Cardenas was chosen as the place of landing probably for two reasons.
First, because the Cubans of this district were supposed to be
exceedingly dissatisfied with Spanish rule--more disgruntled than the
inhabitants of the other parts of the island, because the people of
Cardenas had been given their own particular grievances by the Spanish
garrison; and in the second place, the garrison at this point was
exceedingly small, and the town was situated on a bay the entrance to
which, like the coast for many miles, was undefended by fortifications.
Lopez therefore believed that he could penetrate the harbor with little
difficulty and no opposition.
It was half past two in the morning when the _Creole_ entered the bay of
Cardenas, and her progress was not altogether free from difficulties.
The captain of the _Creole_ was unfamiliar with the waters of the bay,
and found it difficult to steer a safe course. As a matter of fact, the
vessel was grounded, and delayed for nearly an hour, during which time
her presence was observed by Spanish patrols, and the alarm given. Dawn
was breaking in the east when the landing was made. It bade fair to be a
beautiful morning. The air was soft and clear, and the first rays of
sunshine, brightening the roofs of the houses, sent a note of cheer into
the hearts of the little army of those who were seeking to deliver Cuba,
and seemed an omen of good fortune.
Reports differ as to their reception. One account tells of a large
Spanish force drawn up on the shore, through which they had to fight
their way, but which they quickly dispersed. It is more in accord with
the events which followed to give credence to another story, which has
it that the Spanish troops took refuge in the barracks, while a smaller
number were quartered in the Governor's palace.
The Kentuckians, soldiers of fortune, descendants of pioneers, whose
valor had been tested and not found wanting in the warfare which had
taken place from time to time in their own state, were the first to
land. There were sixty of them, under the command of Lieut. Col.
Pickett, and their instructions were to proceed at once to the railroad
station. Lopez knew that large bodies of Spanish troops were quartered
at Matanzas, which was connected by railroad with Cardenas, and his
purpose was to destroy the station, and if possible the line of the
railroad for some distance, to prevent the arrival of reinforcements to
the Spaniards, should the news of the coming of the filibusters be sent
to Matanzas. This action would also necessitate communications by
courier, which, of course, would be productive of a delay which would be
advantageous to Lopez's plan.
The station was captured without any difficulty, indeed without
opposition, and the little body of Kentucky soldiers began their work of
destruction. That because of lack of numbers, or lack of equipment, they
did not accomplish this efficiently enough to prevent the arrival of
Spanish troops at Cardenas, we shall see later. But at any rate, they
proceeded with zeal and enthusiasm to the work which was allotted to
them, and held the station against the few Spanish troops from the
Cardenas garrison which later attempted to wrest it from them, and when
they relinquished it they did so voluntarily, to join their comrades in
retreating to the _Creole_. Indeed they manfully held their positions,
long after many of the other regiments had been withdrawn, in order to
cover the retreat.
The moment Lieutenant Colonel Pickett and his Kentuckians were clear of
the vessel, General Lopez and his staff, and Colonel O'Hara, with the
remainder of the Kentucky regiment, disembarked, and with great
ceremony, for the first time, the flag of Cuba Libre was unfurled on
Cuban soil. General Lopez remained with his ship, to oversee the landing
of the remainder of his little army, while Colonel O'Hara, under orders,
advanced to take the barracks where four hundred Spanish troops were
garrisoned. The Kentuckians under Colonel O'Hara numbered one hundred
and eighty, and in addition he was reinforced by the Louisiana regiment
of one hundred and thirty, and the Mississippi regiment of one hundred
and forty-five, so that he had in all, for the business in hand, four
hundred and fifty-five men, thus outnumbering the Spanish force which
they were to oppose, by about fifty-five men. They advanced rapidly and
charged the garrison, which promptly opened fire, and Colonel O'Hara was
wounded, not seriously, but sufficiently so that he was obliged to
surrender his command to Major Hawkins. The engagement was resumed, but
only for a short time, when General Lopez came up and at once directed
the firing to cease. He then proceeded to do a thing which plainly
showed the spirit of the man, his resourcefulness and his undaunted
courage. He marched up to the barracks and demanded its unconditional
surrender.
The Spanish soldiers evidently were not altogether whole hearted in
their defence, but their leaders were crafty. A long parley ensued,
during which the Spanish troops were hastily and quietly withdrawn
through a side door, with the intention of making their escape to the
Governor's palace. When the barracks had been in this manner all but
abandoned, the Spanish commander agreed to surrender, and it can be
imagined that he enjoyed the chagrin of Lopez when he discovered that
his prize was an almost empty building.
