“There are between four thousand and six thousand Spanish troops concentrating at Cienfuegos under command of Major-General Aguirre. They have thrown up some very poor breastworks. Three ground-batteries look toward the open sea.”
Bread riots broke out in Spain. In Gijon, on the Bay of Biscay, the rioters made a stand and were fired upon by the troops. Fourteen were killed or wounded, yet the infuriated populace held their ground, nor were they driven back until the artillery was ordered out. Then a portion of the soldiers joined the mob; a cannon with ammunition was seized, and directed against the fortification. A state of siege was declared, and an order issued that all the bread be baked in the government bakeries, because the mob had looted the shops.
At Talavera de la Reina, thirty-six miles from Toledo, a mob attacked the railroad station, entirely destroying it, setting fire to the cars, and starting the engines wild upon the track. They burned several houses owned by officials, and sacked a monastery, forcing the priests to flee for their lives. Procuring wine from the inns, they grew more bold, and made an attack upon the prison, hoping to release those confined there; but at this point they were held in check by the guard.
The miners of Oviedo inaugurated a strike, commencing by inciting riots. At Caceres several people were killed. At Malaga a mob rode down the guards and looted the shops. The British steam yacht Lady of Clonmel, owned by Mr. James Wilkinson, of London, was attacked as she lay at the pier. Stones smashed her skylights, and a bomb was thrown aboard, but did not explode. The yacht put hurriedly to sea, and from Gibraltar reported the outrage to London.
May 5. The government tug Leyden, which on the second day of May left Key West with a Cuban expedition, returned to port, giving the following account of her voyage:
She proceeded to a certain point near Mariel, and landed five men, with four boxes of ammunition and two horses.
General Acosta penetrated to the interior, where he communicated with the forces of the insurgents.
The Leyden lay to outside the harbour until five o’clock in the morning, when, observing a troop of [pg 99]Spanish infantry approaching, she put to sea and got safely away.
U. S. S. TERROR.