Cuba’s Polish Hero: Carlos Roloff Mialofsky
Fighting For Cuba’s Liberty In the Cuban War of Independence
Dedication: Jose Antonio Roloff Acosta
“…his name echoed in Cuban ears with the sound of a trumpet, because that brave Slavic deserved to be born in our country, so great, so earnest and so constant was his love for Cuba.” (The magazine, El Figaro, subsequent to Roloff’s death, on May 17, 1907)¹
A Revolutionary is Born
A future Cuban revolutionary and liberator, Karol Rolow-Mialowsky, was born in Warsaw, Poland to Jewish parents,² Karol Rolow and Loisa Mialowska, on November 4, 1842.³ Poland had been divided and was ruled by the three competing monarchs of Russia, Prussia, and Austria.⁴ Rolow’s countrymen yearned for a united and sovereign Poland free from oppressors. Persecution in tsarist-ruled Warsaw forced Rolow’s family to seek refuge in Królewiec, a Prussian maritime port, on the Baltic Sea. Young Rolow grew to manhood with political unrest and popular revolt swirling around him.
Rolow’s studies in Królewiec prepared him for the challenges ahead. He learned to speak German and Russian.⁵ He enrolled in business courses and attended military school. Soon after the death of his father in 1862, Rolow and his elder brother left their fractured ancestral homeland and emigrated to the United States. Their mother and younger sister remained in Królewiec. In the United States, Karol Rolow adopted the surname Roloff.⁶
Lieutenant Roloff Goes to Cuba
When Karol Roloff disembarked in New York City, the States were embroiled in the Civil War. Karol Roloff joined the Ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment in Cincinnati, Ohio. Like Roloff, the volunteer soldiers of the Ninth Regiment spoke German. The regiment fought courageously in numerous Civil War battles before disbanding in June 1864. Honorably discharged from the Union Army, Lieutenant⁷ Roloff searched for civilian employment. Owing to his ease with several languages and accounting skills, Roloff obtained a position as bookkeeper with the Bishop Company. The Bishop Company, based in Caibarién, Cuba, was in the profitable business of exporting sugar. Once in Cuba, Carlos Roloff Mialofsky, as friends and associates called him, fully integrated himself in Cuban culture and society. He joined the El Progreso Social Club and was a co-founder of the San Juan Masonic Lodge.⁸
The Polish Mambí
When Roloff settled in his new home in Caibarién, the island of Cuba was a colony of Spain. However, throughout the Cuban provinces, discontent was rampant among the landowning class of sugar planters. They were unhappy with high taxes, a lack of representation in Spain, and the prejudicial practices of the Spanish towards criollos or native-born Cubans. Many Cubans also wanted an end to slavery. No longer wanting to be governed by Spain, Cubans sought independence. Oriente Province was the first to rebel. On October 10, 1868, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes gathered the slaves on his plantation and proclaimed their freedom. He encouraged his former slaves and fellow landowners to join the war of liberation. Céspedes’ passionate call for independence, the “Grito de Yara,” resounded throughout Cuba.⁹
In February 1869, revolutionaries from all social classes met at a coffee plantation, El Cafetal González, in Las Villas Province and organized a Junta or War Council. Those gathered were mostly civilians. Pablo Díaz de Villegas, present at the gathering recalled, “The Junta was looking for someone with military experience who would teach us how to fight. It soon learned that in Caibarién there was a Pole who had served in the war between the North and the South.”¹⁰ Having great confidence in Roloff’s ability to lead, the Junta dispatched a messenger to Roloff’s residence. Extended was the invitation to join the Mambises¹¹ in their fight for Cuban independence. Roloff accepted without hesitation. On February 6, 1869, the Junta selected Carlos Roloff, the bearded, medium-statured man, with the honest face and soulful green eyes,¹² Major General.¹³
A Man Who Shows No Fear
Although Roloff’s men lacked arms and ammunition, they immediately launched an offensive against Spanish forces. On February 7, 1869, with exclamations of “Viva Cuba Libre” (Long Live Free Cuba), 5000 men with 200 antiquated guns swarmed the town of Manicaragua La Moza.¹⁴ On February 19, 1869, Roloff and 300 men charged with their sharpened machetes and a few guns vanquishing 700 Spaniards at the Battle of San Gil. Deployed in this confrontation were four cannons designed by Roloff and constructed, under his supervision, from timber in the environment, strips of leather, and metallic materials. At the Battle of Santa Cruz del Líbano, Roloff and his men faced 800 Spanish soldiers. According to Pablo Díaz de Villegas, who fought alongside the intrepid leader, “Roloff attacked without fear.”¹⁵ An ambush interrupted Roloff’s victory streak, but he managed to elude capture.¹⁶ In the many crucial battles that ensued, outnumbered and ill-equipped, Roloff defiantly waved the homespun Cuban flag with its solitary white star encased in a red triangle.¹⁷
