José Ferrer de Couto

He was one of thirteen children born to Manuel Vicente Ferrer, a second-lieutenant in the infantry, and his wife, Manuela.

He later published a tract called Morale in the Army, which created problems with his superiors, so he resigned from the service in 1844 and became a staunch advocate of separating the military from politics.

In 1863, upon the death of the publisher of La Crónica, a journal devoted to promoting Spanish interests in the United States, he was commissioned to take over as Director, but chose to create his own newspaper, El Cronista de Nueva York, in which he denounced piracy in the Caribbean, claiming it was the work of imperialist forces, and asserted that the election of Lincoln as President would inevitably lead to war with Spain.

He also opposed Lincoln's abolitionist plans, and defended slavery, in a controversial book that was published in English and Spanish in 1864.

[1] His paper was largely devoted to exposing the "lies" of the American press and fighting the efforts of Cuban emigrants who supported independence.