The Virginius Affair was a diplomatic dispute that occurred from October 1873 to February 1875 between the United States, Great Britain, and Spain during the Ten Years' War. Virginius was a fast American ship hired by Cuban insurrectionists to land men and munitions in Cuba to attack the Spanish regime there. It was captured by the Spanish, who wanted to try the men onboard as pirates and execute them. The Spanish executed 53 men but stopped when the British government intervened.
The "Virginius", with portraits of General Barnabe de Varona and General Washington Ryan, executed by Cuban volunteers at Santiago de Cuba. The Graphic, 1873.
Joseph Fry, captain of Virginius, whom Spain executed for bringing arms to Cuban rebels
Captain Fry takes leave of his companions
Hamilton Fish, US Secretary of State
The Ten Years' War, also known as the Great War and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. On 10 October 1868, sugar mill owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and his followers proclaimed independence, beginning the conflict. This was the first of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Little War (1879–1880) and the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898). The final three months of the last conflict escalated with United States involvement, leading to the Spanish–American War.
Embarkation of the Catalan Volunteers from the Port of Barcelona by Ramón Padró y Pedret [es]
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes
Col. Federico Fernández Cavada
General Martínez-Campos in Havana, 1878