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Title: Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom
Author: Trumbull White
Posting Date: December 6, 2010 [EBook #4210]
Release Date: July, 2003
[This file was first posted on December 11, 2001]
Language: English
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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 HISTORY OF CUBA, SPAIN, PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS, OUR ARMY AND NAVY, FIGHTING STRENGTH, COAST DEFENSES, AND
OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS, ETC., ETC.
BY TRUMBULL WHITE,
THE WELL KNOWN AND POPULAR AUTHOR, HISTORIAN AND WAR
CORRESPONDENT.
ELABORATELY ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS AND DRAWINGS OF BATTLES,
ON SEA AND LAND, WAR SHIPS, ETC., FROM LIFE.
FREEDOM PUBLISHING CO.
Dedicated To Our American Volunteers
PREFACE.
Information concerning the island of Cuba has been of an
exceedingly 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 few, 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 age and size in the
other countries of the globe. Railway construction and the making
of highways had lagged disgracefully, because the exorbitant taxes
collected were looted by the officers of the government 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
descriptive of the people, the manner of life, the scenery, and
the things of surface interest. It is proverbial that Spanish rule
conceals the resources of a country instead of exploiting them.
The person of inquiring 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 himself 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 books could
be obtained which told the things which one really cares to know.
Picturesque descriptions there were, more than one, of
considerable 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
something 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
contained 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 exaggerate 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
comprehensive current history of our war with Spain for Cuba's
freedom, but also much of the other matter 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.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
I. A War for Liberty and Humanity
II. How Columbus Found the "Pearl of the Antilles"
III. Spain's Black Historical Record
IV. Buccaneering in the Spanish Main
V. Commercial Development of Cuba
VI. Beauties of a Tropical Island
VII. Wealth from Nature's Store in the Forest and Fields of Cuba
VIII. The Cubans and How They Live
IX. Havana, the Island Metropolis
X. The Cities of Cuba
XI. Mutterings of Insurrection
XII. Outbreak of the Ten Years' War
XIII. Massacre of the Virginius Officers and Crew
XIV. Operations of the Ten Years' War
XV. The Peace of Zanjon and Its Violated Pledges
XVI. Preparations for Another Rebellion
XVII. The Cuban Junta and Its Work
XVIII. Key West and the Cubans
XIX. Another Stroke for Freedom
XX. Jose Marti and Other Cuban Heroes
XXI. Desperate Battles with Machete and Rifle
XXII. Filibusters from Florida
XXIII. Weyler the Butcher
XXIV. Cuba Under the Scourge
XXV. Fitzhugh Lee to the Front
XXVI. Americans in Spanish Dungeons
XXVII. Maceo Dead by Treachery
XXVIII. Weyler's Reconcentration Policy and Its Horrors
XXIX. American Indignation Growing
XXX. Outrages on Americans in Cuba
XXXI. McKinley Succeeds Cleveland
XXXII. The Case of Evangelina Cisneros
XXXIII. Work of Clara Barton and the Red Cross
XXXIV. The Catastrophe to the Maine
XXXV. Patience at the Vanishing Point
XXXVI. Events in the American Congress
XXXVII. President McKinley Acts
XXXVIII. Strength of the Opposing Squadron and Armies
XXXIX. Battleships and Troops Begin to Move
XL. Diplomatic Relations Terminate
XLI. First Guns and First Prizes of the War
XLII. Declaration of War
XLIII. Call for the National Guard, Our Citizen Soldiery
XLIV. Blockade of Cuban Ports
XLV. Spanish Dissensions at Home
XLVI. The Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Other Colonies of Spain
XLVII. Progress of Hostilities
XLVIII. Sea Fight off Manila, Americans Victorious
XLIX. Hawaii, and Our Annexation Policy
L. Continued Success for American Soldiers and Sailors
LI. The Invasion of Puerto Rico
LII. The Surrender of Manila
LIII. Victorious Close of the War
LIV. Personal Reminiscences
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 preserve 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 governments 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. 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 Philippines 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 annexation 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
cumbersome one. It is enough here to say that there have been a
hundred 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
undertaking 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 $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.
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,
education 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 humanity.
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 with two or three Oriental and South American countries,
the list might be extended. But those affairs are not remembered
as wars in the true sense of the word.
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 was no haste, no lack of caution,
no excited plunge into hostilities without proper grounds. The
nation made sure that it was right. An intolerable 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, many 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
national spirit of Spain, to recall that this phrase is the proud
expression used by the Spanish people to glorify their own flag.
That sentiment is in no stronger contrast to the American phrase,
"the star-spangled 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 war 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 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 American keel.
Out of deference to the expressed wishes of the local Spanish
authorities in Havana, Dr. Burgess, 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
Congress transmitting the report of the naval board concerning the
catastrophe 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 authorities at Madrid and
Havana. It was declared that this intention was received by the
Spanish government with high appreciation of the courtesy
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 significance of the Maine's courtesy call was very
different. Americans believed 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 American 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 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 catastrophe 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
authorities in Havana and in Madrid expressed grief and sympathy,
it, was impossible to subdue a general belief that in some way
Spanish treachery 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 mot 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
examination of the wreck, and had taken testimony from every
available source. With this confirmation and the aroused sentiment
of the country concerning 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
eminent American senators visited Cuba in order to obtain personal
information 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 before, and though there were no more reasons
for sympathetic interference than there had been for many months,
people began to realize as they 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 provisions and clothing for the
suffering and were sent to the harbors of Cuba, where 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 was nearing the breaking point.
PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS ACT.
After a period of restlessness in Congress which 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 devastating policy of General Weyler, known as
reconcentration. The message related the progress of diplomatic
negotiations with Spain, and disclosed a surprising succession of
events in which the Spanish government had submitted to various
requests and recommendations of the American government. The
message ended with a request that Congress 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
establish such policies as would be finally efficient.
Congress rose to the occasion. The facts were at command of both
houses, their sympathies 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 for 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 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 independent. 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
without 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 Regent 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 overthrow the dynasty before he could come to
the throne. However well she might know that the logical outcome
of a war would be overwhelming 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
legislative 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, who 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 ultimatum by American Minister Stewart L. Woodford, the
ministry forestalled him and dismissed him from Madrid without
affording him an opportunity to present that important document.
It had been transmitted 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 without 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
discordant 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
battleships 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 addition 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,
financial 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 privilege 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
Minister's journey from Washington to Canada. In Toronto, Senor
Polo sought to discredit the assaults that had been made on
Minister Woodford'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
his fear were not quite as hostile as he believed. At the division
stations 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 West, 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 absolutely necessary on
the decks. They were stripped of all useless superstructure,
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.
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 Pascagonla 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 shoulders, and said he supposed it was only the fortune of
war. It was suggested 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
American 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 distinction 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 Washburne Maynard, commander of the
Nashville, who gained the distinction 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 Annapolis 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
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 proclamation:
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
Whereas, 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, aforesaid, in pursuance
of the laws of the United States and the law of nations applicable
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 establishment 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.
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 McKINLEY.
JOHN SHERMAN, 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 York soon lay across the bows of the Spanish ship, and the
crashing 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 out from shore
and laid her to. Crew 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 was laid alongside, the Pedro was boarded by Ensign
Frank Marble of the New York. Ensign Marble led a prize crew,
consisting of a file of marines and seamen. With great formality
the ensign swung aboard and assumed command. A burly, bare-footed
American tar shoved the Spanish quartermaster away from the wheel
and 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, however, 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
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 volunteers 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 inspection 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 confident
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.
As 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, discussing 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 Minister Woodford,
were sufficient notifications of the policy which was 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 authority 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 increasing of the military establishment of the United States
in time of war and for other purposes," approved April 22, 1898,
the President was authorized 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 volunteers 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 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 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 McKINLEY.
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 following 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
American 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 cotton and staves on board. The prize was worth not
less than $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
gunboat, 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,
Catalina, which was taken by the Detroit. The vessel's tonnage was
6,000, and with its general cargo the prize was considered worth
nearly $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 board to take the vessel
back to Key West.
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
Saturnine 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 responsible 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 conditions 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 questions of international law arise which must
be precisely defined chiefly because 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 refused to admit
then was 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.
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 departure 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, proposes to observe, and hereby orders to be
observed, the following regulations 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
maintained 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 cooperate 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 merchandise 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 regulations which will
be published.
6. Defines what is included in contraband of war, naming weapons,
ammunition, 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 Representatives 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:
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
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 carry
these resolutions into effect."
Upon communicating with the Spanish Minister in Washington the
demand 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 passports 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 diplomatic
relations between the two countries, and that all official
communications 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 perceived 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, following 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 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 McKINLEY. 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
unpleasant 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
telegrams to all the sovereigns of Europe protesting against the
vitiation of the rights of Spain by the United States, and
declaring that her government 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 repeated 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
territoriality 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 generally.
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 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 insurrection, 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 Senor 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 Sherman 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 Honorable Charles Emory Smith, of
Philadelphia, a newspaper editor and formerly ambassador to
Russia.
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 themselves 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 "Pathfinder," who himself never hesitated to
lead the way, whether in wilderness 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
information 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
approach 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, commanding 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 furnish 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 freedom, 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 squadron 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 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 which
was destined to cost Spain her possessions in the western 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 went down 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 was evident to all
that the time was near at hand when actual warfare was 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
representatives 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.
CHAPTER II.
HOW COLUMBUS FOUND THE "PEARL OF THE ANTILLES."
In gratitude 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 his life in the service of Spain
was marred by the basest ingratitude 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
Castile 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 enterprise. 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 sentiment to blind him for the sake of
Columbus.
The splendid new world which Columbus gave to Spain, was the most
marvelous addition of territory that has ever come into the
possession of any nation upon earth. It included the whole of
South America, except Brazil, which was acquired by Portugal, and
the small colonies known as British, Dutch and 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 Rico. These hundreds of thousands of square miles are
inhabited by a free and peaceful people, most of them as
republics, and the few exceptions under civilized and liberal
colonial policies. Spain's hold on Cuba has vanished and Puerto
Rico 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 hemisphere. Never has there been such a record of ferocity
and barbarity in conquest, as that which blackens the pages of
Spanish history in connection 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 pursued was always the
same. First, treacherous friendship, then robbery and massacre,
then slavery, and finally extermination, was the unvarying
programme. And so, instead of winning favor and loyalty with their
consequent happiness and prosperity from the native tribes,
Spanish conquerors implanted in the possessors of the country an
over-mastering 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
people never forgot. From that day, the colonial policy of the
British government was altered, and the spirit of liberality and
generosity began to dominate. To-day, every colony of Great
Britain that enjoys representative 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
misgovernment aroused colony after colony to rebellion ending in
freedom, but her policies remained unaltered. One by one
possessions of fabulous 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 mariners 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 discoveries he believed to be the outlying portions
of that eastern archipelago and when the natives told him of a
greater land near by, which he reached a few days later, he
believed that at last he had reached Cipango, 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 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
contemporary 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, because 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 religion 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 doctrines was concerned. Christianity, as practiced by
the Spanish conquerors, 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 Andalusia. 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
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 expedition he reached the coast of South America, but
he had no appreciation 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 within 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 disappointments,
but there is perhaps no other instance of a man whom
disappointments and injustice did not dishearten and disgust; who
had his greatness recognized in his lifetime, and yet was robbed
of the rewards 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 population, and
the towns of Puerto Principe and Sancti Espiritus were established
in the central section, and San Juan de los Remedios 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
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
become a city of considerable importance, and the diocese of the
colony. In 1522 both the seat of government and the bishopric were
removed 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 Fernando de Soto, governor of Cuba, and afterwards
famous for his explorations 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 experienced a remarkable growth. The Spanish merchantmen were
actively employed in carrying the wealth of Mexico to the
Peninsula, and Havana was a convenient port for them to secure
supplies of provisions 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 followed 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
governors and their lieutenants. It is certain, however, that the
seat of government 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 mainland. 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 Havana. 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 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 occasionally been found in the island, the
quantity has never been sufficient to repay the labor of the
search.
A LETTER WRITTEN BY COLUMBUS.
Nothing more interesting for the 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 conversation, 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 proceeding
of many leagues, and finding that nothing 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 Tenerife cannot be compared. They are all most
beautiful, of a thousand different shapes, accessible, and covered
with trees of 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 nightingale 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."
CHAPTER III.
SPAIN'S BLACK HISTORICAL RECORD.
Present Men of Prominence Are Types of Those Who Were Infamous
Years Ago--Roman Rule in Spain--Weakness of Spanish Power of
Resistance--Discoveries in America--Horrors of the Inquisition--
Spanish Rule in Holland--Expulsion of the Moors--Loss of American
Colonies--Later History of Spain.
The signal fact that will present itself to the student of
Spanish history is that from the earliest times the country has
been in a continual state of conflict, internal, with its
colonies, and with other nations; and seldom has it been a war of
defense. In almost every instance Spain has been the aggressor.
The Spaniard has ever been perfidious, avaricious, ferocious. In
his veins still flows the blood of Ferdinand, of Torquemada, and
of Philip II. Weyler is a prototype of Alva, and in Blanco we find
another Antonio de Mendoza. Spain is the China of modern Europe.
Her spirit is still the spirit of the inquisition. Her policy is
not to conciliate, but to coerce; not to treat justly, but to rob
and enslave; and her dependence is the ignorance and superstition
of her people.
All reforms wrung from rulers must first be baptized in blood, and
it is possible that the end of the present century may see a new
nation, built on the ruins of the old, which will be a credit to
civilization, instead of a disgrace.
ROMAN RULE IN SPAIN.
Prior to the first war between Rome and Carthage, which ended 241
BC, there is little or no authentic information regarding the
history of the country now known to the world as Spain. To the
ancients it was a land of mystery and enchantment, the home of the
setting sun; and Iberia, as they called it, was but a name for an
indefinite extent of territory in the far west, peopled by
barbarous Celts and Iberians, with a few Phoenician settlements,
for the purposes of trade, on its southern coasts.
At the close of the first Punic war, Hamilcar Barca, at the head
of a Carthaginian host, crossed the strait of Gibraltar and
commenced the conquest which his son Hannibal completed, and which
resulted in the undisputed supremacy of Carthage throughout almost
all of Spain. This brings us to 218 B. C. and marks the beginning
of the second Punic war, when the Roman legions first entered
Spain. After a struggle which lasted for thirteen years the
Carthaginians were completely routed, and the country was
conquered by the arms of Rome. It was many years, however, before
the inhabitants were really subdued, but eventually they became
more completely Romanized than any province beyond the limits of
Italy. When brought under the iron rule of the Empire they were
forced to desist from the intestinal wars in which it had been
their habit to indulge, and adopting the language, laws and
manners of their conquerors, they devoted themselves to industrial
pursuits, and increased remarkably both in wealth and numbers.
Their fertile fields formed for a considerable time the granary of
Rome, and from the metal-veined mountains an immense amount of
gold and silver flowed into Roman coffers. However, these were not
voluntary offerings of the natives. They were compelled to labor
in the mines for the benefit of strangers, and thus Spain, in the
early ages, was the type of Spanish America in the fifteenth and
succeeding centuries, with the difference that in the first case
the Spaniards were the slaves, and in the second they were the
slave-holders.
For more than 300 years Spain remained under Roman rule, until in
409 AD, hordes of barbarians crossed the Pyrenees and swept over
the Peninsula. Suevi, Alani and Vandals ravaged with equal fury
the cities and the open country, and brought the inhabitants to
the lowest depths of misery. They were finally subjugated by a
Visigothic host, and in 415, Walia, a war-like and ambitious
chief, established the West-Gothic kingdom in Spain, on the ruins
of the old Roman province. Walia concluded a treaty with the
Emperor Honorius, and, putting himself at the head of the brave
Goths, in a three-years' war he destroyed or drove the barbarians
from the land. Spain, thus reconquered, was nominally subject to
Rome, but soon became really independent, and began to be the seat
of a Christian civilization. This West-Gothic kingdom lasted for
about three centuries, from 418 to 711, when it fell before the
Moorish invasion.
