As if this were not enough, Dulce followed this action by another decree, promulgated on April 1, which prohibited the transfer of property, except by the direct consent of the government, and this prohibition included the sale of produce of all sorts, stocks, shares in mercantile projects, and real estate, together with many minor provisions; while by a third decree, which shortly followed, he ordered the confiscation of the estates of American citizens who were suspected of sympathy or complicity with the revolutionists. Naturally, the United States government made a strong protest against such summary action, rightly declaring it to be in violation of the provisions of the treaty of 1795.
The Cuban troops now began a more or less concentrated attack on Trinidad, and to relieve the pressure at this point, the Spanish sent a large force toward Puerto Principe, hoping to weaken the Cuban army at the former place, because of the necessity of withdrawing men to combat the Spanish army at the latter. The Spanish government also sought to offset the damage and destruction done by the insurgents to property of loyalists by issuing a decree proclaiming their intention to confiscate the property of all individuals who were absent from home without a governmental excuse—which would of course include all landowners who were fighting in the Cuban army—and providing for a detail of men to protect against the revolutionists every estate thus taken.
On April 17 battle was again joined by the Cubans under Colonel Francisco Rubalcava and a Spanish force under the combined leadership of Generals Letona, Escalante and Lesca. The fighting which ensued taxed the Cuban resources to the utmost. All day long the battle raged, and when both sides were worn out with combat, the result was not decisive for either army, while one hundred and eighty Spanish troops and two hundred Cubans lay dead under the stars.
For nearly two weeks thereafter there was a period of quiet and recuperation on the part of the Cubans, with the exception of a number of minor skirmishes, but on May 3 the belligerents again met in battle at Las Minas, when twelve hundred Spaniards, under the command of General Lesca, and a large Cuban force under General Quesada, fought in the most violent of hand to hand conflicts. Frightful butchery ensued, for this time victory again returned to the Cuban standards, and the Spanish were forced to retreat in disorder, leaving behind them one hundred and sixty killed and three hundred wounded, while the Cuban losses were two hundred killed and an equal number wounded.
To add to the rejoicing over this victory, small as it was, a few days previous the Cubans had had a practical demonstration of the sympathy of United States citizens for their cause, and of the ability of those citizens to evade the drastic provisions of the government against any display of that feeling. On May 1 there arrived at Mayari a body of three hundred Americans, under the leadership of General Thomas Jordan, a tried veteran of the Civil War, in which he had been an officer in the Confederate Army. He was an experienced soldier, who had had a fine military training and had been graduated from West Point. This in itself might have been quite enough to put new heart into the Cuban leaders, but General Jordan had brought with him not only reinforcements but arms, ammunition, clothing, medical supplies and food. A detailed list of this material included four thousand long range rifles, three hundred new pattern Remington rifles, five hundred revolvers, twelve pieces of artillery of various sizes including twelve, twenty-four and thirty-two pound cannon, and a large supply of ammunition for these arms. And the relief did not stop here, for there were a thousand pairs of shoes, and clothing for one thousand persons, two printing-presses, medical supplies, and quantities of rice, tinned biscuits, salt meat, flour and salt. This meant food and arms for at least six thousand men, and there is no wonder that there seemed to be occasion for the wildest rejoicing on the part of those who were so manfully and against such great odds engaged in upholding the cause of freedom in Cuba. Now the patriots might oppose the Spanish with at least six thousand well equipped men, and they had also acquired in the person of General Jordan an officer whose aid in drilling raw recruits could not be overestimated.
The Cubans did not get their booty to headquarters without some opposition from the Spaniards. That was hardly to be hoped, since their every movement was reported to the government by Spanish spies, and it would have been impossible for an expedition like the one in question to land without detection. But they were able to resist all attempts to wrest their supplies from them.
Around Trinidad and Cienfuegos fighting was constant. Each day saw its skirmishes, and there were some violent engagements, all of which left matters pretty much as they had been so far as any victory of a decisive character for either side was concerned. The Cubans were, however, able to disperse a body of Spanish troops which were advancing toward Las Tunas in the hope of relieving the citizens of that place, which was also in a state of siege. The Spaniards were bearing a quantity of provisions for the city, and in their flight these were abandoned and fell into the hands of the Cubans.
When matters were succeeding in a manner more or less favorable to the Spanish cause, the Volunteers were quiet and inclined to discontinue temporarily their opposition to Dulce, but when things took a turn for the worse he was always made the scapegoat. Hence the Volunteers were renewing their attacks on his policies, although for the time being he had been suffering one of his periodic reversions to severity. This time, the Volunteers were successful in obtaining the recall of Dulce as Captain-General. They simply drove him out by mob force, on June 4, and put into his place one Señor Espinar. This appointment was an arbitrary act, which the Spanish government refused to confirm, and therefore Espinar's political life was cut short almost at its inception, and General Caballero de Rodas became Captain-General of the island. Now Rodas should have been a man entirely to the liking of the Volunteers. He had won for himself a reputation for cruelty toward the republican insurgents in Spain while he was stationed at Cadiz, which had caused him to be called "the butcher of Cadiz." He evidently felt it incumbent to live up to his title, for now the Spanish troops were incited to unspeakable cruelties.
Promptly on taking office, Rodas began his career with the decree of July 7, 1869, which he fondly hoped would prevent further aid from reaching the revolutionists from the United States or from any other country. The proclamation was as follows:
"The custody and guardianship of the coasts of this island, of the keys adjacent, and the waters appertaining to the territory, being of the greatest importance, in order to suppress the insurgent bands that have hitherto maintained themselves by outside assistance, and determined as I am to give a vigorous impulse to the pursuit of them, and with a view of settling the doubts entertained by our own cruisers as to the proper interpretation of the decree promulgated by this superior political government under dates of November 9, 1868, and February 18 and 26 and March 24 last, I have decided to amplify and unite the aforesaid orders and substitute for them the following, which, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the nation, I decree: