José María Rodríguez Rodríguez

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Major General of the Cuban Libertador Army. Fighter in the Ten Years' War and the War of '95; and one of the organizers of the Little War where he was unable to participate after being detained and sent to Spain. José Martí, who held him in high esteem, called him The most virtuous of the companions.

He was born in Santiago de Cuba, Oriente. He rose up in that city at the end of 1868, joining the General Staff of Major General Donato Mármol, of whom he was aide and later chief of aides.

Upon Mármol's death on June 26, 1870, he subordinated himself to then Lieutenant Colonel Policarpo Pineda Rustán, within the Cuba Division itself. He fought at Hato del Medio and Cayo Rey. During the Guantánamo Campaign he distinguished himself in the Combat of Cafetal La Indiana on August 12, 1871.

He was promoted to Commander and appointed chief of the First Platoon of the Santiago Cavalry Regiment, a unit with which he moved to Camagüey. In the Combat of Naranjo – Mojacasabe on February 10, 1874, he was wounded in a knee, becoming disabled. Despite his condition, he participated in the Battle of Las Guásimas in March 1874. In August of that same year he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

As chief of the Santiago Cavalry Regiment, he carried out the action of Sabanas de Bío, where he forced a Spanish column to disperse and interrupt the pursuit of Major General Antonio Maceo, who had been seriously wounded at Mangos de Mejías on August 6, 1877. In February 1878 he distinguished himself in the Combat of the San Ulpiano road, alongside the chief of the Division Antonio Maceo. He participated in the Protest of Baraguá and ended the war with the rank of Colonel.

He was among the organizers of the Little War, but was unable to participate, as he was detained in March 1879 and sent as a prisoner to Mahon Castle, in Spain, where he remained imprisoned for three years.

Upon being freed, he settled in the Dominican Republic where he strengthened ties with other Cuban emigrants. In representation of Commander in Chief Máximo Gómez, he signed the order for the uprising to begin the War of '95 together with José Martí and Enrique Collazo on January 29, 1895.

According to the Fernandina Plan, one of the three ships acquired by the Cuban Revolutionary Party was to pick him up in Santo Domingo, along with Commander in Chief Máximo Gómez, Francisco Borrero, and Ángel Guerra, but the failure of this plan forced them to alter their plans, and while the three mentioned high-ranking officers sought a way to join the '95 war, Mayía received the assignment to prepare another expedition.

On June 26, he departed from Santo Domingo toward Cuba at the head of an expedition on the steamship "Geo W. Childs", which was in terrible condition. The bad weather and the ship's breakdowns forced him to head to Pine Key, Florida, where they joined the expeditionaries from the steamship "James Woodall" (renamed "José Martí"), under the command of Major General Carlos Roloff. They disembarked at Tayabacoa, between Trinidad and Sancti Spíritus, on July 24, 1895. This expedition was valued by Commander in Chief Máximo Gómez, along with the Combat of Peralejo, as the two most important events of the war until the beginning of the Invasion.

After remaining in Las Villas until the end of September, he marched to Camagüey where Commander in Chief Máximo Gómez appointed him chief of his General Staff with the rank of brigadier. On October 10, 1895, he was handed over command of the Third Corps, of Camagüey. At the head of two cavalry regiments, he provided cover for the invading column under the command of Antonio Maceo as it crossed the province of Camagüey.

In April 1896 the government appointed him Chief of the Oriental Department, but he did not take office because Major General José Maceo refused to hand over command without an order from the Commander in Chief. Understanding Mayía the correct attitude of José Maceo and the impropriety of the Government Council's order, he resigned days later.

On September 1, 1896, a court martial was convened against him accused of failing to comply with the order of Lieutenant General Antonio Maceo to reinforce the western part of the Island at the head of 200 men from the Third Corps. He was acquitted of said trial, as it was demonstrated that he had not carried out the order because the Government Council had prevented him.

Upon being appointed Chief of the Fifth Corps, he organized a column to begin the march toward the west and take office. With that objective he departed on October 5, 1896 at the head of the Oriental Expeditionary Regiment and some Las Villas forces. Two days later he had an encounter with Spanish forces at Ingenio Colorado in Matanzas, where he was wounded in his healthy leg. The casualties suffered in this confrontation forced him to withdraw to Sancti Spíritus where he met with the Commander in Chief and the latter reorganized his column so that he would resume his march and fulfill his mission.

After various setbacks, he arrived in Havana on July 22, 1897 to take up the office for which he had been designated since the month of January. The Government Council had conferred upon him the rank of Major General on December 16, 1896, granting him seniority from July 24, 1895.

He was among the nine Cuban generals invited by the American interveners to the ceremony of transfer of powers on January 1, 1899. He accompanied Gómez in his entry into the city of Havana on February 24, 1899, and was discharged from the Libertador Army on June 1, 1899 to take office as director of the House of Charity and Maternity.

He actively participated in politics during the first years of peace. He died of tuberculosis in Havana on May 25, 1903.