Gabriela de la Como Caridad Azcuy Labrador

Captain of the Liberating Army in the struggles for Cuba's independence.

She was born on the farm "Ojo de Agua", belonging to the town of San Cayetano, in the Municipality of Viñales, in the province of Pinar del Río, on March 18, 1861.

From a family of modest economic means, her parents were: Francisco Azcuy Martínez and María del Carmen Labrador Piloto. The picturesque mountains of San Cayetano and San Vicente formed the natural setting where her childhood unfolded.

Adela Azcuy received an education in the style of the era and of the circumstances her homeland was experiencing; but an tireless reader, she increased her store of knowledge despite living in a narrow environment not conducive to the intellectual development of women.

Beautiful, well-proportioned, of tall stature, fair skin and large brown eyes, she drew attention among her neighbors, possessing an irresistible personal charm, which combined with her facility of expression, were more than sufficient reasons to gather around her a legion of people who spent pleasant and entertaining moments with her in different places, especially at the festivities held at "El Central" and at the "Liceo" of Viñales.

The poetic muse visited her several times and on melancholy afternoons she wrote sonnets and décimas dedicated to her native province and which, according to Francisco Robainas Arquimbau, demonstrate "the faith, passion, and dreams of a woman's soul in love with her land and yearning for her Liberty".

She married in her first marriage the Licensed Pharmacist Jorge Monzón Cosculluela, a young man from Camagüey belonging to a distinguished family with ancient Creole lineage.

The Azcuy-Monzón marriage lived a period of uninterrupted happiness until the year 1886. United in their aspirations for redemption, they formed a couple beloved and esteemed in the Pinar del Río region, being great collaborators in the conspiracy efforts undertaken by Isabel Rubio, Gargallo, Rivera, Rius and others. But terrible smallpox caused the death of her beloved husband, destroying the framework of happiness that surrounded them. With her husband Dr. Monzón dead, Adela's tender soul sought refuge in Castor del Moral, a Spaniard employed at the pharmacy of her deceased husband, and she married him on January 17, 1891.

Two dissimilar characters soon understood their little affinity. He stubborn and desirous of maintaining Spain's power, she defiant and energetic, increasingly committed to Cuba's freedom, whose iron chains she wanted to help break. As a natural consequence came the break. Del Moral went on to serve the Metropolis. Adela Azcuy ventured into the redemptive wilderness.

On February 14, 1896, exactly one month after the military campaign began in the region, Adela joined the guerrilla of Miguel Lórez, which operated in the Gramales zone under the command of Brigadier Antonio Varona.

On March 7, Adela Azcuy obtained the rank of second lieutenant. She was subsequently incorporated into the troops of Colonel Miguel Benegas.

Notably, this colonel, upon incorporating the valiant Adela Azcuy into his forces, expressed openly: "the valor of this woman is false and vain".

Of course, such opinions were proven wrong when in her first combat with Spanish forces, Adela demonstrated her mettle. This Colonel Benegas had formed two groups: one of combatants and another with the so-called impedimenta, where he tried to place the Pinar del Río woman, who firmly protested to him, saying: "I came to war to fight, and if I have to die, I want to die as the brave do, fighting!".

Benegas had to relent, and Adela, alongside her brothers in arms, gave more than one proof of audacity, courage and combativeness.

There is, among many others, an anecdote about Adela Azcuy. It is said that on a certain occasion, faced with enemy fire, Colonel Benegas—still not fully convinced of the quality of this exceptional woman—ordered her to defend some machete-cleared areas with several mambises, places toward which Spanish attackers were heading. The captain, on horseback with revolver in hand, defended that location with such ferocity that the Spanish could not take it.

After this experience, Colonel Manuel Benegas confessed: "I could never have imagined a woman so valiant; from that moment on I have felt admiration for her".

She earned the insignia of captain of the liberating army four months after fighting against the Spanish.

Among her many combats, there is one, that of Loma Blanca, where alongside Maceo she gave new proofs of boldness and valor. This combat lasted 12 hours, with Adela distinguishing herself as both combatant and nurse. Her humanitarian feelings did not conflict with her presence as a soldier. She is remembered as the savior of bugler Cascabel, whom through five months of maternal care she snatched from death.

General Lorente—who was with her—affirms that she never separated herself from the wounded. Lorente recounts that many times, in the heat of combat, she dismounted her horse to attend to a wounded man, fulfilling her healing mission amid the greatest dangers.

The captain gave proof of her valor at every step. It is remembered that on a certain occasion, an enemy attack by the guerrillas of Sumidero against the forces of Colonel Ramón Pozo left Adela isolated in the company of two insurgents, who were killed. Nevertheless, Adela remained steadfast and made her way to the main body of the insurgents.

She loved her country above all things and so deep was her sensitivity as a woman that, to exalt this quality, there is an episode recounted from 1897. That year, Captain Francisco Portales found himself with his wife and five children, four boys and a girl only four months old. By the assault of an enemy force he was taken prisoner along with the insurgents who accompanied him. The Spanish executed Captain Portales, his two accompanying insurgents and two of his children, his wife escaping with the tender girl. The column where Adela Azcuy was marching encountered them, and the heroine from Pinar del Río took charge of the tender girl and became a mother to her until she could deliver her to her real mother.

Thus she demonstrated it in the 49 combats in which she participated, standing out among them: Loma del Toro (April 1, 1896), Cacarajícara (April 30 and May 1, 1896), Montezuelo (September 24 and 25, 1896) and Tumbas de Estorino (September 26, 1896), all under the command of Major General Antonio Maceo, in the province of Pinar del Río.

She excelled in the action at Loma Blanca on October 4, 1896, as part of the combat of Ceja del Negro. On March 7, 1896, she received the rank of Sub Lieutenant, and on June 12, 1896, Brigadier General Pedro Díaz, chief of the First Division of the Sixth Corps, promoted her to Captain, a rank ratified by Maceo on December 1, 1896.

She dressed as an Amazon, armed with machete and revolver, and topped with a broad mambí hat bearing the tricolor cockade; but always accompanied by her medical kit.

She was part of the Patriotic Board of Havana, founded on October 10, 1907 to oppose the annexationist current that during the second North American military intervention sought to make Cuba a protectorate of the U.S.

During the Republic she did not hold public office until January 21, 1911, the year in which she took charge of the secretariat of the Board of Education of Viñales, Pinar del Río.

In 1913, while ill, she moved to the city of Havana, where she died on January 14, 1914.