Following the orders of the Junta, Roloff marched eastward towards Oriente Province hoping to obtain supplies from Céspedes. To make it difficult for the Spanish, bridges and railways were dynamited, telegraph poles dismantled, and sugar plantations burned. The revolutionary combatants met in the town of Guáimaro in Camagüey Province. Years hence, the Cuban exile newspaper, Patria, referring to the events at Guáimaro commented, “…there was Roloff, the Pole, an excellent and daring calvary man. A man who shows no fear, a freedom lover.”¹⁸
During the Guáimaro Constitutional Convention of April 10, 1869, the patriots organized a Governing Council. A Constitution was written, whereby the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government were established. During the Convention, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes assumed the presidency of the fledgling Cuban Republic.
Roloff and his men, unsuccessful in attempts to acquire weapons in Oriente Province, galloped back to the province of Las Villas. Employing guerrilla warfare tactics, they stalked and pounced on unsuspecting Spanish troops. Habitually short on guns and ammunition, the Mambises swung their machetes with deathly precision. Hacks and blows rained down on the Spanish. The terrified soldiers scattered in every direction.¹⁹
Internal Dissent
Petty quarrels and disagreements among the insurgent leaders created disunity in the independence movement. A difference of opinion arose between Roloff and Céspedes concerning the war’s progress. Heated words were exchanged. Roloff demanded specific military action that Céspedes would not support. Céspedes, stunned by Roloff’s defiance, had the Major-General arrested. After a sincere apology to Céspedes, Roloff was released from prison.²⁰ Then, the Mambises in Las Villas Province decided Máximo Gómez should no longer be commander-in-chief of the province’s forces because he was a Dominican and not a native of Las Villas. Roloff, a Pole and foreign-born, personally relayed the news to Gómez. The irony did not escape the astonished but surprisingly calm Gómez. He, nevertheless, immediately stepped down as commander-in-chief and ceded the position to Roloff. Of his meeting with Roloff, Gómez later wrote: “I did not answer a word.”²¹ Instability within the leadership was aggravated by the death of President Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and the capture of Tomás Estrada Palma, his successor. The United States would not recognize the Mambises, which further hampered the revolutionary war effort.²²
Spain took advantage of the squabbles and uncertainties within the revolutionary ranks. The Spanish Captain-General Arsenio Martínez Campos offered monetary rewards and pardons to revolutionary leaders willing to abandon the fight for independence. A peace treaty, the Pact of Zanjón, was signed with Spain, on February 11, 1878, by President Vicente García on behalf of the Cuban patriots. Roloff, and a majority of the revolutionary commanders — Calixto García, Antonio Maceo and Serafín Sánchez — did not agree with the terms of the pact. The treaty did not provide for Cuban independence or the freedom of slaves. An angry and frustrated Roloff stated: “The troops in Las Villas have never accepted the dishonorable Pact of Zanjón, we only capitulated because it was forced on us.”²³
Raising Support in the United States
With the failure of the Ten Years’ War and The Little War that followed, Roloff lived for a time in Jamaica. On December 24, 1881, he moved to Ampala, a port on the Pacific coast of Honduras. In Ampala, he obtained employment managing the town’s Central Bank. On February 3, 1883, he married Galatea Guardiola, the daughter of José Santos Guardiola, a former Honduran President. Their marriage produced the children Carlos Isaac, Ana Luisa, Julio, and María Francisca. Roloff’s first child, Gerardo, was fathered with Benita Alvarez while still living in Cuba. Roloff led a good life in Honduras, but Cuban independence was never far from his thoughts.²⁴