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 Mohammedan faith, but while they were united by religion, they
were of different races. Besides the Moors there were the Arabs,
the Egyptians and the Syrians, and when the task of conquest was
achieved, and the need for unity removed, quarrels arose between
them. So difficult 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
independent kingdoms were formed in opposition to Moslem rule.
These comprised Castile, Leon, Navarre and Aragon, and sometimes
separately, sometimes in combination, they were in constant war
with the common enemy. The age of the great crusades came, and all
Christendom 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 military 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 and 50,000 prisoners. The
king of Grenada was speedily forced to become a vassal of Castile,
and from this period all danger from Moorish 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 rulers of those kingdoms, in 1469. Grenada, the last
remaining possession of the Moors, fell before the Spanish forces
in 1492, and Navarre was acquired in 1512.
DISCOVERIES IN AMERICA.
The year 1492, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella,
witnessed 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
settlement 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 invariably 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 advanced 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
undoubtedly 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 commander, and two pounds of gold for each of his army.
Prescott, in his "Conquest of Peru," says that when the Spanish
soldiers captured the 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 $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 absorbed 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 Ferdinand 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 writers 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
execution a breakfast of rare delicacies was placed before the
sufferer, and with ironical invitation he was urged to enjoy his
last repast. 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
sixteen 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
for 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 helplessness alone remained to greet the cold Spaniard and his
train of orthodox 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 brethren to the gallows. During the course of six
years Alva 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
cessations 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 possessions 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 shelter 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 willingly left what they
considered degrading employment to their inferiors. 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
acceleration 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 unfortunate, and his death was the occasion of the
war of the Spanish succession.
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 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 was made to
remove all prejudices against trade, among the nobles. Meritorious
as these reforms were, it would give a false impression to
represent them as wholly successful. The regeneration of Spain was
by no means accomplished, and many of the abuses which 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 lower 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 Spaniards. Charles finally abdicated in favor of
his son, the Prince of Asturias, who ascended the throne as
Ferdinand VII. Forced by Napoleon to resign all claims to the
Spanish crown, Ferdinand became the prisoner 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
power 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
movement 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
Spanish insurrection. Joseph invaded the country on July 9,
defeated the Spaniards at Rio Seco, and entered Madrid on the
20th. But the defeat 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 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 commenced operations. By dint of masterly
generalship and bold enterprise 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.
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 territory 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
Isabella II., presents a dismal picture of faction and intrigue.
Policies of state had forced her into a distasteful marriage with
her cousin, Francis of Assisi, and she sought compensation in
sensual indulgences, endeavoring to cover the dissoluteness of her
private life by a superstitious devotion to religion. She had to
contend with continual revolts, 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 was 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
difficult duties of the office. But he found the task too hard,
and too distasteful, 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 sympathy 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 of Austria.
On May 17th, 1886, a posthumous son was born, who is now the
titular King of Spain.
CHAPTER IV.
BUCCANEERING AND THE WARFARE IN THE SPANISH MAIN.
Spain'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 Spanish 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
unmolested. England and France knew quite well that they were
plundered from the native treasuries of the new world, and no
reason appeared 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. Desperate 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 whenever 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 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 entertain 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 West India 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 expense 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 fortifications were hastened to
completion and the preparations for defense 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 war with Spain began.
It was during the same period, that African negroes were first
introduced 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 piratical incursions of
French and English buccaneers, the Spanish in the West Indies were
not threatened with any more hostilities except by their own
internal dissensions until 1762. At that time Spain and England
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
magnitude of the interests involved elsewhere. It is almost
forgotten in America, in spite of the bearing of all its
contemporary incidents upon the rapidly approaching revolution,
and yet it was an achievement of the colonial 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 with success against double their number of Spaniards
fully provisioned and strongly intrenched. 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 during 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, demoralization 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 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 containing about 10,000 soldiers, nearly all infantry.
At the Island of Hayti, then called Hispanola, the British were
joined by the successful 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 beleaguerment. Then, as now,
nothing adequate was done to meet it. The Governor of Havana, the
Marquis 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 liberty, 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 entrance of the British
fleet. Once the enemy was before the city, however, 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 of a temperate climate had already set in, with all
its 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 roadstead 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 provincials under General Lyman's command was not a
mere bevy of raw militia. 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 by 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 the
middle of May. There were the usual shouts of an admiring populace
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 shipwrecked 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 breastworks, and were found ready to repel a
force of thousands of Spaniards 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 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
Spaniard for relief was given up, there was the usual attempt made
to buy the attacking party off. Though it would have been a
hopeless undertaking 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 contrary.
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 Havannah, 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
personal 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 exposure 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
government 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 companies 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 afterwards 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 unoccupied, 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 General--Attempted Annexation to the United States--The
Ostend Manifesto--Its Wonderful Predictions, in the Light of
Later Events--Exports and Imports Between Cuba and Spain--The
Future of Commercial 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 simply amazing to those accustomed only to the
climate and the soil of the temperate zone. The immense industries
of Cuba have been hampered 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 which 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 appointed varied in character, it
is true, but several of them were liberal minded, public spirited
men who gave to the colony far better administration that it had
been accustomed to. One of these was Luis de Las Casas, who
imparted a new impulse to the agriculture and commerce 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
literature, science, the fine arts and the erection of various
public charitable and educational institutions. He was the founder
of the first public library and the first newspaper which had
existed in the island. He showed his ability as an executive by
restraining the restless population 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
administration 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 industry.
It was about the same time, or just a hundred years before the
outbreak 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 consumption 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 proclaimed 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 a complimentary phrase, but hardly
justified by the actual facts. For some years following this action,
affairs in the island were in an embarrassing condition, owing to the
progress of the Napoleonic wars in Europe, which kept all trade
disturbed and Spain in a constant condition 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 attained 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
revolutionary 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 population divided into well-defined
factions. There was indeed an attempt at open 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 and
punished. It was as a result of these successive events that the
office of Captain General was created and invested with all the
powers of Oriental despotism. The functions of the Captain General
were defined by a royal decree of May 28, 1825, to the following
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 Excellency the fullest authority, bestowing upon you all the
powers which by the royal ordinances are granted to the governors
of besieged cities. In consequence of this, his Majesty gives to
your Excellency the most ample and 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 concerning 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
sovereignty 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
beneath 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
acquisition 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,
transmitting the joint report: "The question of the acquisition of
Cuba by us is gaining ground as it grows to be more seriously
agitated and considered. 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 intercourse 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 inducement 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
intelligible 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 Belgium, on the 9th, 10th, and
11th instant, and then at Aix-la-Chapelle, in Prussia, on the days
next following, up to the date hereof.
There has been a full and unreserved interchange of views and
sentiments between us, which we are most happy to inform you has
resulted in a cordial coincidence of opinion on the grave and
important subjects submitted 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 he 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 Constituent 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 sale, us 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 whatever 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
peculiarity 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
immense 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
importance, 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, and the tyranny and oppression which characterize its
immediate rulers threaten an insurrection at every moment, which
may result in direful consequences 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 absolute 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 impossible 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 would 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
attraction for the traveling world, and secure a permanent and
profitable market for her various productions. Her fields, under
the stimulus given to industry by remunerating prices, would teem
with cereal grain, and her vineyards 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 completion 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. Besides, 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 the 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 execute the neutrality laws; but should the
Cubans themselves rise in revolt against the oppression which they
suffer, no human power could prevent citizens 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 beyond 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 was 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-preservation. 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 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 internal 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 unredressed. 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 deliberately 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
independent nation, continue; and our recommendations, now
submitted, are dictated by the firm belief that the cession of
Cuba to the United States, with stipulations as beneficial to
Spain as those suggested, is the only effective mode of settling
all past differences, and of securing the two countries against
future collisions.
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. MAECY, Secretary of State.
Unfortunately for Cuba the suggestions offered by this commission
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 during
the year 1894 (the last authentic report), is instructive:
Importations in Cuba from Spain $ 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
speedily 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 position 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 F, fluctuating between a
maximum of 88 and a minimum of 76. In the cooler months of
December 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 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
November 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 distance rise the mighty
mountains, clod 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.
A traveler, in writing of this place, says:
"Our interview with the little black 'ninos' was highly amusing.
On entering the court yard of the negro 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 distinguished, '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 anyone 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
"Caves of Bellamar," which may be found about two and a half miles
southeast of the city of Matanzas.
The journey takes the traveler up a winding and rugged road to the
top of a hill, where the "Cave 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
invisible 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."
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 resplendent 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 distant 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 fantastically 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
gorgeous 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 hemisphere, 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 higher than in Italy. Here is seen, in a
perfection compared 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 Lorraine. The atmosphere of Cuba, as
everywhere within the tropics, except when the high winds prevail,
is so unpolluted, so thin, so elastic, so dry, so serene, and so
almost inconceivably transparent and 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
latitudes. 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 number is greatly augmented. If, however,
these luminaries may not be seen here in greater numbers, they
certainly shine with greater brilliancy. 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
distinguishable 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 constellations, 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 nebulae 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
telescope, 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 FROM NATURE'S STORES IN THE FORESTS AND FIELDS OF CUBA.
The Palm Tree, the Queen of the Cuban Forests--Sugar Cane and Its
Cultivation--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 hats that are worn by almost all
the villagers and country people of Cuba.
TROPICAL FRUITS IN ABUNDANCE.
The fruits of Cuba are those common to the tropics. Bananas,
pineapples, oranges, lemons and bread-fruit all grow in abundance,
delicious to the taste and delightful to the eye.
Richard 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 alligator 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 pineapple. 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 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 comprise 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 palatable 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 was
sent to the national factories in Spain, by the "Commercial
Company of Havana," under government contract, but during that
year the "Factoria de Tobacco" was established in Havana by the
government. The tobacco was classified as superior, medium and
inferior, and was received 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, subject 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 common
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 for
Buenos Ayres, 2,240 for Mexico, and 1,100 for Caracas and Campeachy.
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
transportation and manufacture) we must suppose that 80,000
arrobes were consumed 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 cultivation of tobacco has been one of the most
uncertain branches of industry in Cuba. Trammeled by restrictions
and exactions, it was confined 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 fruitful for years, by very simple
processes of renewal. When thoroughly 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 yielding 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
stimulated by nearly all of the European states, through the means
of liberal subsidies both to the farmer and to the manufacturer.
Beet sugar, however, does not possess so high a percentage of true
saccharine 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
producing 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 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 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 getting 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 comparing it with that of the main
land, the growth of Louisiana, chemists could find no difference
as to the quality of the true saccharine principle 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 productive 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.
Looking at them simply as an entertainment, the mills of these
great sugar estates are not incongruous with the easy delight of
the place. Everything is open and airy, and the processes of the
beautiful steam machinery 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 external 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
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
quotation 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 several Spanish statisticians, these sums amounted,
in 1864, to $89,107,287. We were very rich, don't you see?
tremendously rich. We contributed 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 furnaces, 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 burden; 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
expedition, 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 colonies, 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 machinery, 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 sums ... (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
--Population of the Island--Education and Religion--Railways and
Steamship 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 impressed 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 provide
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 pantaloons, 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
superstitious, 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
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 ceremony. Her pride is her hair, on which
she bestows a great deal of attention, and she delights in
displaying it at every possible opportunity.
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 plantains, and all kinds of vegetables. These are
cooked in a broth, thickened with a farinaceous root called
malanga, and flavored with lemon juice. Rice is a staple article
of diet, and no meal is complete without it.
RURAL AMUSEMENTS.
It is not in gastronomy alone that the Cubans of the country
districts differ from their city cousins. They have their special
amusements, 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 separate it from the body
as they pass. The fowl usually dies before the 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 occasion.
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,
accompanied 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
"Estancias," 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 potato, 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
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 regarded 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
carried 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 without 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,
covering 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 Spanish stock, and the fact 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.
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 their 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 candlestick.
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 acolyth, 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
ceremonies of reading prayers, burning candles, and sprinkling the
coffin with holy water, after which the priest goes his way, and
the procession takes up its line of march for the newly-made
grave, in the dilapidated 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 windows, 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. 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 hospitality 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,
meaning thereby it is all one family. This same custom might
appropriately be kept up amongst the Cuban planters, for when one
takes his seat 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 population.
At Havana is the royal university with a rector and thirty
professors, 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 education 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 literature, a few
daily and weekly journals, under a rigid censorship, supply 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-General 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 by the staff officers.
2nd. Neither shall be published any telegraphic communications of
a political character without the authority given by the secretary
of the governor 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 interested parties may appeal within twenty-four
hours following their notification.
VALERIANO WEYLER.
Havana, April 27, 1896.
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 population 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
population 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
popular place of resort for the few who have tried it or have been
recommended 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 possible 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 novelty 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 pleasant feature of the journey. Or the path of the
American invading squadron 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 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, whose 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 the 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 threatened 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 narrow, 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 than one day, without bearing
the infection of yellow fever among its crew.
Along the shores of this very harbor are great warehouses for the
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 system 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 smallpox.
The guilt of Spain in permitting this shocking condition to
continue, cannot in any way 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 extremity of
the harbor to the ocean eastward. The distance is but a few miles
and the engineering problem a simple one. This and the
construction 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
exterminate 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 ignored, 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 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 occupancy actually measures. Spanish
architecture, however modern it may be, sometimes adds to that
impression and one might believe himself, 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 upon 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 experience to
be remembered with pleasure.
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 curtains, 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 inhabitants 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 hats. The gentlemen are clad in underwear
of silk or lisle thread and suits of linen, drill or silk, and the
ladies are equally coolly apparelled.
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 mattress 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 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 succession 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 elderly 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 you will 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.
CHAPTER 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 attention of the civilized world.
Chief among these is Matanzas. This city, with a normal population
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 agricultural 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 sheltered 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 machinery. Its
exports consist principally of sugar, coffee, molasses, tobacco,
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 bay is
like a crescent in shape, and receives the waters of the Yumuri
and Matanzas rivers, two small unnavigable streams. A high bridge
separates 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 $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
following 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
ceremonies 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 representations, balls, etc.; in
addition to which there are billiard rooms, and reading rooms,
adorned, probably with fine paintings. In Matanzas this
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. Hanged 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 together 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 different 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, 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
educated 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 audience.
"It is now getting late, and the rooms are terribly warm. 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 flowers, the ribbands
numbered and hanging from the flowery the rights to pull which are
drawn like prizes in a lottery. Of these ribbands, one is fastened
to a beautiful crown 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 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 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
treasure-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
considerable consequence, by reason of a railway which connects it with
Santiago, and also because the patriot army, hidden in the nearby
mountains, have entertained hopes of overcoming the Spanish garrison and
making 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 $4,000,000
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 corporations
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 succession 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 better, 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
stairways, wings and terraces, are constantly cropping out in
unexpected places, but as it occupies three sides of the rounding
cliff and the pilot who comes aboard at the entrance to the
channel 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, unbroken 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 generations.
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 suddenly
fallen upon the bright sunshine, and a chill, like that of coming death,
oppresses the heart. Since time out of mind, the Moro of Santiago 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 countrymen
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
himself 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 numbers of them. This particular city of Saint James occupies
a sloping hillside, 600 miles southeast from Havana, itself the
capital of a department, 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 undignified 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 enchantment.
Red-roofed buildings of stone and adobe entirely cover the
hillside, with here and there a dome, a tower, a church steeple
shooting upward, or a tell palm poking its head above a garden
wall--the glittering green contrasting well with the ruddy tiles
and the pink, gray, blue and yellow of the painted walls. In the
golden light of a tropical morning it looks like an oriental town,
between sapphire sea and turquoise mountains. 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.
Tangiers, 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 laud 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 their
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
population 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 railroad 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 accustomed to see on the island.
But, notwithstanding the broad, blue bay in front, and the Paseo,
whose tall trees seem to be touching finger tips across the road,
congratulating each other on the presence of eternal summer,
Cardinas is not an attractive town. One misses the glamor of
antiquity and historic 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 department, and is situated about midway between the north
and south coasts, 305 miles southeast of Havana, and forty-five
miles southwest of Nuevitas, 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 commercial
importance.
CHAPTER XI.
MUTTERINGS OF INSURRECTION.
Slavery 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 Taxation.
