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Antonio Maceo: Heroes, History, and Historiography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2022

Patricia Weiss Fagen
Patricia Weiss Fagen*
Affiliation:
San José State University
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On 7 December 1897, on the outskirts of Havana in San Pedro, a small party of Cuban rebels led by Lieutenant General Antonio Maceo y Grajales was ambushed by a Spanish patrol. General Maceo was killed; at his side, Panchito Gómez Toro, son of the Cuban Commander-in-Chief Máximo Gómez, also died. The surviving Cuban soldiers buried the two bodies in a secret grave to protect them from desecration by the Spanish forces. Several days later in Havana, the Spanish commander-in-chief, General Valeriano Weyler, learned of Maceo's death and celebrated. Weyler, whose cruelties had earned him the enduring title of “the butcher,” gathered his officers and supporters around him; they feasted, drank, and prematurely toasted Spanish victory. They could not imagine that the rebels would continue to fight once they had lost the superhuman figure of Maceo.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , 1976 , pp. 69 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © 1976 by the University of Texas Press

Footnotes

∗

I was greatly aided in the preparation of this article by discussions with Cuban historians, in particular, Sergio Aguirre, José Luciano Franco, and José Antonio Portuondo. Other Cubans associated with the Ministry of Foreign Relations and the Academy of Sciences were also extremely helpful, as were the editorial comments and criticisms of Richard Fagen.

References

Notes

1. A detailed account of Maceo's death and burial appears in the memoir of his chief of staff, José Miró Argenter, Crónicas de la guerra 2:299-312. The reference was taken from the fourth edition (La Habana, 1945; reprinted, 1970).

2. Ibid., pp. 351-52.

3. See Philip Foner, The Spanish-Cuban-American War and the Birth of American Imperialism 1 (New York, 1972), pp. 96-97, 108. Maceo was called the greatest fighter against colonialism since Toussaint L'Ouverture. World reaction to Maceo's death is also described in José Luciano Franco, Antonio Maceo, Apuntes para una historia de su vida 3 (La Habana, 1954; reprinted, 1973).

4. Since this account of Maceo's life represents a consensus summary of material found in virtually all the works consulted for this essay, no specific sources will be cited.

5. This sector of small farmers in Oriente has always given Cuba its dedicated revolutionaries—in the Ten Years' War, in the subsequent War of Independence of 1895, and in the Revolution of 1959. Regional differences in slavery and race relations are discussed in Franklin W. Knight, Slave Society in Cuba during the Nineteenth Century (Madison, Wisconsin, 1970), pp. 154-58.

6. On one occasion Maceo expressed his views on the problem of race and racism in a letter he wrote to the then President Salvador Cisneros Betancourt, 16 May 1876. In this letter, he reviewed his service to the rebel republic and noted that the racist insinuations that a few fellow insurgents had been making about him were both unjust and divisive. Speaking of himself he said: “And since this writer is a person of color, who does not believe that he is worth less than other men for this reason, he cannot and will not consent to what is not the case, nor allow [the rumors] to continue being spread.” In Hortensia Pichardo, Documentos para la historia de Cuba 1 (La Habana, 1971), pp. 394-95.

7. Before returning to do battle, Maceo made one important visit to Cuba in 1890. On that occasion, he was greeted with enormous enthusiasm throughout the island. In fact, so great was his popularity that he had to cut short his stay for fear of assassination by the Spaniards. The events of 1890 demonstrated the readiness of the Cuban people to renew the struggle, and they also indicated that Maceo himself had been endowed with the status of hero. It is unlikely that any other nonwhite would have been so warmly welcomed by white high society; nor is it likely that any but he could have so inspired Cuban youth who barely remembered the Ten Years' War.

8. I have much simplified the very complex political history of postindependence Cuba in order to give the reader not familiar with Cuba a basic idea of the forces at play. There are many works in English in which a more adequate coverage of this period may be found, e.g.: Edward González, Cuba under Castro: The Limits of Charisma (Boston, 1974), pp. 25-52; Ramón Eduardo Ruiz, Cuba, the Making of a Revolution (Amherst, Mass., 1968), pp. 76-140; Jaime Suchlicki, Cuba, from Columbus to Castro (New York, 1973), pp. 103-74; and Hugh Thomas, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom (New York, 1971), pp. 605-1034.

9. These first-hand works began appearing soon after the establishment of the Republic and continued appearing into the 1940s. Some have been republished since the Revolution. Among those related to this essay are: Fernando Figueredo, La revolución de Yara (La Habana, 1902; republished, 1968); Manuel J. de Granda, La paz de Manganeso (La Habana, 1913); Enrique José Varona, De la colonia a la República, selección de trabajos políticos (La Habana, 1919); Enrique Collazo, La guerra en Cuba (La Habana, 1926); Juan Gualberto Gómez, Por Cuba libre (La Habana, 1926); Máximo Gómez, Diario de campaña (La Habana, 1941); José Miró Argenter, Cuba, crónicas de la guerra, las campañas de invasión y de Occidente, 1895-1896 (La Habana, 1945; republished, 1970); Manuel Piedra Martel, Campañas de Maceo en la última Guerra de Independencia (La Habana, 1946). Maceo also appears prominently in the works of José Martí.

