MAJOR GENERAL CALIXTO GARCIA IÑIGUEZ - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 01/13/1896 - HFSID 218057

CALIXTO GARCIA INIGUEZ
The Cuban General writes a letter to a friend showing bitterness for the news in the letter received by him and telling him that he had to desist from a plan regarding armament and notifies him of the weakening of the Spanish Forces
Autograph Letter Signed: "Calixto G. Iniguez" in iron gall ink. 10½x8¼. Fully Translated in English: "New York, January 13, 1896. My dear Fernandito: Tomas has just read your letter to me, and it has soured me. I answered you regarding the expeditions. Of course I have had to desist from our plan of picking up the arms from West Tampe, Cabo Rey and Cabo Sable and use them in a schooner, so, you can now send all of them to Larraga, with exception of the ones from Cabo Sable, because they are already be taken in Rey West. That way, you won't have to spend much in bursts, because here they do not want to use much of it. Above all, they asked me to tell you not to buy arms there. My businesses are delaying and perhaps I won't be able to bring all the people I thought I could, and this would cause extra costs as well. Anyway, I wrote you extensively the other day about Larraga and today I carefulness tell you that all the Spanish forces are weak. Don't wait for the departure of Callaga to send Larraga away. My affection to all your family, your friend. Calixto G Yniguez." Calixto Garcia Iniguez was a Major General who participated in the three Cuban insurrections, part of the Cuban War for Independence better known as Ten Year's War, the Little War and the War of 1895, sometimes referred as "Cuban War for Independence", which led to the Spanish-American War, that resulted in the national independence of Cuba. His parents were Cuban Criollo descendants and his maternal surname Iniguez, indicates that he was related to Inigo Arista, a king whose forces are considered and referred to as demons in the Song of Roland. His grandfather was Calixto Garcia de Luna e Izquierdo, who fought in the Battle of Carabobo in 1821 during the Venezuelan War of Independence, and his grandmother was Maria de los Angeles Gonzalez, claimed to be the daughter of a Cacique Chief from Valencia, Venezuela. His grandfather decided to drop the aristocratic "de Luna" after taking refuge in Cuba and was made prisoner on March 18, 1837 for demanding emancipation of slaves, constitutional freedom for all, and apparently trying to hang a priest who opposed him. When Garcia Iniguez was around the age of 18, taking after his grandfather, joined the Cuban rebellion that became the Ten Year's War. He fought against the colonial Spanish Empire for five years until his capture. It is well known that being far away from his troops and protected only by twenty of his men who soon were laying down dead around him, Calixto trying to avoid giving the Spaniards the satisfaction of his capture, shot himself under the chin with a .45 caliber pistol. Even though the bullet came out from his forehead and knocked him unconscious, he did not die, but the wound left a big scar and gave him headaches for the rest of his life. It is a common anecdote that when Spanish officials told Calixto Garcia's famous mother, Lucia Iniguez, that her son had been captured, she said that it could not be her son, but when they explained her that Calixto triend to commit suicide she exclaimed: "So it is my son, first dead than captured!" He remained in jail until the Pact of Zanjon and the end of the Ten Year's War in 1878. Calixto traveled to Paris and New York between imprisonments and in keeping of his seek, joined the Little War from 1879 to 1880 and the War of 1895 alongside Maceo, and in 1896 Calixto succeeded him as the second in command in the Cuban Army. Calixto Garcia had a long string of victories in the Ten Year's War including the taking of Tunas and Guisa, and the emotionally significant re-occupation of Bayamo. Garcia also made liberal use of spies to prepare his attack, including Dominador de la Guardia father of Angel de la Guardia and Maria Machado, illegitimate daughter of the Spanish General Emilio March, who helped in the preparations for the taking of Tunas. At the time of the U.S. landings, Garcia, doing a master use of the artillery, controlled the interior of old Oriente Province and prepared the landing places for the U.S. Army near Santiago. The troops of Calixto Garcia successfully supported the Marine forces at Guantanamo who, once out of range of the guns of the USS Marblehead, had difficulty dealing with Spanish guerrilla tactics. Calixto was also the General who had to deal with the American troops and joined them in military actions, only to be denied entrance into Santiago de Cuba when the Spanish surrendered. Some of Garcia Iniguez's sons joined him in the combats, being the most notable ones Carlos Garcia Velez and Calixto Enamorado. Garcia Iniguez died of pneumonia on December 11, 1898 in Washington, D.C. and was temporarily buried in Arlington National Cemetery in the U.S. but was later transported in the heavily armed seagoing war ship USS Nashville to Cuba where he at the request of his mother had a Cuban funeral. Delicate. Stained and toned. Edges lightly frayed. Pin-head holes. Pencil notations on verso (unknown hand). 1½-inch separation at right horizontal fold. Otherwise, fine condition.
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