Serapio Cruz

Serapio Cruz

Mariscal Serapio Cruz , also Tata Lapo (* September 1835 in Sansur Palencia , Guatemala ; † January 22, 1870 , 7 km from there) was a liberal condottiere in Guatemala.

Life

A brother of Serapio Cruz was Vicente Cruz, who was also a warlord of the Fever . The brothers were in opposition to the regime of José Rafael Carrera Turcios .

At the beginning of 1848 the brothers commanded on the side of the Fiebres for Los Altos against Carrera and were defeated by the troops of Carrera.

Carrera was forced to resign from the presidency in 1848 and went into exile in Chiapas. Juan Antonio Martínez became president on August 16, 1848, beginning the suspension of the presidency of Carrera, which lasted until November 6, 1851. In a decree of October 13, 1848, Carrera was forbidden to return to Guatemala on pain of death . On November 28, 1848, the Parliament of Guatemala elected José Bernardo Escobar as President of the Republic of Guatemala and General Vicente Cruz as his deputy.

Vicentes Vice Presidency

On December 1, 1848, General Vicente Cruz and his troops approached Pinula from San José and made an offer in a letter that in the event of a surrender of Guatemala City without a fight , the lives and haciendas would be respected, except those of the Molinas, the Arrivillagas, the Vidaurres, Manuel Dardón, Juan Antonio Martínez, the Zepedas and José Francisco Barrundia. Escobar turned down this offer of surrender.

Palencia was in the hands of General Serapio Cruz, brother of Vicente Cruz, who repeated his offer of surrender on December 12, 1848. Escobar had neither finances nor troops, chose to negotiate and sent numerous negotiating delegations, including the Archbishop of the Diocese of Guatemala City, Dr. Francisco de Paula García Peláez belonged. Eventually Vicente Cruz agreed to negotiations. The negotiations fail and Escobar resigned from the presidency at the end of 1848.

Vicente Cruz recognized the government of Mariano Paredes and came to Guatemala on February 9, 1849, while his brother Serapino Cruz and the other liberal warlords stayed in Chiapas. Vicente Cruz was fatally hit by a bullet on March 20, 1849 during a fight against the group around Agustin Perez.

On November 6, 1851, José Rafael Carrera Turcios becomes president again and Serapio Cruz serves him as condottiere .

In 1851 he commanded the Battle of Arada .

In 1856 Serapio Cruz was involved in a campaign against the Filibustero pirates of William Walker in Nicaragua. In 1863 Serapio Cruz commanded the campaigns in Chiquimula against Honduras.

Vicente Cerna Sandoval becomes president on May 24, 1865 , and Serapio Cruz also serves as condottiere.

Warlord

On February 2, 1867, Serapio Cruz participated in a fever uprising against Cerna, which was soon put down. Serapio Cruz flees to El Salvador .

Justo Rufino Barrios Auyón flees to Chiapas.

In March 1869, General Serapio Cruz from Chiapas had the Plaza de Nentón in Huehuetenango attacked and allied with Barrios.

The Fiebre mercenaries under Serapio Cruz use asymmetrical warfare in the Quiché and the Verapaces. The Barrios mercenaries operate in the west and those of Vicente Méndez Cruz, a nephew of Serapio Cruz, on the south coast of Guatemala. In December 1869 they banded together and attacked Huehuetenango , injuring Barrios. Also Salamá is against attacks of the mercenary not sure. In January 1870 they ventured near Guatemala City about seven kilometers from Palencia. Here they are placed by government troops under Antonino Solares and Serapino Cruz killed. His head is cut off and exhibited in Guatemala City. His son Felipe Cruz reports the death of his father Barrios, who fled to Chiapas .

The public display of Serapino Cruz's head is exploited by liberal propaganda as evidence of the cruelty of the conservative regime under Cerna.

Tata Lapo

A legend based on Popol Vuh (book) transfigured his life: in 1865, Tata Lapo commanded a battalion in Palencia that was armed with rifles and machetes and prepared the uprising of 1870. The Guastatoya battalion was commanded by Colonel Rito Orellana and was composed of soldiers from Jalapa and Jicaro.

Batalla del Paso de los Jalapas

In November 1868, Colonel Orellana had his battalion Jalapanecos, armed with machetes and rubber slings, hit 588 soldiers by Vicente Cerna. The Jalapanecos seemed invulnerable. Rito Orellana's horse was called “Guayacán”. Sergenant Leopoldo Orellana Almazan accompanied Orellana since he was 17 years old. Leopoldo Orellana Almazan married the daughter of Rito Orellana, Teodora Orellana.

Batalla de Paso de Canales

Sargento Leopoldo Orellana Almazan commanded the troops from Guastatoya that fought together with the troops of Mariscal Serapio Cruz against the troops of Vicente Cerna Sandoval at the Battle of Canales in February 1869 . The troops of Rito Orellana defeated the troops of Cerna. That evening the soldiers ate meat from horses killed in battle raw and without salt. Marshal Serapio Cruz lost part of his favorite pair of leggings that afternoon . The slaughter lasted from sunrise to sunset

According to legend, Tata Lapo died in Palencia in June 1870 as a victim of betrayal by his godfather, who cut off his head and hung him on a Ceiba branch that withered .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ en: Hubert Howe Bancroft , HISTORY OF CENTRAL AMERICA | content | c 5 p.79-107 | c 7 p.127-144 | c 8 p.145-164 | c12 p.238-263 | c 13 p.264-284 | c 14 p.285-308 | c17 p.347-370 | c18 p.371-391 | c19 p.392-412 , THE HISTORY COMPANY, PUBLISHERS SAN FRANCISCO, 1887 page 277
2. ↑ James Alexander Robertson, Alva Curtis Wilgus, Hispanic American Essays: A Memorial to James Alexander Robertson , Ayer Publishing, 1970, 391 SS 286
3. ↑ Asociación para el Fomento de los Estudios Históricos en Centroamérica, Antonino Solares encarna el clásico caudillo militar del siglo XIX guatemalteco  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Asociación para el Fomento de los Estudios Históricos en Centroamérica, La vida de un caudillo, militar y hacendado del siglo XIX cuya memoria permanece como figura popular in Guatemala.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Prensa Libre , 15 de Julio de 2007, Las historias de Tío Chema, Don Chebo, Tatalapo o los huitecos han pasado de generación en generación ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.