10. Prior to the Revolution, every year on the anniversary of Maceo's death, an historian, politician, or soldier was invited to make a presentation on the hero to Congress. Biographies were commissioned on the centenary of his birth, but these works were intended more as patriotic pronouncements than as historical analyses. Maceo has continued to be commemorated in the popular press since the Revolution.

11. The groups are not logically exclusive. Some traditional historians' works are considered revisionist. Many revisionists later joined the postrevolutionary group.

12. It is not possible in this short space to include all the major works that represent this group called “traditional historians.” I will therefore note only a sample of the works that have some relevance to this essay: Herminio Portell Vilá, Historia de Cuba en sus relaciones con los Estados Unidos y España 2 (1853-1878), 3 (1878-1899) (La Habana, 1939); Luis Roland Cabrera, El centenario de Maceo, 1845-14 junio 1945 (La Habana, 1945); Gererdo Castellanos García, Francisco Gómez Toro, en el surco del generalísimo (La Habana, 1932); Los últimos días de Martí (La Habana, 1937); Rafael Marquina, Antonio Maceo, héroe epónimo (La Habana, 1943); Fermín Peraza Sarausa, Infancia ejemplar en la vida heróica de Antonio Maceo (La Habana, 1945); Gerardo Rodríguez Morejón, Maceo, homenaje que rinde el Ministerio de Defensa Nacional al Lugarteniente General Antonio Maceo y Grajales (La Habana, 1946); Emeterio Santovenia y Echaide, Raíz y altura de Antonio Maceo (La Habana, 1943); Huellas de gloria, frases históricas cubanas (La Habana, 1944). I have not included in this list the authors of the annual speeches presented in congress on the anniversary of Maceo's death.

13. The Academy of History was founded in 1910.

14. Fernando Ortiz Fernández, El engaño de las razas (La Habana, 1946); Contrapunteo cubano del tobaco y el azúcar (1940); José Luciano Franco, Antonio Maceo, apuntes para una historia de su vida, 3 vols. (La Habana, 1951-54; reprinted, 1973); Leonardo Griñan Peralta, Maceo, análisis caracterólogico (La Habana, 1940); Leopoldo Horrego Estuch, Maceo, héroe y carácter (La Habana, 1944); Ramiro Guerra y Sánchez, Guerra de los Diez Años, 1868-1878, 2 vols. (La Habana, 1950); Azúcar y población en las Antillas (La Habana, 1927); Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, La guerra liberadora de los treinta años, razon de su victoria, 2nd ed. (La Habana, 1958); Males y vicios de Cuba republicana, sus causas y sus remedios, 2nd ed., (La Habana, 1961); Raúl Cepero y Bonilla, Azúcar y abolición, apuntes para una historia crítica del abolicionismo (La Habana, 1960); Julio Le Riverend, Reseña histórica de la economía cubana y sus problemas (México, 1956); Oscar Pino Santos, La estructura económica de Cuba y la reforma agraria (La Habana, 1959); José Antonio Portuondo, El heroismo intelectual, ensayo (México, 1955); La historia y las generaciones (Santiago de Cuba, 1958); Carlos Rafael Rodríguez, Las bases del desarrollo económico de Cuba (La Habana, 1956); José Martí and Cuban Liberation (New York, 1953); Sergio Aguirre, “Esclavitud y abolicionismo,” Dialéctica 18 (March-June 1946); “En torno a la Revolución de 1868,” Hoy (1945, Año del Centenario Maceico, en el Magazine Especial de Primero de Mayo); “La Protesta de Baraguá,” ibid.

Other historiographical studies have counted Herminio Portell Vilá among the revisionist historians. No one writing in Cuba today would so count him. Portell Vilá was indeed critical of certain aspects of Cuban reality, but he generally approved the existing political and social order. His work was useful to the revisionists in providing much information on which they based their more critical studies of North American imperalism. I have not limited the list of revisionist literature to works dealing solely with Maceo, because I felt it important to include a representation of the work of the major historians of the time. The treatments of Maceo reflect the broader social and economic concerns of the period.

15. The works published since the Revolution dealing specifically with Maceo are those by Raúl Aparicio, Hombradía de Antonio Maceo (La Habana, 1967); José Antonio Portuondo, El pensamiento vivo de Maceo (La Habana, 1971); Jorge Ibarra, Ideología Mambisa (La Habana, 1972); Nydia Sarabia, Historia de una familia mambisa: Mariana Grajales (La Habana, 1975). Works such as the Maceo biography by José Luciana Franco have been republished, as have the first-hand accounts by Miró Argenter, Fernando Figueredo, and, of course, José Martí. In the journals, Cuba Socialista and Islas (of the University of Las Villas), there are interesting historiographical articles. For the most part, the books written since the Revolution are those of Cubans trained prior to the Revolution, many of which are noted above. New books are often published on the basis of prizes awarded to younger historians such as Aparicio and Sarabia.

