We deal with a well-known topic in Galicia. To try to understand this event that we remember today, it is necessary to know the historical context surrounding the Galician Liberal Revolution of 1846. Historically, this event has been considered one of the seeds of current Galician nationalism (11), considering it as the moment in which “Galicia awakes and realizes it a Colony of the Court” (3). Although some currents affirm that it is only a myth of nationalism (8). The debate about the myth or not myth (9) is not an important topic for Galicia Alive, unless the historical events themselves. Let us then begin to see the events that led to this military uprising within the borders of Galicia (1).
CONTEXT & BACKGROUND
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- REGENCY OF MARÍA CRISTINA
- Carlist War I [Guerra Carlista I]
- Political Instability: Multiple Governments
- Constitution of 1837
- Revolutions during the Regency of María Cristina
- REGENCY OF GENERAL ESPARTERO
- Revolutions during the Regency of Espartero
- REIGN OF ELIZABETH II
- Moderate Decade
- Revolutionary Boards in Galicia
- Revolutions during the Reign of Elizabeth II
- Constitution of 1845
- REGENCY OF MARÍA CRISTINA
GALICIAN LIBERAL REVOLUTION OF 1846
GALICIAN LIBERAL REVOLUTION OF 1846 (Full post)
CONTEXT & BACKGROUND
The Galician Revolution of 1846 occurred in a very turbulent historical period. Just started the Late Moderm Age, after the French Revolution of 1789, this Galician Revolution should also be included in the wave of Revolutions of 1845. These revolutionary movements were very common during the 19th century, there were different revolutionary movements in Europe and also in America. These revolutions and proclamations are usually grouped into three waves: Revolutions of 1820, Revolutions of 1830 and Revolutions of 1845.
The historical periods that we will deal with here are just after the Carlist War I (1833-1840). Events took place after the Regency of María Cristina de Borbón y Dos Sicilias, the Proclamation of General Joaquín Baldomero Fernández Espartero Álvarez de Toro and his subsequent Regency and the Uprising of General Ramón María Narváez y Campos together with the premature coming of age of Queen María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias (Isabel II) are events that led to the propitious situation for the Galician Revolution of 1846 (7)(8)(11) .
REGENCY OF MARÍA CRISTINA
The Regency of María Cristina covers a fairly long period of time in which highly relevant events are included. Among them are the Carlist War I, whose trigger was the abolition of the Salic Law, which allowed the infantaMaría Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias to accede to the throne “despite not being a man”. If Ferdinand VII hadn’t been abolished the Salic Law, the legitimate king would have been his brother Carlos María Isidro Benito de Borbón.
REGENCY OF MARÍA CRISTINA: Carlist War I
The Carlist War I began on October 2, 1833. In this war, supporters of María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias fought against supporters of Carlos María Isidro Benito de Borbón because both sides considered their supported the legitimate successor of Ferdinand VII. In addition, the Carlist side had the financial support of Prussia, the Russian Empire and the Austrian Empire. For its part, the side of the Elizabethans or “Christianians” had the support of Great Britain, France and Portugal.
At a territorial level, Euskadi and Navarra mostly supported the suitor Carlos because of his traditionalism, because of the support he gave to the local Catholic Church and because of the suitor’s support for the fueros (which is a special Treasury treatment). Aragon and Catalonia saw this war as an opportunity to recover their lost rights after the War of the Spanish Succession.
On the other side, liberals and moderates came together to support María Cristina and her daughter Elizabeth. They controlled the main institutions of the state, most of the army and all the important cities.
In the words of Vicente Pérez Galdós:
“ancient Spain, represented by the inept brother of Ferdinand VII, and modern Spain, symbolized by an innocent girl and a young, beautiful, helpless, sweet and magnanimous widow, who had known how to soften the heart of the monster with her tenderness destiny bound her”
The conflict ended on July 6, 1840. With the end of the Carlist War, problems did not end. Power struggles continued within the people who supported Queen Elizabeth II: the Moderate Liberals and the Progressive Liberals.
REGENCY OF MARÍA CRISTINA: Political instability: Multiple governments
Proof of the convulsive situation that existed in this period were the short periods of time that the legislatures endured, reaching more than one legislature per year:
| 1835 | Legislature 1835-1836 |
| 1836 | 1836 Legislature |
| 1836 | Legislature 1836-1837 |
| 1837 | Legislature 1837-1838 |
The confrontation between moderates and progressives prevented the normal and calm application of the rules of the Royal Statute, which led to the Mutiny of La Granja Sergeants in August 1836. This forced the restoration of the Cadiz Constitution of 1812 during the Regent María Cristina, since a new progressive government, putting an end to the brief existence of the Royal Statute, whose epitaph Larra wrote: “he lived and died in a minute”.
The promulgation of the Constitution of 1812 admitted the modifications that the passage of time could make necessary. To this end, new Courts, expressly elected as constituents in October 1837, began preparations for the constitutional reform.
The succession of governments, in the constant pressure of the progressives on the Regent, more favorable to the moderate position, and in the continuous tension between the two main political forces, each with its corresponding military support. This internal disintegration of the Liberals meant that the Carlist problem was not resolved until the Embrace of Vergara between Maroto and Espartero, on August 31, 1839, in its main area of conflict, leaving other fronts open until July 6, 1840.
| 1838 | Legislature 1838-1839 |
| 1839 | 1839 Legislature |
| 1840 | 1840 Legislature |
| 1840 | 1840 Legislature |
| 1840 | 1840 Legislature |
| 1840 | 1840 Legislature |
REGENCY OF MARÍA CRISTINA: Constitution of 1837
The Constitution of 1837 was the work of progressives. However, it is no less true that it was a conciliatory text, which accepted the incorporation of some postulates of the moderate party, such as the existence of an Upper House or that the members of the Executive belonged to the Parliament, instead of the unicameralism and the pure division of powers established by the Constitution of Cádiz.
