Robert Conroy - 1882 - Custer in Chains

Along with the guns and ammunition, about a hundred men, mostly Americans, were coming along as volunteers. To do what, Kendrick wondered. At the moment, that question was a minor concern. A Spanish gunboat was approaching them and gaining quickly. The Eldorado ’s captain had his ship fleeing as fast as it could, but it was a sick turtle racing against a rabbit. Kendrick thought that was clever and wrote it down.

Worse, the crew and passengers had nothing but rifles and side arms to protect them and these they’d taken from the ship’s hold. They’d been disgusted and dismayed to find that the weapons being shipped to Cuba were rusty and most didn’t work. Some even dated to well before the Civil War. It was clear that someone had unloaded a large quantity of junk for a huge profit. Some of the young American warriors now looked frightened. It occurred to Kendrick that he should feel that way too.

When the Spanish gunboat was less than a hundred yards away, she pulled alongside and ordered the Eldorado to heave to. Faced with a pair of cannon and a host of armed men lining the rails, the Eldorado ’s captain was about to surrender when shots rang out. Some of the undisciplined American volunteers had begun shooting and others followed suit. Kendrick watched in horror as several Spanish soldiers were hit and fell, with one dropping into the water and disappearing.

The Spaniards returned fire almost immediately. Their cannon were loaded with grape and their shells swept the deck of the Eldorado with flying metal, while the Spanish soldiers fired into what was now a confused mob of Americans. As shells struck the ship, Kendrick threw himself on the deck and tried to make himself invisible. Shells ripped the wooden hull and deck, sending knife-like splinters through the air. He screamed as one imbedded itself in his cheek. He pulled it out and blood began to pour down his face and chest.

Only a few moments later, armed Spaniards climbed over the gunwale and killed those foolish enough to still carry weapons. The others, including Kendrick were gathered in a bunch by the bow. The reporter in him estimated maybe thirty survivors and the Eldorado ’s captain was not one of them.

An officer approached the group. “Which one of you is the journalist named Kendrick?”

Kendrick was surprised. He stepped forward and tried to look as unconcerned as he could. “I am James Kendrick, sir, and you are?”

“My name is Gilberto Salazar and I am a major in the Spanish army, and I am delighted that you were not harmed,” he said with thinly veiled sarcasm. “We have been following the course of this wreck since it left Charleston several days ago. You Americans think we are stupid and ignorant of the ship’s intentions, but we are not. Our spies have been well informed about this stinking ship and its cargo, both human and otherwise. You have come to start another civil war and to free the slaves who are already being freed.” He waved his arm at the other prisoners. “These men will be executed for their efforts.”

Kendrick’s mind worked quickly. “You are not counting me among the invaders?”

Salazar laughed. “I would like to, but men more important than I want you to witness the justice we will be handing out.”

“A small point, major, but aren’t we in international waters? Should you have stopped an American flagged ship in international waters, or any other ship for that matter?”

Salazar looked about dramatically. There was no sign of land on the horizon. “You are that good at judging distances? I assure you that we are well within Spanish territorial waters. I suggest that you accept that declaration as a fact and not annoy me.”

Kendrick decided that it was an excellent idea. Just as important, he wondered how Salazar knew his name along with all the information about the ship. Obviously, the Spanish had spies in the group that had chartered the Eldorado .

“What will happen to these men, and me, for that matter?”

“Watch,” Salazar said.

He gave a signal and his soldiers pushed the men, now screaming in terror, into the ocean. Kendrick watched in horror as their heads bobbed in the waves. Soldiers lined the ship’s railing and began shooting at them. In a few seconds there were no more heads bobbing in the water, just an occasional red stain that was being swallowed and erased by the sea.

Kendrick was so stunned that he nearly fell to his knees. Laughing soldiers held him upright. Finally, he regained some of his composure. Salazar stood in front of him and slashed him across the face with the flat of a short sword, splitting his cheek and adding to the blood from the splinter.

“I was ordered to bring you back alive. Nothing was said about keeping you unhurt. You are far from innocent, Kendrick, and while I would like to throw you overboard as well, Spain has uses for you. We will scuttle the Eldorado after first taking anything of value, of course. Then we will steam to Florida and drop you off at St. Augustine. I urge you to write a full and accurate report of what you have seen this day. Let your foolish and arrogant people understand that Spain is a great power and we will not be insulted by your sending miserable abolitionist revolutionaries into Cuba.”

* * *

Alfonso XII, King of Spain, was shaken by the news of American outrage over what they were referring to as the “Freedom Ship Massacre.” Away from the crowds of courtiers and sycophants who roamed the halls of the Palacio Real in Madrid, he had directed both his current and former prime ministers to meet with him in secret. There was so much emotion in Madrid that any open meeting might cause and explosion or panic.

The king was young, only in his mid-twenties, and his family had only recently taken power after a bloody civil war that had ripped Spain. This made him feel insecure. As the leader of the Spanish Empire, he had to show strength in the face of this crisis with the United States. The Spanish Empire might be only a shadow of what it had been in the past, but it could not be trifled with.

Nor was the king particularly healthy. He suffered from a number of illnesses which weakened him. The king was considered a liberal and had planned reforms to make Spain a freer country, but the news from the United States had pushed those thoughts aside. Spanish honor and its empire had to be protected. And he had to maintain his tenuous hold on the throne. Showing weakness was not an option.

Thus, he had chosen to meet with the two most important men in Spanish politics. They were his current prime minister, Praxedes Sagasta, and Sagasta’s predecessor, Antonio Canovas. Of the two, he was confident that Canovas would be the better war leader. The man had helped crush a previous coup and had done so with great brutality. It was rumored that many hundreds of Spanish men and women had emerged barely alive from weeks and months of horrific tortures in his prisons. That is, if they emerged at all. Canovas’ brutality sometimes made the king shudder, but he did what had to be done.

“Sire, the situation is intolerable,” Canovas said and the king was pleased to see Sagasta nod in agreement. “What the Americans wish we cannot give if we are to be still considered an important nation in the eyes of the world.”

The king looked at the document on the table, wishing it to go away. It was the message from the President of the United States, George Armstrong Custer, although they strongly suspected that the actual author had been his Secretary of State, James Blaine.

The American demands were many. First, they required an apology for what they referred to as the murders of innocent Americans. They professed horror that there had been summary and brutal executions but no trials. Second, they demanded reparations in the amount of one million dollars per person killed.