n encounter with the Spanish army; and on March
1, 1869, he again addressed our President, asking for the recognition of
belligerent rights.

Up to this date no civil organization had existed among the insurgents,
but in April, 1869, representatives from the several anti-Spanish
districts met at Guaymazo, in the province of Puerto Principe, when
Cespedes formally resigned his power into the hands of the House of
Representatives, who thereupon proclaimed him president of the Cuban
republic, and General Quesada commander of the forces.

During the summer of 1869 the war was carried on with indifferent
success by the Spaniards, and in June General Dulce, captain-general,
went home,[K] being, in fact, virtually deposed by the "volunteers," who
were supposed to support the Spanish interest. These latter are, for the
most part, a set of worthless men, the scum of Spain and other
countries, who, with everything to gain and nothing to lose, consented
to enlist in the service of the Spanish slave-dealing clique in Havana,
and were furious at what they deemed too great clemency on the part of
the captain-general.

Dulce was succeeded by De Rodas, who announced "a vigorous policy."
During the autumn of 1869 no decisive step was taken on either side, but
the insurgents, careful to prevent the enemy profiting by the
confiscated property of the Cubans who had been compelled to abandon
their plantations, set fire to the cane, and hundreds of valuable crops
were thus destroyed. The year 1870 saw no abatement of the struggle.

Meanwhile, Peru and Chili formally and cordially recognized the
independence of the insurgents, toward whom still warmer symptoms of
sympathy from this quarter have been lately evinced, and widespread
sympathy has also been expressed toward them in the United States; but
the President in his message of December, 1869, intimated that he did
not consider the position of the insurgents such as to warrant him in
recognizing their belligerent rights.

And thus matters have continued till to-day. For more than four years
Cuba has been the scene of bloodshed, misery and ruin. Notwithstanding
the strong feeling for Cuba in this country, it would appear that even
now our cabinet deems it undesirable to recognize belligerent rights on
the part of the Cubans, but at the same time Mr. Fish's letter to Mr.
Sickles of the 29th of October last is couched in terms which clearly
indicate a limit to this forbearance, when he s