850, being the oldest of eleven
brothers. When yet a young man he fought for "Cuba Libre" in the late
ten years' war, seeking to throw off the yoke of Spanish tyranny. His
service in that war, as well as in the present struggle, showed him to
be a born fighter, and earned for him the titles of Second General in
Chief of the Forces of Liberty and General in Chief of the Army of
Invasion. He had full charge of the civil and military jurisdictions
of the western and most important portion of the island of Cuba, the
place where the present struggle will either be won or lost to the
brave Cubans.

As long as Maceo lived there was no prospect of the blacks and whites
of Cuba participating in a race war. He loved his country too well to
allow it, and could have easily prevented such a clash, as he had the
implicit confidence and respect of the Negroes. He was very reticent
in speaking of his wounds, of which he bore twenty-three. With one
exception, these wounds were received in the ten years' war.

In the death of Gen. Maceo Cuba loses a man who was without fear, a
man of rare intellect, an honest man, and a genuine patriot, whose
death will doubtless be avenged by his faithful followers. By Maceo's
death Cuba loses one of the most valiant defenders she ever had. After
his participation in the ten years' war and his exile to Jamaica, at
its unsuccessful termination, his subsequent career has been told in
the following interesting sketch:

"Early in 1879 a brown-skinned, weather-beaten man arrived in New York
on one of the Jamaica steamers. For a month or more he lived alone,
without other companionship than that of books. It was Maceo, and the
fire of liberty, still smoldering in his breast, was only seeking a
favorable opportunity to burst into flame. In a few months he made his
way to West Point, where he obtained employment as a hostler. Nobody
in the academy dreamed for a moment that the broad-shouldered,
dark-browed man who handled the horses so easily had ever smelled the
smoke of battle or heard the song of rifle bullets. Day after day on
the parade grounds the taciturn man watched the evolutions of the
cadets, listened to the commands of the officers, studied the
discipline of the place, pored over volumes of military tactics that
he had managed to borrow, and added to his natural genius the
knowledge of other great generals. Then the dark-skinned hostler, who
was regarded as book mad, gave up his position and retu