Slavery was a demoralizing influence to Cuba as it has been, to
every other country in which the system has existed, and to its
presence was traced one of the most sensational episodes in all
the sensational history of the unhappy island. It is impossible to
know to what extent the suspected insurrection of slaves 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 governmental 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
subjected, 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 barbarities 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.
As early as May, 1847, Narcisso Lopez and a number of his
associates 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 government 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 subdivision 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 Spanish
outrages against American citizens and vessels, aroused deep
feeling 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 was in 1848, prior to the Lopez invasion, that President Polk
made the first approaches to the Spanish government with a
suggestion to purchase the island for $100,000,000, but was
refused with scant consideration. A few years later came the
succession of attacks on American merchant vessels by Spanish
ships of war, on the pretext that the intercepted craft were in
filibuster service. Some of these were fired on, and the American
mail bags opened, the steamships 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 harbor 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 outrage.
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 government 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,
signing 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
frequent 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 intolerable to the patriots there, and the Ten Years' war
began.
It is necessary at this point to relate some of the causes of the
frequent disorders and uprisings in the island of Cuba. Some of
the 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 moving 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
exactions. 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
ecclesiastical, 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 reputation 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 distress 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 honestly,
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 command to induce Spain to establish a more
just and equitable administration 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 government office, 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 considered 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 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 losing 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 government 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 elected Cespedes
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 protection 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
signal 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 forcibly.
The foregoing determinations will commence to take effect on the
14th of the present month.
EL CONDE DE BALMACEDA.
Bayamo, April 4, 1869.
Even Weyler, 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 with 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 of 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, which 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.
Excitement 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 discouraged 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
Virginius occurred.
The case of the Virginius had in it elements of tragedy that made
it more spectacular and dramatic than that of the Maine, and
American spirit was worked to an even higher tension than it is
now, before diplomacy 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 settlement more difficult
by their talk. The only controversy was as to whether or not
Spain'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 citizens with scarcely a formality of law Spain has never
been forgiven by those who remember it, whatever diplomacy decided
as to being satisfied.
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 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 unhappy 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, ammunition, 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,
October 23, 1873, having cleared at the United States consulate as
a United States vessel bound for Port Simon, Costa Rica. 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 gunboat 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 was
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 threatened them.
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
condemned most if not all of the prisoners to death, this summary
proceeding 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 displayed on spikes and the trunks
trampled by horses. George W. Sherman, 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
chartered 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 declaring 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
consuls.
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 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 with 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 way 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 unavailing. 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 telegraph 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 embroil 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 Lambton Lorraine, left for the scene of massacre,
sailing in such a hurry that he left some of the crew ashore. The
Captain landed at Santiago 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 was another American citizen
executed. Ninety-three men were under sentence of death, many of
whom were Americans, but the sentences were immediately suspended
and the lives were saved. The Spanish afterward asserted that the
executions were stopped because of orders received from Madrid.
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
indignation 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 de 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 seas 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 be
made. Madrid mobs made a demonstration against the American
minister, 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.
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 flag
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 Squadron, 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 arranged 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
present 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 circumstances 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 government unblushingly
denied that there had been any killing, and when forced to
acknowledge the fact they put us off with preposterous excuses.
'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 associates were 'unfortunately' received too late, owing to
interruption of telegraph lines by the insurgents, to whose broad
and bleeding shoulders 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 punishment 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 American mind the memory of old wrongs unavenged.
Instead of being degraded, 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
distribution among the families of American sufferers by 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, Rising Sun, Ellen
Rizpah, and Edward Lee, while pursuing their legitimate business
under the American flag, outside of Cuban waters, were fired upon
and detained 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 settlement.
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 existed during the Ten Years' War. In fact, the inequality
was even greater, for the Spanish army was then composed of
experienced soldiers who were well fed, well clothed and paid
regularly. In the present conflict many of them are boys who have
been sent from home to make targets for insurgent bullets. They
know comparatively nothing 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 revolutionary 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 testimony 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 witnessed the execution of his sons without
even changing color, and when his turn came he said he died for
the independence of his country. 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 us to shoot them, because
they would rather die than live among Spaniards."
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 someone, 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 men were arrested.
They were arraigned before the military tribunal, and so
manifestly 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 determined 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 courtmartial. 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
innocence of any crime, they did not falter, but marched bravely
to the place of execution, where they faced their murderers and
fell, riddled by 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 Spanish 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
varying success, but dissensions finally arose between the civil
and military 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 abandoned.
What the outcome of the contest might have been, could it have been
continued with the leaders united for its success, is an open question.
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 government 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 General 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 settlement 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 Rico, 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
justice felt by the people, who were desirous to enjoy their
natural rights, the Peninsula, while lavish in promises of reform,
persisted in carrying 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 exploitation of the colonists' labor for
the benefit of Spanish commerce and 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
connected with Cuban affairs, says:
"The main concession for which the insurgents accepted peace was the
promise of constitutional reform. As a matter of fact, there promptly
followed four royal 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 immediately seen to
be the shadow without the substance of self-government. 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 machinery 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, because examples (some of them very recent) of
acts of violence, anarchy and scandalous outbreaks could 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 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 conversion 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 eliminated 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
taxation has not been entirely assimilated, this is because of the
fact that direct taxes are very repugnant to the popular feeling
in Cuba, especially 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.
Notwithstanding 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 unhesitatingly 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 regulation, 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
functions 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, perhaps, 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 Rafael 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
probably 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 compact 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.
Spain'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.
While the European manufacturers received important bounties those
of Cuba had to pay export duties on their sugar, and the
importation 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
importation in Cuba became entirely free, while the Cubans had to
pay 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-seven cents if Spanish, three hundred dollars
if foreign. These differential duties opened a reign of prosperity
for industry in Spain, where foreign goods were imported or
smuggled, to be later sent to Cuba as Spanish.
The injustice of these commercial laws was so evident and so
detrimental 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 inextinguishable 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 public works, 2.75. No public work of any kind was
begun in the seventeen years which intervened between the two
wars.
The Cuban Treasury, between 1823 and 1864, sent to Spain
$82,165,436 in gold. This money entered the Spanish Treasury as
"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
qualified to vote in the entire island, although its population
was 1,762,000. In 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,
any 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 was 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 quickened by what they suffered from Spain's
misgovernment. 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 workingmen in the United
States promised 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 government 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. There Marti found Maximo Gomez, the
veteran of a dozen struggles and a brave and able soldier, and
offered him the command and organization 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 conspirators 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, frequently 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
independent 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 Work Done by Senor Tomas Estrada Palma and His
Staff--Sources of the War 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 organization have been by no means well understood. There have
been those in Congress and elsewhere who have spoken of it
slightingly as an organization 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
American 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 m> 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 successfully, 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
successively 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
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 accredited. 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
together 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 contributions in money, clothing,
provisions, arms, and munitions for those who are enduring the
hardships of the war. Before the revolution began 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 neutrality laws.
For accomplishing its work the Junta has in no way been restricted
in authority, the Cuban government having even granted special
authority 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 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 tortuous 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, where 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 Junta frequently restricted
the action of the delegate, the promoters of the present
revolution decided to eliminate it; yet the name remains, and is
used and accepted to designate 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
commissioned 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 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
revolutionary 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 liberty 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
republic; was made prisoner by Spanish troops, and sent to Spain,
where he was imprisoned until the close of the conflict. While in
Spain, absolutely 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-delegate;
Benjamin J. Guerra, treasurer of the republic abroad, and Gonzalo 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
carrying on of the war, has had various sources of income, all of
them distinctly 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 in the United States. The
cigarmakers of Key West, Tampa, Jacksonville, New York and other
cities where large Cuban colonies have congregated, 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
earnings, 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 saddled with a heavy debt at the
outset of its career as an independent nation.
Aside from the contributions of money to the Cuban powers,
enormous quantities of medical and surgical supplies and hospital
delicacies have been offered by the generous people of the United
States, organized into Cuban Auxiliary Aid Societies in the
various cities of the country. American women have taken a
prominent part in this movement 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 practice. 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 return 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 interruption, and have landed their cargo in safety in
insurgent camps.
The United States government, in recognition of its diplomatic
obligations, spent millions of dollars prior to the outbreak of
our war with Spain, in carrying on a patrol service of 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 compromising
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 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
goon 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
filibustering vessel before her cargo was discharged was an almost
unknown 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 nothing 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 filibuster. 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 say 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
enlisted 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 diplomatic 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
introduced 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
government 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 cause.
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 government.
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 could
imprison them, deport them to penal colonies, or order their execution
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 subjection, 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
merchandise 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
oppressor, to pay the salaries of thousands of worthless European
employes, 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 apparently 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
deliberately; we knew what we would have to face, and we decided
unflinchingly to persevere until we should emancipate ourselves
from the Spanish 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 Spaniards, who enjoy the
same rights as the Cubans, and who live with them in fraternal
harmony. This fact and that of the many Spaniards incorporated
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 independent republic, under whose beneficent laws the
Spaniards may continue to live side by side with the Cubans as
members of the same community 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 emancipation 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 Lacret, 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
most important divisions of the Cuban Junta of the United States
has its headquarters here. Almost every Cuban in Key West gives
regularly a portion of his earnings to the cause, and many cargoes
of arms, ammunition and supplies 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.
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
neighborhood of the pyramids. Ropes are used for reins, and the
only substantial 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 West a
barefooted boy from Georgia, and worked his way up to his present
eminent position 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 jubilations 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. While the town has its
enlightened and respectable people, it also has a shoddy class,
whose ignorance of the rest of the world carries them to grotesque
extremes in their efforts to proclaim 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.
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
insurgents. 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 expedition 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 200,000 rounds of ammunition,
intended for the insurgents of Pinar del Rio. The supplies were to
be conveyed to General Gomez by a force of insurgents 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 independently 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.
Until then General Joaquin Castillo was in control.
In the landing of the expedition the United States army was
represented by Captain J. A. Dorst, and Tomas Estrada Palma was
represented 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
Americans. 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
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 sentence 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 Jose Lacret
Morlot, by which title he is popularly known, secured passage on
the steamer Mascotte for Jamaica on his way to Cuba. The English
government had information regarding Lacret'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 returned 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.
Accompanying 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 alcalde's right hand.
After communicating with the insurgents the "padre" suddenly
disappeared 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 chapter 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 assembly he 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 hostile 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 newcomers with national airs.
The work of unloading the cargo of the Florida was 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
gunboat, 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 accomplished 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 West 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
several 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
Matanzas--Arrival of Campos--The Blacks as Soldiers--No Caste
Prejudices--General Santocildes Killed--A Story of Maceo--Campos'
Campaign 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 threatening. In Havana and Matanzas the Spanish officials
had no difficulty in suppressing the insurrectionists, and the
leader in the former province, 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
supplied 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 proclaimed 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 ubiquitous, 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 pursuit was impossible, and
appearing again in a day or so in some unexpected 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,
sailed from Costa Rica 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 several 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 relieved 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 hardships 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
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 ordinary Anglo-Saxon.
About the first of July, Maceo, still in the province of Santiago,
concentrated 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 second 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 catastrophe. 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 covering their retreat
with great difficulty.
Flor Crombet had fallen in battle several weeks 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 Santocildes, 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 northeast 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 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 movements 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. Finally he alighted and conferred
with Colonel Miro, his chief of staff. A moment afterward came the
order to dismount. Three hundred troopers 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 beneath 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
found 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, 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
eyelids 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 correspondent, he said: "Share it; it will do you
good." The newspaper man thanked the general and they ate the egg
in silence. He said afterward that the incident reminded him of
General Marion's breakfast with a British officer. He had read the
incident in Peter Parley's history 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."
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 about an hour
before daybreak, with the general in the lead. Silently and
stealthily they entered the outskirts of the town. The columns
passed two blockhouses 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 Spanish 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 plantation. 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 supply 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 Spaniards had been
so frightened by Bandera on the previous day that they did not
want to invite another attack. That very evening the boy returned,
conveying many bags of bread. The Spaniards remained within 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 the beginning of the year 1896 he returned to Spain. The rabid
Spaniards of Havana, having compelled Campos to tender his
resignation, 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 Martinez Campos.
The question may be asked why the insurgents after so many
victories 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 Helena, 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.
CHAPTER 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, Jose 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
commencement 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 disturb 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 cause 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 clandestine
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,
Mexico 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 insurgents 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 successful
attacks against detachments of the Spanish forces.
After organizing an expedition that was to march to Puerto
Principe 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
regarding the enemy's location, and acting upon this knowledge,
Colonel Sandoval, on the 19th of May, brought his army to La
Brija. The Hernan Cortez 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 Jose 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 arrived, 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 Sandoval's words on the occasion:
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, carried 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.
The General-in-Chief of the Cuban forces is Maximo Gomez, a man of
scholarly attainments, great intellect, and long experience in
military affairs. Formerly an officer of Spain, he explains his
present position 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
pickets 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 Spanish 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 pickets 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 experiences 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 underbrush, which
closes like curtain behind him, leaving the Spaniards to 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
insurgents, Antonio Maceo was made the second in command, under
General 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 ability 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,
1896.
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 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 defenseless. But we cannot
help believing evidence. In my march 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 irritation are repeated. What! must even the
peaceful inhabitants (I say noticing of the wounded and prisoners
of war), must they be sacrificed to the rags that gave the Duke of
Alva his name and fame?
Is it thus that Spain, through you, returns the clemency and
kindness with which we, the redeemers of this suffering people,
have acted in like circumstances? What a reproach for yourself and
for Spain! The license to burn the huts, assassinations like those
at Nueva Paz and the villa El Gato, 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 horror.
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 abominable conduct on your part and
on that of your men, will arouse at no distant time private
vengeances to which they will fall victims, without my being able
to prevent it, even though I should punish hundreds of innocent
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
emulation our conduct and our proceedings. Yours, A. MACEO.
This letter could have been written by none but a brave and
honorable soldier, resolved to present the cause of the oppressed
non-combatants, even when he probably knew that his appeal was
powerless to lessen their sufferings in the slightest degree.
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
standard of independence. At that time he was engaged to be
married, yet with him the call of duty was paramount over every
selfish consideration. 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 attention
to their appearance, but now there was a regular conventional
dress parade. A barber was requisitioned, accoutrements were
furbished up, and weather-beaten sombreros were ornamented with
brilliant 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 dispatched for the
villa cura, and that there was a wedding which fairly rivaled that
of Camacho, so often and so fondly recalled by the renowned
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 Calixto Garcia, General Serafin Sanchez,
Francisco 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 his
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 battle 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 cradles, and here they possess a decided advantage over
their Spanish foes, who know as little of the equestrian art as
they seem to understand of other's rights, or the amenities of
war. A mounted band of insurgents, rushing down on a detachment of
the enemy, waving aloft the terrible machete, will carry with them
terror and death, and conquer twice their number.
The heroic mulatto brothers, Antonio and Jose 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
opportunities. 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 won.
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
insurrection. 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 collecting 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.
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 Bios, 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
ammunition. 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 thousands.
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, Remates, Palacios, Paso Real de San
Diego, Guane, Consolacion del Sur, Pilotos, Alonso de Rojas, San
Luis, San Juan y Martinez, and others of less importance.
Pinar del Rio 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 city
officials were appointed, resolutions were adopted by the new
authorities, and, after all the arms in the town had been
collected, Maco remained a day to rest his men and horses, and
moved on the following morning at daybreak.
Generals Navarre and Luque were ordered to crush the insurgent army at
all hazards. Their combined forces consisted of 5,000 infantry, 200
cavalry, and 11 pieces of artillery. After a two-days' march they were
joined by General Arizon's command, which had encountered Maceo's rear
guard the previous day, with disastrous results.
Near Quivera Hacha, Navarre'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 Rio, 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 without 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 withering
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 time it was a question whether Luque's command would not be
wiped out. They were practically surrounded by Maceo's men, and
for fully an hour and a half the fighting was desperate. It is
impossible 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 humiliating. 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 Heal, between
General Luque's army and a division of Maceo's forces under
Bermudez. 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 Spanish 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 central 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 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 a high fence, with a ditch in front of
it. Diaz placed 400 infantry 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 way 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 Guimaro.
