soon as we got within 
 range of their batteries they would move them. I think their guns were 
 field pieces. Our large boats could not get into the harbor to help us on 
 account of the shallow water." 
 
 Amid a perfect storm of shot from Spanish rifles and batteries the 
 American forces made an attempt to cut the cables at Cienf uegos, on the 
 llth of May. Four determined boat crews, under command of Lieu- 
 tenant Winslow and Ensign Magruder, from the cruiser Marblehead 
 and gunboat . Nashville, put out from the ships, the coast having 
 previously been shelled, and began their perilous work. The cruiser 
 >> irblehead, the gunboat Nashville and the auxiliary cruiser Windom 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 449 
 
 drew up a thousand yards from shore with their guns manned for 
 desperate duty. 
 
 One cable was quickly severed and the work was in progress on 
 the other w T hen the Spaniards in rifle pits and a battery in an old 
 lighthouse standing out in the bay opened fire. The warships poured 
 in a thunderous volley, their great guns belching forth massive shells 
 into the sw r arms of the enemy. The crews of the boats proceeded with 
 their desperate work, notwithstanding the fact that a number of men 
 had fallen, and, after finishing their task, returned to the ships through 
 a blinding smoke and a heavy fire. Two men were killed, and seven 
 wounded by the fire of the enemy. Captain Maynard had a narrow 
 escape from death. A rifle shot hit his side close to the heart, but caused 
 only a flesh wound and he kept at his post to the end. The officers 
 of the Windoin were enthusiastic over the work of the men in the 
 launches. They fired in regular order and shot well. The Windom 
 demolished the lighthouse, which was in reality a fort, and not one 
 stone was left standing upon another. 
 
 On May 14 Admiral Sampson ordered Captain Goodrich to cut the 
 French cable running from Mole St. Nicholas, Hayti, to Guantanamo, 
 Cuba, about thirty miles to the eastward of Santiago. In compliance with 
 this order the St. Louis and the Wampatuck appeared off Guantanamo 
 about daylight, and the Wampatuck, with Lieutenant Jungen in com- 
 mand and Chief Officer Seagrave, Ensign Payne, Lieutenant Catlin 
 and eight marines and four seamen on board, steamed into the mouth 
 of the harbor, and, dropping a grapnel in eight fathoms of water, 
 proceeded to drag across the mouth of the harbor for the cable. 
 
 About 150 fathoms of line were run out when the cable was hooked 
 in fifty fathoms of water. This time the lookout reported a Spanish gun- 
 boat coming down the harbor and a signal was sent to the St. Louis, 
 lying half a mile outside. She had already discovered it, and immedi- 
 ately opened fire with her two port six-pounders. The Wampatuck 
 then commenced firing with her one three-pounder. The gunboat, how- 
 ever, was out of range of these small guns and the shells fell short. 
 
 The Spaniards opened fire w T ith a four-inch gun, and every shot went 
 whistling over the little Wampatuck and struck in the water between 
 her and the St. Louis. Being well out of range of the six-pounders the 
 gunboat was perfectly safe, and she steamed back and forth firing her 
 larger guns For about forty minutes the tug worked on the cable, while 
 the shells were striking all around her, but she seemed to bear a 
 charmed life. 
 
450 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 Captain Goodrich, seeing that he could not get the gunboat \vithiu 
 range of his small guns, while that vessel could easily reach the St. Louis 
 and Wampatuck with her heavier battery, signaled the tug to withdraw. 
 The grappling line was cut and both vessels steamed out to sea, leaving 
 the cable uncut. 
 
 As the tug turned and started out it was noticed that riflemen on 
 shore were firing at her. Lieutenant Catlin opened up w r ith the Gatling 
 gun mounted aft and the Spaniards on shore could be seen scattering 
 and running for shelter. The French cable w r as cut the next morning off 
 Mole St. Nicholas, well outside of the three-mile limit. 
 
 Lieutenant Catlin was formerly on the battleship Maine, and perhaps 
 he took more than ordinary interest in firing his guns. 
 
 "You could tell by the grim smile on his face as he fired each shot," 
 one of his brother officers said, "that he was trying to 'get even/ as 
 far as lay in his power, for the awful work in Havana harbor." 
 
 Second Call for Volunteers. 
 
 The President issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 more volun- 
 teers on May 25. This made the total army strength, regular and 
 volunteer, 280,000. 
 
 The official call issued by the President in the form of a proclamation 
 was as follows: 
 
 Whereas, An act of Congress was approved on the 25th day of April, 
 1898, entitled "An act declaring that war exists between the United States 
 of America and the kingdom of Spain," and, 
 
 Whereas, By an act of Congress, entitled "An act to provide for tempo- 
 rarily increasing the military establishment of the United States in time of 
 war and for other purposes," approved April 22, 1898, the President is author- 
 ized, in order to raise a volunteer army, to issue his proclamation calling 
 for volunteers to serve in the army of the United States. 
 
 Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, by 
 virtue of the power vested in me by the constitution and the laws and deem- 
 ing sufficient occasion to exist, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do 
 call forth, volunteers to the aggregate number of 75,000 in addition to the 
 volunteers called forth b\y my proclamation of the 23d day of April, in the 
 present year; the same to be apportioned, as far as practicable, among the 
 several States and Territories and the District of Columbia, according to 
 population, and to serve for two years unless sooner discharged. The pro- 
 portion of each arm and the details of enlistment and organization will be 
 made known through the war department. 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 451 
 
 In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of 
 the United States to be affixed. 
 
 Done at the city of Washington, this 25th day of May, in the year of 
 our Lord, 1898, and of the independence of the United States, the 122d. 
 
 WILLIAM McKINLEY. 
 By the President, 
 
 WILLIAM R. DAY, Secretary of State. 
 
 Running Down His Prey. 
 
 Four weeks after the victory of Rear-Admiral Dewey at Manila, 
 Commodore Sckley, in command of the flying squadron, had his shrewd- 
 ness and pertinacity rewarded by finding the Spanish fleet in the harbor 
 of Santiago de Cuba. 
 
 For ten days he had, in the face of conflicting rumors, insisted that 
 the ships of Spain were trying to make a landing on the southern coast 
 of Cuba. This was evidently not in consonance with certain official in- 
 formation and his opinion was not given much weight. 
 
 The captain of the British steamer Adula, who was interviewed nt 
 Cienfuegos, told of seeing the Spanish fleet in the vicinity of Santiago de 
 Cuba, evidently awaiting an opportunity to get in. Captain Sigsbee of 
 the St. Paul related how he had captured a Spanish coal vessel going 
 into the harbor of Santiago, and Commodore Schley argiaed from 
 these two incidents that the fleet of Spain was waiting in some haven 
 near by until such time as a visit, fruitless in its results, should be 
 made there by the Americans when, upon their departure, the Span- 
 ish fleet would run in. 
 
 Consequently, Commodore Schley determined to find it. Himself 
 in the lead with the flagship, he started toward the harbor. The 
 Spanish troops at the works and batteries could be seen, through 
 glasses, preparing in haste to give the American ships as warm a recep- 
 tion as possible. 
 
 When about five miles from the batteries the lookouts reported the 
 masts of two ships, and Flag Lieutenant Sears and Ensign McCauley 
 made out the first to be the Cristobal Colon. Two torpedo boats were 
 also made out and a' second vessel of the Vizcaya class was seen. 
 
 All this time Commodore Schley was upon the afterbridge of the 
 Brooklyn making good use of his binoculars. Arrived at the harbor en- 
 trance, when the ships were sighted from the deck, he turned his eyes 
 from the glasses long enough to wink and say: "I told you I would 
 find them. They will be a long time getting home." 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 The Voyage of the Oregon. 
 
 The voyage of the Oregon from San Francisco to Florida is a mat- 
 ter of historic interest, for it was the first craft of the kind to weather 
 the famous cape. When it anchored off Sand Key, Fla., it had com- 
 pleted the longest trip ever made by a battleship. Altogether she 
 sailed 18,102 miles in eighty-one days, and this includes the days she 
 spent in coaling. Prior to this trip the record for long voyages had 
 been held by a British flagship, which steamed from England to China. 
 The distance from Puget Sound to Sand Key is more than two-thirds 
 the circumference of the earth. The big trip was a record of itself, 
 and it included within it several minor records for battleship steam- 
 ing. For example, the Oregon ran 4,726 miles without a stop of any 
 kind for any purpose. Such a run is longer than the voyage from New 
 York to Queenstown or to Bremen or to Havre. It is comparable with 
 the great runs of the magnificent merchant ships of the Peninsular and 
 Oriental Steamship Navigation Company from London to Calcutta, 
 Bombay and Madras. It was a triumph for any kind of a ship, but it 
 was a wonder for a battleship. The Oregon left Puget Sound March 
 6, left San Francisco on March 19 and drew up at Sand Key, Fla., on 
 May 26. Everything on board of her was shipshape. Her engines, of 
 11,111 horse power, were bright and fresh and ready for another voyage 
 of 17,000 miles. Not a bolt was loose; not a screw was out of order. 
 
 Hobson Wins Fame. 
 
 On Thursday, June 2, Admiral Sampson decided to send the collier 
 Merrimac into the bay of Santiago and sink it in the channel's nar- 
 rowest part, for the purpose of holding Cervera and his fleet in the 
 harbor, until the time when their capture or destruction seemed ad- 
 visable. He called for volunteers, explaining that it was a desperate 
 mission, death being almost certain for all those who ventured in. 
 
 Then the navy showed the stuff of which it % is made. A-dmiral 
 Sampson wanted eight men. He could have had every officer and man 
 in the fleet, for all were more than ready. Lieutenant Richmond P. 
 Hobson was selected to command the expedition, and Daniel Montague, 
 George Charette, J. C. Murphy, Osborn Deignan, George F. Phillips, 
 Francis Kelly and R. Clausen were detailed to accompany him. 
 
 Just before 3 o'clock on the morning of the 3d the collier, deeply 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 453 
 
 laden with ballast material and some coal, was headed without pre- 
 liminary maneuver straight for the entrance, over which the remaining 
 batteries from Morro frowned from one side, and those from Socapa 
 from the other. In the darkness of the early morning the Merrimac, 
 without a light showing anywhere, dashed within the line of the forts 
 before it was discovered, Sampson's ships thundering at the enemy's 
 batteries to divert their attention from the collier. The Spaniards 
 soon detected it, however, and brought every possible gun to bear. In 
 the face of a terrific fire of shot and shell from Spanish guns the Mer- 
 riuiac ran into the narrow channel, where it was swung across and 
 anchored. Then Lieutenant Hobson blew a hole in the ship's bottom 
 and with his seven men took to a boat. They first made an effort to 
 row out of the harbor and regain the American fleet, but soon realizing 
 that to attempt to pass the aroused batteries would mean certain death 
 to all, they turned and rowed straight towards the Spanish squadron, 
 and surrendered to Admiral Cervera, who held them as prisoners of war. 
 The Spanish commander sent his chief of staff, Captain Oviedo, under 
 a flag 1 of truce to Admiral Sampson, bearing the information of the 
 safety of the heroes. The Spanish officers were enthusiastic in their 
 praise of the bravery shown by Hobson and his men, and looked upon 
 them with amazement as heroes whose gallantry far exceeded any Span- 
 ish conception of what men might do for their country, and it was with 
 great chagrin that Admiral Cervera was prevented by the Madrid 
 authorities from returning the heroic young officer and his brave men 
 to Admiral Sampson, but was compelled to deliver them to the military 
 authorities ashore as prisoners of war, 
 
 Thrown Into a Dungeon by Linares. 
 
 General Linares, with the brutal instinct that had marked his con- 
 duct of 'Cuban affairs already intrusted to him, deliberately placed 
 Hobson and his men in Morro Castle as a shield against the fire of 
 Sampson's squadron. Here Hobson was locked up for five days in 
 solitary confinement in a filthy dungeon under conditions which must 
 have soon resulted in his serious illness and perhaps in death. The 
 treatment he received and the scanty food given him were no better 
 than that accorded to a common criminal condemned to execution. 
 
 This punishment, however, was of short duration on account of the 
 vigorous protest which was made through a neutral power to Spain, 
 coupled with Admiral Sampson's notice to the Spanish admiral that 
 
454 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOB THE AMERICANS. 
 
 he would be held personally responsible for Hobson's welfare. Under 
 these circumstances Admiral Cervera interposed his influence with 
 General Linares; and Hobson, with his men, was transferred to the bar- 
 racks in the city. Here his solitary confinement continued, but he could 
 look out of a window to the hills on the east and see the smoke from 
 the American rifles of General Shatter's men firing from their intrench- 
 ments with the consolation that his captivity would be of short duration. 
 
 After the assault on Santiago arrangements were made by the com- 
 manders of the two armies for the exchange of Lieutenant Hobson and 
 his men for Spanish prisoners held by the Americans, and a truce was 
 established for that purpose. The place selected for the exchange was 
 under a tree between the American and Spanish lines, two-thirds of a 
 mile beyond the intrenchments occupied by Colonel Wood's Rough 
 Riders, near General Wheeler's headquarters, and in the center of the 
 American line. 
 
 The American prisoners left the Reina Mercedes hospital on the 
 outskirts of Santiago de Cuba, where they had been confined, in charge 
 of Major Irles, a Spanish staff officer, who speaks English perfectly. 
 
 The prisoners were conducted to the meeting place on foot, but w T ere 
 not blindfolded. Colonel John Jacob Astor and Lieutenant Miloy, ac- 
 companied by Interpreter Maestro, were in charge of the Spanish prison- 
 ers. These consisted of Lieutenants Amelio Volez and Aurelius, a 
 German, who were captured at El Caney, and Lieutenant Adolfo Aries 
 and fourteen non-commissioned officers and privates. Lieutenant Aries 
 and a number of the men w T ere wounded in the fight at El Caney. The 
 Spanish prisoners were taken through the American lines mounted and 
 blindfolded. 
 
 The meeting between Colonel Astor and Major Irles was extremely 
 courteous, but very formal, and no attempt was made by either of them 
 to discuss anything but the matter in hand. Major Irles was given his 
 choice of three Spanish lieutenants in exchange for Hobson, and was 
 also informed that he could have all of the fourteen men in exchange 
 for the American sailors. The Spanish officers selected Lieutenant 
 Aries, and the other two Spanish officers were conducted back to 
 Juragua. 
 
 It was then not later than 4 o'clock, and just as everything was fin- 
 ished and the two parties were separating Irles turned and said, courte- 
 ously enough, but in a tone which indicated considerable defiance and 
 gave his hearers the impression that he desired hostilities to be renewed 
 at once: 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. ,455 
 
 "Our understanding is, gentlemen, that this truce comes to an end 
 at 5 o'clock." 
 
 Colonel Astor looked at his watch, bowed to the Spanish officer, 
 without making a reply, and then started back slowly to the American 
 lines, with Hobson and his companions following. 
 
 The meeting of the two parties and the exchange of prisoners had 
 taken place'in full view of both the American and Spanish soldiers who 
 were intrenched near the meeting place, and the keenest interest was 
 taken in the episode. 
 
 Santiago Under Fire. 
 
 On the morning of June 6 the American fleet engaged the Spanish 
 batteries defending the entrance of the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, 
 and, after three hours' bombardment, silenced nearly all the forts, de- 
 stroyed several earthworks, and rendered the Estrella and Cayo bat- 
 teries, two of the principal fortifications, useless. 
 
 The fleet formed in double column, six miles off Morro Castle, at 6 
 o'clock in the morning, and steamed slowly 3,000 yards off shore, the 
 Brooklyn leading, followed by the Marblehead, Texas and Massachu- 
 setts, and turned westward. The second line, the New York leading, 
 with the New Orleans, Yankee, Iowa and Oregon following, turned 
 eastward. 
 
 The Vixen and Suwanee were far out on the left flank, watching the 
 riflemen on shore. The Dolphin and Porter did similar duty on the right 
 flank. The line headed by the New York attacked the new earthworks 
 near Morro Castle. The Brooklyn column took up a station opposite 
 the Estrella and Catalina batteries and the new earthworks along the 
 shore. 
 
 The Spanish batteries remained silent. It is doubtful whether the 
 Spaniards were able to determine the character of the movement, owing 
 to the dense fog and heavy rain which were the weather features this 
 morning. 
 
 Suddenly the Iowa fired a twelve-inch shell, which struck the base 
 of Estrella battery and tore up the works. Instantly firing began from 
 both Rear-Admiral Sampson's and Commodore Schley's column, and 
 a torrent of shells from the ships fell upon the Spanish works. The Span- 
 iards replied promptly, but their artillery work was of a poor quality and 
 most of their shots went wild. Smoke settled around the ships in dense 
 clouds, rendering accurate aiming difficult. There was no maneuvering 
 
456 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 of the fleet, the ships remaining at their original stations, firing steadily. 
 The squadrons were so close in shore that it was difficult for the Ameri- 
 can gunners to reach the batteries on the hilltops, but their firing was 
 excellent. 
 
 Previous to the bombardment, orders were issued to prevent firing 
 on Morro Castle, as the American Admiral had been informed that Lieu- 
 tenant Hobson and the other prisoners of the Merrimac were confined 
 there. In spite of this, however, several stray shots damaged Morro 
 Castle somewhat. 
 
 Commodore Schley's line moved closer in shore, firing at shorter 
 range. The Brooklyn and Texas caused wild havoc among the Spanish 
 shore batteries, quickly silencing them. While the larger ships w r ere 
 engaging the heavy batteries, the Suwanee and Vixen closed w r ith the 
 small in-shore battery opposite them, raining rapid-fire shots upon it 
 and quickly placing the battery out of the fight. 
 
 The Brooklyn closed to 800 yards and then the destruction caused by 
 its guns and those of the Marblehead and Texas was really awful. In 
 a few minutes the woodwork of Estrella fort was burning and the bat- 
 tery was silenced, firing no more during the engagement. Eastward 
 the New York and New Orleans silenced the Cayo battery in quick order 
 and then shelled the earthworks located higher up. The practice here 
 was not so accurate, owing to the elevation of the guns. Many of the 
 shells, however, landed, and the Spanish gunners retired. 
 
 Shortly after 9 o'clock the firing ceased, the warships turning in or- 
 der to permit the use of the port batteries. The firing then became a 
 long reverberating crash of thunder, and the shells raked the Spanish 
 batteries with terrific effect. Fire broke out in Catalina fort and 
 silenced the Spanish guns. The firing of the fleet continued until 10 
 o'clock, w T hen the Spanish ceased entirely, and Admiral Sampson hoisted 
 the "Cease firing" signal. 
 
 After the fleet retired the Spaniards returned to their guns and sent 
 twelve shots after the American ships, but no damage was done. In 
 fact, throughout the entire engagement none of our ships was hit and 
 no American was injured. 
 
 One purpose of Admiral Sampson, it appears, was to land troops 
 and siege guns at Aguadores, after reducing the defenses of the place, 
 and then make a close assault upon Santiago, which, in view of the 
 present condition of its fortifications, may be expected to yield soon. 
 
 A landing of American troops was effected near Baiquiri, some dis- 
 tance east of Aguadores, and near the railroad station connecting with 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 457 
 
 Santiago de Cuba. Later an engagement took place between the Ameri- 
 can force and a column of Spanish troops which had been sent against 
 the landing party. The Spaniards were driven back. 
 
 The Marines at Guantanamo. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel R. W. Hunting-ton's battalion of marines landed 
 from the transport Panther on Friday, June 10, and encamped on the 
 hill guarding the abandoned cable station at the entrance to the outer 
 harbor of Guantanamo. On Saturday afternoon a rush attack was made 
 on them by a detachment of Spanish regulars and guerrillas, and for 
 thirteen hours the fighting was almost continuous, until re-enforce- 
 ments were landed from the Marblehead. 
 
 The engagement began with desultory firing at the pickets, a thou- 
 sand yards inland from the camp. Captain Spicer's company was doing 
 guard duty and was driven in, finally rallying on the camp and re- 
 pulsing the enemy at 5 o'clock. The sky was blanketed with clouds, 
 and when the sun set a gale was blowing out seaward. Night fell thick 
 and impenetrable. The Spanish squads concealed in the chaparral 
 cover had the advantage, the Americans on the ridge furnishing fine 
 targets against the sky and the white tents. 
 
 The Spaniards fought from cover until midnight, discoverable only 
 at flashes,. at which the marines fired volleys. Shortly after midnight 
 came the main attack. The Spaniards made a gallant charge up the 
 southwest slope, but were met by repeated volleys from the main body 
 and broke before they were one-third of the way up the hill; but they 
 came so close at points that there was almost a hand-to-hand struggle. 
 The officers used their revolvers. Three Spaniards got through the 
 open formation to the edge of the camp. Colonel Jose Campina, the 
 Cuban guide, discharged his revolver, and they, finding themselves with- 
 out support, beat a hasty retreat down the reverse side of the hill. Dur- 
 ing this assault Assistant Surgeon John Blair Gibbs was killed. He 
 was shot in the head in front of his own tent, the farthest point of 
 attack. He fell into the arms of Private Sullivan and both dropped. 
 A second bullet threw the dust in their faces. Surgeon Gibbs lived ten 
 minutes, but he did not again regain consciousness. Four Americans 
 were killed and one wounded in this engagement. 
 
 Sunday brought no rest. Every little while the p-a-t of a Mauser 
 would be heard, and a spatter of dust on the camp hillside would show 
 where the bullet struck. During the day the enemy kept well back, 
 
458 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 scattering a few riflemen through the trees to keep up a desultory fire on 
 the camp. There was no massing of forces, evidently for fear of shells 
 from the Marblehead, which lay in the harbor close by. But when night 
 came on again the Spanish forces were greatly augmented and in the 
 dark were bolder in their attacks. 
 
 Lieutenant Neville was sent with a small squad of men to dislodge 
 the advance pickets of the enemy, and his men followed him with a 
 will. The Spaniards, who had been potting at every shadow in the camp, 
 fled when the American pickets came swinging down their way. As 
 the Americans pressed along the edge of the steep hill, following a blind 
 trail, they nearly fell into an ambush. There was a sudden firing from 
 all directions, and an attack came from all sides. 
 
 Sergeant-Ma j or Henry Good w r as shot through the right breast and 
 soon died. The Americans were forced back upon the edge of the 
 precipice and an effort was made to rush them over, but without success. 
 As soon as they recovered from the first shock and got shelter in the 
 breaks of the cliff their fire was deadly. Spaniard after Spaniard went 
 down before American bullets and the rush was checked almost as sud- 
 denly as it was begun, causing the enemy to fall back. The Americans 
 swarmed after the fleeing Spaniards, shooting and cheering as they 
 charged, and won a complete victory. The Spanish forces left fifteen 
 dead upon the field. The American loss was two killed and four 
 wounded. 
 
 The night attack was picturesque, and a striking spectacle the 
 crack of the Mausers, tongues of fire from every bush encircling the 
 camp, the twitter of the long steel bullets overhead, while the machine 
 guns down on the water were ripping open the pickets, and the crash of 
 the field guns could be heard as they were driving in canister where the 
 fire of the Spaniards was the thickest. Then there was the screech of 
 the Marblehead's shells as she took a hand in the fight, and the sharp, 
 quick flashing of the rapid-firing one-pounder guns from the ships' 
 launches. 
 
 On Tuesday the brave marines, who had been exposed for three days 
 and nights to the fire of a foe they could but blindly see, weary of a 
 kind of warfare for which they were not trained, went into the enemy's 
 hiding place and inflicted disastrous punishment. The primary object 
 of the expedition was to destroy the tank which provided the enemy 
 with water. There are three ridges over the hills between the camp 
 from which the Americans and their Cuban allies started and the sea. 
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CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 461 
 
 Spanish headquarters were located at cross-roads between the first and 
 second ridges, and it was against this place that a detachment of fifty 
 marines and ten Cubans under Lieutenants Mahoney and Magill was 
 sent. Their instructions were to capture and hold this position. Cap- 
 tain Elliot with ninety marines and fifteen Cubans went east over the 
 last range of hills, and Captain Spicer with the same number of men 
 went to the west. A fourth party of fifty marines and a Cuban guide 
 under command of Lieutenant Ingate made a detour and secured a. 
 position back of Lieutenant Mahoney. 
 
 The first fighting was done by the men under Lieutenant Magill with 
 the second platoon of Company E. These parted from the others, going 
 over the first hill to the second one. They had advanced but a short 
 distance when they came to a heliograph station guarded by a company 
 of Spaniards. Shooting began on both sides., the Mausers of the Spanish 
 and the guns of the Americans snapping in unison. Our men had 
 toiled up the hillside in the boiling sun, but they settled down to shoot- 
 ing as steadily and as sturdily as veterans could have done. The 
 skirmish lasted fifteen minutes. At the end of this time the Spaniards 
 could no longer stand the methodical, accurate shooting of Magill's 
 men, and they ran helter-skelter, leaving several dead upon the field. 
 Lieutenant Magill took possession of the heliograph outfit without the 
 loss or injury of a man. 
 
 But this was in truth only a skirmish, and the real fighting was at 
 hand. Captains Spicer and Elliot and Lieutenant Mahoney led their 
 men up the second range of hills. A spattering of bullets gave note that 
 the news of their coming was abroad, but they toiled up to the top of 
 the hill. Here they found the Spanish camp situated on a little ridge 
 below them. There was one large house, the officers' quarters, and 
 around this was a cluster of huts, in the center of which was the water 
 tank which they had come to destroy. Quickly they moved into line 
 of battle, and advanced down the mountain, the enemy's bullets singing 
 viciously, but going wildly about them. 
 
 Gradually the Americans and Cubans descended the slope, shooting 
 as they went, and closing in upon the enemy in hiding about the huts 
 and in the brush. Then the order came to make ready for a bayonet 
 charge, but it had scarcely been given when the Spaniards broke from 
 cover and ran, panic-stricken, for a clump of brush about one hundred 
 yards further on. Then there was shooting quick and fast. There 
 were dozens of Spanish soldiers who did not reach the thicket, for the 
 American fire was deadly, and man after man was seen to fall. 
 
462 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 The fighting blood of the Americans was up. Elliot's command 
 made straight for the thicket to which the Spanish had fled, routed 
 them out, and drove them on before. Up the ridge they forced them, 
 shooting and receiving an answering fire all the way. Pursuers and 
 pursued moved on over the crest of the hill, and there the Spaniards 
 received a new surprise. Lieutenant Magill and his men had made a 
 detour and were waiting for them. As the enemy came within rifle 
 shot over the hill and started to descend Lieutenant MagilPs men 
 emptied their rifles. The Spanish turned back dismayed, and wavered 
 for a time between the two fires of our troops, uncertain which way to 
 turn. Then they assembled at the top of the hill. This was a fatal 
 mistake, for the Dolphin had taken up a position to the sea side of the 
 hills in the morning, and the moment her commander espied the 
 Spaniards on the summit of the ridge he opened fire upon them. 
 
 The slaughter was terrific, but it is but just to record the fact that 
 the enemy made a brave fight. They would not surrender, and made 
 an attempt to fight their way along the summit of the ridge, but they 
 were routed and ran in all directions to escape. 
 
 While the Americans were destroying the blockhouse, tank and 
 windmill the Cubans rounded up a Spanish lieutenant and seventeen 
 privates. These were spared and compelled to surrender. The lieu- 
 tenant gave the Spanish loss in the battle at sixty-eight killed and 
 nearly 200 wounded. Not an American was killed, and no one seriously 
 wounded. 
 
 Transports Filled With Troops. 
 
 After w r eeks of waiting and preparation the first army of invasion to 
 start from the eastern shores of the United States departed under the 
 command. of General Shafter on the morning of June 14 at 9 o'clock. 
 The fleet of transports consisted of thirty-five vessels, four tenders and 
 fourteen convoys. The actual embarkation of the troops began on Mon- 
 day, June 6. The work proceeded diligently until late on Wednesday 
 afternoon, when, after the departure of several vessels, an important 
 order came, calling a halt in the proceedings. The alleged cause of the 
 delay was the report that the Hornet while out scouting had sighted 
 several Spanish war vessels. 
 
 . Like a wet blanket came the order to halt. Cheerfulness was dis- 
 placed by keen disappointment. Two questions were on every tongue 
 "Has Spain surrendered?" "Has our fleet met with a reverse?" The 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 463 
 
 former met with the readiest belief, many believing the words in the 
 order "indefinitely postponed" meant peace. 
 
 General Miles and his staff went to Port Tampa Sunday morning at 
 6:30 to deliver parting instructions. During a heavy rain squall on 
 Saturday night at 8 o'clock w r hile the transports were straining at their 
 cables the little tug Captain Sam steamed from ship to ship megaphon- 
 ing the order: "Stand ready to sail at daylight." Above the roar of the 
 storm wild cheers were heard and a bright flash of lightning revealed the 
 soldiers standing in the rain waving their w r et hats and hurrahing. 
 When the morning broke, piers were lined with transports, the docks 
 were crowded with box cars, flat cars, stock cars, baggage and express 
 cars. Most of these were crowded with soldiers who were cheered until 
 their ears ached, and who cheered in return until hoarse. 
 
 Bright-colored dresses and fragile parasols in the crowds of blue- 
 coats indicated the presence of the fair sex. Horses and mules were 
 kicking up clouds of dust and the sun poured down its hot rays on the 
 sweltering mass of humanity. Thus Sunday passed, the transports at 
 the docks and those in midstream receiving their quotas of men and the 
 necessaries to sustain them. 
 
 Stirring Scenes Continued. 
 
 General Miles again went to the port on Monday on the early train. 
 The stirring scenes continued; the mad rush had not abated. General 
 Miles from the observation end of his car watched the crowd as it passed 
 near him. The transports swinging at their moorings were plainly in 
 view, as were also many of those at the docks. The embarkation of ani- 
 mals was progressing satisfactorily. 
 
 Shortly after 9 o'clock the funnels of the transports began to pour 
 forth volumes of black smoke. The Olivette, Margaret, Mateo and 
 Laura were visiting the fleet, giving water to one, troops to another, 
 animals and equipments to another. Along the pier could be heard 
 the voices of the transport commanders as they gave their orders to cut 
 loose. The gangplanks were pulled in, the hatchways closed, lines cast 
 off and the engines were put in motion. 
 
