Battle of Monte Cristi

The Battle of Montecristi was fought on 15 May 1864 in the Dominican Republic, during the War of Restoration (1863–65) between Dominican separatists and Spain. A Spanish force of 6,000 troops supported by 13 cannons, commanded by General José La Gándara, appointed captain-general of Santo Domingo since March, confronted the Dominican separatists commanded by Benito Monción. The latter, who took refuge in the town of Monte Cristi, suffered a defeat and were forced to retreat, but not without inflicting disproportionate casualties on their opponents. The future Spanish general Fernando Primo de Rivera y Sobremonte was wounded during the fighting.

This battle is the most significant victory won by Spain in this conflict during the year 1864. The Dominicans subsequently evaded direct confrontations and opted for a relentless guerrilla tactic which forced the Spaniards to confine themselves to Santo Domingo, the capital.

Realizing that the reconquest of the island promised to be costly and uncertain, Spain gave up its enterprise and Queen Isabella II of Spain authorized the abandonment of the colony on 3 May 1865.

Occupation of the city by the independentists
On August 17, 1863, Captain Federico de Jesús García de la Cruz from Guayubín improvised an army with the peons who accompanied him, marched on San Fernando de Monte Cristi, and at 2:00 p.m. m. he took possession of the city and its fortress. The improvised column proclaimed Federico de Jesús García as Commander of Arms and the city remained under the control of the independentists while the revolution spread throughout the island.

When the insurrection appeared in its true form, the opinion of the Spaniards of Santo Domingo was general that it was advisable to send forces to Monte-Christi, because it was known that through that port, only four hours away by navigation from Haiti, they received the insurgent aid of mouth and war, in exchange for the products of the country that they exported through him. It was believed that by depriving them of that point, the insurrection would languish to the point of ending its existence.

Preparations from Cuba
Lieutenant General Don Domingo Dulce y Garay, Superior Civil Governor and Captain General of the Captaincy General of Cuba.

On March 30, 1864, Lieutenant General José de la Gándara assumed command as Superior Civil Governor and Captain General of Santo Domingo, replacing the former Carlist militant, Carlos de Vargas y Cerveto , and among the instructions of the appointment, De la Gándara was empowered so that together with the Superior Civil Governor and Captain General of Cuba , Lieutenant General Domingo Dulce y Garay , they put all their personal efforts to successfully take San Fernando de Monte Cristi , and once and for all quell the rebellion. With the appointment, 10,000 troops were sent to Santo Domingo , with their leaders and officers, organized into loose battalions, and in Havana the recruitment, training and organization of a column of 4,000 men began to join the expedition to San Fernando. of Monte Cristi.

On April 11, 1864, two Royal Orders were promulgated in which the appropriate provisions were issued so that from the Iberian Peninsula, Cuba and Puerto Rico, the expeditionary force that would go to San Fernando de Monte Cristi. The expedition had to be ready before autumn to prevent climate and disease from making war actions difficult. During the entire month of April and part of the month of May, the expedition was organized, which was made up of 7,000 men, with their corresponding provision of artillery, cavalry, engineers, health personnel, and sufficient supplies; all under the command of Brigadier from San Felipe and Santiago de Montevideo, Rafael Primo de Rivera y Sobremonte.

Arrival of reinforcements
On May 15, 1864, the entire expeditionary force met and the next day in the morning the entire force was disembarked, the terrain and the war zone were studied. The landing operations were carried out on the peninsula that separates Monte Cristi Bay from Manzanillo Bay. 7 battalions, 300 engineers, 2 companies of mountain artillerymen and 1 squadron of lancers were landed with all the material, livestock and tools necessary for the fight. The expeditionary troop was also protected by 10 armed boats and boats.

The Battle
On May 17, 1864, De la Gándara ordered a march along the bottom of Manzanillo Bay in order to surround the separatist positions stationed in San Fernando de Monte Cristi, to attack them from the rear, and cut the only point that the insurgents they had occupied, and which allowed them to withdraw towards Santiago de los Caballeros, but the rains of the previous days had bogged down the area, preventing the execution of that combat plan. Given the situation and taking advantage of the low tide, the troops were redirected and ordered to march along the shore of the beach to the mouth of the Yaque del Norte River. Upon reaching that point, the separatists began to shoot at them, however, the boats of the Royal Navy began to protect the ground troops, forcing the separatists to withdraw from the beach and take refuge on a nearby hill. After overcoming this obstacle, the Spaniards found that the Caño Santiago was swollen and they had to swim across it. There the Spaniards were attacked again by the separatists and a mountain battery was on the verge of being exterminated, since in the middle of the pass it was destroyed. saw it stuck inside the channel of the pipe, having to be helped by the battalions that had already crossed the stream and after having overcome the jam, the 3 vanguard battalions began the advance towards the city where they fought with the insurgents, defeating them at a few hours after the start of the fight, supported by the rest of the battalions in the rear.

Initial situation
Plan of San Fernando de Monte Cristi from April 1, 1865. Work of Don José de La Gándara.

De la Gándara during the evaluation of the results of the campaign and with the newly obtained victory wrote:

(...) the material results of this operation consist of having left the town, the forts and the trenches of Monte Cristi in our power, with thirteen pieces of artillery and having defeated an enemy that was believed to be truly impregnable in its positions.” advantageous; taking away the port that was most important to them, and through which they received most of the resources with which the revolution was sustained from their few hidden friends in Hayti and the Turks Islands. The moral effect that the taking of this important point had on the rebels must also be of consequence since among the official communications copied to their main leaders there is an order from the revolutionary government in which, when recommending to the enemy general the defense of Monte Cristi, He warned to preserve it at all costs since the fall of Monte Cristi could be considered the death of the revolution. I cannot judge the losses that the enemy has suffered, seven of our escaped prisoners who were employed in fortification work assure me that their dispersion and demoralization was complete, that they had many wounded, in addition to some dead who were at the site of the combat. ... ”

Then the Spanish tried to reconquer Santiago de los Caballeros, however the separatists blocked the road and were ambushed from the forests along the way by guerrillas led by Benito Monción along with Pedro Antonio Pimentel, so they had to give up the objective they had set. They had proposed taking its headquarters from the insurgent Government.

Later situation of the troops
As the days passed, the land army was subjected to innumerable needs and daily at all the points they controlled on the island they were attacked by the separatists. The diseases did not stop, and hunger began to devastate the Spanish camps. At the end of July, the commander of a merchant steamer that passed through Puerto Rico informed the authorities that the troops that garrisoned the fort of San Fernando de Monte Cristi lacked provisions and fresh meat, encountering many hardships and needs. De la Gándara was forced to order the temporary stationing of the troops in the city, and except for the occasional incursion of resistance, little by little a policy of quietism and waiting was adopted.

Failed attempt to retake the city
On May 24, 1864, as soon as the operations were concluded, a line of 1,500 separatists approached the Spanish line and attacked a Spanish infantry battalion, taking an entrenched fort in Laguna Verde. On May 30, 1864, a Spanish detachment that was on reconnaissance work received an unexpected attack from a detachment of 1,200 separatists that they managed to repel soon, but when they were returning to the city they were attacked again and had to order an untimely retreat to the camp. The same day another infantry column was attacked in the town of El Peladero.