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 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 1868-The Patrol of the Coasts--An Expedition on
the "Three Friends"--Arms and Ammunition for the Insurgents--Desperate
Chances--A Successful Landing.
The record of the last fifty years is the clearest and most
convincing 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 government, it would never consent to
the occupation of the island by any other European nation.
It was pointed out at 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
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 General 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.
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
consideration 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 Spanish 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 presence 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 country 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
refraining 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 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
patrol as it did actually to catch filibusters, and, moreover,
every successful 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 Presidents whose duty it was to
interfere with efforts to aid Cuban liberty. He issued appropriate
proclamations on June 12, 1895, and July 30, 1896. Revenue 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
customs regulations from the same territory.
THE VOYAGE OF THE "THREE FRIENDS."
As evidence of the fact that Cuban sympathizers have been
successful in escaping the patrol on American coasts and the
enemy's battleships in Cuban waters, we give the report of one of
many expeditions 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 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
cartridges, 1,200 rifles, 2,100 machetes, 400 revolvers, besides
stores, reloading 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 discover 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
shiplights 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 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. Tuesday 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
'Competitor.' 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, fearing an
explosion of dynamite. The gunboat's crew seized rifles and began
shooting, killing 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 landing 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 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
Liaborde, born in New Orleans; Owen Milton, of Kansas; William
Kinlea, an Englishman, and Elias Vedia and Teodore Dela Maza, both
Cubans. Captain Ruiz acted as president of the court, which
consisted 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
interfered, 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 Resignation.
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 Nicolau, 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 circumstances 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 Tenerife. 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 insurrection 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 correspondent:
"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 impressed 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. Reconquest seems an ill-chosen word, but one of General Weyler's
staff has so denominated this war, and Cuban revolutions 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, philosophical, slow in his mental processes,
clear in his judgment, emphatic in his opinions, outspoken, and, withal,
lovable, humane, conservative, 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, per
se, foul or fair consequences or the conventional ideas of humanity
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 anywhere on his person.
"It is not remarkable that I momentarily hesitated to make certain
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
protruding far beyond any ordinary sign of firmness, persistence
or willpower. 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,
emphatic and expressive.
"'I have an aversion to speech,' he said. 'I am an enemy of
publications. I prefer to act, not to talk. I am here to restore
peace. When peace is in the land I am going away. I 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 expressed 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 charged
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 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
Masterson, 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 unmercifully.'
"'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 said 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 war,' he 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
situation as it really is, and correct the impression that
prevails in America that inhuman treatment is being accorded to
the insurgent prisoners?'
"'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!
Impossible!'
"'What would happen,' I asked, 'if I should be discovered crossing
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
prisoners? Is it not cruel to prevent a man from seeing his wife
and children?'
"'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
daybreak 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
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 will 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
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 insurrection,
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
enforcement by the Civil guards (as the officers appointed by the
Spanish government are called) has been responsible for
innumerable outrages 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 redress 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
insurrectionists, 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 woman, 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 seat by Cuban, patriots, with the
request that it be given the widest publicity possible, among the
people of the United States:
"If the government that unhappily rules the destinies of this
unfortunate 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
suspects 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
battalion, 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
horrifies 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 execute the order of Jull were neither moved nor
weakened in their purpose.
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
distance. Providence had not willed that so much iniquity should
remain hidden forever. In the hurry the grave where these two
innocent 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, disinterred 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 Matanzas, 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. Carrillo,
General Arolas went to engage them, but the rebels, who were few
in numbers, 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 discharge of musketry they fell dead."
LIFE, LIBERTY AND PROPERTY SACRIFICED.
Life, liberty and property have all been sacrificed by these
determined 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 oppressor's sword, and wherever the insurgents have
a hospital, they have a garrison to protect it. Each of the six
provinces has an insurgent hospital, with a staff of physicians and
nurses, and a detachment of the army.
The largest of these lies in that part of Santa Clara called the
Isthmus of Zapata. It is a wild, swampy region, through which the
natives alone can distinguish those precarious tracks, where the
slightest 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
Cubans, 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 ammunition
they would rise, to a man, within twenty-four hours.
"This revolution of the whole Cuban people against the government
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 inundated the fields of Italy, of the Low Countries, of our
continent of America, and only a few years ago, of Cuba itself.
The Spanish newspaper 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
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 of 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 Spaniards 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
Cuban 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 continuation of Spanish rule means for the
Cuban people utter destruction."
CHAPTER XXV.
FITZHUGH LEE TO THE FRONT.
Importance of the American Consulate at Havana in a Critical
Time--General 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 Lee--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 importance than
others of the same name in other countries where diplomatic
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 authorities at Washington that a change should be made because
of the unusual 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?
The son of a naval officer, he preferred the army as a career.
Graduating from West Point, he fought on the frontier for six
years before the opening of the Rebellion, and was engaged in
several desperate encounters with the Comanche Indians in Texas.
On one of these occasions 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, threw 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 dispersed 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 bravest men.
Sometimes a bullet will unexpectedly 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 better examined in a less exposed
position--a conclusion in which all others agreed with remarkable
unanimity. And nobody stopped to get any apples.
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 cheerfulness failed at 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 horsemanship 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 horseback." 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, mustache and
imperial. His bearing is alert and military. Altogether, he does
not look, and probably does not feel, his sixty-two years.
During Mr. Cleveland's second term he was made collector of
internal 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
Americanism, 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 administration 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
respect and admiration of the Spaniards as well as their fear.
Throughout his service in Cuba, General Lee's figure was a
familiar one in Havana, and even by those most antagonistic to him
because of their official position, he was heartily admired. No
matter what the threat of violence from hot-headed Spaniards, when
the relations 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 himself. 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.
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
onlookers at the docks could restrain itself no longer. With
imprecations 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
outrages upon American citizens roused in him but two sentiments.
One was sympathy and grief for those who suffered. The other was
indignation and enmity against those who were guilty. To the
extent of all his power he guarded and aided those for whom that
first sentiment 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 warfare 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 XXVL
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 have 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 American 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, liberty 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 commencement, 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,
he returned to his native country to practice his profession.
He was accused of being in sympathy with the revolutionists,
arrested 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:
"Ruiz died, according to the surgeons, from congestion of the
brain, caused by a blow or blows. When General Lee and Mr. Calhoun
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
debate 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 government
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 applauded 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 representative 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 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 liberty.
Mr. Charles Michaelson, a newspaper correspondent, and his
interpreter, 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 Weyler, but the "Butcher" finally admitted
it, and after a short delay was persuaded by the United States
Consul to release them. Mr. Michaelson's treatment was 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 day 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, occasionally, 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 rat, which
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 when I saw aged
men weeping and heart-broken at being separated from their
families 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 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 Rev. Alberto J. Diaz,
whose home is in the United States. Ever loyal to his flag, and
believing 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 follows:
"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
sentenced 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 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,
giving the particulars of the arrest, trial and conviction, and
appealing to him to demand their immediate release. The message
was smuggled 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 force 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--Patriotic 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
general of great military skill, he had the rare gift of personal
magnetism, 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
betrayed him to the Spaniards. An Insurgent officer, who was with
the general when he received his death wound, says 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 Zertucha 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 underbrush, 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 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
continual 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
concerning 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 was a natural politician in that he had the genius of
divining 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 tobacco 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 always 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
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. When 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
their 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 reconcentration he
hypocritically claimed that it was intended to protect the
non-combatant 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 matter 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 revolutionists, 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 with the
men, and the fear of death was not half 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
reconcentration went into effect. It was his purpose to learn by
personal observation how much or how little truth there was in the
reports that had come to this country regarding the terrible
suffering among the reconcentrados. 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 distance west of Havana, and saw along the railroad thirty
or forty towns or stations. In Havana I visited the Fossos, the
hospital prison at Aldecoa, where I talked with the father of
Evangelina Cisneros, and a place called the Jacoba. I found
reconcentrados at all three places, and begging everywhere about
the streets of Havana.
"The spectacle at the Fossos and Jacoba houses, of women and
children 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 charitable 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.
"In one case the remnant consisted of two children, seven or eight
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 Domingo, where two
railroads join, the depot was crowded with 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 requires these people to live within a circle
of small block houses, commonly 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 stations, 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, it 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 cane 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 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
nursing 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
concentration, 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 ordinarily 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 reconcentrados 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 people 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 suffering 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
death of most of the surviving reconcentrados, but this leads to
political 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 people, 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 permission 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 treatment.
"There was no indication of a cessation of hostilities by the
insurgents. 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 pecuniary assistance to the extent of $20,000
a day, distributed by our consuls. 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 condensed 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 charitable 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
Guadaloupe. It is substantially as follows:
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
butchery 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 in that town in three months. Nearly
all had died of starvation and 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. Round 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
sleeping, like the commandante. Or perhaps the soldiers always
remained inside the barricades surrounding their forts, fearing
that to step outside 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 commandante appeared. With a field
glass he surveyed the figure on the hilltop.
"He is carrying something," I said, as I watched the man in the
distance 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
carried 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 am
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.
With 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 evidently
had no terrors. As they were led away they made the sign of the
cross again and again upon their naked breasts. A hundred starving
wretches followed them in silence.
When we were again alone on the balcony--a broad, square balcony
it was--the commandante noticed my look of inquiry.
"The story can be briefly told," he said. "You are simply the
witness 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, traversed 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 Samaritans a
banquet. The proposal was accepted. All gathered for the banquet
on this balcony. I draped the front of the house in the Spanish
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 indicating
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."
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 place 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 body 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.
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 revolutionists, 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 independence, on the sole ground of the rights
and claims of outraged humanity. ... In consequence of Weyler's
barbarous decrees the most harrowing scenes of savagery and
brutality are of almost daily occurrence 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 national 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,
oppression, extortion, and demoralization. She has fettered the
energies of the people, while she has fattened upon their
industry. She smiled but to smite, and embraced but to crush. She
has disheartened exertion, disqualified merit, and destroyed
patience and forbearance, by supporting 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 accomplishment. Cuban patriotism develops with the growth of
oppression. The aspiration for freedom increases in proportion to
the weight of its multiplied 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
commercial 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 insurgents, with or without arms, and the Cuban
non-combatants; 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.
"I do not see how it could even be put into operation by force,
because 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
cabinet 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-supporting
people, principally women and children, into a multitude to be sustained
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
population 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 Santiago 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
thousand people would be an expenditure of $20,000 per day, and,
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 newspaper 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,
medicines, and clothing to the destitute is proceeding
satisfactorily. The work, he says, has been well organized and
systematized under the supervision 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 requests 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 issuing 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 altogether) 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 authorities 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
concentration order.
CONSUL BARKER'S REPORT.
Consul Barker covers the conditions existing in Santa Clara
province in several communications, beginning on November 20,
1897, and closing 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
humble 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."
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 pursued 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 non-combatants. Although the 'bando' of the captain-general
provides 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
communication of March 20 Mr. Barker says: "The distress is simply
heart-rending. Whole families without clothing to hide nakedness are
sleeping 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 military 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 strengthen their cause. The effects on
agricultural pursuits will be disappointing, 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
people 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."
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. "Statistics," 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 epidemic 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
Manzanillo, nearly five thousand were in hospitals or quartered on
the people. He says that Dr. Gaminero, 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 misfortune 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 citizens of the Matanzas district passed through Havana on
their way to the transport. It was a sad procession. Hopeless,
jaded, despairing 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-prisoners 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 witnessed at the periods of each of these revolts their own
ships of war patroling the southern coast and the waters adjacent
to Cuba to intercept any young Americans whose sympathies might
lead them to join the Cuban cause, and they acquiesced, because
the law as it stood 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 government 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.
CHAPTER XXX.
OUTRAGES ON AMERICANS IN CUBA.
How 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
prisons, 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 sometimes revolve, was that of Antonio
Maximo, a naturalized American citizen. He was condemned to death,
and his estates declared the property 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 on 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 accepted 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 subjects should be adjudicated and
settled simultaneously. Secretary Bayard rejected the proposition,
and our government continued to urge the Spanish authorities to
fulfill their contract. On June 12, 1895, Secretary 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 September 14, the original claimant having died, the
Spanish government paid $1,499,000, equal to 1,500,000 pesos, in
settlement of the long-standing claim.
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 $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 blockade 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
soldiers recently passed on the road, and my wife called my
attention to the fact that they had broken into a vacant house
where valuable property 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.'
"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 whispered 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--
infantry 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 rushed in and dragged me out by
the coat collar. My wife, with her baby, was taken out, a rifle
being pointed at her breast. Eleutrie 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 Americans, 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 he fired, into my
house, 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
plantation 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 plantation 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 plantation, 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
unjustifiable 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."
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 was 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 machete. 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
insurgents hiding there. Spanish bullets rattled on the tiled roof
of the house, and farm hands who were plowing back of the house
got frightened 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 leading them. I
took out my American papers and showed them to him to prove that I
was a peaceful citizen. 'They are the worst documents you could
have,' said the captain. They answered my son in the same way, and
the captain repeated the 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 at these
recollections of the awful scene, and the son gave his account of
the horrible butchery:
"They marched us along," said the Doctor, "and I spoke to the
general: '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 I
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 pinioned. 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 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 my 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 lamentations 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 appeared 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 demand 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--Recommendations of President McKinley--The Spanish
Minister's Insulting Letter--His Resignation Accepted--The Apology
of the Spanish Government.
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 obligation 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 President Cleveland's message in December, 1896, in which
he distinctly expressed 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 negotiation 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 continual
indirection of the Spanish character are now apparent to the
world; they were long ago apparent to those who have had our
diplomatic duties to do.
Thus the negotiations dragged on. We were put to trouble and
expense to prevent filibustering, and filibustering continued in
spite of us. 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 newspapers kept us reminded of an opera bouffe
war that was going on, and now and then there came information of
delicate and troublesome diplomatic duties for our Minister to
Spain. If Cuba were within a hundred 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 doubtless 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 resolute 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 Presidency, 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 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 immediately
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 return 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
without 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 Monroe doctrine, declaring it was not to be
found in the code of international 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. 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 subjects 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."
DE 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 legally 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 insurgents, who expected something else, and has
paralyzed the action of Congress, 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 accomplished there, and without military and political
success there is here always 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 attention to the
role of England. Nearly all that newspaper canaille, which swarm
in your hotel, are English, and while they are correspondents of
American journals, they are also correspondents of the best
newspapers and reviews of London.
Thus it has been since the beginning. To my mind, the only object
of England 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
importance, in order that I might use him to make a propaganda
among the senators and others, in opposition to the Junta and to
win over exiles. There goes Amblarad. I believe he comes too
deeply taken up with political matters, and there must be
something great or we shall lose. Adela returns 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
resignation to the Spanish government, and withdrew his passports
from the State Department in Washington, thus saving himself the
mortification 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 communication, with entire sincerity laments the
incident, states that Minister De Lome had presented his
resignation, and it had been accepted before the presentation of
the matter by Minister Woodford. That the Spanish Ministry, in
accepting the resignation of a functionary whose services they
have been utilizing 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 Ministers before General Woodford presented the matter, and at
a time when the Spanish Government had only vague telegraphic
reports concerning the sentiments alluded to. That the Spanish
nation, with equal and greater reason, affirms its view and
decision after reading the words contained in the letter
reflecting upon the President of the United States.
As to the paragraph concerning the desirability of negotiations of
commercial relations, if even for effect and importance of using a
representative for the purpose stated in Senor Dupuy De Lome's
letter, the government expresses 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 subsequent 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 uniform 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. R. 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 accomplished 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
remembers that there has been a change in the Ministry. What
matters it if Weyler is to go? Evangelina Cisneros 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 families 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, and make
impossible 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 communication with her, we began work without losing a
day."
THE PRISON LEFT BEHIND.
Mr. Decker then tells hew 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
produced 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.
Surrounded by luxury and elegance, she is alternately laughing and
crying over the events of one short week. One week ago last night
a correspondent 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 was 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.
