694:, Maceo was advancing into the farm of San Pedro, accompanied only by his personal escort (two or three men), the physician of his Headquarters (who sold their position to the Spanish Colonel Francisco Cirugeda), Brigade General José Miró Argenter, and a small troop of no more than twenty men. When they attempted to cut a fence for facilitating the march of horses through those lands, they were detected by a strong Spanish column, which opened an intense fire. Maceo was hit by two shots, one in the chest and another that broke his jaw and penetrated his skull. His companions could not carry him because of the intensity of the firefight and Maceo's size. The only rebel who stayed by him was his aide-de-camp Lieutenant Francisco Gómez Toro (known as Panchito), son of Máximo Gómez, who faced the Spanish column for the sole purpose of protecting the body of his general. After being shot several times, the Spaniards killed Gómez with machete strikes, leaving both bodies abandoned, not knowing the identity of the fallen.
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511:(independence soldiers) met with General Martínez-Campos on March 15, 1878, to discuss the peace terms, but Maceo argued that no peace could be achieved if none of the objectives of the war had been accomplished; chief among these aims was the abolition of slavery in Cuba and Cuban independence. The only immediate benefit was amnesty for those involved in the conflict and liberty for the black soldiers who had fought in the "Liberator Army". Maceo did not recognize the treaty as valid and did not adhere to the proposed amnesty. This meeting, known as the Protest of Baraguá, began when a messenger was sent to Maceo from another Cuban high-ranking officer, who proposed an ambush against the Spanish general. Maceo rejected the plan, informing the would-be conspirator via letter: "I don't want victory if it goes accompanied with dishonor."
674:. There he was planning to meet Gómez to plan the ulterior course of war, and with the Government in Arms, to establish an agreement between it and the forces in action, in relation with two main subjects: the raisings of medium and high officers in the Liberation Army and the recognition of belligerence by foreign countries and acceptation of direct military aid. His position was, at that time, acquiescent with accepting economic aid and packages with weapons and ammunitions from Europe or even from the United States, but was strongly opposed to acceptance by Cubans in the independence movement for a direct military intervention by the US in Cuba.
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star into the constellation of the United States...". His answer was: I think, young man, that this would be the only occasion in which I would place my sword at the same side with the
Spanish ones." And foreseeing the growth of North American expansionism, (he was absolutely convinced of the inevitable victory of Cuban Arms), he expressed in a letter to a friend of arms: "That (country) which attempts to seize Cuba, will gather the dust of its ground soaked in blood, if he does not perish in fight."
467:, due principally to the racist and class exclusiveness tendencies of several other patriots of an aristocratic or bourgeois origin. Men under Maceo's command began to call him "The Bronze Titan", because of his exceptional physical strength and resistance to bullet or blade injuries. He recovered from more than 25 war injuries over the course of some 500 military battles, and none of Maceo's wounds diminished his willingness to lead his troops into combat.
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526:. Maceo did not personally fight in these battles, for he had sent Calixto García as highest commander. This avoided exacerbating the racist prejudices of fellow Cuban officers that were inflamed by Spanish propaganda. The Spanish tried to create the impression that Maceo was trying to start a racial war against white Cubans, though their propaganda efforts did little damage to Maceo's reputation.
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with his formula of "the army, free; but the country, as a country with all its dignity represented," and convinced Maceo of the high probabilities of success if the war was to be prepared carefully. As a precondition, Maceo demanded that highest command should be in the hands of Gómez, which was approved without reservation by the
Delegate of the
500:, drew considerable advantage. An officer of honour, he offered peace guarantees, amnesty for revolutionary men and legal reforms, in exchange for a cease of hostilities, which had already lasted 10 years (in 1878). At the same time, the Spanish Government continued the concentration of more forces to enclose the diminishing Cuban rebel forces.
