I also did my best, during my walks, to keep up my friendly intercourse with the prisoners I had brought down to the Straits with me, and who had been allowed their liberty, on swearing allegiance to Cambiaso. Some of them were very friendly, and brought me such information as they thought would interest me. From them I learnt much of the discipline which Cambiaso had established, and of the sanguinary code of laws which he had drawn up.
Immediately after the escape of the governor, and the success of the insurrection, Cambiaso was proclaimed Commandante by the rebels. Afterwards his title was Major General, and Garcia’s, General, or little general, as he was called by most of the soldiers, by way of distinction. On the same day, by order of Cambiaso, the hospital, chapel, with all the sacred vessels on the altar, the house and robes of the priest, were burnt; Cambiaso declaring that he would have nothing to do with any religious rites. A red flag was hoisted, having upon it a scull and cross-bones, with the motto, “I give no quarter;” and upon it the soldiers and released convicts all swore fidelity. This flag I often saw raised in the colony, on parade days, during my imprisonment. I give below the code of laws, a copy of which I afterwards obtained at Valparaiso. Of its atrocity I need say nothing, as it speaks for itself.
MILITARY CRIMES,
AND THEIR CORRESPONDING PUNISHMENTS.Article I.
Every inferior who speaks disrespectfully of his superior officer, shall be immediately shot.
Art. II.
Every inferior who should raise his hand against his superior officer, shall be immediately hung.
Art. III.
If an inferior strikes his superior officers, with or without arms, he shall be burnt alive.
Art. IV.
He who should be a traitor to the flag we have sworn, shall be cut in pieces, alive, and afterwards burnt.
Art. V.
He who is guilty of perjury, incurs the same punishment.
Art. VI.
He who communicates with the enemy, incurs the same punishment.
Art. VII.
He who speaks against the service, incurs the same punishment.
Art. VIII.
Robbery. He who steals any object, money, or any article whatsoever, shall be hung.
Art. IX.
Want of Punctuality. If any person in the military service, (no matter in what capacity,) be wanting in his duty, and does not present himself in the place and at the hour at which he has been ordered to appear, he shall be tried and shot.
Art. X.
Cowardice. Every man who, for want of courage, flies from the enemy, shall be put to death by the bayonet; and his eyes shall be taken out to prove the fact. The body of a coward shall be burnt.
Art. XI.
If any traitor be seized, his tongue shall be cut out, it being the instrument of his falsehood. He shall be burnt with a red hot iron, and he shall afterwards suffer the punishments he has incurred, according to Articles 4th, 5th, and 6th.
Art. XII.
Sentinels found asleep at their posts, shall be immediately hung; they being the only persons responsible for said post’s security. Therefore, the sergeants are requested to visit the posts every ten minutes, for the observation of this article.
Art. XIII.
He who in battle gives quarter to an enemy, out of pity, or any other consideration, shall be immediately shot.
Art. XIV.
The officer, sergeant, or soldier who is not vigilant when on guard, shall be tried and shot.
Art. XV.
The infractor of any of these laws, if an officer, shall be hung; if a soldier, shot.
Art. XVI.
All military persons are charged with the fulfilment of the preceding articles. This is particularly recommended to superior officers: and they are requested to inform their troops that want of information on this head will not excuse them from undergoing the punishments expressed.
Art. XVII.
He who should steal or hide (or abet another in so doing,) any powder, balls, or article of war, shall be burnt alive.
Art. XVIII.
He who in battle or on march should throw away the cartridges given him, desirous of not injuring the enemy, or of relieving himself of their weight, shall be cut in pieces alive, joint by joint, beginning in preference with the fingers of the right hand. His remains shall afterwards be burnt.
Art. XIX.
If, on arriving in any province, a Montista be discovered, his house shall be sacked, and the owner or tenant thereof shall be burnt in the said house.
Art. XX.
If any person in the troops under my command sells any article with usury, he shall receive one hundred lashes.
Art. XXI.
The chiefs of this division, desirous of preventing all fraud, prohibit, under pain of the gallows, any attempt to give money on gage, or with any kind of interest.
Art. XXII.
He who, from this time forward, should lend money on gage, shall lose all right to the gage given him; losing also what he gave on it, and receiving two hundred lashes in punishment.
Art. XXIII.
The sentinel or advanced post who on seeing the enemy approach, does not give the alarm, shall be cut in pieces alive; considering that from his omission great danger may arise.
Art. XXIV.
The chief, officer, sergeant, or soldier who shall not defend his post unto death, shall be burnt alive; no excuse to be admitted on account of the greater force of the enemy, the bad state of the armament, or any thing else tending to cover his cowardice.