 The vessels backed into the bay and anchored to await the order to 
 sail. The Matteawan hove her cable short at 10 o'clock. All eyes 
 were riveted on the Seguranca, the flagship, and when the final signal 
 came a mighty cheer arose. From the lower row of portholes to her 
 tops hats waved in wild delight. The anchor was quickly weighed ami 
 
464 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 the great vessel pointed her prow down the bay. In a few minutes the 
 City of Washington, Kio Grande, Cherokee, Iroquois and Whitney fol- 
 lowed. As these boats picked their way through the anchored fleet men 
 shouted and bands played. Every vessel elicited a wild display of en- 
 thusiasm. These were the only vessels to depart in the forenoon, some 
 of them going over to St. Petersburg to procure water. 
 
 General Miles, evidently becoming impatient, embarked on the Tar- 
 pon at 12 :30 and went out among the fleet, going as far down the bay as 
 St. Petersburg and not returning until 4 o'clock. In the meantime 
 other transports were steaming down the bay. 
 
 In the afternoon the Morgan cut a path of white foam down the chan- 
 nel, and her lead was followed by the Vigilance, San Marcos, Clinton, 
 Yucatan, Stillwater, Berkshire, Olivette, Santiago, Arkansas, Seneca, 
 Saratoga, Miami, Leona, Breakwater and Comal. By the time these 
 vessels had moved aw r ay darkness had enveloped the remaining ships, 
 from whose sides glimmered long rows of lights. The Knickerbocker, 
 numbered thirteen, and the Orizaba had much to take on during the 
 night. The last to load were eager to complete the task for fear they 
 might be left. By daylight all the ships except the Seguranca had 
 moved down the bay. At 9 o'clock the Seguranca, amid cheers and the 
 blowing of whistles, followed. 
 
 General Shafter and his staff were the last to leave. The last orders 
 were handed to Lieutenant Miley, an aid to General Shafter, and im- 
 mediately the flagship started. 
 
 Sampson Again Shells Santiago. 
 
 Rear-Admiral Sampson's fleet bombarded the batteries at Santiago 
 de Cuba for the third time at daylight on the morning of June 16. 
 
 For hours the ships pounded the batteries at the right and left of 
 the entrance, only sparing El Morro, where Lieutenant Hobson and his 
 companions of the Merrimac were in prison. 
 
 As a preliminary to the hammering given the batteries the dynamite 
 cruiser Vesuvius at midnight was given another chance. Three 250- 
 pound charges of gun cotton were sent over the fortifications at the en- 
 trance. The design was to drop them in the bay around the angle back 
 of the eminence on which El Morro is situated, where it was known that 
 the Spanish torpedo-boat destroyers were lying. Two charges went 
 true, as no reports were Ix-nrd a peculiarity of the explosion of gun 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 465 
 
 cotton in water. The third charge exploded with terrific violence on 
 Cayo Smith. 
 
 From where the fleet lay the entrance to the harbor looked, in the 
 black night, like a door opening into the livid fire of a Titanic furnace. 
 A crater big enough to hold a church was blown out of the side of the 
 Cayo Smith and was clearly seen from the ships. 
 
 Coffee was served to the men at 3:30 in the morning, and with the 
 first blush of dawn the men were called quietly to quarters. The ship 
 steamed in five-knot speed to a 3,000-yard range, when they closed up, 
 broadside on, until a distance of three cable-lengths separated them. 
 They were strung out in the form of a crescent, the heavy fighting ships 
 in the center, the flagship on the right flank and the Massachusetts on 
 the left flank. The line remained stationary throughout the bombard- 
 ment. The Vixen and Scorpion took up positions on opposite flanks, 
 close in shore, for the purpose of enfilading any infantry that might fire 
 upon the ships. 
 
 When the ships got into position it was still too dark for any firing. 
 The Admiral signaled the ships not to fire until the muzzles of the ene- 
 my's guns in the embrasures could be seen by the gun captains. 
 
 Fifteen minutes later, at 5:25 a. m., the New York opened with a 
 broadside from her main battery at the w r orks on the east of the entrance 
 to the harbor. All the ships followed in red streaks of flame. The fleet, 
 enveloped in smoke, pelted the hills and kicked up dirt and masonry. 
 
 Though the gun captains had been cautioned not to waste ammuni- 
 tion, but to fire with deliberation, the fire was so rapid that there was 
 an almost continuous report. The measured crash of the big thirteen- 
 inch guns of the battleships sounded above the rattle of the guns of the 
 secondary batteries like thunder-claps above the din of a hurricane. A 
 strong land breeze off the shore carried the smoke of the ships seaward, 
 while it let down a thick curtain in front of the Spanish gunners. 
 
 The dons responded spiritedly at first, but their frenzied, half-crazed 
 fire could not match the cool nerve, trained eyes and skilled gunnery of 
 the American sailors. Our fire was much more effective than in preced- 
 ing bombardments. The Admiral's ordnance expert had given explicit 
 directions to reduce the powder charges and to elevate the guns, so as to 
 shorten the trajectory and thus to secure a phingmg fire. 
 
 The effect of the reduced charges was marvelous. In fifteen minutes 
 one western battery was completely wrecked. The Massachusetts tore a 
 gaping hole in the emplacement with a 1,000-pound projectile, and the 
 
466 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 Texas dropped a shell into the powder magazine. The explosion 
 wrought terrible havoc. 
 
 The frame was lifted, the sides were blown out and a shower of de- 
 bris flew in every direction. One timber, carried out of the side of the 
 battery, went tumbling down the hill. 
 
 The batteries on the east of Morro were harder to get at, but the New 
 Orleans crossed the bows of the New York to within 500 yards of shore 
 and played a tattoo with her long eight-inch rifles, hitting them re- 
 peatedly, striking a gun squarely muzzle-on, lifting it off its trunnions 
 and sending it sweeping somersaults high in the air. 
 
 When the order came, at 6:30, to cease firing, every gun of the enemy 
 had been silenced for ten minutes, but as the ships drew off some of the 
 Spanish courage returned and a half-dozen shots were fired spitefully 
 at the Massachusetts and Oregon, falling in their wakes. 
 
 Went Ashore With a Bush. 
 
 Sea and weather were propitious when, on June 22, the great army 
 of invasion under General Shafter left their transports in Baiquiri 
 harbor, and landed on Cuban soil. The navy and the army co-operated 
 splendidly and as the big warships closed in on the shore to pave the 
 way for the approach of the transports and then went back again, three 
 cheers for the navy went up from many thousand throats on the troop- 
 ships and three cheers for the army rose from ship after ship. 
 
 The Cuban insurgents, too, bore their share in the enterprise honor- 
 ably and well. Five thousand of them in mountain fastness and dark 
 thickets of ravines, lay all the previous night on their guns watching 
 every road and mountain path leading from Santiago to Guantanamo. 
 A thousand of them were within sight of Baiquiri, making the approach 
 of the Spaniards under cover of darkness an impossibility. 
 
 There is a steep, rocky hill, known as Punta Baiquiri, rising almost 
 perpendicularly at the place indicated. It is a veritable Gibraltar in 
 possibilities of defense. From the staff at its summit the Spanish flag 
 was defiantly floating at sunset; but in the morning it was gone, and 
 with it the small Spanish guard which had maintained the signal 
 station. Between nightfall and dawn the Spaniards had taken the 
 alarm and fled from the place, firing the town as they left. 
 
 The flames were watched with interest from the ships. Two sharp 
 explosions were heard. At first they were thought to be the report of 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 467 
 
 guns from Spanish masked batteries, but they proved to be explosions 
 of ammunition in a burning building. 
 
 Three hours' waiting made the men on the transports impatient to 
 get ashore and in action, and every move of the warships was closely 
 watched by the soldiers. 
 
 A little before 9 o'clock the bombardment of the batteries of Juragua 
 was begun. This was evidently a feint to cover the real point of attack, 
 Juragua being about half-way between Baiquiri and Santiago. The 
 bombardment lasted about twenty minutes. The scene then quickly 
 shifted back again to the great semi-circle of transports before Baiquiri. 
 
 At 9:40 o'clock the New Orleans opened fire with a gun that sent a 
 shell rumbling and crashing against the hillside. The Detroit, Wasp, 
 Machias and Suwanee followed suit. In five minutes the sea was alive 
 with flotillas of small boats, headed by launches, speeding for the Bai- 
 quiri dock. Some of the boats were manned by crews of sailors, while 
 others were rowed by the soldiers themselves. Each boat cen- 
 tained sixteen men, every one in fighting trim and carrying three days' 
 rations, a shelter tent, a gun and 200 cartridges. All were ready to 
 take the field on touching the shore should they be called upon. 
 
 The firing of the warships proved to be a needless precaution, as 
 their shots were not returned and no Spaniards were visible. 
 
 General Shafter, on board the Seguranca, closely watched the land- 
 ing of the troops. Brigadier-General Lawton, who had been detailed 
 to command the landing party, led the way in a launch, accompanied 
 by his staff, and directed the formation of the line of operation. 
 
 A detachment of eighty regulars was the first to land, followed by 
 General Shatter's old regiment, tHe First infantry. Then came the 
 Twenty-fifth, Twenty-second, Tenth, Seventh and Twelfth infantry in 
 the order named, and the Second Massachusetts and a detachment of the 
 Ninth cavalry. 
 
 The boats rushed forward simultaneously from every quarter, in 
 good-natured rivalry to be first, and their occupants scrambled ever 
 one another to leap ashore. As the boats tossed about in the surf get- 
 ting ashore was no easy matter, and the soldiers had to throw their 
 rifles on the dock before they could climb up. Some hard tumbles re- 
 sulted, but nobody was hurt. At the end of the pier the companies 
 and regiments quickly lined up and marched away. 
 
 General Lawton threw a strong detachment for the night about six 
 miles west, on the road to Santiago, and another detachment was posted 
 to the north of the town among the hills. The rest of the troops were 
 
468 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 quartered in the town, some of them being housed in the buildings of 
 the iron company. 
 
 Some of the troops were quartered in deserted houses, while others 
 preferred the shelter of their tents in the adjoining fields. 
 
 The morning's fire, it was seen, had destroyed the roundhouse, the 
 repair shops and several small dwellings. The town was deserted when 
 the troops landed, but women and children soon appeared from the 
 surrounding thickets and returned to their homes. 
 
 Part of the sun-bronzed troops quickly searched tjie buildings and 
 beat up the thickets in search of lurking foes and then at nightfall 
 marched into the unknown country beyond, with long, swinging strides 
 and the alert bearing of the old frontier army men, ready to fight the 
 Spaniards Sioux-fashion or in the open, wherever they could be found. 
 
 The landing was accomplished without loss of life, the only accident 
 being the wounding of an insurgent on the hills by a shell from one of 
 the warships. 
 
 
 Victory Is Dearly Bought. 
 
 On Friday morning, June 24, four troops of the First cavalry, four 
 troops of the Tenth cavalry and eight troops of Roosevelt's Rough Rid- 
 ers less than 1,000 men in all dismounted and attacked 2,000 Spanish 
 soldiers in the thickets within five miles of Santiago de Cuba. A bloody 
 conflict ensued, and the Americans lost sixteen men, including Captain 
 Allyn M. Capron and Hamilton Fish, Jr., of the Rough Riders. 
 
 Practically two battles w T ere fought at the same time, one by the 
 Rough Riders under the immediate command of Colonel Wood, on the 
 top of the plateau, and the other on the hillsides, several miles away, 
 by the regulars, with whom was General Young. 
 
 The expedition started from Juragua marked on some Cuban maps 
 as Altares a small town on the coast nine miles east of Morro Castle, 
 which was the first place occupied by the troops after their landing at 
 Baiquiri. 
 
 Information was brought to the American army headquarters by 
 Cubans that forces of Spanish soldiers had assembled at the place 
 where the battle occurred to block the march on Santiago. 
 
 General Young went there to dislodge them, the understanding be- 
 ing that the Cubans under General Castillo would co-operate with him, 
 but the latter failed to appear until the fight was nearly finished. Then 
 they asked permission to chase the fleeing Spaniards, but as the vie- 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 469 
 
 tory was already won General Young refused to allow them to take 
 part in the fight. . 
 
 General Young's plans contemplated the movement of half of his 
 command along the trail at the base of the range of hills leading back 
 from the coast, so that he could attack the Spaniards on the flank whtte 
 the Rough Riders went off to follow the trail leading over the hill to 
 attack them in front. This plan was carried out completely. The 
 troops left Juragua at daybreak. The route of General Young and 
 the regulars was comparatively level and easy of travel. Three Hotch- 
 kiss guns were taken with this command. 
 
 The first part of the journey of the Rough Riders was over steep hills 
 several hundred feet high. The men carried 200 rounds of ammunition 
 and heavy camp equipment. Although this was done easily in the 
 early morning, the weather became intensely hot, and the sun beat 
 down upon the cowboys and Eastern athletes as they toiled up the 
 grade with their heavy packs, and frequent rests were necessary. The 
 trail was so narrow that for the greater part of the way the men had to 
 proceed single file. Prickly cactus bushes lined both sides of the trail, 
 and the underbrush was so thick that it was impossible to see ten feet 
 on either side. All the conditions were favorable for a murderous 
 ambuscade, but the troopers kept a close watch, and made as little 
 noise as possible. 
 
 The Rough Riders entered into the spirit of the occasion with the 
 greatest enthusiasm. It was their first opportunity for a fight, and 
 every man was eager for it. The weather grew swelteringly hot, and 
 one by one the men threw away blankets and tent rolls, and emptied 
 their canteens. 
 
 The first intimation had by Colonel Wood's command that there 
 were Spaniards in the vicinity was when they reached a point three or 
 four miles back from the coast, when the low cuckoo calls of the Spanish 
 soldiers were heard in the bush. 
 
 It was difficult to locate the exact point from which these sounds 
 came, and the men were ordered to speak in low tones. 
 
 Charge the Enemy 
 
 the Americans rushed into the dense thicket regardless of danger. The 
 Spaniards fell back, but fired as they ran, and the battle lasted about an 
 hour. 
 
470 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOB THE AMERICANS. 
 
 The Spaniards left many dead on the field, their loss in killed being 
 not less than fifty. 
 
 The Spanish had carefully planned an ambush and intended to 
 hold the Americans in check. They became panic-stricken at the bold- 
 ness of the rush made by the invading force. The position gained was 
 of great advantage. 
 
 Where the battle took place a path opens into a space covered with 
 high grass on the right-hand side of the trail and the thickets. A 
 barbed w T ire fence runs along the left side. The dead body of a Cuban 
 was found on the side of the road, and at the same time Captain Cap- 
 ron's troops covered the outposts the heads of several Spaniards were 
 seen in the bushes for a moment. 
 
 It was not until then that the men were permitted to load their 
 carbines. When the order to load was given they acted on it with a 
 will and displayed the greatest eagerness to make an attack. At this 
 time the sound of firing was heard a mile or two to the right, apparently 
 coming from the hills beyond the thicket. It was the regulars replying 
 to the Spaniards who had opened on them from the thicket. In addition 
 to rapid rifle fire the boom of Hotchkiss guns could be heard. 
 
 Hardly two minutes elapsed before Mauser rifles commenced to 
 crack in the thicket and a hundred bullets whistled over the heads of 
 the Kough Eiders, cutting leaves from the trees and sending chips flying 
 from the fence posts by the side of the men. The Spaniards had opened 
 and they poured in a heavy fire, which soon had a most disastrous effect. 
 The troops stood their ground with the bullets singing all around them. 
 Private Colby caught sight of the Spaniards and fired the opening shot 
 at them before the order to charge was given. 
 
 Sergeant Hamilton Fish, Jr., w T as the first man to fall. He was shot 
 through the heart and died instantly. The Spaniards were not more 
 than 200 yards off, but only occasional glimpses of them could be seen. 
 The men continued to pour volley after volley into the brush in the 
 direction of the sound of the Spanish shots, but the latter became more 
 frequent and seemed to be getting nearer. 
 
 Colonel Wood walked along his lines, displaying the utmost cool- 
 ness. He ordered troops to deploy into the thicket, and sent another 
 detachment into the open space on the left of the trail. Lieutenant 
 Colonel Koosevelt led the former detachment and tore through the 
 brush, urging his men on. The shots came thicker and faster every 
 moment, and the air seemed filled with the singing and shrieking sound 
 of the Mauser bullets, while the short pop of the Spanish rifles could be 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 471 
 
 distinguished easily from the heavier reports of the American weapons. 
 Sometimes the fire would come in volleys and again shots would follow 
 each other in rapid succession for several minutes. 
 
 Captain Capron stood behind his men, revolver in hand, using it 
 whenever a Spaniard exposed himself. His aim was sure and two of 
 the enemy were seen to fall under his fire. Just as he was preparing to 
 take another shot and shouting orders to his men at the same time, his 
 revolver dropped from his grasp and he fell to the ground with a ball 
 through his body. His troop was badly disconcerted for a moment, 
 but with all the strength he could muster he cried, "Don't mind me, 
 boys, go on and fight." He was carried from the field as soon as pos- 
 sible and lived only a few hours. Lieutenant Thomas of the same troop 
 received a wound through the leg soon afterward and became delirious 
 from pain. 
 
 Roosevelt's Narrow Escape. 
 
 The troops that were in the thicket w T ere not long in getting into the 
 midst of the fight. The Spaniards located them and pressed them hard, 
 but they sent a deadly fire in return, even though most of the time they 
 could not see the enemy. After ten or fifteen minutes of hot work the 
 firing fell off some, and Lieutenant Colonel Eoosevelt ordered his men 
 back from the thicket into the trail, narrowly escaping a bullet himself, 
 which struck a tree alongside his head. 
 
 It was evident the Spaniards were falling back and changing their 
 positions, but the fire continued at intervals. Then the troops tore to 
 the front and into more open country than where the enemy's fire was 
 coming from. About this time small squads commenced to carry the 
 wounded from the thicket and lay them in a more protected spot on the 
 trail until they could be removed to the field hospital. 
 
 It was not long before the enemy gave way and ran down the steep 
 hill and up another hill to the blockhouse, with the evident intent of 
 making a final stand there. 
 
 Colonel Wood was at the front directing the movement and it was 
 here that Major Brodie was shot. Colonel Wood and Lieutenant 
 Colonel Roosevelt both led the troops in pursuit of the fleeing Spaniards 
 and a hail of bullets was poured into the blockhouse. By the time the 
 American advance got within 600 yards of the blockhouse the Spaniards 
 abandoned it and scattered among the brush up another hill in the di- 
 rection of Santiago, and the battle was at an end. 
 
472 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 During all this time just as hot a fire had been progressing at Gen- 
 eral Young's station. The battle began in much the same manner as 
 the' other one, and when the machine guns opened fire the Spaniards 
 sent -volleys at the gunners from the brush on the opposite hillside. 
 Two troops of cavalry charged up the hill and other troops sent a 
 storm of bullets at every point from which the Spanish shots came. 
 The enemy was gradually forced back, though firing all the time until 
 they, as well as those confronting the Eough Riders, ran for the block- 
 house only to be dislodged by Colonel Wood's men. 
 
 General Young stated afterwards that the battle was one of the 
 sharpest he had ever experienced. It was only the quick and constant 
 fire of the troopers, whether they could see the enemy or not, that 
 caused the Spaniards to retreat so soon. General Young spoke in the 
 highest terms of the conduct of the men in his command, and both 
 Colonel Wood and Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt were extremely grati- 
 fied with the work done by the Rough Riders on the first occasion of their 
 being under fire. 
 
 When it became evident that the Spaniards were giving up the 
 fight, searching parties went through the thicket and tall grass, picking 
 up the dead and wounded. The latter were carried to a field hospital 
 half a mile to the rear and all possible attention was given them, while 
 preparation was made to remove them to Juragua. 
 
 Army in a Baptism of Fire. 
 
 After a period of comparative idleness the campaign was opened in 
 earnest Friday, July 1, when General Shafter's army began an attack at 
 dawn upon the Spanish fortifications. Shafter had come from Cuero to 
 El Caney with his army, making headquarters at Siboney. From these 
 points the Spanish troops under General Linares had retreated a short 
 distance and taken San Juan hill, from which they had accurate range 
 of the American batteries. Shafter's forces were without sufficient 
 guns, while the Spaniards had more and of a heavier caliber than was 
 anticipated. 
 
 The American army slept Thursday night within sight of its bat- 
 tlefield of the morrow. At daylight Friday morning the forward move- 
 ment began. Hard fighting was expected at El Caney, guarding the 
 northeastern approach to Santiago, and against this position were 
 massed the commands of Generals Lawton and Wheeler, supported by 
 Capron's battery of light artillery. Both General Wheeler and General 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 473 
 
 Young were sick, so General Sumner was assigned to the command of 
 the former and Colonel Wood of the Rough Riders was placed in com- 
 mand of General Young's cavalry brigade. Colonel Carroll of the Sixth 
 cavalry took General Sumner's place at the head of the First brigade 
 of cavalry. Under General Lawton were three brigades Colonel Van 
 Horn's, consisting of the Eighth and Twenty-second infantry and the 
 Second Massachusetts volunteers; Colonel Miles', consisting of the First, 
 Fourth and Twenty-fifth infantry, and General Chaffee's, consisting 
 of the Seventh, Twelfth and Seventeenth infantry. On the eve of 
 battle Colonel Van Horn was replaced by General Ludlow. Under 
 General Sumner were four troops of the Second cavalry and eight 
 troops of the First volunteer cavalry; under Colonel Wood the Rough 
 Riders, the Tenth cavalry arid four troops of the First cavalry. These 
 two cavalry commands occupied the left of the San Juan plain for the 
 attack on the blockhouse at that point. They were supported by Colonel 
 Carroll's brigade, consisting of the Third, Sixth and Ninth cavalry, and 
 by Captain Grimes' battery of the Second artillery. 
 
 The southeastern approaches to the city were commanded by Gen- 
 eral Kent's division. His First brigade was commanded by General 
 Hawkins and consisted of the Sixth and Sixteenth regular infantry and 
 the Seventy-first New York volunteers. Colonel Pearson commanded 
 the Second brigade, composed of the Second, Tenth and Twenty-first 
 regular infantry, while the Third brigade, commanded by Colonel 
 Worth, consisted of the Ninth, Thirteenth and Twenty-fourth regular 
 infantry. Aguadores was their objective point. Grimes' battery of 
 artillery and the Rough Riders were to support General Kent in his 
 attack on Aguadores, while. General Duffield, with the Thirty-third and 
 a battalion of the Thirty-fourth Michigan volunteers, was in advance 
 of Kent's left. 
 
 Captain Capron Opens the Fight. 
 
 The first shot of the engagement came at 6:45 o'clock Friday morn- 
 ing. It was fired by Captain Allyn M. Caprou's Battery E of the First; 
 artillery. The privilege of opening the engagement was granted this 
 officer because of the killing of his son among the Rough Riders who fell 
 near Sevilla. The Spanish answered the challenge from their forts and 
 trenches about Caney, and immediately the battle was on. The Span- 
 iards for a time fought desperately to prevent the town from falling 
 into the hands of our forces, but before the fighting had been long under 
 
474 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 way the Americans and Cubans under Garcia gained advanced ground. 
 Foot by foot the enemy was driven back into the village. The enthu- 
 siasm of the American forces was intense and their spirit quickly spread 
 to the Cuban troops. 
 
 At one time during this fight one of the big military balloons used 
 by the signal corps for reconnoissance hung over San Juan, not over 
 500 yards from the enemy, and for five minutes the Spaniards below 
 tried to puncture it, but they were unable to get the range. This bal- 
 loon proved of inestimable service in the engagement. It floated just 
 over the tree tops, and was easily guided along three miles of the road 
 toward the lines of the enemy. Whenever it halted for the purpose of 
 taking a photograph of the fortifications below, the Spaniards seized the 
 occasion for taking pot shots. 
 
 In the fighting at San Juan a Spanish shell two and a half inches 
 in diameter burst in the midst of Captain Puritier's Battery K of the 
 First artillery, wounding several. Among those injured was Private 
 Samuel Barr. Roosevelt's Rough Riders were also in this fight and bore 
 themselves with as mtich credit as in the battle of last Friday in the 
 bush. Several of the Rough Riders were wounded. 
 
 The Fight Before Caney. 
 
 Meanwhile the battle was raging fiercely at Caney and Aguadores. 
 In General Lawton's division the Second Massachusetts up to the mid- 
 dle of the day sustained the heaviest loss, although other regiments 
 were more actively engaged. During the afternoon the fight for the 
 possession of Caney was most obstinate, and the ultimate victory reflects 
 great credit upon the American troops. It was a glory, too, for Spain, 
 though she never had a chance to win at any time during the day. Her 
 men fought in intrenchments, covered ways and blockhouses, while the 
 American forces were in the open from first to last. The Spanish sol- 
 diers stuck to their work like men, and this, the first land fight of the 
 war, may well cause Spain to feel proud of her men. The American 
 soldiers attacked the intrenchments through open ground, and, from 
 the firing of the first shot until they were on the hills above Caney, 
 they fought their way forward and the Spanish were driven backward. 
 General Chaffee's brigade held the right of the line with the town of 
 Caney. General Ludlow's division was in the center and Colonel Miles 
 held the left. 
 
 The firing at times was very heavy during the morning, but the Span- 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 475 
 
 iards in the covered way made a most obstinate defense and refused 
 to yield an inch. Time and again the shells from Captain Capron's 
 battery drove them to cover, but as soon as his fire ceased they were up 
 and at it again. Despite the heavy firing of the American troops they 
 were able to make but little apparent progress during the morning, 
 although eventually they steadily drew in and inclosed the town on all 
 sides. 
 
 At noon it became evident that the fire from the covered way could 
 not be stopped by the artillery alone and that no permanent advance 
 could be made until the place was taken, and General Lawton decided 
 to capture it by assault. Accordingly he sent a messenger to General 
 Chaffee, with instructions to take the position by a charge. General 
 Chaffee thereupon closed in with his men rapidly from the north, while 
 Captain Capron maintained a heavy fire on the fort, keeping the Span- 
 iards in the covered way and putting hole after hole into the stone walls 
 of the fort. Shortly afterward he threw a shot from the battery, which 
 tore away the flagstaff, bringing the Spanish flag to the ground. From 
 that time no banner waved above it. 
 
 No finer work has ever been done by soldiers than was done by the 
 brigades of General Ludlow and Colonel Miles as they closed in on the 
 town. The Spanish blazed at them with Mausers and machine guns, 
 but without effect. Nothing could stop them and they pushed in closer 
 during the afternoon, and by the time General Chaffee's men were in 
 form Miles and Ludlow were in the streets of the town, holding with 
 tenacity the Spaniards from retreating toward Santiago, while Chaf- 
 fee closed in on the right. 
 
 The fighting for hours in front of Colonel Miles' line at a hacienda 
 known as "Duero" was very fierce. The Spanish defense was exceed- 
 ingly obstinate. The house was guarded by rifle pits, and as fast as 
 the Spaniards were driven from one they retreated into another and 
 continued firing. 
 
 When the final closing-in movement was begun at 6 p. m. the town 
 of Caney was taken and a large number of prisoners was captured. 
 The Spanish loss was 2,000 in all. 
 
 Attack on Aguadores. 
 
 The only movement of the day which did not meet with success 
 was General Duffield's attempt to occupy the sea village of Aguadores. 
 The New York, the Suwanee and the Gloucester shelled the old fort 
 
476 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 and the rifle pits during the forenoon, drove all the Spaniards from 
 the vicinity and bowled over the parapet from which flew the Spanish 
 flag; but, owing to the broken railway bridge, General Duffield's troops 
 were unable to get across the river which separated them from the 
 little town, and were compelled to go back to Juragua. 
 
 Saturday at dawn the Spaniards, encouraged b} 7 Linares at their 
 head, attempted to retake San Juan hill. Hotchkiss guns mowed them 
 down in platoons. They were driven back into the third line of their 
 intrenchments, and there their sharpshooters, reported to be among the 
 finest in the world, checked the Americans. The batteries of Grimes, 
 Parkhurst and Burt were compelled to retire to El Paso hill. Lawton 
 came with the Ninth Massachusetts and the Thirty-third and Thirty- 
 fourth Michigan and the Spaniards began to retreat. 
 
 Sampson then began bombardment of the outer forts of Santiago. 
 The Oregon shot down Morro's flag and battered the old castle into dust. 
 The batteries at Punta Gorda were blown up by the Oregon and the 
 Indiana. Not one of the American ships was hit by the Spanish fire. 
 
 At Guantanamo the Cuban forces under Garcia and Castillo killed 
 300 Spanish soldiers and routed the enemy's army there. Castillo's 
 forces forced their way to within five miles of Santiago. 
 
 Shafter's Reports of the Fight. 
 
 The nation was thrown into a fever of excitement Friday when the 
 following bulletin was posted at the War Department, in Washington: 
 
 Camp, Near Sevilla, Cuba. Action now going on. The firing only light 
 and desultory. Began on the right near Caney, Lawton's division. He will 
 move on the northeast part of the town of Santiago. Will keep you continu- 
 ally advised of progress. SHAFTER. 
 
 For several hours this was the only information from the seat of 
 war, but later a dispatch came from Colonel Allen, in charge of the 
 signal station at Playa del Este. He said that the fight was growing 
 furious in all directions. At the time he sent the telegram eight Amer- 
 icans and nine Cubans had been wounded. All through Saturday 
 rumors of American reverses were rife, and to make public information 
 definite, so far as it went, the War Department thought it wise to post a 
 dispatch which it had received early that morning. This was as follows: 
 
 Siboney, via Playa del Este, July 1. I fear I have underestimated 
 to-day's casualties. A large and thoroughly equipped hospital ship should be 
 
WASHERWOMAN 
 
 INDIAN GIRL SELLING FRUIT 
 
 MALE WATER CARRIER COCK FIGHTERS 
 
 TYPES OF THE PHILIPPINES 
 
NATIVE OF INTERIOR 
 
 FEMALE WATER CARRIER 
 
 SHELLING CORN ABORIGINAL NEGRO 
 
 TYPES OF THE PHILIPPINES 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 479 
 
 sent here at once to care for the wounded. The chief surgeon says he has 
 use for forty more medical officers. The ship must bring a launch and boats 
 for conveying the wounded. SH AFTER, 'Major-General. 
 
