LT. GENERAL ANTONIO MACEO GRAJALES - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED - HFSID 218079

ANTONIO MACEO
The Cuban General Antonio Maceo gives permission to Commander Diego Palacios to make effective some sponsorships.
Manuscript Letter Signed: "A. Maceo" in iron gall ink. 8¾x5½. Fully Translated in English: "General Barrack in campaign. On this date this general barrack authorizes the citizen Commander Diego Palacios to, once having reunited the sponsors whose name appear in the attached list, receive the quantities that also appear on the list or the necessary document to make them effective and he would have to give the correspondent receive to each one of the interested ones. Also, the citizen Commander Diego Palacios will transmit me the observations that the sponsors might present regarding this situation. God, Fatherland and Liberty. July 16, 1895." Lieutenant general Antonio Maceo (1845-1896) was second-in-command of Cuba's Army of Independence, and as so one of the most noteworthy guerrilla leaders of nineteenth-century in Latin America. The son of a Venezuelan mulatto and an Afro-Cuban woman, Maceo began his fight for Cuban liberation by enlisting in the army in 1868 at the beginning of the Ten Years War; within five years he had been promoted to the rank of general due to his bravery and strategic prowess. Although most believed that Cuba could not defeat Spain, Maceo refused to surrender without independence and the abolition of slavery, ultimately being forced to leave Cuba. He returned when the war with Spain began again, and is best remembered for his invasion into Western Cuba when his troops (Afro-Cuban soldiers on horseback) covered more than 1,000 miles in 92 days and fought the enemy in 27 separate encounters. On December 7, 1896 Maceo was captured and killed as he attempted to aid Maximo Gomez' forces, and his death prompted yet another congressional resolution for belligerent rights for Cuba. Sealed. Pencil notes on recto and verso. Pen note on recto. Pin size hole at mid portion affects 1 word (legible). Toned. Moldy right margin. Glued strip of paper on the back. Otherwise, fine condition.