Battle of Paso del Muerto

The Battle of Paso del Muerto (Spanish: Batalla del Paso del Muerto) also known as the Action of Paso del Muerto or the Combat of Paso del Muerto, was a skirmish of the Dominican Restoration War that took place on March 24, 1864. The confrontation occurred between the Spanish forces under the command of the brigade chief of San Antonio de Guerra, Brigadier Juan Suero, against the troops of the Dominican liberation army commanded by General Gregorio Luperón.

Battle of Paso del Muerto
Part of the Dominican Restoration War
Date March 24, 1864 Location Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Spain	Dominican Republic
Commanders and leaders
Juan Suero	Gregorio Luperón
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
3 dead 22 injured	Unknown

After this encounter, which ended with a Spanish victory, Suero, nicknamed the Black Cid by the Spanish, was mortally wounded and died a few hours later. His death was very painful for the Spanish army.

Background

After the dissolution of the Guanuma camp, which was putting the mambises in a tight spot, they began to increase their forces. Communications between the troops of Lieutenant General Pedro Santana, Marquis of Las Carreras, and San José de los Llanos and San Antonio de Guerra were becoming difficult and dangerous. The Spanish garrisons at San Antonio de Monte Plata and other points were ordered to retreat to the city of Santo Domingo, due to diseases, and this allowed the garrisons at Hato Mayor del Rey, San José de los Llanos and San Antonio de Guerra to be reinforced.

After Brigadier Juan Suero went by order of the Superior Civil Governor and Captain General of the province of Santo Domingo, Field Marshal Carlos de Vargas, to relieve Lieutenant General Pedro Santana of the command of El Seibo, and before the refusal of the latter would end up leaving said town and in San Antonio de Guerra would take the position of head of the brigade of the homonymous town on March 14; upon arriving he had news that one of the largest groups of insurgents wandered around those surroundings and planned to go out in search of them. Among his provisions was the idea of working in combination with the Spanish forces of the Poma Rosa camp but on the same day that he conceived his project he received reinforcement from the third provisional battalion that had just arrived from peninsular Spain and that came with all of its soldiers. On the March 24, Suero received the confidences in which he was informed of the number of separatists and the point they occupied, barely a league away, and then he ordered the third provisional battalion to form, and placing himself at its head with 100 men from the Provincial Reserves of Santo Domingo, he left in search of the separatists at 6 in the morning.

Battle

After a steep slope, there was a slippery descent, at the end of which there was a gorge, on the opposite bank of which were the Dominican rebels at a point called Paso del Muerto, which was a difficult defile surrounded by dense forest, and to which a narrow and bad road led. Once the independentists were positioned in the thick forest, a very heavy fire began on both sides, with which Brigadier Suero ordered three more companies of the same battalion to accompany him under the command of their first chief with a piece of mountain artillery, twelve engineers with an officer and twenty horses with another; also ordering that with the four remaining companies of that corps, artillery, cavalry and engineers, Colonel Luis Rodriguez should defend and hold that point at all costs and take suitable measures for the protection of the column. At 11 in the morning, Brigadier Suero immediately joined the force that preceded him, distant, managing to defeat and repel General Luperón's troops .

Consequences

As the companies retreated, Brigadier Suero approached a group of officers, lit a cigarette, and when he was most content, expressing his satisfaction with the behavior of his brave soldiers, a bullet came and went through him, leaving him mortally wounded. When the first wounded arrived at the town of San Antonio de Guerra, the wounded were treated in the temporary hospital.

A few hours after the Spanish troops returned to San Antonio de Guerra, they had the displeasure of witnessing the unfortunate death of Suero.

Aftermath

Lieutenant General Santana felt bitterly at the loss of Brigadier Suero, as he saw that he was rapidly descending into nullity due to the lack of his friends and the hostility of his compatriots. From then on, Santana ceased to give signs of the activity and firmness that had so exalted him.

Ramón González Tablas referred to how the death of Brigadier Suero was felt in the Spanish army in the following way:

His death was sincerely felt in the army, where he had earned a reputation for bravery, with no one ever doubting the decision and sincerity with which he had embraced the cause of Spain . His Majesty had only recently recognised him as an army brigadier, and he was very flattered and grateful for this.

In the American newspaper The New York Times, the news of his death was headlined as "A Negro General in Spanish Service Mortally Wounded", etc.

In the Spanish newspaper La Iberia, another version of the death of Brigadier Suero is narrated and begins like this:

The news of the death of the gallant General Don Juan Suero, which occurred at twelve o’clock on Holy Thursday, has been officially confirmed. This brave man went out to reinforce a detachment that was engaged in a fierce battle with the rebels at the place called Paso del Muerto, and when he placed himself in the most dangerous place, where an artillery piece was machine-gunning the enemy, he received a shot that went through him from side to side below the last rib, falling from his horse and being carried off the ground by Commander Gautrau and some soldiers. All the artillerymen serving in the piece next to which General Suero was wounded were as many casualties, although only four were serious.

See also

• Dominican Restoration War
• Pedro Santana