Castillo San Felipe del Morro prison, San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 23rd 1868, 2 months after El Grito de lares…..
Manny Noceda Awoke to the sound of Spanish troops approaching his cell. It had been 2 Months since the failed revolt in lares. He had been captured during the fight with the Spanish army. Of 600 that had taken part 120 were dead, 180 captured and the rest had either fled the Island or gone into hiding. Thankfully The leaders had escaped. These men and women of revolution would live to fight another day. He had spent the last 2 months subject to brutal torture at the hands of the guards. They were desperate to get
him to reveal any information on the revolution. But this Boricua would not crack. It was another stroke of good fortune that Spain was unaware of the Dominican mercenaries which were to have reinforced the revolt. Their ships were forced to turn back due to bad the Spanish troops dragged him out of his cell he was too weak to resist. Unbeknownst to Many, The queen of spain, Isabella the 2nd had narrowly defeated an attempt to overthrow her rule in spain and upon hearing of the revolt in puerto
rico ordered the execution of all rebels and any sympathizers. Despite the pleas of prominent Puerto Ricans such as Lawyer Eugenio María de Hostos, the queen would not change her mind. Anyone who dared betray the Spanish crown was to be punished. AsMany adjusted his eyes to the sun he saw fellow revolutionaries being taken out of their
cells and could hear the sound of gunfire in the distance. He knew what it meant, execution. As he and about 20 men were marched he saw they were being taken out of the fort. As they were marched the locals began to line up on the streeUnaware of what was about to occur. The men, realizing it was the end, decided that they would not go out in silence. The men began to sing
¡ Despierta Borinqueño
Que han dado la senal
¡Despierta de ese sueno
Que es hora de luchar!
A ese llamar patriótico
¿No arde tu corazón?
¡Ven! nos será simpático
El ruido de cañón
Nosotros queremos la libertad
Nuestro machete nos la dará
Vamonos boriqueno, vámonos ya
Que nos espera ansiosa
Ansiosa la libertad
¡La libertad, la libertad
La libertad, la libertad!
The guards attempting to silence their voices began hitting them with clubs but the men would not be silent. As they approached La Fortaleza. The men were stopped. And lined up. In the governor's residence stood a man so cruel and merciless he would stab a puppy if it served his benefit. The new military governor of puerto rico Phillip belos de Malo. As Many looked out in the crowd to his surprise was his daughter Luz. She had come all the way from Lares to find out what had happened to her father. He had told
her he had to go and he might not come back. He had given her his wife and their adopted daughter a kiss before taking his machete and storming off into the night. As they stood there waiting for the end a spanish officer pulled out a letter and read"These men stand accused of plotting against the spanish crown. On the order of governor Phillip
and her majesty Queen Isabella II you are sentenced to death by firing squad. May god have mercy on your souls." The officer said as he ordered his men to load their rifles. Many and Luz made eye contact and while he knew she wouldn't hear these words he knew she could read his lips"I Love yo.." Bang and like that the 20 men fell to the floor, their blood forming a small pool…..
Little did Spain know that in their effort to squash a rebellion they themselves planted the seeds of revolution. Following the execution of rebels Spain cracked further down on the island. Press was suspended, anyone caught speaking out against the crown was jailed, and taxes were raised to compensate for increased military presence on the island. All these actions sent the people of Puerto Rico into a further frenzy. The members of the revolutionary council of Puerto Rico were quick to act. Portraying the men
killed in lares as martyrs dying for the homeland, their support on the island swelled as thousands of men signed up. With countless volunteers the committee went back to work planning the next revolution. They first began by bolstering their support around Latin america. Mexico who had recently fought the 2nd franco mexican war was sympathetic to the plight of the puerto rican and helped by securing weapons(Mainly US civil war surplus) and allowed them to recruit volunteers. The Dominican Republic, a
stringent ally of the original revolt also allowed them to recruit volunteers and also helped with finances and securing weapons as well as to serve as a staging ground for the invasion. Within a few months they had 5000 volunteers with enough rifles to arm another 5000. These extra weapons were then slowly smuggled into Puerto Rico stored in secret warehouses across the island. The 1st attempt underestimated the spanish reaction time so now they planned to sabotage multiple spanish barracks and weapon
dumps to sow as much confusion and chaos as possible. Using men inserted into the local militia. They would place dynamite and detonate at multiple targets across the island. Soon all the pieces were set in place. The date was soon set for March 28th, 1869,Easter sunday. It was chosen as the Spanish would have their guard down celebrating the holiday. Several days before Easter the ships with the mercenaries and weapons set sail from Santo Domingo to Cabo Rojo. They reached it before nightfall
staying out of viewing distance of the local garrison. By nightfall the ships inched closer to land and soon the force of 5000 men landed overwhelming the small garrison of 500. As this happened rebel cells across the island began the work of the ammo dumps, attacking military barracks, or simply linking up with the main invasion force under General Manuel Rojas. His army slowly swelled from 5000 to 9000 and within days had reached the outskirts of Ponce laying siege to the city. The city's garrison numbered
just 1000 and many were ill from an outbreak of food poisoning that the garrison commander had little choice but to surrender. Following this the Puerto rican Liberation army marched into town to the applause of the locals shouting "Viva Puerto Rico libre". It was then that Francisco Ramírez Medina Rode to town hall and from the balcony read the ten commandments of free men and declared The Republic of Puerto Rico and quickly established his gov't in the city. Meanwhile it was pure chaos in San Juan the
Spanish Gov't on the island was in full panic mode as rebel attacks were reported across the island with reports that they had seized control of ponce. Thankfully rebel efforts had been largely thwarted north of the cordillera central mountain range. The governor quickly called for General Francisco de Ceballos y Vargas (Who was visiting the island) to lead a force of 9 thousand Spanish troops to retake Ponce and squash the rebellion. At the same time Ramírez, appointed president by the revolutionary council, ordered
General Rojas to march on San Juan to lay siege to the city before the Spanish had reorganized. Rojas, knowing that most of his men were poorly trained and were using muzzle loading rifles inferior to the Spanish breech loading rolling block rifles would be routed in a traditional battle, suggested they dig in along the cordillera central mountain range and let the Spanish wear themselves out before launching a counterattack. However Ramierz and the council disagreed and after a debate between the
council and Rojas and his staff they made a compromise. Rojas would march to San Juan with 7000 of their 9000 man force while 2000 men would stay behind and dig in along the mountains. So on april 3rd, 1 week after the war began Rojas marched 7000 men to san juan to lay siege. Little did he know Vargas and his army had the same plan. The two met outside the small town of Ciales. A battle ensued where as Rojas had predicted his army of mostly inexperienced and poorly equipped troops were routed
by the Battle hardened Spaniards. Falling back to the cordillera central mountain range the Spanish gave chase but were unable to breach the defense prepared by Rojas reserves. By the 2nd week the front had stabilized along the mountains with territory north in Spanish control and territory south in Boricua control. The Puerto Ricans
realized that although Spain was weakening, they would not relinquish their homeland without a fight. Spain realized that these rebels were far more determined then the 600 farmers they routed a year prior. After 3 years the front has barely moved as both sides feel the weariness of war. this is where our story begins