 The next message made public sent a wave of apprehension over the 
 country. The text was as follows : 
 
 Camp Near Sevilla, Cuba, via Playa del Este, July 3. We have the town 
 well invested in the north and east, but with a very thin line. Upon approach- 
 ing it we find it of such a character and the defense so strong it will be 
 impossible to carry it by storm with my present forces. Our losses up to 
 date will aggregate 1,000, but list has not yet been made. But little sick- 
 ness outside of exhaustion from intense heat and exertion of the battle of 
 day before yesterday and the almost constant fire which is kept up on the 
 trenches. Wagon road to the rear is kept open with difficulty on account 
 of rains, but I will be able to use it for the present. General Wheeler is 
 seriously ill and will probably have to go to the rear to-day. General Young 
 is also very ill, confined to his bed. General Hawkins slightly wounded in 
 the foot during sortie enemy made last night, which was handsomely 
 repulsed. The behavior of the troops was magnificent. General Garcia 
 reported he holds the railroad from Santiago to San Luis and has burned 
 a bridge and removed some rails; also that General Pando has arrived at 
 Palma and that the French consul, with about 400 French citizens, came 
 into his line yesterday from Santiago. I have directed him to treat them 
 with every courtesy possible. SHAFTER, Major-General. 
 
 General Miles sent the following dispatch to General Shatter: 
 
 Headquarters of the Army, Washington, D. C., July 3. Accept my 
 hearty congratulations on the record made of 'magnificent fortitude, gallan- 
 try, and sacrifice displayed in the desperate fighting of the troops before 
 Santiago. I realize the hardships, difficulties, and sufferings, and am proud 
 that amid those terrible scenes the troops illustrated such fearless and patri- 
 otic devotion to the welfare of our common country and flag. Whatever the 
 results to follow their unsurpassed deeds of valor, the past is already a grat- 
 ifying chapter of history. I expect to be with you within one week, with 
 
 strong reinforcements. 
 
 MILES, Major-General Commanding. 
 
 General Shafter's reply was as follows: 
 
 Playa, July 4, Headquarters Fifth Array Corps, Near Santiago, July 3. - 
 I thank you in the name of the gallant men I have the honor to command for 
 splendid tribute of praise which you have accorded them. They bore them- 
 selves as American soldiers always have. Your telegram will be published 
 
480 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 at the head of the regiments in the morning. I feel that I am master of the 
 situation and can hold the enemy for any length of time. I am delighted to 
 know that you are coming, that you may see for yourself the obstacles which 
 this army had to overcome. My only regret is the great number of gallant 
 souls who have given their lives for our country's cause. SHAFTER. 
 
 In the light of these sorrowful, if triumphant, facts it must not be 
 forgotten that the enemy also suffered a terrible loss. In the fatuous 
 sortie upon the American position on the night of July 2 General 
 Linares, commanding in Santiago, was wounded in the foot and shoulder 
 and 500 of his soldiers died upon the field. Scarcely a man in our 
 intrenchnients was hurt. Of the Spanish 29th battalion defending El 
 Caney less than 100 survived. General Vara de Key, its commander, 
 was buried with military honors, General Ludlow taking possession of 
 his sword and spurs. 
 
 The Spanish fought stubbornly throughout, and their retreat, though 
 steady, was slowly and coolly conducted. They contested every inch of 
 the w r ay and fought with unexpected skill, their officers handling the 
 troops with bravery and good judgment, and demonstrating that in 
 them our boys in blue were fighting with foemen worthy of their steel. 
 
 The gallantry of the American officers was conspicuous throughout 
 the battle. Major-General Wheeler, who was seriously indisposed and 
 suffering from an attack of fever, ordered an ambulance to convey him 
 to the front, where the sound of fighting seemed to give him new life, 
 and in a short time he called for his horse and personally directed his 
 division in the attack. 
 
 General Hawkins, commanding the First Brigade, Ninth Division, 
 was conspicuous for the manner in which he exposed himself to Spanish 
 bullets. After taking the redoubt on the hill with his command he 
 stood for a long time on the summit watching the fight. A heavy fire 
 at times was concentrated on the spot, but he surveyed the field of battle 
 while the bullets were whizzing past by hundreds. 
 
 Shafter Demands the Surrender of the City. 
 
 On July 3 General Shafter sent the following communication to 
 General Toral, commanding the Spanish army in the province of San- 
 tiago: 
 
 Headquarters of United States Forces, Near San Juan River, Cuba, July 
 3, 8:30 A. M. To the Commanding General of the Spanish Forces, Santiago 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 481 
 
 de Cuba Sir: I shall be obliged, unless you surrender, to shell Santiago 
 de Cuba. Please inform the citizens of foreign countries and all women and 
 children that they should leave the city before 10 o'clock to-morrow morning. 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. R. SHAFTER, 
 
 Major-General, U. S. A. 
 General Toral made this reply: 
 
 Santiago de Cuba, July 3, 2 P. M. His Excellency, the General Com- 
 manding the Forces of the United States, San Juan River Sir: I have the 
 honor to reply to your communication of to-day written at 8:30 A. M. and 
 received at 1 P. M., demanding the surrender of this city; on the contrary 
 case announcing to me that you will bombard the city, and asking that I 
 advise the foreign women and children that they must leave the city before 
 10 o'clock to-morrow morning. It is my duty to say to you that this city will 
 not surrender and that I will inform the foreign Consuls and inhabitants of 
 the contents of your message. Very respectfully, JOSE TORAL, 
 
 Commander in Chief, Fourth Corps. 
 
 The British, Portuguese, Chinese, and Norwegian Consuls requested 
 that non-combatants be allowed to occupy the town of Caney and rail- 
 road points, and asked until 10 o'clock of the next day for them to 
 leave Santiago. They claimed that there were between 15,000 and 
 20,000 people, many of them old, whose lives would be endangered by 
 the bombardment. On the receipt of this request General Shafter sent 
 the following communication: 
 
 The Commanding General, Spanish General, Spanish Forces, Santiago 
 de Cuba Sir: In consideration of the request of the Consuls and officers 
 in your city for delay in carrying out my intention to fire on the city, and 
 in the interest of the poor women and children who will suffer greatly by 
 their hasty and enforced departure from the city, I have the honor to an- 
 nounce that I will delay such action solely in their interest until noon of the 
 5th, providing during the interval your forces make no demonstration what- 
 ever upon those of my own. 
 
 I am with great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 W. R. SHAFTER, Major-General, U. S. A. 
 
 On July 6 the flag of truce which had been flying over Santiago for 
 a day or two was still displayed, but a smaller flag was presently seen 
 coming from the city in the hands of a man in uniform. 
 
 A party was sent from General Shatter's headquarters to receive 
 the bearer of the flag. It was found that he was a commissioner from 
 
482 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 General Toral. He announced to those who met him that he had an 
 important communication to deliver to the commander of the American 
 army, coming direct from General Toral, and he desired to be taken to 
 General Shafter. 
 
 Ordinarily such a messenger going through the lines would be 
 blindfolded. Our position w r as so strong, however, and our offensive 
 works so impressive, that it was decided to give the commissioner the 
 free use 'of his eyes, so that he might see all the preparations that have 
 been made to reduce the city. The siege guns and mortar batteries 
 were pointed out to him, and he was entertained all the way to head- 
 quarters with a detailed explanation of the number of our forces, our 
 guns, and other matters that must have been of interest to him. In 
 fact, he was very much impressed by what he heard and saw. 
 
 Arriving at General Shafter's headquarters the communication from 
 the Spanish commander was delivered with some ceremony. It was 
 quite long. General Toral asked that the time of the truce be further 
 extended, as he wanted to communicate with the Madrid government 
 concerning the surrender of the city. He also asked that cable opera- 
 tors be sent to operate the line between Santiago and Kingston. He 
 promised on his word of honor as a soldier that the operators would 
 not be asked to transmit any matter except that bearing on the sur- 
 render, and that he would return them safe to El Caney when a final 
 reply was received from Madrid. This request for operators was made 
 necessary by the fact that the men who had been operating the San- 
 tiago cable were British subjects, and they had all left the city under 
 the protection of the British consul when the Americans gave notice 
 that the city would be bombarded unless it surrendered. 
 
 The commissioner said that General Toral wanted to consult with 
 the authorities in Madrid, for the reason that he had been unable to 
 communicate with Captain-General Blanco in Havana. 
 
 It was finally arranged that the truce, which expired at four o'clock 
 on the 6th, should be extended until the same hour on Saturday, 
 July 9th. 
 
 The commissioner was escorted back through another part of the 
 camp which was filled with bristling guns. The British consul having 
 given his consent to the operators returning to the city, messengers were 
 sent to El Caney to learn if the men would go. They expressed their 
 willingness, and were escorted to the walls of the city, where they were 
 
 +, by a Spanish escort and taken to the office of the cable company. 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 483 
 
 Destruction of Cervera's Fleet. 
 
 On the morning of July 3, Admiral Cervera, commander of the Span- 
 ish fleet in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba, made a bold dash for liberty 
 by a desperate attempt to break through the American line, in the hope 
 of reaching the open sea. 
 
 In the face of overwhelming odds, with nothing before him but in- 
 evitable destruction or surrender if he remained any longer in the trap 
 in which the American fleet held him, he made a dash from the harbor 
 at the time the Americans least expected him to do so, and fighting 
 every inch of his way, even when his ship was ablaze and sinking, he 
 tried to escape the doom which was written on the muzzle of every 
 American gun trained upon his vessels. 
 
 The Spaniards made a daring venture, and with a less vigilant foe 
 they might have succeeded. It was known in the fleet that General 
 Shafter was closing in on the city and that Admiral Cervera's position 
 was desperate, but it was supposed that he would remain in the harbor 
 and train his guns on the American land forces as long as possible, and 
 that he would blow up his ships rather than allow them to fall into 
 the hands of the enemy. It is certain that Admiral Sampson did not 
 expect Cervera to make a break for liberty, although the American 
 commander has known for several days that the sinking of the Merrimac 
 did not completely block the channel entrance to Santiago harbor. 
 
 At 9:35 on Sunday morning the flagship New York, with Admiral 
 Sampson on board, was many miles to the eastward, bearing tne admiral 
 to a conference w r ith General Shafter. The fleet as a whole w r as much 
 farther off shore than usual. Any one looking seaward from Morro 
 Castle and seeing the distant specks on the water w r ould not have real- 
 ized that the port was effectively blockaded. Evidently the Spaniards 
 had been waiting for the American fleet to become thus scattered. 
 They thought our fleet w T as napping, and that this was the time to make 
 a quick exit and start homeward. 
 
 Very soon after the New York had started to Siboney the shore 
 batteries opened fire on the American fleet. As the vessels were prac- 
 tically out of range and not in the usual line formation this firing from 
 the shore caused some surprise. In the first place, these batteries had 
 been shelled the day before, and it was supposed that they had been 
 silenced, and in the second place it seemed foolish of the Spaniards to 
 undertake haphazard firing. 
 
484 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOK THE AMERICANS. 
 
 At that time the vessels of the blockading squadron were at varying 
 distances of from three to ten miles from the harbor entrance. Most 
 of the American cruisers were at the usual Sunday morning quarters, 
 and not one s-hip was really prepared for immediate action. Almost as 
 soon as the batteries opened fire a Spanish cruiser, the Cristobal Colon, 
 was seen to emerge from the channel entrance and head toward sea, 
 firing her forward battery as she came. Then the signals hurried from 
 one ship to another, and on every American vessel there was a rush of 
 activity. In every engine room there was a signal for full speed. The 
 entire fleet began to move in toward the shore, heading for the channel 
 entrance. At 9:45 the Oquendo slipped out of the channel. By this 
 time the Cristobal Colon had turned to the west, and with a good head- 
 way was attempting to slip past the blockaders. The Maria Teresa, the 
 Yizcaya, the two torpedo-boat destroyers, the Furor and the Pluton, 
 and a gunboat were all clear of the channel entrance and racing for 
 liberty when the American vessels opened fire at long range. The 
 Brooklyn, Massachusetts, Texas, Oregon and Iowa bore down upon the 
 Spaniards and opened fire, but they w T ere too far away to get a good 
 range. As for the Spaniards, they began to shoot as soon as they came 
 out of the harbor and continued to blaze away until they were utterly 
 defeated, but they showed poor judgment and bad marksmanship. 
 
 The Gloucester's Good Work. 
 
 As the Americans came in closer and closer the fighting became 
 general. The Gloucester had been lying off Aguadores, three miles east 
 of Morro, when the Spaniards came out. She hurried to join in the 
 attack, and at first opened fire on one of the large cruisers. Already 
 they were being pounded with terrific effect by the battleships, however, 
 so the little Gloucester turned her attention to the two torpedo-boat 
 destroyers which had slipped out of the harbor behind the cruisers. 
 The Gloucester was one of the swiftest boats in the navy, and although 
 she was equipped with nothing heavier than six-pound guns she made 
 a resolute attack on the two destroyers, and the chase began. They 
 headed to the west at high speed, and she flew after them, pouring shot 
 after shot with such wonderful accuracy, that by the time the destroyers 
 were five miles to the west of Morro both were on fire and plainly dis- 
 abled. They had persistently returned the fire, and a shower of little 
 shells fell around the yacht, but once more the American gunners showed 
 their superiority, for the Gloucester was comparatively unhurt. 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOB THE AMERICANS. 485 
 
 The Furor turned at last and gave battle to the Gloucester. Here 
 was another instance of American good luck and Spanish inefficiency. 
 Tke Furor sent torpedoes against the Gloucester, but they failed to 
 explode. As soon as the Spanish destroyer stopped the Gloucester sim- 
 ply raked her fore and aft with rapid-fire guns, and the Furor again 
 headed west to escape the terrible punishment. The smoke was pouring 
 out of her sides, and soon she turned in toward shore, evidently in a 
 sinking condition. The members of the crew flocked to the small boats 
 and abandoned their craft. Later on most of them were taken prisoners 
 on shore. The Furor was floating about, a mass of flame. 
 
 The Pluton also was disabled, and headed for the shore. She was 
 beached under a low bluff, where a heavy sea was running, and was 
 soon pounded so that she broke in two in the middle. Only about half 
 of the crew reached the shore alive. 
 
 Having disposed of the two destroyers the Gloucester lowered her 
 small boats and sent them ashore to rescue the Spanish sailors. The 
 Furor drifted about until the fire reached her magazines, and then there 
 were two terrific explosions which shattered her hull. Her stern sunk 
 quickly, and as it went down her bow rose until it stood almost straight 
 up in the air, and in this position she disappeared from sight. 
 
 Test of Battleships. 
 
 While the little yacht had been gaining this notable victory over 
 the two famous destroyers the big battleships had been following the 
 line of Spanish cruisers and pounding them with great persistence. The 
 four Spanish cruisers were under the direct fire of the Brooklyn, and the 
 four battleships, the Massachusetts, the Texas, the Iowa and the Oregon. 
 It was the first time that any first-class battleship had ever been put 
 to the test in a naval battle. The huge fighting vessels kept close after 
 the feist cruisers and fired their big guns with deadly certainty. The 
 American fire was so rapid that the ships were surrounded by clouds of 
 smoke. 
 
 The Spanish gunners seemed unable to get the proper range and 
 many of their shots were very wild, though a number of them fell dan- 
 gerously near to the mark. 
 
 Two guns of the battery just east of Morro also took part in the 
 game and their shells fell around the American ships. Many of them 
 struck the upper works of the fleeing Spaniards and must have resulted 
 in killing and wounding many of their men. 
 
486 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 The Spanish ships had now reached a point about seven miles we&t 
 of Morro and a mile or two beyond the place where the Furor was 
 burning and the Pluton broken in two against the cliff. 
 
 The flagship and the Oquendo were the first to show signals of dis- 
 tress. Two thirteen-inch shells from one of the battleships had struck 
 the Maria Teresa at the water line, tearing great holes in her side and 
 causing her to fill rapidly. The Oquendo suffered about the same fate 
 and both ships headed for a small cove and went aground 200 yards 
 from the shore, flames shooting from them in every direction. 
 
 The Gloucester, after sending a boat ashore to the Pluton, steamed 
 along the coast to where the armored cruisers were stranded and went 
 to their assistance. There was danger from the magazines, and many 
 of those on board jumped into the water and swam to the shore, though 
 a number w r ere unable to reach the small strip of sandy beach in the 
 cove and were thrown against the rocks and killed or drowned. Many 
 of the w T ounded were lowered into the ships' own boats and taken ashore, 
 but this task was a most difficult one. 
 
 The Gloucester had all her boats out and one seaman swam through 
 the surf with a line from the Maria Teresa, making it fast to a tree 
 on the shore. By this means many on the flagship, including Admiral 
 Cervera, lowered themselves into the Gloucester's boats. The wounded 
 w r ere taken to the Gloucester as rapidly as possible, and the lower deck 
 of the yacht w r as soon covered with Spanish sailors mangled in limb and 
 body by the bursting of shells. 
 
 Chase of the Cristobal Colon. 
 
 The Brooklyn, Oregon, Massachusetts and Texas and several smaller 
 vessels continued the chase of the Cristobal Colon, and in less than an 
 hour were lost to view of the burning ships on shore. The Iowa and 
 Texas both gave assistance to the imperiled crew of the Yizcaya. Her 
 Captain surrendered his command and the prisoners were transferred to 
 the battleship. The Vizcaya probably lost about sixty men, as she 
 carried a complement of 400 and only 340 were taken aboard the Iowa. 
 
 Soon after Admiral Cervera reached the shore and surrendered he 
 was taken to the Gloucester, at his own request. There was no mis- 
 taking the heartbroken expression upon the old commander's face as 
 he took the proffered hand of Captain Wainwright and was shown to 
 the tatter's cabin, but he made every effort to bear bravely the bitter 
 defeat that had come to him. He thanked the Captain of the Glouces- 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOE THE AMERICANS. 487 
 
 ter for the words of congratulation offered on the gallant fight, and then 
 spoke earnestly of his solicitude for the safety of his men on shore. He 
 informed Captain Wainwright that Cuban soldiers were on the hills 
 preparing to attack his unarmed men and asked that they be protected. 
 
 For hours after Admiral Cervera went aboard the Gloucester the 
 Infanta Maria Teresa, Almirante Oquendo and Vizcaya continued to 
 burn and every now and then a deep roar, accompanied by a burst of 
 flame and smoke from the sides of the ships, would announce the explo- 
 sion of more ammunition or another magazine. 
 
 It may be mentioned as a coincidence that Lieutenant-Commander 
 Wainwright, the Commander of the Gloucester, was executive officer of 
 the Maine at the time of the disaster, and, although he remained in 
 Havana harbor two months after the explosion, he lived on board the 
 dispatch boat Fern and steadfastly refused to set his foot within the 
 city until the time should come when he could go ashore at the head ol 
 a landing party of American blue jackets. To-day it was his ship that 
 sank two Spanish torpedo-boat destroyers and afterward received the 
 Spanish Admiral aboard as a prisoner > of war. 
 
 From his position on the bridge of the Gloucester Lieutenant-Com- 
 mander Wainwright watched the flames and smoke as they enveloped 
 the decks of the three greatest warships of the Spanish navy, which 
 were soon to be reduced to nothing but shattered masts and twisted 
 smokestacks protruding above the water. 
 
 The prisoners of war included the captains of both boats. None 
 offered any resistance and all were glad to go to the Gloucester, as they 
 feared an attack from the Cubans. 
 
 When asked to make some statement in regard to the result of the 
 battle Admiral Cervera said: "I would rather lose my ships at sea, like 
 a sailor, than in a harbor. It w r as the only thing left for me to do." 
 
 The work of the American battleships was as rapid as it was ter- 
 rible. At 9:35 the first vessel headed out past Morro Castle. At 10 
 o'clock the two destroyers were wrecked and deserted. At 10:15 the 
 Oquendo and Maria Teresa were encircled by the Iowa, Indian^ and 
 Texas. At 10:40 both were on the rocks. A few minutes later the Viz- 
 caya was abandoned. 
 
 The Cristobal Colon, having the lead, ran farther along the coast 
 before the persistent firing by the Brooklyn and Massachusetts brought 
 her to a stop. She fought for twenty minutes. At noon she was on the 
 rocks, perforated and tattered. Spain's greatest fleet was destroyed in 
 about three hours. 
 
488 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 Chief Yoeman Ellis of the Brooklyn was the only American killed 
 in three hours of incessant fighting, while the Spanish loss reached 600 
 killed, 400 wounded and 1,100 taken prisoners. 
 
 Admiral Sampson's Official Report. 
 
 Following is the official report sent by Admiral Sampson to the navy 
 department at Washington: 
 
 United States Flagship New York, First Rate, Off Santiago de Cuba, 
 July 15, 1898. Sir: I have the honor to make the following report upon 
 the battle, with the destruction of the Spanish squadron, commanded by 
 Admiral Cervera, off Santiago de Cuba on Sunday, July 3, 1898: 
 
 The enemy's vessels came out of the harbor between 9:35 and 10 A. M., 
 the head of the column appearing around Cayo Smith at 9:31 and emerging 
 from the channel five or six minutes later. The positions of the vessels of 
 my command off Santiago at that moment were as follows: The flagship 
 New York was four miles east of her blockading station and about seven 
 miles from the harbor entrance. She had started for Sjboney, where I 
 intended to land, accompanied by several of my staff, and go to the front 
 to consult with General Shafter. A discussion of the situation and a more 
 definite understanding between us of the operations proposed had been 
 rendered necessary by the unexpectedly strong resistance of the Spanish 
 garrison of Santiago. I had sent my chief of staff on shore the day before 
 to arrange an interview with General Shafter, who had been suffering from 
 heat prostration. I made arrangements to go to his headquarters, and my 
 flagship was in the position mentioned above when the Spanish squadron 
 appeared in the channel. 
 
 The remaining vessels were in or near their usual blockading positions, 
 distributed in a semi-circle about the harbor entrance, counting from the 
 eastward to the westward in the following order: The Indiana, about a mile 
 and a half from shore; the Oregon the New York's place between these 
 two the Iowa, Texas and Brooklyn, the latter two miles from the shore 
 west of Santiago. The distance of the vessels from the harbor entrance was 
 from two and one-half to four miles the* latter being the limit of day-block- 
 ading distance. The length of the arc formed by the ships was about eight 
 miles. 
 
 The Massachusetts had left at 4 A. M. for Guantanamo for coal. Her 
 station was between the Iowa and the Texas. The auxiliaries Gloucester 
 and Vixen lay close to the land and nearer the harbor entrance than the 
 large vessels, the Gloucester to the eastward and the Vixen to the west- 
 ward. The torpedo boat Ericsson was in company with the flagship, and 
 remained with her during the chase until ordered to discontinue, when she 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 489 
 
 rendered very efficient service in rescuing prisoners from the burning 
 Vizcaya. 
 
 The Spanish vessels came rapidly out of the harbor at a speed estimated 
 at from eight to ten knots and in the following order: Infanta Maria 
 Teresa (flagship), Vizcaya, Cristobal Colon and the Almirante Oquendo. The 
 distance between these ships was about 800 yards, which means that from 
 the time the first one became visible in the upper reach of the channel until 
 the last one was out of the harbor an interval of only about twelve minutes 
 elapsed. Following the Oquendo at a distance of about 1,200 yards came 
 the torpedo-boat destroyer Pluton, and after her the Furor. The armored 
 cruisers, as rapidly as they could bring their guns to bear, opened a vigor- 
 ous fire upon the blockading vessels and emerged from the channel shrouded 
 in the smoke from their guns. 
 
 The men of our ships in front of the port were at Sunday "quarters for 
 inspection." The signal was made simultaneously from several vessels, 
 "Enemy ships escaping" and "general quarters" was sounded. The men 
 cheered as they sprang to their guns, and fire was opened probably within 
 eight minutes by the vessels whose guns commanded the entrance. The New 
 York turned about and steamed for the escaping fleet, flying the signal "Close 
 in towards harbor entrance and attack vessels," and gradually increased her 
 speed, until toward the end of the chase she was making sixteen and a half 
 knots, and was rapidly closing on the Cristobal Colon. She was not at any 
 time within the range of the heavy Spanish ships, and her only part in the 
 firing was to receive the undivided fire of the forts in passing the harbor 
 entrance and to fire a few shots at one of the destroyers, thought at the 
 moment to be attempting to escape from the Gloucester. 
 
 The Spanish vessels, upon clearing the harbor, turned to the westward 
 in column, increasing their speed to the full power of their engines. The 
 heavy blockading vessels, which had closed in toward the Morro at the 
 instant of the enemy's appearance and at their best speed, delivered a rapid 
 fire, well sustained and destructive, which speedily overwhelmed and silenced 
 the Spanish fire. The initial speed of the Spaniards carried them rapidly 
 past the blockading vessels and the battle developed into a chase, in which 
 the Brooklyn and Texas had at the start, the advantage of position. The 
 Brooklyn maintained this lead. The Oregon, steaming with amazing speed 
 from the commence'ment of the action, took first place. The Iowa and In- 
 diana, having done good work and not having the speed of the other ships, 
 were directed by me, in succession, at about the time the Vizcaya was 
 beached, to drop out of the chase and resume the blockading station. The 
 Vixen, finding that the rush of the Spanish ships would put her between two 
 fires, ran outside of our own column, and remained there during the battle 
 and chase. 
 
 The skillful handling and gallant fighting of the Gloucester excited the 
 
490 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 admiration of every one who witnessed it and merits the commendation of 
 the navy department. She is a fast and entirely unprotected auxiliary vessel 
 the yacht Corsair and has a good battery of light rapid-fire guns. She 
 was lying about two miles from the harbor entrance, to the southward and 
 eastward, and immediately steamed in, opening fire upon the large ships. 
 Anticipating the appekrance of the Pluton and Furor, the Gloucester was 
 slowed, thereby gaining more rapidly a high pressure of steam, and when 
 the destroyers came out she steamed for them at full speed and was able 
 to close at short range, where her fire was accurate, deadly and of great 
 volume. 
 
 During this fight the Gloucester was under the fire of the Socapa bat- 
 tery. Within twenty minutes from the time they emerged from Santiago 
 harbor the careers of the Furor and the Pluton were ended and two-thirds 
 of their people killed. The Furor was beached and sunk in the surf, the 
 Pluton sank in deep water a few minutes later. The destroyers probably 
 suffered much injury from the fire of the secondary batteries of the battle- 
 ships Iowa, Indiana and the Texas, yet I think a very considerable factor 
 in their speedy destruction was the fire at close range of the Gloucester's 
 battery. After rescuing the survivors of the destroyers the Gloucester did 
 excellent service in landing and securing the crew of the Infanta Maria 
 Teresa. 
 
 The method of escape attempted by the Spaniards all steering in the 
 same direction and in formation removed all tactical doubts or difficulties 
 and made plain the duty of every United States vessel to close in, immedi- 
 ately engage and pursue. This was promptly and effectively done. 
 
 As already stated, the first rush of the Spanish squadron carried it past 
 a number of the blockading ships, which could not immediately work up to 
 their best speed, but they suffered heavily in passing, and the Infanta Maria 
 Teresa and the Oquendo were probably set on fire by shells fired during the 
 first fifteen minutes of the engagement. It w r as afterwards learned that the 
 Infanta Maria Teresa's fire main had been cut by one of our first shots and 
 that she was unable to extinguish the fire. With large, volumes of smoke 
 rising from their lower decks aft, these vessels gave up both fight and flight 
 and ran in on the beach the Infanta Maria Teresa at about 10:15 A. M. at 
 Nima Nima, six and one-half miles from Santiago harbor entrance, and the 
 Almirante Oquendo at about 10:30 A. M. at Juan Gonzales, seven miles from 
 the port. 
 
 The Vizoaya was still under the fire of the leading vessels; the Cristobal 
 Colon had drawn ahead, leading the chase, and soon passed beyond the range 
 of the guns of the leading American ships. The Vizcaya was soon set on 
 fire, and at 11 :15 A. M. she turned in shore and was beached at Aserraderos, 
 fifteen miles from Santiago, burning fiercely, and with her reserves of ammu- 
 nition on deck already beginning to explode. 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOE THE AMERICANS. 491 
 
 When about ten miles west of Santiago the Indiana had been signaled 
 to go back to the harbor entrance, and at Aserraderos the Iowa was sig- 
 naled to "resume blockading station." The Iowa, assisted by the Ericsson 
 and the Hist, took off the crew of the Vizcaya, while the Harvard and the 
 Gloucester rescued those of the Infanta Maria Teresa and the Almirante 
 Oquendo. 
 
 This rescue of prisoners, including the wounded, from the burning 
 Spanish vessels was the occasion of some of the most daring aiad gallant 
 conduct of the day. The ships were burning fore and aft, their guns and 
 reserve ammunition were exploding, and it was not known at what moment 
 the fire would reach the main magazines. In addition to this a heavy surf was 
 running just inside of the Spanish ships. But no risk deterred our officers 
 and men until their work of humanity was complete. 
 
 There remained now of the Spanish ships only the Cristobal Colon, but 
 she was their best and fastest vessel. Forced by the situation to hug the 
 Cuban coast, her only chance of escape was by superior and sustained speed. 
 When the Vizcaya went ashore the Colon was about six miles ahead of the 
 Brooklyn and the Oregon, but her spurt was finished and the American ships 
 were now gaining upon her. Behind the Brooklyn and the Oregon came the 
 Texas, Vixen and New York. It was evident from the bridge of the New 
 York that all the American ships were gradually overhauling the Colon, and 
 that she had no chance of escape. 
 
 At 12:50 the Brooklyn and the Oregon opened fire and got her range, 
 the Oregon's heavy shell striking beyond her, and at 1 :10 she gave up without 
 firing another shot, hauled down her colors and ran ashore at Rio Torquino, 
 forty-eight miles from Santiago. Capt. Cook of the Brooklyn went on board 
 to receive the surrender. While his boat was alongside I came up in the 
 New York, received his report and placed the Oregon in charge of the wreck 
 to save her, if possible, and directed the prisoners to be transferred to the 
 Resolute, which had followed the chase. 
 
