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Draft:Juan Suero

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Juan Ceferino Suero y Carmona, better known as Juan Suero (1808 – March 19, 1864) was a Dominican military commander who was an active participant in the wars of independence of the Dominican Republic. He later fought, in the service of Spain, in the Dominican Restoration War. He was known by the nickname of the Black Cid, given by the Spanish annexationist troops for his extraordinary bravery on the battlefields.

Juan Suero
1862 Portrait of General Juan Suero
Birth nameJuan Ceferino Suero Carmona
Nickname(s)Black Cid
Born1808
San Cristóbal, Captaincy General of Santo Domingo
DiedMarch 19, 1864 (aged 56)
Santiago, Dominican Republic
Allegiance Dominican Republic
 Spain
Service/branch Dominican Army
 Spanish Army
Years of service1838–1864
RankGeneral
Battles/warsDominican War of Independence
Cibaeño Revolution
Dominican Restoration War

Early years[edit]

Born in 1808, he was a native of San Cristóbal, and was the son of Ceferino Suero and María Josefa Carmona (la Rubia). Both of his parents were of African descent. He was raised by the religious Father Jesús Fabián Ayala y García, who had participated in the War of the Reconquista and had been the parish priest of that town since 1820. During the Haitian period of Santo Domingo, Suero refused to join military service, he instead chose to move to Cibao.[1][2]

Military career[edit]

Suero in his youth c. 1830s-1850s

During the Dominican War of Independence, he commanded a battalion at the Battle of Sabana Larga (January 24, 1856) against the troops of Haitian Emperor Faustin Soulouque.[2]

When the revolution of 1857 began to depose Buenaventura Báez from the presidency of the Republic, he acted under the orders of General Matías Ramón Mella in the eviction of Parmentier from the Samaná fortification, and was promoted to brigadier general at the end of the campaign. Shortly afterward, he acquired a farm in Los Llanos de Pérez that he dedicated to the cultivation of sugar cane.[2]

Denied to join the ranks of the revolutionaries, whoever they were, successive Governments always took him into account for his honesty and responsibility to carry out the leadership of the place where he resided. When the annexation to Spain was proclaimed in 1861, he was military chief of Moca and when an armed uprising against Pedro Santana and the Spanish took place in that town, Suero introduced himself in disguise among the mutineers and managed to dominate the situation. Months later he moved to the Puerto Plata command.

As a consequence of the uprisings in Santiago and Guayubín in February 1863, which would escalate into the Dominican Restoration War, he accompanied the Spanish brigadier Manuel Buceta as he passed through Monte Cristi, but a few days later he returned to his position because his presence on the Line was not necessary. After the Grito de Capotillo on August 16, Juan Suero and the peninsular colonel Cappa left Puerto Plata to reinforce the garrison of Santiago, surrounded by Dominican patriots, making their way to the San Luis Fortress. The restorers reacted energetically and the Spaniards left the plaza heading to Puerto Plata, where Suero remained for a month confronting the anti-annexationists in the surrounding cantons. He then embarked for Santo Domingo in order to join the Guanuma camp. Being military chief of the San Antonio de Guerra post, he went out to reconnoitre his jurisdiction, and upon reaching the crossing of the Yabacao River, a bloody scuffle broke out between his forces and those of one of the restoration leaders, Gregorio Luperón, without any of them of both sides emerging victorious. He finished the heat of combat and while he was discussing the encounter with his officers, a bullet seriously wounded him.[1]

Death[edit]

He died on March 19, 1864. General Juan Suero died before the end of the war, which is why he did not accompany Máximo Gómez and Eusebio Puello, who were evacuated to Cuba at the end of the war along with the military units they served and were used with great success in the repression of the war of the patriotic Cuban "Mambises" against the Spanish Empire in Cuba. They were excellent warriors trained on the Dominican battlefields.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "La hazaña del "Cid Negro" del Caribe que luchó hasta la muerte por el Imperio español". El Español (in Spanish). 2024-05-15. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  2. ^ a b c "CEFERINO SUERO CARMONA EL CID NEGRO". HISTORIOLOGIA PUERTO (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-05-29.
  • Martínez, Rufino: Dominican Biographical-Historical Dictionary, 1821-1930, Santo Domingo, Autonomous University of Santo Domingo Archived May 18, 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 1971.


Category:1808 births Category:1864 deaths Category:African diaspora in the Dominican Republic Category:Dominican Republic independence activists Category:Dominican Republic revolutionaries Category:Dominican Republic military leaders Category:People of the Dominican War of Independence Category:People of the Dominican Restoration War

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