Jose Martí, a magnetic public speaker, intellectual, poet, journalist, and lawyer, emerged as a new voice in the struggle for Cuban independence. He hatched a fresh plan to gather financial and material support among Cuban exiles in the United States. Carlos Roloff, and other exiled leaders, heeded Martí’s call and sprung back into action. In 1892, Martí and Cubans living in the United States founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party. Roloff and Martí journeyed to several cities in the United States establishing revolutionary clubs and raising funds for Cuban independence. The newspaper, Patria, founded by Martí noted: “Now that the Cuban Revolutionary Party has been established, the tireless and ever faithful Pole is here, ready to offer his sword for Cuban independence.”²⁵
Roloff raised funds among Cuban exiles in New York City, and among Cuban cigar workers living in Key West and Tampa. His stirring speech in Key West rallied support for Cuban independence among resident Jewish immigrants.²⁶ Apart from raising money, Roloff purchased weapons, leased ships, and trained recruits. A major expedition, the Fernandina Plan, was a clandestine operation conceived by Martí. The Lagonda, Amadis, and Baracoa were three ships leased by the Cuban Revolutionary Party to gather and transport weapons and fighters to Cuba. Roloff was to board the Lagonda with his good friend Major General Serafín Sánchez. The Lagonda was docked at Fernandina, a port in northern Florida, when newspapers leaked the information that ships bound for Cuba were loaded with weapons and ammunition. The secret was no more. On January 14, 1895, citing the violation of neutrality laws, United States officials confiscated the Lagonda.²⁷ The Amadis was detained and searched at Tybee Island, Georgia. The Baracoa, having reached Fernandina, suffered the same fate. The two ships were released when inspections failed to find illegal cargo. The setback was momentary. The unsuccessful expeditionary effort invigorated the Cuban exiles’ resolve to liberate their homeland and signaled the rebirth of hostilities between Cuban patriots and Spain.²⁸
Military Expeditions
On February 24, 1895, the Cuban War of Independence officially reignited in Baire, Oriente Province. Roloff, unfazed by Martí’s premature death in combat on May 19, 1895, raised more money from fervent Cuban exiles and launched military expeditions that successfully reached Cuban shores. Key West, its population half Cuban, had become a cauldron of Cuban revolutionary activity. Not surprisingly, Spanish authorities in Key West kept a close watch on Roloff. They knew it was only a matter of time before another expedition set sail for Cuba. To hide from the Spanish, Roloff and the Mambises moved their headquarters to the swamps of Big Pine Key, thirty miles north of Key West.²⁹ On Big Pine Key, the freedom fighters awaited the arrival of the promised ship that would take them to Cuba and further orders from their commanding officers Roloff and Sánchez. The United States Coast Guard, tipped off by the Spanish Consulate, patrolled the surrounding waters but was unable to detect the movement of men and weapons. When the expeditionary ship failed to materialize, Roloff voyaged to New York to meet with the leaders of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and acquire a sailing vessel.³⁰ In Roloff’s absence, a fog of discouragement descended on the Big Pine Key camp site. In his diary entry, dated June 24, 1895, Colonel Fermín Valdés Domínguez described the harsh living conditions on the desolate isle:
“We have been living on this miserable key for several weeks. The soldiers built some low lying huts from pine wood and palm fronds, but the roofs leak when it rains. Our soldiers are hungry. Frequently, only one meal is served during the day, and it’s always the same: salt meat, crackers, and rice when available, The constant attack of the mosquitoes is worse than the hunger we feel. They make it impossible for us to sleep during the night or to rest during the day. The soldiers’ bodies are scorched from being so close to the huge bonfires which don’t seem to stop the mosquitoes. This wait is unbearable.”³¹
Fortunately for Valdés and his compatriots, the wait was not prolonged. To the great joy and relief of the Cuban revolutionaries, Roloff returned to Big Pine Key on the 143-ton steamship James Woodall purchased for $15,000.00 by the Cuban Revolutionary Party. On July 24, 1895, Roloff sailed to Cuba on the steamship, poignantly nicknamed “Jose Martí,” with a cargo of rifles, machetes, ammunition, and dynamite. The steadfast Pole and 150 eager recruits were once again on Cuban soil. Reflecting on the expedition, Major General Serafín Sánchez, in a letter to his wife, wrote: “General Roloff did everything like the experienced and skillful man that he is; he paid attention to every detail…”³²
