But even this growth did not give them anything like the strength of the Spanish Army in Cuba. In October, 1868, Spain had in Cuba twelve regiments of infantry, one corps of engineers, one regiment of artillery, two regiments of cavalry, one section of civil guards, one regiment of armed firemen, one regiment of prison guards, and five regiments of infantry and cavalry militia, amounting to the following:

Regular troops of all kinds, including officers14,300
Civil guards640
Prison guards120
Armed firemen1,000
Infantry and cavalry militia3,400
Soldiers who had served their time but had been
kept in service		300
19,760

These troops were distributed to the proportion of three-fifths of them in the Western Department, and the remainder divided between the Central and Eastern Departments. They were amply armed and munitioned, although it must be admitted that not all of their armament was of the newest pattern. It was, however, in excellent condition and they had six thousand of the latest model Remington rifles.

At the end of the year, the Spanish troops had been augmented by large reinforcements from the mother country, so that Spain had in the field a thoroughly organized and abundantly equipped army of about 110,000 men, which, of course, was capable of being greatly increased. She also had in Cuban waters the following men of war, at the beginning of October, 1868:

2 Steam frigates91 guns
2 2d class steamers12 guns
5 3d class steamers10 guns
5 screw steamers, schooner rigged15 guns
128 guns

Of course, she at once added to this navy, and it soon grew to formidable proportions, while the revolutionists had no navy at all, with which to repel Spanish attacks from the sea.

Despite the great preponderance of forces in its favor, the Spanish government did not at first depend upon military prowess for the suppression of the insurrection and the retention of Cuba as its colony. This was perhaps, in a measure, because of the revolution in Spain, which was keeping the Government well occupied with its internal affairs, and also because of the desire of some of the liberal leaders in Spain to avoid endless strife and bloodshed. Therefore at first, pacific measures were contemplated. It had been thought that General Dulce, as Captain-General of the Island for his third term, would be able to effect a compromise with the Cubans, because of his kindly disposition, and the good feeling which prevailed between him and the Cubans. His good offices were greatly hampered and off-set by the arrogance of the Volunteers, who did not hold him in high regard, since they thought him much too gentle with the Cubans, and who were not in sympathy with his mediations. Perhaps the flame of revolution had now grown too hot to be quenched by soothing measures. At any rate, the hope of the Spanish Government proved delusive. On the one hand, the patriot leaders were outspoken in their unwillingness to accept Dulce's proposals of an amicable settlement, based on compromise; and on the other, the Volunteers frankly opposed making any concessions to the Islanders, and directed all their influence against every measure which Dulce offered as a solution. In this they had the ulterior motive of driving Dulce from office, so that there might be placed in his position a more arbitrary and ruthless man, one of their own kidney.

In reviewing the state of affairs in Cuba at this early stage of the Ten Years' War, and comparing the strength and composition of the contending forces, it should be borne in mind that the Cuban army in the field was a mere fragment of the potential strength of the Cuban people. There were probably 150,000 Cubans, able bodied and of military age, who were both willing and eager to enter the war, but who were restrained from so doing for fear of what would befall their families if they identified themselves openly with the patriot cause. If they left their homes to take the field, their wives and children would be at the mercy of Spanish troops or of the still more to be dreaded and pitiless Volunteers. If we add to this the not unnatural doubt of the possibility of succeeding in the revolt against the formidable power of Peninsular Spain—a doubt fostered and confirmed by the failure of the former attempts—we cannot blame the Cubans for not more generally participating in active operations. Their absentation from so doing is to be charged not, certainly, to cowardice or to lack of patriotism, but to an excess of prudence.

In these circumstances, the numerical odds were at the beginning, and remained all through the war, tremendously against the Cubans. Besides this their army in a large measure, particularly at the beginning, consisted of men who had had no experience in warlike manoeuvres, and who lacked military drilling, for while preparations for uprisings had been as constant as had been the uprisings themselves, naturally the revolutionists, when their revolt was in an incipient stage, did not wish to call attention to what they were planning by putting their sympathizers through military tactics. The Cuban Army also lacked a tremendous stabilizer of morale, in not being properly uniformed, but rather presenting a motley appearance on the field. In fact there were many times when they were so hard put that they were not only inadequately clothed, but suffered for lack of food. The fact that they were able so frequently to defeat the highly trained and well equipped Spanish forces, and to hold their ground as successfully, as they did year after year, is the highest possible tribute to their valor, their intelligence in military matters, and their patriotic devotion.

The earliest engagements between the opposing forces occurred on October 13, 1868, at three places, not widely separated; Yara, Bairi and Jiguani; in all of which the Cuban patriots were successful. The last of the three named was considered by the patriots to be an extremely important victory, and was accomplished by troops under the command of General Donato Marmol. Heartened by this good fortune, the patriots on October 15 laid siege to Bayamo, and three days later effected its capture; whereupon that place was made the temporary seat of the Cuban Government. These victories were all the more creditable and encouraging because, we must remember, while the Spanish Army numbered many thousands—scattered it is true in various parts of the Island—the Cuban Army was only one-fourth as large and poorly armed and equipped. At all times during the first engagements, the patriots were outnumbered, but they made up in courage what they lacked in numbers, and their enthusiasm and zeal for the cause for which they were fighting carried them safely against tremendous odds.