Battle of Santiago (1863)

The Battle of Santiago (1863) was a battle during the Dominican Restoration War. On September 6, 1863, during the Restoration War, after an intense battle, the Spanish annexationist forces managed to enter the Plaza de Armas in Santiago. The Spanish were commanded by General Juan Suero and Colonel Manuel Cappa, who had entered Santiago de los Caballeros with a column of three thousand men from Puerto Plata. The Spanish troops totaled 900 men, with other commanders consisting of Brigadier Buceta, Generals Hungría, Alfau and Achile Michel and gunner José María López. The days prior to the battle, the restoration troops commanded by Gregorio Luperón, Benito Monción, Gregorio de Lora and Gaspar Polanco had surrounded the city of Santiago, forcing the withdrawal of about a thousand Spanish soldiers who had arrived from Puerto Plata to reinforce the annexationist troops. This battle, however, was not without casualties. In the battles of Santiago, in addition to General Gregorio de Lora, other Dominican officers died. The Spanish also killed General Luperón's horse.

Battle of Santiago (1863)
Part of the Dominican Restoration War
Illustration of the Spanish bayonet charge to Dominican rebels in the Battle of Santiago (1863).
Date September 6-13, 1863 Location Santiago, Dominican Republic Result Dominican victory

The Dominicans victory marked the beginning of the end of the annexation of the Dominican Republic to Spain. Following this event, the restorers proceeded to draft the Act of Independence (1863), which would declared the restoration of the Dominican Republic.

Battle

San Luis Fortress, the central setting of the bloody siege on the city.

The “Manual of Dominican Military History” specifies that on September 6, 1863, the restorers had the following device:

General Gregorio de Lora marched with a column along General Valverde Street; Colonel Benito Monción, from El Castillo, directed the artillery; General Gregorio Luperón marched with another column along Juan Francisco García Street and General Gaspar Polanco, Chief of Operations, marched along La Barranca or Iglesia Street with two artillery pieces.

At 2am the attack began. The restoration troops tried to force hand-to-hand combat, because the great majority were armed with machetes, which was the master weapon of the Dominicans. However, they were repelled by the fire of the artillery and enemy infantry, and the Dominican troops retreated.

At 9 am, the restoration troops launched a new attack, in which General Gregorio de Lora, with his column, reached the gate of the fortress, being mortally wounded by enemy fire.

In view of this circumstance, General de Lora’s column was added to that of General Luperón, who attempted a new attack, but was again repelled by the fire of the enemy artillery and infantry. Two new attempts to take the Fort by force of arms were repelled by the Spanish, who maintained impenetrable defensive positions, thanks to their technologically more advanced weapons.

In the heat of battle, General Gaspar Polanco received information that General Juan Suero and Colonel Manuel Cappa were at the Jacagua Creek. The two had come from Puerto Plata to help the Spanish garrison, which was besieged in the San Luis Fortress, and he estimated that an attack on the rear of his practically unarmed troops would be a mortal blow, because if the Spanish garrison that was in the San Luis Fortress had resisted the onslaught of the assaults, a reinforcement of more than 3,000 men with all their strength would cause their morale to rise and could destroy the ground they had gained until then.

Given this situation, it was decided to set fire to Santiago, and shortly after the flames began to burn, loud explosions were heard from the stills that were operating in the city. General Gaspar Polanco left some troops under the command of General Gregorio Luperón to maintain the siege of Fort San Luis and with the majority of the troops, he went out to meet General Juan Suero and Colonel Manuel Cappa. Likewise, Polanco ordered his forces to occupy the forts of Dios, Patria and Libertad, and an artillery on the right flank of Fort Dios, taking advantage of the cover of a forest in that place.

The military report states that at 1:00 p.m. on September 6, a unique battle began in which the Dominican troops had to resort to knives, since their ammunition had run out, but they had a powerful resource left: the weather conditions, since the suffocating heat caused many Spaniards to fall suffocated in the heat of combat. The Isabel II Battalion attacked the center and the First Battalion of the Crown attacked and took Fort Dios, aided by artillery.”

Having achieved this objective, the Spanish attacked Fort Patria, but were repelled by Dominican troops thanks to the effective fire of an artillery piece that surprised the Spanish with shots, practically at point-blank range, which caused heavy casualties to the enemy, preventing them from penetrating through that place. The Corona Battalion, the Madrid Battalion, the Cuban Battalion and the artillery attacked and took Fort Libertad, after a 4-hour battle that cost the enemy 153 casualties, between dead and wounded.”

According to the military report, sometime during the evening hours, the Spanish column took refuge in the Main Church, which along with the Old Jail were the only buildings that were saved from the fire, managing to penetrate the barriers established by the patriots. For the benefit of the restoration cause, the Spanish garrison of Fort San Luis did not find out about the latest events until the next day, when General Juan Suero and Colonel Manuel Cappa joined the besieged Spanish troops.

Aftermath

The military version highlights that the result of the latest battles in Santiago caused the Creole troops to become discouraged, and they retreated in different directions, temporarily losing unity. Referring to the events in Santiago, General Gregorio Luperón, in his Historical Notes, states:

Both contenders made brave efforts and gave examples of heroism on that memorable day, which will never be erased from the history of the war, nor from the memory of those who had the immense glory of witnessing them. The rifle and cannon discharges were fired at close range, and the besieged repelled the attackers with the tips of their bayonets and with streams of shrapnel.

In the book History of the Restoration, historian Pedro María Archambault reveals:

It was extremely curious to contemplate those columns of patriots: some with lances, some with old rifles, several with blunderbusses from all eras; others with pistols of all kinds, the rest with machetes and not a few with large clubs; but the revolutionaries had acquired the bold vigor that continuous victories give and with the bravery inspired by the wars of independence, they launched themselves into the fight with the disadvantages of weapons, but with the indomitable fearlessness and immense joy of giving their lives for their country.

See also

• Grito del Capotillo
• Dominican Restoration War