How the States Got Their Shapes Too_ The People Behind the Borderlines - Mark Stein [106]
The expedition … landed at Cardenas on the 19th [of May 1850], lost some in landing … entered the town, [and] attacked the jail, supposing it to be the barracks. The jail was guarded by 15 men who stood the fire well.… After this, some soldiers went to the Governor’s house.… The house was well defended.… The invading troops, having lost time in getting off their wounded and procuring fuel for the steamer, Creole, which was to return for reinforcements, became disheartened and insisted on going to Key West. They were closely pursued by the Spanish war steamer Pizarro but happily escaped.
The invaders were home in time for dinner.
Confirming Quitman’s legal concern, López was arrested for violating the Neutrality Act. But he had become so popular with Americans as a “freedom fighter” that, after three hung juries in the trial of a coconspirator, the government opted not to pursue the case. The fact that politics had trumped the law on this issue was not lost on Governor Quitman.
The political landscape shifted further in this direction when López launched another invasion of Cuba the following year. On August 12, 1851, he successfully landed and entered the interior of the island with, according to his records, 400 troops—forty-nine of whom were Cubans. The following morning, Spanish soldiers in the vicinity attacked a contingent of López’s recruits. But the recruits not only repelled the Spaniards, they pursued them—right into a much larger force of Spanish soldiers. That same morning, other recruits, with whom López himself was based, were also attacked by a Spanish division. Many managed to retreat with López into the mountains, but they were left nearly depleted of supplies and weaponry. By August 16 those still alive were either captured or, like López, surrendered.4
Once again, the fate of Cuba fired up Americans. Though López had failed, he remained a hero in the United States—front-page news in the September 8, 1851, Boston Daily Atlas:
General Lopez was condemned to be garroted on Monday, the 1st of September … at the entrance of the [Havana] harbor, directly opposite the Moro [old Spanish castle]. There were on the ground at the time 5,000 troops, 3,000 infantry, and 1,000 cavalry, and about 8,000 citizens.… Lopez was brought forward and ascended a platform, about fifteen feet high, on which was the chair of execution.… His last words were, “I die for my beloved Cuba.” He then took his seat, the machine was adjusted, and at one turn of the screw his head dropped forward.
Because most Americans believed public execution was barbaric, wresting Cuba from Spain was now elevated to an even loftier plane. The death of Narciso López also left only one credible commander at that time: John A. Quitman.
The political landscape shifted further in Quitman’s favor when Franklin Pierce was elected president in 1852. Pierce made plain from the outset his expansionist views. “The policy of my Administration will not be controlled by any timid forebodings of evil from expansion,” he stated in his inaugural address. “Indeed, it is not to be disguised that our attitude as a nation and our position on the globe render the acquisition of certain possessions not within our jurisdiction eminently important for our protection.”
Four months later, Quitman agreed to organize an invasion of Cuba. His efforts took him to New York, where he sought funds from business interests connected to cotton, tobacco, and other Southern products. He then headed to Washington to