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The War of 1895

Jagüey Grande had an active participation in the War of 1895. The appointment of Doctor José Lázaro Martín Marrero, a native of Santiago de las Vegas in the then province of Havana, as Delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party in the territory, gave a decisive boost to the independence movement .

José Lázaro Martín Marrero and José Agustín Rodríguez had been study companions at the Family School of Education in Havana where they established friendship. Located as a local doctor in 1893, together they began the work of adding followers to the cause, they held a meeting with José Martí in Key West, with Dr. Pedro Betancourt, delegate of the PRC in Matanzas, also with Juan Gualberto Gómez, appointed by Martí Delegate of the PRC on the island, among many others committed to the uprising.

José Lázaro Martín Marrero, Delegado del PRC en Matanzas designado por José Martí.

Obelisk built in Palmar Bonito, the place where the jagüeyense insurgent forces held their first combat with Spanish troops on February 24, 1895.

On February 20, 1895, Marrero learned of the date of the uprising through a communication that Dr. Pedro Betancourt sent him. It would be exactly February 24, 1895. In this sense, he asked for more instructions and received in response:

"... let the government know that you are up in arms. Hold on there and wait for orders they'll give you soon. ”[1]

On February 24 they rose up in arms at the La Sirena farm, a place known as the Cienaguita Jagüeyense, all recognized José Lázaro Martín Marrero as Head of the Conspiracy, when they did not receive the orders promised by the superior command, at dawn on the 26th , Marrero sent four men to explore the terrain and try to contact another group that should have been raised in San Joaquín. It was in these circumstances that around 8:00 am they collided with Spanish forces in a place known as Palmar Bonito, located on the border of the La Sirena farm and the La Yuca farm. This was the first combat of the 95 conflict in the West.

In this regard, the fundamentalist press published: “… at 7:30 in the morning the day before yesterday, the force of the Army of Volunteers held fire with a party of 40 men raised in the neighborhood of Jagüey Grande, there were two wounded volunteers and no it can specify the losses that the enemy has had. ”[2]

The Jagüey Grande area continued to be the scene of the war and on August 11, 1895 there was a meeting between Cubans led by Domingo Mujica at the Satélite farm, Cuevitas. Mujica was taken prisoner the following day and shot on August 26 of that year in the Castillo de San Severino, this being the first execution of '95.

The Rodríguez brothers, installed again on the “La Sirena” farm, rose again on December 16 with a group of men. Clemente Gómez also did it on the 24th of the same month, year and place.

 [1] Rodríguez, José Agustín. The uprising at the La Sirena farm on February 24, 1895. Jagüey Grande. Matanzas, S.I. p. 6.

[2] Aurora del Yumurí. Matanzas newspaper, February 28, 1895.

Domingo Mujica Carratalá (1865-1895). Combatiente cubano contra el colonialismo español que se caracterizó por sus ideas separatistas.                                  

Clemente Gómez Díaz (1866-1917). General de Brigada del Ejército Libertador.

On December 24, 1895, after the Colosseum battle and a 16-hour march, the forces of Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo camped at 8:00 pm at the house of the demolished Josefita mill, near Crimea. On the 25th he continued his march towards Calimete passing again by Jagüey Grande. They crossed the area near the Unión de Fernández sugar mill, Cuevitas.

Military actions continued in the Jagüey Grande area as part of the campaign to the West. On March 8, 1896, Gómez's troops were camped in the Algarrobo neighborhood, near Cuevitas, they were surprised by Spanish forces led by General Prats, they suffered 12 casualties and 43 wounded, including Brigadier General Ángel Guerra Porro, Chief of the Escort of Máximo Gómez.
	Brigadier General Ángel Guerra Porro (1842-1896). Cuban military man, hero of Playita fallen in combat at the Algarrobo farm, near Jagüey Grande.

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