Nicasio del Castillo y Guzmán

Nicasio del Castillo y Guzmán (also Nicasio del Castillo Guzmán , * 1816 ; † 1884 ) was from August 13, 1856 to September 14, 1856 one of three presidents of Nicaragua contending for power .

Life

Nicasio del Castillo y Guzmán was a member of the conservative Partido Legitimista , supported by large landowners , who fought for supremacy with the economically liberal Partido Democrático , which was mainly supported by merchants . In 1855 the conflict escalated into a civil war, in which the American adventurer and mercenary leader William Walker intervened. At that time, Castillo y Guzmán was a member of the cabinet of José María Estrada , one of the competing presidents. Estrada saw himself as the legitimate president of Nicaragua and opposed the counter-governments of Walker and his temporary partner Patricio Rivas .

Presidency

Castillo y Guzmán took over the presidency on behalf of the legitimist camp after José María Estrada was murdered on August 13, 1856. The Nicaraguan historian Eddy Kühl called Castillo y Guzmán a "Presidente sinsaculado" (which is to say: "desinsaculado", i.e. a "pulled out of the bag" president), as this was probably not the first choice and was surprisingly brought onto the stage.

Castillo y Guzmán made Matagalpa the seat of his provisional government. In this city, representatives of the Partido Legitimista and the Partido Democrático concluded the Pacto Providencial ( Providential Pact , also called Pacto de Matagalpa ) on September 12, 1856 , through which they allied against Walker.

The Battle of San Jacinto

Meanwhile, about 300 mercenaries were advancing on Matagalpa under the command of the American merchant Byron Cole. Cole was also the one who brought Walker to Nicaragua. About 160 Nicaraguan soldiers under the command of Colonel José Dolores Estrada Vado confronted them to defend Matagalpa. On September 14, 1856, the battle of the Hacienda San Jacinto (which is often confused with the Mexican battle of San Jacinto ) took place in the municipality of Tipitapa . The Nicaraguan troops defeated the US mercenaries and Cole fell. The decisive factor for the victory were soldiers of the Ejército del Septentrión (Northern Army), whose commander-in-chief Castillo y Guzmán had appointed General Tomás Martínez Guerrero . They were mostly indigenous people from the north of the country who did not fight for legitimist or for liberal principles, but against the enslavement and the robbery of their fields threatened by Walker.

This battle was the outstanding event in Castillo y Guzmán's short term in office and at the same time its end. A new government was formed on the day of the victory, as agreed two days earlier in the Pacto Providencial . Patricio Rivas was proclaimed president or - depending on how his legitimacy had been judged to date - confirmed; Castillo y Guzmán had to vacate his post as (counter) president; he was appointed Minister of War.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Eddy Kühl Aráuz: Dos personajes de la Guerra Nacional de 1856-57 . In: Revista de Temas Nicaragüenses , No. 23 (March 2010), pp. 26–38, here p. 27 ( online , accessed on February 13, 2016).
2. ^ Eddy Kühl Aráuz: Dos personajes de la Guerra Nacional de 1856-57 . In: Revista de Temas Nicaragüenses , No. 23 (March 2010), pp. 26–38, here p. 29 ( online , accessed on February 13, 2016).
3. ^ José Mejía Lacayo: Patricio Rivas y la política de la Guerra Nacional . In: Revista de Temas Nicaragüenses , No. 37 (May 2011), pp. 68–92, here p. 86 ( online , accessed on February 13, 2016).
4. ^ Eddy Kühl Aráuz: Matagalpa y sus gentes . Fondo de Promoción Cultural, Managua 2000, ISBN 99924-44-02-9 , p. 69.
5. ^ William V. Wells: Walker's expedition to Nicaragua . Stringer and Townsend, New York 1856, p. 42 ( digitized version of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek).
6. ↑ Julián Guerrero, Lola Soriano de Guerrero: Matagalpa (= Colección Nicaragua , Vol. 8). Managua 1967, p. 83.
7. ↑ La Batalla de San Jacinto ( Memento of July 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 13, 2016.
8. ↑ Jorge Eduardo Arellano: San Jacinto: Primera derrota del esclavismo en América , p. 11 ( online ( memento of June 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 13, 2016).
9. ^ José Mejía Lacayo: Patricio Rivas y la política de la Guerra Nacional . In: Revista de Temas Nicaragüenses , No. 37 (May 2011), pp. 68–92, here p. 87, see also the wording of the contract of September 12, 1856, including the addition of September 13, 1856, pp. 91–92 ( online , accessed February 13, 2016).
10. ^ Joaquín Bernardo Calvo Mora: La campaña nacional contra los filibusteros en 1856 y 1857. Breve reseña histórica . Published by the Comisión de Investigación Histórica de la Campaña de 1856–1857 , Tipografía Nacional, San José, Costa Rica, 1909, p. 62.

predecessor	Office	successor
José María Estrada	President of Nicaragua in Matagalpa from August 13, 1856 to September 14, 1856	Máximo Jerez Tellería in Duumvir with Máximo Jerez