Battle of Coatepeque
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| Battle of Coatepeque | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Coatepeque, Santa Ana, El Salvador | |
| Result | Salvadoran victory |
Guatemala
Rafael Carrera- José Víctor Zavala
- Vicente Cerna
- Serapio Cruz
1,500 injured
9 artillery pieces lost
>2,000 guns lost
The Battle of Coatepeque (Spanish: Batalla de Coatepeque) was fought between the forces of El Salvador and Guatemala from 22 to 24 February 1863.
Background
In 1862, Guatemalan President
Order of battle
Salvadorans
The
The commanders of the Salvadoran Army were:[3]
- Gerardo Barrios – General Commander
- José Trinidad Cabañas – Commander of the General Staff[2]
- Tomás Santander – Head of the Barrios Personal Guard
- Domingo María Jehl – Vicar General
- Horacio Parker – Commander of the Artillery Brigade
- Alexandre Biscouby – Chief of the Artillery of San Pedro Malakoff[2]
- Alexandre Bassel – Chief of the Artillery of El Congo[2]
- Santiago González – Commander of the 1st Division[2]
- Rafael Osorio – Commander of the 2nd Division
- Eusebio Bracamonte – Commander of the 3rd Division
- Mariano Hernández – Commander of the 4th Division
- Pedro Escalón – Commander of the 5th Division
- Manuel Estévez – Commander of the Santa Ana Volcano Defenses
Guatemalans
The
The commanders of the Guatemalan Army were:[4]
- Rafael Carrera – General Commander[2]
- Paul Brun – Commander of the Artillery
- José Víctor Zavala – Commander of the 1st Division[5]
- Vicente Cerna Sandoval – Commander of the 2nd Division[6]
- Serapio Cruz – Commander of the 3rd Division
Battle
|
On 22 February, skirmishes began between the reconnaissance patrols of the two armies.
On 23 February, there were several Guatemalan attacks on the Salvadoran positions on the San Pedro Malakoff hill. The attacks were all repelled by Biscouby's forces. Carrera gave the order for these assaults to stop since the attacks made no progress. The Guatemalans then dedicated themselves to bombarding the primary defending positions. At night the attacking Guatemalan troops managed to surround the San Pedro Malakoff hill and took the Salvadorans by surprise, but the attack was also repelled
On 24 February, the Guatemalans attacked the two hills and the town itself with their entire army. While the Guatemalans were just about to capture a trench, a fire broke out and many soldiers fled. After the fire died down, the Guatemalans regrouped and attacked the town. The assault failed with Barrios himself defeating Carrera with his personal guard. After the attacks left hundreds dead, Carrera decided use his artillery to its maximum capacity, opening fire towards Coatepeque and the San Pedro Malakoff hill from a hill they occupied, however, the cannons did not do enough damage to the Salvadorans.
At around 1 in the afternoon, the Guatemalans attempted a last attack to dislodge the Salvadorans, but a company under the command of
Aftermath
Carrera was forced to withdraw and leave the cities of Santa Ana, Chalchuapa, and Ahuachapán as well as the other towns he had occupied. However, he again invaded El Salvador in June and directly besieged San Salvador and forced Gerardo Barrios to resign and flee the country on 26 October 1863.[7][6]
References
- ^ JSTOR 23916318.
- ^ )
- ^ a b c d Gaceta Oficial. Vol. 11. Diario Oficial de El Salvador. 19 February 1963. p. 20.
- ^ a b A los 150 años de la Batalla de Coatepeque. Diario El Mundo. 22 February 2013.
- ^ Latin American Studies.
- ^ a b Zúñiga Huete (1987). Historia Cronológica de Honduras.
- ^ "Presidencia de El Salvador". Archived from the original on 5 October 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
Bibliography
- Latin American Studies. "Bandera cubana filibustera" (PDF). Latin American Studies. Retrieved 20 August 2014.