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Introduction
This data base represents a compilation of some meager records that
exist about prisoners and deportess during the Cuban War of Independence,
arranged in a manner that facilitates searching by their surnames.
The data base includes the names that appear in the lists at the back
of the book Prisioneros
y Deportados Cubanos 1895-1898 en la Guerra de Independencia [Cuban Prisoners
and Deportees 1895-1898 during the War of Independence],
by Pablo de la Concepción y Hernández,
Sargeant of the Fifth Corps of the Mambi Army and prisoner at the Castle
of Acho, written during 1898-1908 and published in April 1932 by the
Imprenta P. Fernandez, Habana. This book is a detailed first hand narrative
of the daily life and tribulations of the prisoners at Acho. The author
of the book has the following comment:
In addition to the prisoners and deportess that appear in
the three preceding lists, there were many others sacrificed in the
cause of Liberty, having been made prisoners or arrested by government
edict. Many were shot by firing squad without due process, by Heads
of columns during operations or in military fortresses after falling
prisoners.
Many were the number of individuals shot before a firing squad
in all the towns and military prisons, by sentence of the Summary
War Councils.
In the Isle of Pines and jails in Spain, hundreds of patriots
sufferd the bitterness of deportation, without being subject to firm
sentences, and many of them died in the place to where they were
deported.
In the jails of Cuba, many remained arrested by government
decree, until they were pardoned, like the deportess to Ceuta, Chafarinas
and the Isle de Pines, when Capitán
General Don Ramón Blanco took charge of the Government of Cuba.
Compiling the names of all the individuals that were shot,
deported and detained by reson of the war is an extremely ardous
task, that the author of this narratives believes is more properly
left to the historian who, in his day, will have the resources that
the Republic will place in his hands.
The list of names of cuban prisoners which appear
in the appendix to the aforementioned book was previously posted on the
web by hildabp. This list can be reached through the following
link:
The data base also includes the valuable contribution of Margarita
Garcia-Estévez, PhD, who has kindly made available to
us a list of
271 cubans who were deported to Spain and were prisoners in Cataluña
during the War of Independence. Margarita has provided us with the
following explanatory note:
Enclosed is a file with the names of 271 cubans
who were deported to Spain and remained prisoners at the castle of
Sant Ferrán de Figueras,
province of Gerona, in Cataluña. I was able to obtain these
names and other data in a manuscript (without a visible author),
written probably in 2001, which is in the Municipal Archive at Figueras,
which I visited recently.
In the manuscript, they refer to these cubans as "ñáñigos" (persons
native of Africa), and, when I asked a local historian, in surprise,
if the Spaniards had made a round-up of ñáñigos
in Cuba to deport them, he told me that these prisoners
were probably in reality not real ñáñigos,
but mostly black or mulato cuban combatants, and they simply called ñáñigos
all cubans.
The facts are that on 30 November 1896 the work
of preparation of one part of the food storage area of the castle
to hold these prisoners was completed and they soon started arriving.
On 1 Jaunary 1898 a census was taken where the enclosed names appear.
It also states that the ages of the prisoners ranged between 17
and 89 years, and that many had died due to the change in climate
(Figueras can be very cold).
Because of the paucity of existing records, we invite
our readers to contribute any other names that they know, through
family or other records, of individuals who were prisoners or deportees
during the Cuban War of Independence that so we can preserve their memory
by adding them to the data base. Please be sure to supply all relevant
information.
Cubans Deported to Ceuta
A series of articles about Cubans deported to Ceuta have been published weekly by Francisco Sanchez Montoya. Here, with his permission, is a link to his articles:
Census of Deaths in Ceuta
Emilio Barranco, resident of Ceuta,
has made a notable compilation of the records of Cubans who died while they were interned in the penal colony of Ceuta during the Cuban wars of liberation. He has made this detailed census available, acompanied by more than 300 photographs of the original inscriptions of these deaths in the records of the church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios in Ceuta.
Search Form
To view the data base of prisoners please first
read the instructions below and then go to the Search Form by clicking
on the following button:
Notes
1. Abbreviations used in the data base:
Prisons
Prison |
Description |
| Acho (Ceuta) |
Castle of Acho in Ceuta, a Spanish possession in North Africa,
near Morocco. |
| Chafarinas |
Chafarinas Islands (a small archipielago near the coast of Morocco) |
| Cadiz |
City in the South coast of Spain |
| Madrid |
Capital of Spain |
| Figueras |
Castle of Sant Ferrán de Figueras, province of Gerona,
in Cataluña, Spain |
Types of Prisoners
Legend |
Description |
| PG |
Prisoner of War (Prisionero de Guerra) |
| D |
Political Deportee ( Deportado Político) |
Sources
Legend |
Description |
| PCH |
Pablo de la Concepción Hernández |
| MGE |
Margarita Garcia-Estévez |
2. The author of the book says the following, regarding the list of
prisoners in Acho:
There are 7 names missing corresponding to this province
(Santa Clara) and 4 from Camaguey province, due to the regrettable
loss of a fragment of the list.
3. We have tried to incorporate the list of deaths at the hospital in
Ceuta to the list of prisoners in Acho. Some names in the death list,
however, do not appear in the list of prisoners in Acho (they could be
some of the missing names mentioned in the previous note). These names
have been added to the data base wihtout a reference number. In a few
instances, there are two individuals in the list of prisoneers with the
same name as a deceased prisoner. In these cases we have put the death
date on both individuals with a question mark (?) and have added an expanatory
note.
4. In the list of prisoners in Acho, 4 individuals, native of Matanzas,
are listed only by their first names, without surname.
5. Note that there are several famous names in the history of Cuba that
appear on the list, such as Juan Gualberto
Gomez and Emilio Bacardi.
Instructions for using the search form:
To facilitate printing of the results we have
separated the search form from the instructions. Please read the following
instructions before you attempt to use the form. You can then proceed
to the Search Form.
NOTE: To see the data base, it is necessary
that you activate JAVA in your browser
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Wait until names appear on the grid - this can take a few seconds.
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The names will appear in alphabetical order of "1st
Surname".
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All accents have been removed to facilitate searching.
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Use the scroll bar on the right to scroll up or down through the list.
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Click the "Page Up" or "Page
Down" buttons to see the previous or
next page of the list.
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Click any of the buttons at the head of each column to sort the
information by the contents of that column. Clicking again will reverse
the order of the sort.
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To search for a particular surname:
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Write the first letters or complete last name in the
box above the column titled "1st Surname" or "2nd Surname" (to search by maternal
surname). You can use the standard wildcards "?" (meaning
any letter) and "*" (meaning
any sequence of letters). Put the initial letter in caps. Do
not use accents, but do use the letter "ñ" if applicable.
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Click on the "Search" button. (the box at the
extreme upper left of the grid). The box directly under this
button will tell you the number of entries found by your search
criteria.
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You can also search for the maternal surname in the column "2nd Surname". You can also search the contents of any of the other columns.
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Click the "Clear Form" button to clear the
grid in preparation for a new search (this does not erase the
database, only clears the form).
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Click the "List All" button to see all the entries in the file.
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When you find the name you are looking for, click the button marked "Details" at the extreme left of the line where
the name appears. This will take you to a page showing alll the details
on that individual present in the data base. See the Notes section
above for the meaning of the abbreviations used in the data base. To
return to the original page, click the button marked "Search".
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If you want to print the data, we recommend you use the "landscape"
mode.
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