Ambrosio José Gonzales (October 3, 1818 – July 31, 1893) was a Cuban revolutionary general who became a colonel in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

He returned to Matanzas and became a teacher[3] and later a professor for the University of Havana, where he taught languages (he claimed fluency in English, French, Spanish, and Italian).

By 1849, Gonzales became interested in the revolutionary plans of Venezuelan General Narciso López, who ultimately led several military expeditions, known as filibusters, to try to liberate Cuba from Spain rule.

Together with Worth, Gonzales was to prepare an expedition of 5,000 American veterans, who would disembark in Cuba and aid the Cuban patriots, headed by López, who would rise in arms.

In the US, he continued to seek assistance for Cuban independence, meeting with political leaders including President Franklin Pierce and Secretary of War Jefferson Davis.

[5][6] As secession approached in the late 1850s, Gonzales went into business as a sales agent for various firearms manufacturers, demonstrating and selling the LeMat revolver and Maynard Arms Company rifles to state legislatures in the South.

[4] Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War, Gonzales joined the Confederate Army as a volunteer on the staff of General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, who had been his schoolmate in New York City.

Official Report of the Bombardment of Fort Sumter.To my volunteer staff, Messrs. Chisolm, Wigfall, Chesnut, Manning, Miles, Gonzales and Pryor: I am indebted for their indefatigable and valuable assistance, night and day, during the attacks on Sumter, transmitting, in open boats, my orders when called upon, with alacrity and cheerfulness, to the different batteries, amidst falling balls and bursting shells, Captain Wigfall being the first in Sumter to receive its surrender.I am, sirs, very respectfully,Your obedient servant,G.

Gonzales, who was serving as a special aide to the governor of South Carolina, submitted plans for the defense of the coastal areas of his homeland state.

According to Major Danville Leadbetter in a letter to the Secretary of War:The project of auxiliary coast defense herewith, as submitted by Col. A. J. Gonzalez, though not thought to be everywhere applicable, is believed to be of great value under special circumstances.

Gonzales was able to fend off Union gunboat attempts to destroy railroads and other important points on the Carolina coast by placing his heavy artillery on special carriages for increased mobility.

Also, Davis did not consider Gonzales to be command material because of his experience with the failed Cuban filibusters and his contentious relationships with Confederate officers in Richmond, Virginia.

Thus, Gonzales missed, by only a few years, the Spanish–American War of 1898, which achieved the cause that he had long championed, the liberation of Cuba from Spanish rule by US military intervention.