Meantime the revolution was proceeding. The most formidable figure in its ranks in Cuba was that of Antonio Maceo, the mulatto general who above most of his colleagues possessed a veritable genius for war, both in strategy and in direct fighting. He had come of a family of fighters, and had been born in Santiago in 1849, and had fought in the Ten Years' War. He was highly gifted with the qualities of leadership among men, with valor and resolution, with keen foresight and great intelligence. He was probably the ablest strategist in the War of Independence, and personally the most popular commander. At the end of March he arrived in Cuba from Costa Rica with an expedition well equipped with rifles and small field pieces. With him were his brother Jose Maceo, Flor Crombet, Dr. Francisco Agramonte, and several other officers. The landing was made at Baracoa, the Spanish gunboats which were watching the coast being successfully eluded. Soon after landing the patriots were attacked by General Lachambre's troops at Duaba, but the latter were repulsed with considerable loss. A part of the expedition was then sent around by sea to Manzanillo, on a British schooner. That vessel was wrecked and in consequence its captain and crew were captured by the Spaniards, who put the captain to death. Dr. Agramonte was one of several members of the expedition who were also taken, but he, being an American citizen, escaped court martial and was more leniently dealt with by a civil court, on the demand of the American consul at Santiago.