José Toral y Velázquez
José Toral y Velázquez | |
---|---|
Spanish-American War
|
José Toral y Velázquez[a] (August 18, 1832 – July 10, 1904) was a Spanish Army general who was a divisional commander of IV Corps in Cuba during the Spanish–American War. He surrendered the city of Santiago de Cuba on July 17, 1898, after the Siege of Santiago.
Early life and career
Toral was born August 18, 1832,
In late 1895, Toral volunteered for duty in Cuba. He was assigned to the Spanish Army garrison in
Battle and surrender at Santiago de Cuba
On July 1, 1898, Linares was wounded in the Battle of San Juan Hill. Toral was named temporary commander of IV Corps.[5] Toral inherited a poorly executed defense: Of the more than 6,000 troops at his command, Linares had dispatched 500 to hold the heights at El Caney and more than 1,000 to hold the harbor entrance. But just 1,200 of the remaining 4,000 soldiers had been sent to hold San Juan Heights — the defensive key to the city.[7] After the defeat at San Juan, most of the defenders pulled back within the city limits. The United States Navy had cut the telegraph cables to Guantánamo on June 7,[8] so Toral sent a messenger to Brigadier General Félix Pareja Mesa asking for reinforcements. Mesa never received the message.[5]
Early in the morning on July 3, U.S. Major General William Rufus Shafter asked Toral to surrender. Toral refused.[5] Hours later, Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete's Atlantic Squadron attempted to leave Santiago de Cuba's harbor and was destroyed by the U.S. Navy's Flying Squadron and North Atlantic Squadron, commanded by Commodore Winfield Scott Schley.[9] Shafter contacted Toral again late on July 3, and asked for his surrender a second time. Shafter warned him that the city would be bombarded on July 5 without it. Toral continued to negotiate, trying to buy time. On July 8, Toral offered to surrender[5] — but only if he would be permitted to withdraw his men and arms to the town of Holguín. Shafter, his V Corps decimated by disease and suffering from the extreme heat, poor supplies, poor sanitation, and poor housing,[10] wanted to permit the withdrawal. But President William McKinley, consulted on the situation, demanded unconditional surrender.[11]
Shafter warned Toral that bombardment of Santiago de Cuba would happen on July 10 unless he surrendered, and Toral again declined the request. U.S. Navy and U.S. Army troops shelled the city beginning at 4:00 p.m. on July 10 and ceased at 1:00 p.m. on July 11. Toral held his ground and continued to negotiate. Shafter offered to send all Spanish
General Toral unconditionally surrendered his remaining men at Santiago de Cuba, the 12,000 men at Guantánamo, and six other small Spanish Army garrisons throughout Cuba on July 17, 1898. The surrender effectively ended land combat in Cuba for the duration of the war.[12] Concerned with his post-war reputation, Toral successfully demanded that the word "capitulation" rather than "surrender" be used in all documents and that his men be allowed to retain their weapons.[5]
Post-war life
On July 22, the government of Spain requested peace terms from the United States.[13] Spain and the United States signed an armistice, the "Protocol of Peace", on August 12.[14]
Toral departed for Spain on August 15, 1898, under the terms of the Protocol of Peace. The Spanish people, however, blamed him for the collapse of the Spanish military effort in Cuba and his arrival was met with public demonstrations.[5] Some of these were violent. In the city of Vigo, the crowd threw stones at him.[15] Toral was tried before a court-martial for surrendering Santiago de Cuba. He was defended by Julián Suárez Inclán,[11] and acquitted on August 9, 1899.[5]
Public attacks on his character and behavior continued frequently throughout the rest of Toral's life. He became depressed and slowly went insane. A few months before his death,[5] he was placed in a psychiatric hospital in Carabanchel, a suburb of Madrid. He died there on July 10, 1904.[15]
References
- Notes
- Citations
- ^ Inclán, Julián Suárez, y González Villar (1899). Defensa del General Toral ante el Consejo Suprema de Guerra y Marina reunido y constituido en sala en justicia. Madrid: Joaquín Baquedano.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Crónica de la Guerra." Blanco y Negro. 9 Julio 1899, p. 11. Accessed 2013-06-29.
- ^ a b Konstam, Angus. San Juan Hill 1898: America's Emergence As a World Power. Osprey Publishing, 2013, p. 17.
- ^ José Toral y Velázquez: aproximación biográfica by Juan Romera Sánchez pg. 19, 55
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pierpaoli, Jr., Paul G. "Toral y Vásquez José." In The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars: A Political, Social, and Military History. Spencer Tucker, ed. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2009, p. 644.
- ^ José Toral y Velázquez: aproximación biográfica by Juan Romera Sánchez pg. 91
- ^ Walker, Dale L. The Boys of '98: Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. New York: Forge, 1999, p. 230-231.
- ^ Hansen, Jonathan M. Guantánamo: An American History. New York: Macmillan, 2011, p. 97.
- ^ Tucker, Spencer C. "Santiago de Cuba, Naval Battle of (July 3, 1898)." In U.S. Leadership in Wartime: Clashes, Controversy, and Compromise. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2009, p. 405-406.
- ^ Sweetman, Jack. American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2002, p. 98.
- ^ a b Keenan, Jerry. Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2001, p. 382-382.
- ^ Marley, David. Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the Western Hemisphere, 1492 to the Present. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2008, p. 603-604.
- ^ Fernandez, Ronald. The Disenchanted Island: Puerto Rico and the United States in the Twentieth Century. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1996, p. 3.
- ^ Tucker, Spencer C. "Expansion at Home and Abroad: Timeline." In Almanac of American Military History. Vol. 2. Spencer C. Tucker, ed. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, 2013, p. 1177.
- ^ a b "General Toral Dead." Sacred Heart Review. 32:3 (July 16, 1904), p. 1. Accessed 2013-06-29.