José Clemente Fernández Castellanos (Pitirre)

José Clemente Fernández Castellanos (Pitirre) (1864-1897)

He was born in Güines on April 11, 1864. Since a young man, he was an untiring gladiator in Cuba’s liberating struggles against the disgraceful Spanish tyranny. Pitirre is the Cuban name of a bird known in English as flycatcher.

In 1895, at the start of the War of Independence, he took up arms and was designated to recruit citizens within the southern area of Havana’s Province, being able to add hundreds of Cubans to this endeavor. He participated in war skirmishes where his fearlessness and courage earned recognition from his superiors and respect from his colleagues in arms. He was ascended to Colonel of the Liberation Army headquartered in Güines and its vast adjacent area, to reward his courage, intelligence, command and leadership qualities.

A little to the north of Güines, in the area of San José de las Lajas, the patriot and valiant warrior General Adolfo del Castillo was conducting military operations. He and Pitirre met at the beginning of 1897 and both conceived the daring plan to invade Güines, a highly fortified military town, agreeing to do it on Thursday, March 4 of the same year around 9 o’clock in the evening.

General del Castillo would enter Güines with his troops from the east of Loma de Candela (Candela’s Hill) until he reached Tacón Street (later named General Castillo Street) and Colonel Fernández (Pitirre) would enter from the south with his men, getting together inside the Villa reaching downtown. Pitirre arrived first near Güines, evading the danger of a Spanish fort located at the entrance of General Dulce Street (later named Clemente Fernández Street) and placed his men a little bit to the east, near Molino Street (later named Céspedes Street) and because there was no bridge to cross the ditch of Leguina that runs in that area, they had to go into the ditch with the water up to their chests.

Pitirre sent a scouting party that went deep into the Villa reaching farther than the Town Hall, to wait for General del Castillo’s troops and start battling the enemy within the town. Unfortunately General del Castillo and his troops got lost, and Pitirre did not have any other alternative than to retire with his men because they were not enough to fight the enemy that was armed up to their teeth.

When the troops withdrew, there were some skirmishes between the mambises (mambí is a Cuban word referring to the Cuban freedom fighter) and the Spaniards within Güines, one Spanish soldier being killed in the area of the Central Market.

Pitirre retired and continued fighting in the area of Güines, winning important victories and keeping busy the powerful Spanish Army that was concentrated within Havana Province. A few months later, sick and wounded, he was convalescing near San Nicolás de Bari, when some informers told the Spanish military where his camp was, being surrounded and savagely hacked with machetes dying on December 13, 1897.

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