Agramonte y Loynaz, Ignacio (1841–1873)

Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz (b. 23 December 1841; d. 11 May 1873), Cuban general. Agramonte is known to Cubans as a man of irreproachable behavior in both his public and his private lives. His gallantry as a cavalry commander is legendary. Few Cuban military feats against Spanish forces are better known than the daring rescue of his friend, Colonel Julio Sanguily, from the Spanish column that had captured him.

Agramonte, born in Camagüey, in central Cuba, was a distinguished lawyer and cattle farmer who became one of the insurgent leaders in his region when the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) broke out. He espoused the radical liberal ideas that were supported by many Camagüeyans but were in opposition to the conservative views of the head of the revolt, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. When the vicissitudes of war forced Céspedes to come to terms with the Camagüeyans, they hastily drafted a constitution for the insurgent provisional government. Agramonte was one of the two authors of this constitution, which was a solemn manifestation of Camagüeyan liberalism.

Agramonte's relationship with Céspedes, who had been proclaimed president of free Cuba, continued to be marred by serious conflicts, some of them of a personal nature. But the two men succeeded in burying their differences, and Céspedes finally put Agramonte in command of the insurgent forces in Camagüey, where he developed into an exceptional military leader, quickly becoming the soul of the rebellion. After Agramonte was killed by a stray bullet while deploying his troops, his body fell into the hands of the Spaniards, who took it to the city of Camagüey, where they put it on display. Later the body was cremated, and Agramonte's ashes were scattered to the wind.

See alsoCéspedes, Carlos Manuel de (the Elder); Cuba, Political Movements, Nineteenth Century; Ten Years' War.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

There are no English sources available on Agramonte. See Carlos Márquez Sterling, Ignacio Agramonte, el Bayardo de la revolución cubana (1936); and Juan J. E. Casasús, Vida militar de Agramonte (1981).

Additional Bibliography

Sterling, Carlos Márquez. Ignacio Agramonte, el bayardo de la revolución. Miami: Editorial Cubana, 1995. A new edition of Sterling's 1936 work.

                                  JosÉ M. HernÁndez