Art. XXV.
Any officer ordered to assault a post, shall take it, or lose his life in the attempt; if he returns unsuccessful, though he have lost all his soldiers, he shall be immediately shot.
Art. XXVI.
If any sentinel gives the “qui vive” and does not receive in answer, “General Cruz,” he shall immediately fire at the person interrogated.
Art. XXVII.
This government, desirous that every individual shall preserve his money, and employ it for useful objects, prohibits all kinds of hazardous games; and if any is resorted to in order to while away time, it must be lottery, and without interest. He who infringes this article, shall be hung.
Art. XXVIII.
An ounce of gold shall be given to every body who gives information of the infringement of the preceding Article.
Art. XXIX.
Any sentinel who abandons the post committed to his care, shall be pinched with red hot tongs until he expires. After this, his body shall be exposed publicly during eight days; after which it shall be burnt, and its ashes cast into the air.
Given in the camp of Punta Arena, December 13, 1851.
On reading over this code of laws and punishments, many proofs may be seen of either present or intended communication with the insurgents in the province of Conception, under general Cruz. Articles 18, 19, and 25 would indicate that Cambiaso had in contemplation a march through the country, to join his forces with those of the revolutionists. By “a Montista,” is meant an adherent of the government at Santiago, under President Monté.
At this time, I very frequently saw Cambiaso; sometimes on horseback, surrounded by his aids; sometimes walking on the parade ground. He rode well, and generally on a very spirited horse; and always went armed with sword, dirk knife and pistol. His personal appearance was fine;—an open forehead, a fair complexion, with a profusion of dark hair, an ample moustache, and heavy beard. His nose was aquiline, and his profile finely marked, and what an artist would call the coloring of his face, was admirable; the bright red lips, fair forehead, and dark hair, softened down by the lighter colored beard and moustache, gave a beauty to his face that would have been a study for a painter. But his eyes revealed the evil passions hid under that fair exterior. They were long, and dark, and hid under their lashes, from beneath which he cast sudden and covert glances. When he was talking to me, he never looked steadily at me, but after ending his remarks, would give me a sideway glance, as if marking the effect of what he said; and in that glance there was something to me stealthy and cat-like. After I observed this, I always took care, during our conversations, to look him directly in the eye, as if afraid I might lose a word, but in fact because I felt and knew that he could not endure any look, much less one so intently given.
From my observation of his character, I should not have called him a brave man. He was very vain, very fond of being admired, and often to gain the applause of his own men, would assume an air of bravado; and doubtless the same love of admiration would have led him into daring acts; but he talked too much of his valor, to impress me with any strong belief in it. He doubtless had the animal courage which belongs to an uneducated man, and one brought up in the profession of arms; but I am convinced that in any situation calling for self reliance and presence of mind, his boasted courage would have failed him. But I am giving now rather the conclusions I drew from all I ever knew of him, than any opinion I could form at this time.
Cambiaso was a young man, not more than twenty-five or six years of age; in person, rather thin than stout, and of not more than middle size. He was vain of his beauty, and fond of ornaments. The day after my capture, he sent word to me that he wanted my watch and chain. I handed them to the officer who brought the message. The watch I never saw again; but the chain I sometimes recognized among the ornaments on Cambiaso’s person.
Indeed, it was no uncommon thing for me to recognize my own pistols, cutlasses, and so forth, carried by the officers and guards who surrounded me. And I am conscious of a singular feeling of indignation,—or, to use a more accurate word, of impatience—which would cross my mind whenever I reflected that I might at any moment receive my death-wound from a stroke or a shot from one of my own weapons. At this time I was destitute of even a change of clothing; my trunks, with those of all my passengers, being left on board the Florida, and soon broken open and rifled of their contents, by Cambiaso and his men.
In my conversations with Cambiaso, which now occurred very frequently, I often begged permission to go on board my vessel, and be under guard there, knowing that some of his followers, with their wives, were living on board the Florida; but his answer constantly was, “No: I am making up my mind what to do with you all.” At times he would threaten to shoot us at once; this was when he was made angry by reports of the trouble which the care of us gave. These threats were reported to me by the Chilian prisoners; but during his conversations with me, he never broke out into violent expressions, but seemed rather to keep a control over himself, as if to impress me with a sense of his self command.
A few days after the visit of the Virago, I was told that Cambiaso had been heard to say that he had made up his mind to poison me. This seemed to me so idle a threat, when he had me so completely in his power, that it did not make much impression upon me, until I found that a great difference was made in our fare. We were allowed to eat with the guards in the outer apartment, instead of having our food brought to our own room; and the dishes put before us were much better than I had formerly seen served to the soldiers.