Colonel Domingo Sosa (1788 – May 1866) was an Argentine soldier who became an army colonel and took part in the wars of independence and in the Argentine civil war. He later became a politician, serving as a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

of the State of Buenos Aires, and as a member of the province's 1854 constitutional convention. He was the first

Afro-Argentine Afro-Argentines are people in Argentina of primarily Sub-Saharan African descent. The Afro-Argentine population is the result of people being brought over during the transatlantic slave trade during the centuries of Spanish domination in the reg ...

to be elected to such high offices.

Biography

Born a

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, Sosa had no education, though he subsequently managed to learn to read and write. He was enlisted into the Regimiento de Castas (a mixed-race regiment) of the city in 1808. From 1811 he took part in the two sieges of

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

until their end, taking part in the attack in the

Battle of Cerrito The Battle of Cerrito (outskirts of Montevideo, 31 December 1812), was a battle for the War of Independence of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, between the royalist forces who had control of the city of Montevideo and the rebel forces of t ...

, with the toughest part of the conflict borne by the "blacks" in the regiment of Colonel Miguel Estanislao Soler. On being mentioned in dispatches he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In April 1813 he took part in a campaign under the orders of Domingo French, to secure the frontier area of the river Yaguarón against incursion from Portuguese forces entering from Brasil. In early 1815 he was sent to the Army of the North, and participated in the

Battle of Sipe Sipe The Battle of Viluma, also known as Battle of Sipe-Sipe, was a major battle in the South American wars of independence in which the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (formerly the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata) were decisi ...

. He was sent back to Buenos Aires, where he was commissioned instructor of black soldiers. In 1817 he applied for retirement at the rank of captain, but instead of agreeing, he was commissioned head of custody of the prison - really a concentration camp - Las Brusas, near present

Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name) Dolores may also refer to: Film * ''Dolores'' (2017 film), an American documentary by Peter Bratt * ' ...

; anyway he was promoted to the rank of captain. He actively participated in the disorder of the

Year Anarchy XX A year or annus is the orbital period of a planetary body, for example, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun. Due to the Earth's axial tilt, the course of a year sees the passing of the seasons, marked by change in weather, the hou ...

, under the orders of Soler,

Pagola Pagolle (; eu, Pagola)PAGOLA

Dorrego Manuel Dorrego (11 June 1787 – 13 December 1828) was an Argentine statesman and soldier. He was governor of Buenos Aires in 1820, and then again from 1827 to 1828. Life and politics Dorrego was born in Buenos Aires on 11 June 1787 to José An ...

. In 1822 he was retired by the military reform of Bernardino Rivadavia, which damaged him greatly. He became a laborer and foreman in various jobs He returned to the service in 1828, and at the end of that year he joined the forces of

, although it is not known whether he fought in the

Battle of Navarro A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. The following year he was in the army of

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Althoug ...

, under whose orders he fought as officer in command of an infantry battalion in the

Battle of Puente de Márquez A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, his immediate superior was Colonel

Mariano Benito Rolón Mariano is a masculine name from the Romance languages, corresponding to the feminine Mariana. It is an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese variant of the Roman Marianus which derived from Marius, and Marius derived from the Roman god Mars (see also ...

. In 1831 he was in the army in the campaign against the

League of the Interior The Unitarian League ( es, Liga Unitaria) also referred to as the League of the Interior () was a league of provinces of Argentina led by José María Paz, established in 1830, aiming to unite the country under unitarian principles. It comprise ...

, under the orders of

Juan Ramón Balcarce Juan Ramón González de Balcarce (16 March 1773 – 12 November 1836) was an Argentine military leader and politician. Biography Juan was the older brother of Antonio González de Balcarce and of Marcos González de Balcarce. He fought agai ...

. In 1833 he defended governor Balcarce from the Revolution of the Restorers. As a result, he was retired later that year, and decommissioned in 1835. During the following years he served in several offices, and served several times as a police officer in the city. He rejoined the army in 1845 and was posted to command of a battalion of black soldiers from the city and its outskirts. He was promoted to the rank of colonel, and as such he participated in the Battle of Caseros, in which he was seriously injured. His life was saved only by chance, because the victorious army's doctors (almost all from the Rosas Army were killed) cared for non-white injured soldiers only after white soldiers had been cared for. After serving in personal guard of the Governor

Vicente López y Planes Alejandro Vicente López y Planes (May 3, 1785 – October 10, 1856) was an Argentine writer and politician who acted as interim President of Argentina from July 7 to August 18, 1827. He also wrote the lyrics of the Argentine National Anthe ...

, he supported the revolution of September 11, 1852 and was elected a member of the province in October. He served with distinction in the defense against the siege of Buenos Aires with

Hilario Lagos Hilario or Hilário can be both a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Hilario (1905–1989), Spanish footballer and manager * Hilário (born 1939), Portuguese footballer and manager * Hilário (born 1975), Port ...

's federal troops, and he was promoted to the rank of colonel on March 1, 1853. He was a provincial conventional constituent in 1854, the most important political office that a black man has held in Argentina. He was also, along with

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 ...

and

José María Morales Colonel José María Morales (August 14, 1818 – October 23, 1894) was a Officer (armed forces), military officer and Afro-Argentine legislator who fought in the Argentine civil war and the Paraguayan War. Early life José María Morales was b ...

one of the few black colonels in Argentina's history. Also, he returned to being an elected member of the province in 1856. His first wife was Pascuala de la Roza Contreras, who died in 1851; he then married an older woman, Petrona Mauriño, who died in 1859. For the rest of his life he commanded a regiment of black militias, but did not fight in the Battle of Pavón, forming part of the defense of the city of Buenos Aires. He died in Buenos Aires in May 1866.

Bibliografía

* Cutolo, Vicente, ''Nuevo diccionario biográfico argentino'', 7 volúmenes, Ed. Elche, Bs. As., 1968-1985. * Scobie, James, ''La lucha por la Consolidación de la Nacionalidad Argentina'', Ed. Hachette, Bs. As., 1965. * Yaben, Jacinto R., ''Biografías argentinas y sudamericanas'', Bs. As., 1939.

External links

The Afro-Argentine Officers of Buenos Aires Province, 1800-1860
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sosa, Domingo 1788 births 1866 deaths Argentine colonels Afro-Argentine people Afro-Argentine politicians Buenos Aires Province politicians Members of the Buenos Aires Province Chamber of Deputies