Show GOMEZ WINS A GREAT VICTORY Adds Another Glorious Page to His History WEYLER LIED AS USUAL HAS VISIONS OF GOMEZ BOTH DAY AND NIGHT Spanish Generals Actions Are Such as to Convince All Reader That if He Ever Gets Within Gunshot of the Insurgent Leader He Will Die of Fright Other Movement on the Island New York Feb HThe Suns Havana Ha-vana correspondent writing under date of Feb 9 says Trusted Cuban news has been received re-ceived giving further details of the battle at Juano Criollo in Las Villas reported on Friday last by cable The first Spanish account of the battle claimed a victory as usual but with a painful paucity of details The second sec-ond report which was communicated by the press censor to the American correspondents here said that Colonel Arjona made a brilliant combined bayonet I bay-onet charge and cavalry attack on the insurgents dislodging them from I their position after two hours of handI tohand fighting In neither of these reports was the name of General Gomez Go-mez mentioned nor did his name appear ap-pear in La Lucha and the Dlario De La Marina in accounts of the battle which the press censor permitted them to print ANOTHER PAGE OF GLORY All the information proves that the action at Juan Criollo adds another page of glory to the history of Go mezs military career The battle decided the campaign in Las Villas in favor of the Cubans and frightened Weyler so that as is already al-ready known he telegraphed to Havana Ha-vana for reinforcements declaring himself unable to withstand Gomez unless he had more troops under his command The battle was fought on Feb 1 and lasted from about 3 to 6 oclock in the afternoon I began after General Gomez had raised the siege of Arroyo Blanco upon the arrival ar-rival of the column of Colonel Arjona who came from Ciego De Avila in aid of the besieged garrison of Arroyo Blanco When the first shots of Ar jonas vanguard were heard a few minutes after 2 oclock General Gomez Go-mez ordered his troops to abandon the siege and concentrate on the estate es-tate of Juan Criollo between two hills and with several prominent positions posi-tions dominating the plain in which Arroyo Blanco is located Gomez took possession of those strategic points Arjona was In command of 3500 men to which he added 600 more gathered gath-ered on his way from Ciega De Avila He had two cannon one of 12 and the other of six pounds His force included in-cluded 500 cavalrymen Gorez ha only 2500 well armed men Gomez had also a pneumatic dynamite gun but i was not very effective However How-ever two or three bombs exploded at Juan Criollo in the Spanish ranks when the fighting began producing terrible confusion With the aid of General Carrillo Gomez succeeded in driving the Spaniards to the center of the estate of Juan Criollo where a terrible fight began WAS MERELY A MOB I At last the Spaniards heavily chastised chas-tised by the combined fire of Carillo on one side and Gomez on the other became panicstricken and the Cubans had before them merely a mob of men Just at this juncture the Spanish Major I Posada fell dead his chest pierced by I a bullet The confusion of the Spaniards I Span-iards now became greater than ever i nt for Posada was struck down nearly in j I I the center of their forces The Spanish surgeon Dr Cenicero went to assist I I Posada but when he lifted him from the ground to see his wound another volley of the Cubans killed him also The order al machete given by General Gomez decided the action The Cubans charged from ail sides and then a handtohand fight began In the first moments the Cuban Colonel Remigio Lopez was killed by a bayonet bayo-net thrust The Spanish lieutenants I Don Longino Martinez and Don Fred erlco Pena fell dead Martinez from a I blow by a machete which cut his head off Eighty Spanish soldiers were killed with the machetes and more than 100 were severely 1 wounded and left on the field Before the handtohand fight began the Spanish losses were already more than 100 men In great confusion and suffering at every step from the persistent fighting of the Cubans the Soaniards retreated re-treated to the town reaching it after 6 oclock One section of the column did not relch the town because it was dispersed In the plain when Lieutenant Pena was killed All reports agree that Colonel Ar jona behaved bravely The terrible slaughter of his men was due to his incapacity and the undoubted superiority super-iority of Gomez as a strategist rather than to lack of courage on his part But his defeat was so decisive that the Spaniards prefer to preserve silence si-lence rather than to praise and promote pro-mote him a they have repeatedly done in the case of less courageous chiefs The Cuban losses at Juan Criollo are insignificant as compared with those of the Spaniards Colonel Lopez and Lieutenant Juan Diaz were killed and about 70 soldiers also perished |