Solís Uprising

The Solís Uprising (Spanish: Levantamiento de Solís) was an unsuccessful military uprising in Galicia (Spain) in 1846. The soldiers executed after the defeat became known as the Martyrs of Carral (Spanish: Mártires de Carral).

Context

The

Partido Moderado, developed a version liberal conservatism, "liberal" only in the economic sense and in the rejection of absolute monarchy. General Ramón María Narváez

was the strong man of the period, which was characterized by the curtailment of liberties and rights, and by administrative centralization.

Uprising

On 2 April 1846 the Zamora Regiment stationed in the provincial capital of Lugo rebelled, led by Colonel Miguel Solís y Cuetos. Solís declared the dissolution of the Provincial Council and Deputation. Having gained the upper hand in Lugo, Solís addressed his troops. The final words of his speech make clear the intention of his uprising:

Galicians: all Spaniards: Long live the free Queen! Long live the Constitution! Out with the foreigners! Down with the Dictator Narváez! Down with the system of tribute!^[1]

In the following days, the uprising spread to other Galician cities, uniting the so-called "provincialists". On 15 April in

Spanish Monarchy

.

Solís and his collaborators sought to reclaim the liberties and rights abolished by Narváez and sought a more just treatment for Galicia; the

Batallón Literario, the student battalion that had last confronted the forces of Napoleonic France in the Peninsular War

, viewed in Galicia as throughout Spain as a war of Spanish independence.

Defeat

General Narváez, president of the Spanish Royal Council, minister of both State and War, sent troops under General

Manuel Gutiérrez de la Concha, Captain General of Old Castile to put down the uprising. On 23 April, the Battle of Cacheiras

began on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela; the rebels were defeated by a vastly superior force.

Solís first took refuge in the

summary trial in Carral (A Coruña province) condemned him to death. The trial was held in this small town because of fear of Solís's sympathizers in Santiago and in A Coruña

.

At dawn, Colonel Solís was brought to the churchyard of the parish church of Paleo near Carral, where he was executed by a firing squad. Commander Víctor Velasco and ten more officials were executed in the Forest of Rin, halfway between Carral and Paleo; they were buried the following day in the Paleo cemetery. Their tomb remains there; it has no inscription. The parish priest was present at the execution and called it a "Horrible spectacle. Sad memory."^[2]

Posthumous honors

The twelve executed soldiers became known as the "Martyrs of Carral" ("Mártires de Carral"). Ten years later during the

Progressive Biennium (Bienio Progresista, July 1854 – July 1856), the government declared them "Beneméritos de la Patria" (an honorific title; "Beneméritos" means "meritorious" and functions here as an adjectival noun). The Cortes

granted them the Cruz del Valor y la Constancia ("Cross of Valor and Constancy") and decreed the erection of a monument.

That monument was not to be erected until 1904, when a monument was raised at the initiative of the

Calvary, and prominently features a cross. This monument has been the scene of various memorial tributes, such as one on 26 April 1931 just after the founding of the Second Spanish Republic; a photograph of that event shows Manuel Lugrís Freire

leading the attendees.

nationalism and regionalism—called at the time provincialismo or galleguismo—seeking a status for Galicia better than that of a "colony of the Court",^[4] in the words of Antolín Faraldo

.

Notes

^ "Gallegos: españoles todos: ¡Viva la Reina libre!, ¡Viva la Constitución!, ¡Fuera extranjeros!, ¡Abajo el Dictador Narváez!, ¡Abajo el sistema tributario!"
^ "Espectáculo horroroso. Triste Memoria"
^ "Aos mártires da liberdade mortos o 26 de abril de 1846. Liga Galega na Cruña".
^ "colonia de la Corte"

[1] "Gallegos: españoles todos: ¡Viva la Reina libre!, ¡Viva la Constitución!, ¡Fuera extranjeros!, ¡Abajo el Dictador Narváez!, ¡Abajo el sistema tributario!"

[2] "Espectáculo horroroso. Triste Memoria"

[3] "Aos mártires da liberdade mortos o 26 de abril de 1846. Liga Galega na Cruña".

[4] "colonia de la Corte"

[1]

[2]

[4]