Manuel Boza Agramonte was born in Camagüey on August 19th, 1820, he came from a family that had a high social and economic position. After the outbreak of the Ten Years’ War, the people of Camagüey took up arms on November 4th of that same year, during the Clavellinas Uprising.

Manuel Boza Agramonte and his brothers Jerónimo, Gregorio and Juan, were among the almost 80 men who participated in this event. With the celebration of the Assembly of Guáimaro, in which the first Cuban independence constitution was approved and the government of the Republic of Cuba in Arms was organized, with Carlos Manuel de Céspedes as president.

In the Liberation Army Manuel Boza was appointed Colonel and years later, in April 1870, he was promoted to Major General, occupying the highest rank of the Mambí Army. He then led the “Division of Camaguey” on two occasions between 1870 and 1871, temporarily.

On May 18th, 1871, in La Jagua, Manuel Boza Agramonte, a gallant figure in the pro-independence struggle, fell victim to Spanish bullets; who offered to the country not only his large fortune, but his own life.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García