Celestino Barcala, the warrior son of Independence Colonel
Lorenzo Barcala
Lorenzo Barcala (1793 in Mendoza, Argentina – 1835 in Mendoza, August), was an Argentine military commander who participated in the Argentine civil wars on the side of the Unitarian Party, and one of the few black soldiers to reach the r ...
, was a key player on the Argentine civil wars in the north-west, reaching the rank of major
national army.
Biography
Barcala took part in the revolution of May 1866 in the province of
Catamarca against Miguel Molina, the commanding officer of Governor Victor Maubecín.
With the rank of lieutenant, he was responsible for executing Estanislao Pucheta, a captain of a company of the civic guard, who was shot by a firing squad inside the barracks. Barcala denied him the
last rites
The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. They may be administered to those awaiting execution, mortall ...
.
At the time of the second invasion of Felipe Varela, Barcala was in charge of the vanguard of national forces.
Varela, who was in
Jáchal, ordered his lieutenant Estanislao Medina to occupy the village of
Chilecito
Chilecito is a city in the Argentine province of La Rioja, and head of the department of Chilecito.
Overview
The city is located in the valley formed by the ''Sierras de Velazco'' to the east, and the ''Sierras de Famatina'' to the west. The c ...
, which took effect on 18 February 1867. On the march toward the village he joined the leader Severo Chumbita.
On March 4, Medina's army reached the outskirts of
Tinogasta. Barcala asked Lt. Col. Meliton Cordova to "march to the fields of San Jose to offer battle". Cordova did not respond and stayed in the villa, but Barcala took charge of the troops and led his men to the battle.
A popular song then recalled that:
''Before coming to High''
''lines were drawn,''
''shot to the forefront''
''Barcala commanded.''
With Barcala back to the village, Medina split his troops into columns and enter the village streets. After three hours of intense fighting, Tinogasta fell to the rebel army. Cordova died in combat while Barcala and other officers fled to the disaster. On his way to Belén, Barcala was captured while crossing the river Abaucán. Luis Medina Quiroga shot the commander in sight but he kept Barcala alive.
At the end of this month Medina met Varela at Chimbicha, 60 km from Catamarca. Varela's forces amounted to about 5000 men with three guns. After a grueling forced march and, on April 9, the day after the battle of Pozo de Vargas after midnight Felipe Varela arrived Tables (20 km from La Rioja), without being harassed by the government forces.
In the afternoon Medina ordered the execution of the prisoners. Along with Barcala were executed Balbino Arias Lieutenant and three civilians, militia commanders and Fermin Bazan septuagenarian Vicente Barros and Fernando Vega, an important neighbor of the town of Famatina.
After the failure of the movement, Colonel Severo Chumbita, like his son, Captain Ambrose Chumbita, was prosecuted criminally by the rebellion from 1861 to 1863 and 1867, and for offenses committed during them. Regarding the latter, the sentence he was convicted of taking part as principal chief in the rebellion led by Felipe Varela but also of events that qualify as common crimes and therefore excluded him from the general amnesty granted by Octavian Navarro and sentencing him to ten years of exile and 2000
piastre
The piastre or piaster () is any of a number of units of currency. The term originates from the Italian for "thin metal plate". The name was applied to Spanish and Hispanic American pieces of eight, or pesos, by Venice, Venetian traders in the ...
s fine. Among these crimes he was accused of Barcala death, Arias and three civilians. Eventually, on 4 November 1876 the court acquitted Chumbita crimes against him, except for charges relating to crimes committed during the rebellion of 1861 to 1863.
One historian says that Barcala was "infantry battalion commander, brave and reputed man of color, excellent education."
[Marcelino Reyes, ''Bosquejo histórico de la provincia de La Rioja, 1543-1867'', 1913.]
Notes
References
:* Vicente Osvaldo Cutolo, ''Nuevo diccionario biográfico argentino (1750-1930)'', Editorial Elche, 1968.
:* Olga Fernández Latour, ''Cantares históricos de la tradición argentina'', 1960.
:* Marcelino Reyes, ''Bosquejo histórico de la provincia de La Rioja, 1543-1867'', 1913.
External links
:
Campañas de pacificación del interior (1861 y 1867).:
:*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110606010111/http://www.ejercito.mil.ar/Ejercito/historia/ Sitio oficial del Ejército Argentino: Historia del Ejército Argentino.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barcala, Celestino
Unitarianists (Argentina)
Year of birth unknown
1867 deaths
Afro-Argentine people
People from Mendoza Province
Argentine Army officers
People executed by Argentina by firing squad
Deaths by firearm in Argentina