On September 18, 1895, the Jimaguayú Constitutional Convention was convened. A new leadership council elected Máximo Gómez commander-in-chief of the Cuban forces, Antonio Maceo known as “The Bronze Titan,” second-in-command, and Roloff was elected Secretary of War. Roloff’s priorities as Secretary of War entailed solidifying the civilian and military revolutionary war effort in Las Villas Province.³³ Additionally, he continued to spearhead military expeditions and weapons acquisition. A clever strategist, Roloff stayed one step ahead of the Spaniards and United States officials.³⁴
Upon his return to Key West, crowds gathered at El Polaco (The Pole) restaurant, named in Roloff’s honor, to celebrate his bold military exploits. Similarly, Roloff’s visit to New York City garnered applause and congratulations from Cuban residents. The newspaper Patria proclaimed: “When we see Roloff, we see the indomitable spirit of the Polish people. We see the heroic Poland of 1832 and 1863…Welcome, Roloff, to New York, we welcome you in New York with open arms.”³⁵ However, the warm reception was short-lived. During Roloff’s stay in New York City, the Spanish Consulate informed American authorities Roloff had broken neutrality laws. They backed up their claims with evidence. Roloff was arrested and sent to Ludlow Street Jail. Having posted a $2500.00 bail, he was released the next day. The charges were eventually dismissed.³⁶
A Freedom Lover
By 1896, the Mambises had blazed a bloody path to the western provinces of Cuba decimating Spanish defenses. Alarmed, the Spanish monarchy sent a military veteran, Captain General Valeriano Weyler, to Cuba. Known for strictness and successful military campaigns, Weyler pioneered a new method to eliminate civilian support for the revolutionaries. Cubans in the countryside were reconcentrados or corralled into militarized “towns.” Thousands of civilians, cut off from sources of food, starved to death. Thousands more died from disease made worse by crowded, unsanitary living conditions. Foreign journalists, reporting on camp conditions, and suffering Cubans nicknamed Weyler “The Butcher.”³⁷
Despite Weyler’s efforts, the insurgents continued to win battles thanks to Roloff’s unfaltering expeditions that supplied men, machetes, rifles, ammunition and cannons. On February 15, 1898, the battleship USS Maine exploded in Havana’s harbor. The United States blamed Spain and declared war. Soon after, in July 1898, Spain, fighting on too many fronts, was defeated by the Cuban Mambises and the United States. The Cuban War of Independence and the Spanish-American War had come to an end. The Treaty of Paris, signifying the termination of the war, was signed on December 10, 1898. The Cubans were not invited to the ceremonial surrender and the signing of the peace treaty. In Santiago de Cuba, the site of Spanish surrender, the flag of the United States; not the Cuban, was unfurled and hoisted to flap victoriously in the balmy breeze. Cubans who had fought long and hard for independence were displeased and felt betrayed. “It pains me,” lamented Roloff to a friend, “that the Cuban flag has not been allowed to be raised. As a patriot, I consider this a slap on the face.”³⁸ Cuba would not obtain official independence until May 20, 1902.
Roloff’s contributions to Cuban independence went beyond the battlefield. He shared his knowledge of military strategy in manuals written especially for the insurgent forces. Through years of careful research, he also produced a valuable roster, the Indice Alfabético del Ejército de Cuba,of all Mambises, living or deceased, who had served in the Liberation Army.³⁹ Roloff was appointed Treasurer of Cuba from 1901 to 1907. As treasurer, he was known for his honesty and efficiency in business transactions. In 1902, Roloff was granted Cuban citizenship.⁴⁰ The “Polish Mambí” lived in a modest dwelling in Guanabacoa, Cuba until his death on May 17, 1907. He was 65 years old. On the day of Roloff’s funeral, the streets of Havana were overflowing with thankful Cubans. They honored the valiant Pole who loved Cuba and had fought for its liberty.⁴¹
Addendum — Before 1940, Las Villas province was known as Santa Clara and is so indicated in maps of the era. See the map included in this article and the linked source.
Afterword:
My paternal grandmother’s second husband, Jose Antonio Roloff Acosta, was the grandson of Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky. I learned this fact in adulthood, while researching my family roots and Cuban history. Although other Cuban leaders of the 1800s have received notable mention in published historical works, Roloff’s pivotal contributions to the Cuban independence movement have garnered less attention and are relatively unknown in the United States.
