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The Orders and Administration of Weyler: Spanish

Then followed elaborate instructions very carefully devised--the main thing being to reinforce the troops with the civil guard to stop the ravages by the rebels in the western province--a precaution that shows the captain-general was aware of the impending danger that has given him the gravest anxieties and inflicted upon the Spanish cause the most disheartening losses. The decrees of the captain-general show the intensity of his temper--the emphasis of his method, his precision of phrase, and energy of expression, with the fixed resolution to be thoroughgoing in every respect. His appearances on paper are quite formidable, but the notice that the rebels were being hotly pursued was followed by an aggressive campaign by the Maceos in the western provinces, demonstrating the failure of the captain-general to enforce his authority even in the neighborhood of Havana. The captain-general addressed to the generals of the army corps, civil and military governors, and chiefs of columns and military commanders, the following severe instructions:

The towns and villages must help in the work of their own protection, and see that no guides are wanting for the Spanish troops. They should also give all possible information in regard to the enemy, if they are in the neighborhood, and not let it again happen that the latter be better informed than ourselves. The energy and severity employed by the enemy will mark our own course of conduct, and in every case you will proceed to arrest and place subject to my disposal, or to submit to the courts, all those who by any of the orders which have been expressed, should help or show their sympathy to be with the rebels. After public spirit has been reanimated, you should not forget the convenience of adding strength to the corps of volunteers and guerillas that may be in the district, without failing to organize a guerilla band of twenty-five citizens for each battalion of the army, and to propose to me whatever you deem proper, directly or through the authority upon whom you depend, to realize my plan. But this should not lead you to consider yourselves authorized to decide anything which is not prescribed by law or by decree, unless it is urgently demanded by circumstances.

I trust that you will abide by these instructions, and tender your faithful concurrence to the development of my thoughts, for the benefit of the Spanish cause.

Havana, Feb. 19th, 1896. VALERIANO WEYLER.