Ignacio Agramonte
Encyclopedia
Ignacio Agramonte y Loynáz (1841—1873) was a Cuban
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

 revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...

, who played an important part in the Ten Years' War
Ten Years' War
The Ten Years' War , also known as the Great War and the War of '68, began on October 10, 1868 when sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed Cuba's independence from Spain...

 (1868–1878).

Born in the province of Puerto Príncipe (what is now the province of Camagüey
Camagüey Province
Camagüey is the largest of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is Camagüey. Other towns include Florida and Nuevitas.-Geography:Camagüey is mostly low lying, with no major hills or mountain ranges passing through the province...

, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

) on December 23, 1841, to a wealthy family. He went to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, and Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

 to study law. On June 11, 1865 he graduated as a lawyer.

He returned to Puerto Principe and married Amalia Simoni y Argilagos on August 1868, a woman who was the love of his life and whose family had considerably more wealth than his own.

Agramonte stood tall at 6'2". He had fine brown hair, pale skin, and was an expert horseman and fencer. He had a fine mustache and not thick or bushy like it appears in many portraits.

When the war of independence against the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 broke out, he played a pivotal role in the uprising of the province of Camagüey which took place on November 4, 1868. Agramonte himself joined the war a week later, on November 11, 1868.

His wife followed him in the struggle, but was captured on May 26, 1870 while pregnant with her second child, which was born in the USA and never met his father.

At a conference with other leaders who were trying to make amends with Spain, Agramonte made clear his opinion: "Stop at once all the lobbying, the awkward delays, and the humiliating demands: Cuba's only option is to gain its redemption by tearing itself from Spain through armed force."

On February 1869, he and Antonio Zambrana were elected secretaries, a title equivalent to minister, to the provincial government. He was subsequently elected a member and one of two secretaries - minister - of the Cuban Congress in Arms. He was among the signatories of the act that freed the slaves on the island and was the driving force in the drafting of the first Constitution in Cuban history.

He resigned his secretarial and ministerial position within the Congress after Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes del Castillo was a Cuban planter who freed his slaves and made the declaration of Cuban independence in 1868 which started the Ten Years' War...

 was made president that same year because Agramonte had strong political disagreements with him and knew they could not work together. The Congressional secretaries - ministers - had to work closely with the president.

He went on to become Major General of the Cuban forces for the military district of the province of Camagüey, where he organized the best cavalry troops in the Cuban Army. Showing great vision, in spite of his lack of formal military training, his troops terrified the Spanish Army
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...

. The Spaniards knew him to be formidable in battle, and nicknamed him "The Young Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...

".

Agramonte capped his impressive list of military achievements when, on October 8, 1871, he led a daring rescue. His commander, Manuel Sanguily, was taken prisoner by more than 120 light cavalry while visiting a farm. Agramonte ordered 35 of his exhausted troops to mount up and track down the Spaniards. He personally led a furious charge, successfully rescuing Sanguily and routing the enemy troop, killing 11 and making 5 prisoners.

Ignacio Agramonte was killed at the Battle of Jimaguayú on May 11, 1873, where he was struck on the head by a stray bullet. His body was cremated by the Spanish authorities in Camagüey for fear that his troops would assault the city to recover his body.

Henry Reeve
Henry Reeve (soldier)
Henry Reeve was a Brigadier General in Cuba's 'Ejército Libertador' - more commonly known as the 'Ejército Mambi' - during the Ten Years' War ....

 - Brigadier General - an American volunteer, and commander of his Cavalry Corps, named him "El Mayor", implying Agramonte was the best of all the Cuban Major Generals. Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez y Báez was a Major General in the Ten Years' War and Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence ....

succeeded him as Chief Military Commander of the military district of the province of Camagüey.

Agramonte used a Colt revolver, Navy model 1851, worked with ivory and gold. He used several machetes and sabres, and was carrying a sabre taken from a Spanish colonel at the time of his death.

Both the airport and the central park in Camagüey are named after him, and his statue is situated in the central plaza.
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