But the Spanish troops were not destined to escape so easily. Colonel
Wheat, with the Louisiana regiment, had been the last to leave the
_Creole_. As he approached the barracks he heard the firing, but
supposing that Lopez had only to put in an appearance to be greeted with
loud acclaim as a deliverer, he decided that the Spanish troops had laid
down their arms to join the revolutionists and that the sound of guns
marked a salute to Lopez. He went around the barracks, toward the
square, and was just in time to intercept the flying Spaniards.
Instantly he grasped the situation, and a skirmish ensued. The Spaniards
at length made good their retreat to the Governor's palace, but not
without leaving some dead and wounded behind them.
Lopez and his men at once advanced on the palace, where the Governor had
taken refuge with his forces, now reinforced by those who had made good
their escape from the barracks. Soon Lopez distinguished a white flag of
truce floating from one of the windows, and as he approached nearer
received word that the Governor was ready to surrender. Overjoyed, the
revolutionists rushed up to the palace only to be greeted in a manner
quite in keeping with Spanish treachery, for they were promptly fired
upon by the Spaniards, and before they could rally several of the
attacking party were wounded, including General Gonzales. Lopez's anger
at this violation of the rules of decent fighting was at white heat.
While the main division of his troops were returning the fire from the
palace, he took a small body of men to reconnoiter, and finding an
unguarded portion of the building, he set fire to it; indeed, with his
own hand he applied the torch. All this had taken much more time than
does its relating, and the forces in the palace were enabled to hold out
until between eight and nine o'clock in the morning, when they
surrendered, driven out by the flames and smoke, and the Governor and
the commander of the garrison were taken prisoners, while such troops as
had not found refuge in the palace fled to the outlying country, and
couriers hurried to carry the news of the Spanish disaster to Matanzas.
Lopez was now in possession of the town. There was the work of caring
for the dead and wounded to be done, and besides this he wished to make
an appeal to Cuban residents who sympathized with the cause of freedom
to aid him. This was not so easy as it seemed. Lopez to his chagrin
found that reports which had reached him in the United States of the
willingness of the Cubans to join a revolution had been grossly
exaggerated. That there were a great many who sympathized with Lopez's
purpose there can be no doubt. But they had to deter them the memory of
other uprisings, in which the attempt to throw off the Spanish yoke had
utterly failed. They had also before them the courage-shaking memories
of the horrors which had befallen those who had participated in the
rebellions. It is ever a fact that while oppression always creates
leaders whose valor and daring will not stop at any obstacles, it also
makes the masses of the people timid, afraid of the punishment which is
bound to follow defeat. Spain had long held the Cubans in bondage. She
had meted out to them the most cruel injustices, and had taken
unspeakable revenge not only on those who had opposed her, but even on
those who were under suspicion of such opposition. Besides this, on this
May morning, things had been happening very fast. Lopez's little
victories had been won in whirlwind succession. This should have
inspired sympathizers with confidence, but there were in that town some
private persons who were in sympathy and in league with the Spanish
rulers. They now resorted to propaganda. They spread the report that
Lopez's band had no real intention of trying to free Cuba, that their
real object was plunder, that when they had subdued the garrison, they
intended to put the patriotic Cubans to new sufferings for their own
aggrandisement. Long years of injustice had made the Creoles wary of
asserting themselves openly against their Spanish tyrants. While those
who had been leaders in the town in the organization on Cuban soil of
the revolution tried to reassure the frightened people, they were far
from successful. A mob spirit of fear is not easily conquered.
Aside from this Lopez's force, worn out with their efforts, tired and
hungry, and for the time idle, while the leaders were planning the next
move, dispersed through the town. It seemed necessary and expedient in
any event that they should be quartered on the citizens, and now they
sought the homes of the Creoles in search of food. They were met by a
frightened hospitality. Food and wine were set before them, with the
result that those of them who were merely adventurers lost sight of
their purpose and seized the opportunity to court intoxication. This
conduct did not increase the confidence of the Creoles, and so hopes of
support from the native Cubans proved delusive.
To make matters worse, disquieting rumors were circulated that in spite
of the efforts of Pickett's men to disable the railroad, a large body of
Spanish troops was on its way from Matanzas. There seemed to be no doubt
as to the truth of these reports; indeed a message reached Lopez late
in the afternoon, containing unmistakable confirmation to the effect
that couriers had carried the news to Matanzas and that three thousand
Spanish troops were on their way to Cardenas. Lopez was now in a triple
quandary. He could advance against this huge force, which would of
course be joined by those of the Cardenas garrison who had escaped into
the country, and give battle against frightful odds. His own forces had
been depleted by losses and had failed to be swelled by the enlistment
of sympathizing Creoles. He would leave behind him a frightened and
almost hostile city, and a port unguarded against the landing of Spanish
troops from ships cruising in nearby waters, in the event of which he
would be subject to attack from both front and rear, and would be not
only in great danger, but almost in certainty of being surrounded. He
might remain where he was and entrench himself against the impending
attack, but this offered no better possibilities than the former plan,
for he had not enough men to defend both the town and the harbor and he
was in constant danger of betrayal by Spanish sympathizers, who were of
course cognizant of his every move. He had been told that at Mantua
large bodies of Creoles stood ready to revolt and join him. Of course,
he had no more accurate confirmation of the truth of this rumor than he
had had of the verity of the assurances which, before he had set out on
his expedition, he had received of the willingness of the inhabitants of
Cardenas to join him; and yet this plan last outlined seemed to hold
better possibilities than either of the others. He decided, therefore,
to adopt it, and while making a show of resistance, he began quietly to
assemble his baggage and equipment on board the _Creole_, and to make
ready for the re-embarkation of his men.