16. Rafael Marquina, Antonio Maceo, p. 139.

17. Herminio Portell Vila', Historia de Cuba 3:68. The author goes on to describe the homage accorded the hero on his return to Cuba in 1890, “despite the fact that he was a mulatto.”

18. Rafael Marquina, Antonio Maceo, p. 136.

19. Fermín Peraza, Infancia ejemplar, p. 7.

20. Ibid., p. 8.

21. Rodríguez Morejón, Maceo, pp. 38-39.

22. La Mejorana was the scene of the first meeting of Martí, Gómez, and Maceo once the War of 1895 had begun. In that meeting, Martí insisted that military operations must be directed by political considerations. Maceo and Gómez, recalling the constant political restraints on their actions during the Ten Years' War, opposed Martí. They advocated minimal political structures and a free hand for military commanders. A compromise was reached, giving Marti political direction and the two generals military command. Martí died and political power came to be exercised by the governing council which, as Maceo feared, created the same problems for the military command as had existed in the Ten Years' War.

23. Leonardo Griñan Peralta, Maceo, Análisis caracterológico, p. 305.

24. Commandante Raúl Castro Ruz, “El ejemplo de los héroes nunca muere,” speech given on 7 December 1959 (La Habana, Department of Public Relations of the Ministry of State), p. 15.

25. Ibid., p. 9.

26. Luis Rolando Cabrera, El centenario de Maceo, p. 30. Cabrera was himself a mulatto.

27. Portell Vilá is the strongest exponent of this view; see Historia de Cuba 3:68.

28. José Luciano Franco, Maceo, apuntes 3:175.

29. Ministerio de Educación, Viceministerio de Educación General y Especial, Historia de Cuba 1 (La Habana, 1973), p. 7 (text used for teacher training).

30. José Antonio Portuondo, El pensamiento vivo de Maceo, p. 3.

31. Maceo's reputation and fame were spread wherever he traveled. An indication of the admiration that he engendered in the United States may be found in Philip Foner's article, “A Tribute to Antonio Maceo,” Journal of Negro History 55, no. 1 (January 1970):65-71.

32. Rafael Marquina, Antonio Maceo, p. 109.

33. G. Rodríguez Morejón, Maceo, p. 27. The quotation is taken from the author's description of how the common people rallied to de Céspedes after his Grito de Yara initiated the war.

34. Ramiro Guerra draws a distinction between the position of the Oriente leaders such as de Céspedes, whose economic situation and high level of consciousness led them to take fairly egalitarian and strongly antislavery positions, as opposed to the landowners of the western provinces, who never went beyond demanding gradual indemnified abolition, Guerra de los Diez Años 1:48-49. Cepero Bonilla, on the other hand, condemns the entire landholding class, including, at first, de Céspedes, as aristocratic, antiabolitionist, and open to imperialism, Azúcar y abolición, pp. 9, 121, 205. José Luciano Franco insisted that the Spaniards were able to rule because of the complicity of the landholders, whose momentary economic benefits depended on a regime of human servitude, Antonio Maceo, apuntes, 2:7.

35. The exceptions to this condemnation include de Céspedes and Ignacio Agramonte.

36. Ramiro Guerra y Sánchez, Guerra de los Diez Años 1:31.

37. Leopoldo Griñan Peralta, Maceo, análisis caracterológico, see esp. pp. 304-09; Leopoldo Horrego Estuch, Maceo, héroe y carácter; José Luciano Franco, Maceo, apuntes.

38. “La protesta de Baraguá,” in Eco de caminos (La Habana, 1974), pp. 203, 205-6.

39. Race, as noted above, is subordinated to class in the analyses of recent writers.

40. Sergio Aguirre, “Frustración y reconquista del 24 de febrero,” Cuba Socialista, no. 6, Año 2 (February 1962), p. 3. Article reprinted in Eco de caminos, pp. 257-73.

41. Granma Weekly Review, 13 October, 1968, p. 2.

42. The exploration of Maceo's thought is the theme of José Antonio Portuondo's edition of Maceo's letters, El pensamiento vivo de Maceo, and a major element in Jorge Ibarra's Ideología Mambisa.

43. Raúl Aparicio, in Hombradía de Antonio Maceo, insisted that a man such as Maceo could not easily have emerged from any other family or any other socioeconomic background, p. 28.

44. This interpretation appears in Historia de Cuba, 2nd ed. (Dirección Política de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, 1968), pp. 294-99; also in Jorge Ibarra, Ideología Mambisa, pp. 101, 115.

45. Ibid., p. 437, and Raúl Aparicio, Hombradía, pp. 337-38. According to Jorge Ibarra, the two issues were linked, since the upper-class leaders who sought peace with Spain at Zanjon were at the same time working for annexation to the United States. Popular opinion rejected both these alternatives, Ideología Mambisa, pp. 95-101.