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and defining a policy on the search for social justice. Being in a dinner meeting in a very short visit made to
Santiago de Cuba during the Fruitful Truce, he was invited to make a toast and a phrase was said by a young man for a wish to annex Cuba to the United States and turn Cuba into "...another
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After Gómez was designated
General in Chief of the Cuban Liberation Army, Maceo was named Lieutenant General (second in command after the General in Chief). Starting from Mangos de Baraguá (place of the historical protest in front of Martínez-Campos), Maceo and Gómez, on command of two long mambises
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Maceo, with the experience and wisdom gained from previous revolutionary failures, argued that there were a number of impediments to military success in a brief but intense epistolary exchange with Martí, warning about the causes of the partial defeat in the Ten Years' War (1868–78). Martí responded
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and open warfare, they exhausted the
Spanish Army of more than a quarter million soldiers and traversed all the island, even through the military trails, walls and fences built by the Spanish Army with the purpose of stopping them and dealing with an overwhelming technical and numerical superiority
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region. In the farm of "La
Mejorana", Maceo had a historic, but unfortunate, meeting with Gómez and Martí, because of the disagreements between him and Martí, regarding the question of the relationship between the military movements and the civilian government, against which constitution was Maceo,
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after some of his comrades were exiled from South
America. Maceo was born June 14, 1845, in the town of San Luis, in the Oriente Province outside Santiago de Cuba, in a farm known to locals as Jobabo. Although his father taught him skills in the use of arms and management of their small properties,
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is among Cuban leaders who were inspired by Maceo. Being a member of masonry, in his correspondence one can read more than once his credo base on "God, Reason and Virtue". He was quoted as having a strict motto: "My duties to country and to my own political convictions are above all human effort;
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The corpses of Maceo and
Panchito were picked up the next day by Colonel Aranguren, from Havana, who ran immediately to the battle scene after hearing the news. They were later buried in secret in the farm of two brothers who swore to keep the burial place in secrecy until Cuba would be free and
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After respecting the truce time for the interview (a few days), Maceo resumed hostilities. In order to save his life, the government of the
Republic of Cuba gave him the task of gathering money, arms and men for an expedition from the exterior. Maceo's movements were useless. However, due to the
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Contrary to the expectations of Weyler, the cruel reconcentration encouraged many people to join to the
Liberation army, preferring to die in battle than in starvation. In 1896, after meeting Gómez in Havana (crossing once more the trail from Mariel to Majana via Mariel Bay), he returned to the
485:, who eschewed front line heroics in favor of planning from behind the lines, and who also advocated a regional approach to secession. Divisionism and the imprecise designs of García were plainly rejected by Maceo when the former asked for support to constitute a "New Revolutionary Government".
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and farmer. As the oldest of the children, he inherited his father's leadership qualities and later would become a decorated general. Maceo developed an active interest in the political issues of his time and was initiated in the mysteries of Freemasonry. The Cuban Freemasonry movement was
474:, who would become, in the years to come, the General-in-Chief of the Cuban Liberator Army. The use of the machete as a war weapon by Gómez as a substitute for the Spanish sword (also due to the scarcity of firearms and ammunition) was rapidly adopted by Maceo and his troops.
586:(close to the eastern tip of Cuba) and after repelling a Spanish attempt at capturing or killing him, he got into the mountains of that region. After many difficulties, he managed to gather a small contingent of armed men, which rapidly grew with other rebel groups of the
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Of democratic political adherence, he expressed many times his sympathy for the republican form of government, but insisted on seeking for the formula of "liberty; equality and fraternity", recalling the well-known but almost never applied principles of the
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The eagerness for independence and the cruelty of the Spanish high officers made rural inhabitants of the western half of the island eager to give support in men and logistics to the Liberation Army. This was the cause of the institution, by
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but Martí, knowing both sides of the problem, stood on his formula. Several days later, Martí, treated as a non-military "Doctor" by Maceo, would fall in battle in Dos Ríos (confluence between the rivers Contramaestre and Cauto).
651:, besides several minor cities in these three provinces. In the concentration camps created for them, very similar to those later built in Europe by the Nazis, almost a third part of the Cuban rural population lost their lives.
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it was his mother, Mariana Grajales, who inculcated in him a sense of order. This maternal discipline would be important in the development of Maceo's character and would be reflected later in his acts as a military leader.
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with these I shall reach the pedestal of freedom or I shall perish fighting for my country's redemption." (November 3, 1890). Martí, speaking about him, said that "Maceo has as much strength in his head as in his arms."
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Maceo arrived at Mantua, in the western extreme of Cuba, in October 1896, after defeating for many times the technically and numerically superior forces of the Spaniards (five times the Cuban forces on occasions).
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south of Havana, close to the limits of the former farm of San Pedro, and the site is one of pilgrimage by Cuban people. Scholars say that Maceo's death was as traumatic to Cuban patriots as Martí's.
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566:(Martí). In Costa Rica, he faced, gun in hand, another attempt of assassination by Spanish agents at the exit of a theatre, with fatal result for one of the aggressors.
