Juan Francisco Fernández Ruz

Cuban patriot. He participated in the Wars of 1868 and 1895. He achieved the rank of Major General on July 25, 1896.

He was born in Las Tunas. The family settled in Manzanillo when he was still very young, where as an adolescent he came into contact with the revolutionaries of that locality and, aware that a break with Spain was necessary, he took up arms before October 4, 1868 in the mountains of La Esperanza in the Manzanillo area, alongside the patriot Angel Maestre.

In his address to Cubans gathered at El Mijial, on October 4, 1868, Vicente García alluded to the fact that Luis Figueredo, Rubalcava and Ortuño were already armed in Holguín, and Angel Maestre and Juan Fernández Ruz in Manzanillo.

On October 6, 1868, as a consequence of the meeting at El Mijial, the meeting at El Rosario took place, in which Juan Fernández Ruz participated. At this meeting, Vicente García's proposal to rise up on the 14th of that same month was supported.

Juan Fernández Ruz and Angel Maestre, two of the impatient men from Manzanillo, preceded Céspedes according to testimonies of Eladio Aguilera Rojas in his work "Francisco Vicente Aguilera y la Guerra de los Diez Años" when he noted: ...Around ten in the morning on October 9, Juan Ruz and Angel Maestre arrived with a force, carrying two Spanish merchants who were prisoners detained on the road from Bayamo to Manzanillo...

On October 19, Céspedes was already armed, regarding which Eladio Aguilera noted:

...At 8 o'clock at night Céspedes left accompanied by Bartolomé Mazó and two brothers of his: Rafael and Isaías, Juan Hall, Juan Ruz, Angel Maestre, Manuel Calvar (Titá), Emiliano Tamayo and about 130 men...

On the morning of October 12, the rebels arrived at Nagua. Marcano began organizing the forces, dividing them by companies and appointing Francisco and Tomás Martínez as captain and lieutenant of the first company, respectively, and Juan Fernández Ruz and José García for the second, and thus 7 companies were appointed. They remained in Nagua until the afternoon of the 14th, when they set out toward Barranca. Marcano's opinion was to march to Bayamo and attack the city, but Céspedes advised caution since the opportune moment had not yet arrived. Fernández Ruz stood out as a trusted man, which is demonstrated in this quote from Eladio Aguilera: ...A few hours after camping in Barranca, Céspedes called Juan Ruz, captain of the second company, and gave him confidential instructions. Ruz left immediately with his troops and upon reaching the savanna of El Dorado, they saw a Spanish force approaching. They continued marching at a certain distance, Ruz halted and gave instructions to his lieutenant Garcés that, if he did not return within five minutes, he should charge at the enemy force...

Juan Ruz approached near the approaching column and a soldier from the line came forward to meet him. The soldier gave him the "halt, who goes there" and Ruz with a thunderous voice responded: -Free Cuba! The soldier challenged him to ask him, What free Cuba is that? - and Ruz defiantly replied- Free and independent Cuba. The interlocutor turned his horse around, addressed his men and with a strong voice said: ...Friends, those we have in front of us are our brothers. They want free and independent Cuba. Can we fight them? No, let us stand by their side, let us all fight for the freedom and independence of our homeland. Let us give each other a brotherly embrace...

Ruz and the young man embraced and together went to Céspedes' camp in Barranca. This opposing chief to whom we have referred was Manuel Tornes, a native of Bayamo and captain of militia in that locality. From then on he was faithful to the cause of Cuba.

Juan Ruz participated with stoicism in the assault and capture of Bayamo, and from this moment on he never ceased in the pursuit of Cuba's independence, after illuminating his face with the heroic flames of the torch city on January 19, 1869.

In 1874, as part of the troops of Oriente, Calixto García ordered him to assault the town of Laguna Blanca two leagues from Bayamo with the objective of taking provisions from the enemy. At that time Ruz commanded the Guantánamo brigade. Faced with the critical situation of the battle, where Limbano Sánchez was wounded, Ruz arrived in time to order a retreat and save the situation.

When he held the position of chief of the Guantánamo Brigade, in 1874, he assaulted the town of Laguna Blanca. At the end of that year he was transferred to the command of the Bayamo Brigade.

