Manuel Fernández Silvestre
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Manuel Fernández Silvestre y Patinga and Pantiga (El Caney, Cuba, December 16, 1871 - Annual, Morocco, July 22, 1921) was a Spanish military general.
He was the son of the lieutenant colonel of artillery Victor Fernandez and of Doña Eleuteria Silvestre. In 1889 he enrolled in the Military school of Toledo, where he met with the future high commissioner of Spanish Morocco, Dámaso Berenguer.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Cuba
After the Academy, he heads to Cuba in 1895 to fight there until the Spanish withdrawal in 1898. There he received 22 wounds altogether, and had a severe incapacity of the left arm which he disguised very well.
[edit] Spanish Morocco
In 1904, after many stays in diverse peninsular regiments, he was dispatched to the Spanish exclave of Melilla on the Mediterranean Rif coast of North Africa, where he proved to be an excellent negotiator, although also a fierce and an unpredicted man. In 1912 he occupied Larache and in 1918 he become the Commandant-General of Ceuta, taking a deception by not being named High Commissioner, a position that was fulfilled by Dámaso Berenguer.
After stopping in Ceuta, he marched in 1920 to take care of the Command of Melilla, from where, in January 1921 he led the Rif invasion in order to stop the local resistance led by the guerrilla leader Abd el-Krim. The operation was risky and dangerous, since the Spanish soldiers were very little trained and scared of the Rifians. The local resistance began to believe in being able to win the Spanish when on June 1st of 1921, they took the position from Abarrán, killing in combat many Spanish officials.
After the fall of Igueriben in July 22, the resistants attacked a Spanish military camp where there were 5,000 soldiers who run away instead of fighting. There were at least 1,000 casualties among the Spanish. Reportedly, Silvestre further demoralized his men by yelling at them, "Run, run, the bogeyman is coming!" as they attempt to rally following their defeat.
[edit] Death
According to many witnesses, Silvestre, when seeing the disaster, got into his tent and committed suicide by shooting a ball into the head. A total of 15,000 Spanish soldiers fell in those days from the July 22 to the August 9, most died during the infamous battle called battle of Annual (Disaster of Annual according to Spanish historians). That day, Silvestre's deputy, general Navarro surrendered with his men in Arruit mountain.
The Corpse of Silvestre has never been found. Rumors, although they are little credible, say that he could have survived.
[edit] References and notes
Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Spanish-language wikipedia article, accessed April 9 2007.
