Battle of El Pepino

The Battle of El Pepino was the only military encounter during the Grito de Lares revolution between the forces of the Republic of Lares and the Spanish colonial government. It took place in the town of El Pepino, currently San Sebastián, Puerto Rico on September 24, 1868. The revolutionary forces were repelled by the Militia Corps and some of the residents of El Pepino during their attempt to take the town. This battle was a serious setback for the revolutionary forces of the Republic of Lares, since they would never again take the battlefield against the Spanish troops.

Modified flags of the Republic of Lares and Spain (version current in 1868)

Background of the battle

Situation of the revolutionary forces

The unexpected arrest of the conspirator Manuel María González in Camuy on the morning of September 21 altered the military designs of the revolutionary movement. Knowing that the Spanish authorities had seized incriminating documents in González's house, the revolutionary boards involved in the Grito de Lares were forced to advance the date of the insurrection from September 29 to September 23. In addition to this, the leadership of the boards changed the location of the initial survey from Camuy to Lares.

This change in the survey point turned out to be important. Upon learning of González's arrest, José Antonio Hernández, another member of the Camuy revolutionary junta, chose to abandon the conspiracy and leave two boxes of gunpowder and dynamite hidden on his farm. Hernández was arrested the same day that the battle of El Pepino was fought (September 24) and these two boxes were seized by the Spanish authorities. Losses like these are significant when taking into account the small number of weapons and ammunition that the revolutionary forces had.

This geographic change may also have been significant for another reason. Professor Francisco Moscoso, professor at the University of Puerto Rico and expert on the subject of the Grito de Lares, speculates that the selection of the town of Camuy may have been due to the fact that it was strategically located between the military commands of Aguadilla and Arecibo. This location (Camuy) allowed its occupant to confront the forces coming from each command separately. The haste caused by González's arrest had an important influence here on the decisions made by the revolutionary leadership.

Once the Republic was established in Lares (September 23), the new government, chaired by Francisco Ramírez, appointed Juan M. Terreforte as Commander General and Manuel Rojas as Chief General. These two military leaders, in collaboration with others, chose to the town of El Pepino as the next attack site. This selection is due in part to the promises of the revolutionaries Manuel Cebollero and Eusebio Ibarra, who were part of the El Pepino militia regiment. These two revolutionaries assured the rebel forces that they could obtain the support of the militias of the town of El Pepino once the attack began. The revolutionary leadership was aware of the need to obtain more weapons/ammunition and that is why they urged them to take the El Pepino barracks with the least possible use of force.

Consequences

The withdrawal of the revolutionary army in El Pepino marked the beginning of the end of the Grito de Lares. The lack of communication between the revolutionary leaders led to the release, without known cause, of many of the Spanish prisoners captured at the beginning of the Grito. At the meeting at General Rojas's hacienda, what remained of the revolutionary leadership took the lead. decision to order the total withdrawal of the forces located in the town of Lares. The revolutionaries chose to hide, in small groups throughout the interior of the Island, waiting for other Puerto Rican towns to revolt and for the weapons promised by Betances to arrive (aboard his ship El Telégrafo). Both expectations turned out to be in vain.

The Telegraph, and the hundreds of rifles it carried, had been seized by the Danish authorities in Saint Thomas a few weeks before. The execution of the Gámir Plan by Spanish forces quickly led to the concentration of their military power in the western area of ​​Puerto Rico. The arrest of more than eight hundred suspects, the control of the roads and the state of alert made any kind of spontaneous uprising impossible on the island. Over the next few weeks, the vast majority of the revolutionaries were arrested, some were killed (as was the case of Matías Brugman and Baldomero Bauring) and others were discreetly reintegrated back into civilian life.

Ultimately, Puerto Rico will continue to be an overseas province of Spain.