the cantons of Málaga and Cartagena were up and running, the "intransigent" deputy Casualdero intervened in the Cortes to explain that the uprising was not illegal and seditious but had been the result of the putting into practice of the true federal ideal, from the bottom-up. That it is the canton that legitimizes the federation and not the other way around: The proclamation of the Cartagena Canton After the abandonment of the Courts, the Public Health Committee that was established in Madrid under the presidency of Roque Barcia, thought about moving to Cartagena, «because no other city possessed the characteristics of its port, well sheltered and defended by a series of strong and artillery castles that made Cartagena invulnerable both by sea and by land.» The Public Health Committee constituted the War Commission, chaired by General Juan Contreras who undertook to revolt Cartagena, Valencia, Barcelona, Seville and Murcia. The insurrection began in Cartagena at five in the morning on 12 July, following the instructions of a "Revolutionary Public Salvation Junta" that had been set up an hour earlier on the initiative of a liaison with the committee from Madrid, Manuel Cárceles Sabater. The signal for the uprising was given by the Galeras Castle which fired a cannon, warning that the African regiment, which was going to relieve the garrison of volunteers, had retired. According to other versions of events, the cannon shot was the previously agreed signal to indicate to the frigate Almansa that the defenses had been taken. The chief of the fort's garrison, the postman Sáez, "in his eagerness to fly a red flag despite not having one, hoisted the Turkish flag believing that the crescent would not be seen, but the Navy commander saw it, communicating it to the Minister of the Navy [the telegram read: The castle of Galeras has raised the Turkish flag ]. A volunteer, watching over the prestige of the cause, opened a vein with the tip of his razor and stained the crescent with his blood, replacing the flag of Turkey with the red cantonal flag". At that same time, 5 a.m. on 12 July, a group of volunteers in charge of Cárceles invaded the town hall, installing the "Revolutionary Public Salvation Junta" on the ground floor while other groups occupied the gates of the city wall. Notified by the mayor of the city, the next day the civil governor of Murcia