José Guillermo Moncada, Major General "Guillermón" Moncada, fought in all three Cuban wars for independence. Famous for his bravery, principles, and revolutionary intransigence, he died of tuberculosis on April 5, 1895, unyielding, for not even captivity ever managed to break him.
Guillermón, as he was called since childhood because of his robust physique and leadership qualities, was born in Santiago de Cuba on June 25, 1841, the son of a freed slave who refused to acknowledge his children. Therefore, he proudly bore his mother's surname, Dominga de la Trinidad Moncada.
Guillermón, as he was called since childhood because of his robust physique and leadership qualities, was born in Santiago de Cuba on June 25, 1841, the son of a freed slave who refused to acknowledge his children. Therefore, he proudly bore his mother's surname, Dominga de la Trinidad Moncada.
He took up arms against Spanish colonialism at the age of 27 in mid-November 1868, less than a month after the war began, under the command of Major General Donato Mármol.
For his bravery and talent, he rose gradually through the ranks, from corporal in the month he rose up, to sergeant the following month, second lieutenant in April 1869, lieutenant in October of that year, captain in January 1870, major in November of that year, lieutenant colonel in May 1871, colonel in June 1873, and brigadier general in March 1878. Alongside Major General Antonio Maceo, he rejected the Pact of Zanjón during the glorious Protest of Baraguá on March 15, 1878. Guillermón wrote a letter to General Vicente García in which he made it clear that “We can never accept the peace that the Spanish offer us under such humiliating and ridiculous conditions.”
Unfortunately, the war ended several weeks later, and he laid down his arms on June 10, 1878.
A year and almost two months later, Guillermón took up arms again during the so-called Little War, from August 26, 1879, until September 1880, when he, along with Generals José Maceo and Quintín Bandera, was forced to lay down their weapons, accepting a peace agreement on June 2, 1880, with guarantees from France and Great Britain.
The Spanish violated the agreement. As stipulated, the three Mambí leaders were traveling with their families and other combatants on a ship to Jamaica when they were boarded by Spanish warships, arrested, and forcibly taken to Puerto Rico and later to Spain, where they were imprisoned in Santander, Cádiz, the Chafarinas Islands, and, from September 1880, in the Isabel II Fortress in Mahón, in the Balearic Islands. Also taken captive were his brother Narciso Moncada, Josefa Asencio, Guillermón's wife, and 14-year-old Serafín Moncada, the general's son, among other relatives, from whom they were arbitrarily separated.
In the Mahón Fortress, Menorca, Quintín Bandera, Felipe Regüeiferos Grajales (Mariana Grajales's eldest son), Emiliano Crombet, and the Trinitarian Pío Acosta were also imprisoned. They frequently complained of the deplorable conditions, mistreatment, and abuse they constantly suffered. They lived in extreme circumstances, forced to pay for their water and even the lights in their cell and the adjacent courtyard. The meager money they received as political prisoners was insufficient to cover their basic needs for food and shelter in a very cold climate for part of the year, where his wife died from illness caused by these harsh conditions.
After six years of captivity, hunger, and cold, in September 1886, a political amnesty decreed in Spain granted freedom to Guillermón, Quintín Bandera, and Felipe Regüeiferos, among others. Upon returning to Cuba, the legendary Guillermón, already suffering from tuberculosis due to his tormented and unjust captivity, devoted himself entirely to preparing for the necessary war being organized by José Martí.
Recaptured again for his revolutionary activities, he was detained from December 1893 to June 1894 in the former Reina Mercedes barracks, accused of conspiring against Spain. He was released after posting bail with money raised by José Martí himself, who admired him and considered him indispensable to the revolution.
He was among the first to rise up in Alto Songo, Santiago de Cuba, at dawn on February 24, 1895, at the age of 54, although he was already gravely ill with terminal tuberculosis. Sensing the approach of death, he entrusted the leadership of his region to Major General Bartolomé Masó and handed over command of his forces to Colonel Victoriano Garzón.
Faithful to his revolutionary principles until the very last moment of his life, Guillermón died from a sudden hemoptysis at the Juturito camp in Mucaral, Alto Songo municipality, on April 5, 1895. His example is proudly preserved by Cubans, who, like him, remain steadfast in the face of all difficulties, unwavering and victorious.