At the beginning of the year 1874 a _coup d'etat_ placed Serrano again at the head of the government in Spain, but in Cuba there was no change. The struggle was still continued. The first battle of the year was on a larger scale than the majority of those which had preceded it. At Naranjo, on January 4, two thousand Cubans under General Gomez were victorious over four thousand Spaniards, and the Cuban losses were slight in comparison with those of the enemy. Again, at Corralillo, on January 8, the Cubans scored a triumph, and on the next day a third victory was achieved at Los Melones by the forces of General Garcia.
Don Joachim Jovellar, the Captain-General, declared the island to be in a state of siege, and in a bold but hardly successful attempt to swell the Spanish forces proclaimed a conscription of all men from twenty to forty years old, and exacted the payment of a thousand dollars in gold in lieu of compliance with this decree. He antagonized the Volunteers, who considered themselves of much finer quality than the Spanish common soldiers, by demanding that one-tenth of their number be allotted to and placed under the command of the regular army. The Volunteers resisted this order, and made an attempt to secure Jovellar's removal from office, but were unsuccessful, and he continued to take the most extraordinary measures, stating that he would summarily put down the rebellion; and yet the fighting steadily continued.
General Portillo was considered one of the most able of the Spanish officers, and it was expected that he would be able to inflict great losses on the insurgents, hence the Spanish leaders were greatly chagrined when he went down in defeat at the hands of General Gomez, who then proceeded to administer a like chastisement to the forces under General Arminan, who had taken up his position at Guasimas, and who was forced to make his escape to Puerto Principe, abandoning his command, all of whom were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. In all the history of the war no such victory had ever before been won. The battle had raged for three days and nights, and at its inception General Arminan had been at the head of an army of three thousand men. When the Spaniards had heard how Arminan was faring, they had sent General Bascones to the rescue, but he never got through to aid Arminan, for he was routed by the Cubans while on his way.