Battle of Arroyo Bermejo

The Battle of Arroyo Bermejo (also known as the Combat of Arroyo Bermejo or Action of Arroyo Bermejo) was a military confrontation that took place on September 29, 1863, occurring in the Bermejo River in Don Juan, town of Monte Plata, within the framework of the Dominican Restoration War during the reign of Isabel II of Spain, where the Spanish royal army, led by Lieutenant General Pedro Santana faced against the troops of the Dominican liberation army of General Gregorio Luperón.

Battle of Arroyo Bermejo
Part of the Dominican Restoration War
Date September 23, 1863 Location Monte Plata, Dominican Republic Result Dominican victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Spain	Dominican Republic
Commanders and leaders
Pedro Santana	Gregorio Luperón Dionisio Troncoso Santiago Mota Pedro Faustino Royer Olegario Tenares
Strength
1,500 soldiers 2 pieces of artillery	Unknown

The events of the revolution that took place in August 1863 in the border towns with Haiti and in the Cibao gave rise to the superior civil governor and captain general of Santo Domingo, Felipe Rivero to conceive the plan of undertaking an expedition to the Cibao with a division headed by General Pedro Santana, following the same tactics usually followed constantly with respect to the disturbances in times of the republic and which always gave the desired result. That expedition made up of peninsulars and Dominicans had among its objectives to cross the central mountain range, destroy the revolution along with its campaign started in the Cibao and assist the forces in the city of Santiago. This plan was seen by the supporters of the Spanish monarchy as a hope, while for the supporters of independence it was a cause for concern.

The battle would result in the victory of the independentists, and the withdrawal of the royalist forces towards the city of Santo Domingo. The victory of the liberating army is widely known due to the apocryphal story narrated in the work of Major General Gregorio Luperón, Autobiographical Notes and Historical Notes, where a parallel is made between Generals Santana and Luperón. Currently the battle is commemorated by the Permanent Commission of Patriotic Anniversaries and the Ministry of Defense of the Dominican Republic, the mayor's office and the government of Monte Plata following the narrative of the apocryphal story.

Background

Spanish expedition plan to Cibao

Expedition project

Captain General Felipe Rivero y Lemoine, when he received the initial news of the insurrection that had broken out in the towns on the Dominican-Haitian border and its expansion to Santiago, knew of the importance of coming with forces to annihilate the focus of revolution. Captain General Felipe Rivero, finding himself without troops, waiting for aid from the Antilles and with little and uncertain news regarding the events in Santiago, also unaware that most of the troops that had arrived from Cuba had gone towards Santiago from the city of Puerto Plata, felt the need to act effectively and quickly in his almost desperate state, and would consult with General Pedro Santana, Marquis de las Carreras, the most knowledgeable and prestigious man on the island. In this interview with Santana, the plan for an expedition to Cibao emerged, so that by going through the interior of the island he could revive confidence in the towns and destroy rebel propaganda.

This expedition project was announced in the newspapers of the City of Santo Domingo on September 12 under the following conditions:

Troops from Monte Plata and Bayaguana, led by General D. Juan Contreras, headed for San Pedro, a point that appears to be the one designated for the meeting of the expeditionary army, which according to our reports is to march on La Vega, under the orders of His Excellency General D. Pedro Santana, who will resume command of the entire Cibao.

According to Lieutenant General José de la Gándara, the expedition would cross the central mountain range, pass through the town of Bonao or the town of Cotuí and end by marching to Santiago.

Preparations for the expedition

Captain General Rivero and Santana, by withdrawing detachments and stripping out places of secondary importance, managed to assemble a column of 2,100 men. The column was made up of the Bailén hunter battalion, from San Marcial, part of that of Vitoria, a company of engineers, two mountain pieces, sixty horses from the Santo Domingo hunter squadron, four hundred infantry volunteers and the fifth part were 500 cavalry men from the reserves of the town of San Cristóbal. The column would be reinforced with a contingent similar to that of San Cristóbal with the reserves of the town of El Seibo that during the march would be destined to join the column.

Invasion

March of troops under Pedro Santana

On the morning of the September 15, 1863, Santana left the capital in front of the column and was received by the troops in Pajaritos amidst the greatest enthusiasm, and the march began at approximately two in the afternoon. After a short rest in Poma Rosa, they arrived at Sabana Mojarra at dusk, where they camped in front of the Yábacao River. The Spanish troops began their march on the morning of the 16th and at ten o' clock they reached the banks of the Yábacao River, where passage would be difficult due to its width, depth, and the strong current produced by the rain. After crossing the obstacle, they continued advancing to Sabana Yuna, where the troops would spend the night suffering the rain.

At eight o'clock in the morning on the September 17, the march continued towards the town of Monte Plata, the place where the insurgents were said to be meeting, arriving at midday at Sábana del Río Socoa, from where the Marquis of the Carreras would order a company of Bailén and the cavalry to march on a forced march to reach Monte Plata before the insurgents took possession of the town. The column left in the same direction two hours later, entering the town at dusk to the sound of music and with flags unfurled, and forming up in the main square, the secretary of Santana, the reserve colonel José María Pérez, read a proclamation calling all the inhabitants to arms so that together with the Spanish troops they would fight the rebellion.

Setbacks and details

In a shocking turn of events, Santana found himself deserted by one of former supporters, Pedro Valverde (pictured).