On the other hand, the Constitution articulated the principle of separation of powers in a flexible way, thus allowing collaboration between the Government and the Courts.
Among the rights that were included are personal liberty, the home inviolability, freedom of expression, criminal and procedural guarantees, the right to petition, equal access to public office and, of course, the guarantees of the right proprietary.
In its organic aspect, the most outstanding feature was the autonomy of the Cortes from the King.
The regime established by Constitution of 1837 was that of a constitutional Monarchy. On the one hand, it reinforced the powers of the King, ratifying the faculties, already provided for in the Royal Statute, of summoning and dissolving the Chamber, as well as the right of veto.
The Courts were made up of two co-legislative bodies with equal powers: the Congress of Deputies and the Senate.
The Senate had a mixed composition: on the one hand, there were elective-based senators, appointed by the King from among those included in a triple list made up of the same voters who attended the elections to Congress, whose mandate was for 9 years, being renewed by thirds every three years. On the other hand, there were senators in their own right, who were the sons of the King and the immediate heir to the Crown from the age of twenty-five.
REGENCY OF MARÍA CRISTINA: Revolutions during this period
During the Regency of María Cristina there were military uprisings with various demands.
For example, in 1838, a conspiracy was planned in Seville. Personalities such as General Ramón María Narváez y Campos (25), vice president of the Board, or General Luis Fernández de Córdova Valcárcel (24) were part of the Revolutionary Board (24). General Sanjuanena went to Seville in December 1838 and found that Deputy Álvarez was another of those who made up the Revolutionary Board, catching him infranganti, without having sufficient authority to arrest him.
Later, (22) (21) General Sanjuanena enters the city of Seville through the Triana gate, trying to reach Plaza de San Francisco with about 40 men opposing his passage by order of General Narváez. The opposition was in vain because of the will of General Sanjuanena, dissolving the Board and resign the command.
REGENCY OF ESPARTERO
The Moderate Government presented on March 21, 1840 the Bill of Organizations and Attributions of the City Councils. Moderate liberals didn’t want the mayors to be elected by popular election, unless by the King or political head of the province. Whoever controlled the town halls obtained an advantage in the general elections, the progressive liberals feared losing the control over the town halls.
The Law was sanctioned by the Regent María Cristina de Borbón Dos Sicilias on July 14 and published on July 21, 1840 despite violating article 70 of the Constitution of 1837.
On September 1, 1840, popular revolts broke out throughout Spain, under the instigation of progressives. In Madrid the Provisional Governing Board was established, headed by the City Council, the People and the National Militia, who they took up arms, swearing not to let them go until the Governor Queen repealed the City Council Law and dissolved the Courts.
The Liberal Declaration of General Baldomero Espartero, of September 7, 1840, where the Central Governing Board presided over by Vicente Ramón Alsina Selisis, son of the Catalan businessman Antonio Alsina from Arenys de Mar.
On September 13, 1840, the Provincial Government Board of Lugo was formed by the progressives of that city chaired by José Ramón Becerra Llamas (Navia de Suarna 1775 – Lugo 1870), who, following the example of the Madrid Board, proceeded to purge the moderates of public office position. Likewise, local boards were established in Mondoñedo, Ribadeo, Viveiro and Monforte and Sarria in the province of Lugo.
On September 19, the Provisional Governing Board of the Province of Madrid set conditions for Regent María Cristina to stop armed conflict.
On September 20, 1840, by Decree of the Provisional Governing Board of the Province of Madrid, moderates were purged by removing them from public office. Said Decree was published by the Gaceta de Madrid (Madrid Gazette) on September 21, 1840.
The boards created in other provinces, including Lugo’s one, were intended to be subordinated to the Central Board of Galicia established on September 27, which had a short existence, since the decrees of the Regency of October 13 and 14 ordered the cessation of all of them and the renewal of the provincial councils.
Also The Court were dissolved by the Decree of October 11, 1840, although their sessions were suspended on July 25 due to the ministerial changes of the Queen Governor. The following day María Cristina refused to sign the manifesto proposed by the Provisional Governing Board and she went into exile in France from Valencia, leaving his minor daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, in Spain.
On October 17, 1840, with the Regent María Cristina de Borbón y Dos Sicilias in exile, it begins the Regency of General Joaquín Baldomero Fernández Espartero Álvarez de Toro.
| 1841 | General Elections Summoned by General Espartero or December 21, 1840 |
| 1841 | Courts summoned by the Regent Espartero |
| 1841 | 1841 Legislature |
| 1841 | Legislature 1841-1842 |
| 1842 | Breast Cuts by Decree |
| 1842 | Start Courts: On November 14, 1842, the sessions of the Courts corresponding to the Legislature of 1843 began. |
| 1842 | 1842 Legislature |
On October 13, Baldomero Espartero suspended the application of the Law of City Councils, approved in the Courts and sanctioned by the Crown and by Decree of the 14th. It is ordered new Courts to meet on March 1 from 1841.
In those Courts, in Session of May 10, 1841, Baldomero Espartero, as Regent of the Kingdom, swore the Constitution of 1837 and loyalty to Queen Elizabeth II.
On July 22 and 23, 1843, General Ramón María Narváez faced the Esparterist troops led by General Antonio Seoane in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid). At the beginning of the battle, Seoane’s troops mutinied and joined to the enemy’s ones, which determined the definitive triumph of the uprising and the end of the Regency of Espartero, who left for exile in London from Puerto de Santa María on June 30, 1843 with his in of his supporters.
REGENCY OF ESPARTERO: Revolutions during this period
During Regency of Espartero, political instability and uprisings were also common.
Between September 27 and October 7, 1841, the military uprising of the moderates promoted and subsidized by the former Regent of the Kingdom María Cristina de Borbón from Paris, which became known as the Proclamation of October 1841, as its main events took place that month in the Villa of Madrid and Court.
The Proclamation had two phases and was developed in different geographical points; on September 27, Leopoldo O’Donnell Jorris rose up in Pamplona; on October 4, Gregorio Piquero Argüelles and Manuel Montes de Oca in Vitoria.
