| Cry of Yara | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Ten Years' War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Cuban rebels |  Spain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Gen. Carlos Manuel de Céspedes |  Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 140+ mambises | Unknown | ||||||
The Cry of Yara (Spanish : El Grito de Yara) was a declaration, battle cry, and uprising in eastern Cuba, initiating the Ten Years' War. [1]
The signaling of the Yara uprising occurred near Manzanillo in the eastern province of Oriente, at the sugar plantation and mill of La Demajagua. On October 10, 1868, the revolutionary proclamation of Cuba's independence known as the Cry of Yara (Spanish : El Grito de Yara) was issued by Cuban revolutionary and plantation owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. [2]
Following the tolling of the slave bell that morning, which signaled his slaves that work was about to begin, they assembled before him, ready for instructions. [3] Céspedes gave a passionate address, declared the independence of Cuba, and pledged to gradually end slavery. He first liberated his own slaves and invited them to fight alongside him against Spanish colonial forces, initiating the Ten Years' War in Cuba. [4]
The Cuban insurrectionists remained at Demajagua, leaving the next day at dawn on October 11, 1868, with intentions to attack and occupy the nearby town of Yara. [5] A total of 147 men armed themselves with 45 fowling pieces, 4 rifles, and several pistols and machetes. [6]
The Spanish garrison at Yara, situated between the cities of Manzanillo and Bayamo, fell to Céspedes in his first successful military encounter.
The news of the uprising at Yara inspired many to join the cause, leading to the eventual formation of the Cuban Liberation Army. [7]
Cuba Independence Day is observed every year on October 10th as a national holiday and the anniversary of the beginning of the first Cuban War of Independence. [8]
Grito de Lares, also referred to as the Lares revolt, the Lares rebellion, the Lares uprising, or the Lares revolution, was the first of two short-lived revolts against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico, staged by the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico on September 23, 1868. Having been planned, organized, and launched in the mountainous western municipality of Lares, the revolt is known as the Grito de Lares . Three decades after rebelling in Lares, the revolutionary committee carried out a second unsuccessful revolt in the neighboring southwestern municipality of Yauco, known as the Intentona de Yauco(The Attempted Coup of Yauco). The Grito de Lares flag is recognized as the first flag of Puerto Rico.
Mariana Bracetti Cuevas was a patriot and leader of the Puerto Rico independence movement. In 1868, she knitted the Grito de Lares flag that was intended to be used as the national emblem of Puerto Rico in its first of two attempts to overthrow Spanish rule, and to establish the island as a sovereign republic. As the flag of the Grito de Lares revolt, Bracetti's creation became known as the Bandera del Grito de Lares , most commonly known as the Bandera de Lares . Today, the flag is the official flag of the municipality of Lares, Puerto Rico.
The Ten Years' War, also known as the Great War and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. On 10 October 1868, sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed independence, beginning the conflict. This was the first of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Little War (1879–1880) and the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898). The final three months of the last conflict escalated with United States involvement, leading to the Spanish–American War.
Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales was a Cuban general and second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence.
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes del Castillo was a Cuban revolutionary hero and First President of Cuba in Arms in 1868. Cespedes, who was a plantation owner in Cuba, freed his slaves and made the declaration of Cuban independence in 1868 which started the Ten Years' War (1868–1878). This was the first of three wars of independence, the third of which, the Cuban War of Independence led to the end of Spanish rule in 1898 and Cuba's independence in 1902.
General Juan Rius Rivera, was the soldier and revolutionary leader from Puerto Rico to have reached the highest military rank in the Cuban Liberation Army and to hold Cuban ministerial offices after independence. In his later year, he also became a successful businessperson in Honduras.
A Slave Bell is a bell that was rung to regulate the day on slave plantations and in slave societies. They were featured in slave plantations throughout the Americas and notably in the slavery systems in Cape Colony, present-day South Africa. The structures they were housed in, most often tall pillars and towers, became landmarks on the plantation and could be used to surveillance the enslaved workers. In some cases, these structures have become a symbolic feature of the architectural style of that region and the architecture of plantation slavery. In South Africa, the pillars of the slave bell is a distinctive feature of the Cape Dutch architectural style.