 Commodore Schley, whose chief of staff had gone on board to receive 
 the surrender, had directed that all their personal effects should be retained 
 by the officers. This order I did not modify. The Cristobal Colon was not 
 injured by our firing, and probably is not much injured by beaching, though 
 she ran ashore at high speed. The beach was so steep that she cam* off by 
 the working of the sea. But her sea valves were opened and broken, treach- 
 erously, I am sure, after her surrender, and despite all efforts she sank. When 
 it became evident ^that she could not be kept afloat she was pushed by the 
 New York bodily up on the beach, the New York's stem being placed against 
 her for this purpose the ship being handled by Capt. Chadwick with ad- 
 mirable judgment and sank in shoal water and may be saved. Had this not 
 been done she would have gone down in deep water and would have been to 
 a certainty a total loss. 
 
492 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 I regard this complete and important victory over the Spanish forces as 
 the successful finish of several weeks of arduous and close blockade, so 
 stringent and effective during the night that the enemy was deterred from 
 making the attempt to escape at night and deliberately elected to make the 
 attempt in daylight. That this was the case I was informed by the com- 
 manding officer of the Cristobal Colon. 
 
 It was ascertained with fair conclusiveness that the Merrimac, so gal- 
 lantly taken into the channel on June 3, did not obstruct it. I therefore 
 maintained the blockade as follows: 
 
 To the battleships was assigned the duty, in turn, of lighting the chan- 
 nel. Moving up to the port at a distance of from one to two miles from the 
 MOITO dependent upon the condition of the atmosphere they threw a 
 searchlight beam directly up the channel, and held it steadily there. This 
 lighted up the entire breadth of the channel for half a mile inside of the 
 entrance so brilliantly that the movement of small boats could be detected. 
 
 When all the work was done so well it is difficult to discriminate in 
 praise. The object of the blockade of Cervera's squadron was fully accom- 
 plished, and each individual bore well his part in it the commodore in com- 
 mand on the second division, the captains of ships, their officers and men. 
 The fire of the battleships was powerful and destructive and the resist- 
 ance of the Spanish squadron was in great part broken almost before they 
 had got beyond the range of their own forts. The fine speed of the Oregon, 
 enabled her to take a front position in the chase, and the Cristobal Colon did 
 not give up until the Oregon had thrown a 13-inch shell beyond her. This 
 performance adds to the already brilliant record of this fine battleship and 
 speaks highly of the skill and care with which her admirable efficiency has 
 been maintained during a service unprecedented in the history of vessels of 
 her class. 
 
 The Brooklyn's westerly blockading position gave her an advantage in 
 the chase, which she maintained to the end, and she employed her fine bat- 
 tery with telling effect. The Texas and the New York were gaining on the 
 chase during the last hour, and had any accident befallen the Brooklyn or 
 the Oregon, would have speedily overhauled the Cristobal Colon. From the 
 moment the Spanish vessel exhausted her first burst of speed the result was 
 never in doubt. She fell, in fact, far below what might reasonably have 
 been expected of her. Careful measurements of time and distance give her 
 an average speed from the time she cleard the harbor mouth until the time 
 she was run on shore at Rio Tarquino of 13.7 knots. Neither the New York 
 nor the Brooklyn stopped to couple up their forward engine, but ran out the 
 chase with one pair, getting steam, of course, as rapidly as possible on all 
 boilers. To stop to couple up the forward engines would have meant a delay 
 of fifteen minutes or four miles in the chase. 
 
 Several of the ships were struck, the Brooklyn more often than the 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 493 
 
 others, but very slight material injury was done, the greatest being aboard 
 the Iowa. Our loss was one man killed and one wounded, both on the Brook- 
 lyn. It is difficult to explain this immunity from loss of life or injury to ships 
 in a combat with modern vessels of the best type; but Spanish gunnery is 
 poor at the best, and the superior weight and accuracy of our fire speedily 
 drove the men from their guns and silenced their fire. This is borne out by 
 the statements of prisoners and by observation. The Spanish vessels, as they 
 dashed out of the harbor, were covered with the smoke from their own guns, 
 but this speedily diminished in volume and soon almost disappeared. The 
 fire from the rapid-fire batteries of the battleships appears to have been 
 remarkably destructive. An examination of the stranded vessels shows that 
 the Almirante Oquendo especially ha'd suffered terribly from this fire. Her 
 sides are everywhere pierced and her decks were strewn with the charred 
 remains of those W 7 ho had fallen. 
 
 W. T. SAMPSON, 
 Rear Admiral United States Navy, Commander in Chief United States Naval 
 
 Force, North Atlantic Station. 
 
 The Secretary of the Navy, Navy Department, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Burning of the Alfonso XII. 
 
 Two batteries silenced; two gunboats put to flight; the Alfonso XII., 
 a transport of 5,000 tons, loaded with ammunition, beached and burned; 
 those were the Spanish losses in the second battle of Mariel on Wednes- 
 day, July 6. The Hawk, Prairie and Castine fought it, destroying the 
 most valuable ship and cargo that Spanish daring employed to run into 
 Havana's relief after the blockading squadron stationed itself before 
 Morro. 
 
 The Hawk began the battle Tuesday night off Havana. Lieutenant 
 Hood had taken his destroyer yacht far in under the guns to watch the 
 western approach to the harbor. Twenty minutes before midnight he 
 reached the eastern limit of his patrol, six miles west of Morro, and 
 went about, swinging farther in shore as he turned. The Hawk had not 
 finished circling when the forward lookout sighted a huge four-masted 
 steamer creeping along in the shade of the shore a quarter of a mile 
 nearer the beach, a mile to the westward. His "sail ho" warned the 
 master of the steamer that he was discovered and he put about at the cry 
 and steamed furiously away toward Mariel. 
 
 Lieutenant Hood was after him in an instant. Eastward within call 
 lay six warships, but Lieutenant Hood wanted the steamer for his own 
 prize, and started after her without calling for aid. Mile after mile 
 
494 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOB THE AMERICANS. 
 
 the two vessels reeled off, the Hawk waiting to get its prey well away 
 from the squadron before striking. Twenty miles from Morro the 
 steamer began drawing away from the destroyer. The Hawk's men 
 were at their quarters, and when Lieutenant Hood saw his prize slip- 
 ping from his grasp his forward six-pounders began to speak. Some of 
 the shells must have landed, for the Spaniard ran for shoal water, appar- 
 ently hoping to catch the Hawk among the rocks. 
 
 Lieutenant Hood was game, however, and the light-draught Hawk 
 kept hammering away wdth her rapid-fire guns and burning signals for 
 help from the bridge. Two mines east of Mariel the hunted Spaniard 
 broke for the narrow harbor mouth, and Lieutenant Hood's jackies, 
 pumping steel across the moonlit waters, groaned in the fear that she 
 might escape. The raining six-pound shells upset the pilot, however, 
 and the fleeing ship struck hard on the bar at the west side of the 
 entrance and stuck fast. With wild cheers the Hawk's crew tumbled 
 into the boats and boarded the prize, but the steamer's rail was lined 
 with riflemen and the popping Mausers drove the Hawk's tars back to 
 their ship. 
 
 The Hawk guarded the prize till morning and then, seeing her fast 
 aground, ran back to Havana to report to the fleet and to ask help in 
 taking her. The Castine w r as sent down to aid in the work, but the 
 shore batteries opened on' the ships when they appeared. After two 
 hours' fruitless fighting the Hood went back to the fleet for re-enforce- 
 ments. The Prairie, manned by Massachusetts reserves, was dispatched 
 to engage the batteries, and at 1 o'clock in the afternoon Captain Train 
 took a position two miles from Martello tower and began pitching six- 
 inch shells into the tower and sand batteries. Ten shells silenced the 
 three guns in the tower and sent the artillerymen streaming back over 
 the hill tow r ard the city. 
 
 Two gunboats inside the harbor poured five-inch shells at the Prairie, 
 but nine shells from that ship routed them and drove them back to the 
 city. The sand batteries were harder to silence, but fifteen shells did 
 that w r ork and wrecked the barracks besides. The infantry in the rifle 
 pits supporting the batteries were driven out by five-inch shells from 
 the Castine, W 7 hieh fired during the morning and afternoon 250 shots. 
 The Prairie used thirty-eight of her six-inch shells and about 100 six- 
 pounders. The Castine and Hawk had taken the steamer, and the Hawk 
 then reported to the fleet at Havana. The Spanish vessel was so badly 
 riddled that the name could not be deciphered. 
 
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CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 497 
 
 General Miles Assumes Command in Cuba. 
 
 On July 13 General Miles arrived at the front and assumed persona] 
 command of the army around Santiago. Negotiations for the peaceful 
 surrender of the city had been going on for several days between Gen- 
 eral Shafter, commander of the American forces, and General Toral of 
 the Spanish army, but it was not until the 16th that a final agreement 
 was reached. On this date conditions of surrender were offered, the 
 principal articles of which were as follows: 
 
 First, that all hostilities shall cease pending the agreement of final 
 capitulation. 
 
 Second, that the capitulation includes all the Spanish forces and the 
 surrender of all war material within the prescribed limits. 
 
 Third, that the transportation of the troops to Spain shall b'e furnished 
 at the earliest possible moment, each force to be embarked at the nearest 
 port. 
 
 Fourth, that the Spanish officers shall retain their side arms and the 
 enlisted men their personal property. 
 
 Fifth, that after the final capitulation the Spanish forces shall assist in 
 the removal of all obstructions to navigation in Santiago harbor. 
 
 Sixth, that after the final capitulation the commanding officers shall 
 furnish a complete inventory of all arms and munitions of war and a roster 
 of all soldiers in the district. 
 
 Seventh, that the Spanish general shall be permitted to take the military 
 archives and records with him. 
 
 Eighth, that all guerrillas and Spanish irregulars shall be permitted to 
 remain in Cuba, giving a parole that they will not again take up arms against 
 the United States unless properly released from parole. 
 
 Ninth, that the Spanish forces shall be permitted to march out with all 
 the honors of war, depositing their arms to be disposed of by the United 
 States in the future, the American commissioners to recommend to their 
 Government that the arms of the soldiers be returned to those "who so 
 bravely defended them." 
 
 By the terms of this agreement the southeastern end of Cuba an 
 area of about 5,000 square miles the capital of the province, the forts 
 and their heavy guns, and Toral's army, about 25,000 strong, passed into 
 our possession. 
 
 The ceremony which sealed the capitulation of Santiago was simple 
 
498 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 and short. Promptly at 9 o'clock in the morning all division and 
 brigade commanders and their staffs reported to General Shafter at his 
 headquarters. With Major-General Wheeler at his left, General Law- 
 ton and General Kent behind, and the other officers, according to rank, 
 following, the little cavalcade, escorted by a detachment of Rafferty's 
 mounted squadron, rode around the base of San Juan hill and west on 
 the royal road toward Santiago. Just about midway between the 
 American and Spanish lines of rifle pits stands a lordly ceiba, 125 feet 
 high to the crown, nearly 10 feet in diameter at the trunk and spread- 
 ing 50 feet each way from the polished tree shaft. Under this tree 
 General Toral and a score of his officers awaited the Americans. As 
 General Shafter came down the slope toward the tree General Toral 
 advanced a few feet and raised his hat. General Shafter returned the 
 salute, and then the quick notes of a Spanish bugle, marking the ca- 
 dence of a march, sounded on the other side of the hedge which bordered 
 the road, and the king's guard, in column of twos, came into view. 
 Before they arrived on the scene the American cavalrymen had lined up 
 with drawn sabers at a carry, each man and horse motionless. 
 
 The Spanish soldiers came through a gap in the hedge in quick time, 
 the Spanish flag leading the column and two trumpeters sounding the 
 advance. The soldiers marched in excellent order, but as they passed 
 General Shafter their eyes moved to the left and they glanced curiously 
 at the men who had served as their targets only a few days before. 
 About 200 soldiers and officers were in the king's guard, and the little 
 command, after moving down the entire front of the detachment of 
 cavalry, countermarched, and, swinging into line, halted facing the 
 Americans, about ten yards distant. 
 
 For a few minutes Americans and Spaniards faced each other, silent 
 and motionless. Then the two trumpeters gave tongue to their horns 
 again; a Spanish officer shouted a command; the Spanish colors dipped 
 in a salute; the Spanish soldiers presented arms and the Spanish officers 
 removed their hats. Captain Brett's quick, terse command, "Present 
 sabers," rang over the hillside, and American swords flashed as the 
 sabers swept downward. General Shafter removed his hat, and his 
 officers followed his example. For half a minute and it seemed longer 
 the two little groups of armed men, each representing an army, re- 
 mained at "the salute." The Spanish officer in command of the king's 
 guard was the first to break the silence. His commands put the Span- 
 iards in motion, and they again passed before the Americans, who re- 
 mained at "present arms" until the last of the guard had marched by. 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOB THE AMERICANS. 499 
 
 The Spaniards marched back toward Santiago a few hundred feet, 
 halted, stacked their Mauser rifles and then, without arms or flags, filed 
 back of the American lines and went into camp on the hill just west of 
 San Juan hill. 
 
 The formal part of the proceedings came to an end with this little 
 ceremony, then Spanish and American officers mingled, shook hands 
 and exchanged compliments. While the king's guard and the American 
 cavalrymen were saluting each other the 5th army corps stood on the 
 crest of the parapet of the rifle pits, forming a thin line nearly seven 
 miles long. Only a small part of the army could see the groups of 
 Spanish and American soldiers under the ceiba tree, but every one of 
 the men who had been fighting and living in our trenches strained his 
 eyes to catch a glimpse, if possible, of the proceedings which put an end 
 to hostilities in this part of Cuba. 
 
 On the Way to Santiago. 
 
 After a few minutes of informal talk General Toral and his officers 
 escorted General Shafter and his military family to Santiago. 
 
 General Shafter's entrance was hardly the triumphant march of a 
 victor, for the procession of Americans and Spaniards ambled quietly 
 and unostentatiously over the cobble and blue flag stones, around the 
 little public circles and squares, past ancient churches and picturesque 
 ruins of what once were the homes of wealthy Spaniards, through nar- 
 row, alleylike streets to the Plaza de Armas, with the cathedral, the 
 Cafe de Venus, the governor-general's palace and San Carlos club facing 
 the square. 
 
 General Toral was the first to spring from his horse, and he held out 
 his hand and welcomed General Shafter to the "palace." This was a few 
 minutes after 10 o'clock. 
 
 Here General Shafter received the local council and other civic 
 officials, and the governor, seeking to do the honors properly, gave a 
 luncheon to the general and his principal officers. 
 
 By this time the 9th infantry had marched into the square and 
 formed two lines, facing the palace, and the band had taken its station 
 in the center of the broad walk, with the American officers grouped in 
 front. Just five minutes before noon General Shafter, General Wheeler, 
 General Lawton and General Kent came from the palace and joined the 
 officers, and Lieutenant Miley, General Shafter's chief aid-de-camp? 
 
500 CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 
 
 Captain McKittrick and Lieutenant Wheeler, General Wheeler's son, 
 swarmed over the red roof tiles to the flagstaff. Then followed five 
 long, expectant, silent minutes. Some of the officers held watches in 
 their hands, but most of them kept their eyes on the little ball of bunt- 
 ing which cuddled at the foot of the flagstaff. General McKibben, his 
 long, slim figure erect, stood before the 9th regiment, and when the 
 first stroke of the cathedral clock bell sounded from the tower he 
 whirled around and gave the command "Present arms." The final word 
 was spoken just as the flag fluttered up toward the tip of the staff, and 
 the crash of hands meeting rifle butts and the swish of sweeping sabers 
 came with the opening notes of the "Star-Spangled Banner," and every 
 American there saluted our flag as the wind caught the folds and flung 
 the red, white and blue bunting out under the Cuban sun and over a 
 conquered Spanish city. 
 
 And when the last notes of the national air died away and the rifle 
 butts had come to an "order" on the pavement, and the sabers had been 
 slipped into their sheaths, men whose faces and throats were deep 
 brown, whose cheeks were thin, whose limbs trembled with fatigue and 
 Cuban fever, whose heads wore bandages covering wounds made by 
 Spanish bullets, but who stood straight, with heads erect, were not 
 ashamed to wipe from their eyes the tears which came when "old glory" 
 spread its protecting folds over Santiago. 
 
 Yellow Fever in'Shafter's Army. 
 
 Yellow fever broke out in the army on July 11, spreading with 
 frightful rapidity among the men, but it fortunately proved to be of a 
 mild type, and in comparatively few instances was the dreaded disease 
 attended with fatal results. 
 
 When the landings at Baiquiri and Juragua were made there were 
 many men to be handled, the facilities were limited and the landings 
 were made in great haste. No building was burned, no well was filled, 
 no sink was dug. Several of the enthusiastic young aids seized pretty 
 vineclad cottages as headquarters for their respective generals. Cu- 
 bans and Americans filed into the empty houses of the town without 
 inquiry as to their antecedents. 
 
 Major LeGarde, in charge of the beach hospital, recommended earn- 
 estly on landing that every building be burned. Major Wood and Colo- 
 nel Pope indorsed this, but the recommendation went by default. The 
 
CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE AMERICANS. 501 
 
 camp was established in the heart of the Spanish town and the first 
 yellow-fever case was that of Burr Mclntosh, the actor and newspaper 
 man, who had been sleeping at General Bates' headquarters in one of 
 the pretty vine-covered cottages mentioned. 
 
 Dr. Lesser and his wife, "Sister Bettina," the New York workers of 
 the Red Cross, were among the first victims, and Katherine White, 
 another Eed Cross nurse, w r as also sent to the yellow-fever camp. 
 
 After the fever was discovered every effort was made to check it 
 and stamp it out, but the camp had already been pitted with it. Cases 
 were taken out of the surgical wards of the hospital tents and out of 
 the officers' tents, General Duffield being one of the victims. 
 
 Owing to the unhealthful climate and the lack of proper food, medi- 
 cines, clothing, and shelter, the army was soon threatened with an 
 epidemic of disease, and it w T as evident that the detention of the troops 
 in Cuba would result in loss of life to thousands of brave men. In order 
 that the authorities at Washington might have a thorough understand- 
 ing of the situation, the officers of the 5th army corps united in the 
 following letter which was addressed to General Shafter, and which was 
 transmitted by him to the war department in Washington: 
 
 We, the undersigned officers commanding the various brigades, divi- 
 sions, etc., of the army of occupation in Cuba, are of the unanimous opinion 
 that this army should be at once taken out of the island of Cuba and sent 
 to some point on the northern seacoast of the United States; that it can be 
 done without danger to the people of the United States; that yellow fever 
 in the army at present is not epidemic; that there are only a few sporadic 
 cases; but that- the army is disabled by malarial fever to the extent that its 
 efficiency is destroyed, and that it is in a condition to be practically destroyed 
 by an epidemic of yellow fever which is sure to come in the near future. 
 
 We know from the reports of competent officers and from personal 
 observation that the army is unable to move into the interior and that there 
 are no facilities for such a move if attempted, and that it could not be 
 attempted until too late. Moreover, the best medical authorities of the island 
 say that with our present equipment we could not live in the interior during 
 the rainy season without losses from malarial fever, which is almost as 
 deadly as yellow fever. 
 
 This army must be moved at once or perish. As the army can be safely 
 moved now the persons responsible for preventing such a move will be respon- 
 sible for the unnecessary loss of many thousands of lives. 
 
 Our opinions are the result of careful personal observation, and they 
 
502 COKTINUED SUCCESS FO& THE AMERICANS. 
 
 are also based on the unanimous opinion of our medical officers with the 
 army, who understand the situation absolutely. 
 
 J. FORD KENT, 
 Major-General Volunteers, Commanding First Division Fifth Corps. 
 
 J. C. BATES, 
 Major-General Volunteers, Commanding Provisional Division. 
 
 ADNA R. CHAFFEE, 
 Major-General Commanding Third Brigade, Second Division. 
 
 SAMUEL S. SUMNER, 
 Brigadier-General Volunteers, Commanding First Brigade Cavalry. 
 
 WILL LUDLOW, 
 Brigadier-General Volunteers, Commanding First Brigade, Second Division. 
 
 ADELBERT AMES, 
 Brigadier-General Volunteers, Commanding Third Brigade, First Division. 
 
 LEONARD WOOD, 
 Brigadier-General Volunteers, Commanding the City of Santiago. 
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT, 
 Colonel, Commanding Second Cavalry Brigade. 
 
 As a result arrangements were completed as quickly as possible for 
 the transportation of the troops to the United States, and immunes 
 were sent to Santiago for garrison duty in their places. 
 
 Another Naval Engagement. 
 
 On the morning of July 18 the vessels on blockade duty in the 
 vicinity of Manzanillo approached the harbor of that city from the 
 westward. The Wilmington and Helena entered the northern channel 
 towards the town, the Scorpion and Osceola the mid-channel, and the 
 Hist, Hornet and Wampatuck the south channel, the movement of the 
 vessels being so timed as to bring them within effective range of the 
 shipping at about the same moment. An attack was made on the 
 Spanish vessels in the harbor, and after a deliberate fire lasting about 
 two and a half hours, three transports, El Gloria, Jose Garcia and La 
 Purrissima Concepcion, were burned and destroyed. 
 
 The Pontoon, which was the harbor guard and storeship for ammuni- 
 tion, was burned and blown up. Three gunboats were destroyed, one 
 other was driven ashore and sunk, and another was entirely disabled. 
 No casualties occurred on board any of the American vessels. The 
 Spanish loss was over 100 in killed and wounded, and the Delgado, 
 Guantanamo, Ostralia, Continola and Guardian, gunboats of the Span- 
 ish navy, were sent to join Cervera's fleet. 
 
CHAPTER LI. 
 THE INVASION OF PUERTO RICO. 
 
 General Miles' Landing at Ponce The American Army Received witJ 
 Cheers and Open Arms by the Native Puerto Ricans News of Peace 
 Stops a Battle and Brings Hostilities to a Close. 
 
 The United States military expedition, under command of Major- 
 General Nelson A. Miles, commanding the army of the United States, 
 left Guantanamo bay on the evening of Thursday, July 21, and was 
 successfully landed at the port of Guanica, island of Puerto Rico, on 
 July 25. 
 
 The ships left Guantanamo bay suddenly Thursday evening with 
 the Massachusetts, commanded by Capt. F. J. Higginson, leading. 
 Captain Higginson was in charge of the naval expedition, which con- 
 sisted of the Columbia, Dixie, Gloucester and Yale. General Miles was 
 on board the last-named vessel. The troops were on board the trans- 
 ports Nueces, Lampasas, Comanche, Rita, Unionist, Stillwater, City of 
 Macon and Specialist. 
 
 As soon as the expedition was well under way General Miles called 
 for a consultation, announcing that he was determined not to go by 
 San Juan cape, but by the Mona passage instead, land there, surprise 
 the Spaniards and deceive their military authorities. The course was 
 then changed, and the Dixie was sent to warn General Brooke, who was 
 on his way with his army from the United States, with instructions to 
 meet General Miles at Cape San Juan. 
 
 Early on the morning of July 25 the Gloucester, in charge of Lieu- 
 tenant-Commander Wainwright, steamed into Guanica harbor in order 
 to reconnoiter the place. With the fleet waiting outside, the gallant 
 little fighting yacht braved the mines which were supposed to be in 
 the harbor, and found that the*e were five fathoms of water close in 
 shore. 
 
 The Spaniards were taken completely by surprise. Almost the first 
 they knew of the approach of the army of invasion was in the announce- 
 ment contained in the firing of a gun from the Gloucester, demanding 
 that the Spaniards haul down their flag, which was floating from a 
 flagstaff in front of a blockhouse standing to the east of the village. 
 
 503 
 
504 THE INVASION OF PUERTO RICO. 
 
 * 
 
 The first couple of three-pounders was fired into the hills right and 
 left of the bay, purposely avoiding the town, lest the projectiles should 
 hurt women and children. The Gloucester then hove to within about 
 600 yards of the shore, and lowered a launch having on board a Colt 
 rapid-fire gun and thirty men under the command of Lieutenant Huse, 
 which was sent ashore without encountering opposition. 
 
 Quartermaster Beck thereupon told Yoenian Lacy to haul down the 
 Spanish flag, which w T as done, and they then raised on the flagstaff the 
 first United States flag to float over Puerto Rican soil. 
 
 Spaniards Open Fire. 
 
 Suddenly about thirty Spaniards opened fire with Mauser rifles on 
 the American party. Lieutenant Huse and his men responded with 
 great gallantry, the Colt gun doing effective work. 
 
 Almost immediately after the Spaniards fired on the Americans the 
 Gloucester opened fire on the enemy with all her three and six pounders 
 which could be brought to bear, shelling the town and also dropping 
 shells into the hills to the west of Guanica, where a number of Spanish 
 cavalry were to be seen hastening toward the spot where the Americans 
 had landed. 
 
 Lieutenant Huse then threw up a little fort, which he named Fort 
 Wainwright, and laid barbed wire in the street in front of it in order 
 to repel the expected cavalry attack. The lieutenant also mounted the 
 Colt gun and signaled for re-enforcements, which were sent from the 
 Gloucester. 
 
 Presently a few of the Spanish cavalry joined those who were fight- 
 ing in the street of Guanica, but the Colt killed four of them. By that 
 time the Gloucester had the range of the town and of the blockhouse 
 and all her guns were spitting fire, the doctor and the paymaster help- 
 ing to serve the guns. 
 
 Soon afterward white-coated galloping cavalrymen were seen climb- 
 ing the hills to the westward and the foot soldiers were scurrying along 
 the fences from the town. 
 
 By 9:45, with the exception of a few guerrilla shots, the town was 
 won and the enemy was driven out of its neighborhood. The Red Cross 
 nurses on the Lampasas and a detachment of regulars were the first 
 to land from the transports. 
 
 After Lieutenant Huse had captured the place he deployed his small 
 force into the suburbs. But he was soon re-inforced by the regulars, 
 
THE INVASION OF PUERTO RICO. 505 
 
 who were followed by Company C of the 6th Illinois and then by other 
 troops in quick succession. All the boats of the men-of-war and trans- 
 ports were used in the work of landing the troops, each steam launch 
 towing four or five boats loaded with soldiers. But everything pro- 
 gressed in an orderly manner and according to the plans of General 
 Miles. The latter went ashore about noon, after stopping to board the 
 Gloucester and thank Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright for his gal- 
 lant action. 
 
 On Wednesday, Jirav 27, the Wasp, Annapolis, and Dixie steamed 
 from the port of Gu%ica to Ponce, prepared, if necessary, to shell 
 the town. The Wasp was the first to arrive, and she found the people 
 of the town waiting, as the news of her coming had preceded her. The 
 Spanish garrison, 350 strong, was paralyzed with fear and wished to 
 surrender or leave, but Colonel San Martin, who was in command, de- 
 clared that he could not surrender. 
 
 The Wasp steamed up close to the shore, with all her guns bearing 
 on the town, and found, instead of an enemy prepared to give battle, a 
 great congregation of people awaiting their arrival. Lieutenant Ward 
 and Executive Officer Wells sent Ensign Rowland Curtin with four men 
 ashore, bearing a flag of truce. They suspected treachery on the part 
 of the Spaniards, and the gunners of the Wasp stood ready to fire at a 
 second's warning. Ensign Curtin put for the beach as though he had no 
 suspicion of treachery, and as he stepped from the boat the people 
 crowded around him, forcing presents upon him and his men, and wel- 
 coming them w T ith rousing cheers. 
 
 A message was sent to the Spanish commander, demanding the im- 
 mediate and unconditional surrender of the city, and Ensign Curtin 
 returned to the Wasp for instructions. In a short time a reply was 
 received from Colonel San Martin, offering to surrender upon the con- 
 ditions that the garrison should be permitted to retire; that the civil 
 government remain in force; that the police and fire brigade be per- 
 mitted to patrol without arms, and that the captain of the port should 
 not be made a prisoner. He also imposed the condition that the Ameri- 
 can soldiers should not advance from the town within forty-eight hours. 
 Commander Davis, who was anxious to complete the surrender, ac- 
 cepted these conditions and the armor-plated soldiers and policemen 
 then fled to the hills. The Spaniards left 150 rifles and 14,000 rounds of 
 ammunition behind them. 
 
 Lieutenant Haines, commanding the marines of the Dixie, went 
 ashore and hoisted the American flag over the custom-house at Port of 
 
506 THE INVASION OF PUERTO RICO. 
 
 Ponce amid the cheers of the people. After this Lieutenant Murdoch 
 and Surgeon Heiskell got into a carriage and drove to the city proper, 
 two miles distant, where they received a tremendous ovation. The 
 streets were lined with men, women and children, white and black. 
 Everybody was dancing up and down and yelling: "Viva los Ameri- 
 canos!" "Viva Puerto Kico Libre!" 
 
 The storekeepers offered their whole stock to the officers, and de- 
 clared that they would take no pay for anything. In the Plaza of Jus- 
 tice the people tore down the wooden-gilded crown and would have 
 trampled upon it if the officers had not interfered and saved it as a 
 souvenir. 
 
 When General Wilson landed, the firemen lined up to receive him, 
 and the local band played "The Star-Spangled Banner." Everybody 
 took off his hat and cheered. The custom-house was taken for the 
 American headquarters. The troops landed during the day were the 
 Second and Third Wisconsin and the Sixteenth Pennsylvania regiments. 
 
 When the ships arrived all the people who could get small boats 
 rowed out to them and offered to pilot them in. General Wilson at once 
 started in to learn the condition of affairs. He sent men into the town 
 immediately and put a sentry at each foreign consulate. He also de- 
 tailed a detachment of soldiers to the w r ork of guarding the roads. 
 
 General Wilson and General Miles agreed that the conditions of the 
 surrender relating to the movement of troops were not binding. 
 