An especially critical event was one that happened on October 7, 1841. In this event Diego de León y Navarrete, Manuel de la Concha and Juan González de Pezuela assaulted the Palacio de Oriente in Madrid with the intention of kidnapping Queen Elizabeth II. The purpose of the Proclamation is explained by Diego de León in a letter to the Regent of the Kingdom on October 13, 1841 at the Casa de Correos (Mail House) de Madrid:
“… Mr. Don Baldomero Espartero. Dear Sir, Having sent me Y.M. the Queen Governor of the Kingdom, Doña María Cristina de Borbón, to restore her authority, usurped and trampled due to the events that, out of consideration for you, I won’t refrain…”
As a justification for the Proclamation it was stated that Queen Elizabeth II had been kidnapped by the progressives by entrusting her education to the Political Lawyer and Diplomat Agustín Argüelles Álvarez and to Juana María de la Vega Martínez, Countess of Espoz y Mina, who was the wife of the military Francisco Espoz y Mina, writer and prominent activist of the Progressive Liberalism that turned his house on Rúa Real in A Coruña into the sanctuary of the progressive cause.
From May 27 to July 30, 1843, the so-called Proclamation of General Ramón María Narváez, leader of the Moderate Party, who returned from exile in Paris with other related soldiers, via Valencia, since his participation in the Proclamation of October 1841.
Narváez rise up against the Regent Baldomero Espartero and his Ayacuchos clique, known name for his comrades-in-arms with whom he fought in Peru. The moderates led the military uprising with the collaboration of the progressives, including General Francisco Serrano y Domínguez (San Fernando, Cádiz 1810 – Madrid 1885).
The proclamation began on May 27, 1843 in Reus when the progressive military Juan Prim y Prat and Lorenzo Milans del Bosch, rose up in arms in Barcelona and all of Levante, Seville, which was bombed by General Van Halen spreading the proclamation throughout Spain.
REIGN OF ISABEL II
This period, when Elizabeth II assumes by herself the leadership of the Kingdom of Spain, begins precisely with the coming of age of Isabel II with only 13 years, which was granted to her especially by the Courts. That statement violated the Constitution of 1837 that set the coming of age at 17 years. The vote in favor of the coming of age was recorded in Act number 174 of the Courts, held on November 8, 1843 (18). The result will be published two days later, on November 10, 1843. This was done to avoid a third regency. In 1843, General Narváez returned to Valencia and on July 23, 1843 entered into Madrid, defeating Seoane’s Esparteristist troops in Torrejón de Ardoz, replacing Joaquín María López as President of the goverment.
REIGN OF ISABEL II: Moderate Decade
With the beginning of the Reign of Elizabeth II, she was proclaimed queen on November 10, 1843 when she came of age of 13 years old. The first period of her reign is known as the Moderate Decade, because the government was dominated by the moderate party.
The Government of Ramón María Narváez Martínez had to face the progressive party and, in addition, the military proclamations against the government. One of the consequences of the triumph of the Narváez proclamation was the return from exile of the Queen Mother, María Cristina of Borbón dos Sicilias, in February 1844. She led one of the cliques that influenced Queen Elizabeth II in moderate liberalism.
The constitutional precepts were adapted to the Electoral Law of March 18, 1846 that restricted the active suffrage that was conditioned to Spaniards over 25 years of age who paid 400 reals of direct contribution and to certain professional categories that paid half.
The reform of the fiscal system contained in the Budget Law of May 23, 1845 which elaborated Alejandro Mon y Menéndez with it the bankrupt Spanish Treasury as a result of the Carlist Wars was reorganized, this reform was maintained until 1900 when it was replaced by that of Raimundo Fernández Villaverde.
| 1843 | 1843 Legislature |
| 1843 | Legislature 1843-1844 |
| 1844 | Elections |
| 1844 | Legislature 1844-1845 |
| 1845 | Legislature 1845-1846 |
| 1846 | Legislature 1846-1847 |
REIGN OF ISABEL II: Revolutionary Boards in Galicia
In Galicia, local revolutionary boards were assumed by municipal power. On June 18, 1843 the Board of A Coruña was formed; on July 19, that of Lugo; on July 12, the Ferrol; on 21, the Vigo and Ourense , and July 24, Santiago de Compostela.
The Progressive Party, as in the rest of Spain, was divided between the supporters of Espartero and his clique from Ayacuchos and its detractors.
The esparteristas were the majority in Lugo and Pontevedra. The Army rose up in favor of Espartero in Ferrol and Vigo. The Provincial Board of Lugo ended up leaning decisively against Espartero.
The moderates positioned themselves against Espartero and were the majority in A Coruña, Ourense and Santiago.
The Board of Lugo on July 11, 1843 promoted Benito María Plá First Commander of the National Militia.
On July 15, 1843 the Central Board of Galicia was created, also located in the city of Lugo.
During the revolutions of 1843, in some places of Galicia those who had been humiliated and oppressed in September 1840 took revenge, suffering the same or worse fate. The case of the fight between Noia and A Pobra do Caramiñal left a terrible bloodshed.
REIGN OF ISABEL II: Revolutions during this period
Things did not calm down during the official reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
From September to November 1843, a progressive riot took place in Barcelona and it was called La Jamancia. The Jamancios took up arms against the Government, being the first popular uprising against the liberal state in Spain. During this riot, the city was bombed and besieged by order of the Captain General of Catalonia, José Laureano Sanz y Soto de Alfairzaz, attributed to General Juan Prim y Prat, who was besieging Gerona at the time.
The Proclamation of Medina in Noia was harshly repressed.
On November 13, 1844, a new uprising took place, this time by progressives, led by General Martín Zurbano Baras, who spoke in Néjara, Logroño, proclaiming the reestablishment of the 1837 Constitution and the return of progressive liberalism and its maximum supporter Baldomero Espartero. The uprising failed due to the lack of initiative of the other esparterist military personnel involved in it from the other provinces of the Peninsula. In Galicia the Officers of the Regiment of Zamora unsuccessfully rose up, which that year 1844 was established as the garrison of A Coruña.