In 1874, the government made certain troop changes that affected Ruz. This is cited in La Revolución de Yara by Fernando Figueredo: ...The Government had the chiefs of the Guantánamo and Bayamo Brigades, Brigadier Juan Ruz and Colonel Leonardo Mármol, exchange their respective positions...

On February 16, 1875, a huge convoy well loaded with weapons, ammunition and food left from Bayamo. On the 18th it appeared, in which Juan Ruz played an important role and all the cargo ended up in Cuban hands. From this moment Figueredo Socarrás noted:

...Forces from Bayamo commanded by Brigadier Ruz rushed to intercept the vanguard to prevent support from that side, but Meranjes, advised by some countrymen who marched with the convoy, fled toward Bayamo leaving behind the center and the rearguard which were macheted by ours. The entire convoy fell into the hands of General Vicente García.

This great convoy was the one from Punta Gorda, the largest captured from the Spanish during the Ten Years' War and which was in action under the orders of The Lion of Santa Rita.

He joined the insurgents of Lagunas de Varona in April 1875. On October 20, 1875 he attacked Velazco, leading the Yara Regiment, reinforced with a Bayamo Battalion. He rejected the Pact of Zanjón (February 10, 1878). He was taken prisoner in 1879 and was deported in Cádiz and Barcelona until mid-1887, when he moved to Key West, United States of America, with the purpose of organizing an expedition to initiate a new war in Cuba; but his project did not receive the approval of the Cuban emigration. Faced with failure, he published a manifesto that, due to its content unfavorable to the revolution, was widely disseminated by the Havana colonialist press.

In exile
Like so many other insurgent chiefs, Fernández Ruz went into exile, with the conviction of returning to complete the work that was already underway.

With his customary patriotism he enlisted in the Little War, deceived, he was taken prisoner in 1879 and taken to Spain as a political deportee. He was in Cádiz and later moved to Barcelona where he settled until mid-1887, when he moved to Key West. When Martí was engrossed in the preparation of the Necessary War in his effort to unite the new pines with the old pines, in a letter to Fernández Ruz, he expressed himself in response to one that Ruz had written to him before.

...From that disinterest and determination; from that sensible and impassionate knowledge of our problems and of the reality of our country, all those who aspire to distinguish themselves in its service must be armed. I know from your friends, who are also mine, what you are worth in war, and I would see with sorrow that through imprudence or miscalculation such a useful man would be put on a path to ruin.

Juan Fernández Ruz had a project to arm an expedition and move to Cuba immediately, but Martí saw in it a sterile effort and for that reason advised the old oak tree in those terms. The master knew that the conditions had not yet matured enough. Later in the same letter he expresses to him:

If I could see you here and speak to you about everything that that purpose (Martí refers to the project of Cuba's struggle) adjusting your heroic desires to those of our land, could be done, can be done, it is urgent now to do, if we are to serve it in a manner worthy of it!

The master, who knew Ruz's gifts as a leader, expressed to him in the aforementioned letter:

...Prepare yourself, but not for today, because you have no right to risk perishing without fruit one of those who is called with greater justice tomorrow to lead.

And faced with these ideas from Martí, Juan Fernández Ruz abandoned the immediate plan of invasion of Cuba. On November 9, 1887 in a letter to Serafín Bello, Martí tells him:

...In these days when everything seems to oblige Cubans to think carefully about the best way to exercise an active influence in the affairs of the homeland, I have received, along with other insinuations and news of true importance, a patriotic letter from Mr. Juan Ruz, in which he asks me for my opinion on the practical way to put our hopes into action of seeing Cuba free and redeemed. After this letter, Mr. Ruz arrived in New York renewing with honorable modesty his desire to know our opinions...

In this letter to José Dolores Poyo, Martí emphasizes with delight:

...I had intended to speak to you about the pleasant impression left on my mind by the energy, tempered with good sense, of Mr. Juan Ruz. And the pleasure with which I saw emerge from his timely visit results that were already being desired...

From Key West, on October 10, 1887, Juan Fernández Ruz wrote to José Martí:

...With pleasure, as always, I have received your attentive letter dated the 5th of this month and it is unnecessary to tell you that both it and the one you addressed to Saladrigas carry all the more to my mind the deep conviction that our enterprise has little time left to develop and that the barriers that stand in its way will be easy to overcome, as long as we are guided by a spirit that is upright and full of faith.

