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Pedro de Céspedes was a Cuban revolutionary and landowner who was executed in the Virginius Affair during the Ten Years' War.

Early life

Pedro de Céspedes y del Castillo was born in Bayamo, Oriente Province, Spanish Cuba on January 31, 1825. He was a member of a prominent Cuban family and the younger brother of the first President of the Republic of Cuba in Arms Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. Pedro de Céspedes was educated in the Bayamo region in Eastern Cuba.

In the 1860s, he became a member of the Masonic Order of Buena Fe of Manzanillo.

Ten Years' War

He backed the revolutionary cause led by his brother to achieve Cuban independence from Spanish colonial rule. His brother Carlos coordinated meetings with various groups to plan an insurrection against the Spanish government. Amid the earlier-than-expected start of the Ten Years' War, Pedro de Céspedes signed 'El Acta de Independencia' in Oriente on October 10, 1868, with 15 other signatories, including his brother and Bartolomé Masó. In April 1869, Pedro's brother was elected as the first President of the Republic of Cuba in Arms in Guáimaro.

In 1872, Céspedes left the Island of Cuba with his family in a canoe, relocating to Kingston, Jamaica.

By late October 1873, his older sibling Carlos Manuel was deposed as president in Cuba.

The Virginius Expedition

On what would be his last journey to his homeland, Pedro de Céspedes was involved in the Virginius Affair. Meeting the ill-fated steamer at the port of Kingston, he boarded as a non-combatant to head back to Cuba. On October 31, 1873, the Virginius was intercepted near Jamaica by the Spanish cruiser Tornado who was alerted of the American blockade runner. The list of captives included Céspedes, Bernabé Varona, Jesús del Sol, William A.C. Ryan, and Joseph Fry, the steamer's captain. On November 2, 1873, a court-martial aboard the Tornado led to the trial and conviction of the men for piracy.

Death

On November 4, 1873, in Santiago de Cuba, Pedro de Céspedes and three others faced execution by firing squad, ordered by Juan Nepomuceno Burriel. While kneeling alongside Jesús del Sol, he was shot in the back. His final resting place was the city of Santiago de Cuba's Santa Ifigenia Cemetery.

References

1. House Documents, Otherwise Publ. as Executive Documents: 13th Congress, 2d Session-49th Congress, 1st Session. (1874). United States: (n.p.).
2. "Revista | Cuban Genealogical Society" (PDF). cubagenweb.org. Retrieved 2024-07-27.
3. Washington Republican. (November 21, 1873). Yuba Dam.; The Virginius. 1873.. Newspapers.com. Retrieved July 28, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/washington-republican-yuba-dam-the-vir/149247486/
4. House Documents, Otherwise Publ. as Executive Documents: 13th Congress, 2d Session-49th Congress, 1st Session. (1874). United States: (n.p.).
5. "Colonel Jose Jesus Del Sol - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
6. "The Canadian Mambí". cubaplusmagazine.com. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
7. ""Life of Capt. Joseph Fry, the Cuban martyr. By Jeanie Mort Walker." In the digital collection The United States and its Territories, 1870 - 1925: The Age of Imperialism. - University of Michigan Library Digital Collections". name.umdl.umich.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
8. "The History of Cuba, vol. 3, Chapter XV". clyx.com. Retrieved 2024-06-14.
9. "The Trial of the Crew of the Virginius; 1873 - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
10. "Capt. Fry.; 1873 - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-06-15.

• 1825 births
• 1873 deaths
• People from Bayamo
• Cuban independence activists
• People of the Ten Years' War
• People executed by firing squad
• People executed by Spain by firing squad