CHAPTER III

The war was on. Marti and his comrades had planned to have a simultaneous uprising in all six provinces on February 24. In each a leader was appointed, an organization was formed, and such supplies as could be obtained were provided. But in only three provinces did an actual insurrection occur. These were Oriente, or Santiago as it was then called, Santa Clara, and Matanzas; the extreme eastern and the two central provinces. In Oriente uprisings occurred at two points, under Henry Brooks at Guantanamo, and at Los Negros under Guillermon Moncada. In Matanzas there were also two uprisings; one at Aguacate, on the Havana borderline, under Manuel Garcia, and one at Ybarra. In Santa Clara the chief demonstration was near Cienfuegos, under General Matagas. The uprising in Havana was to have been under the leadership of Julio Sanguilly, but in some way never satisfactorily explained he was betrayed and arrested and the outbreak did not occur. There were not a few who at first suspected and even charged that Sanguilly himself had betrayed the cause, for Spanish money, but his sentence to life imprisonment by the Spanish authorities seemed abundantly to disprove this charge.

The insurgents naturally made most headway at first in Oriente. There were fewer Spanish troops in that province and there were more mountain fastnesses for refuge in case of enforced retreat, than in the more densely settled and populated central provinces. We have already seen that a numerous company of patriots marched from Baire to Santiago to present to the Spanish commander there, General Jose Lachambre, their demands for the independence of Cuba. That officer of course rejected their demands, and on their retirement sent Colonel Perico Perez after them with 500 troops, to capture or disperse them. But Perez and his men did neither. Instead, they joined the insurgents under Henry Brooks, and were among the foremost to do effective work against the Spaniards. Maso Parra recruited a strong band near Manzanillo, but instead of fighting there proceeded to Havana Province, accompanied by Enrique Cespedes and Amador Guerra, in hope of raising the standard of revolution where Sanguilly had failed. The Spanish forces were so strong there, however, as to overawe most of the Cubans, or at any rate to make it seem more expedient to put forward their chief efforts in other places. In Matanzas the earliest engagements were fought by troops under Antonio Lopez Coloma and Juan Gualberto Gomez, with indifferent results. Another sharp conflict occurred at Jaguey Grande, and there were yet others at Vequita; at Sevilla, where the patriots defeated 1,500 Spanish regulars commanded by General Lachambre; at Ulloa, at Baire, and at Los Negros. A belated uprising in Pinar del Rio under General Azcuy came speedily to grief, as did another near Holguin. By the early days of March the entire movement seemed to have subsided save in the southern parts of Oriente.

The Spanish authorities had acted promptly and vigorously. The revolution began on February 24. The very next day a special meeting of the Spanish Cabinet was held at Madrid, as a result of which the Minister for the Colonies, Senor Abarzuza, authorized Captain-General Callejas to proclaim martial law throughout Cuba. This was in fact done by Callejas before Abarzuza's order reached him, and he also put into operation the "Public Order law" which provided for the immediate punishment of anyone taken in the performance or attempt of a seditious act. The Captain-General had at his disposal at this time nominally six regiments of infantry and three of cavalry, two battalions of garrison artillery and one mountain battery, aggregating about 19,000 men, and nearly 14,000 local militia, remains of the notorious Volunteers of the Ten Years' War; a total of nearly 33,000 men. But these figures were delusive. Callejas himself reported, on his return to Spain two or three months later, that half of the regular forces existed only on paper, and that the militia was altogether untrustworthy. He had learned the latter fact by bitter experience when at the very beginning Perico Perez and his 500 men had deserted to the Cuban cause. The fact is that the leaven of patriotism had begun to work even among the old Volunteers and still more among their sons, and many of them came frankly over to the cause which they or their fathers had formerly so savagely opposed. Callejas's forces were very weak in artillery, but that did not greatly matter, since the revolutionists at this time had none at all. He enjoyed the great advantage of having possession of all the large towns and cities along the coast with their fortifications both inland and seaward; fortifications which were somewhat antiquated but still sufficiently effective against ill-armed insurgents without artillery. The Spanish navy in Cuban waters comprised five small cruisers and six gunboats; not a formidable force, but infinitely superior to that of the revolutionists, which consisted of nothing at all. It assisted in protecting the coast towns, and served for the transportation of troops and supplies, but its chief function was to guard the coast against filibustering and supply expeditions.

