3-021-127 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Execution of political prisoners in Havannah , Cuba, 1869. Francisco Leon and Augustin Medina were charged with '...aiding the insurrection by secreting arms and resisting their seizure. They were...condemned to suffer death by strangulation with the garrote...The procession was composed...of drummers; an attendant of the Church bearing a cross; two priests...another attendant carrying a black flag with a cross...and, lastly, the condemned and executioner...[flanked by] Spanish volunteers with fixed bayonets. The building...[behind] is the city prison...[holding] over 300 political prisoners...Lifting his manacled arms, Leon exclaimed, "I wish that instead of a requiem being said for the soul of Leon, who is going to glory, one be said for the independence of my poor oppressed country...Death to all Spanish rule, and long live Cuba, free and independent!...The excitement produced...is indescribable...then came a volley of pistol-shots...eight Cubans were shot and bayoneted by the Spanish volunteers; but six of the volunteers were also shot. The tumult was at length suppressed, with a great deal of bloodshed...Medina...[also] attempted...to address the crowd, but was immediately thrust into the chair and dispatched...by the fatal machine'. From "Illustrated London News", 1869.