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Chapter XVII: Marianao

There was a charming breakfast, that was concluded about 1 o'clock, and then came a sudden sensation, a painful surprise. There had been a massacre just over the hills to the left, beyond Marianao; an incursion of the rebels as far as Punta Brava, and near that village was the small place Gautao. One of the young men employed at the house where we breakfasted had been engaged in the affair as a member of a volunteer company, and returned to his duties, was telling of the bloody business. His story was that news came to Marianao of the presence of the enemy at Punta Brava, and the volunteers and firemen were rushed to the scene of the presence of the insurgents, who, not expecting so much heartiness of movement, were surprised, but finding themselves outnumbered, took refuge in the houses, where they were pursued, and the general result was twenty dead men. The officer I saw was one who had collected the bodies, and of the twenty only two were certainly of the insurgent forces-the rest were Pacificos, or townsmen, non-combatants. There was general interest and intense feeling in Havana about the slaughter at first associated with Marianao then with Punta Brava, and finally with Gautao, the actual location of the killing. The Cubans were exceedingly agitated, and their bitterness was fierce in proportion as it was suppressed. The Spaniards regarded the incident as a victory. They had the mitigation, certainly, that the insurgents had been trotting in and out of the villages, and some of them had been caught there and found shelter in the frail houses-the dwellings of poor people. There could be no reasonable doubt, however, of the character of the tragedy.

The force of troops that advanced from Marianao, under the commandant at that post, was too strong to be in peril from any band of insurgents within half a day's ride, and it was not necessary to secure the actual fighting men present that assaults upon all suspected houses should be made. As soon as the attack in support of the search was opened, the ferocity of bloodhounds was exhibited by the troops. They were in an ungovernable frenzy, and regarded the villagers as sympathetic with the rebels, as they no doubt were, for they all are, and the miserables were vindictively killed in their homes, some sick and helpless in bed. There was no restraining discipline and no quality of mercy. When the end came the dead were gathered, and there were twenty bloody corpses, only two men claimed by the soldiers who had slain them to have died with arms in their hands. There were rumors that had circulation, that happily were not verified, that several women had been killed, and that others had been stripped of their clothing on the pretense that they might be rebel soldiers in disguise! On the subject of this butchery I happened to have information from original sources, and the time has not come to give all the testimony, and how it was obtained, for there are still chances for other hearts to bleed.

Two American newspaper men, who have not had the full credit their courage and enterprise merit, passed through the lines and visited the streets and houses where the bloodshed took place, and found the worst rumors-save those regarding the women-to be true; and they ascertained the names of nine of the victims. The same names, and two additional, were furnished me on a mysterious scrap of paper from the bloody village, and there were other particulars of confirmation altogether conclusive. There was no fact that appeared suggesting an excuse for the slaughter, except that there were insurgents in the village. The Marquis de Cervera, the commandant of Marianao, made a report of his victory, and the fact that one Spaniard had been mortally and one slightly wounded, was held sufficient to prove that there had been a "combat;" and the marquis was duly congratulated upon his gallant achievement. In a personal interview with Captain-General Weyler, I asked him whether he proposed to investigate the Gautao incident for his own satisfaction, and his reply was, with an air of surprise, that the affair had been officially reported, and he was aware there had been a "combat." Afterward, there came from Marianao the mothers, wives and sisters of "the Pacificos" who had been murdered. They filled a railroad car, and crowded the anteroom in the palace-as dreary and wretched a spectacle as has ever been witnessed in the course of this horrible war. The women bore in their deep-lined faces the stamp of their agony. They were plainly the people of poverty, but had the respectability of neatness, and the gloomy expression of hopeless sorrow fixed upon them all was something dreadful.

The reason of speaking so fully of this is, that the place was well known in Havana-a suburb near the sea, and beautifully situated, familiar to the whole city-and the people for miles around Punta Brava and Gautao were so terrified by the conduct of the troops that they fled to Marianao and to Havana, where they were sheltered. so far as possible, by friends, and told their straightforward stories, some of which were taken down, word for word, and furnished me, and I did not publish them, and do not now, because some bereaved woman might have to suffer for her word spoken in the excitement of terror, and perhaps of inability to realize the proportion of circumstances. If one should even say what the humble, honest occupation was of one who mourned her dead, she would be designated, and there might be some scamp hateful enough to repeat and distort the communication that she unwittingly gave American correspondents, and additional suffering for her because she had spoken freely to those who reported her, for the sake of the truth. The evidence is abundant. The panic that seized the peasantry of the district stained with innocent blood, was not propagated by the newspapers-for the fugitives acted not on what they had read, but upon their own knowledge. They were like deer escaping from wolves. There have been hundreds of reports of dreadful deeds--murders by regular troops, by insurgents, by bandits--the innocent "Pacificos" perishing because, perhaps, those engaged in war resisted successfully, and the shedding of blood seemed in itself to supply a military want.

Cuba is full of tales resembling that of Gautao, but far the greater number are beyond the range of investigation, and this bloody picture is painted to a finish, because it is typical, and touches up with the light of reality the darkness of the horror-haunted Island.