ound that the
insurgents had already commenced the rebellion and had even gained some
ground.

At first the Spanish authorities looked upon the insurrection as a
trivial matter, nothing more serious than a negro riot.

They believed that it would be speedily suppressed as Spain had then in
the island an army of nineteen thousand men, besides the fifty thousand
volunteers, who could be called on in case of need. But, to make all
sure, seven thousand more soldiers were sent over from Spain.

In addition to this, many men, who afterward were among the leaders of
the insurgent party expressed their unqualified disapproval of the
movement. And in this, they were undoubtedly sincere, as they had not
the slightest idea that it could succeed.

The general lack of sympathy and the universal criticism that met the
little band of revolutionists unquestionably contributed much toward the
relaxation of the vigilance of the government.

But the government was soon to be undeceived. The insurrection became a
very serious matter indeed. The insurgents pursued very much the same
tactics that they had followed in the Ten Years War, that is, they would
seldom risk an open battle, and the Spaniards could gain but little
ground against the guerilla methods of their opponents.

The Cubans were very badly equipped; in fact they had scarcely any war
material whatever. They began by appropriating indiscriminately any fire
arms wherever they could find them, from the repeating rifle to the shot
gun with the ramrod. Many of them were armed only with revolvers, and
the majority of them had simply the "machete," a knife about nineteen
inches in length.

Recruits constantly came to their ranks, however, and it was not long
before they numbered over six thousand.

A political crisis now took place in Spain, and the conservative party
came into power. Premier Canovas then appointed as governor-general of
Cuba, Martinez Campos, who had been so successful, by diplomacy rather
than by anything else, in ending the Ten Years War.

He landed at Guantanamo, and before visiting Havana, he issued the most
elaborate instructions to every department of the military service,
which now had been largely reinforced.

In the early part of the war, a great misfortune befell the Cubans, and
that was in the loss of their beloved leader, Jose Marti.

On the 18th of May, a part of the insurgent army camped upon the plains
of Dos Rios, where they learned that