REIGN OF ISABEL II: Constitution of 1845
During the Moderate Decade, a period of time that extends approximately 10 years from the appointment of Elizabeth II as monarch of the Kingdom, a new constitution of was drawn up with a moderate court. Many of the citizen rights of the previous constitutions were reverted.
In the text of the Constitution of 1845 (26) the revolutionary formula of the nation’s sovereignty no longer appeared, as in the Constitutions of 1812 and 1837, coming back to the traditional historical formula of sovereignty shared by the Courts and the King. The domain of the Crown over the other institutions was articulated through the fundamental prerogative of being able to appoint the Chief of e Government and at the same time the power of dissolution of Courts. It was intended to be a moderating royal instrument, but in reality, and as the facts themselves would show, it favored partisan political situations, this being one of the main causes of the successive government crises and, in the end, of the degeneration of the system itself.
The 1845 Constitution was said in its Preamble to be a reform of the 1837 Constitution to perfect and deepen it in a liberal sense, but the truth is it was a radically new Constitution. The aimed was enhancing the position of the Crown and consolidating a moderate bourgeoisie that was looking for the right mean between revolutionary radicalism and the conservatism of the Old Regime.
GALICIAN LIBERAL REVOLUTION OF 1846
It was the year 1846(7), during the reign of Isabel II and under the yoke, tyranny and absolutism of General Ramón María Narváez. Galicia was going through extremely critical and alarming moments in all aspects. A new constitution had been born the previous year, reducing rights to the citizen. An electoral law limited the right to vote to people who could pay a certain amount.
Throughout Galicia protests and exclamations of reproach were heard about the regime that devastated Galicia with its centralist administration, whose high taxes constituted the ruin of the region. Contributions and taxes amounted to fabulous sums.
In 1846, the marriage of Queen Elizabeth II, barely 16 years old in November of the previous year, became a state issue with wide international repercussions. Various candidates presented themselves. On the part of Moderate Government of Narváez, the candidate was Francisco de Asís de Borbón y Borbón. His brother Enrique de Borbón y Borbón was the Progressive Party candidate and in particular for the Galician Progressivism, since he began his military career in Ferrol in 1840. In 1843 he was already a Ship Lieutenant and in 1845 a Frigate Captain.
During the years of his military career in Ferrol, Enrique de Borbón frequented the house of Juana María de la Vega, who was forced to stop being tutor to Queen Elizabeth II when General Narváez entered Madrid on July 26, 1843 and the Espartero Regency ended. The A Coruña house of Juana de la Vega on Calle Real became the center of progressive conspiracies. The Cadiz general Miguel Solís Cuetos was also a participant in the meetings at Juana de la Vega’s house.
The progressive candidate for marriage to the young Queen Elizabeth II had published a progressive manifesto on December 31, 1845. This publication was an excuse to banish him to a point in France until further notice, through the Royal Order of March 20, 1846. This was communicated to the Captain General of Galicia, with orders for its enforcement and providing him with the necessary means, so that Enrique de Borbón left the country at the end of 48 hours.
GALICIAN LIBERAL REVOLUTION OF 1846: Uprising
The Regiment of Zamora was garrisoned in A Coruña since 1844 (4), whose commanders were supporters of General Espartero. Due to the fear of a possible military uprising, the Government of Narváez made the decision to gradually move the regiment to Valladolid.
The second of these battalions arrived in Lugo on April 2, 1846(4). He took the initiative to rise up against the Government of Narváez. Being commanded by Commander Miguel Solís Cuetos, at first it was thought this uprising was under the orders of Espartero himself, but doubts soon dissipated.
GALICIAN LIBERAL REVOLUTION OF 1846: Solís’ Speech
The best way to get your own conclusions is to go to the primary sources. Is there any better way to know what General Miguel Solís Cuetos intended than by reading his uprising speech of May 2, 1846 in Lugo?:
Spanish people:
The honor, the glory, the salvation of an innocent queen, the consolidation of the institutions, the peace and fortune of the country call to you. Moments are precious, the slight delay adds you to the shame.
Thirty-eight years ago you gave Europe the example about your heroism. You have continuously shed the blood of so many sons to preserve the laurels del May 2; but all would be lost if today you don’t rush to save those same goals.
The queen and the country await their freedom from you. United under one flag, flee forever the spurious sons who with the decline of the nation humiliate you and sell you to your enemies.
Long live the free queen. Slave of a power that entrenched in the same fortress dictates for her laws in the shadow of a gang as cowardly as it is ominous, leading with the flattery, the hypocrisy and the vileness so perfidious to the point of disposing of the hand of his queen as of her will . Save her, and she will throw herself into your arms.
Out foreigners. The royal thalamus must not be allowed to be desecrated. Let the queen freely speak and her election will be as dignified as her Spanish decorum and pride is appropriate.
Surrounded the throne of pure Spaniards they will not hold her neck; and to work out its stability and ensure the happiness of the country, her talents and abundant means of good government will do see the Europe that, without neglecting good relations with the other states, Spain will no longer suffer from the policy outlined up to in the innermost by strange cabinets.
Stop dictatorships. The throne and the country, the unique powers marked in the Constitution of the monarchy are enough to save them; between the throne and the country there is no any foreign power that threatens this hour, then that one. The faithful observance of the Constitution of the monarchy, the exact fulfillment of the law, its application with dignity, the most severe responsibility, will give you the guarantee necessary and peace will be achieved.
All Spaniards! Under such a noble teaching you will obtain the fruit of so many sacrifices; make this last effort and that’s all.
There are no factions, there is no division, open the doors of the homeland to so many sons who, like you, shed their blood in defense of their queen and of the institutions, and outside of it today they mourn their emigration. Take refuge in this flag, come to the great work of our salvation forever. Oblivion the past. Enthusiasm in the postponement as worthy as it is great, hope for reconciliation, peace, happiness and fortune.
