This article was originally published in the Fall 1989 issue of Amelia Now.

"He is for Cuba what George Washington is for the United States: the Number One patriot."

That's how Dr. Gustavo J. Godoy, retired professor of Spanish and French at Jacksonville University, describes the Cuban revolutionary, José Marti.

A journalist, poet and essayist as well as "the organizer and soul" of Cuba's second war of independence against Spanish domination, Marti espoused ideas and ideals of liberty and freedom for all classes and all races which won for him international regard. As Dr. Godoy explains:

"There is an equestrian statue of him by the famous American sculptress, Anne Hyatt Huntington, in New York City located in Central Park at its entrance on the Avenue of the Americas. In Paris, France, there is a bust of Marti and also a square named in his honor...A few years ago, the government of the United States installed RADIO MARTI (equivalent to Voice of America) to keep people in Cuba duly informed about democratic ideas...Besides, last February 8, 1989, legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate to install here a television station to broadcast programs especially for Cuba; its name is TV MARTI."

During his stay in Fernandina in 1894-1895, José Marti organized a
revolutionary expedition to Cuba including three ships and over 1,000 men.
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Dr. Godoy’s interest at this time is directed towards having a plaque mounted in the Florida House of 22 South Third Street to commemorate Marti's stay there in connection with the Fernandina Filibuster. This was a pivotal event in Cuba's second war of independence during the later part of 1894 and early 1895.

Following are the highlights of the patriot's life with the recurring theme of resistance to oppression and dictatorship.

José Marti was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1853. He was exiled to Spain when he was 17 because of his outspoken opposition to colonial rule. In Spain he published a pamphlet describing the horrors of political imprisonment in Cuba, which he had personally endured. After graduating from the University of Zaragosa with a law degree, he began his literary career in Mexico City. He objected to a regime installed by a military coup and wisely withdrew to Guatemala. Government abuses forced him to abandon that country also.

In 1878, he returned to Cuba under a general amnesty, but he plotted against the Spanish authorities and was again banished. From exile in Spain, he journeyed to the United States. After a year in New York, he traveled to Venezuela, only to have still another dictatorship force him to leave. He lived in New York from 1881 to 1895, raising funds, rallying Cuban emigrants to the cause, and making meticulous plans for the second war of Cuban independence.

Following is a detailed account of the Fernandina incident as presented by Philip S. Foner in Volume 2 of A History of Cuba and its relations with the United States:

"Satisfied with the preparations, Marti organized the Fernandina Plan. This plan called for the embarkation of an expeditionary force from Fernandina, Florida. Three yachts, the Amadis, Lagonda and Baracoa were chosen because their speed was superior to the boats used by the Spaniards. Ostensibly the destination was to be Central America, with stops as follows: at a certain point in Florida to take on board Carlos Roloff and Serafin Sanchez with 800 men; in Costa Rica for (Antonio) Maceo, Flor Crombet, and 200 men; and, in Santo Domingo for Maximo Gomez's group. All members of this force would go as agricultural workers with suitable tools, which would actually be implements of war. When at sea, of course, the announced destination would be changed from Central America to Cuba. If the captains and the crews of the vessels objected, they were to be confined until the end of the voyage.

"By late December, 1894, everything was prepared for the simultaneous embarkation of the three expeditions. In Cuba the revolutionary leaders were informed of the impending action, although Marti did not reveal the details of the expeditions, and they were ordered to prepare to support and protect the invasion. On December 25, Marti informed Maceo of the imminent departure of the ship designated for his group.

"Then the revolutionary leaders suffered an enormous catastrophe. Lopez de Queralta, a member of the expedition belonging to the group of Serafin Sanchez, carelessly revealed the plan to one of the captains who, in turn, passed the information on to the ship owners. In short order, a Spanish official heard of the plan, protested to Washington, and on January 14, 1895, the federal government detained the three yachts and confiscated the materials of war.

"It was a terrible blow. Nearly three years of work and some $58,000 had been lost. But what Marti feared even more was the loss of prestige and confidence in the revolutionary leaders.

"Yet the catastrophe had exactly the opposite effect. The scope of the ill-fated Fernandina expeditions, as it was now revealed, startled the revolutionists in Cuba and the exiles in the United States. Who would have thought it possible that Marti could have organized such a detailed undertaking with the limited resources at his command, and carried it out (until the last fatal moment) with such efficiency and secrecy? Enthusiasm for Marti's leadership grew in Cuba and abroad..."

The various military chieftains assured Marti that they were still ready to embark for Cuba by whatever means might be obtained, and the effort to launch the revolution continued.

In due time, Marti landed in Cuba with General Maximo Gomez. The Spaniards attacked his company on May 19, 1895, and, although Gomez ordered him to stay in the rear-guard, Marti rode out to meet the enemy. As he rode through a pass, Spanish soldiers in ambush shot him down. Companions tried unsuccessfully to rescue his body, and the Spaniards carried him to Santiago de Cuba, where he was buried on May 27, 1895.

His death fulfilled a prophecy he had written: "Respect for the freedom and ideas of others, even the most wretched being, is my fanaticism. When I die, or if I am killed, it will be because of that."

The war finally brought independence from the Spanish on May 20, 1902.

This statue of José Marti is located in
New York City's Central Park.
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Foner, in his History of Cuba, summarizes Marti's greatness:
"José Marti was a rare combination of man of ideas and man of action...He was a man of many talents: a lawyer, a poet, a master of the most exquisite Spanish prose, a great orator, a teacher in many universities in Latin America of language, literature and philosophy, a distinguished journalist, a diplomat, and the organizer of every detail of the Cuban revolution. His writings made him so admired and respected throughout Spanish-speaking America that Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay made him their consular representative in the United States..."

Florida House Inn is comprised of two frame structures, one built 1857-59 and the other in 1882, erected by the railroad as a tourist hotel. Marti's stay there is documented by a telegram he sent to a friend published in volume two of his Complete Works. It is the only structure still existing of the several where Marti lived in the northeast Florida area.

Editor’s Note: The historical marker at the Florida House Inn honoring José Marti was dedicated in early 1990.