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Chapter XVI: Maceo

Maceo had called and gathered together several bands, numbering nearly 6,000 men, to fall upon Bayamo, and having learned that Campos was going there without an army, he determined to take him by surprise. The Spaniards, in fact, were soon attacked from every direction, and Santocildes, at the head of his column, broke the enemy's lines several times, and advanced, only to be encircled again. Both the regulars and the rebels fought fiercely, and in the midst Santocildes was killed.

Campos then took command of the column, and continued his advance, sometime on the defensive and sometime attacking, until he arrived at Bayamo, as intended, about 10 P.M. The column lost 123 men, killed or wounded, and the insurgents over 200. This encounter took place near Peralejo. It may be said that Santocildes sacrificed his own life to save that of his friend and superior. There are many reports about the personal fortunes of Campos on this field; one, an insurgent authority, is this: "Campos only saved himself by a ruse. Taking advantage of the Cubans' well-known respect for the wounded, he had himself placed in a covered stretcher, which they allowed to pass without looking inside the cover. When outside of the Cuban lines he was obliged to walk on foot to Bayamo, through six miles of by-paths, under cover of the darkness, only accompanied by his colored guide."

It must be admitted there is a touch of the extremely improbable about this, but nothing of that nature should daunt those who really care to believe, and the romance is not a bad one.

There is another story that has had large circulation in Cuba, that Maceo, perceiving Campos in the midst of the fight, and recognizing him, pointed him out to his men and told them not to kill him, as he was a soldier who made war honorably! Still another probable fiction, but a pretty one, is that a son of Campos, a lieutenant, was made prisoner and released with a friendly message to his father, who was of course expected to follow so admirable an example. The following letter from Maceo is consistent with the Cuban policy from the first in the treatment of wounded:

To His Excellency, The General Martinez Campos.

Dear Sir: Anxious to give careful and efficient attendance to the wounded Spanish Soldiers that your troops left behind on the battle-field, I have ordered that they be lodged in the houses of the Cuban families that live nearest to the battle grounds, until you send for them. With my assurance that the forces you may send to escort them back will not meet any hostile demonstrations from my soldiers, I have the honor to be, sir, Yours respectfully, Antonio Maceo Of course, as the insurgents cannot maintain hospitals, they have reason to set a good precedent in the treatment of the wounded; but that should not detract from the credit due them for their undoubted humanity. Campos, in his reports to the home government, did not deny the gravity of the situation at Bayamo, and, indeed, got very candid about his difficulties sometime before they culminated in his retirement, which was a confession of failure.