Draft:Pedro Valverde (general)

Pedro Valverde
BornJuly 5, 1818
Baní, Colony of Santo Domingo
DiedMarch 31, 1900 (aged 81)
Allegiance Dominican Republic
 Spain
Service / branch Dominican Army
 Spanish Army
Years of service1844–1900
RankGeneral
Battles / warsDominican War of Independence
Dominican Restoration War
Six Years' War

Pedro Valverde Lara (July 5, 1818 – March 31, 1900) was a Dominican general and independence activist.

Early years

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He was born in Baní on July 5, 1818. He was the son of Miguel Valverde and Marcela Lara. He grew up, however, in the capital city of Santo Domingo.[1]

He was present at the Puerta del Conde revolt on the night of February 27, 1844, in which the First Dominican Republic was proclaimed. During the Dominican War of Independence, he took park in defending the country during the 1855 campaign by Haitian Emperor, Faustin Soulouque. By the end of the war, he reached the rank of colonel.[1]

War of Restoration

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In 1861, when the annexation was proclaimed, he was enlisted in the reserves with the rank of general. Close defender of annexation, He served the Spanish as Governor of Santo Domingo and remained in office even after The Dominican Restoration War was in progress. The Spaniards rewarded the services of Valverde, and in October 1863, he was awarded the medal of Charles III. Valverde and Lara fell under suspicion of disaffection on the part of the Spanish and his confinement was arranged in a cell in the Ozama Fortress. General Pedro Santana interceded for him before the Captain General Carlos de Vargas and managed to have it delivered to him to take with him to the camp of Guanuma. At that point, Valverde and Lara deployed a silent and effective campaign between the soldiers, who began to defect from the anti-national side in ever-increasing quantity. The troops of San Cristóbal, in which Santana deposited a large trust, deserted en masse. He was finally discovered, arrested again and exiled on March 9, 1864, to the Spanish island of Santa Catalina, in Cádiz, where he arrived the following April.[1][2]

Before the end of the war, on his return, he approached President Pedro Antonio Pimentel and found Valverde who had been treated with disdainful coldness by President Pimentel. Angered and humiliated, he approached General José María Cabral and, together with Eusebio Manzueta and Marcos Evangelista Adón, encouraged the insurrection by which Cabral overthrew Pimentel and proclaimed a new government just 27 days after the Spanish left.[1][2]

Final years and death

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After the Dominican Republic retained its independence from Spain, Pedro Valverde Lara served as the Secretary of War and Navy. Under the dictatorship of the Six Years' period, he opposed the projects for years of annexationists of Buenaventura Báez and his clique and in 1868, at the very beginning of that regime, he returned to the jail. They sent him again to exile, where he continued fighting against Báez. He died on March 31, 1900. He was 81 years old.[1][2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Martínez, Rufino (1997). Diccionario biográfico-histórico dominicano, (1821–1930) (in Spanish). Santo Domingo: Editora de la Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. p. 502.
  2. ^ a b c Mejía, Rafael Chaljub (2007). Diccionario Biográfico de los Restauradores de la República [Biographical Dictionary of the Restorers of the Republic] (in Spanish). Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. p. 303. ISBN 9789945859126.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Category:1818 births Category:1900 deaths Category:Dominican Republic independence activists Category:Dominican Republic revolutionaries Category:Generals Category:Dominican Republic military personnel Category:People of the Dominican War of Independence Category:People of the Dominican Restoration War Category:People of the Six Years' War Category:Dominican Republic people of Spanish descent