Quintin flag

José Quintino Bandera Betancourt, known historically as Quintín Bandera (October 30, 1834 - August 22, 1906), was a Cuban general who fought in the three Wars of Independence.

Origins and the Ten Years' War

General Quintín Bandera was born in Santiago de Cuba on October 30, 1834. He was of African descent, of full black blood. He had a difficult temperament and little culture. Since 1850 he openly devoted himself to the cause of the freedom of Cuba, participating in various conspiracies. After the independence war began, he joined the forces of General Donato Mármol in Palma Soriano on January 1, 1869.

He rose progressively from soldier to lieutenant colonel in the Ten Years' War. He participated in the Baraguá Protest along with the Maceo brothers, Guillermón Moncada, Flor Crombet and other important Cuban officials. As a consequence of this act, he was promoted to colonel. After this, he participated in some combat actions. Finally, he received the order to guard the provisional government of Manuel de Jesús Calvar until its dissolution, on May 21, 1878, in Loma Pelada. He capitulated four days later in the town of San Luis.

Guerra Chiquita and the interwar period

He was the protagonist, along with Guillermón Moncada and José Maceo, of the events of August 26, 1879 in the streets of Santiago de Cuba, which began the Little War. At this stage his main actions were those of Guisa, Auras, Manzanillo, Bueycito and Yabazón.

After this conflict, he left for Jamaica together with Guillermón and José Maceo, on June 4, 1880. Violating the guarantees offered by the Spanish regime, one of his gunboats stopped the steamer in which they were traveling, already on the high seas, and They were taken to Puerto Rico. Then they sent them to Spain. After three months in the Cádiz prison, Quintín was sent to the castle of Mahón, in the Balearic Islands, together with other patriots. He was pardoned in 1886. In 1890 he participated in the failed conspiracy known as the Manganese Peace.

Necessary and post-war war

In 1895, after having been imprisoned in Spain due to his participation in the Guerra Chiquita (1879-1880), he was one of the first to rise up on February 24. In this war he reached the rank of major general. After the war ended, he did not accept any position in the government of the new Republic, accepting a simple job as an operator in a local industry and even working as a street sweeper, despite his military ranks.

Rise, death and legacy

Tomb of General Bandera in the Necropolis of Columbus.

When Tomás Estrada Palma was re-elected, he was one of the first to take up arms again in opposition to his purposes. The liberal opposition, to assert their disagreement, took up arms and started the so-called Guerrita de Agosto.

General Quintín Banderas was cruelly macheted and shot by rural guard forces on the "El Garro" farm, near Arroyo Arenas, on August 22, 1906.

President Estrada Palma ordered that he be buried in a common grave without any marking indicating his burial, but thanks to the action of a local priest, his family was able to recover the body and give it a dignified burial. His remains currently rest in a simple pantheon of black marble in the Colón Cemetery, in Havana.

Today, a humble monument pays tribute to General Bandera in the park that bears his name (but better known as "Parque Trillo") in the neighborhood of Key West; in the Havana municipality of Centro Habana. Likewise, he has a statue on Avenida de los Libertadores, in Santiago de Cuba.

Fonts

• Encyclopedic Dictionary of Military History of Cuba. Part one (1510 - 1898) Volume I Biographies. Green Olive Editions. Havana City, 2004.