 Two of his grandsons emigrated to Cuba under Spanish rule and fought for the independence of the island during the Ten Years War (1868–1878).Cristóbal Mendoza Durán, who worked as journalist in Camagüey, later joined the Liberating Army and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, in appreciation of his intellectual and moral values, appointed him Foreign Secretary of the first government of the Republic of Cuba in Arms.His brother Tomás, who was also a journalist and who in the ranks mambises acted as assistant secretary of General Manuel de Quesada.