When Colonel Sandoval heard of it, he advanced up to the plain of Dos Rios, and ordered his infantry to open fire. A spirited combat ensued, with fatal results to the insurgents, as the Spanish guide, Antonio Oliva, running up to help a soldier who was surrounded by a large group of the enemy, fired his rifle at a horseman, who fell to the ground, and was found to be Jose Marti. Captain Enrique Satue was the first to recognize him. A fight took place upon the spot, the rebels trying hard to carry the corpse away, but they were repulsed. Maximo Gomez was wounded in the encounter, which for some days led to the belief that he too was dead. According to one narrative, Gomez was in the midst of the battle from the beginning, and while hurrying to recover the corpse of Marti, he was slightly wounded. Others say that the famous chief, had already taken leave of Marti to go to Camaguey, when, passing at some distance from Dos Rios, he heard the report of musketry. He imagined what was happening, and ran to rescue the civil chief of the revolution, but when he arrived, Marti had been killed. Gomez being wounded, Borrero took him on his own horse, and in this manner carried him to a place of safety. The Spaniards, after their victory, moved to Remanganagaus, where the corpse of Marti was embalmed. From the latter town it was taken to Santiago de Cuba, and while on the way there, the troops had to repel an attack from the rebels, who intended to carry off the coffin. On arriving at the city, the remains of Marti were exhibited at the cemetery. Colonel Sandoval presided over the funeral ceremonies, and the dead leader was given a decent resting place. Here are Sandoval's words on the occasion:
Gentlemen:—In presence of the corpse of him who in life was Jose Marti, and in the absence of any relative or friend who might speak over his remains such words as are customary, I request you not to consider these remains to be those of an enemy any more, but simply those of a man, carried by political discords to face Spanish soldiers. From the moment the spirits have freed themselves of matter they are sheltered and magnanimously pardoned by the Almighty, and the abandoned matter is left in our care, for us to dispel all rancorous feelings, and give the corpse such Christian burial as is due to the dead.
MAXIMO GOMEZ, THE GENERAL-IN-CHIEF.
The General-in-Chief of the Cuban forces is Maximo Gomez, a man of scholarly attainments, great intellect, and long experience in military affairs. Formerly an officer of Spain, he explains his present position in the following words:
"When I gave up, in 1868, my uniform and rank as a Major of the Spanish Army, it was because I knew that if I kept them. I would have some day to meet my own children in the field, and combat against their just desire for liberty. Now, with my many years, I have come to lead and counsel the new generation to ultimate victory."
Of his methods in war, Thomas Alvord says:
"General Gomez never has more than 300 or 400 men with him. His favorite camp is near Arroyo Blanco, on a high plateau, difficult to approach, and covered with dense thicket. He posts his outer pickets at least three miles away, in directions from which the enemy may come. The Spaniards, whenever possible, march by road, and, with these highways well guarded, Gomez sleeps secure. He knows that his pickets will be informed by some Cuban long before the Spanish column leaves or passes the nearest village to attack him. A shot from the farthest sentry causes little or no excitement in Gomez's camp. The report throws the Spanish column into fears of attack or ambush, and it moves forward very slowly and carefully. Two pickets at such a time have been known to hold 2,000 men at bay for a whole day. If the column presses on, and General Gomez hears a shot from a sentinel near by, he will rise leisurely from his hammock and give orders to prepare to move camp. He has had so many experiences of this kind that not until he hears the volley-shooting of the oncoming Spaniards will he call for his horse, give the word to march, and disappear, followed by his entire force, into the tropical underbrush, which closes like curtain behind him, leaving the Spaniards to discover a deserted camp, without the slightest trace of the path taken by its recent occupants.
"Sometimes Gomez will move only a mile or two. The Spaniards do not usually give chase. If they do, Gomez takes a keen delight in leading them in a circle. If he can throw them off by nightfall, he goes to sleep in his camp of the morning, happier than if he had won a battle. The Spaniards learn nothing through such experiences. Gomez varies the game occasionally by marching directly towards the rear of the foe, and there, reinforced by other insurgent bands of the neighborhood, falling upon the column and punishing it severely. While his immediate force is but a handful, the General can call to his aid, in a short time, nearly 6,000 men."
A COLORED COMMANDER.
As soon as the rebellion had assumed such proportions as to make it possible to arrange a regular military organization among the insurgents, Antonio Maceo was made the second in command, under General Gomez, with the title of Lieutenant General. He had risen from the ranks to the position of Major General in the Ten Years' war, where, notwithstanding his colored blood, he had shown unusual ability as a leader of men. Sons of the first families of Cuba were proud to enlist under his banner, and to recognize him as their superior officer. Space is devoted in another part of this volume to an account of the treacherous manner of his death.