Yara is a small town and municipality in the Granma Province of Cuba, located halfway between the cities of Bayamo and Manzanillo, in the Gulf of Guacanayabo. Yara means "place" in the Taíno language.
The chronology of the colonial time of Cuba is about the Spanish colonial period in Cuba, and the efforts to obtain independence from the Spanish Empire and includes history from the "discovery" of the island by Christopher Columbus to the Spanish–American War.
La Demajagua is the official Cuban newspaper of the provincial committee of the Cuban Communist Party in Granma Province. It is published in Spanish and English. It was named after the homonym sugar mill, near Manzanillo, in which Carlos Manuel de Céspedes issued his cry of independence, the "10th of October Manifesto", in 1868.
Francisco Vicente Aguilera was a Cuban patriot born in Bayamo, Cuba on June 23, 1821. He had ten children with his wife Ana Manuela Maria Dolores Sebastiana Kindelan y Sanchez. He studied at the University of Havana receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws.
The Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico was founded on January 8, 1867 by pro-independence Puerto Rican exiles such as Segundo Ruiz Belvis, Ramón Emeterio Betances, Juan Ríus Rivera, and José Francisco Basora living at the time in New York City and re-established in 1892 as an affiliate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party under the name Club Borinquen and in 1895 as a segment of said Cuban party under the name Sección de Puerto Rico del Partido Revolucionario Cubano. The goal of the committee was to create a united effort by Cubans and Puerto Ricans to win independence from Spain in the second half of the 19th century.
The Intentona de Yauco of March 24–26, 1897 was the second and final short-lived revolt against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico. It was staged by the pro-independence Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Rico in the southwestern municipality of Yauco, 29 years after the first unsuccessful revolt, known as the Grito de Lares(Cry of Lares). During the Intentona de Yauco, the current flag of Puerto Rico was flown on the island for the first time.
Karol Rolow-Miałowski or Carlos Roloff Mialofsky, better known simply as Carlos Roloff, was a Polish-born Cuban general and liberation activist, who fought against Spain in the Ten Years' War and the Cuban War of Independence in the Las Villas Province.
Bartolomé de Jesús Masó Márquez was a Cuban politician and military, patriot for Cuban independence from the colonial power of Spain, and later President of the República en Armas.
La Demajagua is a Cuban village and consejo popular of the special municipality and province of Isla de la Juventud. It is the third most populated place of the island.
The flag of Puerto Rico, officially known as the flag of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, represents Puerto Rico and its people. It consists of five equal horizontal stripes, alternating from red to white, with a blue equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bearing a large, sharp, upright, five-pointed white star in the center. The white star stands for the island, the three sides of the triangle for the three branches of the government, the blue for the sky and coastal waters, the red for the blood shed by warriors, and the white for liberty, victory, and peace. The flag is popularly known as the Monoestrellada (Monostarred), meaning having one star, a single star, or a lone star. It is in the Stars and Stripes flag family.
The Grito de Lares flag, most commonly known as the Lares flag, represents the Grito de Lares(Cry of Lares) revolt of 1868, the first of two short-lived rebellions against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico. It consists of a large white Greek cross in the center that extends to all four sides of the flag, dividing it into four equal rectangles, two blue above, the left of which bears a large, sharp, upright, centered, five-pointed white star, and two red below. The white star stands for liberty and freedom, the red rectangles for the blood poured by the heroes of the revolt, and the white cross for the yearning of homeland redemption. Established in Lares 27 years before revolutionaries adopted the current flag of Puerto Rico in New York City, the flag of the revolt is recognized as the first flag of the island.
Salvador Cisneros y Betancourt was a Cuban revolutionary and statesman, who was the only Cuban to become the president of the Republic of Cuba twice.
Augusto Arango was a Cuban revolutionary and mambí General who was assassinated by Spanish authorities in Cuba during the Ten Years' War.