Although the Spanish forces were very considerably superior to the revolutionists numerically as well as in equipment and abundance of supplies, Calleja realized that they would not be sufficient to cope with the patriots on their own ground and in the increasing numbers which he prudently anticipated would rally to their standard. Accordingly early in March he sent to Spain an urgent call for large reenforcements for both army and navy, declaring that he could not hold his own, much less suppress the revolt, without them, and giving warning that unless he received them promptly he would not be responsible for the consequences. In response a battalion of regulars was immediately transferred to Cuba from Porto Rico, and 7,000 more were sent from Spain. All the civil prefects throughout the island were replaced with military officers. In Havana and elsewhere all prominent Cubans suspected of complicity or even sympathy with the revolution were arrested and imprisoned. The Morro Castle at Havana was crowded with the best citizens of the metropolitan province. But this attempt at repression only added fuel to the flame. The revolution burst out anew in the Province of Oriente, and when Callejas ordered the local troops of Havana to proceed thither, they mutinied and refused to go. In such circumstances Callejas, who at first had affected to regard the outbreak as mere sporadic brigandage, now openly confessed that it was an island-wide revolution.

Complications with the United States also speedily arose. The arrest of Julio Sanguilly and others at Havana has been mentioned. These men had been in the United States for years, and had become naturalized citizens of that country, wherefore the United States consul-general at Havana, Ramon O. Williams, made formal demand that they should be tried before a civil court and should have the benefit of counsel, instead of being summarily disposed of by court martial. This was a legitimate demand, which had to be granted, but it incensed Callejas so much that he asked the Spanish government to demand Williams's recall; which that government very prudently did not do. At Santiago, also, two American sailors, who had landed there in a small boat, and had been arrested as filibusters, made appeal to the American consul there, who also insisted that they should have a civil trial; as a result of which they were acquitted.

While thus careful to protect the rights of its citizens, native or naturalized, the United States government was equally energetic in its endeavors to prevent violations of the neutrality law by filibustering expeditions, and went to great expense and pains therein. It watched and guarded all Atlantic and Gulf ports to prevent the departure of such expeditions, and gave hospitality to a Spanish cruiser which lay at Key West to watch for and intercept them. Hannis Taylor, the American Minister at Madrid, assured the Spanish government that the United States would do all that was in its power to prevent such expeditions from departing from its shores, and that promise was fulfilled with exceptional efficiency. Indeed, the United States administration incurred much popular censure for its energy in stopping the sailing of vessels which were suspected of carrying supplies to Cuba; for it did stop a number of them, to the very heavy pecuniary loss of the patriots. Nevertheless some vessels were successful in eluding the vigilance of the federal guards, and that fact gave umbrage in Spain; so that while at home the American government was charged with hostility to the Cuban cause, in Spain it was charged with too greatly favoring it.

With the receipt of reenforcements, Callejas made renewed efforts to suppress the revolution; though he had little heart in the matter and seemed to realize the hopelessness of the task. Practically all the fighting was in Oriente. Colonel Santocildes made an unsuccessful attack upon the patriots near Guantanamo on March 10, and a week later Colonel Bosch had an equally unsatisfactory meeting with them under Brooks and Perez near Ulloa. So strong were the insurgents becoming in that province that they began to exercise the functions of civil government, in the carrying of mails and the collection of taxes. Beside Henry Brooks and Perico Perez, under whom were the largest forces, Bartolome Maso, who had returned from Havana, held Manzanillo with a thousand troops, Jesus Rabi occupied Baire and Jiguani with 1,500, and Quintin Banderas, Amador Guerra and Esteban Tomayo had among them 2,000 more. After his repulse at Guantanamo the Spanish Colonel Santocildes went to Bayamo, where he was attacked and routed with heavy loss. A few days later, on March 24, a battle was fought at Jaraguana between Amador Guerra, with 900 Cubans, and Colonel Araoz, with 1,000 Spanish regulars, in which the latter suffered the heavier losses, though they finally compelled the Cubans to retire from the field.

At this time an effort was made by both the Captain-General and some leaders of the Cuban Autonomists to make terms with the revolutionists. With the assent and cooperation of Callejas a commission of Autonomists, headed by Juan Bautista Spotorno,--who had once been for a time President of the Cuban Republic, shortly after the Ten Years' War,--proceeded to Oriente and sought a conference with Bartolome Maso at Manzanillo. That sturdy patriot received them grimly. He listened to their proposals in ominous silence. Then, in a voice all the more menacing for its repression of passion, he addressed Spotorno:

"You were once President of the Cuban Republic in the Field?"

