Adolfo Fernández Cavada
Union Army captain, diplomat, and Cuban insurgent commander.
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Adolfo Fernández Cavada (May 17, 1832 – December 18, 1871) was a soldier and diplomat, an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War who served as captain in the Philadelphia 23rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. He served with distinction in the Army of the Potomac in the battles of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg and was a "special aide-de-camp" to General Andrew A. Humphreys.
After the war, Fernández Cavada was appointed as consul in Cienfuegos, Cuba. He joined his brother in the Cuban insurrection against Spanish rule and succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief of the Cinco Villas. He was killed in action.
American Civil War
When the American Civil War broke out, Adolfo Fernández Cavada and his brother Federico enlisted in the Union’s 23rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, which served with the Army of the Potomac. Federico later moved to the 114th Pennsylvania, but Adolfo stayed and became an aide to General Andrew A. Humphreys.
He saw action at Fredericksburg and Gettysburg, where he was hurt after his horse was shot out from under him. Throughout the war, he kept a diary that offered a strikingly detailed look at the Battle of Gettysburg. In one entry, he wrote of the air thick with flying shot, shell, and canister, and the overwhelming, deafening roar of musketry and artillery.
Ten Years' War
After the war, Fernández Cavada was appointed United States consul at Cienfuegos, Cuba. He resigned that position upon the outbreak of the Cuban insurrection against Spanish rule, known as the Ten Years' War. Together with his brother Federico, who had resigned as consul to Trinidad, he joined the insurgents.
In February 1869, he attacked the town of Palmira and led his men in the battles of Altos de Potrerillo and Saltadero de Siguanea, as well as an attack on the Arimao armory. On November 5, 1869, his forces took Cienfuegos, and a month later Arroyo Blanco. On April 4, 1870, he was named Commander-in-Chief of the Cinco Villas with the rank of Mayor General, succeeding his brother Federico.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Adolfo Fernández Cavada (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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