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Antonio Maceo GrajalesGeneral Antonio Maceo Grajales (1848—1896) was second-in-command of the Cuban army of independence. Known as "the Titan of Bronze", Maceo was one of the outstanding guerrilla leaders in nineteenth century Latin America, easily comparable to Jos Antonio Pez of Venezuela. The son of a Venezuelan mulatto and an Afro-Cuban woman, Maceo began his fight for Cuban liberation by enlisting as a private in the army in 1868 when the Ten Years War began. Five years later, he was promoted to the rank of general because of his bravery and his demonstrated ability to outmaneuver the Spanish army. In 1878, when most of the Cubans generals believed that their armies could not defeat the Spaniards, Maceo refused to surrender without winning Cuban independence and the abolition of slavery. Ultimately he was forced to leave Cuba. He returned to Cuba when war with Spain began again. His most famous campaign in the Cuban War of Independence was his invasion of western Cuba when his troops, mostly Afro-Cubans on horseback, covered more than 1,000 miles in 92 days and fought the enemy in 27 separate encounters. Spanish general Valeriano Weyler pursued him vigorously if only to curtail Maceo's destruction of the Cuban sugar industry. On December 7, 1896 Maceo was killed as he attempted to rejoin Maximo Gomez's forces. His death prompted yet another congressional resolution for belligerent rights for Cuba.
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