In order to fully carry out such a noble goal, listen submissively to the advice of the Central Board, as long as the meeting of the Constituent Courts can take place, his voice will lead you in the name of constitutional Elizabeth II, until the day comes, which is not far away, in which Y.M. can free, in union with the Courts themselves, consolidate once and for all the throne of her and the rights and independence of the nation.
Galician: Spaniards all: long live the free queen, long live the Constitution, foreigners out, stop the dictator Narváez, stop the tax system
Lugo, April 2, 1846 Acting Commanding General.
Miguel Solis Cuetos
GALICIAN LIBERAL REVOLUTION OF 1846: Development of events
In the days that followed, this information was published in various newspapers such as El Eco del Comercio de Madrid in its number of April 9, 1846, El Español and Clamor Público of April 12, 1846 (11) where they reproduced their intentions and motivations:
As the head of the uprising was the battalion chief (4) and not General Espartero, the military commanders of the other militar units did not support the sedition movement.
In A Coruña, headquarters of the Captaincy General, Captain General Francisco Puig Samper by Royal Order of the day April 3, 1846 was replaced by Juan de Villalonga.
On April 4, 1846 the Provincial Regiment of Zamora and a squadron of lancers rose up in Santiago de Compostela of Villaviciosa, who paraded greeting with the Himno de Riego after the proclamation.
Solís hoped a general upriging in the Plaza of A Coruña, but the interim captain general Juan de Villalonga took action against Solís and his followers. For this reason, he decides to close the roads to get into the city, thus aborting any possible uprising by the population or some other battalion that could be added in case of penetrating the city with his force and imprisoning all the radical progressives from A Coruña who were in favor of this coup.
The same 4 April 1846 the 1st and 3rd Battalions of Regiment of Zamora commanded by Francisco Puig Samper left A Coruña to go to Santiago de Compostela to confront the coup plotters in Lugo.
In the city of Sacrament, Lugo, the Arms and Defense Board was formed, chaired by the leader of the Progressive Party, Pío Rodríguez Terrazo. A few days later he created in Santiago de Compostela the Higher Board of the Government of Galicia (5).
In Santiago de Compostela, on April 5, 1846, the students of the University of the city issued a proclamation calling to arms. Antonio Romero Ortiz harangued the Compostela students by referring to the action of Alba de Tormes during the War of the Independence. Thus, a new Literary Battalion of the University of Santiago de Compostela was formed with two companies, although only the first could be armed.
On April 7, the Board of Santiago de Compostela appointed Miguel Solís Cuetos field marshal (7). A week later, on April 15, Leoncio de Rubín de Celís y Oroña was also promoted to field marshal, avoiding splitting problems and having two expeditionary divisions. The Government of Narváez had in those days A Coruña, Ourense and Ferrol under control.
On the same day, April 7, Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas harangued his supporters in Lugo before leaving for Santiago de Compostela (7):
Soldiers, three years of the most iniquitous despotism have passed us by; and in these three years a bastard power wanted to level us with the Janissaries of Constantinople, wanted to isolate you from the people of whom you are children; he wanted even more, because he tried to tear the entrails of the beloved country with your bayonets, now sharpened to defend the nation and its sacred rights… Only to guide you to victory, I have accepted the appointment of field marshal with which he has deigned honor me the meritorious Board de Santiago… Just to defend people and laws, I have put myself at your head; Just by sending soldiers like you, I have sworn before the face of the whole of Europe to restore the nationality of Spain and the independence of her children. Is it not true that in your heart there is only one single thought? Is it not true that on your lips there is only one cry? Yes, the freedom or death, companions!!
Francisco Puig Samper’s troops met Solís’ ones on April 8, 1846 in Sigüeiro when they were on their way to A Coruña along the Camino Real (Royal Way). The troops fraternized and there was no confrontation, so Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas asked Puig Samper to join the uprising and call a truce.
During this truce, the troops of Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas headed for Pontevedra, where Commander Manuel Buceta del Villar proclaimed the uprising on April 9, 1846.
On April 10, 1846 the Brigadier Leoncio Rubín de Celís y Oroña rose up in Vigo. The insurrection spread to Muros, Noia, A Pobra do Caramiñal, Ortigueira, Ribeira, Rianxo, Padrón, Caldas de Reyes, A Guarda and Tui, Lousame, Betanzos et cetera (7).
Francisco Puig Samper entered Santiago de Compostela on April 11, 1846 following the trail of Miguel Solís Cuetos who was heading towards Pontevedra.
When they arrived in Padrón, Marshal Solís heard about the uprising in Cidade Olívica (Olive City), Vigo, and returned to Santiago.
Before the return of Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas’ troops, Francisco Puig Samper retreated to the bridge over the Tambre River in Sigüeiro on April 12, 1846, where Mariscal Solís caught up him the next day, April 13, 1846, having a confrontation.
Francisco Puig Samper withdrew to A Coruña, but Juan de Villalonga prevented them from passing as long as they did not repress the insurrection, moreover they mistrusted the loyalty of the 1st and 3rd battalions of the Regiment of Zamora.
That same day, Leoncio Rubín de Celis y Oroña was promoted to Field Marshal by the Board de Santiago de Compostela, as was Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas, who was heading to the 2nd Battalion of Zamora and Provincials of Oviedo, Zamora, Segovia, Gijón and Villaviciosa Squadron.
On April 15, 1846, the Arms and Defense Board created in Santiago de Compostela was dissolved, creating instead the Galician Superior Governing Board, joining the so-called provincialists, publishing the following manifesto made by the secretary and journalist Antolín Faraldo Asorey (27):
By taking on their shoulders a mission as honorable as delicate, they can only announce that they will fulfill it with resolution and loyalty, while leaving the task of justifying their actions, even though the life of their individuals is a public good, so that it can inspire mistrust. Harmonize all the desires and all the wills, direct the efforts of the peoples and troops to a single goal, centralizing the revolutionary action, and creating an active and intelligent directorate; that puts the four provinces of Galicia in a state of deploying all their formidable power to propagate this uprising, as pure and legitimate for its origin as it is sublime and immense for its purpose, will be the main tasks of the superior board. No obstacle will make her go back on her march, and from the height where events place her, she will call the peoples to break their chains in front of the tyrants.
