The Spanish colonial authorities looked on in astonishment when, on June 11, 1868, during a solemn Te Deum for the Corpus Christi festivities, the combative march that would later become the Cuban National Anthem and a symbol of the struggle for independence was heard in the Bayamo Cathedral.
Performed with the consent of the parish priest, who was unaware of its true meaning, and in the presence of the Military Governor of the Plaza, Colonel Julián Udaeta, the march, orchestrated by Manuel Muñoz Cedeño, provoked a confused reaction among the Spaniards, who felt it was out of place.
When the Spanish governor heard the march, he was surprised and sent for the orchestra's director, who informed him that it was a march composed by Pedro Figueredo (Perucho).
The governor pointed out to Perucho that the march had nothing religious about it and was very much a war march, to which Perucho replied: "You cannot determine that it is a war song since you are not a musician." The Spanish governor was then left with his doubts.
The march that was created became popular, whistled in the streets, and presided over the events of the Philharmonic Society. Fourteen months after the melody of the anthem was composed, Perucho added the lyrics.
The origin of the anthem dates back to August 13, 1867, when the Revolutionary Committee of Bayamo met at the home of lawyer Pedro Figueredo to develop the plans that would unleash the Cuban independence movement.
There, the Committee suggested to Figueredo that he compose our Marseillaise. In the early morning of August 14, the revolutionary from Bayamo wrote the melody that would become our National Anthem. At that time, it was called La Bayamesa, as an expression of its revolutionary character and the place where the national rebellion was born.
On May 8, 1868, Perucho Figueredo commissioned the musician Manuel Muñoz Cedeño to orchestrate that march, an epic song that differed from hymns with sacred characteristics, a war anthem and victory song meant to call to battle and exalt patriotic sentiment. The revolutionaries' reception of the march was so enthusiastic that Perucho decided to arrange for Father José Batista to perform it at the end of Mass in the church, taking advantage of the fact that the Corpus Christi festivities would culminate with a Te Deum attended by the Spanish governor.
Once the war began on October 10, 1868, the Mambí high command decided to proceed with the capture of Bayamo, the most strategic location in the province for the first decisive blow against the Spanish forces.
Just 10 days later, on October 20, the city was taken by the Mambí insurgent forces under the command of the young lawyer Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. The battle began on October 18 at seven in the morning, and the surrender was signed at 11 p.m. on October 20, 1868, which marked for Cuban history, the first great victory of the Mambí army.