The Spanish troops were exhausted and worn out, as if they had spent many days walking when the journey they covered was not very long and easy under normal circumstances. The situation of the troops would worsen due to the poor conditions of the camp, the prolonged rains, and the effects of humidity and heat, mainly. The Spanish troops were in the open because there the tents were rarely used in waterlogged territory and there was a shortage of food, in addition the reserves from El Seibo were delayed and waiting for them aggravated the setbacks, the number of sick people and food. Due to the lack of transport, the sick could not evacuate the camp and that would cause a crowding of them. Santana was beginning to get impatient and asked Captain General Rivero to remedy his need, hoping that Captain General Rivero was being asked the same from all sides.

One of the companions of Santana, Pedro Valverde, who was being held as a political prisoner, was widely considered by public opinion to be the instigator of the revolution and, taking advantage of the discontent that was beginning to arise in the ranks of the reserves, he would encourage many residents from San Cristóbal to desert, which began to happen with unexpected speed. When Santana decided to undertake operations, he received the news of the capitulation of Santiago, which caused a deep sensation. The commander of the General Staff, Rodríguez Rivera, arrived in Monte Plata with the order of Captain General Rivero for the column to return to the capital, but Santana did not obey this order, and he gathered his corps chiefs together, telling them that having the insurgents nearby and without having entered into combat seemed to him to have a bad effect on complying with this order, as it could influence the discredit of the Government, and he gave the opinion of trying his luck by going in search of separatists. This opinion was unanimously accepted and the necessary arrangements were taken to carry it out.

Battle

On September 29, 1863, the camp of Monte Plata was moved, leaving a small force there; the march was undertaken to attack the enemy because according to reports they occupied the formidable position of the Bermejo River with respectable forces, however the number of the independentists is not known because they are generally hidden in the thick of the woods and could not be easily counted. At ten in the morning, as soon as the Spanish column appeared over the Bermejo River gorge and were seen by the Dominican independentist troops of Colonel Dionisio Troncoso from that formidable position, they were received with a strong volley of rifle fire, proving the imposing forces of the liberating army. The Spanish forces responded to the attack by immediately launching themselves towards the river and were contained by the shrapnel fire from two pieces of artillery, and when the royal army was given the signal to attack, the columns advanced, taking the camps burned by the rebels and continuing their pursuit to the abutments of the Sillón de la Viuda. At five in the afternoon the insurgents were no longer present and the Spanish camped in the new position.

Aftermath

On the morning of the 30th he began the march on San Pedro, which was taken without resistance. He continued in the afternoon under heavy rain towards La Luisa, which was supposed to be occupied by General Eusebio Manzueta with rebel forces. However, having arrived without encountering resistance, he camped at this point where he would spend the night. On October 1, he left several men from the reserves and from Bailén in that town under the orders of General José María Pérez Contreras. The column continued towards the town of Sanguino, a place that was reached without incident, and then crossed the Ozama River.

Historiography

In the 1890s, Gregorio Luperón wrote in his Autobiographical Notes and Historical Notes, where he partly narrates the events of the war in the third person. In chapter five, he says that:

Three or four hours after the Government was installed on September 14, 1863, General Juan Alvarez Cartagena arrived in Santiago, sent by General Manuel Mejía, Governor of La Vega, to report that General Santana was marching with six thousand men to the Cibao.

However, Pedro Santana would not leave with his division until September 15. Later in the book he relates the following:

Impressed and half stunned, all the members of the Government met in council and decided that General Salcedo, as President, should march immediately to the Province of La Vega, to gather and train forces to confront General Santana; but that General declined such an honor, claiming that he had to meet Generals Polanco, Monción and Pimentel, to inform them of the fulfillment of the mission they had entrusted to him; and in view of this refusal, the Government summoned Luperón, who immediately presented himself.

The narrative goes on to say that General Luperón accepted but on the condition that the Government declared Santana a "traitor to the country" and that he be removed from the protection of republican laws, subsequently showing that he was named head of all the forces in the east and south along with the decree referring to Santana, however none of that happened on the 14th, and on the 15th, General Luperón had himself named by the ministry as head of operations over Bonao, while President José Antonio Salcedo was absent. As soon as President Salcedo returned to Santiago on the 25th, General Luperón was told that he would immediately leave for the war-threatened zone to direct operations. Regarding the decree accusing the Santana of " high treason " accompanied by the death penalty, it was issued on December 25 and at the time the decree was issued, General Luperón was in barracks in the town of Sabaneta, as a result of having been subjected to a court martial in the south, caused by the mistakes he made in his campaign in the south.

The book went on to relate that General Luperón found Colonel Troncoso and his troops at Sillón de la Viuda, evicted from the Bermejo River after their defeat by Santana, and it is said that General Luperón sought out the Spaniards, evicting them from the Bermejo River, and at four in the morning of the following day he would confront Santana. The text goes on to say:

Bermejo separated the hero of the past from the hero of the future, and as night fell General Santana left part of the troops in Bermejo and retreated with the rest to San Pedro. Luperón crossed the stream, defeated the rearguard, took some prisoners, and before dawn, his guerrillas opened fire on San Pedro. General Santana retreated to Guanuma, and Luperón occupied San Pedro.

He goes on to say that the battle took place between September 30 and October 1 at the Bermejo River, there was more than a battle, a real battle, which was where General Pedro Santana was defeated on September 29, this battle being mentioned by both the infantry captain Ramón González Tablas, General José de la Gándara and Santana himself. In Guanuma on October 2, General Luperón also entered the battle, decisively defeating the Spanish forces Santana there.

See also

• Battle of Guayacanes
• Battle of Jura
• Pedro Santana