 Despite the arrival of the troops the celebration in the town went on. 
 All the Spanish stores were closed, but the Puerto Ricans and the for- 
 eigners kept open house. Women and men alike were all dressed in 
 their finest attire. 
 
 Miles Issues His Proclamation. 
 
 At 10 o'clock General Miles issued his proclamation to the inhabi- 
 tants, which was as follows: 
 
 In the prosecution of the war against the kingdom of Spain by the people 
 of the United States, in the cause of liberty, justice and humanity, its mili- 
 tary forces have come to occupy the island of Puerto Rico. They come bear- 
 ing the banners of freedom, inspired by a noble purpose, to seek the enemies 
 of our government and of yours and to destroy or capture all in armed resist- 
 ance. They bring you the fostering arms of a free people, whose greatest 
 power is justice and humanity to all living within their fold. Hence, they 
 release you from your former political relations, and it is hoped this will 
 
 
 
THE INVASION OF PUERTO RICO. 
 
 be followed by your cheerful acceptance of the government of the United 
 States. 
 
 The chief object of the American military forces will be to overthrow 
 the armed authorities of Spain and give the people of your beautiful island 
 the largest measure of liberty consistent with this military occupation. They 
 have not come to make war on the people of the country, who for centuries 
 have been oppressed, but, on the contrary, they bring protection not only 
 to yourselves but to your property, promote your prosperity and bestow the 
 immunities and blessings of our enlightenment and liberal institutions and 
 government. 
 
 It is not their purpose to interfere with the existing laws and customs 
 which are wholesome and beneficial to the people so long as they conform 
 to the rules of the military administration, order and justice. This is not 
 a war of devastation and desolation, but one to give all within the control 
 of the military and naval forces the advantages and blessings of enlightened 
 civilization. 
 
 In the afternoon General Miles and his staff were invited to the 
 city hall to see the city officials. The city hall was surrounded by a 
 vast crowd of people, and a band was stationed in the park. When the 
 carriages of General Miles and his staff appeared the band played "Lo, 
 the Conquering Hero Comes." General Miles appeared upon the bal- 
 cony of the city hall and took off his hat. The crowd cheered him 
 wildly, and the band played "The Star-Spangled Banner," "Marching 
 Through Georgia," and other patriotic airs. 
 
 General Miles talked to the officials and told them to remain in 
 office. He said he wanted things to go on just as before, but there 
 must be no oppression. He repeated the words of his proclamation, 
 and said that Spaniards who had arms must give them up; if not, they 
 would be regarded as bandits, and not as soldiers, and treated accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 On August 5 the city of Guayama, the' principal port on the south- 
 eastern coast, was captured after a sharp skirmish with 400 Spaniards. 
 The 4th Ohio, Colonel Coit, and the 3rd Illinois, Colonel Bennitt, with 
 two dynamite guns, all under command of General Haynes, composed 
 the expedition which marched against the town from headquarters at 
 Arroyo. When the Americans had reached a point about three miles 
 from the latter place they were viciously attacked on both their right 
 and left flanks. Colonel Coit's Ohio troops, who were leading the ad- 
 vance, were splendidly handled and did telling work against the enemy. 
 
 The Spaniards for a time managed to conceal themselves behind 
 
508 THE INVASION OF PUERTO RICO. 
 
 barricades, but the Americans soon got at them and poured a terrific 
 fire in their direction. It was impossible for the Spaniards long to 
 withstand this fire, and they soon retreated. 
 
 As the American troops entered the town they found it practically 
 deserted. All of the houses had been closed, and the Ohio regiment 
 raised its colors over the town hall. 
 
 A crowd of citizens soon gathered about the invading troops and 
 welcomed them with enthusiasm. While this demonstration was under 
 way the Spaniards returned, making a heavy attack on the town from 
 the north. 
 
 The Fourth Ohio was sent out to engage the enemy and a hot fight 
 between the two bodies of troops took place during the next two hours. 
 
 Two dynamite guns finally were put in position by the Americans 
 and five shots were fired. These completely silenced the enemy and 
 they withdrew, leaving the town in possession of our forces. 
 
 Coamo was captured on August 9, after a dashing fight, in which 
 the 16th Pennsylvania volunteers won honors, holding the lead in 
 General Wilson's advance on the town. The skirmishing with the 
 enemy's outposts began at 8:30 o'clock in the morning. The American 
 troops were armed with Krag-Jorgenson rifles and were supported by 
 artillery. They went into the fight with spirit under the eye of General 
 Ernst, and routed the enemy, killing twelve of them, including the 
 Spanish commander, Colonel Illeroa, capturing the town, and taking 
 200 prisoners. No Americans lost their lives, but six were wounded, 
 one seriously. 
 
 General Wilson's troops destroyed the Spanish batteries on the 
 heights facing Aibonito, on Friday, August 12, after a brilliant advance 
 of the artillery. The first firing by the battery was at a range of 2,300 
 yards, w T hich silenced the Spanish guns. Then a portion of the battery, 
 under Lieutenant John P. Haines, of the 4th artillery, was moved 
 forward within 1,000 yards of the enemy's rifle pits and there drove 
 them out and captured a blockhouse. 
 
 The firing of the Spanish riflemen and artillerists was very wild, 
 reaching the American infantry in the hills instead of the attacking 
 battery. Corporal Swanson of the 3rd Wisconsin volunteers was 
 killed by a shell which fell in the midst of the Wisconsin men, and the 
 same missile wounded three others. 
 
THE INVASION OF PUERTO RICO. 509 
 
 News of Peace Stops a Battle. 
 
 The news that peace was at hand reached Guayama on August 13 
 just in time to interrupt a battle. General Brooke's force, in three 
 strong columns, had begun an advance toward Cayey to form a junction 
 there with General Wilson's division, which had been making its way 
 along the main road from Ponce to San Juan. 
 
 Three miles out General Brooke's troops came upon a force of 
 Spanish occupying strong intrenchments on the top of a mountain. 
 Light battery B, Pennsylvania artillery, unlimbered its guns, loaded 
 them with shells and had just received the order to commence firing 
 when a message from General Miles announcing peace was received on 
 the field over a military telegraph wire. The battery immediately was 
 signaled to cease action, to the surprise of all the men, who were keyed 
 up for battle. The news that the war was over spread rapidly among 
 the soldiers, causing general disappointment, for the officers could do 
 nothing but leave the battle unfought and withdraw their troops. All 
 returned to their former camp at Guayama. 
 
 The signing of the treaty of peace by the United States and Spain 
 came too soon to suit the commanders of the invading army in Puerto 
 Rico. Their plans had been perfectly formed and were almost executed. 
 The simultaneous advance of the four divisions toward San Juan was 
 interrupted in the very midst of the successful movement. If it could 
 have been carried out as contemplated it would have been an invaluable 
 lesson to the Puerto Ricans, quelling such pro-Spanish sentiment as 
 existed and rendering American occupation and government of the 
 island a comparatively simple matter. 
 
 General Miles felt this and regretted that he was not permitted to 
 complete the masterly military movement so carefully begun and so 
 successfully carried forward. The occupation of Puerto Rico was made 
 with a loss to the Americans of two killed and thirty-seven wounded. 
 
CHAPTER LIT. 
 THE SURRENDER OF MANILA. 
 
 Landing of General Merritt at Manila The German Fleet Warned by 
 Admiral Dewey The Ladrone Islands Fierce Battle in Darkness 
 and Storm Foreign Warships Notified of the Attack Combined 
 Assault by Dewey and Merritt The City Surrenders. 
 
 In the meantime, far away in the Philippines, Admiral Dewey was 
 sustaining the reputation he made at the outbreak of hostilities. After 
 the battle of Manila there remained but three Spanish warships in 
 Pacific waters. One of them was in dry dock at Hongkong and the 
 two others were in hiding in the waters of the Philippine group. The 
 admiral dispatched the gunboat Concord and a cruiser to locate and 
 destroy the two Spanish vessels. The Concord soon discovered the 
 Argos, and after a lively battle lasting thirty minutes the Spanish 
 ship was sunk with all on board and her colors flying. Not a man was 
 lost or injured on the Concord, nor did the ship sustain any damage. 
 
 The first American army to sail for foreign shores left San Francisco 
 May 25. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon Brigadier-General Anderson sig- 
 naled from the Australia for the City of Pekin and the City of Sydney 
 to get under way. The signal was seen from the shore, and the waiting 
 crowds cheered wildly. No time was lost on board the transports. 
 The crews worked with a will and in a short time the anchors were up 
 and the vessels were under way. Then the 2,500 soldiers who had been 
 impatiently awaiting the signal to start climbed to the rigging and 
 swarmed all over the big ships, shouting and cheering like mad. 
 
 The big transports steamed slowly along the water front, and the 
 crowd on shore raced along to keep them in sight. The noise made by 
 the patriotic citizens on sea and shore was something terrible. Every 
 steam whistle in the city appeared to be blowing, cannon were fired, 
 and the din lasted fully an hour. 
 
 The three transports carried close on to 2,500 men. The expedition, 
 which was under the command of Brigadier-General Anderson, con- 
 sisted of four companies of regulars, under command of Major Robe; the 
 First Regiment California Volunteers, Colonel Smith; the First Regi- 
 
 510 
 
THE SURRENDER OF MANILA. 511 
 
 ment Oregon Volunteers, Colonel Summers; a battalion of fifty heavy 
 artillery, Major Gary; about 100 sailors, and eleven naval officers. The 
 fleet was loaded with supplies to last a year, and carried a big cargo of 
 ammunition and naval stores for Admiral Dewey's fleet. 
 
 Four transports bearing about 4,000 men passed through the Golden 
 Gate shortly after 1 o'clock on the 15th of June, amid scenes of great 
 enthusiasm and patriotism unequaled in the history of San Francisco. 
 The four vessels which carried the troops were the China, Colon, Zea- 
 landia and Senator. The fleet was accompanied down the bay by a 
 large number of tugboats and bay steamers. 
 
 It was a few minutes past 1 o'clock when the China hoisted the blue 
 Peter and warned the fleet to get under way. The Senator had slipped 
 into the stream and straightened out for the run to Manila. When she 
 reached the stream the China swung away from her anchorage and 
 started down the bay, followed by the Colon and Zealandia and a long 
 line of tugboats and steamers. 
 
 At 1 :30 p. m. the fleet was off Lombard street and a few minutes later 
 it was steaming past Meiggs' wharf. Thousands of people, attracted by 
 the blowing of whistles, rushed to points of vantage on the city front 
 and cheered the departing boats. Soldiers crowded the fort at the 
 point and shouted and waved their hats as the squadron passed out 
 through the Golden Gate. A heavy fog lay outside the bar, and before 
 2 o'clock the transports were lost in the mists. 
 
 Assigned to the China, General Greene's flagship, and the largest, 
 finest and fastest vessel of the fleet, was the First Regiment Colorado 
 Volunteer Infantry, 1,022 men ; half a battalion of the Eighteenth United 
 States Infantry, 150 men, and a detachment of United States engineers, 
 20 men. 
 
 The Color! took four companies of the Twenty-third Infantry and two 
 companies of the Eighteenth Infantry, both of the regular army, and 
 Battery A of the Utah Artillery. In the battery were twelve men and in 
 each of the infantry companies seventy-five men, besides the officers, 
 making less than 600 military passengers. The control of the ship was 
 given to Lieutenant-Colonel Clarence W. Bailey, of the Eighteenth 
 Infantry. 
 
 On the Zealandia were the Tenth Pennsylvania Volunteers and part 
 of Battery B of the Utah Volunteer Artillery. With the gunners went 
 two Maxim fighting machines, which as a precautionary measure were 
 placed ready for action in the bow of the vessel. In all there were 640 
 privates and 60 officers on board. 
 
512 THE SURRENDER OF MANILA. 
 
 On the steamer Senator was the First Regiment of Nebraska Volun- 
 teers, numbering 1,023 men and officers. 
 
 Took the Ladrones. 
 
 The United States cruiser Charleston, with the troopships City of 
 Sydney, City of Pekin and Australia, arrived off Cavite on the 30th of 
 June. They left Honolulu, June 4, with sealed orders from Wash- 
 ington to capture the island of Guam, chief of the Ladrone Islands, 
 and the seat of Spanish government. 
 
 The American cruiser and the transports arrived at Guam on the 
 morning of June 20. They passed the unoccupied Fort Santiago and 
 advanced opposite Fort Santa Cruz. The Charleston then fired twelve 
 shots, but, receiving no response from the fort, it steamed on to Port 
 Luis de Appa, where Agana, the capital of the Ladrone Islands, is 
 situated. 
 
 That afternoon the captain of the port and the health officer came 
 aboard the Charleston and were informed to their astonishment that 
 they were prisoners of war. They had not heard that war existed 
 between the United States and Spain, and they had thought the firing 
 by the Charleston was a salute of courtesy. They said Governor 
 Marina regretted that he had no powder for his cannon with which 
 to return the salute. Those surprised Spaniards were thereupon sent 
 ashore to request the Governor of the islands to come on board the 
 Charleston. In reply the Governor sent his official interpreter and 
 secretary to say to the Americans that the Spanish laws forbade him 
 to leave the shore during his term of office. However, he invited 
 Captain Glass of the Charleston to a conference on shore the next 
 morning and guaranteed his safety. Captain Glass sent Lieutenant 
 Braunersreuther to meet the Governor and deliver an ultimatum de- 
 manding the surrender of the Ladrones, giving the Governor thirty 
 minutes in which to consider the matter. Lieutenant Braunersreuther 
 was accompanied by two companies of Oregon Volunteers. 
 
 The governor surrendered gracefully within the allotted time. 
 Thereupon forty-six marines from the Charleston landed and disarmed 
 the 108 Spanish soldiers, confiscated their 116 rifles and 10,000 rounds 
 of ammunition. The natives were allowed to retain their weapons. 
 They all showed delight in renouncing Spanish authority, and tore off 
 the Spanish regalia from their uniforms with many expressions of satis- 
 faction. 
 
SCENE IN THE TURRET OF A BATTLESHIP DURING 
 AN ENGAGEMENT 
 
 This illustration shows the gunners at work, and also the ammunition as it comes from the ship's 
 magazines. Usually 8 men handle the two turret guns, each one of whom has his particular duty to perform. 
 The shells and powder are hoisted from the magazines by quick elevators, the weight being too great for men 
 to handle, and all the loading is also done by machinery. 
 
NICKEL STEEL INGOT FOR TUBE OF A J6'INCH BREECH' 
 
 LOADING RIFLE 
 
 This enormous weapon will be, when completed, 60 feet long:, weighing 120 tons, and will throw a pro- 
 jectile of 2,300 pounds a distance of 15 miles. Its effective range is 12 miles. 
 
THE SURRENDER OF MANILA. 515 
 
 General Merritt arrived in Manila bay on July 25, and after report- 
 ing to Admiral Dewey assumed command of the American troops in 
 the Philippines. He lost no time in making himself familiar with the 
 situation, and established headquarters at the Cavite arsenal. 
 
 The German Fleet at Manila. 
 
 / 
 
 As soon as the American blockade of Manila was declared, Ger- 
 many began to enlarge her fleet in those waters until all but three of 
 the German men-of-war on the Asiatic station were either in Manila bay 
 or its vicinity. The German naval officers took pains to show particular 
 friendliness towards the Spaniards, as for example in saluting the 
 Spanish flag at Manila on the arrival of every additional ship. The 
 German officers visited the Spanish fortifications and trenches, and the 
 Manila newspapers asserted that the presence before the city of so 
 many German ships enabled the Spanish authorities and the people of 
 Manila to regard the American fleet with complacency. 
 
 On June 27 the McCulloch met the Irene, one of the German fleet, 
 at Corregidor island, preparing to enter the bay, and signaled to her: 
 "We wish to communicate with you." The Irene paid no attention to 
 the signal, and proceeded on her way until a small boat was sent out 
 to her from the McCulloch. The captain of the Irene explained the 
 matter by saying that he had misunderstood the signal. The action 
 of the Irene in interfering with the attack by the insurgent vessel, 
 Filipinas, on the Spanish garrison at Isla Grande, in Subig bay, was 
 in line with the attitude adopted by the German naval officers. 
 
 The Filipinas, a steamer of about 700 tons, loaded with a half cargo 
 of tobacco, was in hiding in the coves around Subig bay. She was 
 owned and officered by Spaniards, but her crew was a native one. The 
 crew mutinied and killed the twelve officers. They then took charge 
 of the ship and hoisted the insurgent flag. On the shore of Subig bay, 
 and chiefly in the town of Subig, were 400 Spanish soldiers. As the 
 insurgent forces on the land began to close in on them they fled in a 
 body to the Isla de Grande, near the mouth of Subig bay, taking with 
 them 100 sick and about 100 women. They retained their small arms 
 and had only one Maxim gun. The insurgents hoped to starve them 
 into submission. About this time the Filipina's incident occurred, 
 whereby she passed from the Spanish to the insurgents. Two hundred 
 insurgent soldiers took the ship and approached the island and fired 
 on the Spaniards. Their firing was ineffective, but after awhile the 
 
516 THE SURRENDER OF MANILA. 
 
 Spaniards, probably realizing the ultimate hopelessness of their posi- 
 tion, hoisted the white flag. At almost the same. time the German 
 cruiser approached from within the bay and the Spaniards hauled down 
 the white flag, for they evidently had reason to hope for interference 
 by the Germans. The German ship at once advanced to the Filipinas 
 and said that the flag she flew was not recognized, and if it were not 
 at once hauled down and a white one substituted she would be taken 
 with her crew to Manila as prisoners. The Filipinas at once hauled 
 down the insurgent flag, hoisted the white one and started immediately 
 south to Manila bay. All this happened July 6. She arrived off the 
 American flagship late in the evening and the insurgents at once re- 
 ported the matter to the admiral. 
 
 Dewey Protects the Insurgents. 
 
 Admiral Dewey sent the insurgent ship into a safe anchorage. At 
 12 o'clock midnight the Raleigh and Concord quietly drew up their 
 anchors and left the bay. They proceeded at once to Subig bay, fired 
 several times on the island, where the Spaniards were, and the latter 
 promptly surrendered. The Irene had disappeared when they arrived, 
 although she had been in Subig bay for several days for the expressed 
 purpose of protecting German interests. The Concord then returned 
 to report to Admiral Dewey and find out what should be done with 
 the 600 Spaniards captured. The Raleigh remained at Subig on guard. 
 During the 7th the insurgent leader, Mr. Seyba, came out to the flagship 
 for permission to take the Filipinas and go to Subig for the purpose of 
 capturing the island. The admiral told him that it had already been 
 done. Seyba went aboard the Filipinas with a strong force of men and 
 left the harbor. 
 
 The Concord, when she returned to report the matter to the admiral, 
 bore a letter from Captain Coghlan of the Raleigh begging that the 
 Spaniards captured be made American prisoners, and that they be not 
 turned over to the insurgents, as Admiral Dewey's original orders de- 
 manded. The Concord was sent back with instructions to turn the pris- 
 oners over to Aguinaldo, but he exacted an ironclad promise that they 
 should be well and carefully cared for. 
 
 Finally Admiral Dewey sent an officer to the German flagship with a 
 request that Admiral Diederichs make a statement of the German 
 attitude in the matter of the blockade of Manila. The German admiral 
 sent an immediate explanation. Two days later, however, he sent a 
 
THE SUEBENDEB OF MANILA. 517 
 
 protest to Admiral Dewey against the action of American officers in 
 boarding German ships coming to Manila from Marivles. He cited the 
 incident of the McCulloch and the Irene at Corregidor. 
 
 Admiral Dewey replied to this very courteously but very firmly. He 
 pointed out to the German admiral that international law gave to the 
 commander of a blockading fleet authority to communicate with all 
 ships entering a blockaded port. As international law permitted war- 
 ships to fly any flag they chose in order to deceive the enemy, the nation- 
 ality of vessels entering the bay could not be absolutely determined 
 without communicating with them. For the German admiral's further 
 information Admiral Dewey told him that if Germany was at peace 
 with the United States the German naval officers would have to change 
 their methods, and that if Germany was at war with his nation he de- 
 sired to know it at once in order that he might act accordingly. 
 
 The Philippine insurgents under Aguinaldo continued their savage 
 attacks, and gradually closed in on the city of Manila. They were 
 working independently of the American forces under General Merritt, 
 and it was apparent that they did not intend to recognize American 
 authority. The Spanish residents of Manila, fearing that the capture 
 of the city by Aguinaldo would be followed by pillage and slaughter, 
 appealed to the captain-general to surrender to the American forces, 
 but that official was determined to resist, in the face of the fact that 
 resistance could only delay defeat. 
 
 Battle in a Storm. 
 
 On the night of July 31 the soil of the Philippines was drenched 
 with American blood. Our troops were strengthening their position 
 near the Spanish fort guarding the southern approach to Manila, in the 
 suburbs of that city. The Spanish, knowing their situation to be 
 growing every day more hopeless, made a concerted sortie on the Amer- 
 ican right flank, held by the 10th Pennsylvania troops. The scene of 
 the battle was at a place called Malate, which is located half way be- 
 tween Cavite and the city of Manila. Here General Greene w r as in 
 command of 4,000 men. The arrival of the third expedition filled the 
 Spaniards with rage, and they determined to give battle before Camp 
 Dewey could be re-enforced. In the midst of a raging typhoon, with 
 a tremendous downpour of rain, 3,000 Spanish soldiers attempted to 
 surprise the camp. The American pickets were driven in and the 
 trencjies assaulted. The Pennsylvania troops did not flinch, but stood 
 
518 THE SUERENDEE OF MANILA. 
 
 their ground under a withering fire. The alarm spread and the 1st 
 California regiment, with two companies of the 3rd artillery, who 
 fought with rifles, were sent up to re-enforce the Pennsylvanians. The 
 enemy was on top of the trenches when these re-enforcements arrived, 
 and never was the discipline of the regulars better demonstrated than 
 by the work of the 3rd artillery under Captain O'Hara. Nothing could 
 be seen but the flash of Mauser rifles. The Utah battery, under Cap- 
 tain Young, covered itself with glory. The men pulled their guns 
 through mud axle deep, and poured in a destructive enfilading fire. 
 
 The enemy was repulsed and retreated in disorder. Our infantry 
 had exhausted its ammunition and did not follow. Not an inch of 
 ground was lost, but the scene in the trenches was one never to be for- 
 gotten. During the flashes of lightning the dead and wounded could 
 be seen lying in blood-red water, but neither the elements of heaven 
 nor the destructive power of man could wring a cry of protest from the 
 wounded. They encouraged their comrades to fight and handed over 
 their cartridge belts. 
 
 The fighting was renewed on the night of August 1, and again the 
 following evening, but the enemy had been taught a lesson, and made 
 the attacks at long range with heavy artillery. The total American loss 
 was fourteen killed and forty-four wounded. The Spaniards had 350 
 killed and over 900 wounded. 
 
 On August 5 the Spaniards again attacked the American outworks. 
 The trenches were occupied by a battalion each of the 14th and 23rd 
 regulars and Nebraska volunteers, the latter holding the extreme right 
 and a company of regulars the extreme left. They returned the Spanish 
 fire and the battle lasted for a half an hour. Three Americans were 
 killed, and eleven wounded, four of them seriously. 
 
 The City Surrenders. 
 
 Admiral Dewey and General Merritt sent an ultimatum to the au- 
 thorities in Manila on Monday, August 8, notifying them that at the 
 expiration of forty-eight hours the land and naval forces of the American 
 army would attack the city, unless they surrendered before that time. 
 When this time had expired the Spaniards asked an extension of one 
 day more, in order that they might remove their sick and wounded and 
 the women and children and non-combatants. This request was 
 granted. 
 
 The foreign warships in the bay were notified of the attack, all of 
 
THE SURRENDER OF MANILA. 519 
 
 them withdrawing out of range. The English and Japanese warships 
 joined the American fleet off Cavite, and the French and German war- 
 ships steamed to the north of the city, where they were out of range. 
 
 The attack was arranged for the 9th inst., but at the last minute 
 General Merritt requested that the fleet postpone the bombardment 
 until his lines could be extended farther around the city. Then Admiral 
 Dewey informed the Spaniards that the attack would be made on Sat- 
 urday; that he would destroy Fort Malate and shell the trenches, thus 
 destroying the opposition to the land forces entering the city; that he 
 would not fire on Manila unless their guns opened on his ships, in which 
 case he would destroy the city. 
 
 At 9 o'clock on the morning of Saturday the American fleet, with 
 battle flags flying at every masthead, left Cavite, the band on the British 
 warship Immortalite playing "El Capitan" at the departure. 
 
 The agreement between Dewey and Merritt was to get under way 
 with the fleet standing toward the city at the same time the troops 
 pressed forward ready to force an entrance when the ships had destroyed 
 the forts. 
 
 With the fleet the Olympia led the way, attended by the Raleigh 
 and the Petrel, while the Calloa under Lieutenant Tappan and the 
 launch Barcolo crept close inshore in the heavy breakers. 
 
 Perfect quiet prevailed in the lines on both sides as the great ships, 
 cleared for action, silently advanced, sometimes hidden by rain squalls. 
 The Monterey, with the Baltimore, Charleston and Boston, formed the 
 reserve. 
 
 At 9:35 a sudden cloud of smoke, green and white against the stormy 
 sky, completely hid the Olympia, a shell screamed across two miles of 
 turbulent water and burst near the Spanish fort at Milate San Antonio 
 de Abad. Then the Petrel and Raleigh and the active little Calloa 
 opened a rapid fire directed toward the shore end of the intrenchments. 
 In the heavy rain it was difficult to judge the range, and the shots at 
 first fell short, but the fire soon became accurate and shells rendered 
 the fort untenable, while the four guns of the Utah battery made ex- 
 cellent practice of the earthworks and swamp to the east of the fort. 
 The Spaniards replied with a few shells. 
 
 Less than half an hour after the bombardment began General Greene 
 decided that it was possible to advance, although the signals to cease 
 firing were disregarded by the fleet, being invisible on account of the 
 rain. Thereupon six companies of the Colorado regiment leaped over 
 their breastworks, dashed into the swamp and began volley firing from 
 
520 THE SURRENDER OF MANILA. 
 
 the partial shelter of low hedges within 300 yards of the Spanish lines. 
 A few moments later the remaining six companies moved along the 
 seashore, somewhat covered by a sand ridge formed by an inlet under 
 the outworks of the fort, and at 11 o'clock occupied this formidable 
 stronghold without loss. 
 
 Meanwhile the fleet, observing the movement of the troops along 
 the beach, withheld its fire. The bombardment had lasted exactly an 
 hour and a half. An hour later General Greene and his staff proceeded 
 along the beach, still under a hot infantry fire from the right, where the 
 Eighteenth regulars and the Third regular artillery were engaging the 
 enemy, and directed the movement for an advance into Malate. The 
 vicinity of the fort was uncomfortable on account of numbers of sharp- 
 shooters in the buildings on both sides, 200 yards distant. The for- 
 ward movement was therefore hastened, and in a few minutes the out- 
 skirts of the suburb were well occupied and the sharpshooters were 
 driven away. 
 
 As the Californians under Colonel Smith came up the beach their 
 band played the national air, accompanied by the whistling of Mauser 
 bullets, and during the sharpshooting continued to encourage the men 
 with inspiring music. Each regiment carried its colors into action. 
 There was considerable street fighting in the suburbs of Malate and 
 Ermita, but the battalion of Californians pushed into the Luneta, a 
 popular promenade within two hundred yards of the moat of the citadel. 
 Then the white flag was hoisted at the southwest corner of the walled 
 town. General Greene, with a few members of his staff, galloped along 
 the Luneta, under a sharp scattering fire from the houses near the beach, 
 and parleyed with an officer who directed him along to the gate, further 
 east. 
 
 At this moment the Spanish forces, retreating from Santa Ana, came 
 into view, fully 2,000 strong, followed by insurgents who had eluded 
 General McArthur's troops, and now opened fire for a brief period. 
 The situation was awkward if not critical, both sides being slightly sus- 
 picious of treachery. The Spanish troops lining the citadel ramparts, 
 observing the insurgents' action, opened fire on the Californians, killing 
 one and wounding three. The confusion, however, soon ceased by the 
 advance of the retreating Spaniards to the esplanade, when General 
 Greene ordered them to enter the citadel. 
 
 Soon a letter was brought from the captain general requesting the 
 commander of the troops to meet him for consultation. 
 
 General Greene immediately entered with Adjutant General Bates. 
 
THE SURRENDER OF MANILA. 521 
 
 Meanwhile, according to arrangement, the moment the white flag was 
 shown, General Merritt, who occupied the steamer Zafiro as temporary 
 corps headquarters, sent General Whittier, with Flag Lieutenant Brum- 
 by, ashore to meet the captain general and discuss first a plan of capitu- 
 lation. General Whittier found the officials much startled by the news 
 that the attack was still vigorously continuing along the whole line, 
 the American troops even threatening the citadel. 
 
 Spanish Troops Massed. 
 
 All available Spanish troops were immediately massed in the vicinity 
 of the palace, awaiting the succession of events, concerning which a 
 certain degree of anxiety was evident. 
 
 General Merritt entered with his staff at 3 o'clock. The situation 
 was then better understood, and a conference with General Jaudenes 
 was held. The terms agreed on were as follows: 
 
 An agreement for the capitulation of the Philippines. 
 
 A provision for disarming the men who remain organized under the 
 command of their officers, no parole being exacted. 
 
 Necessary supplies to be furnished from the captured treasury funds, 
 any possible deficiency being made good by the Americans. 
 
 The safety of life and property of the Spanish soldiers and citizens to be 
 guaranteed as far as possible. 
 
 The question of transporting the troops to Spain to be referred to the 
 decision of the Washington government, and that of returning their arms 'to 
 tfie soldiers to be left to the discretion of General Merritt. 
 
 Banks and similar institutions to continue operations under existing 
 regulations, unless these are changed by the United States authorities. 
 
 Lieutenant Brumby, immediately after the terms of capitulation had 
 been signed, hurried off to lower the Spanish flag in reality to lower all 
 Spain's flags in the Philippines by taking down one. He was accom- 
 panied by two signal men from the Olympia, 
 
 This little party found its way after great difficulty into Fort San- 
 tiago in the northern portion of the walled city. 
 
