Only once did General Gomez show any excitement, and that was when Weyler's name was mentioned.
"He is not a soldier, he is not a man, he is not a Christian!" he said. "If he were a true soldier, I would respect him; if his troops were true soldiers, I would respect them, even though they had come to hold Cuba in chains. But he is not a soldier, nor are his men soldiers; they are here to butcher and destroy. They think to exterminate us; but though Cuba may weep and bleed and burn, God is with us, and the right will come at last."
He said that he had often thought over Weyler's cruelties, and considered whether he should not treat the Spanish prisoners in the same way. But he could not do so. The very thought of the cruelties ordered by Weyler, the murdering of innocent persons, the attacking of hospitals and killing the poor invalids, filled him with horror.
He said that he was determined that Cuba should shed no innocent blood in the name of freedom.
He was finally asked how long the war would continue, and his answer was very short.
"Until Cuba is free!" he said
It is said that General Gomez cannot yet bear to speak about the death of Maceo, and of his own son, who perished at the same time.
When the news was brought to him, he showed the true nobility of his character.
Calling his soldiers together, he bade them harbor no thoughts of revenge for the act of treachery which had cost them so brave a leader, but to follow the example of those who had died for their country, and fight until death or success was their portion.