Although the forces at the station, and indeed other small bodies of
his troops who had not been demoralized by the delights of the table,
sought to cover his retreat, and the former did render effective service
against the Spaniards, yet his movements did not escape observation, and
were hailed with delight and with renewed aggressions by the Spanish
troops. The retreat was not easy to effect, and when he had assembled
his scattered forces, his movements were halted from time to time by the
necessity of erecting temporary barricades, from which to cover the safe
return to the _Creole_. This was finally effected, and at nine in the
evening the vessel once more set out to sea. On board her, besides Lopez
and his men, were the Spanish governor and the commander of the
garrison, and they were retained as hostages until the ship cleared the
harbor. This was not accomplished without mishap, for the captain, again
hampered by navigating in what to him were uncharted waters, once more
grounded the ship, which caused some delay. At length they were on the
high seas, and just before they quit the shores of Cuba, they landed the
discomfited governor and the garrison chief. What would have happened,
had Lopez been in the governor's predicament, indeed what did happen,
when Lopez and his men finally fell into the hands of the Spaniards, is
another story. But Lopez was too high a type of gentleman to mete out to
the Spanish high commanders the fate to which they would too gladly have
consigned him.
Lopez has in many quarters been most severely censured for his quick
abandonment of his plans and his hasty retreat from Cuba, but in the
cold light of reason, we hardly see how he could have pursued any other
course. Had his expectation of aid from the Creoles been realized, he
might then, as he had planned, have left Cardenas in their hands, and
with his little band strengthened by a large body of revolutionary
sympathizers he might have advanced against the Spanish army at Matanzas
with some hope of success. As it was, he could only make the best of a
bad situation, and depart, with the faint hope of better fortune at
Mantua, and at least with the nucleus of an organization which later
might be more effective in another expedition of greater scope for the
freeing of Cuba. Thus, when we review his action, after the passage of
many years, he seems to have taken the only sane course that lay open to
him. Any other would have meant even greater disaster. Lopez had lost,
in this short time, of his Louisiana regiment, twenty killed and
wounded, including those basely slaughtered through the Spanish
treachery before the Governor's palace; of his Kentucky regiment, forty
killed and wounded, including such men of high standing as Captain John
A. Logan, Lieutenant James J. Garrett, the Rev. Louis McCann and
Sergeant Harry Cruse, besides ten privates; while his Mississippi
regiment suffered five or six killed. The Spanish losses were greater
than those of the revolutionists and numbered over one hundred.
But an even greater misfortune had overtaken Lopez. When the _Creole_
had grounded, near the entrance to the harbor, while he was making his
hasty departure from Cardenas, it had been impossible to float her free
without lightening her, and to do this not only were provisions thrown
overboard, but large quantities of precious arms and ammunitions, and so
his men now found themselves insufficiently armed for any stubborn
resistance to Spanish troops, particularly should the odds be heavy.
Lopez was still bent on his purpose of making a landing at Mantua, but
while his gallant officers in the main supported him, he found himself
surrounded by a dissatisfied, angry, mutinous crew, who were for
abandoning the whole matter, and steaming for the United States with
all possible speed. Lopez addressed them, and tried to stir within them
a realization of what such action meant, and how fatal it might be to
the cause of Cuban liberty to abandon so easily an expedition so
propitiously and even gaily undertaken, but they were deaf to his
entreaties. At the suggestion of one of his officers the matter was put
to vote, and to his dismay Lopez found that only fifteen stood with him
on the Mantua project. He would not consent to abandon it, however, even
against such odds, and declared that he would himself make the landing,
taking with him the loyal few who were willing to stay with him. This,
however, he was prevented from doing by the fact that the majority saw
to it that the captain did not approach Mantua, but steered a course
which had as its object the port of Key West, Florida.
