People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 September 1895 — VICTORY IN SIGHT. [ARTICLE]

VICTORY IN SIGHT.

GLOWING REPORTS OF CUBAN SUCCESS. SlMQlth Form Rooted In a Pitched Battle and Lose Three Hundred Men — Insurgents are Now Within Seventyfive Miles of the Citv of Havana. New York. Sept. 24. —News of a battle, in which the Spanish were defeated by the Cubans and lost 300 men, was received yesterday by President Palma. It came in a letter written Sept. 14 by Pedro Rovira, a Spanish private who deserted to the Cuban ranks at Pera Lego when Campos was defeated. In a later engagement Rovira was captured by the Spanish, court-mar-tialed and sentenced to receive 400 lashes and to be shot. T¥e sentence was carried out while Rovir* was shouting for Cuban liberty. The Spaniar..ls were greatly incensed against him. as he had killed three of their men bel'ore being captured. The letter says that all Santiago, where the execution took place, was incensed against the Spaniards, and then goes on to describe the hardfought battle: “A man who was sick in a hospital at Casimbra escaped to Guantanin in August, and told the Spaniards that Gen. Jose Maceo was sick in the C:>simbra hospital and had only thirty men with him. On Aug. 3) Maceo heard th t 1,200 men. one battalion corps anti a squadron of cavalry with two pieces cf artillery were marching on him. Maim mounted his horse and from the mountains of Santa Maria viewed the enemy’s position. He ordered eight cf his men to keep up firing from ambuses to deceive the Spanish, and meanwhim had word sent to his brother, Gen. Antonio Maceo.

“On Aug. 31, the Spaniards captured Francis, and Gen. Jose Maceo fortified his few men in a plantation house near , the hospital. He wished to guard the right side of the road leading to Bae- ' calano. which skirted the hospital. The Spanish were slowlj- closing in on him when Gen. Cebreco and a Cuban column came to his relief and made the enemy evacuate their position. “A hot engagement followed, in which the Spanish regained their position, | but were unable to hold it long, as 1 General Antonio Maceo suddenly appeared on the scene, and, with Cebreco and Colonel Mieuninit, succeeded in wresting it from Canalle and Garrilo, who commanded the Spanish. The Spanish now made a brilliant charge and for the third time managed to secure the position, but in the engagement the Spanish captain of artillery was mortally wounded, and they slowly withdrew, the Cubans fighting them back.” This battle lasted from 5 o’clock a. m. to 1 o’clock p. m. It was resumed in the early afternoon, however, and is described as follows: General Antonio Maceo cleverly turned the Spanish column and gained the pass of Baccano. He then massed his troops before the Spanish vanguard, while General Jose Maceo got the men in the rear. A very desperate encounter ensued. It raged until 9 o’clock at nigh-, when it was discontinued until th? dawn of the next day—September 1. The Spanish then commenced the retreat until they reached the Igubanabano field, where they were able to use their cavalry, which was impossible on the mountains of Santa Maria. They did not gain any advantage, howex er, and after burning their provisions they continued to retreat to Mountanin, which place they entered in scattered groups.” The Cubans had no cavalry, but made effective use of dynamite bombs, which the letter says, struck terror to the enemy. In the engagement the Cubans’ loss was forty men wounded and killed. The Spaniards lost over 300 men, forty horses and a large store of provisions and munitions of war. The Cubans are still capturing stragglers and picking up arms near Mountanin. Spaniards are deserting every day and joining the Cubans. The Spaniards, after the battle, sent a cable to Spain headed, “The Defeat and Capture of Jose Maceo,” and also asked for the reward offered and the advancement of the officers in the engagement.

victory in sight. Cuban Revolutionists Threaten the City of Havana. Chicago, Sept. 24.—Dispatches from Havana to the Chicago Tribune say: Armed parties of revolutionists are already in the province of Matanzas and actually within seventy-five miles of the city of Havana. The west end of the iland will soon be the scene of an uprising. When this fact develops the formidable nature of the revolution will become apparent. With armed forces on both sides of Havana it would require not 80,000 but 500,000 Spanish troops to keep the revolutionists in check. Martinez Campos is at once hiding the truth of defeat and disaster and creating a belief in the immense power of his troops. Too much truth leaked out when he was so badly defeated at Peralejo and retreated to Bayamo. For ten days the publication of wer news was forbidden, and then allowed only under military censorship. Under censorship that action is now counted as a glorious Spanish victory. The fact is positive that ne came within an ace of being captured. Official accounts give his force at 1,500 and the insurgents at 5,000, but credible reports say the rebels had only 850. It is safe to say that the rebels have 25,000 men under arms at the present time, and their forces are growing daily.