The month spent at Americus was full of professional interest and profit, and caused me to realize more fully the very great advantage of a brigade camp over larger ones, and how much better it would have been at the outset to have fully equipped each regiment in its State camp, to then have assembled it with other regiments in a brigade camp—preferably in the same State—commanded by a thoroughly competent and active general officer, there to receive the preliminary instruction so easily given under such circumstances, and so next to impossible in the camp of a Division of an army corps.
The Eighth Massachusetts and Twelfth New York were fairly well equipped when I joined them in the Park, but the First South Carolina regiment was without arms, equipment or uniforms. The men ate with their fingers for several weeks, and relied on such crude dishes as could be improvised from tomato-cans, etc. I have no doubt that much of the complaint made by this regiment about the rations, was chiefly due to this.
The Eighth Massachusetts in two detachments left Americus January 6th and 8th, and arrived in Matanzas January 10th and 13th and went into camp near Fort San Severino on the west side of the bay.
On the 12th of January the last of the fifteen thousand Spanish soldiers under Generals Merina and Molina, composing the garrison of Matanzas, sailed away, and about 8 o'clock in the evening, General Bettancourt and his detachment of insurgent troops marched into the city, which went wild with excitement. The First Battalion Eighth Massachusetts and Twelfth New York were held in readiness that night lest there should be any hostile demonstration towards the Spanish residents of the city. It turned out that the natives were so intent on celebrating the departure of the Spanish troops that no attention was paid to anything else, and apart from that the night passed quietly.
On January 12th Major-General J. H. Wilson relieved me from command of the Department of Matanzas, and on the following day I was assigned to command the District of Matanzas with headquarters in the city. Up to this time I had been interested chiefly in arranging for the evacuation of the Spaniards, in caring for the troops, and getting them settled in camp.
On January 5th a bureau of street cleaning and sanitation had been established as the result of a careful inspection of the city, and the prevalence of yellow fever during the preceding month. Six deaths had occurred, and we were all somewhat solicitous about the future. Two cases occurred, one a civilian who died, the other a soldier, who recovered.
As a precautionary measure the old yellow fever hospital was burned and a new one of canvas erected near the district hospital. I then gave my attention to the very serious and delicate duties connected with the administration of the District and City of Matanzas, in accordance with the laws of war, and the orders of the President.
Although by virtue of the military occupation of Cuba martial law prevailed, it was the President's wish that as far as possible the inhabitants might be secured in their persons, and property, and in all their private rights and relations as long as they performed their duties, and that they be protected in their homes, their employments, and in the free exercise of their religion. That as far as possible the municipal laws such as related to the private rights of persons and property, and provided for the punishment of crime, should be continued in force, to be administered by the ordinary tribunals substantially as they were before the occupation.
The frame work of municipal government in Cuba was excellent, far better in some respects than our own, but Spaniards filled nearly all the insular, provincial and municipal offices and municipal government was under the direct supervision of the provincial and insular governments. Nevertheless, the municipal organization was complete, excellent of its kind, and ample for the government of the city and district, and I determined at the outset to instil into the local authorities a proper sense of their responsibilities and authority as the agent of a free and liberal government, and to require them to perform all their duties, using the troops only when necessary to aid their efforts to maintain law and order and to prevent any disorderly conduct on the part of the officers or men. To this end a provost marshal with a suitable guard was appointed and Fort San Severino was converted into a military prison.
The scope of this article will not admit of a detailed account of all that was done for the people and City of Matanzas during our stay there. It is probably sufficient to say that we cleaned and disinfected the city and established a system of sanitation so thorough that a recent traveler through the island told me that Matanzas was the cleanest and healthiest city in Cuba, and that there had been no case of yellow fever there since we left. To accomplish this a certain number of our officers and non-commissioned officers and men associated with the various city officials, who were, however, required to take the lead, the officers acting as advisers and assistants when necessary.
Matanzas was suffering at that time from the effects of the reconcentration ordered by General Weyler, and the population has been increased from about 25,000 to 40,000, chiefly refugees. As soon as it could be done these people were returned to their old homes, or provided with homes elsewhere. In the meantime, they, together with all other indigent poor, to the number of 19,373, were fed by the United States Government. Prior to this many—chiefly children—died of starvation, and many more would have followed but for the timely arrival of the troops.
Some idea of what was done by the Army for the people of Matanzas may be gathered from the vital statistics of the city. During the year 1897 there were 6,729 recorded deaths, and in 1898, 5,972, or an average of 6,350 or over 500 deaths per month. In April, 1899, the last report rendered before we left showed a total of 68 deaths, quite a perceptible decrease in four months. I have enlarged somewhat on this subject because the results of our efforts were so gratifying, and because the Eighth Massachusetts took an important part in this work, especially Chaplain George D. Sanders.
Another most useful and special service rendered by the Eighth was a settlement of the first strike ever inaugurated in Matanzas. Labor unions and strikes were unknown before American occupation, but it was not long before labor union delegates from the States arrived in Havana, and soon unions were formed and rumors of strikes reached Matanzas, to be followed later by two delegates who organized a union and started a strike for shorter hours and higher pay among the employees of the railway and the stevedores engaged in loading the annual sugar crop, then arriving in vast quantities. As a large number of the native workmen did not care to strike, those who did immediately began the kind of intimidation usually resorted to in this country, and several were assaulted and more threatened, and the situation became serious.
At this point the manager of the road appealed to me for protection and I sent two companies of the Eighth to the freight yards to see that protection was given. I gave no instructions but relied on the experience and good sense of the officers and men, and they ended the strike to my entire satisfaction. No doubt they can recall the circumstances, and the very effective measures resorted to.
That they were good and sufficient may be inferred from the fact that no one ever complained of them, except the two delegates, and they were told they could go to jail or leave town, which latter they did by the first available train, and peace and contentment prevailed thereafter to the end.
On the 20th of January commenced the festivities to celebrate the evacuation of Cuba by the Spaniards, and on February 22nd another fiesta was held in honor of General Maximo Gomez, at that time the idol of the Cubans. Upon both occasions the entire population thronged the streets and the greatest excitement prevailed. General Gomez remained in Matanzas three days, and with his departure the city settled down into its usual calm.
Thanks to the tact and excellent conduct of the troops, nothing occurred to disturb the festivities; the crowds were handled with great skill and with due regard to their susceptibilities and their first taste of personal liberty—not only as individuals but as a community. And to the very great honor of the troops it may be said that this was ever the rule in dealing with the residents of the city, no complaint of misconduct, public or private,