Federico Fernández Cavada was a Cuban soldier who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. He was captured and imprisoned at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia from 1863-1864. In his memoir, "Libby Life", Cavada describes the harsh conditions of the prison and how suffering develops one's character. After the war, Oliver W. Davis published a biography highlighting Cavada as a remarkable soldier, gentleman, poet, patriot, and victim who served both his native Cuba and adopted Confederacy through his military service.

1. Cubans of the Civil War
Understanding Cuban Involvement through the Experience of Federico
Fernández Cavada
Research and Presentation by Kristian Laureiro

2. “Whoever will take the trouble to read
the following pages must admit that
he was a remarkable man.” (Davis 4)

3. Notable Primary Sources
Cavada, Federico F. Libby Life: Experiences of a Prisoner of War in Richmond, Va.,
1863-64. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1865.
Davis, Oliver W. Sketch of Frederic Fernandez Cavada, a Native of Cuba: Showing
Partially What One of His Friends Knew of Him as a Soldier, a Gentleman, a Poet,
a Patriot and a Victim. Philadelphia: James B. Chandler, Printer, 1871.

4. Significance of Libby Life
• “Finally, you arrive at one, and only one conclusion, which is, that if there be any
one thing in this world more utterly unsatisfactory than any other, it is to be a
prisoner of war… But the idea of being shut up in a dreary and loathsome tomb
for weeks and months- to be tortured, pinched, and starved- merely for serving
your country, and endeavoring, through it, to serve humanity!... And you finally
arrive at the conclusion that it is all for the best…. No place, surely, is better adapted
than the prison-house for the study of human nature. Suffering develops the real
character.” (Cavada 152)
• “No place, surely, is better adapted than the prison-house for the study of human
nature. Suffering develops the real character.” (Cavada 156)

5. All Sources
Primary
Cavada, Federico F. Libby Life: Experiences of a Prisoner of War in Richmond, Va., 1863-64. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1865.
“Certificate of Naturalization”. Philadelphia District Court. October 2, 1865. From latinamericanstudies.org. (Accessed August 30th, 2015).
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cavada/cavada-citizenship.gif
“’The Cuban Revolution’ lithograph in Harper’s Weekly”. Harper’s Weekly. October 16th, 1869. From the University of Miami- Fernando Fernández-Cavada Collection. (Accessed
October 4th, 2015). http://merrick.library.miami.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/chc5006/id/1399/rec/235
Davis, Oliver W. Sketch of Frederic Fernandez Cavada, a Native of Cuba: Showing Partially What One of His Friends Knew of Him as a Soldier, a Gentleman, a Poet, a Patriot and a
Victim. Philadelphia: James B. Chandler, Printer, 1871.
Kircher, Henry A. In A German in the Yankee fatherland: the Civil War letters of Henry A. Kircher, edited by Earl J. Hess, Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1983.
Welsh, Peter, Margaret Cossé Richard, and Lawrence Frederick Kohl. 1986. Irish Green and Union Blue : The Civil War Letters of Peter Welsh, Color Sergeant, 28th Regiment,
Massachusetts Volunteers. New York: Oxford University Press USA, 1986. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed November 3, 2015).
Secondary
Stevens, Michel W. Cubans in the Confederacy: José Agustín Quintero, Ambrosio José Gonzales, and Loreta Janeta Velazquez. ) Edited by Phillip Thomas Tucker. Jefferson, NC:
McFarland, 2002.