If history does not afford a parallel of the stern resolution displayed by the Cubans to die or to win in a struggle with all the odds against them, neither does it present a case of stubborn resistance to justice and human rights, and of barbarous cruelty, which equals the record of Spain in Cuba. CHAPTER XX. JOSE MARTI AND OTHER CUBAN HEROES. A Cuban Patriot--A Life Devoted to the Cause--First Work for Cuba--Banished From His Native Land--He Returns to Fight for Freedom--His Death--Maximo Gomez, General-in-Chief of the Cuban Forces--His Methods of Warfare--Antonio Maceo, the Colored Commander--Other Military Men of Note in the Cuban Army. When the day comes that Cuba shall take her place among the free and independent nations of the earth, Jose Marti, who probably did more than any other one man to arouse the insurgents to make the final struggle for liberty, will not be among them to share their triumphs. Struck down, by a Spanish bullet, almost at the commencement of the last revolution, he sleeps beneath the, southern skies, and neither the clash of swords nor the thunder of the cannon over his grave can disturb his rest. Born in Havana, the son of a Spanish army officer, he was taught from his childhood days that the friends of Cuba's cause were rebels, deserving of death. But as he grew older he commenced to think for himself, and the more he learned of Spanish robbery, injustice and cruelty, the more determined he became to devote his life to the cause of his native land. While yet a mere boy, he began the work. He published clandestine circulars, he wrote a play in which he depicted the wrongs inflicted upon the island people; "Free Cuba" was his thought by day, his dream at night. Through imprisonment and exile, in Spain, Mexico and the United States, every action of his life was guided by the one ambition. On April 14th, 1895, in company with Maximo Gomez, Marti landed on the coast of Cuba, at Cobonico. His coming gave the insurgents new courage, and their numbers increased rapidly. He was made a Major General of the army, and in company with Gomez, who had seen service in the previous campaign, he led a number of successful attacks against detachments of the Spanish forces. After organizing an expedition that was to march to Puerto Principe under Gomez's command, Marti intended to go to the seacoast in order to return abroad and continue his work there in favor of the secessionist revolution. About this time a man named Chacon was captured by Colonel Sandoval, of the Spanish forces, and letters from the rebels were found in his possession, and some money with which he was going to make purchases for the insurgent chiefs. This man gave information regarding the enemy's location, and acting upon this knowledge, Colonel Sandoval, on the 19th of May, brought his army to La Brija. The Hernan Cortez squadron, under Captain Capa, was in vanguard, and attacked a band commanded by Bellito, which had come to meet the column.