"There was no reason why the chief of police should scan too
closely the young man with the big cigar. Juan Sola's 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 beacon,
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
experiences, 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
amidships 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 stateroom, 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 revealed
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
garden, 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 without the knowledge of the prison officials, and as
they were not called 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
persecutions 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 who planned and the one who
executed deserved all the honors they 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 of 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, Switzerland, in 1863. They drew up an
international compact, which was approved 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 world, 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 incorporated 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 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 $4,000. In the Turko-Russian, the Tunisian, the
Tonquin, the Madagascar, the Greeco-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 1864 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 Andersonville, 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 rewarded. 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 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 York and immediately commenced the work of
preparation to follow our 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
National Red Cross society derives its authority, the American
National Red Cross is directed to provide such relief as may be
required by all, without recognition 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 perfected 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 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 intensified by the blockade, and anxious to do something
to mitigate it--or, at least, to show the readiness of the Bed
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
acquaintance 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 international 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, unmolested
anywhere on the island, until arrangements were made by our
government 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 blameless? Will it not be said
of us that we completed the scheme of extermination commenced by
Weyler?
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
distribute 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 statesmanship at least to divide the
responsibility. I am told that some days must 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 Red
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
Commander-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
reconcentrados, 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 whom
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 Belief
Committee, in New York:
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 correspondence personally to the government, as
it will place before them the exact 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 communication 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 publish this
correspondence if you wish.
[Signed] CLARA BARTON.
On May 6 the Chairman of the Central Cuban Relief Committee
replied as follows:
Washington, D. C,, May 6, 1898.
Clara Barton, Key West, Fla.:
Submitted your 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 you
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 running 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
attendants, around among the fleet of prizes to distribute food.
On one of the larger smacks Dr. Egan found that the crew had had
nothing but 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 physician 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 hospitals, 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 were ever ready to answer to the cry of the needy and
the helpless.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
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 Submarine Mine--The Officers and Men of the Maine
Exonerated--Responsibility 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 Chadwick, 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
transmitted 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
consular 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 Spanish 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
Government with appreciation of the friendly character of the
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 entered the port of Havana
on the 25th of January, her arrival being marked with no special
incident besides the exchange of customary salutes and ceremonial
visits.
The Maine continued in the harbor of Havana during the three weeks
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 drowned 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 Alphonse 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 recovered bodies of the dead
were interred by the municipality in the public cemetery 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 community 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 experience 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
determination of the causes of the explosion. Its operations have
been conducted 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.
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
testimony 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 reported 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 interval between them. The first lifted
the forward part of the ship very perceptibly; 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 forward
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 explosion. 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 bottom
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 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 destruction 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 Regent, 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 Havana, Cuba, on the twenty-fifth day of January, Eighteen
Hundred and Ninety-eight, and was taken to Buoy No. 4, in from
five and a half to six fathoms of water, by the regular Government
pilot. The United States Consul-General at Havana had notified the
authorities 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 the care and safety of the
ship were strictly carried out. All ammunition was stowed in
accordance with prescribed instructions, and proper care was taken
whenever ammunition was handled. Nothing was stowed in any one of
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 the Maine the keys were found in
their proper place in the Captain's cabin, everything having been
reported secure that evening at eight P. M. The temperatures of the
magazines and shell room were taken daily and reported. The only
magazine which had an undue amount of heat was the after 10-inch
magazine, and that did not explode at the time the Maine was destroyed.
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 blinkers 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 bunker in which 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" 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 auxiliary purposes only, with a
comparatively low pressure of steam and being tended by a reliable
watch. These boilers could not have caused the explosion 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 movements 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
of the first explosion.
The first explosion was more in the nature 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 of
the court, caused by the partial explosion of two or more of the
forward magazines of the Maine.
The evidence bearing upon this, being principally obtained from
divers, did not enable the court to form a definite conclusion as
to the condition of 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 destruction of the forward
part.
4. The following facts in regard to the forward part of the ship
are, however, established by the testimony: That portion of the
port side of the protective 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 of 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 itself 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 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 forward 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 Recalled--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 happened 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
Spanish 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 government. 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 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
depend. 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
deplorable it was seen to be; the more the government of the
island was 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
excitement. 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 diplomatic 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
approaching action of Congress. Many thought that war could be
postponed, 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 institutions and methods of Spanish rule
in Cuba were an abomination and a reproach. And English sympathy
was not more significant as an evidence 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; indeed, 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
medievalism 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 Executive rested the gravest of all
responsibilities, and the nation trusted to him to carry it
safely. Rash 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 all 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 exposed 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.
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 preparations for war were completed. The message to
Congress was a calm, dispassionate, judicial presentation of the
case, and upon that presentation 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 National 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 American 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 leaders 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 what
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 independence 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 statement by the assertion that the Cuban
population would never be satisfied with any government under
Spanish rule. The senator's remarkable speech undoubtedly had a
powerful effect, both in influencing congressional action, and in
swaying public opinion. As an able and responsible member of
Congress and an ex-secretary of war, his words would carry weight
under any circumstances, but apart from these considerations, 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 Representatives when Congressman Cannon presented a
bill appropriating $50,000,000 for the national defense and
placing this amount in President 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 presiding 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 without 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 independence 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 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 establishment 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. But 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 American built ships, St. Patil 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
following 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 Christian 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;
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 government 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 several 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
intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over
said island, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its
determination when that is accomplished 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 that sectional animosities would weaken our strength. The
action of Congress from the time of the first rumors of war to the
end of the session snowed how little ground there was for this
belief. The representatives of the people from all sections of our
broad land gave President 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 Proposition 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 majority of the members of the Congress of the United States
to bring matters 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
President 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 connection 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 subjected the United States to great
effort and expense in enforcing its neutrality laws, caused
enormous losses to American trade and commerce, caused irritation,
annoyance and disturbance among our citizens, and by the exercise
of cruel, barbarous and uncivilized practices of warfare, shocked
the sensibilities 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 course of a struggle unequaled in the
history of the island, and rarely paralleled 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 lucrative commerce virtually paralyzed, its exceptional
productiveness diminished, its fields laid waste, its mills in
ruins, and its people perishing by tens of thousands 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 seaports 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 Legislature, so that issues wholly external to our own body
politic stand in the way of that close devotion to domestic advancement
that becomes's self-contained 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 predecessor'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 submission 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-General's bando of October, 1896,
in the province of Pinar del Rio was thence extended 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 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, dwellings 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,
reconcentration--so-called--had been made effective over the
better part of the four central and western provinces, Santa
Clara, Matanzas, Havana and Pinar 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 exposed 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 assassination 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 condition of the island, although not accepted
to the extent of admitted mediation 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 claimed earnest attention. The success which
had attended the limited measure of relief extended to the
suffering American citizens among them by the judicious
expenditure through the Consular agencies of the money
appropriated 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 succor
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 continued 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 November,
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
extermination a final military victory for either side seems
impracticable. The alternative 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 civilized 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 prolongation 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 representation 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
reconcentration so as to permit the people to return to their
farms and the needy to be relieved with 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 preparation thereof to the Insular Parliament, inasmuch as the
concurrence of that body would be necessary to reach a final result, it
being, however, understood that the powers reserved by the Constitution
to the central government are not lessened or diminished. As the Cuban
Parliament does not meet until the 4th of May nest, 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 determine
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 contestants, 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 intervention 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 earnest, unselfish desire for peace and prosperity in
Cuba, untarnished by differences 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
parties to the contest, as well to enforce a truce as to guide the
eventual settlement.
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 answer 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 to the commerce, trade and business of our people, and by
the wanton destruction 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 relations,
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 harbor 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 statement 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
contained an expression of the readiness of Spain to submit to an
arbitration all the differences which can arise in this matter,
which is subsequently explained 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 between 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 these 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 people of Cuba, and to secure in the
island the establishment of a stable government capable of
maintaining order and observing its international obligations,
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 Congress. 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
Constitution and the law, I await your action.
THE ADDENDA.
Yesterday, and since the preparation of the foregoing message,
official information 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 proclaim a suspension of
hostilities, the duration and details of which have not yet been
communicated to me. This fact, with every other pertinent
consideration, will, I am sure, have your just and careful
attention in the solemn deliberations upon which you are about to
enter. If this measure attains a successful result, then our
aspirations as a Christian, peace-loving people will be realized.
If it fails, it will be only another justification for our
contemplated 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 Ode 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 condition of their coast defences. For the first time in
many years general 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
complications abroad seemed to be at an end, the care of the navy
was abandoned and ships were sold with scarcely a protest, almost
as entirely as had been done eighty years before, at the end of
the Revolution. 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 obsolete guns, were of no value whatever
in the event of hostilities with a 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,
presided over by Rear-Admiral John Bodgers, "to determine the
requirements 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 torpedo 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
construction was in an experimental stage and that we should let
the European 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 own money in work that would have to
be thrown away 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-plate were learning their craft too, so that
progress was along parallel 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 RANK 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
materially 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 calculation of all the elements that
enter into the efficiency of the navies, such as tonnage, speed,
armor, caliber and range of armament, number of enlisted men and
their efficiency. Such calculations cannot be absolute, for they
cannot measure at all times the accuracy of the gunnery of a
certain vessel. The human equation enters so prominently into
warfare that mathematical calculations must be at all times
incomplete. 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 protected
cruisers, the Texas a second-class battle ship and the Puritan a
double-turret monitor. Among the second-raters all but the Miantonomah,
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.
NAME Displacement Guns in indicated Hull
(tons) main battery horsepower
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.
NAME Displacement Guns in indicated Hull
(tons) main battery horsepower
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
Terror 3,990 4 1,600 Iron
Lancaster 3,250 12 1,000 Wood
Cincinnati 3,213 11 10,000 Steel
Raleigh 3,213 11 10,000 Steel
Atlanta 3,000 8 4,030 Steel
Boston 3,000 8 4,030 Steel
THIRD RATE.
NAME Displacement Guns in indicated Hull
(tons) main battery horsepower
Hartford 2,790 13 2,000 Wood
Katahdin 2,155 4 5,068 Steel
Ajax 2,100 2 340 Iron
Canonicus 2,100 2 340 Iron
Mahopac 2,100 2 340 Iron
Manhattan 2,100 2 340 Iron
Wyandotte 2,100 2 340 Iron
Detroit 2,089 10 5,227 Steel
Montgomery 2,089 10 5,580 Steel
Marblehead 2,089 10 5,451 Steel
Marion 1,900 8 1,100 Wood
Mohican 1,900 10 1,100 Wood
Comanche 1,873 2 340 Iron
Catskill 1,875 2 340 Iron
Jason 1,875 2 340 Iron
Lehigh 1,875 2 340 Iron
Montauk 1,875 2 340 Iron
Nahant 1,875 2 340 Iron
Nantucket 1,875 2 340 Iron
Passaic 1,875 2 340 Iron
Bennington 1,710 6 3,436 Steel
Concord 1,710 6 3,405 Steel
Yorktown 1,710 6 3,392 Steel
Dolphin 1,486 2 2,253 Steel
Wilmington 1,392 8 1,894 Steel
Helena 1,392 8 1,988 Steel
Adams 1,375 6 800 Wood
Alliance 1,375 6 800 Wood
Essex 1,375 6 800 Wood
Enterprise 1,375 4 800 Wood
Nashville 1,371 8 2,536 Steel
Monocacy 1,370 6 850 Iron
Thetis 1,250 0 530 Wood
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.
NAME Displacement Guns in indicated Hull
(tons) main battery horsepower
Vesuvius 929 3 3,795 Steel
Yantic 900 4 310 Wood
Petrel 892 4 1,095 Steel
Fern 840 0 0 Wood
Bancroft 839 4 1,213 Steel
Michigan 685 4 365 Iron
Pinta 550 2 310 Iron
TORPEDO BOATS.
NAME Displacement Guns in indicated Hull
(tons) main battery horsepower
1-Gushing 105 3 1,720 Steel
2-Ericsson 120 3 1,800 Steel
3-Foote 142 3 2,000 Steel
4-Rodgers 142 3 2,000 Steel
5-Winslow 142 3 2,000 Steel
6-Porter 0 3 0 Steel
7-Du Pont 0 3 0 Steel
8-Rowan 182 3 3,200 Steel
9-Dahlgren 146 2 4,200 Steel
10-T. A. M. Craven 146 2 4,200 Steel
11-Farragut 273 2 5,600 Steel
12-Davis 132 3 1,750 Steel
13_Fox 132 3 1,750 Steel
14-Morris 103 3 1,750 Steel
15-Talbot 46 1/2 2 850 Steel
16-Gwin 46 1/2 2 850 Steel
17-Mackenzie 65 2 850 Steel
18-McKee 65 2 850 Steel
19-Stringham 340 2 7,200 Steel
20-Goldsborough 247 1/2 2 0 Steel
21-Bailey 235 2 5,600 Steel
Stiletto 31 2 359 Wood
TUGBOATS.
NAME Displacement Guns in indicated Hull
(tons) main battery horsepower
Fortune 450 0 340 Iron
Iwana. 192 0 300 Steel
Leyden 450 0 340 Iron
Narkeeta 192 0 300 Steel
Nina 357 0 388 Iron
Rocket 187 0 147 Wood
Standish 450 1 340 Iron
Traffic 280 0 0 Wood
Triton 212 0 300 Steel
Waneta 192 0 300 Steel
Unadilla 345 0 500 Steel
Samoset 225 0 450 Steel
SAILING SHIPS.
NAME Displacement Guns in indicated Hull
(tons) main battery horsepower
Monongahela 2,100 4 0 Wood
Constellation 1,186 8 0 Wood
Jamestown 1,150 0 0 Wood
Portsmouth 1,125 12 0 Wood
Saratoga 1,025 0 0 Wood
St. Mary's. 1,025 0 0 Wood
RECEIVING SHIPS.
NAME Displacement Guns in indicated Hull
(tons) main battery horsepower
Franklin 5,170 4 1,050 Wood
Wabash 4,650 0 950 Wood
Vermont 4,150 0 0 Wood
Independence 3,270 .6 0 Wood
Richmond 2,700 .2 692 Wood
UNSERVICEABLE.
NAME Displacement Guns in indicated Hull
(tons) main battery horsepower
New Hampshire 4,150 .6 0 Wood
Pensacola 3,000 0 680 Wood
Omaha. 2,400 0 953 Wood
Constitution 2,200 4 0 Wood
Iroquois 1,575 0 1,202 Wood
Nipsic 1,375 4 839 Wood
St. Louis 830 0 0 Wood
Dale. 675 0 0 Wood
Minnesota 4,700 9 1,000 Wood
UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
NAME Displacement Guns in indicated Hull
(tons) main battery horsepower
Kearsarge 11,525 22 10,000 Steel
Kentucky 11,525 22 10,000 Steel
Illinois 11,525 18 10,000 Steel
Alabama 11,525 18 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 0 450 Steel
Tug No. 7 225 0 450 Steel
Training ship. 1,175 6 0 Comp
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 torpedo boat destroyers. This table
accounts for every war ship Spain has, 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. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
Pelayo 9,900 22 17.0 Steel
Vitoria (inefficient)7,250 0 11.0 Iron
OLD BATTLE SHIPS.
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
Numancia 7,250 10 11.0 Iron
FIRST-CLASS ARMORED CRUISERS.
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
Carlos V 9,235 28 20.0 Steel
Cisneros 7,000 24 20.0 Steel
Cataluna 7,000 24 20.0 Steel
Princess Asturias 7,000 24 20.0 Steel
Almirante Oquendo 7,000 30 20.0 Steel
Maria Teresa 7,000 30 20.0 Steel
Vizcaya 7,000 30 20.0 Steel
Cristobal Colon 6,840 40 20.0 Steel
SECOND-CLASS ARMORED CRUISERS.
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
Alfonso XII 5,000 19 20.0 Steel
Lepanto 4,826 25 20.0 Steel
UNARMORED CRUISERS.
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
Reina Christina 3,520 21 17.5 Steel
Aragon 3,342 24 17.5 Steel
Cartilla 3,342 22 17.5 Steel
Navarra 3,342 16 17.5 Steel
Alfonso XII 3,090 23 17.5 Steel
Reina Mercedes 3,090 21 17.5 Steel
Velasco 1,152 7 14.3 Steel
C. de Venadito 1,130 13 14.0 Steel
Ulloa 1,130 12 14.0 Steel
Austria 1,130 12 14.0 Steel
Isabel 1,130 15 14.0 Steel
Isabel II 1,130 16 14.0 Steel
Isla de Cuba 1,030 12 16.0 Steel
Isla de Luzon 1,030 12 16.0 Steel
Ensenada 1,030 13 15.0 Steel
Quiros 315 0 0 Iron
Villabolas 315 0 0 Iron
---- 935 5 0 Wood
TORPEDO BOATS. [Footnote: Armed with two and four torpedo tubes,
six quick fire and two machine guns.]