He also believes, within his conscience, he has another duty to fulfill with respect to Galicia. Until now, the revolution has been a horrible lie, an impious farce… It is time to carry out the charming promises repeated by the false priests of politics, reaping the fruits of so much self-sacrifice and sacrifice. The people will conquer in this revolution what the comedians of the proclamation have taken from them: BREAD and RIGHTS. Galicia, dragging an opprobrious existence here, converted into a true colony of the court, is going to rise from its humiliation and despondency. This Board, a sincere friend of the country, will constantly dedicate itself to enlarging the ancient kingdom of Galicia, giving beneficial direction to the numerous elements that it treasures within it, raising the foundations of a future of glory. To achieve this, he will tirelessly strive to promote material interests, create public customs, open the natural sources of his wealth, agriculture and commerce, and bring into harmony with the times the habits and ideas left by a decrepit society, founded on the ignorance. Awakening the powerful feeling of provincialism, and directing all talents and efforts to a single object, Galicia will succeed in conquering the influence that it deserves, placing itself in the high place to which the ancient Kingdom of the Sueves is called. May the sword of Galicia tilt the scales in which the destinies of Spain are weighed once.
Galician: the Provisional Superior Board does not hesitate to assure you that, counting on your frank support, it will make our province feared and respected by nationals and foreigners.
Homeland and Freedom.
Santiago April 15, 1846.
Pio Rodríguez Terrazzo, president.
Jose Maria Santos. Ramon Buck.
By agreement of the board, Antolín de Faraldo, secretary.
PROVISIONAL SUPERIOR BOARD OF GOVERNMENT OF GALICIA
With the news that Field Marshal José de la Concha was on his way to Galicia to put down the rebellion by order of General Narváez, Leoncio Robin and Miguel Solís Cuetos decided to divide their forces in the direction of the two gates of Galicia. Leoncio Robin went to Ourense and Miguel Solís Cuetos went to Lugo. The last one would first pass through A Coruña and Ferrol (7). The intention was to dominate the four Galician provinces and occupy their borders by positioning soldiers for their defense.
The Field Marshal José de la Concha used the Map of Domingo Fontán, “the most exact that exists of that territory” according to Juan Do Porto (28).
On April 15, 1846, there was a meeting in the former school of Fonseca at 10:00 in which Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas was present, General in Chief of the liberating army of Galicia, the Field Marshal don Leoncio de Rubín, chief of the second division, don Pio Rodríguez Terrazo, President of the Board of Santiago de Compostela, Mr. José Maria Santos, of the Pontevedra Board, and Mr. Ramon Buch, of Vigo and some emigrants from Portugal, where there had also been uprisings against the Ministry Costa-Cabral and the system tax issue, Mr. Solís (16) stated:
Centralizing the powers of the uprising, give impetus and unity to a all elements the Revolution of Galicia conquers for save the throne and the institutions; directing a single purpose the efforts of the Boards existing and that successively become the rose up towns.
That same April 15, 1846 the member of the Provisional Superior Board of Government of Galicia, Pedro Martir Molins, collected that day in a edict the following:
Who said that the limited time of 15 days was enough to consummate the most legitimate revolution that all the peoples of the world can boast! 15 days ago two million men were the vile patrimony of four proconsuls without probity, without honor, without principles, without other titles than the miserable livery of a traitor General, the hero of Ardoz; and today these two million citizens rise upto shake so much tyranny, and today these lackeys of Narváez only extend their infamous domain into the walls of A Coruña. What a sublime lesson for tyrants! What an eloquent example for the peoples! Poland and Italy must learn from us. Ireland, Turkey, all nations oppressed by the iron hand of despotism; because like other Romans we have expelled from our fields, thrown out of our houses, thrown out of our cities these modern Gauls who plundered us, who sold us at public auction like the Jews of the 12th century. Is it not true, farmers, this no longer does the swarm of starving executioners take away from you the only blanket on your bed with which you used to cover your limbs numb from the cold? Is it not true that the intrigue of a venal judge no longer throws you for a firman into the filthy gloom of a dungeon? Isn’t it true that the barbaric stupidity of a cop doesn’t mistreat you to get a fine imposed by the hunger of money, and obtained with the mouth of a blunderbuss? God lives these times have passed for us! Only the gall of the memory of him remains in our hearts; and this memory will be the enthusiasm of men and women, children and the elderly to rise up en masse, to gather on the hills, in the ravines, on the precipices, and there, if necessary, to cover the earth again as in 1808 with the slaves of a second Ney who had the audacity to challenge our power. Because then our war would be greater, holier, more worthy of us than the one of Independence: at that time our fathers fought just to rescue a king and today we fight to win a piece of bread for our mouths, a homeland for our sons! What a difference of circumstances, what a difference of times! And that even then as now a woman played from the royal room with our life, with our fortunes, with our dignity! And that even then the dictator of Spain was a commoner like us, but without time, without knowing, without shame. What a shame for Spain! The scepter of dictatorships was always wielded by the Commodos and Caligulas and never by the Caesars and Napoleons! At least with these our slavery would be strewn with flowers! But it was better that way; because in this way WE LEARNED TO BE FREE!
Other uprisings throughout Spain are commented on that same edict, as is the case of the uprising in Girona.
Field Marshal Leoncio Rubín did not achieve his objective: he did not manage to take Ourense. The decision of dividing forces to take Galicia and defend the borders made reduction of his combat capacity. In the withdrawal of the attempt to take the Cidade das Termas (City of the Baths), Leoncio Rubín went into exile in Portugal.
