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The Rise and Fall of the Cuban Rural Guard, 1898-1912

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Allan R. Millett
Allan R. Millett*
Affiliation:
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
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Extract

In the course of its “ nation saving ” in the Caribbean in the first third of this century, the United States government created native constabularies in each of the nations it temporarily occupied. In three countries, these forces—the Garde d'Haiti, the Guardia Nacionál de Nicaragua, and the Guardia Nacional Dominicana—became military Mr. Hydes. Raised, trained, and indoctrinated by American officers to preserve civil government from subversion, the Caribbean constabularies instead served as the backbone of military dictatorships after the Americans sailed away. In Cuba, however, the native constabulary did not become the dominant military power base for uniformed politicians. Instead it was itself subverted by both Cubans and Americans until it lost the institutional stability and professional autonomy which would have made it politically powerful. How this constabulary was reshaped, consciously and unconsciously, is the tale of the rise and the fall of the Cuban Rural Guard.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , October 1972 , pp. 191 - 213
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1972

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References

1 Brig. Gen. L. Wood to Secretary of War Russell A. Alger, April 27, 1899, Russell A. Alger Papers, William L. Clements Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Hagedorn, Hermann, Leonard Wood: A Biography (New York, 1931) 1, p. 214 Google Scholar; Johnson, Willis Fletcher, A History of Cuba (New York, 1920) 4, pp. 144–45Google Scholar; Crane, Charles J, The Experiences of a Colonel of Infantry (New York, 1923), pp. 286–87, 297.Google Scholar On the Guardia Civil in Cuba, see Atkins, Edwin F., Sixty Years in Cuba (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1926), pp. 100–01, 103, 141, 160, 177, 179, 230–31, 241, 325.Google Scholar

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7 Letters to the Adjutant General, Havana, from Brigadier General Leonard Wood (September 20, 1899), Major Valery Havard (September 21, 1899), Lieutenant Colonel Francis Moore (September 12, 1899), Captain C. G. Ayres (September 8, 1899), Captain J. W. Watson (September 12, 1899), 1st Lieutenant R. G. Paxton (September 12, 1898), Mayors of Holguín, Gibara, Mayari and 148 residents of the district of Holguín (n. d.), appended to U. S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Military Affairs ( Hearings before the Committee on Military Affairs concerning the Nomination of Brigadier General Leonard Wood to be Major-General United States Army, 58th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Executive Document “C” (Washington, D. C, 1904), pp. 836-43; E. F. Atkins to Brigadier General J. H. Wilson, October 5, 1899, Wilson Papers.

8 Leonard Wood, memo, “General Scheme for replacing to a great extent the United States troops in Cuba with native regiments down to and including the rank of Captain,” n. d., Wood Letterbook, 1899, Leonard Wood Papers, Library of Congress.

9 Wood to Secretary of War Elihu Root, February 16, 1900, Root-Wood Correspond-ence, Elihu Root Papers, Library of Congress.

10 Headquarters, Division of Cuba, Order 29, January 19, 1900, Civil Report of Major General Leonard Wood, Military Governor of Cuba, for the Period from December 20, 1899, to December 31, 1900 (Washington, D. C, 1901) II, p. 32.

11 Entry, October 28, 1907, Diary Book 4, Robert L. Bullard Papers, Library of Congress. For another contemporary description of Slocum, see Scott, Hugh L., Some Memories of a Soldier (New York, 1928), p. 265.Google Scholar Scott, Wood’s adjutant general, and Slocum were West Point classmates (1876) and both joined the Seventh Cavalry in that year when George Armstrong Custer and the Sioux created several officer vacancies.

12 Captain H. J. Slocum to Colonel H. L. Scott, Adjutant General, Department of Cuba, November 24, 1900, File 5768, Letters Received, 1900, Records of the Military Government of Cuba, Record Group 140, National Archives; Slocum to Scott, January 17, 1901, File 125, Letters Received, 1901, RG 140; Instruction 201, Office of the Superintendent of the Rural Guard, February 13, 1901, File 138, Letters Received, 1901, RG 140.

The contemporary descriptions of the constables are from journal entry, February 13, 1902, by Maj. W. S. Schuyler, Walter S. Schuyler Papers, Henry Huntington Library, and journal entry, September 5, 1903, Capt. Robinson, Wirt, “Six Months in Cuba,” Wirt Robinson Papers, U. S. Military Academy Library.Google Scholar

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14 Governor Orestes Ferrara (Santa Clara province) to the Military Governor, December 15, 1900, File 6105, Letters Received, 1900, RG 140; Captain W. I. Consuegra to Chief, Rural Guard, December 13, 1900, File 6105, Letters Received, 1900, RG 140; Captain W. I. Consuegra to Department Commander, Havana, December 1, 1900, File 6105, Letters Received, 1900, RG 140.

