List of Puerto Rican Military Personnel - 19th Century

19th Century

• Ramón Acha Caamaño, Brigadier General, Spanish Army
  Caamaño defended the city of San Juan against the U.S. attack of Puerto Rico during the Spanish–American War. He was awarded the "Cruz de la Orden de Merito Naval 1ra clase" (The Cross of the Order of the Naval Merit 1st class) by the Spanish government for his role in the rescue of the cargo of the SS Antonio López a Spanish transoceanic steamer..
• Juan Alonso Zayas, 2nd Lieutenant, Spanish Army
  Alonso Zayas was the commander of the 2nd Expeditionary Battalion of the Spanish Army stationed in Baler which fought in the Siege of Baler in the Philippines.
• Francisco Gonzalo Marín, Lieutenant, Cuban Liberation Army
  Gonzalo Marin, considered by many as the designer of the Puerto Rican Flag, was a poet and journalist who fought alongside José Martí for Cuba's independence.
• Demetrio O'Daly, Field Marshal, Spanish Army
  O'Daly was the first Puerto Rican to reach the rank of Field Marshal in the Spanish Army. He was also the first Puerto Rican to be awarded the Cruz Laureada de San Fernando (Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand - Spain's version of the Medal of Honor). O'Daly also was also elected as delegate to the Spanish Courts in representation of Puerto Rico.
• Luis Padial, Brigadier General, Spanish Army
  In 1863, Padial's battalion was deployed with the intention of "squashing" a pro-independence rebellion in the Dominican Republic in which he was wounded. Padial played an instrumental role in the abolishment of slavery in Puerto Rico.
• Ramón Power y Giralt, Captain, Spanish Navy
  Power y Giralt was a distinguished naval officer who during the years of 1808–1809 led the defense of the Spanish Colony of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) against an invasion from Napoleon's French forces by enforcing a blockade in support of the Spanish ground troops.
• Ángel Rivero Méndez Captain, Spanish Army
  Rivero Méndez fired the first shot against the United States in the Spanish–American War in Puerto Rico. Rivero Mendez later invented the "Kola Champagne", a soft drink.
• Juan Ríus Rivera, Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Liberation Army.
  Ríus Rivera fought in "El Grito de Lares" under the command of Mathias Brugman. He also fought in Cuba's Ten Years' War (1868–1878) against Spain under the command of General Máximo Gómez and became the General of the Cuban Liberation Army of the West upon the death of General Antonio Maceo Grajales.
• Augusto Rodríguez, Lieutenant, United States Union Army.
  Rodríguez was a member of the 15th Connecticut Regiment (a.k.a. Lyon Regiment) and served in the defenses of Washington, D.C. He led his men in the Battles of Fredericksburg and Wyse Fork in the American Civil War.
• Manuel Rojas, Commander in Chief of the Puerto Rican Liberation Army
  On September 28, 1868, Manuel Rojas led 800 men and women in a revolt against Spanish rule and took the town of Lares in what is known as the Grito de Lares.
• José Semidei Rodríguez, Brigadier General in the Cuban Liberation Army.
  Semidei Rodríguez fought in Cuba's War of Independence (1895–1898) and after Cuba gained its independence he continued to serve in that country as a diplomat.
• Antonio Valero de Bernabé, Brigadier General Latin American wars of independence
  Valero de Bernabé fought against the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Siege of Saragossa. He joined the Mexican Revolutionary Army headed by Agustín de Iturbide and was named Chief of Staff. He successfully fought for Mexico's independence from Spain. Later he fought alongside Simón Bolívar and helped liberate South America from Spanish Colonial rule. Bernabé is known as the "Puerto Rican Liberator"