Calixto García Íñiguez (August 4, 1839 – December 11, 1898) was a
Cuban
Cuban may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean
* Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent
** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof
* Cuban citizen, a pers ...
general in three Cuban uprisings, part of the
Cuban War for Independence
The Cuban War of Independence (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). The final three month ...
: the
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Diez Años; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. O ...
, the
Little War, and the
War of 1895, itself sometimes called the Cuban War for Independence, which bled into the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
, ultimately resulting in national independence for
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
.
Ancestry and progeny
García was born in
Holguín to parents of Cuban ''
Criollo'' descent. He was a large, strong, educated man with a short fuse. García was the grandson of
Calixto García de Luna e Izquierdo Calixto is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Calixto Bieito (born 1963), Spanish theater director known for "radical" interpretations of classic operas
*Benedito Calixto (1853–1927), Brazilian painter
* Renato Ribeiro Calixto ( ...
, who had fought as royalist in the
Battle of Carabobo
The Battle of Carabobo, on 24 June 1821, was fought between independence fighters, led by Venezuelan General Simón Bolívar, and the Royalist forces, led by Spanish Field Marshal Miguel de la Torre. Bolívar's decisive victory at Carabobo le ...
in 1821 during
Venezuelan War of Independence
The Venezuelan War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Venezuela, links=no, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought agai ...
. His grandmother was Maria de los Angeles Gonzalez, said to be the daughter of a ''
cacique
A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a S ...
'' from
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
, Venezuela. His grandfather (who had dropped the aristocratic "de Luna" upon taking refuge in Cuba) had been jailed on March 18, 1837 for demanding emancipation of slaves, constitutional freedom for all, and allegedly trying to hang a priest who opposed him. As befitted a man of importance of that time, Calixto had a wife, Isabel Velez Cabrera, and a good number of mistresses; these women gave birth to many children both legitimate (about 7) and illegitimate (at least six, each to a different woman). A number of his sons, most notably Carlos García Velez
and Calixto Enamorado,
fought in his armies.
War record
Around the age of 18, taking after his grandfather, García joined with a Cuban uprising which became the first war of independence (
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Diez Años; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. O ...
). García fought against Spanish colonial rule for five years until his capture. Far from his troops, protected only by a small detail who soon lay dead or dying around him, Garcia, in an attempt to avoid giving the Spanish the satisfaction of seizing him, shot himself under the chin with a .45 caliber pistol. Although the bullet went out of his forehead and knocked him unconscious, he survived; the wound left a great scar and gave him headaches for the rest of his life. When the Spanish authorities came to Holguín to inform Calixto's mother, Lucía Iñíguez, she said that he was not her son. When the officials explained to her Calixto tried to commit suicide, she replied that he was her son, "better dead than captured!" He was imprisoned until the
Pact of Zanjón ending the Ten Years' War was signed in 1878. García travelled to Paris and New York between imprisonments. In keeping to his quest, García joined with
Antonio Maceo Grajales in the
Little War from 1879 to 1880 as well as the 1895
War for Independence. He, and at least three sons, separately escaped from Spain and arrived with a well-supplied expedition in 1896. In that last conflict he succeeded Maceo, once his subordinate in the Ten Years' War, as the second in command in the Cuban Army.
Garcia had a long string of victories in this war, which included the taking of Tunas and Guisa, and the emotionally significant re-occupation of Bayamo. García made liberal use of spies to prepare for his attacks. These include
Dominador de la Guardia father of
Ángel de la Guardia and María Machado, illegitimate daughter of Spanish General
Emilio March who helped prepare the taking of Tunas;
Frederick Funston
Frederick Funston (November 9, 1865 – February 19, 1917), also known as Fighting Fred Funston, was a general in the United States Army, best known for his roles in the Spanish–American War and the Philippine–American War. He received ...
later US Major General and José Martí y Zayas Bazán son of
José Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the libera ...
the major Cuban National Hero directed artillery;
Mario García Menocal
Aurelio Mario Gabriel Francisco García Menocal y Deop (December 17, 1866 – September 7, 1941) was the 3rd President of Cuba, serving from 1913 to 1921. His term as president saw Cuba's participation in World War I.
Youth
Born in Jagüey Gra ...
a to-be president of Cuba who was wounded in a principal assault. Angel de la Guardia, also a major Cuban national hero, died in this battle on August 30, 1897.
At the time of the U.S. landings, García, with skilled use of mobile artillery, controlled the interior of old Oriente Province, and prepared the landing places for the U.S. Army near Santiago. His troops effectively supported the Marine forces at Guantanamo who, once out of range of the guns of the , had difficulty dealing with Spanish guerrilla tactics. He was the general who dealt with the American troops and joined them in military actions, only to be denied entrance into Santiago de Cuba when the Spanish surrendered.
Death
García died of pneumonia at the age of 59 on December 11, 1898 while on a diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C. He was buried temporarily in
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...
in the U.S., then transported on the heavily armed seagoing warship
to Cuba. His final burial in Cuba was preceded by a number of emotional incidents, and his statues and busts are found throughout Cuba. A major statue is found on the
Malecón near the
US Interests Section in Havana.
After his death, a large bronze tablet prominently inscribed with the phrase "
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" was erected by the
Freemasons
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
at the place of his demise—the Raleigh Hotel in Washington, D.C. Today, this tablet resides at the private residence of one of García's direct descendants.
The essay "
A Message to Garcia" by
Elbert Hubbard
Elbert Green Hubbard (June 19, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. Raised in Hudson, Illinois, he had early success as a traveling salesman for the Larkin Soap Company. Hubbard is known best as th ...
was written in reference to U.S. intelligence officer Andrew Rowan's successful mission, against great odds, to establish contact with García early in the Spanish–American War. According to language expert
Charles Earle Funk, "to take a message to García", meaning to accept an extremely difficult challenge, was a popular U.S. slang expression for years. The essay was made into two American films, the 1916 silent ''
A Message to Garcia'' with García played by
Charles Sutton and the 1936 film ''
A Message to Garcia'' featuring
Enrique Acosta
Enrique Acosta was a Mexican American movie actor. He appeared in multiple films from 1925 to 1947, such as "Don Q, Son of Zorro" (1925) and "A Message to Garcia" (1936).
Early life
Acosta emigrated with his family to Los Angeles, California, ...
.
In 1976 a municipality in
Holguín Province was named
Calixto García after him. His portrait is on the 50
Cuban peso
The Cuban peso (in Spanish , ISO 4217 code: CUP) also known as , is the official currency of Cuba.
The Cuban peso historically circulated at par with the Spanish-American silver dollar from the 16th to 19th centuries, and then at par with the U ...
banknote.
Print sources
* Castellano García, Gerardo 1927. ''Tierras y Glorias de Oriente'' (Calixto García Iñiguez) Editorial Hermes Havana
* Escalante Beaton, Anibal 1946. ''Calixto García Su Campaña en el 95''. Arrow Press Havana. (Introduction by General Carlos García Velez, son of the mayor general and a firsthand witness to many of the events described.)
* Rice, Donald Tunnicliff, 2016. ''Cast in Deathless Bronze: Andrew Rowan, The Spanish–American War, and the Origins of American Empire''. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press. (This volume contains more information regarding García's life and career than any other English-language publication.)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Calixto
1839 births
1898 deaths
Spanish generals
People of the Spanish–American War
People of the Ten Years' War
Cuban people of Spanish descent
Cuban people of Basque descent
Cuban independence activists
Deaths from pneumonia in Washington, D.C.