"Yes, Bartolome; you know that."

"You then as President issued a decree of death against anyone who should seek to persuade the Cuban government to accept any terms short of independence?"

"Yes, but...."

"Then, Bautista Spotorno, for this once, go in peace; but go very quickly, lest I change my mind as you have changed yours. And be assured that if you or any of your kind ever come hither with such proposals again, I shall execute upon you or upon them your own decree!"

The next day Jose Marti and Maximo Gomez issued in Hayti the manifesto which we have already cited, which had the result of assuring all wavering or doubtful Cubans that the most authoritative leaders of their nation were directing the revolution, and that it was to be indeed a struggle to a finish. There was another result. The Spanish Captain-General, Emilio Callejas, despaired of coping with the steadily rising storm, and on March 27 he placed his resignation in the hands of the Queen Regent of Spain. That sovereign immediately summoned a Cabinet council, herself presiding. It was no longer the Liberal Cabinet of Praxedes Sagasta. That body had fallen a few days before, in a political crisis which had arisen in Madrid over a newspaper controversy about Cuban affairs. An advanced Liberal paper, _El Resúmen_, had imputed cowardice to army officers who, it said, were always eager to serve in Cuba in time of peace, but shunned that island whenever there was fighting going on. At this a mob of officers attacked and wrecked the offices of the paper, and the next evening attacked the offices of _El Heraldo_ and _El Globo_, which had denounced their doings. The next day all the papers of Madrid notified the government that they would suspend publication unless assured of protection against such outrages. General Lopez Dominguez approved the conduct of the riotous officers and demanded that the editors of the papers be delivered to him for trial by court martial. The Prime Minister, Sagasta, replied that that would not be legal, since all press offences against the army short of treason must be tried before civil juries. Then Marshal Martinez Campos, who as Captain-General had ended the Ten Years' War in Cuba, led a deputation of army officers to demand of Sagasta that he should suppress _El Resúmen_ and have more strict press laws enacted. Sagasta refused and, finding his support in the Cortes untrustworthy in the face of military bullying, offered the resignation of the Ministry, on March 17. The Queen Regent invited Campos to form a Ministry, but he declined; though he announced that all newspaper men attacking the army would be shot, and he arbitrarily haled before military tribunals a number of editors, while other journalists fled the country.

The Queen Regent then called upon Canovas del Castillo, the Conservative leader, to form a cabinet, and on March 25 he did so, despite the fact that his party was in a minority in the Cortes, and it was this Conservative cabinet which the sovereign consulted four days later concerning the resignation of Callejas and affairs in Cuba in general. It was decided to accept Callejas's resignation, with special thanks for his loyal services, to appoint Martinez Campos to succeed him, to ask fresh credits of $120,000,000 for the expenses of the war, to send large reenforcements to Cuba, and to increase the peace footing of the Spanish army from 71,000 to 82,000 men. The troops in Cuba were at once to be increased to 40,000 men, and 40,000 more were to be added, if needed, in four months. Thus did Spain rouse herself to fight her last fight for the retention of her last American possession.

It was not, however, until April 15 that Callejas received a message from the Queen Regent, formally accepting his resignation, thanking him for "the activity, zeal and ability" with which he had conducted the military operations against the revolutionists, complimenting all the forces under his command for their valor, and directing him to return to Spain by the next steamer that sailed from Havana after the arrival of his successor. And his successor landed the very next day, at Guantanamo. There was much adverse comment among Spaniards in Cuba upon this summary recall of Callejas. The explanation of it was that the government regarded him as culpable for letting the revolution gain so great headway, but it did not deem it politic to censure him publicly, or at all until he was back at Madrid. As for Martinez Campos, he promised on his acceptance of the appointment that he would quickly suppress the revolt, as he had done the Ten Years' War; and doubtless he expected that he would be able to do so.