And further on in a poetic tone born from the depths of his patriotism, Ruz writes: ...On horseback you tell me. Impatient I am to bring to the field of practice our theories, impatient I am to find myself in Cuba with hands put to work, for I do not believe it possible in any other way to finish strengthening the building we are raising and to which we must bring the best materials so that it does not collapse crushing us in its fall.

On December 10, 1887, in a letter from Francisco Segura to José Martí he cites:

(...) I begin by telling you that a new club has been formed with the title of Juan Ruz in which some patriots of recognized constancy appear among whom is the tireless Martín Delgado...

...The mere announcement of our correspondence with Ruz, your letter and minutes read here at the meeting there has awakened the sentiment of homeland in those who know your documents, which proves to me that you are appreciated by the Cuban people and it is certain that not long from now, you will be of utmost importance for Cuba's destiny.

Juan Fernández Ruz was a patriot of great prestige among the emigrants and constituted an important guide for the plans of Cuba's independence.

In a letter from A.L. Peoli to José Martí he tells him with enthusiasm:

So full of faith are the Cubans here, that if they wanted to they could raise thousands of dollars, but this will not be done because Ruz will not allow it, for he already said it the other day in a meeting where resources were offered to him, but he dignifiedly said no, that he had plenty. With this action he has finished reviving the people, and has risen to a level that few of our chiefs have reached.

Faced with the impossibility of coming to Cuba, the old follower of noble ideas returns to Barcelona. He was there when he learned of the new revolutionary outbreak. He did not hesitate about his advanced age, for his youthful spirit was comforted in his love for Cuba and immediately went to Paris and from there to New York, where he joined the General Staff of General Calixto García who led the Hawkins expedition to Cuban shores, which failed when the ship sank near American coasts.

The illustrious Cuban tried to organize an expedition with the help of a wealthy countryman residing in the United States who withdrew from the commitment when everything was already moving forward after tremendous efforts. With his own funds the Cuban General was able to finance the enterprise.

Arrival in Cuba
The first odyssey was his departure from American coasts aboard the steamship Laurada, evading the surveillance of agents hired by Spain, called Pinkerton, who followed his steps everywhere with the purpose of making the denunciation at the opportune moment. The Laurada already traveled with libertarian bow toward the mountains of Oriente and in May 1896, the expeditionaries reached the coast of Nuevitas.

Ruz was among the first to set foot on land with part of the precious cargo, which could not be fully unloaded because a column of smoke appeared on the horizon and when the ship's captain thought it was a Spanish gunboat, he fled.

He set out toward the interior of the Camagüey region and since there were no vacant positions for his military rank, he moved to the Matanzas region, where he carried out various operations.

Participation in the War of 1895
To join the War of '95 he joined the expedition of the steamship Hawkins under the command of Major General Calixto García, which was shipwrecked off the coast of New York on January 26, 1896.

Later he led the expedition of the seventh voyage of the steamship Laurada, which left Jamaica on May 5, 1896 and landed at Punta Ganado, on the north coast of Camagüey, on the 18th of the same month with more than 80 men. After participating in several combat actions in the provinces of Camagüey and Las Villas, he was appointed chief of operations of Colón and Jovellanos commanding the Colón Brigade (First Brigade first division fifth corps). He also served, on an interim basis, as chief of that Division in the province of Matanzas. He was promoted to Major General on July 25, 1896. On November 20, 1896 he fought the Battle of Alagón. He died from a pulmonary condition at his camp at Raíz de Jobo, in Jagüey Grande, on December 22, 1896.

Death
On November 19, 1896, together with Colonel Matilde Ortega, he fought a furious battle against the Spanish forces led by Colonel Ambel at Raíl de Jobo, the next day he again fought against the same enemy chief at Aragón. The Cubans recorded on both occasions seven deaths while the Spanish had only one dead and eleven wounded.

There at Raíz de Jobo, at 75 years of age, near Manguito de Matanzas, life had the surprise in store for him to die, not precisely from the bullets of the enemy which he had defied on hundreds of occasions, but as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 22, 1896.

His comrades in arms carried the brave Cuban and with the honors of a general who died in the field of battle, he was buried in the cemetery of the town of Amarillas, where his remains rest today.