By: Ph.D. Kezia Henry Knight and MSc. Jose Fernando Crespo Baró
The year 1870 was the most difficult for the insurrection in the fields of Camagüey. To the material shortage caused by the devastation of the farms, was added famine and death toll, casualties due to injuries in combat, desertions from ranks … Only With Shame! Major General Ignacio Agramonte raised the fighting morale of Camagüey.
Also, the months of April and May brought pain and mourning to Camagüey families, due to the execution by shooting of their members at the hands of soldiers and volunteers under the command of Marshal and Commander of the General Staff Zacarías González y Goyeneche who, after his arrival in Puerto Príncipe intensified the repression and the executions of informants and those suspected of collaborating with the Liberation Army. [1]
One of those atrocious executions ended the life of Oscar Céspedes y Céspedes, the eldest son of the President of the Republic in Arms, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y del Castillo, who had been captured by a Spanish troop in May of that year. In fact, he did not enjoy the benefit of immunity and let alone respect for his integrity.
After his confinement in the National Prison of Puerto Príncipe, the Field Marshal of the Island Antonio Caballero y Fernández de Rodas, perversely tried to make Céspedes lay down his arms in exchange for the life of his son.
President Céspedes did not accept. At his side marched dozens of black and white eager for freedom. By the time the president received the letter, Oscar should have been still alive, however, he had already been executed in the Hispanic infantry barracks. [2] It was a cowardly and infamous procedure.
History will never be erased
It is worth knowing that in the Second Burial Book of the General Cemetery of Puerto Príncipe, corresponding to the years 1866 – 1871, on Folio 320, dated May 29th, 1870, there is the following note that specifies the date of the execution and burial of the president’s eldest son: Oscar de Céspedes. From National Prison (Cross mark [shot]). [3] The writing will forever remain as proof of infamy and dishonesty.
Like other revolutionaries, the burial place was never found. However, the name of Amado Oscar Céspedes y Céspedes will torment his murderers forever. In Cuba, it honors the pages of glory of our fights, already perplexed that in the same land, -also in an unknown place-, it is buried the body of Ignacio Agramonte.
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[1] According to Spanish sources and the data contained in the Second Book of the General Cemetery corresponding to the year 1870, 45 prisoners from the National Prison of Puerto Príncipe were shot. Regarding Amado Oscar Céspedes, the procedure was dishonest and totally contrary to humanism and respect for the prisoner practiced by the leadership of the insurrection. It is worth knowing that between 1868-1872 around 70 prisoners were shot behind the walls of the infantry barracks built in Plaza del Vapor in Puerto Principe, a place near the so-called National Prison.
[2] The letter of the “honorable” but cynical of Caballero de Rodas to Céspedes was dated in Puerto Príncipe, June 1st, 1870: “Mr. Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. My dear Sir: Your son Oscar de Céspedes is in my power, imprisoned by forces of my command. His salvation is in your hands, tell me by the port that you want to embark to give you absolute guarantee. You can send me the answer with the same person that gave you my letter. May the lord keep you safe for many years. ”Céspedes’s reply was forceful and virile: “Oscar is not my only son, all Cubans who die for our national freedoms are”. In: Portuondo, Fernando y Hortencia Pichardo: Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. Escritos. T. II, Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, 1982, p. 74.
[3] One of the most important agents in the Liberation Army intelligence service was Juan Torres Lasqueti who, using his network of informants, confirmed that: “(…) on the 29th Oscar de Céspedes was shot [in Puerto Príncipe]”. In: Torres Lasqueti, Juan: Colección de datos históricos-geográficos y estadísticos de Puerto del Príncipe y su jurisdicción. Colección Esencias, Ediciones El Lugareño, Camagüey, 2016, p. 177.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
