One of the foremost heroes of the Ten Years' War was Ignacio Agramonte y Loinaz, a member of one of the most distinguished families in Cuban history. He was born in Camaguey in 1841, was educated for the bar, and became an eminent advocate, writer and orator, with intense devotion to the cause of Cuban independence. Immediately upon the outbreak of the revolution at Yara in 1868 he took the field and showed himself a born leader of men. He was made Secretary of the Revolutionary government, signed the Emancipation act and the Cuban Constitution, and then returned to active work in the field. As Major General he participated in many battles, including the capture of a part of Camaguey on July 20, 1869. President Cespedes made him Chief of the Department of Camaguey, and for a time he succeeded Quesada as commander in chief of the Revolutionary Army. He fell in the battle of Jimaguayu on July 1, 1873.
While these things were occurring in the "Ever Faithful Isle," there were doings of epochal significance in Peninsular Spain. Queen Isabella had, as we have seen, for some time been an exile, and on June 25, 1870, the Serrano republican government forced her to sign a final manifesto of abdication. The government itself, however, was far from strong, and was unable to stand against strong opposition in the Cortes. It was shortly overthrown by a vote of that body, and a monarchical form of government was re-established. The crown was formally offered to and accepted by Amadeus, son of King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, on December 4, 1870. When this news reached Cuba, the Spanish troops on the island took formal oath of allegiance to the new king of Spain.
The reestablishment of a monarchy was, of course, exceedingly pleasing to the Volunteers, for they had no sympathy with a republic, and the freedom which it was supposed to entail, although in the case of the republic in Spain, few changes or concessions had been extended to its Cuban subjects. The Volunteers promptly took oath to support the monarchy, and denounced the republican constitution. They embraced this as a favorable opportunity to further an end of their own. They had long suspected the Bishop of Havana of being in sympathy with the revolution. He was at this time absent in attendance at the Vatican Council at Rome, and the Volunteers were able so to manipulate matters that, upon his return on April 13, 1871, he was refused permission to land.