 There a large Spanish flag was flying. Grouped about it were many 
 Spanish officers. Brumby's presence there in the victorious uniform 
 attracted a crowd from the streets. 
 
522 THE SURRENDER OF MANILA. 
 
 Raises the Stars and Stripes. 
 
 They hissed as he approached to haul down the flag. Then the stars 
 and stripes rose in place of the other. 
 
 Many of those present wept bitterly as the flag of the victorious 
 stranger climbed into place above the fort. 
 
 Fearing that the crowd might lower "old glory," Lieutenant Brumby 
 asked an American infantry officer to move up a detachment to guard it. 
 Fortunately, he met a company coming up with a band. 
 
 The infantrymen presented arms and the band played "The Star- 
 Spangled Banner," accompanied by the cheers of the soldiers, in which 
 many of the residents of the city joined. 
 
 The total American loss in the day's battle was eight killed and 
 thirty-four wounded. The Spaniards had 150 killed and over 300 
 wounded. 
 
 The Americans took 11,000 prisoners, 7,000 being Spanish regulars; 
 20,000 Mauser rifles, 3,000 Remingtons, eighteen modern cannon and 
 many of the obsolete pattern. 
 
 Great credit was given to General Merritt for his plan of attack/ 
 which was successfully carried out in every detail under unusually com- 
 plicated conditions. Nor was commendation withheld from Chief of Staff 
 General Babcock for his expert co-operation in the admirably conceived 
 strategy. Prompt action and strictly following fully detailed orders 
 resulted in every case in the immediate settlement of every difficulty, 
 however threatening. The conduct of the Spanish was in a few cases 
 reprehensible, such as their setting fire to the gunboat Cebu and the 
 destruction of several armed launches and boats after the capitulation 
 had been agreed upon. 
 
 It fell to the lot of Admiral Dewey to open and to close the active 
 operations of the war. His destruction of the Spanish fleet was the 
 first engagement of the war. After fighting had ceased in the western 
 hemisphere, under instructions from the President in accordance with 
 the peace agreement, Admiral Dewey forced Manila to surrender under 
 fire of the guns of his fleet. 
 
CHAPTER LIU. 
 
 VICTORIOUS CLOSE OF THE WAR. 
 
 Spain Sues for Peace President McKinley's Ultimatum French Ambassa- 
 dor Cambon Acts on Behalf of Spain The President's Proclamation 
 The Protocol Spanish Losses in Men, Ships and Territory 
 Appointment of the Evacuation Committees and the Peace Com- 
 mission. 
 
 On Tuesday, July 26, the Spanish government took the first well 
 defined step to bring about a cessation of hostilities. The French am- 
 bassador, accompanied by his secretary of embassy, called on President 
 McKinley, and under instructions from his government and at the re- 
 quest of the Spanish minister of foreign affairs, opened peace negotia- 
 tions by declaring that Spain was ready to consider terms. The proposi- 
 tion submitted by the ambassador acting for the Spanish government 
 was in general terms, and was confined to the one essential point of an 
 earnest plea that negotiations be opened for the purpose of terminating 
 the war. 
 
 Owing to the importance of the communication the ambassador 
 adopted the usual diplomatic procedure of reading the communication 
 from the original, in French, the translation being submitted by M. 
 Thiebaut. In ' the conversation which followed the reading of the 
 proposition neither the president nor the ambassador entered upon the 
 question of the terms of peace. The instructions of the ambassador had 
 confined him to the opening of peace negotiations, and it was evident 
 that the President desired to consider the proposition before giving any 
 definite reply. It was finally determined that the President would con- 
 sult the members of his cabinet, and after a decision had been arrived 
 at M. Cambon would then be invited to the white house for a further 
 conference and for a final answer from the United States government. 
 Before the call closed a brief official memorandum was agreed upon in 
 order to set at rest misleading conjecture and to give to the public infor- 
 mation on a subject which had advanced beyond the point where diplo- 
 matic reserve was essential. 
 
 After cabinet discussions on Friday and Saturday regarding the 
 concessions which should be demanded from Spain a definite agreement 
 
 523 
 
524 VICTORIOUS CLOSE OF THE WAR. 
 
 was reached, and the French ambassador was notified that the President 
 was prepared to deliver his ultimatum. The demands made by the 
 President were briefly as follows: 
 
 1. That Spain will relinquish all claims of sovereignty over and title 
 to Cuba. 
 
 2. That Puerto Rico and other Spanish islands in the West Indies, and 
 an island in the Ladrones, to be selected by the United States, shall be ceded 
 to the latter. 
 
 3. That the United States will occupy and hold the city, bay and harbor 
 of Manila pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which shall determine 
 the control, disposition and government of the Philippines. 
 
 4. That Cuba, Puerto Rico and other Spanish islands in the West 
 Indies shall be immediately evacuated, and that commissioners, to be ap- 
 pointed within ten days, shall within thirty days from the signing of the 
 protocol meet at Havana and San Juan, respectively, to arrange and execute 
 the details of the evacuation. 
 
 5. That the United States and Spain will each appoint not more than 
 five commissioners to negotiate and conclude a treaty of peace. The com- 
 missioners to meet at Paris not later than October 1. 
 
 6. On the signing of the protocol hostilities will be suspended, and 
 notice to that effect will be given as soon as possible by each government to 
 the commanders of its military and naval forces. 
 
 Spanish diplomacy was as usual in evidence, and attempts were 
 made by the Madrid administration to modify the terms, so as to relieve 
 the Spanish government of at least a portion of the Cuban debt, but the 
 authorities in Washington were firm and insisted that no such sugges- 
 tion could be considered, and that there could be no further discussion 
 until the Spanish flag had been withdrawn from the West Indies. 
 
 On August 12 Ambassador Cambon received official notice from the 
 administration at Madrid that his action in agreeing to the terms of the 
 protocol was approved, and he was authorized to sign it, as the repre- 
 sentative of the Spanish government. Accordingly, at four o'clock on 
 the afternoon of that day, he presented himself at the President's man- 
 sion, in company with his first secretary, M. Thiebaut, where he was met 
 by President McKinley, Secretary of State Day, and Assistant Secre- 
 taries of State Moore, Adee and Cridler. 
 
 Two copies of the protocol had been prepared, one in English for 
 preservation by this government, and the other in French for the 
 Spanish government. The signatures and seals were formally attached, 
 Secretary Day signing one copy in advance of M. Cambon, the order 
 b^ing reversed on the other. 
 
VICTORIOUS CLOSE OF THE WAR. 525 
 
 The President then congratulated the French ambassador upon the 
 part he had taken in securing a suspension of hostilities and thanked 
 him for the earnest efforts he had made to facilitate a speedy conclusion. 
 M. Cambon then bowed himself out of the room and left the white house 
 with the copy of the protocol, which he will forward to Spain. The seal 
 used by the French ambassador was that of Spain, which had been left 
 with him when the Spanish minister withdrew from Washington. 
 
 Full Text of the Protocol. 
 
 His Excellency, M. Cambon, Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister 
 Plenipotentiary of the French Republic at Washington, and Mr. William 
 Day, Secretary of State of the United States, having received respectively 
 to that effect plenary powers from the Spanish Government and the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, have established and signed the following articles 
 which define the terms on which the two governments have agreed with 
 regard to the questions enumerated below and of which the object is the 
 establishment of peace between the two countries namely: 
 
 Article 1. Spain will renounce all claim to all sovereignty over and 
 all her rights over the Island of Cuba. 
 
 Article 2. Spain will cede to the United States the Island of Puerto 
 Rico and the other islands which are at present under the sovereignty of 
 Spain in the Antilles, as well as an island in Ladrona Archipelago, to be 
 chosen by the United States. 
 
 Article 3. The United States will occupy and retain the City and Bay 
 of San Juan de Puerto Rico and the Port of Manila and Bay of Manila 
 pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine the 
 control and form of government of the Philippines. 
 
 Article 4. Spain will immediately evacuate Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the 
 other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the Antilles. To this effect 
 each of the two governments will appoint commissioners within ten days 
 after the signing of this protocol, and these commissioners shall meet at 
 Havana within thirty days after the signing of this protocol with the object 
 of coming to an agreement regarding the carrying out of the details of the 
 aforesaid evacuation of Cuba and other adjacent Spanish islands; and each 
 of the two governments shall likewise appoint within ten days after the 
 signature of this protocol other commissioners, who shall meet at San Juan 
 de Puerto Rico within thirty days after the signature of this protocol, to 
 agree upon the details of the evacuation of Puerto Rico and other islands 
 now under Spanish sovereignty in the Antilles. 
 
 Article 5. Spain and the United States shall appoint to treat for peace 
 five commissioners at the most for either country. The commissioners shall 
 meet in Paris on Oct. 1 at the latest to proceed to negotiations and to the 
 
526 4 VICTORIOUS CLOSE OF THE WAR. 
 
 conclusion of a treaty of peace. This treaty shall be ratified in conformity 
 with the constitutional laws of each of the two countries. 
 
 Article 6. Once this protocol is concluded and signed hostilities shall 
 be suspended, and to that effect in the two countries orders shall be given 
 by either government to the commanders of its land and sea forces as speed- 
 ily as possible. 
 
 Done in duplicate at Washington, read in French and in English by the 
 undersigned, who affix at the foot of the document their signatures and 
 seals, Aug. 12, 1898 
 
 JULES CAMBON. 
 WILLIAM R. DAY. 
 
 The President immediately issued the following proclamation: 
 
 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation. 
 
 W T hereas, By a protocol concluded and signed Aug. 12, 1898, by William 
 R. Day, Secretary of State of the United States, and His Excellency Jules 
 Cambon, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of 
 France at Washington, respectively representing for this purpose the Govern- 
 ment of the United States and the Government of Spain, the United States 
 and Spain have formally agreed upon the terms on which negotiations for 
 the establishment of peace between the two countries shall be undertaken; 
 and, 
 
 Whereas, It is in said protocol agreed that upon its conclusion and sig- 
 nature hostilities between the two countries shall be suspended, and that 
 notice to that effect shall be given as soon as possible by each government 
 to the commanders of its military and naval forces: 
 
 Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, 
 do, in accordance with the stipulations of the protocol, declare and proclaim 
 on the part of the United States a suspension of hostilities, and do hereby 
 command that orders be immediately given through the proper channels to 
 the commanders of the military and naval forces of the United States to 
 abstain from all acts inconsistent with this proclamation. 
 
 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
 of the United States to be affixed. 
 
 Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day of August, in the year 
 of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-Eight, and of the 
 independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-third. 
 
 WILLIAM McKINLEY. 
 By the President: 
 
 WILLIAM R. DAY, 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
VICTORIOUS CLOSE OF THE WAR. 527 
 
 In accordance with the proclamation issued by the President orders 
 were issued to the naval commanders at the several stations in the 
 United States, Cuba and the Philippines carrying into effect the direc- 
 tions of the proclamation. The navy department not only transmitted 
 the President's proclamation in full to the several commanders in chief, 
 but also directions as to the disposition of their vessels. 
 
 Navy Department, Washington, D. C., Aug. 12. Sampson, Santiago: 
 Suspend all hostilities. Blockade of Cuba and Puerto Rico is raised. Howell 
 ordered to assemble vessels at Key West. Proceed with New York, Brook- 
 lyn, Indiana, Oregon, Iowa and Massachusetts to Tompkinsville. Place mon- 
 itors in safe harbor in Puerto Rico. Watson transfers his flag to Newark 
 and will remain at Guantanamo. Assemble all cruisers in safe harbors. 
 Order marines north in Resolute. 
 
 ALLEN, Acting Secretary. 
 
 Navy Department, Washington, D. C., Aug. 12. Remey, Key West: In 
 accordance with the President's proclamation telegraphed you, suspend 
 immediately all hostilities. Commence withdrawal of vessels from blockade. 
 Order blockading vessels in Cuban waters to assemble at Key West. 
 
 ALLEN, Acting Secretary. 
 
 Similar notification was sent to Admiral Dewey, with instructions to 
 cease hostilities and raise the blockade at Manila. 
 
 The orders to General Merritt to suspend were as follows : 
 
 Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, D. C., Aug. 12, 1898. Merritt, 
 Manila: The President directs all military operations against the enemy be 
 suspended. Peace negotiations are nearing completion, a protocol having 
 just been signed by representatives of the two countries. You will inform 
 the commanders of the Spanish forces in the Philippines of these instruc- 
 tions. Further orders will follow. Acknowledge receipt. By order of the 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 H. C. CORBIN, Adjutant-General. 
 
 The orders sent to General Miles and General Shafter were identical 
 with the above save as to names. 
 
 Senor Palma, the head of the Cuban Junta, sent the following cable 
 by way of Santiago: 
 
 Bartolome Maso, President Cuban Republic, Santiago, Cuba: I hare 
 this 13th day of August, 1898, accepted, in the name of the Cuban provisional 
 government, the armistice proclaimed by the United States. You should 
 give immediate orders to the army throughout Cuba suspending all bostjli- 
 
528 VICTORIOUS CLOSE OF THE WAR. 
 
 ties. Preliminary terms of peace, signed by representatives of Spain and 
 the United States, provide that Spain will relinquish all claim over and 
 title to Cuba. T. ESTRADA PALMA. 
 
 On August 16 the President appointed as military commissioners 
 Major-General James F. Wade, Kear-Admiral William T. Sampson, and 
 Major-General Matthew C. Butler for Cuba, and Major-General John R. 
 Brooke, Rear-Admiral Winfield S. Schley, and Brigadier-General Wil- 
 liam W. Gordon for Puerto Rico. 
 
 As soon as General Shafter received the President's proclamation 
 for the cessation of hostilities he took steps for the immediate notifica- 
 tion of the Spanish commanders in the vicinity, and also the insurgent 
 leaders. 
 
 The proclamation was received in Santiago with the greatest enthu- 
 siasm, the officers and men of the army being alike supremely satisfied 
 with the definite declaration of peace. After the fall of Santiago a 
 period of uncertainty and inactivity had had its effect upon the soldiers 
 stationed there. The weary waiting for new developments, weakened 
 by the enervating climate, watching the insidious ravages of disease, 
 sapped the spirits of all, and the news that brought to them a near 
 prospect of home was like a bracing breeze that swept through the 
 camp, giving new courage to all. 
 
 The End of the War. 
 
 Thus came to a close our war with Spain for Cuba's freedom. Com- 
 menced in a spirit of vengeance for the destruction of a battleship, the 
 war was conducted with singular freedom, all the circumstances con- 
 sidered, from vindictiveness. We struck hard, but quickly. We com- 
 pelled victories, destroyed fleets, but were merciful and considerate 
 towards the captured. There was singularly little revilement of the 
 Spanish enemy and the bravery of the Spanish soldier and sailor was 
 freely admitted. But mere personal valor could not supply the place of 
 skill and discipline. 
 
 In all history there is not an instance of such unchecked successes 
 as attended our military operations. For us the encounters were not 
 bloody, the victories were not dearly purchased. At sea we destroyed 
 squadrons without the loss of a man or a ship; on land we compelled the 
 surrender of garrisons strongly intrenched. In Puerto Rico our march 
 was a triumphal procession. 
 
VICTORIOUS CLOSE OF THE WAR. 529 
 
 Spain, for the sake of false pride, bigotry, politics and a child king, 
 buried in the depths of the sea thirty-five vessels of her navy, valued at 
 136,500,000. By their rusting hulks lie the bodies of more than a thous- 
 and gallant tars. She surrendered in territory to the United States 
 directly Cuba, with a* population of 1,500,000 and an area of 45,000 
 square miles, and Puerto Rico, with a population of 810,000 and an 
 area of 3,670 square miles. Her total direct loss of territory in square 
 miles was 48,670, and loss in population 2,310,000. She also jeopar- 
 dized, probably beyond all future control by her, the Philippine islands, 
 with a population of 8,000,000 and an area of 114,326 square miles. So 
 that in the end it appears the Spanish kingdom for the sake of the wrong 
 gave up 163,000 square miles of territory and over 10,000,000 of tax- 
 paying population. 
 
 This loss was the gain of the United States, which, to bring it about, 
 placed in service a first-class navy, with 10,000 men and fifty effective 
 vessels, and a volunteer and regular army of 278,500 men, of which New 
 York gave the largest number, Pennsylvania next and Illinois the third. 
 
 When the present century began Spain was mistress over nearly 
 all of the southern continent of America and over a good share of the 
 northern continent. With the exception of Brazil, to which the Portu- 
 guese held title, practically all of South America was Spanish. So was 
 Central America, the present Mexico, and nearly a million square miles 
 of the southwestern part of the United States. The revolutions of the 
 early decades of the century stripped off much of that domain, and now 
 the last shreds of it are also gone. The same policy of persistent greed 
 and of deadly disregard to the interests of the governed that caused 
 the early revolutions has also caused the later ones, for the sake of which 
 the United States began its interference in the Antilles. 
 
 Now nothing is left to the former queen of all the empires and 
 kingdoms which once were subject to her and brought her glory and 
 power among the nations. Her own sons have read to her the lesson 
 that exploitation cannot continue forever, and that unless the conqueror 
 has regard for the interests of the conquered the seeds of disruption will 
 surely be sown. 
 
CHAPTEE LIV. 
 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Telling Hmv Our Soldiers Lived What They Saw How They Fought 
 Hardships Endured Bravery Shown in the Face of the Deadly 
 Mauser Bullets as Well as Fever- Stricken Camps, Etc., Etc. 
 
 Charles E. Hands, writing from Santiago to the London Mail, says 
 of the wounded after the battle of July 1 and 2: 
 
 There was one man on the road whose left foot was heavily bandaged 
 and drawn up from the ground. He had provided himself with a sort of 
 rough crutch made of the forked limb of a tree, which he had padded with 
 a bundle of clothes. With the assistance of this and a short stick he was 
 paddling briskly along when I overtook him. 
 
 "Where did they get you, neighbor?" I asked him. 
 
 "Oh, durn their skins," he said in the cheerfulest way, turning to me 
 with a smile, "they got me twice a splinter of a shell in the foot and a bullet 
 through the calf of the same leg when I was being carried back from the 
 firing line." 
 
 "A sharpshooter?" 
 
 "The son of a mon^el was up in a tree." 
 
 "And you're walking back to Siboney. Wasn't there room for you to 
 ride?" I expected an angry outburst of indignation in reply to this question. 
 But I was mistaken. In a plain, matter-of-fact way he said: 
 
 "Guess not. They wanted all the riding room for worse oases 'n mine. 
 Thank God, my two wounds are both in the same leg, so I can walk quite 
 good and spry. They told me I'd be better off down at the landing yonder, 
 so I got these crutches and made a break." 
 
 "And how are you getting along?" I asked. 
 
 "Good and well," he said, as cheerfully as might be, "just good and 
 easy." And with his one sound leg and his two sticks he went cheerfully 
 paddling along. 
 
 It was just the same with other walking wounded men. They were all 
 beautifully cheerful. And not merely cheerful. They were all absolutely 
 unconscious that they were undergoing any unnecessary hardships or suf- 
 ferings. They knew now that war was no picnic, and they were not com- 
 
 530 
 
AMERICAN PEACE COMMISSIONERS 
 EX. SECT'Y OF STATE, WM. R. DAY 
 
 SENATOR CUSHMAN K. DAVIS. 
 
 of Minnesota 
 SENATOR W. P. FRYE. 
 
 of Maine 
 
 SENATOR GEORGE GRAY. 
 
 of Delaware 
 WHITELAW REID. 
 
 of New York 
 
SPANISH PEACE COMMISSIONERS 
 
 EXCMO SR. D. E. MONT ERO RIOS, President 
 
 EXCMO SR. D. WENCE5LAO EXCMO SR. GENERAL CEREKO 
 
 R^NInEZ DE VILLAURRUTIA 
 
 EXCMO SR. EXCMO SR. D. JOSE GARNICA. 
 
 D. BUENAVENTURA ABARZUZA 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES, 531 
 
 plaining at the absence of picnic fare. Some of them had lain out all the 
 night, with the dew falling on them where the' bullets had dropped them, 
 before their turn came with the overworked field surgeons. 
 
 Captain Paddock Tells of the Fighting Before Santiago. 
 
 On the Battlefield, One Mile East of Santiago, Sunday, July 3. 
 
 My Dear "Jim": I have passed safely through the most horrible three 
 days imaginable. We marched nearly all night Thursday (June 30), to a 
 point about one and a half miles east from here, and then waited for morning. 
 About 5 o'clock we started again, and at G A. M. our extreme right opened 
 the fight. The center (our front) and the left moved into position, and at 
 8 o'clock the Spanish artillery opened on us from the position we now hold. 
 We deployed as skirmishers and advanced through woods and brush, a per- 
 fect thicket; our artillery was hard at work behind us, but we with our 
 small arms could not do much, as the Spanish were perfectly intrenched for 
 a mile or more along our front. 
 
 * We kept pushing along, although their fire, both shrapnel and small 
 arms, was murdering us; but on we came, through the tropical underbrush, 
 and wading a stream up to our chests, firing when we could see the enemy. 
 
 We reached the first line along a hillcrest and drove them out; then 
 the next line, and they then started back to the city. The fighting was fast 
 and fearful and never slackened until dark. The second day (Saturday) was 
 a continuous fight again till dark; but our loss was small, as we simply held 
 our position, having driven them all in; at night, however, they made a 
 furious attack and attempted to retake the place. We were not surprised, 
 and drove them back, with small loss on our side. 
 
 To-day was like the second day up to 12:30 o'clock, when a truce was 
 made. Up to now (5 o'clock P. M.) there has been no firing since then, but 
 I don't yet know what the result of the conference was. We offered the truce 
 after the naval battle. I only give a brief outline, as the papers have told 
 everything. I am unhurt and perfectly well. 
 
 Told from the Trenches Council Bluffs Boy Describes the Fight- 
 ing Before Santiago. 
 
 The following letter was written in the trenches before Santiago 
 the morning after the attack: 
 
 Heights Before Santiago, July 8. 
 
 Dear Father: I have not been hurt and am fully convinced that Provi- 
 dential protection alone took me through it. Contrary to all principles of 
 
532 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 tactics, but unavoidably, the Twenty-fourth infantry was marched for three 
 miles in a flanking fire from artillery, and when we were within about one 
 and a half miles from the first Spanish position we were hemmed in a narrow 
 road and subjected to a hail of fire from two blockhouses and iutrenehiuents 
 on the hills on our right. 
 
 We waded about 400 yards down a stream up to our shoulders under 
 protection of its banks and charged across a field of bull grass as high as 
 our heads for about 600 yards, and then up the hill about 200 feet and drove 
 the Spaniards out of their fort. The one we took is called San Juan. We 
 lost terribly. Lieutenants Gurney and Augustine are dead. Colonel Liscum, 
 Captains Ducat, Brett and Burton and Lieutenants Lyon and Laws are 
 wounded. We lost about 100 men, but the fight is virtually won. 
 
 During the engagement I threw away my sword. I saw the colonel fall 
 and I gave him my canteen and he soon revived. We occupied the hill by 
 the blockhouse. We are within about 400 yards of the city and they have 
 put up a flag of truce. They want until 10 A. M. July 9 to hear from Havana. 
 We have them sewed up tight. I have a piece of an eight-inch shell which 
 tried to get me, but struck the parapet of my trench. Will try to send it 
 home. 
 
 No one except those thoroughly acquainted with this country will ever 
 know how dreadfully desperate the fight and charge were. It is a mistake 
 that the Spaniards won't fight. The Spaniards have their barracks and other 
 buildings covered with the Bed Cross and abuse all the established prin- 
 ciples of warfare. They put their men in trees hidden with leaves and bark 
 and they pick off officers, surgeons and men of the hospital corps. 
 
 Finally it became necessary to systematically hunt these down, and 
 this has been done with considerable success. The night of the 4th Sampson 
 began countermining, and the dynamite made such a racket that the Spanish 
 officers ran out under a flag of truce about 11:30 P. M. and wanted to know 
 what we meant by firing under a flag of truce. It did not take us long to 
 tell them that our flag of truce did not include the navy. Now, about 9 
 A. M., I hear the guns of the navy and Morro castle exchanging compliments. 
 
 Of all the precautions advised before we started for Cuba I could follow 
 but few. I wear my woolen bandages, but in wading the stream I was unable 
 to put on dry clothes again. In fact, for seventy-tw r o hours we were under 
 fire without sleep and thirty-six hours without water or food of any kind. 
 
 Bacon and hard bread are fine. I sleep on the side of San Juan hill 
 in a ditch, so I won't roll out. I have a raincoat, blanket and shelter half. 
 
 This is the most beautiful country I have ever seen, and if we should 
 have peace I know of no place I would rather live in. I have seen enoug) 
 of the horrors of the war, but am proud of the gallant boys of the Twenty 
 fourth. The fighting is practically over, so have no fear. Your son, 
 
 W T ILL. 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 533 
 
 Colonel Wood Writes of His Battle Rough Riders' Leader 
 Describes the American Attack at La Quasina. 
 
 Cauip First United States Volunteer Cavalry, Six Miles Out of Santiago, 
 June 27, 1898. 
 
 Dear General: Thinking that a line about our fight and general condi- 
 tion would interest you, I take this opportunity to drop you a line. We are 
 all getting along very comfortably thus far and find the climate much better 
 than we expected; also the country, which, aside from being awfully rough 
 and full of undergrowth, is rather picturesque and attractive. 
 
 We commenced our advance from our first landing place on the 23d, and 
 that night General Young and I, as second in command of the Second Cavalry 
 brigade, had a long war talk about taking the very strong Spanish position 
 about five miles up the road to Santiago. He decided that he would make 
 a feint on their front and hold on hard, while I was to make a detour by 
 trail under a couple of Cuban guides and take them in flank and try to get 
 them out of their strong position, which was in the wildest and roughest 
 part of the trail toward the town. Our little plan worked. I located the 
 Spanish outpost and deployed silently and w r hen in position fired on them. 
 Shortly after I opened I could hear Young on the right, down in the valley. 
 
 Fought Two Hours at Close Range. 
 
 / 
 
 The fight lasted over two hours and was very hot and at rather close 
 range. The Spanish used the volley a great deal, while my men fired as indi- 
 viduals. We soon found that instead of 1,500 men we had struck a very heavy 
 qutpost of several thousand. However, to cut a long story short, we drove 
 them steadily but slowly, and finally threw them into flight. Their losses 
 must have been heavy, for all reports coming out of Santiago show a great 
 many dead and wounded and that they, the Spanish, had 4,000 men and 
 two machine guns (these we saw) and were under two general officers, and 
 that the Spanish dead and wounded were being brought in for six hours; 
 also that the garrison was expecting an assault that night; that the de- 
 feated troops reported they had fought the entire American army for four 
 hours, but, compelled by greatly superior numbers, had retreated and that 
 the army was coming. 
 
 My men conducted themselves splendidly and behaved like veterans, 
 going up against the heavy Spanish lines as though they had the greatest 
 contempt for them. Yours sincerely, LEONARD WOOD. 
 
 To General R. A. Alger, Secretary of War. 
 
534 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Wirt W. Young of Chicago Tells of the Destruction of Cervera's 
 
 Fleet July 3. 
 
 We have seen some hot times since the Harvard left Newport News with 
 the Ninth Massachusetts and the Thirty-fourth Michigan on board. We 
 landed them about six miles from Santiago at a little town called Siboney, 
 or Altares, and laid there four days unloading stores. On the morning 
 of the 3d I was lucky enough to row in the boat that the officers took to the 
 shore. The ship was lying about one and a half miles from shore, and you 
 can bet it is no Sunday-school picnic affair to pull a twenty-foot oar back and 
 forth all day. When we landed the officers one of them said: "Wait for me." 
 We waited three hours. Then we saw the New York come on the line. We 
 made for the boat, so as to reach it before the lieutenant. Just as he got 
 in the Harvard flew the recall signal. When we reached her we heard that 
 the New York had said that the Spanish ships had left the harbor and that 
 the Harvard was to join the Iowa. We cleared for action and went up past 
 Morro castle. 
 
 Away up on the coast we could see great columns of smoke. The Span- 
 iards had come out and started to run, but the Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, 
 Gloucester and the rest of the fleet were waiting, and in an hour the two 
 Spanish torpedo-boats were blown out of the water. The Infanta Maria 
 Theresa and Oquendo were beached and on fire close together, and the Viz- 
 eaya the same about a mile farther down. It was about 3 o'clock when the 
 Iowa signaled the Harvard to take the Spanish sailors from the burning 
 ships and from the shore. Before the first boat was lowered it had grown 
 quite dark and the sea was running high. 
 
 The Sight of a Lifetime. 
 
 The sight of those magnificent battleships burning and the magazines 
 exploding one by one as the flames reached them, made an impression upon 
 me I will never forget. They called for volunteers to man the boats, as it 
 was dangerous work. We did not know whether the Spanish sailors on 
 shore would show fight or not. There is a cadet on board named Hannigan, 
 from Chicago, who will alwaj's show his boat's crew any fun there is going 
 on. Arling Hanson and I determined to get in his boat, and we did. 
 
 We made for the Vizcaya, and as we neared her we could see men 
 hanging to ropes down the sides. The ship was on fire from stem to stern, 
 and any moment the magazines were likely to explode. If they had while 
 we were pulling the Spaniards off, there would have been several Chicago 
 naval recruits missing. The surf was running high and made the work 
 dangerous and difficult, but we made connections and brought off over GOO 
 men. They were all naked and almost dead. 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 535 
 
 The only light we had was from the burning ships, and the scene 
 was one of great confusion. Officers shouted orders, Spaniards running up 
 and down the beach and the magazines exploding one by one as the fire 
 reached them. And to crown all a party of Cubans came down from the 
 hills and announced their intention of "making angels" of all the helpless 
 Spaniards. Whereupon the American naval officers said if they tried any- 
 thing like that "there would be some strange Cuban faces in hades." The 
 Cubans thought better of it and stood and watched us. 
 