15 “Report of the Rural Guard of Cuba,” Civil Report of Brigadier General Leonard Wood, Military Governor of Cuba, for the Period January 1 to December 31, 1901 (Washington, D. C, 1902) IV, pp. 1-96; “Report of Captain H. J. Slocum, 7th U. S. Cavalry, Superintendent of the Rural Guard and Cuerpo de Artilleria of the Island of Cuba,” Civil Report of Brigadier General Leonard Wood, Military Governor of Cuba, for the Period January 1 to May 20, 1902 (Washington, D. C, 1902) III, pp. 67-71; Order 114, Military Government of Cuba, July 5, 1901, Civil Report, 1901, II, pp. 172–91.

16 Captain H. J. Slocum to Colonel H. L. Scott, May 7, 1901, File 194, Letters Received, 1901, RG 140; Slocum to Scott, May 20, 1901, File 194, Letters Received, 1901, RG 140; Slocum to Scott, July 26, 1901, File 194, Letters Received, 1901, RG 140; Slocum to Scott, July 30, 1901, File 194, Letters Received, 1901, RG 140.

17 “Report of the Military Governor,” Civil Report, 1902, I, pp. 189–91; Captain J. G. Harbord to Adjutant General, District of Santiago, May 8, 1901, James G. Harbord Papers, Library of Congress.

18 Entry, July 20, 1902, Wood Diary, Wood Papers.

19 Brigadier General A. Rodríguez to Wood, May 24 and June 1, 1902, Wood Papers.

20 Frank M. Steinhart to Wood, June 19 and 14, 1902, Wood Papers; Captain M. E. Hanna to Wood, August 7, 1903, Wood Papers; Hanna to Col. H. L. Scott, September 4, 1903, Scott Papers; Captain Hanna, Matthew E., USA, “The Necessity of Increasing the Efficiency of the Cuban Army,” Journal of the Military Service Institution, 35 (July, 1904), pp. 28–36.Google Scholar

21 Theodore Roosevelt to Tomás Estrada Palma, October 27, 1902, Wood Papers; Wood to Estrada Palma, May 14, 1902, Wood Papers; Elihu Root to Wood, March 27, 1902, Wood Papers.

22 Vilá, Porteli, Historia de Cuba, 4, pp. 388–89.Google Scholar

23 Captain F. R. McCoy to Wood, October 16, 1906, Wood Papers.

24 U. S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1906 (Washington, D. C, 1907) I, pp. 454–94; Report of William Howard Taft and Bacon, Robert, “Cuban Pacification,” in U. S. War Department, Annual Reports, 1906 (Washington, D. C, 1906) 1, pp. 444–543,Google Scholar hereafter cited as Taft-Bacon Report. See also Ortiz, Rafael Martínez, Cuba: los primeros años de independencia (París, 1921) 2, pp. 599–857,Google Scholar and Millett, Allan R., The Politics of Intervention: The Military Occupation of Cuba, 1906–1909 (Columbus, Ohio, 1968) pp. 59–119.Google Scholar

25 Tomás Estrada Palma to Claudio G. Mendoza, October 10, 1906, Wilson Papers; Wood to Rodríguez, January 13, 1907, Wood Papers; Memorandum on Rural Guard Affairs, Major H. J. Slocum to the Provisional Governor, October 26, 1906, File 15984, General Classified Files, 1898-1945, Records of the Bureau of Insular Affairs (BIA), Record Group 350, National Archives.

26 Roosevelt to Taft, October 2, 1906, Taft-Bacon Report, p. 487.

27 Magoon, Charles E., Republic of Cuba: Report of the Provisional Administration, October 13, 1906-December 1, 1901 (Havana, 1908), pp. 17–18 Google Scholar; Major H. J. Slocum to Brigadier General H. L. Scott, December 15, 1906, Scott Papers.

28 Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Bullard, Notebook 8 (November 8, 1906), Lieutenant General Robert L. Bullard Papers, Library of Congress. The Spanish-speaking Bullard was Magoon’s political trouble-shooter.

