[7] Juárez's government was eventually ousted from the Mexican capital by the French invasion, which established the monarchy of Archduke Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico.

[citation needed] In the summer of 1868, Quesada and Cuban patriot Pablo Perez were covertly in Camagüey to help coordinate an insurrection and address any shortages in military supplies.

[9] On December 27, 1868, the first expedition on the schooner Galvanic landed at La Guanaja with 83 men, and an armament composed of thousands of weapons and ammunition.

The guerrilla warfare campaign led by Gen. Manuel de Quesada secured important towns in the interior region between Nuevitas and Puerto Príncipe.

[11] On February 18, 1869, Gen. Juan de Lesca's Spanish expedition landed at La Guanaja beach with four steamers and 3,600 troops, heading for Puerto Príncipe.

His staff wore red flannel shirts, patent leather boots, Panama hats, and cockades bearing silver 'V.C.L.'

[17] On June 6, 1869, Quesada's forces intercepted a convoy bound for Las Tunas, defeating 600 Spanish troops and capturing four wagons filled with provisions, ammunition, and important papers.

[18] Upon learning of the brutal conduct of the Spaniards, Gen. Quesada wrote to Spanish Gen. Lesca to seek a mutual agreement on the treatment of prisoners of war.

Gen. Quesada engaged with different Cuban associations, clubs, and gatherings in the United States, which were held to secure financial and other support for the war.

[23] He gathered extensive war materials, organized filibustering expeditions, and dispatched men, ammunition, and paper currency for the Republic in Arms.

Quesada, with the aid and financial resources provided by the Cuban Junta, acquired the Virgin, a former Confederate blockade runner, and renamed it to Virginius.

[26] A court-martial in Havana on November 7, 1870, found Quesada and others tied to the Cuban Junta guilty of treason and rebellion, ordering their death by garrote if they were caught by Spanish forces.

[27] In the middle of January 1873, the Edgar Stuart expedition, organized by Quesada alongside Gen. William A.C. Ryan, was dispatched with Col. Aguera in command.