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
Alvaro de Bezan 830 0 20.0 Steel
Maria Molina 830 0 20.0 Steel
Destructor 458 0 20.0 Steel
Filipinas 750 0 20.0 Steel
Galicia 571 0 20.0 Steel
Marques Vitoria 830 0 20.0 Steel
Marques Molina 571 0 20.0 Steel
Pinzon 571 0 20.0 Steel
Nueva Espana 630 0 20.0 Steel
Rapido 570 0 20.0 Steel
Temerario 590 0 20.0 Steel
Yanez Pinzon 571 0 20.0 Steel
GUNBOATS. [Footnote: There are eighteen others of smaller size,
which with the above were built for service in Cuban waters,
and are now there.]
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
Hernon Cortes 300 1 12.0 Steel
Pizarro 300 2 12.0 Steel
Nunez Balboa 300 1 12.5 Steel
Diego Velasquez 200 3 12.0 Steel
Ponce de Leon 200 3 12.0 Steel
Alvarado 100 2 12.0 Steel
Sandoval 100 2 12.0 Steel
TORPEDO BOAT DESTROYERS.
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
Audaz 400 6 30.0 Steel
Furor 380 6 28.0 Steel
Terror 380 6 28.0 Steel
Osada 380 6 28.0 Steel
Pluton 380 6 28.0 Steel
Prosperina 380 6 28.0 Steel
SMALL TORPEDO BOATS.
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
Ariete 0 0 26.1 Steel
Rayo 0 0 25.5 Steel
Azor 0 0 24.0 Steel
Halcon 0 0 24.0 Steel
Habana 0 0 21.3 Steel
Barcelo 0 0 19.5 Steel
Orion 0 0 21.5 Steel
Retamosa 0 0 20.5 Steel
Ordonez 0 0 20.1 Steel
Ejercito 0 0 19.1 Steel
Pollux 0 0 19.5 Steel
Castor 0 0 19.0 Steel
Aire 0 0 8.0 Steel
GUN VESSELS (SO-CALLED).
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
General Concha 520 0 0 Steel
Elcano 524 0 0 Steel
General Lego 524 0 0 Steel
Magellanes 524 0 0 Steel
BUILDING.
(Battle ship.)
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
---- 10,000 0 0 Steel
(Armored cruisers.)
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
---- 10,500 0 0 Steel
Pedro d'Aragon 6,840 0 0 Steel
(Protected cruisers.)
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
Reina Regente 5,372 0 0 Steel
Rio de la Plata 1,775 0 0 Steel
(Torpedo boats.)
Five of Ariete type and one of 750 tons.
LINERS FOR CONVERSION.
NAME. Tonnage. Guns in Speed in Hull.
Batteries. knots/hour.
Magellanes 6,932 0 17.0 Steel
Buenos Aires 5,195 0 14.0 Steel
Montevideo 5,096 0 14.5 Steel
Alfonso XII 5,063 0 15.0 Steel
Leon XIII 4,687 0 15.0 Steel
Satrustegui 4,638 0 15.0 Steel
Alfonso XIII 4,381 0 16.0 Steel
Maria Cristina 4,381 0 16.0 Steel
Luzon 4,252 0 13.0 Steel
Mindanao 4,195 0 13.5 Steel
Isla de Panay 3,636 0 13.5 Steel
Cataluna 3,488 0 14.0 Steel
City of Cadiz 3,084 0 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
between the United States and Spain, was what would be the results
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 Reina 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
authorities. 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
down 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 destructive 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
destructive. 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 between 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. Everything below the
one-pounder is in the machine-gun class.
The base of rapid-fire work is the bringing together in one
cartridge 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 battleships 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
destruction 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 projectiles 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, Hotchkiss 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:
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
caliber that some of the Spanish torpedo-boat destroyers are
armed. The largest gun as yet mounted on our largest torpedo-boats
is the 6-pounder, while a single 1-pounder is the gun armament of
the ordinary torpedo-boat. The Hotchkiss revolver cannon is not
given in the table because its caliber, etc., is the same as that
of the 1-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 ammunition 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, 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 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 appalling. 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 battleship like the
Massachusetts 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 Chickamauga--
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
President 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: Battleships Iowa and Indiana, armored cruiser New York,
the monitors Puritan, Terror and Amphitrite, the gunboats
Nashville, Castine, Machias, Wilmington and Helena, the cruisers
Detroit, Cincinnati and Marblehead, and the torpedo-boats Cushing,
Ericsson, Dupont, Foote, Winslow, Porter and Mayflower.
These comprised a hard fighting aggregation under a cool and
daring 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
concentration for the regular troops which were gathered for the
war with Spain. It was the initial camp where the mobilization
took place, and 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, dislikes 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
regiment 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 Colorado and Minnesota. In time of peace
the regular army is badly scattered. It is seldom that an entire
regiment is stationed at one post, the companies being distributed
over a wide area of territory. A mobilization, 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
Indians 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 enthusiasm and worked as hard as the proverbial
beavers. Drills once distasteful and shirked whenever possible
were gone through with alacrity and the "boy in blue" was a true
soldier, every inch of him. There was war in sight.
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 Chickamauga, 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 domestic conveniences were concerned. Everything had to
be taken there, and each regiment, which was a small canvas town
in itself, had to depend entirely upon its own resources. Dotted
here and there throughout 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 writing paper,
pocket inkstand, a razor strop, unless he had foresworn shaving, a
briar or corn-cob pipe, and a bag of tobacco completed the
furnishings 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 were more than appreciated during
the cold, rainy weather that prevailed at Camp Thomas.
The mess tents and cookhouses are about 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 denominated 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 FORT 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 increased 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 cavalry 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, except
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 predilections in
this line. There were orders against foraging, of course; 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 prowling around at that time of night.
Before the culprit could frame an excuse the Major noticed a
suspicious bulging of the front of the trooper's blouse, and an
uneasy, twisting motion within. 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 out 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
effrontery. "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 November, 1861, but was soon
appointed chief commissary and quartermaster to the Army of
Southwest Missouri, which practically severed his connection 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 Sherman, who was by that time a major-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
Government 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 whatever might follow.
That they withstood the strain so well bears testimony to their
mental poise and strength of character.
The President's demeanor underwent a noticeable change. The
affable, 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. McKinley'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
intervention by our Government, the President sent an ultimatum to
Spain, quoting the act of Congress, and notifying her that her
army and navy must be withdrawn from Cuba by noon of April 23.
The Spanish Minister, Polo y Bernabe, at once applied for his
passports, 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 notification to General Woodford, from the Spanish
Minister of Foreign Affairs, 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 equivalent 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
convenient.
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 distinguished 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 preparations 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 bearing 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 striking
contrast "with the course of the Spanish Government. The Spaniards
lost no opportunity to show their resentment toward the Americans.
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 beneficiaries 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
Jamaica. 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 believed 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 days to two weeks. 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
blockade began to bear heavily.
SPANISH SPIES AT WORK.
Just prior to the breaking out of actual hostilities between this
country and Spain the military attache of the Spanish legation at
Washington 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 in 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 Sobrap'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 thrilling times in
the annals of the Junta, when Rubens, Palma and Captain O'Brien
were regularly followed to and from their homes to their
headquarters. 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 controlled from the
refuge Canada offered him.
The gathering together of information and those facts which
usually concern the operation of secret service of civilized
countries seemed to be a side issue with this particular
department. The scope of its operations 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
emissaries celebrated his success with many tons of good American
gunpowder, 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 situation 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
Spaniards who, unless they commit some overt act of violence, can
enjoy all the privileges accorded to a citizen. This, together
with our mixed population, in many quarters made up largely of the
peoples of Southern Europe, all more or less of one type, all
speaking languages which, to untrained 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
capture 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
answer 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
Santander, 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
telegrams 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
issued by the Navy Department previous to her seizure, but which
had not 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 information of the blockade was
received, would be allowed to land at Havana certain passengers,
her mail bags and the dispatch bag of the Consulate-General of
France and take some French passengers on board. An assurance was
given that, if this privilege should be granted, the steamer would
be forbidden by the French 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 request of the French Government should be acceded to. Orders
were accordingly sent on the 2d of May. When information was
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 release 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 steamer's release. The
Wilmington will escort the LaFayette to Havana to-night."
On May 8th the British tramp steamer Strathdee, Captain Currie,
attempted to run the blockade, but was overhauled by the gunboat
Machias. 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 Matanzas, where it was desired to disembark some of the
refugees. The commander 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 brigantine
Lorenzo, taken by the Montgomery near Havana, on Friday, while
bound for Rio de la Plata with a cargo of dried beef.
The Espana, a little fishing sloop, was taken by the Morrill 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.
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
between 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, following
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
Newport 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
Spaniards 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 been set for them. Had the Spaniards possessed their
souls in patience but five minutes 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 daylight ran off to the
eastward, hugging the shore, with the wind on her starboard
quarter. About three miles east of the entrance to the harbor 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 Vicksburg,
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 which 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 pilothouse 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.
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
accurately set. The crews 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 Morrill, slightly in-shore, sheered off and passed to
windward under the Morrill's 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 water 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 Morrill's 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 Morrill and the
Vicksburg steamed away their aft guns were used, but only a few
shots were fired. The Morrill's 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 firing when the Morrill and Vicksburg were completely out
of range.
If all the Spanish gunners had been suffering from strabismus
their practice could not have been worse. But the officers of both
the Morrill and Vicksburg frankly admit their own recklessness and
the narrow escape 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 would have offered no more resistance than a piece of paper to
a rifle ball.
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 smokestack of a
vessel.
As soon as the ships sheered off after the first fire, the Spanish
gunners lost the range and their practice became ludicrous. If
they had waited five minutes longer before opening fire, Captain
Smith says it would have 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 penetrated 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, wounding several of them and putting them to
flight. The Leyden then finished 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
Government 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
diplomatic 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
breaking 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.
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 binding 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
certainly interfere, in the event that Spain attempted to carry on
privateering under the old methods.
THE WAR FEELING IN SPAIN.
In Spain the war feeling was high. The Queen Regent, 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 measures of a hostile kind. A blockade had been established
and Spanish vessels had been captured. While every civilized power
on earth immediately learned the facts, there still remained the
necessity of going through the formal act of notifying them of
this government's intentions. 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 international law, "a declaration
may be necessary, but is not essential." In this case, when it
became so evident that a general conflict was imminent, 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 whatever 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
insurgents 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 believe 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-interference by others in the management of our own affairs.
"Cuba free and independent" is the watchword of Cuban liberty.
The Cuban commanders await some decisive step on the part of your
generals. 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 without 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
embarrassed 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 government 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 confiscation, no distinctions.
CHAPTER XLIII.
CALL FOR THE NATIONAL GUARD, OUR CITIZEN SOLDIER.
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"--Cowboys 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
character 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 examination. 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
regimental commander.
Minors must not be enlisted without the written consent of father,
only surviving parent, or legally appointed guardian. Original
enlistment 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 varicose veins. Varicose veins are
enlarged veins which are apt to burst under the stress of long
continued exertion. Closely allied to this is varicocele, 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 description. 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 doctor 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 question 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 well-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 digestion and are apt to develop stomach troubles.
Of course other things taken into consideration a particular
defect may be overlooked according 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.
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 chapter 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 applauding nations, and
the thanksgiving of a people made free by their struggles. 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
inevitable, 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 materials 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 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 battle 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
sufficient 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 success: 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 Chickamauga, 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 General
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."
ABOUT THE ROUGH RIDERS.
Those who are acquainted with the nature of the service usually
required 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 cowboy is a rapidly passing type. Barbed wire, the fencing in
of the range, together with the irrigation and cultivation of
those regions which were once marked as deserts on the maps--have
been responsible 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 was 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 powder 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 was 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.
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 outbreak, 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 sword, 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 swordsmen; their reliance was on the rifle and
revolver. The machete was carried merely as a possible dependence
should ammunition fail, or a hand-to-hand encounter with the
cavalry of the enemy occur. In the development of this plan of
action it can be seen that Colonel Wood and Lieutenent-Colonel
Roosevelt 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--
Privateering Abolished--Distribution of Prize Money--The Use the
Government 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
expeditions 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 territory, 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 outrages are committed the neutral must submit and has no
ground for 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
designed 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, Russia has never done so.
Still more objectionable, nowadays, is coal, which will never be
allowed to reach the bunkers of hostile warships if it can be
prevented. This shows plainly how uncertain and changeful is the
list, for fifty years ago coal was as free as provisions, 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 cases, 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 confiscation, whatever their cargo might prove to be.
Only properly commissioned vessels, however, are entitled to hold
up merchantmen for this purpose. Another kind of meddling in war
for which a neutral citizen 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 communication 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.
Instructions of this sort were issued by President McKinley to our
squadron 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
neutrals 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, no nation would consider
them worthy of the slightest attention. If Spain, for instance,
should attempt a desperate game of bluff by declaring 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 universal 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 circumstances, 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 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
command.
2. To the commander of a division of a fleet or squadron, a sum
equal to one-fiftieth of any prize money awarded 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 hanging over the latter, the embarrassments of the
government of the peninsular kingdom as to the conflict of its own
affairs at home multiplied daily. Altogether aside from the
prospective operations of the war 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 difficulties 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 republicans 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 request, 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.
DON CARLOS AND THE CARLISTS.
Spain has been the scene of many revolutions, a fact easily
understood when the character of the government is known.
Dishonesty and oppression in an administration always breed the
spirit of rebellion. 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 Regent, 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
ambitious 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 appreciate, 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,
commanding the Carlists, "Forward," and not only the Carlists, but
all Spaniards, especially to the two national forces which still
bravely withstand the enervating 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 influence 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 between 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.
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 taxation was out of the question, for the
people were taxed to the limit.
These were the causes to which the strength of the Carlist
agitation 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 interfere 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 and trembling. A more
plausible reason would be that the ministry wished to be in the
good graces of 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 favorable 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 Borne in the days of the empire, rests largely
upon the army, and if the army, discontented and dissatisfied as
it certainly is, were to revolt, Don Carlos' 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
favorable opportunity for a 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 before 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 moment to lead an army in a forlorn cause and
will fight, for what he believes 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
dispossessed for about the same length of time and he has made a
fight just as romantic, but with more brilliant prospects, and at
the head of the heroic highlanders, dwellers in the Basque
mountains. His 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
ancestors 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 unfitted to reign. The heir apparent to the
throne was the grandfather of the present Don Carlos, Carlos V.,
the brother of Ferdinand. Between 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
Ferdinand 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 Ferdinand repented his act and issued documents
which would have established Carlos' right to the succession, but
that these were suppressed. 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
monarchy 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
historians treat the succession as settled in favor of the young
girl, who even at that time was not in her teens.
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. He
attempted to cause a revolution in 1860, but was arrested with his
brother, and they were not liberated until they had signed a
renunciation of their claims to the throne.
The second pretender died in 1861, and then the present Don Carlos
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 Rafael. 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 Roman 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 then
offered him by Prim and Sagasta, who journeyed to London for the
purpose. They said it should be his if he would support the
liberal constitution proposed for the country and would favor the
separation of church and state. It was the latter idea that led to
his rejection 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
dethronement 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 defined
clearly his position and views in various manifestos 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 between 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 saying 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 as 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 people 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.
Royalists 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 farewell to Spain, but his last words,
energetically pronounced, 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
representative 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. Except 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, barring 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 Europe. 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 of which they believe themselves to have been defrauded.
The Carlists believe that with the support of one of the great
governments they would have won. But they could obtain no
recognition 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 administrative 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
belligerency 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 government, 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 continental 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
husband, from whom she had lived apart for fifteen years.
MARRIED A FORTUNE.