Indeed, in sending Martinez Campos to Cuba, Spain "played her strongest card." He had long been known as "Spain's greatest General," and also as the "King-Maker," since it was he who had restored the Bourbon dynasty to the throne. He was undoubtedly a soldier of great valor, skill and resource. He was also a statesman of more than ordinary ability, and had been for a time Prime Minister of Spain, and for fifteen years had been making and unmaking ministries at will. Now, at the age of sixty-four he was still in the prime of his powers and at the height of his popularity and influence. His departure from Madrid for Cuba was attended with demonstrations, both official and popular, which could scarcely have been exceeded for royalty itself. He reached Guantanamo on April 16, and on the following day assumed his office. It was not until a week later that he reached Havana. There he was received with unbounded rejoicings by the Spanish party, and with sincere satisfaction by the Autonomists, while it must be confessed that many Cuban patriots regarded his coming with dismay. There could be no doubt that it portended the putting forth of all the might of Spain against the revolution, under the command of a great soldier-statesman who had never yet failed in an undertaking.

On the very day after his arrival at Guantanamo the new Captain-General issued a proclamation to the people of Cuba. In it he pledged himself to fulfil in good faith all the reforms which had been promised in his own Treaty of Zanjon and in subsequent legislation by the Spanish Cortes, provided the loyal parties in Cuba would give him their support; this admission of dependence upon the people being obviously a bid for popularity. The parties in question were, of course, the Spaniards, who were divided into Conservatives and Reformists, and the Autonomists, or Cuban Home Rulers. They or their leaders at once pledged him their support, and the Spaniards gave it, for a time. But a number of the Autonomists were dissatisfied because he would promise nothing more than the fulfilment of reforms which had never been regarded as sufficient, and on that account refused him their support. Instead, they gave it to the revolutionists, and many of them, especially the younger men, actually joined the revolutionary army, or went to Jamaica or the United States to assist in the raising of funds and the equipping of expeditions. It was thus at this time that the disintegration of the once influential Autonomist party began.

To the revolutionists he tried to be conciliatory. He offered full and free pardon to all who would lay down their arms, excepting a few of the leaders, and he doubtless expected that there would be a numerous response. It does not appear that there was any favorable response whatever. If any insurgents did surrender themselves--of whom there is no record--they were outnumbered a hundred to one by the Autonomists who at that time were transformed into revolutionists.

Campos did not rely, however, upon his proclamation for the suppression of the insurrection. He set to work at once with all his consummate military skill and his knowledge of the island and of Cuban methods of warfare, to organize a military campaign of victory. He made General Garrich governor of the Province of Oriente, with General Salcedo in command of the First Division, at Santiago, and General Lachambre of the Second Division, at Bayamo. He undertook the organization of numerous bodies of irregular troops, to wage a guerrilla warfare against the Cubans similar to that which the Cubans themselves waged successfully against Spanish regulars. When he found his troops from Spain disinclined toward such work, or unsuited to it, he sought the services of young Spaniards who had for some years been settled in Cuba, such as had been so ready to serve in the former war. They generally declined, whereupon he sought to draft them into the service, and at that they threatened mutiny. As a last resort he sent for Lolo Benitez, a life prisoner at Ceuta. This man had been a guerrilla leader, on the Cuban side, in the Ten Years' War, but had been guilty of cruelties which caused the Cubans to repudiate him. He had been captured by the Spaniards and sent to the penal colony in Africa for life. But Campos brought him back and gave him a free pardon and commission as lieutenant colonel in the Spanish army, on condition that he would conduct a guerrilla warfare against his own countrymen. When this was done, and when under this man were placed numerous criminals released from Cuban jails, there were vigorous protests from Spanish officers against such degradation of the Spanish army, and warnings that such unworthy tactics would surely react against their author.

The official attitude of the Spanish government was at this time set forth by the Spanish Minister to the United States, Senor Dupuy de Lome. He belittled the reports of Spanish oppressions and of Cuban uprisings. "There is very little interest," he said, "being taken in the revolt by the people of Havana. I think the uprising will speedily be put down. The arrival of General Martinez Campos has brought order out of chaos. He has shown clearly to the people that their interests will be protected, and as a result has caused a feeling of security. He is every inch a soldier, not a toy fighter. He is loyal to his country, but he is humane, and as far as possible he will treat his enemies leniently. In the case of the leaders of the revolt, however, severe justice will be meted out."

