Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz (23 December 1841 – 11 May 1873) was a Cuban

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

, who played an important part in the

Ten Years' War The Ten Years' War (; 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. On 10 October 1868, sugar mil ...

(1868–1878).

Biography

Born in Puerto del Príncipe (known as

Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 333,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by Sp ...

) on December 23, 1841, to a wealthy family with roots in

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

. His father, also named Ignacio Agramonte, had been appointed by the Spanish Crow
councillor
of the Puerto del Príncipe City Council. Ignacio Jr. studied law at the universities of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, and

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.war of independence against Spain broke out on October 10, 1868, he played a pivotal role in the uprising of Camagüey which took place on November 4, 1868. Agramonte himself joined the war a week later, on November 11, 1868. His wife followed him in the struggle, but was captured on May 26, 1870, while pregnant with her second child, who was born in the United States and never met his father. Despite its privileged social position and his many ties to Spain, Agramonte became one of the most radicalized leaders in central Cuba. At a conference with other leaders who were trying to make amends with Spain, Agramonte made clear his opinion: "Stop at once all the lobbying, the awkward delays, and the humiliating demands: Cuba's only option is to gain its redemption by tearing itself from Spain through armed force." In February 1869, he and Antonio Zambrana were elected secretaries of the rebel self-entitled Government of the center. He was subsequently elected a member and one of two secretaries of the Cuban Congress in Arms. He was among the five signatories of the act that abolished slavery in the area of Camagüey on February 26, 1869. Freed slaves who were physically fit were forced to join the rebel army, while those who were not were forced to keep working for their former owners, who in their turn were compensated for the loss of property. Agramonte was the driving force in the drafting of the Guáimaro Constitution (passed on April 10, 1869), the first constitution promulgated by Cuban rebel governments. He resigned his secretarial and ministerial position within the Congress after Carlos Manuel de Céspedes was made president that same year because Agramonte had strong political disagreements with him. While Céspedes advocated for strong presidential powers, Agramonte defended a parliamentarian system. He went on to become Major General of the Cuban forces for the military district of the province of Camagüey, where he organized cavalry troops of the Cuban rebel army. Showing vision, in spite of his lack of formal military training, his troops proved a huge challenge for the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

. Due to his fighting skills in battle and also his cruelty, he began to be known as "The Young Bolívar". According to the press, on October 26, 1871, he executed six persons of his own forces whom he suspected wanted to give up and surrender to the Spanish authorities. One of them was a woman, wife to one of Agramonte's soldiers, whom he accused of trying to convince his husband to give up the fight. Agramonte capped his impressive list of military achievements when, on October 8, 1871, he led a daring rescue. His commander, Julio Sanguily, was taken prisoner by more than 120 light cavalry while visiting a farm. Agramonte ordered 35 of his exhausted troops to mount up and track down the Spaniards. He personally led a furious charge, successfully rescuing Sanguily and routing the enemy troops, killing 11 and taking five prisoners. On May 7, 1873, he led a machete charge at Cocal del Olimpo against a column of around 100 Spanish soldiers (led by Cuban-born lieutenant colonel Leonardo Abril), of whom 47 were killed in combat. Ignacio Agramonte was killed at the Battle of Jimaguayú on May 11, 1873, where he was struck on the head by a stray bullet. The Spanish soldiers stole his wallet and papers. When their officers realized who they had killed, they went back and took the body with them to the Puerto del Príncipe. His body was cremated by the Spanish authorities in Camagüey for fear that his troops would assault the city to recover the remnants of his body. Brigadier General Henry Reeve, a volunteer from the U.S. and commander of his Cavalry Corps, nicknamed him "El Mayor", implying that Agramonte was the most skilled of all the Cuban Major Generals.

Máximo Gómez Máximo Gómez y Báez (November 18, 1836 – June 17, 1905) was a general of Dominican origin in the Cuban Wars of Independence (1868-78 and 1895–98). He was known for his controversial Scorched earth tactics, which entailed dynamiting pa ...

succeeded him as Chief Military Commander of the military district of the province of Camagüey. Agramonte used a Colt revolver, Navy model 1851, inlaid with ivory and gold. He used several machetes and sabres, and was carrying a sabre taken from a Spanish colonel at the time of his death. Most of his descendants lived in Camagüey until the early 1960s, when most of them went into exile as a result of the triumph of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

Legacy

Both the airport and the central park in Camagüey are named after him, and his statue is situated in the civic plaza. The equestrian statue of Agramonte in the park that bears his name was unveiled by his widow Amalia Simoni in 1912; it was the work of an Italian sculptor. The Cuban village of Agramonte, located in

Matanzas Province Matanzas () is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns in the province include Cárdenas, Colón, Jovellanos and the capital of the same name, Matanzas. The resort town of Varadero is also located in this province. Among Cuban provinces, ...

and part of the municipality of Jagüey Grande, was renamed after him. Its original name was Cuevitas. His death in battle is the subject of the 1975 song "El Mayor" by Cuban

nueva trova Nueva Trova (, "new trova") is a movement in Cuban music that emerged around 1967–1968 after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the consequent political and social changes. Nueva Trova has its roots in the traditional trova, but differs from it ...

singer

Silvio Rodríguez Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez (born 29 November 1946) is a Cuban musician, and leader of the Nueva Trova movement. He is widely considered as Cuba's best folk singer and arguably one of Latin America's greatest singer-songwriters. Known for his ...

References

Bibliography

* Carlos Márquez Sterling (1899). ''Agramonte. El Bayardo de la Revolución Cubana.'' Introducción de Ignacio Rasco. Miami, Florida: Editorial Cubana (1995 reprint). * Fermín Peraza y Sarausa La Habana (1943). ''Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz, (23/12/1841, 11/5/ 1873)''. Departamento de Cultura, Colección: Publicaciones de la Biblioteca Municipal de la Habana. * Empresa Occidental de Geodesia y Cartografía (1989). ''Atlas biográfico Mayor General Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz''. La Habana: Instituto Cubano de Geodesia y Cartografía.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agramonte, Ignacio 1841 births 1873 deaths 19th-century Cuban politicians Cuban revolutionaries People of the Ten Years' War People from Camagüey University of Havana alumni Cuban Freemasons