 I have got the dagger and sheath of the Spanish officer Francisco Silvia. 
 He was pretty near gone, and when he had almost reached the boat he let 
 go of the line. I swam out, held to the line, and just as he swept by me, 
 caught him by the belt and got him up to the boat. He got me around 
 the neck in the struggle, and once I was so full of salt water I thought I 
 should never see Chicago again. He wanted to give me anything he had. 
 He had only his belt and cap, so I chose his dagger. 
 
 Mutiny Among the Prisoners. 
 
 I suppose you have by this time got the report of the mutiny on the 
 Harvard and the killing of eight and wounding of twenty-five of the Span- 
 iards. Jones from Auburn Park, Hanson and I were on guard with some 
 marines and soldiers. We heard the signal, a long-drawn hiss, and in an 
 instant the "push" was up and at us. They had about ten feet to come, 
 however, and not one of them ever reached us. There was a hot time for 
 a few minutes. It was shoot as fast as you could throw up your gun. We 
 did not stop to pick our men, but fired at the crowd; and when a Winchester 
 or a Springfield bullet hits a man at ten or twelve feet he is going to stop 
 and go the other way. 
 
 There has been a burial at sea for the last five days. When the bugle 
 sounds "taps" over the place where the bodies are thrown into the sea it 
 seems to make your blood come to your face with a rush. There is some- 
 thing solemn in it, and a man who dies and is buried with his country's flag 
 around him and the bugle and guns to do him honor is lucky. 
 
 Town of Santiago Described by One of Our Boys. 
 
 Santiago, August 6. 
 
 A peculiarity of the climate here is that it is the hottest in the morning. 
 The sun rises hot; in fact, the heat is most severe from sunrise to 10 A. M., 
 when the sea breezes set in and make the situation more endurable. If it 
 remained as hot all day as it is at 9 A. M. our condition would be unbear- 
 able indeed. The ocean helps us out, however, and by noon we have a very 
 refreshing and cooling air stirring. 
 
636 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 The sickness in the company is on the decrease. On some clays only 
 about half the men were fit for duty, but they are all doing nicely now. 
 The same proportion obtained throughout the whole regiment. Not all 
 of the disabled w 7 ere sick, but some were recovering, w r hile others w 7 ere sick 
 and thus we had from 25 to 40 per cent, of the men under the weather, and 
 it took those who were well to care for the sick. 
 
 I was at Santiago the other day with Colonel Dick. We called on Gen- 
 eral Shafter and had a very nice chat with him. He showed us a message 
 from the Secretary of War directing that the Eighth Ohio be closely isolated 
 for a period of ten days and if at the end of that time no yellow fever appears 
 in our ranks we are to be put on transports and sent away from here. 
 
 Santiago is a queer place. We approached the city along the road that 
 passes by our camp. The street was narrow not more than twenty-five or 
 thirty feet wide not wider than the paved portion of the street in front 
 of our house. Many are much narrower mere alleys in fact but people 
 living all along them. Across the streets trenches had been dug by the 
 Spanish troops and barbed wire netting in front of the trenches. There 
 were many trenches, showing what preparation they had made for a des- 
 perate resistance to our advance. The houses are nearly all one-story and 
 have brick or stone floors. Few have wood floors and all seem dirty. No 
 glass is used in the windows, and very little window glass is seen in the 
 city. The window openings are grated on the outside and have a sort of 
 portiere or wooden shutters on the inside. The streets are not straight, but 
 wind and turn until one loses the points of the compass. The houses are 
 built out even with the streets, no front yards and no spaces between the 
 houses. Houses are mostly covered on the outside walls with plaster and 
 roofs of red tile. The city is very old and the houses show it. We went into 
 the cathedral, an old building. They rang the bells and rang them again, 
 but so far as we could see no one came to worship. The janitors and priests 
 lounged about the latter saluted us. We strolled all about the interior of 
 the structure with our spurs on our boots and wearing cartridge belts and 
 revolvers. The American soldier goes about where he pleases in the city. 
 Of course we recognized the character of the building and removed our hats 
 when we went in. The interior was adorned like most Catholic churches, 
 with pictures and altars and other regalia of the Catholic service. Quite 
 a nice picture of the Virgin appears in the ceiling, and a number of good 
 pictures are found about the w r alls. We also went into the "palace," now 
 used as General Shafter's headquarters. It is one of the best buildings in 
 the city, but doesn't compare with the more ordinary public buildings in 
 our country. There are no street cars few, if any electric lights, and the 
 surface of many streets is so rough and uneven that you can have no con- 
 ception of them. The few that are better than others are paved with cobble- 
 stones, but these are few. Most streets are full of loose stones and not 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 537 
 
 paved, and little, if any, pretense at grading. The dirt lies in the streets 
 and side streets are filthy. In fact, it looked to me like the greater the stink 
 the better the people like it. My sense of smell was too acute to relish it. 
 Our troops have gathered up large numbers of Cubans and put them to 
 work cleaning up the streets, and the prospects for cleanliness are better. 
 I don't believe, however, that the Cuban and Spanish residents will profit 
 by it unless they are absolutely compelled to avoid throwing rubbish in the 
 streets. They have no cellars and no sewers. The people themselves have 
 very little regard for the ordinary proprieties of civilized life and children 
 run stark naked on the streets. 
 
 The following letter has been received from Claude Neis of Company 
 G, First District of Columbia volunteers: 
 
 Santiago de Cuba, Aug. 9, 1898. 
 
 You said that Mr. Balcke's son was killed in Santiago. If so, I must say 
 that I saw his ghost on the wayside in a cluster of woods. I remember see- 
 ing the name. His first name was Charley, if I am not mistaken. I feel 
 very sorry to have heard of his death, but I know that he perished for a noble 
 cause and fought gallantly as any soldier could. 
 
 Lon White is all right, and this trip is doing him a great deal of good, 
 only he has had an attack of malarial fever lately. It seems to affect all 
 the boys, and if they do not take us out of this place, since peace is virtually 
 declared, we all will have a harder fight to contend with the yellow fever 
 than we had with the Spaniards. It has already broken out among several 
 regiments and we have lost two men already. 
 
 Last Friday the First battalion was ordered to guard the Spanish 
 prisoners, 7,000 in number, and my four days' expedition with them has 
 made me conceive very readily that they are superior to what I expected. I 
 made friends with Captain Garcia, a very fine-looking man and a very gentle 
 sort of a fellow. We were forbidden to talk, receive or give anything from 
 or to them, but a soldier in these circumstances disobeys a minor order like 
 that. I was invited to take dinner with the captain and his two lieutenants, 
 Menez and Hernandez, two very nice sort of Spaniards. Though prisoners, 
 they are more cordial than our own officers. The bill of fare and manner 
 of eating was as follows: 
 
 1. Bean soup with rice, well seasoned with pepper a la Mexicano. 
 
 2. Fish, with the best sauce ever tasted since I left home. 
 
 3. Fried eggs and potatoes. (Eggs in the market here are 10 cents 
 apiece.) 
 
 After each intermission a glass of claret wine. 
 
 4. Rice and roast meat a la Francaise. 
 
 5. Rice pudding. 
 
538 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 6. Coffee (Francaise), bread and butter. 
 
 7. Fruit. Glass of good Spanish rum a la rhum. 
 
 I have quite a few souvenirs from them and some Spanish buttons for 
 sister. 
 
 We are situated on top of a mountain while the Spaniards are down 
 in the valley. They bring quite a number of sick people out every morning. 
 
 I have even become so acquainted with the men of the battalion, 
 
 ^Captain Garcia commanding, that they call me Senor Neis. I have named 
 one, who is the real picture of an Irishman of the Mick type, "Mickey," and 
 his comrades call him such. They carry my water for me and seem to be 
 willing to do anything I ask them. The majority of them are very illiterate, 
 very few intelligent privates, comparatively speaking. I have a young fellow 
 about my age to teach English, and I am attempting Spanish. Both of us 
 are getting along fairly well. I can make myself understood. 
 
 While I was dining with Captain Garcia his orderly was fanning the 
 flies away from me. The country is beautiful, nothing but mountains and 
 valleys. With American people here it will be worthy to have the island 
 called the Gem of the Antilles. I can thank God that I have had the best 
 of health and only two of us in the company have not had the fever. I seem 
 to have gained in weight and full flushed in the face. 
 
 This letter was written just before the battle of Santiago: 
 
 Ten Miles North of Baiquiri, June 29, 1898. 
 
 Dear Jim: I am writing this on picket. My troop was sent to the front 
 and we are bivouacked in the woods. Oranges, lemons and cocoanuts are 
 plentiful, and every trooper has his canteen full of lemonade all the time. 
 We were seventeen days on the transport, but did not suffer. Every one 
 is in good spirits and anxious to get at the dons. DICK. 
 
 The following breezy letter was written by a Washington lad in 
 the trenches around Santiago: 
 
 ^iboney, July 7. 
 
 My Dear General: Have reaiiy been too busy to write. Have been in 
 a real nice, lively battle, and wasn't a bit scared and didn't run. The poor 
 old Twenty-fourth. Markley commands the regiment now, and temporarily 
 the brigade. He is a daisy. He really ought to get something. So ought 
 every one. It was glorious. Only so many were killed and wounded. Poor 
 old Shafter. Everybody is roasting him because he was lying on his back 
 in the rear having his head rubbed, which isn't my idea of what a com- 
 mander should do. 
 
 About myself: I was upset by a shell back of Grimes' battery July 1, 
 which killed some people. Very miraculous. Only I didn't get a scratch 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. S39 
 
 to show for it, and, although I most conscientiously wished for a bullethole, 
 didn't get one the rest of the fight. I overdid the business a little, rode to 
 the rear twice that day and back, and then walked after they shot my mule. 
 Well, anyway, July 2 I was with Blank when he was forced back from 
 San Juan hill. He told me it was the hottest fire any artillery has had to 
 stand in modern times. Then he pulled out. Well, the fever came on the 
 3d, and I have been sort of half crazy ->d delirious the last four days. It 
 isn't yellow fever, though, although i probably will be. I'll cable if it gets 
 serious. Really, I have distinguished myself, and, if I pull out, may lead 
 a fairly decent life and be rather a credit. If anything does happen to me 
 I'll feel like such an ass for not being bowled over like a gentleman in the 
 battle last week. Love to all. CHARLIE. 
 
 P. S. This is a little disconnected on account of forty grains of quinine 
 to-day. 
 
 Member of the Houston Post Rifles Paints a Roseate Picture. 
 
 Santiago de Cuba, August 6, 1898. 
 
 Dear Mother: I am now in Cuba. I like Santiago; it is much cooler 
 here than at Camp Caffery. 
 
 The Cubans all talk Spanish and I am learning to talk Spanish fast. 
 We are now camped at the city park on the harbor. I saw the smoke- 
 stack of the Merrimac when we came through the neck of the harbor. The 
 Merrimac was sunk right near Morro castle. Morro castle is almost at the 
 top of a mountain and is made of white stone. Santiago is surrounded by 
 water and mountains. There is not a case of yellow fever here at all. The 
 only kind of sickness here is malarial fever and wounded soldiers. The fever 
 was caused by laying in trenches for seventeen days during battle on light 
 rations. 
 
 I like Cuba better than Texas. I can sit right here and see where all 
 the fighting was done. The Rough Riders are here. General Shafter is here 
 also. There are enough rations in the city to feed the volunteer soldiers 
 for one year, and our money is worth twice as much as Spanish iuoney. We 
 do not want for anything. We get more to eat here than at Camp Caffery 
 and have less sickness, and the weather is not as hot here as it was there. 
 We have pretty brown duck and also blue flannel suits. It is fun to see us 
 buy from the Cubans and get the right change back. The sailors that were 
 captured off of Cervera's fleet are here. They can go anywhere they want 
 to in the city, and the rest of the Spanish prisoners are here also, and we 
 have charge of them. There are about fifty or seventy-five men in the guard- 
 house at present for drinking rum and eating fruit. We can buy anything 
 we want except liquors and fruit. I have seen a number of Spanish war 
 vessels that are half sunk, and there are lots more out of sight. On our trip 
 
540 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 to Cuba we crossed the Caribbean sea. Tell Ernest that there is a fellow 
 here by the name of Parsons that he knows. This man Parsons was on 
 guard duty at the warehouse and a fellow came prowling around and Par- 
 sons told him to leave, but he would not and he charged bayonets on him 
 and run him out. The next day he found out that this man was his brother 
 that he had not seen for five years. 
 
 The poor class of people are air - 1 starved. They come around and beg 
 scraps to eat. Cuba has the richest and I have ever seen; pretty shade 
 trees and everything that it takes to make a country look fine. The city of 
 Santiago is laid off like an old Mexican town. It does not rain here as 
 often as at Camp Caffery and not so hard. There are lots of cocoanut groves 
 around here and no monkeys. There were only five or six houses that were 
 hit by the bombshells during the war. I have a Cuban sweetheart already. 
 It is nothing to see the poor class half naked. Cuban children sleep wher- 
 ever night overtakes them and eat where they can find scraps. The Red 
 Cross ladies that stay in the hospitals are so good and kind to us. We only 
 have to drill one hour a day here. A few of the boys on the trip got seasick. 
 Colonel Hood has water boiled every night and next morning we put ice in it 
 to drink. We have fresh meat packed in ice shipped by the Armour Packing 
 Company. Fried steak every morning, roast or stew for dinner and bacon 
 for supper. We eat lightbread and not hardtack now. There are a good 
 many transports laying in the harbor here. There is a basin here in the 
 park like the one in the market house there at home, which we use to bathe 
 our face and hands in. This letter might be a long time in coming, as the 
 boat does not run regularly. Well, I will close for this time. With much 
 love for you and the rest, I remain your affectionate son, 
 
 PAGE LIGON. 
 
 By Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Senn, U. S. V., Chief of Operating 
 Staff with the Army in the Field at Santiago. 
 
 Headquarters Fifth Army Corps, Before Santiago, July 12. 
 
 As the hospital ship Relief came in sight of the seat of war every one 
 of its passengers watched with interest and anxiety the indications of the 
 present status of the conflict. When we sailed from Fortress Monroe Sim- 
 day, July 3, fighting was in progress, and, not having received information 
 of any kind since that time, we were impatient for news. 
 
 On reaching Guantanamo we came in sight of a number of warships 
 floating lazily on the placid ocean like silent sentinels some six to eight 
 miles from the shore. The little bay was crowded with empty transports, 
 all of which indicated that we were not as yet in possession of Santiago. 
 The pilot of a patrol boat finally, in a voice like that of a foghorn, com- 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 541 
 
 mnnicated to us the news that the greater part of the Spanish fleet had been 
 destroyed and that the Spanish loss in dead, wounded and prisoners was 
 great. Among the most important prizes of the naval battle was the heroic 
 admiral of the Spanish fleet, who was then a prisoner on board of one of 
 the men-of-war. The land forces were near the city making preparations 
 for the first attack. A partial if not a complete victory had been won, and 
 we had the consolation of knowing that we had not come in vain. 
 
 Red Cross Flag Flying. 
 
 Our captain was directed to bring his ship to anchor near Siboney. When 
 we came in sight of this little mining town we saw on shore rows of tents 
 over which floated the Ked Cross flag, showing us that we had reached the 
 place for which we had been intended. 
 
 The little engine of a narrow-gauge mining railroad was puffing and 
 screeching up and down along the coast, conveying supplies from the land- 
 ing to the camp. On the side of a hill were the shelter tents of a company 
 of infantry on detail for guard duty. On the crest of a number of high 
 hills which fringe the coast could be seen blockhouses recently vacated by 
 the Spaniards. A grove of palm trees in a near valley reminded us that 
 we had reached the tropical climate. 
 
 The steamer Olivette, floating the Red Cross flag, anchored near the 
 shore. Major Appel, surgeon in charge of this hospital ship, was the first 
 person to board our vessel, and gave us the first reliable account of the recent 
 battle. His appearance was enough to give us an insight into his experi- 
 ences of the last few days. He was worn out by hard work and his anxiety 
 for the many wounded under his charge. 
 
 The camp is on the shore in a limited plateau at the base of the mountain 
 rising behind the little mining village. The condition of the wounded men 
 furnished satisfactory proof that good work had been done here, as well as 
 at the front. On my arrival many of the wounded had already been placed 
 on board a transport ship, but more than 400 remained in the general hos- 
 pital. 
 
 On the whole the treatment to which the wounded were subjected was 
 characterized by conservatism. Only a very small number of primary ampu- 
 tations were performed. Bullets that were found lodged in the body were 
 allowed to remain unmolested unless they could be removed readily and 
 without additional risk. A number of cases of penetrating wounds of the 
 abdomen and chest were doing well without operative interference. Pene- 
 trating gunshot wounds of the skull were treated by enlarging the wound 
 of entrance, removal of detached fragments of bone and drainage. Several 
 cases in which a bullet passed through the skull, injuring only the surface 
 
542 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 of the brain, were doing well. With a few exceptions wounds of the large 
 joints were on a fine way to recovery under the most conservative treatment. 
 
 Bullet Wounds Rapidly Heal. 
 
 A study of the immense material collected at the station convinced the 
 surgeons that the explosive effect of the small-caliber bullet has been 
 greatly overestimated. The subsequent employment of the X ray in many 
 of these cases will undoubtedly confirm the results of these observations. 
 The battle at Santiago resulted in 157 killed and over 1,300 wounded. Nearly 
 all wounds of the soft parts heal rapidly suppuration in these cases was 
 the exception, primary healing the rule. 
 
 The day after my arrival I went to the front, about ten miles from 
 Siboney. A colored orderly was my only companion. He rode at a respectful 
 distance to the rear. The whole distance the road was crowded with mule 
 teams, soldiers and refugees. The latter made a seething mass of humanity 
 from start to finish. At a low estimate I must have passed on that day 2,000 
 souls, including men, women and children and naked infants. 
 
 The day was hot and the suffering of the fleeing inhabitants of Santiago, 
 the besieged city, and adjacent villages, can be better imagined than de- 
 scribed. Indian fashion, the w j omen walked, while some of the men enjoyed 
 the pleasure of a mule or donkey ride. Most of them were barefoot and 
 dressed in rags; children and infants naked; dudes with high collars, white 
 neckties and straw hats were few and far between. An occasional old um- 
 brella and a well-worn recently washed white dress marked the ladies of 
 distinction. Their earthly possessions usually consisted of a small bundle 
 carried on the head of the women or a wornout basket loaded with mangoes 
 or cocoanuts. The color of the skin of the passing crowd presented many 
 tints from white to jet black. The women were noted for their ugliness, the 
 men for their eagerness to get beyond the reach of guns. 
 
 View on Cuban Soldiers. 
 
 Little squads of Cuban soldiers were encountered from time to time, 
 apparently anxious to get only as far as the rear of our advancing army. 
 These men display an appearance of courage just now that is marvelous. 
 Before the bluecoats came here they infested the inaccessible jungles at a 
 safe distance from the Spanish guns, making an occasional midnight raid to 
 keep the Spaniards on the lookout. Now they can be seen on the roads 
 in small groups relating to each other how they cut down the Spanish 
 marines with their national weapon on reaching the shore after their vessels 
 were demolished by our navy. 
 
 The ragged refugees, fleeing in all directions and mingling freely with 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 543 
 
 our troops, as they do, carry with them the filth of many generations and a 
 rich supply of yellow fever germs which will ultimately kill more of our 
 men than will the Spanish soldiers. 
 
 On reaching General Shafter's headquarters I reported to Lieutenant 
 Colonel Pope, chief surgeon of the Fifth army corps, for duty. At head- 
 quarters is the principal field hospital, in charge of Major Wood, a grad- 
 uate of Rush Medical College, ably assisted by Major Johnson and a corps 
 of acting assisting surgeons. At the time of my arrival sixty-eight wounded 
 officers and men were under treatment. Lieutenant Pope has worked night 
 and day since the troops landed here. He has done all in his power to make 
 his limited supplies meet the enormous demands. 
 
 Performs an Amputation. 
 
 At this hospital Major Wood kindly invited me to perform an amputa- 
 tion of the thigh for gangrene caused by a gunshot injury w.hich had frac- 
 tured the lower portion of the femur, and cut the popliteal artery. Here I 
 found many interesting cases on the way to recovery in which the nature 
 of the injury would have been ample excuse for rendering a very grave prog- 
 nosis, among them a number of cases of penetrating wounds of the chest and 
 abdomen. 
 
 In the afternoon I was accompanied to Canea by Acting Assistant Sur- 
 geon Goodfellow. The trip was made for the purpose of taking charge of 
 sixteen wounded Spaniards we were to transfer to the Spanish army. On 
 the way to Canea we found many recent graves and numerous dead horses, 
 covered only with a few inches of dirt. The stench from this source was 
 almost unbearable. 
 
 The little Adllage of Canea is located on the summit of a hill, with an old, 
 dilapidated church as its center. The public square and the few streets are 
 thronged with refugees from 8,000 to 10,000 in number. Crowds of refugees 
 were also seen in the woods around the village gathering mangoes and cocoa- 
 nuts, about the only food supply at the time. In the only room of the church 
 we found a representative of the Red Cross Association dealing out hardtack 
 and flour to the hungry multitude. 
 
 The wounded Spaniards were lying in a row on the floor of the church 
 one of them in a dying condition. All that could be transported were con- 
 veyed in four ambulances under a small detachment of troops to our fighting 
 line. Here a flag of truce was secured, which was carried by an orderly. The 
 detachment was left behind and we passed our line. 
 
 In Spanish Lines, 
 
 As soon as the Spanish intrenchment came in sight the signal was given 
 and was promptly answered by the enemy. Two officers with a flag of truce 
 
544 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 advanced toward us, and we were halted at a little bridge very near Santiago 
 and below the first intrenchment. We were received very courteously by the 
 officers and asked to a seat upon the grass in the shade of a clump of trees. 
 Rum, beer and cigarettes were furnished for the entertainment of the callers. 
 The object of our visit was explained, whereupon a hospital corps of about 
 thirty men with sixteen litters in charge of a captain of the line and a 
 medical officer made their appearance. The wounded were unloaded from 
 the ambulances and conveyed in litters to within the Spanish line. 
 
 The visit was such a cordial and pleasant one that we found it very 
 difficult to part from our newly made friends. After bidding the officers a 
 hearty adieu and mounting my horse I was urged to dismount and say an- 
 other farewell a request which was responded to with pleasure. The two 
 little parties then separated and made their way in a slow and dignified 
 manner in the direction of the respective breastworks. 
 
 Tells of Bombardment. 
 
 The first armistice expired at noon July 11. In the afternoon a heavy 
 cannonading commenced and was kept up until late in the evening. Next 
 morning it was resumed, however, with less vigor. During this bombard- 
 ment the Spaniards renewed their recently gained reputation as effective 
 marksmen. One of our best cannon was hit and literally lifted into the air. 
 An officer was killed and a number of men injured. 
 
 During the afternoon, while cannonading was still going on, I went to 
 the front, but on reaching our line the bombardment was discontinued, 
 and under a flag of truce the commanding generals met and held a confer- 
 ence. The result of this interview remains a secret at this hour. 
 
 Major-General Miles and staff reached Siboney yesterday on the steamer 
 Yale, and to-day he proceeded to headquarters. 
 
 The appearance of yellow fever at different places occupied by our army 
 has made our troops more anxious than ever to complete their task. The 
 frequent drenching rains and inadequate equipments have also done much 
 to render the men restless and anxious to fight. 
 
 W. B. Collier of the Second United States cavalry, in a letter dated 
 August 3, describes his part in the fight on San Juan hill and the scene 
 when the American flag was flung to the breeze in captured Santiago. 
 He says: 
 
 We have our 2 o'clock rains each day and then the sun comes out and 
 just burns. This is a good climate for snakes, lizards, etc. Many of the boys 
 have died, but, thank God, I am still in the land of the living. Words are 
 inadequate to express the feeling of pain and sickness when one has the 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 545 
 
 fever. For about a week every bone in mj body ached and I did not care 
 much whether I lived or not. The doctor shoved quinine into me by the 
 spoonful until my head felt as if all the bells in Chicago were ringing in it. 
 I could hear them, even when delirious. The news that we are to go back 
 to the United States in a few weeks has saved many a boy's life. 
 
 Fear Yellow Fever. 
 
 I was scared at first when I was ordered to the yellow fever hospital- I 
 thought my time had come, but they examined me and pronounced my case 
 some other than yellow fever. The boys fear yellow jack like a rattlesnake. 
 When I return I will know how to appreciate my country. I am very weak 
 and sick, but I think I will be well in a short time after I get home. With 
 all I have suffered I am ready for more if Uncle Sam wants me. 
 
 As to the fight, our four troops of the Second United States cavalry 
 were the only mounted troops in Cuba. We were the staff escort. I tell 
 you, it is worth all the trials, and hardships, and sickness which I under- 
 went, when I contemplated the scene of the surrender of Santiago. When 
 Old Glory went up I cried and felt ashamed and looked around to see if any 
 of my comrades had noticed me. I found they were all crying. Then we 
 began to laugh and yell again so we would not be babies. I tell you, it was 
 the proudest moment of my life. 
 
 Picks off Spaniards. 
 
 I was in the San Juan hill fight. We were used mostly as scouts. I 
 know there are two or three poor Spaniards killed or in hospitals. I took 
 it coolly and just shot at every Spaniard I could see, far or near. I aim sure 
 I dropped three. It is quite ticklish at first to be under fire, but the novelty 
 soon wears off. 
 
 Just Before the Battle at Manila. 
 
 A. J. Luther, second lieutenant of the First Colorado volunteers, 
 writes as follows, dated Camp Dewey, July 27: 
 
 You may talk about your Cuban war and all other wars, but you 
 may rest assured that the Philippine war is no snap, either. All the land 
 around us for miles and miles is nothing but deep jungles and swampy 
 ground. On our west lies Manila bay, 100 yards from our camp. On the 
 north, for four miles, to Manila, in fact, a jungle and swamp, while on the 
 east it is swamp and on the south more swamp. Our camp is on a long strip 
 
546 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 of land between a heavy jungle on all sides. It is a good camp, considering 
 the location which is made necessary by the position of the Spaniards. 
 
 I am reliably informed that the natives of these islands are no farther 
 a(".anced in civilization than they were 300 years ago. They live in old 
 boats on the water, in palm trees, in bark huts, or w r herever they can hold 
 on long enough to live. Their life is one of degradation and four-fifths of 
 them have noxious diseases. You can imagine what a nasty mess we have 
 got into. 
 
 They wear for dress very thin cheesecloth and they keep that scanty 
 raiment as clean as any class of people on earth, but their bodies do not 
 seem to amount to that much trouble in their eyes. From the way they take 
 care of themselves I imagine that they consider their clothes the only essen- 
 tial part of their exterior that ought to be kept clean. 
 
 We have not gone into Manila yet and I cannot say just when we will, 
 but you will know through the papers when we do. I want you to send me 
 all the papers you get hold of which contain anything relating to the Manila 
 troops. We have a lot of correspondents with us and between them you can 
 glean all the news of importance. 
 
 We have only been called out once since our arrival here and nothing 
 happened then. I have been under the enemy's fire three times, shot land- 
 ing all around me. Major Moses, Captain Taylor, Captain Grove and Lieu- 
 tenant Lister, with an interpreter, were detailed to make a special recon- 
 naissance of the country and the position of the enemy. They went within 
 300 yards of the Spanish intrenchments and were sighted by the enemy's 
 patrol. Captain Taylor was standing on the top of a brick wall when they 
 let fly at the party and one bullet hit about ten inches under his feet. 
 
 The other day I was put in charge of the company to repair roads along 
 behind the insurgents' line, and we were only 300 yards from the enemy's 
 line all the time, so you can see how near to the jaws of danger we work. 
 Our camp is under the range of their big guns, but they have never thrown 
 any shells into us yet. 
 
 While working on the road they kept up a fire at us, however, and one 
 large cannonball plowed up the road not twenty-five feet away. It whistled 
 through the air like a nail when thrown from the hand. At the same time 
 you could hear Mauser balls whistling around us. This is a warm country. 
 One especially feels that way when the bullets come zipping around as they 
 did when w r e were on the road. 
 
 The insurgents and Spaniards keep up continual volley firing all day 
 and night. Neither side knows as much about a gun as a baby. They fire 
 into the air and expect the balls to light on the heads of the enemy. When 
 the Spaniards run up against us, I think they will find a different game. 
 We won't play horse with them nor shoot up into the air, but will get 
 right into direct aiming distance and make them dance. 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 547 
 
 Digging Graves in Cuba Walter Zimmer of First Illinois Volun- 
 teers Writes from Siboney. 
 
 *vi 
 Siboney, Cuba, Aug. 17.- 
 
 Dear Sister and Brother: Received your kind and welcome letter last 
 evening and was glad to hear from you. We are expecting to get back to 
 the States any day, as they are shipping the army as fast as possible. I am 
 now on a detail at the yellow fever hospital. This is tough work, digging 
 graves and planting the dead. The men are dying at the rate of about ten 
 a day. A lot of the boys in my company died of yellow jack. I am all right 
 at present. 
 
 We had a lot of fun chasing Spaniards. Some of them got after a crowd 
 of Cubans and killed them. We scoured the woods and located the Span- 
 iards and fired a few volleys at them, killing and wounding a number of 
 them. 
 
 Jimmy Edgar is dying. He has been out of his head for a week. I 
 saw him last night and he did not know me. Out of the regiment there are 
 about 400 in the hospital. We have a little graveyard on the hill they call 
 the Chicago cemetery. It is only three weeks old and there are about 100 
 graves. 
 
 Santiago is a dirty place. All the sewers are on top of the ground. 
 This is Siboney, the town we burned about five weeks ago to keep out the 
 fever. I have a few souvenirs I hope to take back to the States with me 
 two Spanish gold pieces, one machete, a Krag gun, a set of prayer beads, 
 and a piece of shell that struck me in the hip. I was laid up only two days. 
 The shell struck a tree and bounded off, hitting me. The tree broke the force. 
 If I ever get out of Cuba I do not want to see it again, even on the map. 
 By the time you get this I expect to be on Long Island, New York. Hinton 
 went back to the States a few days ago. Edgar was too weak to go. About 
 500 convalescents went home, and there are about 1,000 of the boys here too 
 weak to go. It is pretty tough to see the boys dying here. Our detail has to 
 dig graves. My back is nearly broke from digging and using the pick. If 
 you do not dig fast the major orders your arrest and off to the guardhouse 
 you go. YOUR BROTHER. 
 