29 Magoon, , Report, 1906–1907, p. 18 Google Scholar; New York Times, October 11, 1906.

30 Republic of Cuba, Headquarters of the Armed Forces, General Order 28, March 11, 1907, File 206-1, Confidential Correspondence/Provisional Governor of Cuba (CC/ PGoC), Records of the Provisional Government of Cuba, Record Group 199, National Archives.

31 Notebook 9 (March 20, 1907) and Notebook 10 (March 21, 1907), Bullard Papers; Captain E. Wittenmyer to Slocum, December 5, 1907, and Captain A. J. Dougherty to Captain J. A. Ryan, August 8, 1907, File 206, CC/PGoC, RG 199.

32 “Report of the Rural Guard Corps of the Republic of Cuba,” Magoon, , Report, 1906–1907, pp. 493–551 Google Scholar; Major H. J. Slocum to Captain F. R. McCoy, June 6, 1907, Wood Papers.

33 Magoon to Taft, October 26 and 30 and November 16, 1906, File 005, CC/PGoC, RG 199; Taft to Roosevelt, October 10, 1906, Theodore Roosevelt Papers, Library of Congress.

34 Major H. J. Slocum to the Provisional Governor, October 26, 1906, and Major General A. Rodríguez to the Provisional Governor, December 27, 1906, File 15984, General Classified Files, BIA, RG 350.

35 Transcript, “Proceedings of a Board of Officers Convened to Consider the Proposed Plan of Rural Guard Reorganization,” File 15984, General Classified Files, BIA, RG 350.

36 Transcript, “Report of Conference of the Provisional Governor with Generals Faustino Guerra, Carlos García Vélez, and José de Jesús Monteagudo,” November 28, 1906, File 012, CC/PGoC, RG 199.

37 Magoon to Taft, December 31, 1906, File 062, CC/PGoC, RG 199.

38 Taft to Magoon, February 2, 1907, and Magoon to Taft, February 6, 1907, File 062, CC/PGoC, RG 199.

39 Transcript, “Conference between the Provisional Governor and the Liberal Directorate,” February 6, 1907, File 062, CC/PGoC, RG 199. See also notes, conference with General Faustino Guerra, February 19, 1907, File 062, CC/PGoC, RG 199.

40 Magoon to Taft, February, 1907, and Taft to Magoon, February 8, 1907, File 062, CC/PGoC, RG 199.

41 Memorandum, Major H. J. Slocum to Magoon, February 7, 1907, File 062, CC/ PGoC, RG 199.

42 Army and Navy Journal, February 23, April 20, and May 11, 1907; Brigadier General W. W. Wotherspoon to Captain F. Parker, October 10, 1910, Major General Frank Parker Papers, Southern Historical Manuscript Collection, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

43 Captain Ryan, J. A., memorandum, “The Political Aspect of a Cuban Army,” February 25, 1907,Google Scholar File 15984, General Classified Files, BIA, RG 350.

44 Quotes from transcript, “Meeting of the Secretary of War William Howard Taft with the Liberal Committee,” April 8, 1907, File 15984, General Classified Files, BIA, RG 350. See also position paper from the Liberal Committee to the Provisional Governor, March 14, 1907, also in File 15984.

45 Brigadier General C. R. Edwards (Chief, BIA) to Taft, April 3, 1907, File 15984, General Classified Files, BIA, RG 350; Edwards to Slocum, April 25, 1907, File 062, CC/PGoC, RG 199; Magoon to Taft, October 18, 1907, File 15984, General Classified Files, BIA, RG 350; República de Cuba, Decrees 365 and 366, April 4, 1908, Gaceta oficial (abril-mayo, , 1908), pp. 3393–3405.Google Scholar

46 Magoon to Taft, April 9, 1908, File 15984, General Classified Files, BIA, RG 350; Magoon to Roosevelt, April 16, 1908, Roosevelt Papers.

47 MID to Chief of Staff, Army of Cuban Pacification, April 7, 1908, File 229, CC/PGoC, RG 199; Maj. Gen. E. H. Crowder to Francis White, Chief, Latin AmericanDivision, Dept. of State, May 19, 1924, Enoch H. Crowder Papers, Western Historical Manuscripts Collection, University of Missouri-Columbia.

