Messrs. Editors--

New York, June 10th 1850

On the 25th of April we all got on board the barque Georgiana, to the number of 250 men, and started at night, got to the mouth of the river next day, and got our clearances. After the Custom-House officer had gone, a little smack came alongside, and gave us about 10 boxes of muskets and other arms. Started next day for our trip in good earnst; 15 minutes afterwards we were all "heaving Jonah" in first rate style, myself among the rest. I was awful sick for the first day, but pretty well the next; though some were sick all the way through. We lived on pork and beans, hard bread, rice, sugar, coffee, vinegar, &c. The Boys ground up the hard bread and made cakes mixed with sugar, then fried them in a can with grease! good! We had a fine passage until the 1st of May, when we came in sight of Yucatan; but we wanted to get to the Isle of Moharis, so we stood for it four days, but found we could not make it, owing to a strong head wind, so we landed at the the island of Contay. We stayed there two nights, but not finding good water we hoisted anchor, and started for Moharis again, with a Cuban fisherman for a pilot. After sailing two or three days, the pilot said the Barque was a tub, and we found ourselves farther off from Muharis than we started; so we anchored at Contay again, and sent out our boat in search of Muharis (which was only a few hours run with a good wind) to get water, and see if the steamer was there we were expecting. On the 12th the steamer came in with Gen. Lopez on board, with about 400 men. We told them we had sent our boat to Moharis; so the steamer, whose name was the Creole, started for there to get the boat and water also. She got back, and we shipped aboard of her, and started the 14th for Cuba, viz. California. He had been divided into Companies on board the barque. I got in Captain Robinson's Company.-- He was an officer in the Rangers.

We were messed and divided off in messes of five. O'Hara was the Colonel of our Regiment, which was called the Kentucky Regiment-- Hardy was Major; Hardy's brother was our 1st Lieut. We drilled some on the island, and some on the steamer, until we got to the Brag company. We landed in Cardenas, Cuba, about one o'clock the morning of the 19th, having passed a long distance up a bay, passing numbers of large ships. Cardenas is the termination of the railroad that passed through Matanzas and Havana. One company took possession of the Railroad Depot; the rest then separated, one party attacked the Jail and took possession of it, after a few rounds. There were about 20 soldiers and 400 prisoners in it. Another detachment drove in the Picket Guard, with the loss of 2 or 3 men. They took refuge in the Barracks, which was as good as a fort to those who had no cannon--they could fire from the windows and the parapet of the roof, and we could only see them from the flash of their pieces. We got in some of the houses opposite, sometimes returning their fire, till day-break, when we fired the place and smoked them out, though they kept picking us off all the time; some escaped in citizen's dress; about 60 joined us; about 200 lancers once made a feint of charging us. Our company faced them and waved their caps, taunting them to charge, but they backed out and fled to the chapparel. We kept possession of the place until evening;--the spies coming in reported 2,000 Spanish troops, marching towards us, with a strong body of Lancers in the rear of the town; so finding we had got in the wrong place we commenced embarking in the evening. Soon as half had got aboard the Lancers charged on the rest; the cut through some and surrounded the General, but we came back, and they departed, leaving about seventy-five dead on the place. One company was stretched across a street, but a body of lancers charged through, losing half their men, and as they turned a corner came across more of our Boys, and every man of them fell the first volley. Every one remarked the accuracy of our shooting. We kept them off until we got coal and water on board, and then left. They gave us a parting volley as we left from the edge of the wharf. We ran several miles and grounded; while aground two ships spoke to us but got no answer. We threw everything overboard, and at last put 5 or 6 boat loads of men ashore before we got off, but the tide helped us. Next day the officers held a council of war, and decided to go to Key West, until they could get reinforcements, &c. Towards night we saw a steamer after us; we put on steam, and run out of sight of her in 10 minutes. A few hours before we made Key West we saw a Spanish war steam frigate before us, but owing to the superior speed of our boat, and knowledge of our pilot who took us inside of the reef, we passed them and got in before they did. Key West is, as you know, a port of the U.S., but the Spanish had broken the laws of the port in coming in the way they did, and as they opened a port and showed an ugly piece of iron with a hole in it, with a scamp standing by it with a lighted match, we got scared and up anchor and run into the wharf, we also breaking the laws. I believe she should have fired on us if there had not happened to be an U.S. surveying Cutter laying between us. The U.S. soldiers had all gone to fight the Indians in Florida, so the Mayor gave us the barracks to stay in. The Custom House officers took possession of all our arms, but I unslung my rifle and wrapped it in my blanket--kind o'smuggling it ashore. We kept a guard up every night for fear the Spaniards might land in boats at night. The citizens said they would help us; the Mayor said if they landed he would give us the Arsenal, there was plenty of arms and cannon in it, and five large cannon in the yard. One Spaniard staid in the port and another blockaded the entrance. Then the news came that the ship we had left, the Georgiana, was taken by a man of war to Havanna, and that all on board were in to Moro Castle, also that they were to send a fleet to Key West and take us; so the Mayor told us that we had better get off the best way we could, in small parties--so some of us got fishing craft and put off for Tampa Bay, some one place and some another. We could not take our steamer, as she was condemned. I stayed there several days.-- The butchers gave us plenty of fresh meat, and the bakers gave bread to those who had no money. I sold my blanket and red shirt for a dollar, so I got along very well. At last I sold my rifle to the mate of the schooner Leprelett for a passage to New York. Sixteen of us got places on her. We landed in New York on the 7th of June. You may believe I have seen the Elephant.
        Yours affectionately, M. H. D.