Pedro (Perucho) Figueredo Cisneros is known as the author of the Cuban national anthem, but little is known about the fact that he was a Major General, that his war march was first heard in a church before Spanish authorities, and that he first recited its lyrics to the people of Bayamo from his horse, a Mambí fighter.
Perucho, as the lawyer and independence conspirator was known, was born in the city of Bayamo on February 18, 1818, 208 years ago. Due to his artistic and literary talents as a teenager, he was nicknamed "El Gallito Bayamés" (The Little Rooster of Bayamo). In 1838, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy. He traveled to Barcelona to study Law and took piano lessons, until he graduated as a lawyer in 1842. He then moved to Madrid to validate his degree at the Central University and traveled through several European countries.
In 1844, he petitioned the Royal Court of Puerto Príncipe for recognition of his law degree, while his father, a councilman, mayor, and provincial governor, granted him general power of attorney to represent him in all legal proceedings. Four years later, he was appointed second ordinary mayor of the city of Bayamo.
In that city, in 1851, he founded, along with Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, the Philharmonic Society, a Bayamo cultural center that brought together regional intellectuals such as Juan Clemente Zenea, José Fornaris, José Joaquín Palma, and José María Izaguirre. The year after the institution's founding, he appeared on a list of suspects for disloyalty to the Spanish government, and facing the threat of deportation, he was forced to move to Havana.
In 1858, he returned to Bayamo with his family, and three years later, he was placed under house arrest for 14 months for a published writing. Confined to his home, he studied military tactics, wrote articles on Cuban customs, and in 1867 joined the Redención lodge, presided over by Francisco Vicente Aguilera.
His house was the main center of the independence conspiracy in the eastern region. On August 14, 1867, a secret meeting was held there, during which the Bayamo Revolutionary Committee was formed, of which he was a member. That day, 153 years ago, he wrote the lyrics to the war march "La Bayamesa," which would become the national anthem of Cuba.
On May 3, 1868, he gave the lyrics to "La Bayamesa" to the musician Manuel Muñoz (1813-1895), director of the orchestra at the main church, so that he could compose the music and arrange the instrumentation. The following month, it was performed in the presence of the city's governor and other Spanish authorities during the Corpus Christi celebrations.
An unforeseen event caused the date of the uprising, previously agreed upon by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers for the 14th, to be moved forward, and on October 10, 1868, the La Demajagua uprising took place, marking the beginning of the war of independence against Spain.
Upon receiving the unexpected news of Céspedes's uprising, Perucho, along with Maceo Osorio and Donato Mármol, organized the conspirators in Bayamo. On October 12, after the defeat at Yara by Cuban forces and the decision to take the city of Bayamo, he received a message from Céspedes informing him that he was heading with the Dominican general Luis Marcano toward the Barranca region.
At the Las Mangas sugar mill, Perucho met with 32 armed men, and the following day, after rejecting the peace offers from the Spanish authorities, he issued a proclamation to the people of Bayamo, calling them to join the fight.
On October 15, 1868, he met with Céspedes in Barranca, and together with General Marcano, they organized the capture of Bayamo. His 17-year-old daughter, Canducha Figueredo, was appointed standard-bearer for the troops. On October 20, the Spanish garrison of the city was defeated, and the rebels took Bayamo.