To summarize in a few words the life of a man that patriotism came to him from the cradle and for causes related to the revolution, he was not born on our soil; but in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic because his mother was living in the house of the Cuban Revolutionary Delegation in Santo Domingo, it is a privilege. That is why June 5th, 1871 is registered in history as an unforgettable day, because Enrique Loynaz del Castillo came into the world.
From an early age he followed in the footsteps of his father Enrique Loynaz Arteaga, commander of the War of ’68, in conspiratorial work against the Spanish colonial regime. In 1885 he participated in the preparation within the San Pedro Sula Plan of an expedition together with Generals Serafín Sánchez and Francisco Carrillo, who, according to Máximo Gómez, would come to Cuba. In 1891 he traveled to New York accompanied by the aforementioned generals and Carlos Roloff.
During his stay in the city, he achieved what for him was the dream of his life, meeting José Martí, and from that moment he was one hundred percent martiano and a deep connoisseur of his thinking. While in 1892, at just twenty-one years old, he was a distinguished member of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. The figure of Martí would be for Loynaz del Castillo throughout his life the greatest in the History of Cuba.
His mark in Puerto Príncipe
In 1894 Enrique Loynaz del Castillo was immersed in the work of promoting in the city of Puerto Príncipe the construction of a tram for the city. Because he had to bring the cars for his companies from the United States, he proposed to the Party Delegate to bring hidden military supplies for the ongoing war.
Smuggling through the Customs of Nuevitas 48,000 ammunition and 200 rifles was a success; they had to be made available to Dr. Emilio L. Luces, president of the Revolutionary Committee of Camagüey. The denunciation of a rich man who the war would affect before General Gasco at the head of the square ended by bringing the plan to failure. With a few hours allowed to leave the country, Loynaz del Castillo with the help of the train driver from Nuevitas to Puerto Príncipe, and the help of Elpidio Marín with his parents Don Enrique Loynaz was able to flee on a freight train to Nuevitas, heading later to Pilot Point to embark on the German steamer “Amrunc”, on April 8th to New York, the city where he would arrive on the 15th of the same month.
Hosted in the house that Martí lived, due to the judicial persecution that he was subjected to by the Spanish Legation before the North American authorities, Martí decided to send him to Costa Rica. Loynaz del Castillo would bring letters from the Delegate to General Maceo, of whom he would be his aide.
Active work
He conspired with him and the Cuban émigrés in Costa Rica. He directed the Puerto Rican newspaper “La Prensa Libre” where he published “Bandolerismo en Cuba”, an article that heated the spirits of the Spanish colony in Costa Rica.
On November 10th, 1894, when leaving a theater in the city of San José, an attack was perpetrated against General Antonio, turning into a real battlefield with gunshots and batons in the middle of the street. Loynaz would save Maceo’s life and would be forced after these actions to return to New York.
Already in northern lands he was the protagonist of a great reception, and in a great meeting chaired by José Martí received great praise from him. That night the club was organized with the name of his grandfather “Martín del Castillo” of which he was appointed president.
In February when he was preparing to come on a small expedition to Camagüey, he was incorporated with his 40 rifles and ammo to that of Serafín Sánchez and Carlos Roloff in the steamer “James Woodall”, disembarking on July 24th at Punta del Caney or Tayabacoa.
An invitation to read
Knowing the broad participation of General Enrique Loynaz del Castillo in the Necessary War under the orders of Generals Carlos Roloff, Antonio Maceo, Serafín Sánchez and Mayía Rodríguez, of whom he was an assistant and member of their staff respectively, is the invitation to read his work “Memories of the war.”
Of it, Dr. C René González Barrios expressed “… it is full of controversy and truths (…). Significantly extensive and exciting work – perhaps one of the most exciting works ever written -, where the main leaders of the 95’s War have hits, misses, moments of glory and errors and appreciation “.
After the war ended and the Republic was established, Loynaz de Castillo was a representative to the Chamber between 1902 and 1906. He opposed the reelection of Estrada Palma in 1906 and Menocal in 1917. He had a long career in the diplomatic service as plenipotentiary minister of the Cuban government in different countries such as Mexico, Venezuela, Haiti and Portugal among others.
He cultivated the poetic genre, followed by this passion by two of his sons Enrique and Dulce María Loynaz, who would achieve with his work all honors within Cuban and international culture.
General Enrique Loynaz del Castillo retired from the political filed in 1947 and died in Havana on February 10th, 1963.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