 James Purcell, Company G, Eleventh Infantry, writes the following 
 interesting letter: 
 
 Camp Ponce, Between Town of Ponce and Shipping Port, August 6. 
 
 Dear Ones and All : I hope you received my letter from Samono Bay and 
 that you are all well. I am fine, as well as ever I have been. We arrived 
 here last Monday and landed on Tuesday. We were on the water eleven 
 
548 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 days and it was a grand trip and all enjoyed it greatly, but it would have 
 been much better if we had good food. What we ate consisted of canned 
 beef, hardtack, canned beans and tomatoes with coffee twice a day. 
 
 Well, now to tell you something about this place. It is without excep- 
 tion the prettiest place I ever saw. We have about five hundred Spanish 
 prisoners here in this camp and leave to-night by train to cross the moun- 
 tains and clear the road for the main body of troops, which will advance 
 on San Juan. You will probably know the outcome long before this letter 
 reaches you. We are camped on the roadside. The thoroughfare is mac- 
 adamized from one end of the island to the other, and as fine a road as one 
 ever saw. It would be a grand place to have a bicycle. Our camp is always 
 crowded with hungry, starving Cuban men, women and children, some of 
 them naked and the rest only partially clothed. They will do almost any- 
 thing for our hardtack, for some of them never had any flour, and when we 
 purchase we have to pay two cents for a small roll, but while we are in 
 camp we make our own bread and they go crazy for some of it. 
 
 There is plenty of tobacco here and the way we get it is to give one 
 hardtack for a cigar. The men and women are all cigarmakers, and, as 
 our commissary is not yet open, we have to make native cigars. All the 
 people here seem glad to have the Americans take the island. 
 
 Wine and rum costs two cents a drink and an American dollar is worth 
 $1.80 in Spanish money. Our regiment and the Nineteenth are the only 
 regiments of regular infantry on the island. All others are volunteers ex- 
 cepting one or two regiments of cavalry and artillery, so we are likely to 
 get the brunt of all the battles. We had a little scrimmage yesterday, but 
 it did not amount to much. Now I will try to tell you a little about the 
 island before I run out of paper. Cocoanuts grow in abundance here, with 
 all other kinds of tropical fruit. As yet we have not been near the banana 
 or pineapple district. The roads are all shaded with trees, and if I could 
 get at a desk for a short time I would write a better letter. This one is 
 only to let you know I am alive and well and as soon as the affair is over 
 I think I'll buy a farm here, etc. 
 
 Letters from Joe Bohon. 
 
 Ponce, Porto Rico, Aug. 4, 1898. 
 
 I suppose you know by this time where we are. I have written several 
 times to the folks and different ones, but have received no mail for twenty 
 days. 
 
 We landed at Guanica July 25 and were the first troops on the island. 
 We had considerable music from our gunboat escorts there. You could 
 see them going over the hills in droves. We stayed there three days, then 
 Company H and one company from Massachusetts Regiment marched to 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 549 
 
 Yauco. We looked for trouble there but were disappointed. We stayed there 
 three days, then started to march for Ponce. It took us two days to come a 
 distance of thirty-five miles. We were in heavy marching order with an extra 
 100 rounds of ammunition. Its weight was between 80 and 100 pounds. 
 
 This is a town of 35,000; they have banks, electric lights, telephones and 
 an ice plant. There are some English-speaking people here. I was down 
 town yesterday. The hotels and restaurants are all run by French people. 
 It's a wonderful sight how the natives respect us. They take off their hats 
 and say Viva Americana (long live America). If one of them can get hold of 
 a blue shirt or pants or a small flag they are the envy of every one of their 
 people. Our company have four with us since we landed. They wash our 
 dishes, carry water and make themselves useful. 
 
 There are all kinds of reptiles and varmints. Hamilton and I have killed 
 three centipedes in our tent. The natives say their bite will kill, but our doc- 
 tors say not; several of our boys have been bitten; none died so far. A sol- 
 dier of the Third Wisconsin shot and killed one of the regulars. The wealthy 
 class of people here dress like us; have fine carriages, but their horses are all 
 small and pace. They raise hogs and their cattle are Jerseys. They do all 
 their work with oxen and large two-wheeled carts. The oxen pull with their 
 horns and you would wonder at the load they pull. The poorer class of peo- 
 ple are nothing better than slaves. From ten to thirty will live in one small 
 house. I have not seen a window glass or chimney on a house since being 
 on the island. They build their fires in small stoves and cook their grub in 
 kettles. They raise bananas, oranges, limes, the same as lemons, cocoanuts, 
 pomegranates, mangoes, etc. They also raise melons, tomatoes, cucumbers 
 and such vegetables. Think of getting those things fresh the year round. 
 
 They wear as few clothes as possible. You see children as old as four 
 years without a stitch of clothes on. I mean the poor, and none of the older 
 wear shoes; their endurance is wonderful, and they don't perspire like us. 
 They all smoke either cigars or cigarettes. We see children four years old 
 smoking cigars. You can buy as good a cigar here for 1 cent in their money as 
 we can buy at home for 5 cents. One dollar in our money is equal to two dol- 
 lars in theirs. So we get our smoking pretty cheap. Fruits are sold accord- 
 ingly. We are to turn our Springfield guns in this morning and get the 
 Krag-Jorgenson; they are much lighter and their bullets are not near so 
 heavy. Hope this will be of interest to you. Don't forget to send the Times 
 as we have not seen a paper since leaving Charleston, Regards to all. 
 
 In the course of an interesting letter written by James Burns of the 
 Twenty-seventh battery, Indiana volunteers, to his mother, and dated 
 August 15, at Guayama, Puerto Kico, he said that the news of 
 the cessation of hostilities was received by courier only a short time 
 before the battery expected to get actively into battle. Most of the 
 
550 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 boys, he said, were anxious to return home. For himself, he expressed 
 a desire to remain for the reason that the country there is very rich, the 
 climate healthful and the possibilities to make money in the future, 
 through American push and energy, the best in the world. Speaking 
 of the daily routine of the battery boys he said: 
 
 Every man cooks his own meals and we get plenty of good food, such 
 as bacon, potatoes, beans, onions, hard-tack, canned corn beef, canned roast 
 beef, canned tomatoes and the like. The climate is the finest I ever expe- 
 rienced. While the temperature is very high, still the strong trade winds 
 render it always agreeable, the hottest day being far more pleasant than at 
 home. Water is pure and plentiful. The country is cut up every quarter 
 mile or so by limpid mountain streams and the beach on this, the south side 
 of the island, is as fine as any in the world. Palms abound in profusion and 
 the most beautiful flowers and ferns cluster and grow delightfully every- 
 where. The cocoanut, mango, bread-fruit, banana, lemon, lime, sago, prickly 
 pear, mangrove and bay trees grow luxuriantly about our camp. 
 
 The natives here are of small stature. They are black-haired and have 
 bright, sparkling eyes. They are all of a mixture of either the French or 
 Spanish with the negro. There is a large population of French and Portu- 
 guese, the pure Spanish being but little more than one-sixth of the entire 
 population. The natives are a bright, intelligent class. There are few public 
 schools, education being given to children at their homes by traveling teach- 
 ers and governesses. There are but few Protestants or Protestant churches, 
 the Catholic being the prevailing religion, and their churches being much 
 more magnificent than any you have at home. The priests constitute the 
 ruling force among the people. Children run naked until they are six years 
 old. Every one wears white linen clothing and most of the people go bare- 
 footed. The men wear straw hats and the women go with their heads un- 
 covered. There are not a few English and Americans here, and they scrupu- 
 lously maintain the Anglo-American costumes. News does not reach us for 
 ten days or more after you read it in the newspapers in the States. We are 
 just reading the Indianapolis papers of July 31 and August 1, and the news is 
 perfectly fresh to us. The marriage rite here is a very loose affair. A man 
 may have one or two families, as he may elect. One of these may include 
 the progeny of a wife of his own class and the other by a negro woman or 
 half-breed. All he has to do is to pay the prescribed duty. 
 
 There are no bad fevers here, but small-pox sometimes is prevalent in 
 certain localities, although they have not had the scourge for three years. 
 Leprosy, elephantiasis and diseases arising from a bad condition of the blood 
 prevail to some extent. Ruins of sugar mills and plantations abound on 
 every side, once great money-producing establishments, but destroyed by 
 Spanish avarice and the American tariff. Cattle-raising, fruit-growing, coffee, 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 551 
 
 and rice culture furnish the principal money-making vocations in Porto Rico. 
 There are no railroads that amount to anything. The wagon roads are all 
 military roads and the freighting is carried on with pack mules and bull- 
 carts. The latter are of the clumsiest character, the yoke resting on the 
 horns of the animals instead of upon their necks, as in the old farm districts 
 in the United States. They carry from two to three tons or more at a load. 
 The horses and mules are small, but willing and patient animals. The natives 
 are sharp traders and boys of from six to ten years of age can drive close bar- 
 gains. One of our American dollars will purchase exactly twice as much 
 as a Spanish dollar. The one particularly cheap product is the cigars. 
 "Smokes" of a good quality sell for one cent each. Bananas and lemons are 
 cheap, and of the latter fruit we partake plentifully. Cocoanuts sell for 
 five cents each; milk, five cents; bread, twenty cents, and sugar, four cents. 
 These prices are on a basis of the Spanish money. 
 
 This letter was written by one of the soldiers of the Sixteenth infan- 
 try, five captains of which led the particular charge in which this regi- 
 ment participated: 
 
 July 24, 1898. 
 
 We are in bivouac near our trenches, within half a mile of Santiago. The 
 fighting is all over and we are just waiting for something to happen. The 
 latest newspaper we have seen was that of July 3, so you see I write like 
 a person of the past generation. 
 
 We have had a hot time. The Spanish got drunk and put up a pretty 
 good fight. At least I have heard they were all drunk in the battle of the 
 1st. I don't know whether it is true or not, but I do know that they did not 
 run as quickly as we wished them to do. 
 
 Firing Begun. 
 
 We left camp on the 1st about daybreak, but we did not know we were 
 going into battle. We got into the jungle, after marching for a while, and 
 then heard firing, apparently all around us. Then our men began to fall, and 
 we realized we were in it. We kept struggling through the dense under- 
 brush, first to the right, then to the left, and then to the front, as fast as 
 we could find openings. Everything was confusion. Orders could not be 
 given or obeyed. Companies, battalions, regiments and brigades were all 
 jumbled up. 
 
 We did not fire, for we could not see ten feet in any direction on account 
 of the dense thickets in the jungle. Finally I found myself with my com- 
 pany and part of the regiment in a trail or road by a broad, open field, 
 across which, about 700 yards on a steep bluff, were the Spaniards, strongly 
 entrenched. 
 
552 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 We opened fire and kept it up for a while, but the road rapidly filled up 
 with our soldiers, and it became too crowded to do anything. There was a 
 six-strand barbed-wire fence along the hedge between the road and the open. 
 All at once we began to try to tear it down and get at the enemy. Captain 
 Leven C. Allen, Captain W. C. McFarland, Captain Charles Noble?, Captain 
 George Palmer and Captain William Lassiter were close together with their 
 companies (all of the Sixteenth infantry). I was in the front, just behind my 
 captain. Officers and men dashed savagely at the fence, tore it down and 
 leaped into the open field, the captains calling to their companies to "come 
 on!" "Now we have a chance at them! Come on!" 
 
 A Hail of Bullets. 
 
 The companies, or so much of them as heard the call, sprang into the 
 field, the men following the five brave captains, and away we went in a ter- 
 rible and most desperate charge. The bullets hailed upon us, but when the 
 old Sixteenth gets its "mad up" there is no use trying to stop it. 
 
 We had about two hundred men with us, five captains in the front line. 
 But soon others began to follow us, and the field was full of soldiers, all 
 moving to the front, firing as they went. We saw the enemy jump and run 
 just before we reached the foot of the steep slope leading up to the crest. 
 Then one of 01 r batteries began firing over our heads, and when we got 
 near the top the shells began striking the ground between us and the crest, 
 out we did not stop. On we went, climbing on our hands and knees, when 
 suddenly there arose a great shout down on the plain behind us. "Come 
 back! Come back!" The trumpets sounded "recall," and our men, who had 
 followed their captains so bravely, hesitated, stopped and began drifting 
 back down the slope. 
 
 In vain our brave leaders swore at the loud-mouthed skulkers below. 
 They had suddenly become fearful for our safety they were afraid we would 
 be hit by our own shells. We settled reluctantly back near the foot of the 
 slope. 
 
 Allen Leads His Men On. 
 
 Captain Allen told his men to lie down and get their breath. Then he 
 called our attention to Captain McFarland, who was with some men about 
 thirty yards to our right and up on the slope. He was waving his hat and the 
 shells were bursting around him. 
 
 Captain Allen called out to us: "Look at Captain McFarland and E 
 company! Who of C company will go with me to the top of the hill in spite 
 of danger?" We who were near him sprang to our feet and up we went 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 553 
 
 McFarland Wounded. 
 
 But Captain McFarland had been wounded and his men were going 
 down. Our little group became too small for a further attack. "Come 
 back! Come back!" was shouted from below. Captain Allen stood alone 
 for a minute and then we went back to the foot of the slope and waited 
 until our battery stopped firing. Then we all went forward again, and the 
 Sixteenth infantry colors passed up to the works and were planted there. 
 
 Color-Bearer Shot. 
 
 The color-bearer was shot, but Corporal Van Horn took the flag and 
 carried it forward. Hundreds of officers and spldiers of other regiments 
 came across the field while we were waiting, and they went up with us. 
 And now they all claim that they were in that charge. We men and those 
 five captains I have named know who were in it, and that our captains began 
 it without orders, and we are entitled to all the credit. 
 
 The fight was led by captains, and no one else of higher rank had any- 
 thing to do with it. Our colonel and major now say that they did not see the 
 charge, and therefore can make no recommendations for distinguished gal- 
 lantry. Well, it is proposed to fight it out and to have our claims heard. 
 
 A Terrible Fight. Bancroft Library 
 
 The position we took was San Juan and was the key to the Spanish 
 position. We have heard that there were 3,000 Spaniards in the works. I 
 do not know what the loss was. I know that as I jumped over their trench 
 I noticed that it was level full of dead and dying Spanish soldiers. It was 
 a terrible sight. We had more fighting that afternoon, and that night we 
 moved forward, and the Sixteenth entrenched 475 yards from the main works. 
 We held this under heavy infantry fire and a terrible enfilade artillery fire 
 all day of the 2d and 3d, while our right wing was swinging around to en- 
 velop the city. 
 
 Moved to the Right. 
 
 On the 10th we were moved to the right wing and I think it was in- 
 tended for us to make an assault on the city and wind up the business. We 
 could have done it in fine shape, and all were anxious for a chance. 
 
 Our artillery got into place on the llth at 4 p. m., and we opened up 
 along the whole line and soon silenced every gun and rifle they had. 
 
564 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 The Spanish Weakened. 
 
 Next morning at daylight we resumed our work and the Spanish weak- 
 ened. They did not wait for the assault the jig was up. 
 
 Nearly half the command is sick. We have only short rations of hard 
 bread, bacon and coffee. We have no shelter except dog tents, and they are 
 no good in such a climate as this. We have no vegetables, and of course we 
 will all be sick. We are living miserably. There are thousands of supplies 
 of all sorts in the harbor and on the landing, but they are not sent to us. 
 The army is in a disabled condition for want of food and shelter. 
 
 A box of hardtack and a piece of fat bacon thrown on the ground has 
 been considered enough for the soldiers and officers who are in the trenches. 
 Somebody will hear from this. Our government intends its soldiers to be 
 well treated, but our supply department here in the field lack experience. 
 Day before yesterday Clara Barton sent each company twenty-five pounds 
 of corn meal and seventeen pounds of rice. It was a blessing, I tell you. 
 We all got a spoonful of mush, and it was the best thing I ever tasted in 
 my life. 
 
 If we could only get our rations, just the regular ration and our tents, 
 we would be willing to take our chances with the climate. There will be 
 enough go by the board, even if we get our supplies. The soldiers have 
 fought bravely and won the victory. 
 
 Keep out of the war. Whole armies will be lost by disease and misman- 
 agement. If we stay here under the present layout not one in four will 
 ever see the United States again. We could not go into another campaign 
 now, and unless matters improve very much we may as well be counted out 
 for the summer. 
 
 How a War Balloon Game Down after Being Pierced more than 
 
 Two Hundred Times. 
 
 Sergeant Thomas C. Boone of company K, Second regiment, wrote 
 a thrilling; letter. Mr. Boone's letter in part says: 
 
 I have not told you of my accidents before while in Cuba, because I did 
 not care to arouse the anxiety of my friends at home, and, although I have 
 been unable to walk for some time, still I did not consider my condition 
 as serious as the surgeons here claim it to be. I will tell you how I got 
 hurt. It was a streak of continuous bad luck. On the 1st of July I went 
 up in the balloon on the battlefield at 7 a. m., and the balloon was being 
 moved all over the field when shot to pieces eighty yards from the Spanish 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 555 
 
 line at 1 p. m. We thought our height, together with their bad marksman- 
 ship, afforded us protection. We were badly mistaken. 
 
 At least 200 bullets and four shrapnel shots went through the inflated 
 bag, allowing the gas to escape, and we came down with a rush, striking 
 the top of a tree alongside of a creek, throwing us out. In falling I was 
 caught in the abdomen by a point of the anchor of the balloon, was sus- 
 pended for a moment it seemed a lifetime then dropped into the creek, 
 with the water up to my shoulders. I was badly bruised and shaken up, 
 but, owing to the excitement of the time, I did not notice the pain. 
 
 Three of our detachment were killed and four wounded out of twenty-one 
 men, which shows that we were in a pretty warm place. Well, I did not go 
 to the hospital about my injury until July 14, and I was then so weak I 
 could scarcely walk. The surgeons at the field hospital placed me in an old 
 army wagon without springs at 9 o'clock one night to be taken to another 
 hospital seven miles away, over the worst road in the world, without doubt. 
 We had gone about half a mile when the wagon turned completely over, the 
 wagon body catching my neck under its side and the corner of a box striking 
 me in the abdomen. 
 
 I was unconscious for two hours. My neck is still very sore. When I 
 regained consciousness I was placed in the wagon, but the bumping over 
 ruts and rocks fairly drove me mad, and I said I could not stand it. I was 
 told that I could walk, which I did. The wagon went on. I reached the 
 hospital at 7 o'clock the next morning after a night of agony. At this hos- 
 pital I was told that I was injured internally and that they could do nothing 
 for me, that I would have to go to the United States for an operation, and here 
 lam. 
 
 I hope to be in Springfield soon, but I am as weak as a child and cannot 
 walk fifty yards. On top of my accidents I had a case of bilious fever and 
 was shoved into the yellow fever hospital for several days. Bilious fever 
 is a nasty thing, although not dangerous. There are thousands of cases of it 
 in our Cuban army. It arises, I believe, from sleeping on the rain-soaked 
 ground and in wet clothing night after night. There was not a day while 
 I was in Cuba, with the exception of time spent in the hospital, that I was 
 not soaked through from rain. Mosquitoes at night and flies during day 
 make life unbearable here. They are a thousand times worse than any I 
 ever saw. I am bitten from head to foot. They bite clear through the 
 clothing. 
 
 When Captain Capron was killed at the battle of La Quasima Lieu- 
 tenant Thomas became the commander of the troop. He was on the 
 point of leading the fierce charge against the Spaniards when shot 
 down by a Mauser bullet passing through his right leg below the knee. 
 
556 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 He gives the following interesting account of his personal experience 
 and observations: 
 
 Our trip from the point of landing to Siboney, a distance of about 
 eleven miles, took about three hours, and was over a trail that was very 
 muddy in parts and crossed a number of streams. Lieutenant Colonel Roose- 
 velt on this trip had his mount, but as we were not mounted he walked 
 over the trail with us, leading his horse along. That was a simple act, but 
 it indicated a feeling of Comradeship he had for the members of the regi- 
 ment and it touched a tender place in the men's hearts. 
 
 No Glimpse of Spaniards. 
 
 Lawton's command had gone over this trail before us and the Span- 
 iards bad retreated so that we did not get a glimpse of the Spaniards on 
 that march. A few men who had been ill on shipboard with measles, and 
 had recovered only a short time before, were still weak and had to drop 
 out of the line, but they reached Siboney a little while after the main body of 
 our regiment got there. We got to Siboney on the evening of June 23, and 
 with our shelter tents were very comfortable until the next morning, al- 
 though it rained. 
 
 We were up at 4 o'clock, had breakfast at 6, and then, on the morning 
 of June 24th started from Siboney across a high hill leading to La Quasina, 
 where the regiment had its first fight. The battle lasted two hours and 
 forty minutes, though to those who took part in it it appeared a very much 
 shorter time. As we were advancing we were constantly expecting a fire 
 from the Spaniards. We were not ambushed at all. 
 
 After we had gone about two miles on that trail we came across the body 
 of a Cuban, and after that we kept an especially sharp lookout. Troop L 
 formed the advance guard, and we had skirmishers out ahead of us and to 
 both the right and left. The skirmishers ahead of us were about 250 yards 
 from the main body of our men, and it was one of these advanced skir- 
 mishers who discovered the Spaniards. Thomas E. Isbell, a Cherokee from 
 Vinita, I. T., was the one to make the discovery of the Spanish force. He 
 fired the first shot in that battle and dropped a Spaniard. Isbell was 
 wounded seven times and then managed to walk back to the field hospital, 
 two and a half or three miles away, to get his wounds dressed. 
 
 Hard Fighting Ahead. 
 
 As soon as we learned that the Spanish were in advance of us we de- 
 ployed the men six feet apart, advancing into the firing line. The Spaniards 
 had some machine guns ahead of us, and our men received the full force of 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 557 
 
 this fire. There was also firing from the right and the left. We were at this 
 time upon the knoll of a hill, the Spaniards being about us at lower eleva- 
 tions. Before Isbell discovered the Spaniards a blockhouse had been seen, 
 and we knew what was ahead of us. 
 
 It was probably half or three-quarters of an hour after the firing began 
 that Captain Capron was killed, and perhaps twenty minutes after that I was 
 struck as we were about to make a charge. Our men had been instructed 
 to save their ammunition and not shoot unless they saw something to shoot 
 at. Our men and the Tenth infantry afterwards buried about 100 Spaniards, 
 and great numbers of their killed and wounded among them were carried 
 to the rear, so that the fire on our side must have been pretty accurate. 
 
 When asked to relate some of the scenes taking place about him 
 before he was struck, he replied: 
 
 One of the worst things I saw was a man shot while loading his gun. 
 The Spanish Mauser bullet struck the magazine of his carbine, and going 
 through the magazine the bullet was split, a part of it going through his 
 scalp and a part through his neck. This was Private Whitney, and from 
 his neck down he was a mass of blood. He was taken back of the firing 
 line, and had recovered before we left Siboney and was again back in the 
 ranks. 
 
 Captain Capron showed great pluck on the field of battle, and refused 
 to leave even when he was mortally wounded. We were at that moment 
 deploying and lying down. He was struck in the left shoulder, the ball com- 
 ing out of his abdomen. He lived one hour and fifteen minutes after being 
 shot. He was taken back to the field hospital by some of our men. About 
 twenty minutes after that a Mauser ball struck me in the leg. 
 
 Sensation of Being Wounded. 
 
 When asked what the sensation was at the time of being wounded 
 he replied: 
 
 My leg felt as if it had been struck by some heavy body. It felt para- 
 lyzed, and then I fell to the ground. There was no great pain experienced 
 at the time, but fifteen minutes later the pain was very great. 
 
 A very touching incident happened during the fight. Captain McClin- 
 tock was struck in the left leg, two Mauser bullets entering his leg just 
 above the ankle. A private who had been sick for some days, seeing Captain 
 McClintock lying on the field, crawled up to him, and lying beside the captain 
 between the latter and the firing line, said: "Never mind, Captain, I am 
 between you and the firing line. They can't hurt you now." 
 
 Ed Culver, a Cherokee Indian, showed himself particularly brave dur 
 
558 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 ing the fight. He was alongside of Hamilton Fish when the latter was 
 shot. When Fish was hit he said: "I am wounded." Culver called back: 
 "And I am killed." 
 
 Culver was shot through the left lung, the ball coining out of the mus- 
 cles of the back. He believed he was dying, but said if he was to die he 
 would do the Spaniards as much damage as possible before leaving this 
 world. He continued to fire, and sent forty-five bullets at the enemy before 
 being taken away. At first, after receiving his wound, he was in a dazed 
 condition, but after he recovered somewhat he shot straight. 
 
 Hamilton Fish died a few minutes after receiving his wound. I passed 
 him just after he was shot, and directed some of the skirmishers where to 
 move. He thought I was speaking to him, and, raising himself on his elbow, 
 said: "I am wounded; I am wounded!" and died a few minutes after that. 
 
 We thought at first that the Spaniards were using explosive bullets, but 
 we found they were merely brass-covered bullets. 
 
 A detailed description of the Santiago fight is told by the Gloucester 
 crew, which was first to sight Cervera's fleet as it steamed out of the 
 harbor on the morning of Sunday, July 3. Ensign Sawyer's letter reads: 
 
 Last evening we went into Guantanamo and saw the camp where our 
 marines had so gallantly held their own. The Marblehead, with McCalla, 
 was there, also the New York, the Iowa and that hero of the battle, the Ore- 
 gon. The Gloucester also was there. 
 
 The greatest desire naturally possessed us to hear the details of the 
 wonderful battle in which the Cape Verde fleet was destroyed. The Glouces- 
 ter's story, though we had but a few moments, was most interesting so far 
 as we have heard. She was lying closest to the entrance, and had just 
 finished Sunday morning inspection when the lookout hailed: "They're com- 
 ing out!" 
 
 Order of the Exit. 
 
 Instantly all eyes were directed on the familiar harbor mouth, and they 
 could hardly believe their eyes to see those magnificent ships standing out 
 in broad daylight. The Maria Teresa, Vizcaya, Oquendo and Colon swung 
 to the windward, and not a shot was fired at the Gloucester. Evidently she 
 was too small to waste shell on, or else all eyes were on the larger vessels. 
 Following those grand ships came the destroyers Pluton and Furor, which 
 have been so much dreaded. The Gloucester immediately stood fot them 
 full speed and opened fire, the Pluton and Furor firing rapidly, but not strik- 
 ing. The Gloucester finally got in between them and rained shell upon 
 them from her rapid-fire guns. The Iowa also let go her battery, and one of 
 her large shells literally tore the stern out of the Furor. The Gloucester 
 
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES. 559 
 
 simply overwhelmed the Pluton with her shells, and a white flag was shown, 
 whereupon Lieutenant Wood went over as quickly as possible to save the 
 lives of the crew. She was a perfect hell on board. On fire below, one en- 
 gine was still going, and there were only eight men not killed. He put these 
 in the boat, tried to go below to save the vessel if possible, but could not 
 on account of the fire. The boat shoved off to transfer the men to his vessel, 
 when the Pluton blew up with a terrible explosion and sank. The boat was 
 just a few feet clear when the magazine or boilers exploded. 
 
 Meantime the armored cruisers of the enemy stood to the west and were 
 engaged by the Brooklyn, Oregon, Texas, Indiana and Iowa. The Maria 
 Teresa and Oquendo were run ashore, burning fiercely, five and one-half or 
 six miles west of the harbor. The Vizcaya and Colon engaged in a running 
 fight with the Oregon, Texas and Brooklyn, but the first was practically 
 destroyed and run ashore thirty-four miles west, and the latter surrendered 
 sixty miles west of Santiago. 
 
 It was a terrible battle, and our escape from terrible loss is nothing 
 short of miraculous. The Spaniards were really fighting four ships against 
 five, and the superiority of the Americans was due more to their skill than 
 material. If the Americans had manned Cervera's fleet the victory would 
 have been ours just the same. 
 
 The Massachusetts and Newark were at Guantanamo coaling. The New 
 York had gone five miles farther to the east than her usual station to allow 
 the admiral to communicate with Shafter. The Oregon distinguished her- 
 self by overhauling and passing the Brooklyn and forced the Colon's sur- 
 render. We have not yet seen any of the fellows on the vessels that took 
 part in the pursuit. 
 
 Our heavy work now commences in landing troops. The First Illinois, 
 under Colonel Turner, is among our convoy, and if the boys fight the way 
 they cheer there will be no question of the result. 
 
560 THE PEACE COMMISSION. 
 
 The Peace Commission. 
 
 President McKinley appointed William R. Day, Secretary of State; 
 George Gray, United States Senator from Delaware; Cushman K. Davis, 
 United States Senator from Minnesota; William P. Frye, United States 
 Senator from Maine, and Whitelaw Eeid, formerly United States Min- 
 ister to France, to represent the United States at the Paris conference. 
 The Spanish commissioners being Excmo Sr. D. E. Montero Rios, Presi- 
 dent; Excmo Sr. D. Wenceslao Ranirez De Villaurrutia; Excmo Sr. 
 D. Buenaventura Abarzuza; Excmo Sr. General Cerero; Excmo Sr. D. 
 Jose Garnica. 
 
 The United States commissioners do not have to be confirmed by 
 the Senate, as is usually the case with presidential appointments. 
 
 Peace Reigns. 
 
 Nearly a quarter of a million soldiers again resume civil life a 
 nation of fighters when called upon to protect the Stars and Stripes, 
 yet as kind and considerate as a brother when strife ceases. Many of 
 our brave soldiers left our shores never to return some were killed in 
 battle; some were stricken down with fever; others who were at the 
 front and saw Old Glory proudly afloat over the once helpless and down- 
 trodden subjects of Spain started homeward but failed to reach their 
 loved ones through disease contracted while performing their duties 
 on the field of battle. Such is War. The whole nation will cherish 
 the memory of the dead and ever extend gratitude to those who safely 
 returned.