This threw the pretender again into financial straits, for he has
expensive tastes which require a large fortune to support. So he
looked around for a bride. His followers were startled to hear of
his marriage to the wealthy Princess Marie Berthe de Rohan. The
marriage took place April 29, 1894, and, although she was handsome
and exceedingly 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 and 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
degree 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
political 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 as 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 qualities.
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 dictator. 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
Philippine 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
remarkable 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
Spanish 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
Negritos, 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 deal of doubt. The remainder of the
people are governed according to their own customs, by independent
native princes. Education is exceedingly backward. The Roman
Catholic clergy have been industrious, 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
revolutions 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 characterized the Spanish conquest of South America,
but the record is second 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 Hongkong, and twice that distance northeast of Singapore. The
population 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 perhaps 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 of the government--the sole end for which it is organized and
maintained; so why should petty officials be scrupulous? It is the
old Roman provincial system, denounced by Cicero 2,000 years ago,
but in Spain unforgotten and unimproved. What other use has she
for dependencies, except as a source of revenue wrung by torture
from the misery of slaves, and incidentally as a battening ground
for her savage war dogs? Here the detestable Weyler is said to
have accumulated 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
medieval 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 $1.50 to $25, according to circumstances--the
chief circumstances being the victim'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 cocoanut 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; everything 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, however, 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 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 remote 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 become 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 machinery 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 of 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
regular lines of passenger steamers. The European colony has its
daily papers, which are, however, under strict censorship,
religious and military, 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
colony all the men who could be spared from service in Cuba, and
after 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 comparatively small part of the islands, and the natives
elsewhere are as free from obligation to pay Spanish taxes as they
were before the discovery.
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 American houses
and American ships were by no means at the foot of the list. The total
volume of the exports and imports is about $75,000,000 annually.
The manufactures of the Philippines consist chiefly of textile
fabrics of pineapple fiber, silk and cotton; hats, mats, baskets,
rope, furniture, 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 provide a living for those who
wish to take advantage of what 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, while 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 exploration has been of little
practical value to the rest of the world or to science.
PUERTO RICO.
Puerto Rico, 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 reason it is not at all affected climatically, as Cuba is, by
proximity to the continent. Its climate is determined mostly by
the ocean, whose 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 navigable, 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 oil the
hills. It is a purely agricultural country and the great majority
of the natives are farmers. In the population of 810,000 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 every where
except near the seashore, and for reasons already stated the
climate is very favorable 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 employments 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 with rapture the sabino, so called by the
natives, 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 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 Rico are, when translated, Rich 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, are 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 Rico 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 consular 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 Rico 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 mining 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 government finds a profit in monopolizing
the sale of it.
Puerto Rico 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 compass. 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 Rico, 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 drawing 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 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, portcullises and demilunes, quaint old sentry
boxes projecting into the sea, frowning battlements, and all that;
but 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
Havana, has its Morro as the most 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 seaward front of
the massive 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 thoroughness 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, with a population of about 38,000 and
an export trade of vast extent. It is the chief sugar-shipping point,
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
Mayaguez, at the former of which Columbus watered his caravels in
1493, and where the original spring still gushes forth.
Going with Puerto Rico 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 estimated 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
Possessions in Asia square miles. Population.
Philippine Islands 114,326 7,000,000
Sulu Islands 950 73,000
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 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
belong to what is sometimes known as Micronesia, from the extreme
diminutiveness 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 narrow 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
reason 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
remains 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
Prisoner of War--The Situation in Havana--Blanco Makes a Personal
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-Potomac" 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
flagship 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 prevent 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.
Probably twenty-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 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 Rubalcaya Point, while the Cincinnati 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 Rubalcaya. 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. Colonel
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 merchandise, 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 communication
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 $1 a pound.
Chickens are $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
Cosme 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
battery, 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 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 advantage 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 populace."
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 letter of General Blanco was as follows:
General Maximo Gomez, Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary
Forces:
Sir--It cannot be concealed from you that the Cuban problem has
radically changed. We Spaniards and Cubans find ourselves facing a
foreign people of different race, of a naturally absorbent
tendency, and with intentions 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 our 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 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 sacrifice he obtained the United
States as an ally, an acquisition that assured him of final
success. Under these circumstances Blanco, the representative of
the forces against which Gomez had been contending, appealed 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.
"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 expressions 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 discards the consideration of accident of birth and, apart
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 the 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 a 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.
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 every 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 American 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
republic wedded to peace can prepare quickly for war, and that a
popular government is as quick and powerful as a monarchy to
avenge insult or wrong.
CHAPTER 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--Importance 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
Philippine islands. The eyes of every civilized country were
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
everywhere, 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 would 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 encounter 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 admittedly great, and finally the
sullen roar of discontent that was rising 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
generously as possible in favor of the Spanish forces, the
enthusiasm of the people throughout the cities and villages of
America swelled in a rising tide of joy 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
result, and an absolute assurance grew in every one's mind that no
reverse 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
Hongkong 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
circumstances of the case were considered it is not strange that
something like a chill of apprehension began to be felt as to the
fate of the American fleet and its gallant commander. Manila bay
was known to be mined, and electric connections might again have
been made. The guns of the forts on the land-locked 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.
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 within range of the shore
batteries until the two transports were safely inside the harbor.
The Olympia, Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel and Concord passed in
safety and the land batteries might never have suspected the
presence 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 were 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 between the fort at Restingo and
the batteries on the island of Corregidor 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 McCulloch's only chance to get into battle.
She slowed down and stopped and sent a six-pound shot at the shore
battery and followed immediately with another.
The Spaniards answered, but this time the shot went wild. The
McCulloch then sent a third shell, and almost immediately, the
Boston 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 the 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 entrance 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 SPANISH 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 outlines 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, coming 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 meantime
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 American 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
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 States. 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 exploited in
agricultural or individual labor. Vain design! Ridiculous
boasting! 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 by unbelief. The aggressors shall not profane the tombs of
your fathers. They shall not gratify their lustful passions 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 wickedness 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 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.
EXPLODING THE MINES.
If the cry of "Remember 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 minutes
before 5 o'clock. She was moving at moderate speed. The other
vessels followed in the same order which had been observed in
entering the bay. The Spaniards were impatient and showed bad
judgment. 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 flagship. 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 was 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 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,
delivering 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 second 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 particular 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 recovery.
DUEL OF THE FLAGSHIPS.
It was during the delivery of this last attack that the Reina Christina
made a valiant attack. Up to that time not a Spanish ship had 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 welcomed 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 well-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 painfully 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 burning ship and into the small boats. Admiral
Montejo escaped and transferred 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
advantage 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 difficult to describe in detail these first two hours
of terrific fighting. The sounds were deafening, and at times the
smoke 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
damages 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 Reina 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 fighting 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 remnant 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
punishment. 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.
Admiral 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 abandoned 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
surrendered. The word was passed rapidly from ship to ship. The
American 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 out as good as she went in.
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 Raleigh 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
commandant 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 between 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 Red 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. One of these
communications, 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 Olympia 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 engagement, 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 unsatisfactory targets and kept the Spanish
gunners guessing as to the correct range.
In spite of his overwhelming defeat Admiral Montejo did not forget
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
Spanish 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
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 Rapido; Gunboat
Hercules; two whaleboats; three steam launches.
Secretary Long sent this dispatch immediately to Acting Admiral
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 nomination making
George Dewey a rear admiral in the United States navy. Congress
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 $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 gratitude 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 Discussion--The Vote in the House of
Representatives--The Hawaiian Commission.
A work of this character would be incomplete without mention of
the Hawaiian Islands, and their intimate political and commercial
connection with our own country. For many years prior to the
commencement of the war with Spain there had been a growing
sentiment in favor of their annexation to the United States, and
events in Washington 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 productive. 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
children 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 mere songs the sons of missionaries
obtained great tracts of marvelously 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.
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 dividends 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 annually 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 American, 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 titanic force are plainly visible.
Mark Twain is authority for saying that the two great active
volcanoes, 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 Roman 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 Kilauea. Hotels
have been built on the mountain sides for the accommodation 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 Punchbowl. 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 cumbered 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 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 improvements are not lacking.
The arrangement of the streets in Honolulu reminds many Americans
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 and 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, and in January, 1893, attempted to
promulgate a new constitution, 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 was
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 committee to
take into further consideration whatever was necessary to protect
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."
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 asserted 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 entangling 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
Providence, we have to carry the republican independence, which
our fathers achieved, with all the organized institutions of an
enlightened community--institutions of religion, law, education,
charity, art and all the thousand graces of the highest culture--
beyond the Missouri, beyond 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 Indian 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 purchase. 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 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
contiguous 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 Ill., 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 completion 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 administration 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:
"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 Cleveland after his accession to
the Presidency. Both were ratified by the Hawaiian Legislature in
accordance with 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 sentiments but those of the voters of this republic."
The necessity for a closer relation of the two republics than that
provided 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
commercial 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 that with
either of the following States and confederations: Argentina,
Central America, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela, Russia, or
Denmark; 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 annexation of Hawaii. The debate, which was continued
without interruption for three days, was one of the most notable
of Congress, the proposed 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, however, members began taking their places and
there were few more than a score of absentees when the first roll
call was taken. The announcement 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 Hawaii,
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
government of the islands all civil, judicial and military powers
now exercised by the officers of the existing government shall be
exercised in 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
Hawaiians 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
reviewed the territorial additions to the original states to show
that practically 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 Caribbean
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
statesmanship to cease looking at great public questions with a
microscope and sweep the world's horizon with a telescope from a
commanding height."
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
colonization, he said gentlemen could not deny that the holding of
the Philippines was contemplated already. What was more deplorable
and significant, he said, was the expressed fear of the President
lest Spain should sue for peace before we could secure Puerto
Rico. 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
distrusts 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 properly 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
resolutions. He believed the people of the country were familiar
with the issue involved, and the time was opportune for a vote and
final action. Answering the claim that annexation would mean
launching upon 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. The 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; Representative 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
quarters" 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
came 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
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
principal 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 Amphitrite 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
Spaniards, 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 Amphitrite
died during the action from prostration caused by the extreme heat
and excitement.
The Iowa, Indiana, New York, Terror, and Amphitrite went close
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 11th 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 wounded 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 Hudson'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: J.
B. Bernadou, lieutenant, commanding the Winslow; R. E. Cox, gunner'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 Romero Cay, just
outside Cardenas, so close to shore that it grounded, but it
floated off easily into the shallow water.
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 Wilmington took its station in mid-channel. This work occupied
two hours. Nothing was discovered on either shore, and the boats
were approaching 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 waited 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 dangerously 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 minutes
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
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 was 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 went 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 was 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
starboard engine and steering gear 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
crashing 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
Spaniards' 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 temporary repairs, while the Hudson brought
the ghastly cargo into Key West, with Dr. Richards 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 submitted 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 hospital. The dead were taken to the local
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 Cienfuegos,
on the 11th of May. Four determined boat crews, under command of
Lieutenant 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 Marblehead, the gunboat Nashville and the
auxiliary cruiser Windom 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 when 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 swarms 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
Windom 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 command 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
immediately opened fire with her two port six-pounders. The Wampatuck
then commenced firing with her one three-pounder. The gunboat, however,
was out of range of these small guns and, the shells fell short.
The Spaniards opened fire with 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.
Captain Goodrich, seeing that he could not get the gunboat within
range of his small guns, while that vessel could easily reach the
St. Louis and Wanipatuck 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 with the
Gatling gun mounted aft and the Spaniards on shore could be seen
scattering and running for shelter. The French cable was 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
volunteers 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
temporarily increasing the military establishment of the United
States in time of war and for other purposes," approved April
22, 1898, the President is authorized, 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 deeming 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 by 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 proportion of each arm and the
details of enlistment and organization will be made known 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 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 K. DAY, Secretary of State.
RUNNING DOWN HIS PREY.
Four weeks after the victory of Rear-Admiral Dewey at Manila,
Commodore Schley, in command of the flying squadron, had his
shrewdness 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 information and his opinion was not given much
weight.
The captain of the British steamer Adula, who was interviewed at
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 argued 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 Spanish 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
reception 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
entrance, 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."
THE VOYAGE OF THE OREGON.
The voyage of the Oregon from San Francisco to Florida is a matter
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 completed 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 steaming. 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
narrowest part, for the purpose of holding Cervera and his fleet
in the harbor, until the time when their capture or destruction
seemed advisable. 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. Admiral
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 B. Clausen were detailed to accompany
him.
Just before 3 o'clock on the morning of the 3d the collier, deeply
laden with, ballast material and some coal, was headed without
preliminary 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 Merrimac 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 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 Spanish 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
conduct 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
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 barracks 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 intrenchments with the consolation that his captivity
would be of short duration.
After the assault on Santiago arrangements were made by the
commanders 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
were not blindfolded. Colonel John Jacob Astor and Lieutenant
Miloy, accompanied by Interpreter Maestro, were in charge of the
Spanish prisoners. 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 were 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
finished and the two parties were separating Irles turned and
said, courteously enough, but in a tone which indicated
considerable defiance and gave his hearers the impression that he
desired hostilities to be renewed at once:
"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, destroyed several earthworks, and rendered the Estrella and
Cayo batteries, 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
Massachusetts, 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 Spaniards 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 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
American 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
Lieutenant 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
were engaging the heavy batteries, the Suwanee and Vixen closed
with 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 battery 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
order 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, when 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
distance east of Aguadores, and near the railroad station
connecting with Santiago de Cuba. Later an engagement took place
between the American 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. Huntington'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-enforcements were landed from the Marblehead.
The engagement began with desultory firing at the pickets, a
thousand yards inland from the camp. Captain Spicer's company was
doing guard duty and was driven in, finally rallying on the camp
and repulsing 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 without support, beat a hasty
retreat down the reverse side of the hill. During 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, 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-Major Henry Good was 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 suddenly 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. In the valley between the second and
third was the water tank. The 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. Captain
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 shooting 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.
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
Magill's 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
lieutenant 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 weeks 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 Shatter 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 Monday, 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
displaced by keen disappointment. Two questions were on every
tongue--"Has Spain surrendered?" "Has our fleet met with a
reverse?" The 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 while the transports were straining
at their cables the little tug Captain Sam steamed from ship to
ship megaphoning 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 wet 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 animals 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 and the great vessel pointed her prow down the bay. In a
few minutes the City of Washington, Rio Grande, Cherokee, Iroquois
and Whitney followed. As these boats picked their way through the
anchored fleet men shouted and bands played. Every vessel elicited
a wild display of enthusiasm. 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
Tarpon 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
channel, 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 away 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 Shatter and his staff were the last to leave. The last
orders were handed to Lieutenant Miley, an aid to General Shafter,
and immediately 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 entrance.
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 heard--a peculiarity of the explosion of gun 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 bombardment. 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 enemy's guns in the embrasures could be seen by the
gun captains.
Fifteen minutes later, at 5:25 am, the New York opened with a
broadside from her main battery at the works 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
ammunition, 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 preceding
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 plunging 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 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
debris 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 repeatedly, 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 RUSH.
Sea and weather were propitious when, on June 22, the great army
of invasion under General Shatter 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
honorably 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 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 Baiquiri dock. Some of the boats were manned by
crews of sailors, while others were rowed by the soldiers
themselves. Each boat contained 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
landing 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 Shafter'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
over one another to leap ashore. As the boats tossed about in the
surf getting ashore was no easy matter, and the soldiers had to
throw their rifles on the dock before they could climb up. Some
hard tumbles resulted, 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 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 the 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
Riders--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 were 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 being
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 victory 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 while 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
As soon as the enemy could be located a charge was ordered, and
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.
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 boldness
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 wire 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 Capron'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 Rough Riders, 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., was 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
coolness. He ordered troops to deploy into the thicket, and sent
another detachment into the open space on the left of the trail.
Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt 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 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 possible 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 were 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 Roosevelt 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 direction of Santiago, and the battle
was at an end.