Meantime the revolution was proceeding. The most formidable figure in its ranks in Cuba was that of Antonio Maceo, the mulatto general who above most of his colleagues possessed a veritable genius for war, both in strategy and in direct fighting. He had come of a family of fighters, and had been born in Santiago in 1849, and had fought in the Ten Years' War. He was highly gifted with the qualities of leadership among men, with valor and resolution, with keen foresight and great intelligence. He was probably the ablest strategist in the War of Independence, and personally the most popular commander. At the end of March he arrived in Cuba from Costa Rica with an expedition well equipped with rifles and small field pieces. With him were his brother Jose Maceo, Flor Crombet, Dr. Francisco Agramonte, and several other officers. The landing was made at Baracoa, the Spanish gunboats which were watching the coast being successfully eluded. Soon after landing the patriots were attacked by General Lachambre's troops at Duaba, but the latter were repulsed with considerable loss. A part of the expedition was then sent around by sea to Manzanillo, on a British schooner. That vessel was wrecked and in consequence its captain and crew were captured by the Spaniards, who put the captain to death. Dr. Agramonte was one of several members of the expedition who were also taken, but he, being an American citizen, escaped court martial and was more leniently dealt with by a civil court, on the demand of the American consul at Santiago.

In a short time this masterful leader, Antonio Maceo, had control of practically all of the Province of Oriente outside of a few fortified coast cities and camps. The Captain-General, vainly imagining that the insurrection would be confined to that province, sent thither all available troops, leaving Havana, Matanzas and the others with scarcely more than police guard. Thus greatly outnumbered, Maceo wisely resorted not so much to guerrilla warfare as to what may be called Fabian tactics. He maintained his army in complete organization and observed all the rules of civilized warfare. But he also maintained a high degree of mobility, avoiding any general engagement, and wearing out the morale of the Spaniards with forced marches, surprise attacks, and all the bewildering and baffling tactics of which so resourceful and alert a commander was capable. Early in April he was indeed in much peril, being almost completely surrounded by superior forces near Guantanamo, and actually suffering severe losses at Palmerito; but he cut his way out by desperate fighting in which he also showed himself a master hand. The most serious loss at that time was the death of the brave revolutionist Flor Crombet. He was killed not by Spaniards but by a traitor in his own command, whom Maceo presently detected and hanged. Soon after the affair at Palmerito, however, Maceo captured El Caney, in the very suburbs of Santiago, and seized the rich supplies in the Spanish arsenal at that place.

The sending of so many troops from the other provinces to Oriente emboldened the patriots of Havana and Matanzas to take up arms, and uprisings occurred at various places, particularly at Cardenas and the city of Matanzas. In the city of Havana itself a daring attempt was made to seize Cabanas and El Morro, liberate the political prisoners, and destroy the magazines if they could not be held. To encourage these movements Maceo sent detachments of his forces from Oriente westward, into Camaguey, then still known as the Province of Puerto Principe. Jesus Rabi occupied Victoria las Tunas, near the boundary of the latter province, and soon had bands operating beyond the border. There was an Autonomist organization at Camaguey, which at first disavowed the revolution and gave its adherence to the Captain-General, but it became demoralized upon the approach of the revolutionary forces, and many of its members were soon serving zealously in Maceo's ranks.

The arrival of Jose Marti and Maximo Gomez in Cuba at the middle of April, as already related, almost simultaneously with the arrival of Martinez Campos, was promptly followed by increased activity on the part of the Cubans. Floriano Gascon organized a force of negro miners at Juragua, and inflicted a crushing defeat upon a Spanish garrison at Ramon de las Jaguas; the Spanish commander being afterward tried by Spanish court martial and condemned to death for inefficiency. At the end of the month a Spanish force was entrapped and almost destroyed by Jose Maceo, near Guantanamo. The first half of May was also marked with much fighting in the southern part of Oriente, in which the revolutionists were generally successful. Railroads were destroyed to break Spanish lines of communication, valuable supplies were captured, and Martinez Campos was made to realize the formidable character of the insurrection which he had so confidently promised to suppress.

Mention has already been made of the Provisional Government which was proclaimed by Maceo early in April. On May 18 this was succeeded by another organization elected by a convention of delegates consisting of one representative of each 100 revolutionists actually in the field. Bartolome Maso, who had been in control of the district of Bayamo since early in March, was unanimously chosen President; Maximo Gomez was designated as Commander in Chief of the army; and Antonio Maceo was made Commander of the Division of Oriente. The next day occurred the tragedy of Marti's death, whereupon Tomas Estrada Palma, who had formerly been Provisional President, was named to succeed him as the delegate at large of the Cuban Republic to the United States and other countries; Manuel Sanguilly being later associated with him at Washington.

