Pedro Antonio Díaz Molina

He participated in the Ten Years' War, the Little War, and the War of '95.

He was born in Yaguajay, Sancti Spíritus. Son of the enslaved woman Cesárea Regla, he inherited his mother's social condition and was given the surname of his owner Domingo Díaz. From a very young age he witnessed firsthand the abuses of the Spanish colonial regime and in April 1869 he fled to the countryside to fight for the independence of his homeland.

He served in the Military Health Corps and operated under the orders of the Venezuelan Salomé Hernández and the Galician Francisco Villamil, both of whom died in 1871 and 1873 respectively, as well as other commanders he met during the conflict such as the Polish Carlos Roloff and the Andalusian Diego Dorado.

He also occasionally shared moments of war with other notable figures including Miguel Gerónimo Gutiérrez, Honorato del Castillo, and the Fernández Cavada brothers.

He participated in many military actions in the territories of Las Villas, Camagüey, and Oriente, and was beloved among his companions for his seriousness, loyalty, courage, and profound humanism when he cared with equal dedication for both Cuban and Spanish wounded. He ended the Great War operating in the jurisdiction of Remedios under the orders of then-colonel Francisco Carrillo Morales and held the rank of commander in 1879.

When the Little War broke out, also known in this territory as Carrillo's War in honor of its leader, Pedro Díaz immediately joined in November 1879 and continued fighting until August 1880 when, in precarious conditions to continue the struggle, the revolutionaries of the zone laid down their arms at El Mamey de Buenavista; he achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel in this campaign and bore scars on his body as tangible testimony of his contribution to Cuban independence.

Like many other enslaved people, he gained his freedom fighting against Spanish colonialism. During the period of Fecund Truce he lived in Remedios and worked as a laborer at the sugar mills San José and Jinaguayabo, where he remained always linked to the revolutionary movement of the zone.

Barely had the news of the uprising of February 24, 1895 become known in the jurisdiction of Remedios when Spanish authorities arrested Francisco Carrillo trying to prevent an insurrection. On June 5, lieutenant colonel Pedro Díaz took up arms and was recognized as chief by those who supported him; shortly thereafter he was officially appointed chief of the Brigade of Remedios, belonging to the First Division of the Fourth Corps of the Liberating Army.

He continued operating with great impact in this territory until the arrival of the Invasion of Gómez and Maceo, whom he joined with a small cavalry force. He participated in all the battles during the march to Havana, among which deserve mention Los Indios, La Colmena, Coliseo, and Calimete.

On January 1, 1896 he entered the capital with Gómez and Maceo, taking Güira de Melena, Alquízar, Ceiba del Agua, Vereda Nueva, Hoyo Colorado, Punta Brava, and El Cano. A week later, when the two leaders separated and the Titan departed to complete the invasion to the westernmost end of the Island, colonel Pedro Díaz remained operating in Havana territory under the orders of the Generalissimo, who appointed him on the 17th of that same month brigadier in commission chief of the Brigade of Batabanó which included, moreover, the zones of San Felipe, Güira, Quivicán, Guara, Melena del Sur and adjacent regions.

In performing this charge his military talents shone brilliantly, his capacity to persuade the servants of Spain and at the same time his severity toward traitors. News spread like wildfire throughout the province of the action he prepared and personally directed near Pozo Redondo, capturing a train loaded with Spanish soldiers and war materials that circulated on the Havana-Batabanó railroad line; this success made possible the supply of weapons and ammunition to the different insurgent forces of the territory. Shortly thereafter Maceo proposed to Gómez the official appointment of Brigadier General in favor of Díaz.

Upon Maceo's return from the West with his objectives accomplished, General Díaz operated alongside him again in San Antonio de Las Vegas, Jaruco, Moralito, and Batabanó. When the Lieutenant General returned to the Western Region to develop the Campaign in the West, he added Pedro Díaz to his forces with some of his own and appointed him chief of the Division of Pinar del Río, proposing his promotion to General of Division.

From March to December 1896 he developed this epic campaign alongside the Bronze Titan and participated in countless military actions facing numerous Spanish forces of all three branches. Among the dozens of battles he took part in, mention can be made of Neptuno, Galope, Laborí, Cayajabos, El Rubí, La Palma, San Claudio, Tapia, Consolación del Sur, Descanso, Loma China, Ceja del Negro, Tumbas de Estorino, and El Rosario. He was also responsible by express orders of Maceo for receiving and conducting war supplies from important expeditions that arrived at Pinar del Río shores led by colonel Francisco Leyte Vidal and general Juan Rius Rivera; to the latter he handed over command of the Division under his control when Maceo chose him to accompany him on his march to Las Villas with the objective of taking charge of the First Division of the Fourth Corps of the Liberating Army.

After the catastrophe of San Pedro and already in the jurisdiction of Sancti Spíritus from early 1897, Pedro Díaz performed the function that Maceo had reserved for him before falling in combat. Until the end of March he made his presence felt in the zone through the resonant armed actions he waged, commanding indistinctly all the brigades that composed his Division, in La Alameda, Trinidad, Aguada de Pasajeros, Las Delicias, and others of lesser scope.

At the end of March, general Juan Rius Rivera was taken prisoner and Máximo Gómez ordered him to march without delay to the West to take command of the Sixth Army Corps. He entered that territory on May 9 and his arrival was sufficient reason for the revolutionary troops to give emotional displays of joy. His work focused on activating war operations, reorganizing military structure and civil government, as well as strengthening clandestine intelligence networks and protecting defenseless families.

Heroic was the struggle of the mambises of the Pinar del Río Division in each section of that region. Their continuous successes contributed enormously to the collapse of the colonial army. It suffices to mention, citing just a few examples, the actions of Las Ánimas, Bodega Nueva, El Rosario, El Inglesito, El Romero, La Gloria, Santa Paula, Aranjuez, San Miguel, and La Madama. They also conscientiously applied the policy of the firebrand, destroying more than a hundred caballerías dedicated to the cultivation of coffee and sugarcane and vigorously opposed the autonomy plan offered by the Spanish government.

Pedro Díaz concluded the war satisfactorily in the performance of this charge and was still under arms with all his forces concentrated in the camp of La Ceniza during the North American military occupation of the city of Pinar del Río.

On December 3, 1898, the Spanish troops that remained in Artemisa, then headquarters of the famous Trocha de Mariel a Majana, withdrew. And without loss of time, that very day the Cuban liberating forces made their triumphant entry under the command of major general Pedro Díaz to the strains of the National Anthem and to the cheers and exclamations of ¡Viva Cuba Libre! ¡Viva Cuba Independiente! ¡Viva Cuba Libre y Soberana!

During this first North American intervention he was responsible for organizing the Board of Veterans and Patriots in the town of Artemisa and traveled on one occasion to the city of Remedios where he shared and discussed matters of common interest with several friends. In 1902 he was elected Representative to the Chamber for the municipality of Artemisa, a position he held until 1906, and in 1908 he made his last public appearance during the visit of Provisional Governor Charles Magoon to the city of Pinar del Río, during the period of the second Yankee military intervention at the request of the authorities of the province who recognized in him the living legend of the war of independence. He never engaged in politicking nor stained his honesty. He was part of the current of veterans who remained faithful to patriotic tradition, did not aspire to positions or comforts, and suffered like no one else the humiliation of freedom snatched away by the emerging North American imperialism.

His life after independence from Spain was spent in the town of Candelaria where, together with his companion from war and life Hilaria Bocourt, he formed his family from which came six children: Pedro, Elpidio, Arsenia, Minerva, Hilda, and Porfirio.

He died in Caimito at the age of 74 on May 15, 1924.