During all this time just as hot a fire had been progressing at
General 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
Rough Riders, ran for the blockhouse 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 gratified 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. Shatter 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
battlefield of the morrow. At daylight Friday morning the forward
movement 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 Young were sick, so General Sumner was assigned to the
command of the former and Colonel Wood of the Rough Riders was
placed in command 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 and 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 General 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
morning. It was fired by Captain Allyn M. Capron'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 Spaniards 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 way the
Americans and Cubans under Garcia gained advanced ground. Foot by
foot the enemy was driven back into the village. The enthusiasm 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 balloon 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 much 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
middle 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 soldiers 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
Spaniards 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 Spaniards 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 Chaffee 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
exceedingly 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
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 by 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.
SHATTER'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 5--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 continually advised of progress.
SHAFTER.
For several hours this was the only information from the seat of
war, but later a dispatch came from Colonel Alien, 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 Americans 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 l.--I fear I have underestimated
to-day's casualties. A large and thoroughly equipped hospital ship
should be 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. SHAFTER,
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 approaching 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 sickness 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 Shafter:
Headquarters of the Army, Washington, D. C., July 3.--Accept my
hearty congratulations on the record made of magnificent
fortitude, gallantry, 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 patriotic
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 gratifying 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 Army 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 themselves as American soldiers always have. Your
telegram will be published 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 intrenchments was hurt. Of the Spanish 29th battalion
defending El Caney less than 100 survived. General Vara de Rey,
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 way 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
Santiago:
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 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 pm.--His Excellency, the General
Commanding 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 pm, 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
railroad 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 announce that I will
delay such action solely in their interest until noon of the 5th,
providing during the interval your forces make no demonstration
whatever 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 Shafter's headquarters to receive
the bearer of the flag. It was found that he was a commissioner
from 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 was 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 operators 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 surrender, 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 Santiago 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 Avails
of the city, where they were met by a Spanish escort and taken to
the office of the cable company.
DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA'S FLEET.
On the morning of July 3, Admiral Cervera, commander of the
Spanish 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
inevitable 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
Shatter 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 the
admiral to a conference with General Shafter. The fleet as a whole
was much farther off shore than usual. Any one looking seaward
from Morro Castle and seeing the distant specks on the water would
not have realized that the port was effectively blockaded.
Evidently the Spaniards had been waiting for the American fleet to
become thus scattered. They thought our fleet was 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
practically 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.
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 ship 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
headway was attempting to slip past the blockaders. The Maria
Teresa, the Vizcaya, 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 were
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
disabled. 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.
The Furor turned at last and gave battle to the Gloucester. Here
was another instance of American good luck and Spanish
inefficiency. The Furor sent torpedoes against the Gloucester, but
they failed to explode. As soon as the Spanish destroyer stopped
the Gloucester simply 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 fast
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
dangerously 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.
The Spanish ships had now reached a point about seven miles west
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
distress. 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 were 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 wounded 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 were taken to the Gloucester as rapidly as possible,
and the lower deck of the yacht was 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
Vizcaya. 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
mistaking the heartbroken expression upon the old commander's face
as he took the proffered hand of Captain Wainwright and was shown
to the latter's cabin, but he made every effort to bear bravely
the bitter defeat that had come to him. He thanked the Captain of
the Gloucester 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
explosion 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 of 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-Commander
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 was the only thing left for me
to do."
The work of the American battleships was as rapid as it was
terrible. 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,
Indiana and Texas. At 10:40 both were on the rocks. A few minutes
later the Vizcaya 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.
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 am,
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 Siboney, 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--blockading
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 westward. The torpedo boat Ericsson was in
company with the flagship, and remained with her during the chase
until ordered to discontinue, when she 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 vigorous 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 commencement of the action, took first
place. The Iowa and Indiana, 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 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 appearance 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
battery. 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 battleships 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, immediately 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 was 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 Vizcaya 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 ammunition on deck
already beginning to explode.
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 signaled 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 and
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 came off by the
working of the sea. But her sea valves were opened and broken,
treacherously, 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 admirable 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.
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 commanding officer of the
Cristobal Colon.
It was ascertained with fair conclusiveness that the Merrimac, so
gallantly 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
channel. Moving up to the port at a distance of from one to two
miles from the Morro--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
accomplished, and each individual bore well his part in it --the
commodore in command on the second division, the captains of ships,
their officers and men. The fire of the battleships was powerful and
destructive and the resistance 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 battery 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 cleared 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
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 Brooklyn. 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 had suffered
terribly from this fire. Her sides are everywhere pierced and her
decks were strewn with the charred remains of those who 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 Wednesday, 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 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 slipping from his grasp his forward six-pounders began
to speak. Some of the shells must have landed, for the Spaniard
ran for shoal water, apparently hoping to catch the Hawk among the
rocks.
Lieutenant Hood was game, however, and the light-draught Hawk kept
hammering away with her rapid-fire guns and burning signals for
help from the bridge. Two miles 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 was 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-enforcements. 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 toward 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 work and wrecked the barracks besides. The
infantry in the rifle pits supporting the batteries were driven
out by five-inch shells from the Castine, which 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.
GENERAL MILES ASSUMES COMMAND IN CUBA.
On July 13 General Miles arrived at the front and assumed personal
command of the army around Santiago. Negotiations for the peaceful
surrender of the city had been going on for several days between
General 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 be
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
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
Lawton 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 spreading 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 cadence 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, remained at "the salute." The Spanish
officer in command of the king's guard was the first to break the
silence. His commands put the Spaniards in motion, and they again
passed before the Americans, who remained at "present arms" until
the last of the guard had marched by. 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 narrow,
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; 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 bunting 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. Cubans 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
earnestly on landing that every building be burned. Major Wood and
Colonel Pope indorsed this, but the recommendation went by
default. The camp was established in the heart of the Spanish town
and the first yellow-fever case was that of Burr McIntosh, 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 Red Cross nurse, was 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,
medicines, clothing, and shelter, the army was soon threatened
with an epidemic of disease, and it was 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 understanding 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,
divisions, 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 responsible for the unnecessary loss of many
thousands of lives.
Our opinions are the result of careful personal observation, and
they 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
ammunition, 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 Spanish navy, were sent to join
Cervera's fleet.
CHAPTER LI.
THE INVASION OF PUERTO RICO.
General Miles' Landing at Ponce--The American Army Received with
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
consisted of the Columbia, Dixie, Gloucester and Yale. General
Miles was on board the last-named vessel. The troops were on board
the transports 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
Lieutenant-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 there 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
announcement 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.
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 Yoeman Lacy to haul down the
Spanish flag, which was 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
fighting 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 helping to serve the guns.
Soon afterward white-coated galloping cavalrymen were seen
climbing 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-enforced by the
regulars, 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 transports were used in the work of landing the
troops, each steam launch towing four or five boats loaded with
soldiers. But everything progressed 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 gallant action.
On Wednesday, July 27, the Wasp, Annapolis, and Dixie steamed from
the port of Guanica 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, declared 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 welcoming
them with rousing cheers.
A message was sent to the Spanish commander, demanding the
immediate 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 conditions that the garrison should be permitted to
retire; that the civil government remain in force; that the police
and fire brigade be permitted to patrol without arms, and that the
captain of the port should not be made a prisoner. He also imposed
the condition that the American soldiers should not advance from
the town within forty-eight hours.
Commander Davis, who was anxious to complete the surrender,
accepted 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 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 Americanos!" "Viva Puerto Rico Libre!"
The storekeepers offered their whole stock to the officers, and
declared that they would take no pay for anything. In the Plaza of
Justice 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 detailed a detachment of soldiers to the work
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 foreigners 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
inhabitants, 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 military forces have come to occupy the island of
Puerto Rico. They come bearing 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 resistance. 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 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 balcony 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 accordingly.
On August 5 the city of Guayama, the principal port on the
southeastern 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 advance, were splendidly handled and
did telling work against the enemy.
The Spaniards for a time managed to conceal themselves behind
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-Jorgensen 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, which 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.
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 LII.
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 signaled 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, consisted of four companies of regulars, under command
of Major Robe; the First Regiment California Volunteers, Colonel
Smith; the First Regiment 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, Zealandia 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 Colon 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.
On the steamer Senator was the First Regiment of Nebraska
Volunteers, 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
Washington 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 demanding 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 satisfaction.
General Merritt arrived in Manila bay on July 25, and after
reporting 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, Germany
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 Filipinas 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 Spaniards, probably
realizing the ultimate hopelessness of their position, 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 reported 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 demanded. The Concord was sent back with
instructions to turn the prisoners 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 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 warships to fly any flag they chose in order to deceive
the enemy, the nationality 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 desired 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
American right flank, held by the 10th Pennsylvania troops. The
scene of the battle was at a place called Malate, which is located
half way between Cavite and the city of Manila. Here General
Greene was 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 trenches assaulted. The
Pennsylvania troops did not flinch, but stood 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
Captain 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
forgotten. 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 authorities
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 them
withdrawing out of range. The English and Japanese warships joined the
American fleet off Cavite, and the French and German warships 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 Saturday; 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 excellent 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 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 sharpshooters in the buildings on both
sides, 200 yards distant. The forward movement was therefore
hastened, and in a few minutes the outskirts 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 suspicious 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.
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 Brumby, ashore to meet the captain general and discuss
first a plan of capitulation. 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 the 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 accompanied by two signal men from the Olympia.
This little party found its way after great difficulty into Fort
Santiago 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.
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
complicated 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 LIII
VICTORIOUS CLOSE OF THE WAR
Spain Sues for Peace--President McKinley's Ultimatum--French
Ambassador 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
Commission.
On Tuesday, July 26, the Spanish government took the first well
defined step to bring about a cessation of hostilities. The French
ambassador, accompanied by his secretary of embassy, called on
President McKinley, and under instructions from his government and
at the request of the Spanish minister of foreign affairs, opened
peace negotiations by declaring that Spain was ready to consider
terms. The proposition 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 consult 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 information on a subject which had advanced
beyond the point where diplomatic reserve was essential.
After cabinet discussions on Friday and Saturday regarding the
concessions which should be demanded from Spain a definite
agreement 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 appointed 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 commissioners 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 suggestion 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 representative of the Spanish government. Accordingly, at four
o'clock on the afternoon of that day, he presented himself at the
President's mansion, in company with his first secretary, M.
Thiebaut, where he was met by President McKinley, Secretary of
State Day, and Assistant Secretaries 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 being reversed on the other.
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 Government 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 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 speedily 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.
Whereas, 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 Government 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 signature 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.
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
directions 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, Brooklyn, Indiana, Oregon, Iowa and Massachusetts
to Tompkinsville. Place monitors 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 instructions. 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 have
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 hostilities. 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, Rear-Admiral William T. Sampson, and
Major-General Matthew C. Butler for Cuba, and Major-General John
E. Brooke, Rear-Admiral Winfield S. Schley, and Brigadier-General
William 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
notification of the Spanish commanders in the vicinity, and also
the insurgent leaders.
The proclamation was received in Santiago with the greatest
enthusiasm, 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.
Commenced in a spirit of vengeance for the destruction of a
battleship, the war was conducted with singular freedom, all the
circumstances considered, from vindictiveness. We struck hard, but
quickly. We compelled 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.
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 $36,500,000. By their rusting hulks lie the bodies of more than a
thousand 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
jeopardized, 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
Portuguese 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.
CHAPTER LIV.
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES.
Telling How 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 mongrel 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 cases '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 hist 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 sufferings. They knew now that war was no picnic, and
they were not complaining 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
6 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
perfect 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 FIGHTING
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
Providential protection alone took me through it. Contrary to all
principles of 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 intrenchiments 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 Red Cross and
abuse all the established principles 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 am, 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-two 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 enough 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,
WILL.
COLONEL WOOD WRITES OF HIS BATTLE--ROUGH RIDERS' LEADER DESCRIBES
THE AMERICAN ATTACK AT LA QUASINA.
Camp First United States Volunteer Cavalry, Six Miles Out of
Santiago, June 27, 1898.
Dear General: Thinking that a line about our fight and general
condition 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 when 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 individuals. We soon found that instead of 1,500 men
we had struck a very heavy outpost 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 defeated 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 B. A. Alger, Secretary of War.
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
Spaniards 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 Vizcaya 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
always 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 600 men. They were all naked and
almost dead.
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 anything 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
Spaniards. 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 something 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 am, 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 unbearable indeed. The ocean
helps us out, however, and by noon we have a very refreshing and
cooling air stirring.
The sickness in the company is on the decrease. On some days 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 were sick, but some were
recovering, while others were 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
General 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 desperate 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 walls. 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 conception of
them. The few that are better than others are paved with
cobblestones, but these are few. Most streets are full of loose
stones and not 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 seeing 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. 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:
Siboney, July 7.
My Dear General: Have really 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 commander 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 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 and delirious the last four
days. It isn't yellow fever, though, although it 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
smokestack 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 money. 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 guardhouse 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 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
Parsons 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 almost starved. They come around and
beg scraps to eat. Cuba has the richest land 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
wherever 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 Sunday, 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, communicated 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 Red 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 landing 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 experiences 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 hospital.
On the whole the treatment to which the wounded were subjected was
characterized by conservatism. Only a very small number of primary
amputations 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. Penetrating 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 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 described. Indian fashion, the women 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 umbrella 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 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 graduate 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
amputation of the thigh for gangrene caused by a gunshot injury
which had fractured 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 prognosis, 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
Surgeon 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 village 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 cocoanuts, 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 conveyed 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 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 another 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 bombardment 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 conference. 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 fever. For about a week every bone
in my 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 underwent, 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 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 advanced in civilization than they were 300 years ago.
They live in old boats on the water, in palm trees, in bark huts,
or wherever 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 essential 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 landing all around me. Major Moses, Captain Taylor,
Captain Grove and Lieutenant Lister, with an interpreter, were
detailed to make a special reconnaissance 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 we 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.
DIGGING GRAVES IN CUBA--WALTER ZIMMER OF FIRST ILLINOIS VOLUNTEERS
WRITES FROM SIBONEY.
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 Spaniards 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 days and it was a grand trip and all enjoyed it
greatly, but if 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
exception 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 mountains 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 macadamized 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
anything 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 excepting 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 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 doctors say not; several of our boys have been
bitten; none died so far. A soldier 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 people 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
dollars in theirs. So we get our smoking pretty cheap. Fruits are
sold accordingly. We are to turn our Springfield guns in this
morning and get the Krag-Jorgensen; 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 Rico, 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 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 experienced. 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 everywhere. 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 Portuguese, 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 teachers 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 uncovered. There are not a few
English and Americans here, and they scrupulously 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, 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 bargains. 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
infantry, five captains of which led the particular charge in
which this regiment 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 underbrush, 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 company 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.
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. Alien, 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 terrible 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 our batteries began firing over our heads, and when we got
near the top the shells began striking the ground between us and
the crest, but 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.
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 soldiers 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
anything 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 gallantry. Well, it is proposed to fight it out
and to have our claims heard.
A TERRIBLE FIGHT.
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 envelop the city.
MOVED TO THE RIGHT.
On the 10th we were moved to the right wing and I think it was
intended 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 11th at 4 pm, and we opened up
along the whole line and soon silenced every gun and rifle they
had.
THE SPANISH WEAKENED.
Next morning at daylight we resumed our work and the Spanish
weakened. 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
mismanagement. 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 CAME 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 am, and the balloon was being moved all over the
field when shot to pieces eighty yards from the Spanish line at 1
p.m. We thought our height, together with their bad marksmanship,
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 suspended 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 hospital 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
I am.
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
Lieutenant 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. 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 Roosevelt 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 regiment 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
Spaniards had 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,
although 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 skirmishers 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
deployed 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 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 elevations. 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 coming 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
paralyzed, 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
McClintock 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
during 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 coming out of the
muscles 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 Oregon. 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 Gloucester'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 coming 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 for them full speed
and opened fire, the Pluton and Furor firing rapidly, but not
striking. 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 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 engine 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 herself by overhauling and passing the
Brooklyn and forced the Colon's surrender. 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.
THE PEACE COMMISSION
President McKinley appointed William K. 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 Reid, formerly
United States Minister to France, to represent the United States
at the Paris conference. The Spanish commissioners being Senor
Montero Rios, President; Leon Castillo, representing the political
side; Senor Villarrutia, diplomacy; Senor Montero the judicial,
and General Cerero the military.
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 downtrodden 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.
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