When Solís’ troops arrived in the vicinity of A Coruña, they could not access the city and camped in Alto de Eirís to wait for the city’s uprising. On April 17, 1846 at six in the afternoon, Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas went to Betanzos and Ferrol to try an uprising in these cities, although the result was the same than in A Coruña: negative. (4)
On the morning of April 23, 1846(7), the hosts of Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas along with a unit of young university students from Santiago de Compostela, who had managed to create a Literary Battalion commanded by Antolín Faraldo (4), they faced the troops of José de la Concha in the well-known battle of Cacheiras. Artillery and rifles were used there.
The hosts of Miguel Solís Cuetos shouted: Long live free Queen! Stop the dictator!
The troops of José de la Concha tied under the command of Long live the Queen! Death to traitors!
The Battle of Cacheiras was decided by the Cavalry of José de la Concha when Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas was forced to retreat to the city of Santigo de Compostela, after the cavalry attacked the flanks of the troops of Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas.
In Santiago de Compostela, according to an article by the Domingo Fontán Foundation, the troops of Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas kidnapped Archbishop Rafael de Vélez, taking refuge in the Monastery of San Martino Pinario.
At seven in the afternoon the troops of Miguel Solís Cuetos surrendered. Miguel Solís Cuetos surrendered as a prisoner due to the failed coup in exchange for none of those who supported him being executed for this uprising.
José de la Concha took prisoner 1,400 soldiers from the 2nd Regiment of Zamora and the Provincials of Segovia and Gijón, as well as 54 officers and, as mentioned in the reference (4), he and his troops also sacked Santiago de Compostela.
Initially, the intention was to take them to the city of A Coruña to submit them to a War Council. Captain General Villalonga had as a requirement of General Narváez to give an exemplary punishment to these rebels (4). Given the fear on the part of Captain General Villalongo of a popular uprising of the people of A Coruña, he appointed a special military court. On April 25, 1846 the prisoners were taken to the town of Ordes.(4)
In the absence of an authority willing to sign the execution order in Ordes, they went to Carral. In the town of Carral, Mayor Fernando Insua gave his authorization for the execution to take place (4).
On April 26, 1846, Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas was tried by the special military court (4)(7), according to Nós Diario there was no military trial (29), in Carral with the death sentence. That April 26, 1846 at dawn, Miguel Solís Cuetos Cuevas was taken to the atrium of the parish church of Santo Estevo de Paleo, in town of Carral (Province of A Coruña). There a sergeant, nine officers and Miguel himself were shot (4). Miguel Solís, head of the uprising, requested permission to the platoon, refusing to turn his back on his executioners and to be blindfolded (4). That day April 26, 1846, a large part of the insurgents embarked on the brig Nervión from Vigo with the intention of going into exile in Portugal, according to Pascual Madoz (30), thanks to the Portuguese warship that would pick them up at a point on the high seas (5). Among them were Hermógenes Villanueva, Antolín Faraldo and others from the Portuguese pavilion, who took refuge after their escapes in the house of the Baron de Ortega.
The 2nd Regiment of Zamora was dissolved and the imprisoned soldiers were sent to the Ceuta Prison or to serve overseas. These executed soldiers would be known as Los Mártires de Carral.(7)
On April 27, 1846, General Concha went into Vigo, a city that suffered a naval blockade to prevent arms from England, sent by Espartero.
On 28 April 1846, General Concha entered Lugo, concluding the campaign. The execution of First Sergeant D. Antonio Samitier took place on May 4, 1846 in the city of Betanzos.
MARTYRS OF CARRAL: Why are martyrs those shot in Carral in 1846?
The sufferings and calamities that the well-known martyrs of Carral went through are documented by the priest of the Santo Estevo de Paleo Parish, where they were executed. In the death certificate he recorded the following sentences (7):
“Horrifying spectacle. Sad Memory.”
“…and they were inhumanly sacrificed to the bloody will of their executioners, especially Colonel Cachafeiro, who would have committed more inhumanities after death had I not presented myself as representing divine justice.”
A year after those executed on April 23, 1846, Antolín Faraldo Asorey and his companions were amnestied, thus being able to return to the Port of Santander October 24, 1847, according to The Echo of Trade. Even the Baldomero Espartero was able to return to Grado (Asturias) as stated in El Clamor Público of January 22, 1848.
The main reason for being considered martyrs is that the State itself and Queen Elizabeth herself have considered them Martyrs of Liberty. Until now, it is important to cknow some historical data.
Government of Espartero in exile promoted and financed the Proclamation of 1846 against the Government of Narváez.
The end of the “Moderate Decade”, a period of time known like this because power was held by the moderates for approximately 10 years, came with the Proclamation of the progressives. This uprising is known as “La Vicalvarada”. Thus began a new period: “The Progressive Biennium”.
On July 19, 1854, Baldomero Espartero, Duke of La Victoria, was called to form a government.
One month later, on August 28 1854, Queen Mother María Cristina de Borbón again left for exile in France.
In the Boletín oficial de la Provincia de Lugo (Official Bulletin of the Province of Lugo) of January 9, 1855 (13) appears the Royal Order of December 12, 1855, signed by Queen Elizabeth II:
Queen Elizabeth II, by the grace of God and the Queen of Spain Constitution, where the creation of the Board for the formation of files related to the declaration shot in the town of Carral in 1846 as Beneméritos de la Patria (Meritorious of the Homeland) and other rewards agreed by the Courts. By mandate of this same order, those of the martyrs, their ashes, had to be transferred to the city of Santiago de Compostela and placed in a monument with a budget of 120,000 reais for the monument. The Cruz del Valor y Constancia is also awarded to all those who armed arms in the uprising and the Cruz de San Fernando to the 25 nationals of Santiago de Compostela who were found in the action of April 23, 1846 under the orders of the aforementioned Colonel Solis.
Given at the Palace on December 12, 1855 – I THE QUEEN – The Minister of the Interior Julian de Huelves
The Queen (q.D.g.)
