As to the destruction of the sugar fields and the reason therefor, we shall have something to say later on.
Campos, completely outwitted and vanquished in his attempts to stop the onward progress of the insurgents, now fell back upon Havana, which he reached Christmas Day.
His reception in the capital was anything but a pleasant one. The Spaniards there had clamored from the very beginning for revenge without mercy, and they looked upon the successive checks which the army had received as little less than criminal. They demanded of the governor-general the reason for his repeated defeats, and even threatened him personally.
There were three political parties in Cuba, the Conservatives, the Reformists and the Autonomists. Campos met the leaders of these parties in an interview, and asked for their opinions. The consultation was very unsatisfactory, and as a result Campos proposed his resignation to which the ministry made no objection.
Shortly after, his resignation was sent in and accepted. He sailed for Spain the 17th of January, his place being temporarily filled by General Sabas Marin.
In spite of Martinez Campos' failure to subdue the insurrection, nothing but the greatest sympathy and respect can be felt for him, at least out of Spain, where, speaking in a general manner, humanity has no place, and gratitude is an unknown quantity.
Campos' services to his country had been great, including, as they did, the pacification of Cuba in the Ten Years War, the quelling of a revolt in Spain itself, and the restoration and support of the Spanish monarchy. At an advanced age, when he should have been enjoying a well deserved rest, he was sent away to fight a difficult war, and to risk the tarnishing of his laurels as a military commander.
All praise to Martinez Campos for his pure patriotism, his unswerving rectitude, his magnanimity and his exalted ideas of honor! This praise even the enemies of his country cannot refuse to him.