Roloff’s love for liberty and undeviating fidelity to a righteous cause permeated his life. Cuban leaders and associates could always count on Roloff to act with decisiveness. The multifaceted Roloff exemplifies our shared humanity and the positive role of immigrants in the Americas. This brief biographical account, written in December 2014, with a few subsequent minor revisions, was primarily intended for middle school children, but individuals of all ages and ethnicities will benefit.
My thanks and appreciation to all who left a trail and made this article possible. DBP
Notes
1. Rolando Alvarez, Mayor General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: Ensayo Biográfico (La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 1981), 286.
2. The United States Army and Navy Journal and Gazette of the Regular and Volunteer Forces. “Personals,” November 16, 1895, 178.
3. José B. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambí,” Polish American Studies 69, no. 1 (2012): 9, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41440999.
4. John P. McKay and others, A History of World Societies, vol. 2, Since 1500 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004), 589.
5. Alvarez, Mayor General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: Ensayo Biográfico, 24.
6. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambí,” 10.
7. United States Congressional serial set, Issue 5557 (Washington DC, 1909), 79.
8. Alvarez, Mayor General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: Ensayo Biográfico, 23–26.
9. Carlos Alberto Montaner, The Cubans: The History of Cuba in One Lesson. Firmas Press, 2011. http://www.firmaspress.com. ebook.
10. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambí,” 12.
11. The Spanish used the word Mambí to categorize Cuban insurgents. What was meant as a slur produced the opposite effect among revolutionaries. The name can be traced to Eutimio Mambí, a leader who fought Spanish rule in Santo Domingo, currently the Dominican Republic. The term has also been attributed to a species of snake found in Cuba. Regardless of the word’s origins, the rebels proudly adopted the title.
12. Josefina Ortega, “Carlos Roloff, el polaco de Cuba,” La Jiribilla, March 19–25, 2011, http://www.lajiribilla.co.cu/2011/n515_03/515_11.html.
13. Alvarez, Mayor General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: Ensayo Biográfico, 41.
14. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambí.” 13.
15. Alvarez, Mayor General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: Ensayo Biográfico, 44–45.
16. Alvarez, Mayor General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: Ensayo Biográfico, 47.
17. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambi,” 13.
18. Ibid., 14–15.
19. Ibid., 15.
20. Alvarez, Mayor General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: Ensayo Biográfico, 68–69.
21. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambí,” 17.
22. Ibid., 16–18.
23. Ibid., 17–18
24. Alvarez, Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: Ensayo Biográfico, 147–149.
25. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambí,” 19–20.
26. Arlo Haskell, “Revolutionary Letters on Love Lane,” KWLS — Key West Literary Seminar, September 16, 2013, https://www.kwls.org/key-wests-life-of-letters/revolutionary-letters-on-love-lane/.
27. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambi,” 20–21.
28. Antonio Rafael de la Cova, “Fernandina Filibuster Fiasco: Birth of the 1895 Cuban War of Independence,” The Florida Historical Quarterly 82, no. 1 (2003): 29, 35, 37, 42. http://www.latinamericanstudies.org.
29. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambí,” 21–22.
30. Alvarez, Mayor General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: Ensayo Biográfico, 188–189.
31. Consuelo E. Stebbins, “The Insurgents of Key West and the Expedition of 1895,” Florida Keys Sea Heritage Journal 15, no. 1 (2004): 12–14, http://keywestmaritime.org.
32. Alvarez, Mayor General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: Ensayo Biográfico,190–194.
33. Ibid., 215–216.
34. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambí” 22–23.
35. Ibid., 23.
36. The New York Times, “General Carlos Roloff’s Arrest,” January 15, 1897.
37. Arthur D. Hall, Cuba, It’s Past, Present, and Future (New York: New York Street & Smith, 1898), 92–110, http://www.gutenberg.org.
38. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambí,” 25.
39. Ibid., 24–25.
40. Alvarez, Mayor General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: Ensayo Biográfico, 282.
41. Fernández, “Major General Carlos Roloff Mialofsky: The Polish Mambí,” 26.
Bibliography
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The United States Army and Navy Journal and Gazette of the Regular and Volunteer Forces.“Personals.” November16, 1895, 178.
United States Congressional serial set, Issue 5557. Washington DC, 1909.