Evidence soon was not lacking that theirs had been the part of wisdom if
not of valor, and indeed that there were some odds against their
reaching any port at all, for news of the expedition had not only been
carried to Matanzas, but it had somehow reached the Spanish ship
_Pizarro_, and she was soon in hot pursuit of the _Creole_. This soon
became a most serious situation; again and again it seemed as if the
_Creole_ were about to be overhauled, with the probable result that her
men would be taken prisoners and executed, and she would be sunk, or
taken to port a prize of war. Fate, however, intervened in favor of
Lopez, for the pilot on board the Spanish vessel was in sympathy with
the filibusters, and when, on nearing Key West, the _Pizarro_ seemed
about to overtake the _Creole_, at the peril of his own life he steered
such an eccentric course that the _Creole_ escaped, and made a landing
at Key West, while the Spanish ship put out to sea once more.
Lopez and his men were welcomed at Key West with shouts of applause.
Sympathizers with his expedition refused to consider it a failure. They
declared that it had served to open the eyes of the Cubans to the fact
that their deliverance was near, and that when Lopez once more set out
with a larger force--as they assured him, with the assistance of the
people of the south in the United States, he would--victory would be
certain to spread her wings over his banner. So great was the popular
clamor in favor of Lopez, that the United States authorities did not
deem it prudent to arouse the ire of the mob, and therefore no attempts
at arrest were then made. Indeed, little chance was given before
debarkation, because in hardly more than ten minutes after the vessel
had docked, the work of removing the wounded had been completed, and her
decks were cleared of all men but seamen. The vessel was, however,
seized by the authorities.
When news of Lopez's exploits reached Madrid, the government was thrown
into a great state of indignation, and promptly urged upon the United
States the punishment of the offenders, stating:
"If contrary to our expectations the authors of this last expedition
should go unpunished, as did those who last year planned the Round
Island expedition, the government of Her Majesty will find itself
obliged to appeal to the sentiments of morality and good faith of the
nations of Europe to oppose the entrance of a system of politics and of
doctrines which would put an end to the foundations on which rests the
peace of the civilized world. If Europe should sanction by her silence
and acquiescence the scandalous state of affairs by which the citizens
of the United States (or those of any power whatever) might freely make
war from their territory against Spain, when the latter is at perfect
peace officially with the Union; if it should be tolerated or looked on
with indifference that the solemn stipulations which bind the two states
should be with impunity made hollow by mobs and that the laws of nations
and public morality should be violated without other motive than the
selfishness of the aggressors, and with no other reliance than force,
then civilized nations ought to renounce that peace which is based on
the laws of nations and the terms of treaties and make ready for a new
era in which might will be right, and in which popular passions of the
worst kind will be substituted for the reason of states."
Even with the government in Washington practically controlled by the
pro-slavery interests, and with feeling in that quarter running high in
favor of the filibusters, the United States, for the sake of
preservation of peaceable relations with Spain, could hardly afford to
ignore this protest. Hence, Lopez was arrested at Savannah, whence he
had gone immediately upon his arrival on American soil, and a number of
the leaders of his expedition were apprehended.
Indictments were returned against Lopez, Theodore O'Hara, John F.
Pickett, R. Hayden, Chatham R. Wheat, Thomas T. Hawkins, W. H. Bell, N.
J. Bunce, Peter Smith, A. J. Gonzales, L. J. Sigur, Donahen Augusten,
John Quitman, Cotesworth Pinckney Smith (a Judge of the Supreme Court of
Mississippi), John Henderson (a former United States Senator), and J. L.
O'Sullivan (a former editor of the _Democratic Review_, which had been
loud in its support of the filibustering expeditions). But great
difficulty was experienced in obtaining evidence against the prisoners.
This might seem extraordinary, in the light of the fact that there could
be no denial that the expedition had taken place, and that these men
had been prominent in its organization. But at the trial all the
witnesses by common agreement refused to answer any but the simplest and
least important questions, on the ground that they might thus
incriminate themselves. Three men were tried and three juries disagreed.
The matter seemed so hopeless of solution that the indictments were
allowed to languish without prosecution, and were finally dismissed and
the prisoners released. Everywhere the filibusters were received with
acclamations, and all the South joined in declaring Lopez a hero.
The New Orleans _Bee_ at this time thus described Lopez:
"General Lopez has an exceedingly prepossessing appearance. He is
apparently about fifty years of age. His figure is compact and well set.
His face which is dark olive, and of the Spanish cast, is strikingly
handsome, expressive of both intelligence and energy. His full dark
eyes, firm, well-formed mouth, and erect head, crowned with iron grey
hair, fix the attention and convince you that he is no ordinary man.
Unless we are greatly mistaken in the impression we have formed of him,
he will again be heard of in some new attempt to revolutionize Cuba. He
certainly does not look like a man easily disheartened."
The _Bee_ was a true prophet; it was far from being "greatly mistaken"
about Lopez. The after events proved that it had judged him justly. No
sooner was he released than he began to lay his plans for a new
expedition, and since New Orleans had long been the stronghold of his
sympathizers, he went to that place to complete his organization.