Bernabé Boza Sánchez

Cuban patriot of '68 and '95. Brigadier General of the Liberating Army. Chief of the escort of Major General Máximo Gómez. Held political positions at the end of the war of '95.

This General of the Liberating Army was born in Puerto Príncipe, province of Camagüey, Cuba.

Son of wealthy parents, but with independence ideas. From childhood he cultivated his father's ideas and because of this, at the age of ten, when the war for Cuba's independence broke out at La Demajagua on October 10, 1868, his mother sent him abroad knowing of his rebellious ideas.

Nephew of Manuel Boza Agramonte and Jerónimo Boza Agramonte. He joined the War of '68 while very young. He returned to Cuba six years later, in the year 1874, and immediately departed to join the ranks of the mambises and by February 1878, he held the rank of first sergeant. He was subordinate to colonels Rafael Rodríguez, Luis Morejón, and Fidel Céspedes.

In Camagüey he participated in the combats of Unión de Llanes, Puente de Cascorro, La Gertrudis, El Piñalito, El Socorro, Cascorro, El Zanjón, and Izaguirre; and in Las Villas, in those of Manajanabo, Hoyo de Manicaragua, Baraguá, Loma Mala, El Ocujal, Potrerillo, Loma del Jíbaro (Cafetal de González), Cruces, Loma de San Joaquín, La Caoba, Aguada de Moya, Las Mochitas, El Purial, Los Abreu, El Santo, Cavarroca, Julio Rojas sugar mill, La Constancia, San Pedro, Paso Real, El Manguito, San Antonio, Peralejo, El Oriente, Carril de Cachaza, Las Tunas de Guaimarillo, San Severino, Antón, La Crimea, El Pavón, Colmenar de Pérez, La Ranzúa; in the attack on Santa Clara and the assault on the Sagua train. He ended the war with the rank of first sergeant in the squadron of the Agramonte cavalry regiment.

He remained in the following years attentive to a new uprising and in 1895 he rose again in arms together with General Máximo Gómez Báez, who placed him at the head of his escort and later made him a member of his General Staff.

In the war of '95, he joined the third squadron of the Agramonte cavalry regiment (first brigade, second division, third corps) on June 22 of that year with the rank of Second Lieutenant. Eight days later, after having fought in San Jerónimo, Ciego de Molina, and Las Piedras, Major General Máximo Gómez appointed him chief of his escort. The combat of Jimagüayú followed.

In the preparatory stage of the invasion he participated in the actions of "Fuerte Pelayo," "Río Grande," "El Mulato," "Sabana de Piedra," "Las Guásimas," "La Reforma," "Hato de García," and "Boca del Toro."

During the invasion he fought in Iguará, Monacal, El Quirro, Siguanea, Mal Tiempo, La Colmena, El Desquite, Antilla, Coliseo, Calimete, El Estante, Melena del Sur, Guara, Güira de Melena, and El Gabrie, among others.

In the Shuttle campaign he was in the actions of Ceiba del Agua and Mi Rosa, among others, in the province of La Habana. Before marching toward the east, together with Gómez, he fought in Moralitos, San Pablo, and Algarrobo. Upon returning to Camagüey, he participated in the siege of Cascorro and in the combats of El Desmayo, Lugones, La Mariana, and La Conchita. He began the year 1897 with the combat of "Santa Teresa."

In the campaign of "La Reforma," in Sancti Spíritus (January 27, 1897 to January 26, 1898) he fought in Arroyo Blanco, Juan Criollo, Trilladerita, second combat of Santa Teresa, Marroquí, Fuerte Pelayo, El Laurel, Las Delicias, Cienaguita, Majagua, and Los Hoyos. Since May 4, 1897 he had been appointed chief of the general-in-chief's general staff.

In June 1898 Gómez sent him to the United States with the mission of communicating to the American command the campaign plan he had conceived for the Cuban and American armies. With that objective he departed on the 21st of that month toward Key West. Having completed the mission, he brought to Cuba a valuable shipment of food and medicines, as well as 26 expeditionaries, who on July 14, 1898 disembarked in the schooners Ellen M. Adams and Dellie, at "Punta Alegre," municipality of Morón, in the province of Camagüey. Although since July 3, 1898 he had been relieved of the position of chief of the general staff, he ended the war at that same headquarters of the Liberating Army.

He distinguished himself in several combats throughout the War of '95, concluding it with the rank of general.

After the first intervention of the United States on the Island, he was mayor of Santa María del Rosario, La Habana, and later became part of the Chamber of Representatives following the establishment of the Neocolonial Republic, paying great attention to social works.

He continued his struggle for independence and joined the independence fighters against the United States after the second American intervention in 1906.

When the Patriotic Board was constituted by Salvador Cisneros Betancourt, he joined it, always maintaining firm the principles for which he fought from an early age. He strongly criticized annexationism.

He died on March 16 of the year 1908 in the city of La Habana, leaving behind a life of intense struggle for Cuba's independence.