Thus they entered as martyrs in the list that progressive liberalism draws up since the War of Independence.
MARTYRS OF CARRAL: Who are the Martyrs of Carral?
Those declared Meritorious of the Homeland (13) by the Royal Order who were shot on April 26, 1846 in Carral they are the following (4)(5)(13):
- Miguel Solís Cuetos: Colonel Commander of the General Staff
- Commander Victor Velasco
- Captains:
- Manuel Ferrer
- Jacinto Dabán
- Fermín Mariné
- Ramón José Llorens
- Juan Sanchez
- Ignacio de la Infanta
- Santiago the Key
- Francisco Marquez
- Jose Martinez
- Felipe Valero
One of those Beneméritos de la Patria (13) was shot on May 4, 1846 in the ccity Betanzos:
- First Sergeant Mr. Antonio Samitier (14)
Miguel Solís Cuetos and Fermín Mariné, up to a total of twelve individuals, eleven in Carral and one in Betanzos, who, practically all of them, were not Galician, and all of them with very different personal stories that came together before that firing squad
MARTYRS OF CARRAL: Liberator of Galicia
Miguel Solís Cuetos, was born in San Fernando, Cádiz, on March 27, 1816. He was educated in a school run by the priest Feliú, a man with liberal ideas, which led to the closure of the school by order of the absolutist government of Fernando VII.
In 1829 he entered the navy occupying a guard position in the Royal Navy, after brilliantly passing all the entrance exams, remaining in it until 1836. He participated in the Carlist wars in Aragon, where he reached the rank of captain and lieutenant colonel, for his performance in Molina de Aragón in 1840. He also participated in the esparterist uprisings of 1840 and 1842.
In 1842 he entered the body of the General Staff being assigned to San Sebastian. In 1845 he was assigned to A Coruña as the first commander and accessing the General Staff of the General Captaincy of Galicia. On April 2, 1846 he led the progressive uprising in the San Fernando barracks (Lugo), under the command of the Second Regiment of Zamora, during those days he would be known as “The liberator of Galicia“. On April 23, in the battle of Cacheiras he is defeated. Judged in Carral, he was shot with eleven of his officers. On April 27, the uprising ended.
Ten years after the events, the newspaper “La Oliva”, a newspaper on politics, literature and material interests as they defined themselves, made at least two publications at the “carral victims“, one of them on April 26, 1856.
In the article in “La Oliva” (14) those shot in Carral and Betanzos are remembered as those who were considered at that time heroes and worthy of the country:
Yesterday’s crime is heroic action today: the criminals of that dayday are now worthy of the country.
Aurelio Agoikre Galarraga dedicated a deep poem to them in the same dedication of 1856. (14).
In another post of “La Oliva”, it is recorded how the provincial government flew at half-staff as a sign of mourning (15).
Route of the Martyrs of Carral
In Galicia Pueblo a Pueblo (12), we are shown the route of the Martyrs of Carral, a route that we will try to comment on from Galicia Alive in the category Tourism. On this route of about 3 km, you can walk through the town of Carral following in the footsteps of the martyrs. Along this route you can see different places of interest in the town. Among them, the most relevant for this article is the tribute to those who promoted the Galician Liberal Revolution of 1846, the Martyrs of Carral.
The monument that Queen Isabell II herself had authorized with a budget of 120,000 reals of fleece, would not be made until 1898, the Galician Francisco Suárez Delgado, arrived from Buenos Aires, initiates the procedures to remember the Martyrs of Carral. It was paid for by popular subscription and promoted by the Liga Gallega da Cruña, linked to “A Cova Céltica”, a Carré Aldao bookstore. Work began on April 23, 1899 and was inaugurated on May 22, 1904, although other sources point to 1905 (4).
What is clear is that the monument was not raised in Santiago de Compostela as it had been published in the Royal Order, but in Carral.
The motto appears on the monument:
To the martyrs of freedom who died on April 26, 1846. Liga Gallega da Cruña.
During the beginning of the Second Republic of Spain (7), the municipal plenary session of April 29, 1931 approved the decision to give the name “Avenida de los Mártires de Carral” to the road between the Puente de Monelos and Alto de Eirís, by virtue of a proposal made by Julio Paradela, councilor elected in the April 14 elections (4). Also during this period a plaque with the names of those shot was placed next to the monument:
As a ratification to the memory of those hardworking men that next April 26, 2016 marks the 170th anniversary of this sad event.(4)
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REFERENCES
- HISTORIA DO MUNDO CONTEMPORÁNEO. 1 Bachillerato. Coord Eugenio García Almiñana. ECIR Editorial.
- HISTORIA 4º: Ciencias Sociales. M. Burgos, J. Calvo, M. Jaramillo, S. Martín. Editorial Anaya.
- Sermos Galiza: Vía Galega difunde un vídeo da Revolución Galega de 1846
- El Ideal Gallego: Los mártires de Carral que se alzaron en La Coruña
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- Boletín Oficial de la Provincia de Lugo – Núm. 4 – 9 xaneiro 1856
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- La Revolución – Periódico oficial de la Junta Superior de Galicia – Número 2 – 1846 abril 19
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- Congreso: 1837 – Mayoria Isabel II
- Congreso: Const1812
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- BOE Histórico: 1843/3200/A00003-00003.pdf
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- https://www.boe.es/gazeta/dias/1838/11/30/pdfs/GMD-1838-1475.pdf
- http://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas20/catalogo/autoridad/47200
- Congreso: Constitución de 1845
- Wikisource: La Revolución. Periódico oficial de la Junta Superior de Galicia. núm. 1
- Reseña Histórica de los últimos acontecimientos políticos de Galicia, por Don Juan Do-Porto (1846): http://biblioteca.galiciana.gal/es/consulta/registro.do?id=4419
- Nosdiario: 175 anos da batalla cacheiras
- Diccionario Geográfico Estadístico Histórico de España y sus posesiones de ultramar, página 56, Tomo XVI, Madrid 1850, Pascual Madoz
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