Several Cuban gentleman visited my place the other night, one of whom was a relative of the once famous Gen. Lopez, who met his death in an attempt to free Cuba.
I recollect well the excitement which this free Cuba movement made in New York–quite as much excitement, in fact, as has been made over the Land League troubles in Ireland. Old Spain was generally held in contempt, and freeing Cuba was popular. The New York papers and the politicians took the matter up, and made the town quite lively about it.
One of the papers, the Sun, went into this “free Cuba” business heavy. One day the proprietor hoisted the free flag of Cuba on top of his establishment, and collected quite a crowd in the streets by so doin’. There were a lot of Cuban exiles in the city then, and they cheered like a crowd at a circus. Then they formed a sort of procession, and walked up Broadway, with their cloaks and big felt hats on, cheerin’ for Cuba libre. They had a band of music in front of ‘em, and a lot of small boys and loafers at the rear of ‘em, and altogether they made quite a show.
The Spaniards in the city were mad, of course, but the madder they got the noisier the Cuban “patriots” got, till between ‘em there was as much as the police could do to prevent daily and nightly rows. In fact there were several fights in bar rooms, and one or two stabbin’ cases. Meanwhile a society called “The Cuban Junta” was formed and a regular organized attempt was made to raise funds for an expedition to start from the United States to free Cuba. Some of the men on this Cuban Junta meant well enough, and thought they were doing a good thing for Cuba, but most of ‘em merely thought they were doin’ a good thing for ‘emselves, and getting’ a chance for money out of this “free Cuba.”
The Cuban Junta had its regular secret places of meetin’, and it’s recruitin’ offices “on the sly,” where men were “booked” or “hooked” or enrolled as members of the “Patriot Army of Cuba,” and sent from New York to New Orleans, and to Jacksonville, Fla., from which places they were to sail for Cuba, when everythin’ was ripe. Guns and ammunition were purchased by the Junta, steamers were hired and equipped, and at last men of character and position took hold of the matter and gave it shape.
But the Spaniards in the United States were wide-awake all this time as well as the Cubans, and kept their eyes fixed on the Cuban Junta.
In New York there were a great many Spaniards employed as spies, and they didn’t let anythin’ escape ‘em. As detectives, the Spaniards can do pretty nearly as well as the French, when they make up their minds to.
One handsome young fellow passed in New York here for a year, as a tremendous Cuban patriot. He talked free Cuba all the time, and contributed his cash, as well as his gas, to the cause. He was of good family and was hailed by the “free Cuba” party as a great accession to their cause. But it turned out at last that he was only foolin’ the “free Cubans” and that he was a Spanish spy.
He took copies of important letters written by members of the Cuban Junta in New York, and sent them to the Spanish minister at Washington, who transmitted ‘em to the Governor-General at Havana. By this underhanded means a good many of the details of the Cuban Junta came to grief, and the C. J. couldn’t understand it. But by a little accident, a bit of carelessness on the spy’s part, his share in the matter became known, and shortly afterwards the spy disappeared. Nobody knows to this day what really became of him. But this much is known, that he was put out of the way by the Cuban Junta, probably killed by some “free Cuban.”
When the arrangements at last were all completed, and the expedition to “free Cuba” was ready to start, it was announced with a big flourish of trumpets that General Narciso Lopez was to be at the head of the expedition. This General Lopez was a South American, and a really brave man, and a pretty fair fightin’ general. He had been through a number of adventures in South America and in Spain, and his career reads in some parts of it just like a romance.
It was related of him that he was once imprisoned in a fortress which was besieged by a large force of his friends and adherents. The governor of the fortress, seein’ that he was in a fix, and that if Lopez’s friends should undertake to carry on the siege he would have to surrender, told Lopez tot write a letter to the commander of the troops outside, warnin’ him that if he besieged the fortress he, Lopez, would be put to death by the governor. Lopez wrote a letter as directed, but with it sent a private note telling his friend the commander not to mind him in any way, but to go on with the siege just as if he, Lopez, wasn’t concerned in the affair at all.