48 The description of the activities of the Rural Guard is from Mayor General Jesús Monteagudo, José de, de Cuerpo, Jefe, Memoria explicativa de los trabajos realizados por el Cuerpo de la Guardia Rural desde el 21 de enero de 1909 hasta el 30 de junio de 1910 (Habana, 1911),Google Scholar and Memoria explicativa de los trabajos realizados por el Cuerpo de la Guardia Rural desde el 1 de julio de 1910 hasta el 30 de junio de 1912 (Habana, 1913). Hereafter cited as Memoria Guardia Rural, 1910, and Memoria Guardia Rural, 1912. The direct quotes are from Memoria Guardia Rural, 1912, pp. 250, 254, 257.

49 Memoria Guardia Rural, 1910, pp. 1–11, and Anexo 9, “Estado de Fondos de la Guardia Rural;” Memoria Guardia Rural, 1912, pp. 1–17; Lt. Col. Foltz, Frederick S. Google Scholar to Adj. Gen. USA, May 10, 1912, Parker Papers.

50 J. B. Jackson, Minister to Cuba, to Secretary of State, June 11, 1910, 837.20/11, Records of the Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Cuba, 1910-1929, General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59 (Microcopy Number 488), National Archives; Jackson to Secretary of State, October 24, 1910, 837.00/432; December 15, 1910, 837.002/3; and March 1, 1911, 837.20/21.

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53 The sketch of Parker is based on the author's research in the Frank Parker Papers; Holden, Edward S. and Robinson, Wirt, eds., General Cullwtis Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy: Supplements, 1890–19001 (Cambridge, Mass., 1901) p. 574 and 1900–1910(Saginaw, Mich., 1910), p. 523Google Scholar; “U. S. Army Officers in Cuba,” Army and Navy Journal, April 30, 1910; Secretary of War Jacob M. Dickinson to Speaker of the House of Representatives, April 22, 1910, U. S. Congress, 61st Congress, 2d Session, House Document 877.

The Congress directed that the officers' additional pay be stopped, and it was.

54 Captain Parker, Frank, 11th Cavalry, USA, Informe Anual del Instructor de la Guardia Rural sobre organización, construcción y tércio táctico (Habana, 1910), p. 42 Google Scholar, and Informe anual del Instructor de la Guardia Rural, academia y Tércio táctico (Habana, 1911).

55 Memoria Guardia Rural, 1912, pp. 54–63, 161-168; Jackson to Secretary of State, June 28 and July 1, 1910, 837.20/14-15.

At one time the Tércio Táctico with Krag-Jorgenson carbines had the only modern magazine rifle in the Cuban armed forces. When the rest of the Rural Guard was getting obsolete American arms, the Tércio Táctico was supplied with Springfield rifles and Colt .45 caliber automatics at the same time the U. S. Army was being issued these weapons.

56 Captain Frank Parker to Maj. Gen. L. Wood, July 18, 1915, Wood Papers; Lt. Col. Frederick S. Foltz to Adj. Gen., USA, May 10, 1912, Parker Papers; Jackson to Secretary of State, June 11, 1910, 837.20/11.

57 Memoria Guardia Rural, 1912, pp. 174–177.

58 Memoria Guardia Rural, 1912, pp. 264–272.

59 Jackson to Secretary of State, April 27, 1911, 837.00/480; American minister A. M. Beaupré to Secretary of State, January 11, 1912, 837.00/538.

60 Beaupré to the Secretary of State, December 22, 1911, 837.00/527; Beaupré to Secretary of State, January 15, 1912, 837.00/541; Secretary of State P. C. Knox to Beaupré, January 16, 1912, 837.00/541; Beaupré to Secretary of State, January 16, 1912, 837.00/550.

61 Secretary of State W. J. Bryan to Beaupré, May 31, 1913, 837.20/28; Pablo Desvernine, Cuban minister to the United States, to the Secretary of State, July 8, 1913, 837.20/31.

62 Chapman, Charles E., A History of the Cuban Republic (New York, 1927), pp. 270–317 Google Scholar; Beaupré to Secretary of State, April 16, 1912, 837.00/8582; H. S. Gibson, chargé d’affaires, to Secretary of State, October 28-21, 1912, 837.00/929-931; Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson to Secreaary of State, August 9, 1912, 711.37/42; W. H. Taft to Senator C. S. Page, May 30, 1912, 711.37/41; Office of the Soliciter, Department of State, “Intervention in Cuba,” July 12, 1912, 711.37/33½; Brig. Gen. Crowder, E. H., “Memorandum for the Secretary of War,” August 6, 1912, 711.37/42; U. S. Congress, Congressional Record (62d Congress, 2d Session), 40 VII, Pt. III, pp. 7891–92.Google Scholar