Mambí Cemetery, is a historical place of relevance in the municipality of La Palma, located in the Pinar del Río Province; There rest the remains of the mambises who fell in the assault on that town.
Summary
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- 1 Ratings
- 2 Oral tradition
- 3 Bibliography
- 4 Sources
Ratings
The evolution of the cemetery has taken place in direct correspondence with the progress of the territory.
Initially, there was only one cemetery in the Consolación del Norte district located in the La Chorrera hacienda , which was the gravitational center of this territory for centuries. The corpses of this entire area were buried in the only existing cemetery, the La Chorrera cemetery.
The emergence of the town of La Palma, in the period that includes the years 1848-1852, imposes the need to create a new cemetery in this place as a result of the demographic development that occurs, which in the following years will be truly explosive. .
In 1855, permission was granted for its construction, which took around 2 or 3 years. The cemetery was located on a small hill that was located to the north of the town. At present, it is completely inserted within the urban perimeter, next to the old road that led to the Río Blanco pier and framed on its other side by a slope that ended in the river La Palma .
This cemetery, the first in the town of La Palma, was found until the 1990s in a truly deplorable state. Part of the land corresponding to the cemetery was used to build houses, and another part was used with impunity as a neighborhood garbage dump or as a patio for the houses built on the cemetery.
It was an embarrassing spectacle, the remains of some tombs that still existed were stolen for other constructions, without apparently caring that the remains of all generations of predecessor palmeros rested there.
oral tradition
With the arrival of Maceo in Mantua , the chapter of the Mambisa “Invasion” ends in the history of Cuba. Another epic of the Cuban forces began, which is known in historiography as the “Campaign of the West.”
Within this Campaign of the West, some actions are registered in the territory of the Municipality of Consolación del Norte, among these we have The Assault on La Palma.
When the insurgent forces arrived on the night of March 29, 1896 near the town, coming from “El Caimito”, they found a fortified Plaza. The troops of the line commanded by Captain Bernardino del Pozo y Clemente were in the town. The garrison was made up of 75 men from these regular forces, belonging to the Valencia Infantry Regiment; 230 guerrillas and 380 volunteers, for a total of 685 troops, in addition to 141 men from the Río Blanco garrison, which brought the figure to a total of 826 men in arms.
The town, from the days of the invasion, dedicated itself to fortifying itself, as part of a general strategy followed throughout the province by the Spanish command. Defensive lines were built inside and outside the town made up of fences and ditches, the town was entered through the forts that were 5; of them 3 were located to the North, one to the West and another to the South. The corners were protected by shot drums, and the Church was fortified with trenches, barbed wire and shot drums. Added to this was the Civil War Barracks.
General Maceo had the objective of punishing and scolding the inhabitants of La Palma for failing to comply with what was agreed on January 12.
He located the General Headquarters at a nearby height, to the south of the town, without being able to achieve the surprise factor, because the Spanish were prepared and alerted to the insurgent presence. A wooden artillery piece was placed in the General Staff by Colonel Pedro Vargas Sotomayor, and Maceo divided the force into two columns, one under the orders of Quintín Banderas and the other under the orders of Vidal Ducase.
A column descends and enters the town through the southern forts, without resistance. The other goes down the river, taking its course from South to North, and goes directly to Calle Real.
- The Cubans arrive at the very center of the town without any resistance, and they thought they had taken over the town by surprise, but very soon they understood their mistake, when the veil of the true hell that awaited them on La Palma was lifted. In this regard, the Chief of Staff of Antonio Maceo points out; José Miró Argenter in his “War Chronicles”.
“…it was known that the garrison, made up of regular troops and volunteers, was going to defend itself tenaciously, and that it had good redoubts in the center of the town… the attack started by our Infantry, it easily overcame the first obstacles… without having received a single bullet. We thought we had won the bastion, but in a few minutes the shooting of the defenders began and the curtain of the horrible scene was drawn back…”
… The situation became very critical for us.
… they had to retreat through the same place as the entrance, opening their way with a clean shot, and dragging the converging fire of the garrison, which redoubled momentum… Convinced that all the efforts that could be made would be fruitless, Maceo ordered the retreat towards the “El Caimito” camp. Slow and painful march, with a long convoy of wounded, some of them very serious and dominated the spirit by the sorrow of the disaster. We had left 39 dead in La Palma and driven 88 wounded.
Miró Argenter reaches the following conclusion:
“… The attack on La Palma was a complete defeat for us. The leadership of the Spanish Army was not fully aware of the episode… as no high-ranking commander came to the aid of La Palma, there were no hymns of glory for those brave defenders who They made such a dent in the insurgent ranks…
The mambises who were left dead inside the town, were buried in the eastern part of the (old) cemetery, outside the perimeter of the graveyard, as they did not deserve to be buried sacred, according to the criteria of the Spanish.
In the archaeological excavations carried out in the place, a total of 31 corpses appeared, on which the respective archaeological study was carried out, a fact accomplished by Doctor Sergio Luis Márquez Jaca .
As a result of the centenary of the Assault on La Palma by General Antonio Maceo (event that was commemorated on March 29, 1996) a rescue work was carried out, a place was built for the rest of the mambises and in passing it was preserved part of what was this ancient cemetery.
In a visit made on the occasion of the 115th anniversary of the Assault on La Palma, we were able to appreciate that the cemetery is in a good state of conservation and cleanliness, it is regularly visited by schoolchildren from the different teachings led by their teachers and professors and it is a place of permanent homage to the glory of those who rest there.
