the people. The Spanish authorities,
informed of the expedition, sent ships by sea and troops by land. After
a sharp skirmish, the invaders fled for their lives. Lopez and those who
escaped with him succeeded in reaching Key West. He went to Savannah, where
he was arrested but promptly liberated in response to public clamor. But
even this did not satisfy the enthusiastic liberator of a people who did
not want to be liberated in that way. He tried again in the following
year. On August 3, 1851, he sailed from near New Orleans, on the steamer
_Pampero_, in command of a force of about four hundred, largely composed
of young Americans who had been lured into the enterprise by assurance of
thrilling adventure and large pay. They landed near Bahia Honda, about
fifty miles west of Havana. Here, again, the Cubans refused to rise and
join the invaders. Here, again, they encountered the Spanish forces by whom
they were beaten and routed. Many were killed, some were captured, and
others escaped into the surrounding country and were captured afterward.
Lopez was among the captured. He was taken to Havana, and died by _garrote_
in the little fortress La Punta. His first officer, Colonel Crittenden, and
some fifty Americans were captured and taken to Atares, the fortress at the
head of Havana harbor, where they were shot. For that somewhat brutal act,
the United States could ask no indemnity. In violation of the laws of the
United States, they had invaded the territory of a nation with which the
country was at peace. In the initial issue of the _New York Times_, on
October 18, 1851, there appeared a review of the incident, presenting a
contemporaneous opinion of the experience. It was, in part, as follows:

"Nothing can be clearer than the fact that, for the present, at least,
the inhabitants of Cuba do not desire their freedom. The opinion has very
widely prevailed that the Cubans were grievously oppressed by their Spanish
rulers, and that the severity of their oppression alone prevented them from
making some effort to throw it off. The presence of an armed force in their
midst, however small, it was supposed would summon them by thousands to the
standard of revolt, and convert the colony into a free republic. Men high
in office, men who had lived in Cuba and were supposed to be familiar with
the sentiments of its people, have uniformly represented that they were
ripe for revolt, and desired only the presence of a small military band t