Then, findin’ that in spite of Lopez’s letter the troops began the siege of the fortress, the governor gave orders to have Lopez shot. Then Lopez begged off, telling the governor that if he could only see his old friend the commander personally he could persuade him to stop any further proceedings in the siege. Lopez pledged in the most solemn manner his word that he would return to the fortress after havin’ this meetin’ with his friend, and the governor let him leave the fortress accordin’ly. It was about the wisest thing he could do.
Well, Lopez saw his old friend the commander, and instead of tellin’ him to stop the siege told him to go on with it with fresh vigor, and gave him some new points about the arrangements of the fortress so as to make the siege easier and his friend’s triumph more certain.
But then when he had given his friend all the points Lopez went back to the fortress again, and kept his word so far as to surrenderin’ himself again. This was all very noble, but Lopez wasn’t quite a fool either. For he kept the governor of the fortress thinking all the time that the siege was goin’ to stop, instead of which, by the aid of the points Lopez had given, the commander of the troops got into the fortress by stealth, and captured the governor and rescued Lopez.
After a lot of adventure Lopez came to the United States, in the ship Neptune, and lived a while in New England, and at Bristol, R. I.
Lopez was very fond of fishin’ and gunnin’ and was a regular sportsman. He was a good shot and seldom returned from an excursion without his birds. He had any quantity of patience, too, and would angle for trout all day long. He spent a whole day once near High Bridge fishin’, and not only caught a nice mess of fish but in the intervals of fishin’ explained his plans for the liberation of Cuba to a rich old New Yorker who was very fond alike of fishin’ and money makin’, and who, bein’ talked by Lopez into the notion that there was a big spec in “free Cuba,” joined the Cuban Junta and advanced it a pile of money.
After this Lopez got other capitalists interested in his scheme, and then finally started off for Cuba.
A lot of Western men, as well as New Yorkers, joined Lopez and followed his fortunes—or, as it turned out, his misfortunes. Among the number were Col. Dorman, Lieut. Col. Scott, Col. Tim Kerrigan, Capt. Robert Ellis, Capt. Victor Kerr, Lieut. T. O. Bryce, and, above all, Col. W. L. Crittenden.
This Col. Crittenden was a very brave and popular young man, and when he was shot by the Spaniards everybody in the United States almost was sorry. He and Captain Victor Kerr were told to kneel to be shot, but “No,” cried Crittenden, “an American only kneels to his God, and always faces his enemy.” So he and Kerr wouldn’t kneel, but were shot standin’ and defyin’.
Lopez retreated to the mountains of Cuba for awhile, but was caught at last. Hunger brought him to terms. In all the rich isle of Cuba, he could get nothin’ to eat.
People talked hard about him at first, and said he had gone back on Crittenden and his men, but his death disproved all this, for Lopez died very calmly and bravely, like a hero.
He was “garroted,” or choked to death with an iron collar, which claps the neck, while a screw is driven into it, breakin’ the neck instantly.
Thus terminated the ill-starred “free Cuba” expedition, which has been known ever since as the expedition of the “filibusters.”
[Editor’s notes: The Filibuster Expedition to Cuba of 1850-1851 was largely motivated, as the above column only hints, by American politics and economics. Southerners wanted Cuba annexed to the United States, so that their Congressional votes would preserve slavery. Some plantation owners and entrepreneurs did not care whether Cuba was independent or annexed–as long as they could establish their own slave-labor sugar plantations there. That being said, there were among the supporters those who genuinely believed that Cubans should be independent, and that a free Cuba would end slavery more quickly.
The spy that the column alludes to was Dr. Henry H. Burtnett of New York. Burtnett’s medical expertise is questionable, since his main business was selling a hair restorer patent medicine. While some say he spied for the Spanish, or the British, it appears that Burtnett was in the spy business for himself, looking to sell his inside knowledge to whoever would buy it. He was not “disappeared” by those he betrayed. He died in Saratoga, New York in 1880, after working as a detective and as a physician.]
