Francisco Muñoz Rubalcava (June 25, 1825 – March 6, 1873) was a Cuban patriot, mambí soldier, and poet who was executed during the Ten Years' War in Cuba.
Biography Francisco Muñoz Rubalcava was born in Santiago de Cuba in the eastern province of Oriente (now Santiago de Cuba Province), Spanish Cuba, on June 25, 1825.Marrero Zaldívar, V. M. (1996). Tras la luz de sus estrellas. Cuba: Editorial Sanlope.
As a young man, he served as the director of Cuban newspapers in Cárdenas and Puerto Príncipe.Album de el Criollo: semblanzas. (1888). Cuba: Est. tip. O'Reilly número 9.
Francisco Muñoz Rubalcava was acquainted with the Masonic Lodge of Las Tunas, involved in the conspiratorial activities taking place in Puerto Príncipe and Bayamo in the summer of 1868.Torres-Cuevas, E. (2018). En busca de la cubanidad. Tomo II. Spain: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales. The Santiago de Cuba native suggested that the Tínima Masonic Lodge in Puerto Príncipe (now Camagüey) establish a link with Eastern Masons, who were known for their separatist ideologies.Pichardo Viñals, H., Alavez Martín, E., Montalván, O., Carr Parúas, F. (2006). Temas históricos del oriente cubano. Cambodia: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales.
Ten Years' War Amid the Cry of Yara on October 10, 1868, Rubalcava took up arms against the Spanish colonial authorities in Cuba's first war for independence called the Ten Years' War.
In the region of Las Tunas, he was the second-in-command of the insurgent forces, under the command of Vicente García González.A History of the Cuban Nation: The Ten Years War and other revolutionary activities (from 1868 to 1892). (1958). Cuba: Editorial Historia de la Nación Cubana, S.A..
Muñoz Rubalcava entered the uprising on October 19, 1868, when the Las Tunas forces assaulted a Spanish garrison and took control of the town of Manatí.Marrero Zaldívar, V. M., Marrero, V. M. (2005). Las Tunas: apuntes para su historia colonial. Cuba: Editorial Sanlope. Vicente García, Francisco Muñoz Rubalcava, along with Belisario and Julio Grave de Peralta, were leaders in the uprising in Tunas.Cuba, la perla de las Antillas: actas de las I Jornadas sobre "Cuba y su Historia". (1994). Spain: Doce Calles.
In mid-April 1869, when Vincente Garcia and Col. Rubalcava received notice of the enemy taking a convoy guarded by 300 Spanish soldiers from Manatí towards Las Tunas, they attacked with 150 men.Balmaseda, F. J. (1869). Los confinados á Fernando Póo é impresiones de un viage á Guinea. United States: Imprenta de la Revolución. The Spanish military convoy included the combined forces of Gen. Juan de Lesca and two other military officers with the Spanish Army. On April 17, 1869, the mambises attacked the convoy, killing 23 men, and taking some prisoners, among them 7 officers, besides 115 rifles and muskets, a field piece, and other arms.Aldama, M. d., Echeverría, J. A. (1870). Facts about Cuba. United States: Sun job printing Office.
Muñoz Rubalcava was named Second Chief of the Camagüey forces in 1873, directly reporting to Maj. Gen. Ignacio Agramonte.
Death Francisco Muñoz Rubalcava was captured by Spanish authorities and tried by a military council. He was sentenced to death and faced execution by firing squad on March 6, 1873, in Puerto Príncipe (now Camagüey), Cuba.Méndez, R., Pérez Pino, A. M. (2009). Amalia Simoni: una vida oculta. Cuba: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales.
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