He conceived what General Fitzhugh Lee calls "the brilliant idea" of ruining the farmers so that they should not be able to give any aid to the insurgents.
Read carefully the text of his famous reconcentrado order, which brought misery, ruin and death to the peaceable inhabitants of the island:
"I, Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, Marquis of Tenerife, Governor-General, Captain-General of this island and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, etc., etc., hereby order and command:
"1. That all inhabitants of the country districts, or those who reside outside the lines of fortifications of the towns, shall within a delay of eight days enter the towns which are occupied by the troops. Any individual found outside the lines in the country at the expiration of this period shall be considered a rebel and shall be dealt with as such.
"2. The transport of food from the towns, and the carrying of food from one place to another by sea or by land, without the permission of the military authorities of the place of departure, is absolutely forbidden. Those who infringe upon the order will be tried and punished as aiders and abettors of the rebellion.
"3. The owners of cattle must drive their herds to the towns, or the immediate vicinity of the towns, for which purposes proper escorts will be given them.
"4. When the period of eight days, which shall be reckoned in each district from the day of the publication of this proclamation in the country town of the district, shall have expired, all insurgents who may present themselves will be placed under my orders for the purpose of designating a place in which they may reside. The furnishing of news concerning the enemy, which can be availed of with advantage, will serve as a recommendation to them; also, when the presentation is made with firearms in their possession, and when, and more especially, when the insurgents present themselves in numbers.
Valeriano Weyler."
Was there ever a more damnable—there is no other word for it—a more damnable proclamation issued?
And the result? Words can scarcely do justice to it. It was the death-sentence of thousands and thousands of innocent people, the large majority of whom were women and children.