ES / EN
- July 15, 2025 -
No Result
View All Result
OnCubaNews
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
OnCubaNews
ES / EN
Home Cuba-USA

Charles Gordon, Cuban hero

by
  • José G. Quintas
    José G. Quintas,
  • Jose G Quintas
    Jose G Quintas
January 15, 2017
in Cuba-USA
0

The fall in combat 120 years ago of Lieutenant General Antonio Maceo y Grajales was celebrated last December 7. However, little is known that in the last days of the national hero, among the faithful followers who accompanied him there was an American: Colonel Charles Gordon, who had come to Cuba to fight for its freedom.

Gordon arrived on Cuban soil on the fourth expedition of the Three Friends steamship, which landed on July 7, 1896 through Boca Ciega beach, in the vicinity of Guanabo and to the east of Havana; he had left from Jacksonville, Florida, and his commanding chief on land was Juan R. Cowley.

He soon joined Maceo as aide-de-camp in the Pinar del Río Campaign. Although almost everything about Gordon is unknown, in terms of his background it is presumed that before joining the war he had some military training, since otherwise his rapid promotion in the Mambí ranks and his appointment to such a relevant post close to the eastern caudillo cannot be explained.

When Maceo decided to go around the Mariel Trail to Majana, urged by Generalissimo Máximo Gómez that he join him since the disagreements between the General in Chief and the Government Council of the Republic in Arms were becoming increasingly deeper, Maceo chose a small group of brave men to escort him in the risky mission. The handful of fighters that avoided the Trail was formed by 17 persons, among them Generals José Miró Argenter and Pedro Díaz, Colonel Charles Gordon and Lieutenant Francisco Gómez Toro, son of the Generalissimo, in addition to the pilots who helped in the bold crossing of the bay of Mariel.

Already in the region of Havana, on the morning of December 7 they camped in San Pedro de Punta Brava, as the place is better known, and at 1 p.m. Maceo had lunch in the company of Miró, but a while later they were surprised by the attack of Spanish forces. He did not hesitate to make ready for combat. Among those who responded to the enemy attack was Colonel Charles Gordon, but a bullet reached Maceo and shattered his jaw. They rapidly came to his aid and surrounded the body of the fallen lieutenant general and since they became easy targets of Spanish rifle fire several of them were wounded, among them Gordon.

The rest of the story is roughly known (1). The sacrifice of Francisco Goméz Toro, who died together with his chief, the recovery of the bodies, the secret operation to hide the precious remains to avoid their falling into the hands of the enemy, which guaranteed their safeguarding to be able to pay just homage already in the Republic, as well as the national and international repercussion of the Maceista holocaust.

Related Posts

OFAC.S. Department of the Treasury. Photo: Marita Pérez Díaz.

OFAC fines U.S. company over $600,000 for shipping to Cuba

July 12, 2025
Flags of Cuba and the United States, seen in perspective in Havana. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Trump reinstates hard-line Cuba embargo as Havana condemns US measure as “criminal”

July 3, 2025
The U.S. Department of State Photo: US Department of State / Archive.

Trump Administration Includes Cuba on List of Countries Not Cooperating Against Terrorism

May 13, 2025
Heidy Sánchez speaks to OnCuba where she is staying in Havana. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Deported and without her baby daughter: Heidy Sánchez’s desperation

May 7, 2025

After the ill-fated event Gordon, like others who accompanied Maceo in the end, traveled to the General Headquarters of the Liberation Army, under the command of Máximo Gómez, and it has been known that in February 1897 he was to the west of the Júcaro Trail to Morón, since he participated in an action harassing a Spanish column in the vicinity of Trilladeritas. That same month, on the 23rd, the Generalissimo wrote in his Campaign Diary: “I sent Colonel Charles Gordon, an American, to Santa Teresa, in Havana province, with some men and weapons to form the Francisco Gómez Infantry Regiment.”

On a later mission, in Las Villas, he is made prisoner and murdered, according to reports, in May 1897 (2). He was the American with the highest rank reached in the Liberation Army, only surpassed by Thomas Jordan and Henry Reeves, who fought in the 10 Years War.

Charles Gordon fought for Cuba’s independence for a short time, but it was sufficient to gain the trust of national heroes like Maceo and Gómez, which is why Dr. Eusebio Leal Spengler was not reluctant to describe him as “Cuban hero.”

Footnotes

1    47 versions of the San Pedro combat have been counted, two of them by the Spaniards. One of them was by Charles Gordon.

2    Data from the Cuban Encyclopedic Dictionary of Military History, tome I, page 174.

  • José G. Quintas
    José G. Quintas,
  • Jose G Quintas
    Jose G Quintas
Previous Post

Cuba-U.S.: Insurance companies hold talks in Havana

Next Post

Google premiers in Havana documentary about José Martí

José G. Quintas

José G. Quintas

Jose G Quintas

Jose G Quintas

Next Post
Cuban children viewing the documentary Nuestro Martí using the Google Cardboard technology. Photo: EFE.

Google premiers in Havana documentary about José Martí

Photo: La Tercera

U.S. and Cuba hold talks on trafficking in persons

Photo: Kaloian

Wet foot, dry foot: Who’s gaining from this?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

The conversation here is moderated according to OnCuba News discussion guidelines. Please read the Comment Policy before joining the discussion.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Most Read

  • OFAC.S. Department of the Treasury. Photo: Marita Pérez Díaz.

    OFAC fines U.S. company over $600,000 for shipping to Cuba

    38 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 10
  • Staying silent in Cuba: a choice?

    13 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • MSMEs barely growing and their slowdown hinders competition and economic dynamism

    12 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • Los Palacios, land of Cuban rice harvested by Vietnamese

    19 shares
    Share 8 Tweet 5
  • Trump reinstates hard-line Cuba embargo as Havana condemns US measure as “criminal”

    37 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 9

Most Commented

  • Photo: Kaloian.

    Private sector and tourism in Cuba. Why not?

    12 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • About us
  • Work with OnCuba
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Moderation policy for comments
  • Contact us
  • Advertisement offers

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}