Segismundo Casado

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Segismundo Casado López (1893, Nava de la Asunción, Segovia—1968, Madrid) was a Spanish Army officer in the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War.

The son of a military man, he entered the Royal Cavalry Academy at Valladolid at age 15 and reached the rank of major by 1936, serving as head of the military guard of President Manuel Azaña.

After the start of the Spanish Civil War, Casado helped to develop the tactics of the Republican Army in central Spain. He participated in the defense of Madrid and the battle of Jarama. He was promoted to colonel in 1938 and fought in the battle of Brunete. In 1939 he was given command of the Republican Central Army. On March 4, 1939 Casado, convinced that Prime Minister Juan Negrín was planning a Communist takeover, conducted a coup d'état with the support of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party's moderate pro-Western wing leader Julián Besteiro and disillusioned anarchist leaders and established an anti-Negrín Junta de Defensa Nacional.

General José Miaja in Madrid joined the rebellion on March 6 by ordering the arrests of Communists in the city. Negrin, preparing to leave for France, ordered Luis Barceló, commander of the 1st Corps of the Army of the Center, to try to regain control of the capital. His troops entered Madrid and there was fierce fighting for several days in the capital. Anarchist troops led by Cipriano Mera managed to defeat the 1st Corps, and Barceló was captured and executed.

Casado then attempted to negotiate a peace settlement with General Francisco Franco, but Franco refused anything less than unconditional surrender. Surviving members of the Republican Army were no longer willing to fight and the Nationalist Army entered Madrid virtually unopposed on March 27, 1939. Casado fled to Valencia where he boarded an English ship at the end of March. He remained in exile in Venezuela until returning to Spain in 1961.