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columns, took brilliantly the task of invading the west of Cuba, riding or walking more than 1000 miles in 96 days. After several months bleeding the Spanish forces in
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independent and the correspondent military honors could be given to the hero. Nowadays, the remains of Antonio Maceo y Grajales and Francisco Gómez Toro lie in the
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In addition to his role as a soldier and statesman in the Cuban movement for independence, Maceo was an influential political strategist and military planner, and
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Antonio Maceo rejected the military seditions of Lagunas de Varona and Santa Rita, which undermined the independence troops' unity and favoured a regionalism in
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rifle. After decimating Spanish forces in the westernmost mountains of Cuba, Maceo turned eastward again, crossing the mentioned trail in order to travel to
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463:. Maceo participated in more than 500 battles. However, the humble origin of Maceo and the colour of his skin delayed his raising to the rank of
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of the Spaniards. The level of coordination and cohesiveness of Cuban forces was driven by the fact that Máximo Gómez had clearly established a
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420:" ("el Grito de Yara"), Maceo, together with his father and brothers joined the war. Mariana Grajales, followed her family members into the
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At the age of sixteen, Maceo went to work for his father, delivering products and supplies by mule. He was a successful
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His plans for meeting with Gómez and the Government in Arms never took place. On December 7, 1896, in the vicinity of
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during the Ten Years' War but faltered (and collapsed) between the easternmost section of the province of
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and Reeve perished. At the time Maceo had collaborated with Reeve under the direction of Máximo Gómez.
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He had special recognition and admiration, as chief and war teacher, of the great Dominican strategist
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The invasion of Western Cuba had been previously attempted by Brigadier General
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planned from New York a new invasion to Cuba, which initiated the short-lived
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dismay of the exiled sympathizers who were unhappy with the Zanjón pact.
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Maceo depicted on the original artist/progress proof designed by the US
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that subordinated all Major Generals to Maceo, his executive officer.
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Antonio Maceo: The "Bronze Titan" of Cuba's Struggle for Independence
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Antonio Maceo: The "Bronze Titan" of Cuba's Struggle for Independence
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Antonio Maceo was one of the officers who opposed the signing of the
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Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886-1912
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Fellow Cubans gave Maceo the nickname "The Bronze Titan" (Spanish:
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Approximately two weeks after the October 10, 1868, revolt led by
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424:(the woods and most thick countryside) in order to support the
969:(2 volumes). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1998.
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followed, and five years later he was promoted to the rank of
948:. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1995.
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Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause
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began. Within five months, Antonio Maceo was promoted to
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because of his bravery and ability to outmaneuver the
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leaders in 19th century Latin America, comparable to
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Degrees of Freedom: Louisiana and Cuba after Slavery
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129:Learn how and when to remove this message
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324:). Maceo was one of the most noteworthy
941:. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1978.
558:, called by Martí the "necessary war".
518:Later in 1879, Maceo and Major General
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27:Cuban independence general (1845–1896)
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960:Race And Ethnicity In Latin America
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879:. Penguin's Books.
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472:Máximo Gómez
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461:Spanish Army
450:
421:
411:
393:entrepreneur
390:
350:Marcos Maceo
343:
321:
315:
306:
305:Lt. General
304:
285:Battles/wars
228:(1896-12-07)
217:Spanish Cuba
193:
189:
185:
154:
150:
143:Spanish name
125:
119:January 2013
116:
106:
99:
92:
85:
73:
61:Please help
56:verification
53:
36:
1038:1896 deaths
1033:1845 births
988:Cuba portal
692:Punta Brava
664:bolt-action
621:Henry Reeve
556:War of 1895
544:Costa Rican
490:regionalism
488:Divisions,
353: [
340:Early years
237:Punta Brava
182:Nickname(s)
1027:Categories
932:References
913:0813126312
757:José Martí
668:Las Villas
655:fields of
552:José Martí
548:Guanacaste
524:Little War
479:Las Villas
346:Venezuelan
259:Allegiance
206:1845-06-14
89:newspapers
784:Monuments
609:guerrilla
438:commander
432:when the
367:descent,
365:Dominican
334:Venezuela
326:guerrilla
270:1868–1896
190:Precursor
735:(1936).
672:Camagüey
649:Matanzas
625:Matanzas
509:Mambises
430:privates
426:Mambises
359:, and a
155:Grajales
141:In this
919:May 24,
809:Malecón
584:Baracoa
540:Jamaica
453:colonel
422:manigua
381:Caracas
361:mulatto
147:surname
103:scholar
910:
883:
805:Havana
749:Havana
706:Legacy
661:Mauser
641:Havana
629:Havana
597:Havana
247:Buried
105:
98:
91:
84:
76:
1010:from
845:Notes
678:Death
536:Haiti
442:major
357:]
151:Maceo
110:JSTOR
96:books
921:2021
908:ISBN
881:ISBN
826:and
731:for
647:and
599:and
440:(or
275:Rank
262:Cuba
241:Cuba
223:Died
200:Born
82:news
815:in
747:in
670:or
400:- "
332:of
235:at
149:is
65:by
1029::
841:.
819:.
643:,
448:.
375:,
355:es
313:.
292:•
239:,
215:,
923:.
889:.
208:)
204:(
157:.
132:)
126:(
121:)
117:(
107:·
100:·
93:·
86:·
59:.
34:.
20:)
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