All through that summer the strife continued, steadily extending its area westward into Camaguey and Santa Clara. Campos endeavored to confine the war to Oriente, by stretching a line of 4,000 Spanish troops across the island at the western boundary of that province, but on June 2 Maximo Gomez broke through that line, crossed the Jobabo River, and entered Camaguey. There he was joined by a nephew of Salvador Cisneros, Marquis of Santa Lucia, with a large force, and by Marcos Garcia, mayor of Sancti Spiritus, who came across from the Province of Santa Clara. With these reenforcements Gomez soon had control of all the southern part of Camaguey, and on June 18 the Captain-General was compelled to declare that province in a state of siege.

Then Campos attempted a second barricade. He placed a line of troops across the island from Moron to Jucaro, near the western boundary of Camaguey, to prevent Gomez from going on into Santa Clara province. This was the line along which was afterward built a military railroad, and on which was constructed the famous "Trocha" or barrier of ditches, wire fences and block houses. It almost coincided with the line of demarcation between the two ecclesiastical dioceses into which the island was divided. But this attempt to confine the insurrection was no more successful than the other. Indeed it was folly to try to shut the revolution out of Santa Clara when it was already there. Marcos Garcia had left behind him many fervent patriots at Sancti Spiritus, and these soon organized a formidable force under the competent lead of Carlos Ruloff, and took the field, advancing northward and westward as far as Vega Alta. General Zayas and other patriotic leaders operated in the southern part of Santa Clara, and soon that province was almost as fully aflame with revolution as Oriente itself. This was the more significant, because it was a populous and opulent province, where the inhabitants had much to lose through the ravages of war. But like the Romans in the "brave days of old," the Cubans of the revolution "spared neither lands nor gold, nor limb nor life," for the achievement of their national independence.

Meantime in Oriente the Cubans were more than holding their own. They suffered a sore loss in the death of the dashing champion Amador Guerra, who was treacherously slain in the moment of victory at Palmas Altas, near Manzanillo. But Henry Brooks landed supplies of artillery and ammunition at Portillo; Jesus Rabi almost annihilated a strong Spanish force in a defile near Jiguani and thus frustrated General Salcedo's plans to surround Maceo's camp at San Jorge; and on July 5 Quintin Bandera and Victoriano Garzon attacked and dispersed a newly landed Spanish army and captured its stores of arms and ammunition. These reverses for his arms exasperated Campos into the issuing of a proclamation on July 7, in which, while still offering pardon to all who voluntarily surrendered, he threatened death to all who were captured under arms, and exile to African prisons to all who were convicted of conspiring against the sovereignty of Spain.

Following this, Campos, "Spain's greatest soldier," took the field in person. Of this there was need, for Maceo was besieging Bayamo, capturing all supplies which were sent thither, and threatening the Spanish garrison with starvation. Campos hastened to the relief of that place with General Santocildes and a strong force. But Maceo did not hesitate to measure strength with Campos. He attacked him openly at Peralejo, out-manoeuvered him and out-fought him and came very near to capturing him with his whole headquarters staff. Campos was indeed saved from capture only by the desperate valor of Santocildes, who lost his life in defending him: but he did lose his entire ammunition train and was compelled to retreat with the remnant of his shattered forces into Bayamo and there undergo the humiliation of being besieged by the "rebels" whom he had affected to despise. There he remained for a week, until General Suarez Valdez could come with an army, not to defeat the Cubans but to help Campos to flee in safety over the road by which he had come. Then, when the Spaniards had concentrated more than 10,000 troops at Bayamo for a supreme struggle the wily Maceo quietly and swiftly removed his forces to another scene of action.

Meantime in the far east of the province the patriots besieged the fort in Sabana and would have forced its surrender had not Spanish reenforcements arrived from Baracoa for its relief. The fort was destroyed, however, and the place had to be abandoned by the Spanish. Also at Baire, where the revolution began, Jesus Rabi captured a Spanish fort and its garrison. Everywhere throughout Oriente the Spaniards were on the defensive, while in every other province, even in Pinar del Rio, the revolution was ominously gaining strength.