Santo Domingo - Parque Independencia 1449

General José Antonio Salcedo y Ramírez, known as "Pepillo" (1816–1864) was a 19th-century

President of the Dominican Republic The president of the Dominican Republic ( es, Presidente de la República Dominicana) is both the head of state and head of government of the Dominican Republic. The presidential system was established in 1844, following the proclamation of th ...

Biography

Salcedo was born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain from

Criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people In Hispanic America, criollo () is a term used originally to describe people of Spanish descent born in the colonies. In different Latin American countries the wor ...

(white creole) parents of Spanish heritage who had been stationed in Spain for over a year, as part of the traditional

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...

of rich Latin American Criollos to Spain. The names of his parents were José María Salcedo and Luisa Ramírez y Marichal, both Cuban-born Dominicans (many Dominicans fled the island due to the Napoleonic wars, the Haitian slave revolt and the political instability from 1795 to 1809: about 4,000 went to Cuba and 100,000 did so to Venezuela while scores exiled in Puerto Rico and Mexico; many Dominicans and their foreign-born children eventually returned to the island). Leaving Spain, the family returned to Cuba when Salcedo was a year old before settling in the lands of their ancestors in the Cibao valley. He grew up near the border of Haiti where he managed large tracts of land, herds of livestock, and a rich timber business in the towns of Hatillo Palma, Estero Balsa, and Botoncillo in the northwest. Salcedo led a civil war which aimed at the restoration of the Dominican Republic. The

Dominican Restoration War The Dominican Restoration War or the Dominican War of Restoration () was a guerrilla war between 1863 and 1865 in the Dominican Republic between nationalists and Spain, who had recolonized the country 17 years after its independence. The war r ...

began on August 16, 1863, and by September 14, 1863 a Provisional Government was established, over which the general presided. After he became the 1st head of state of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, the general was opposed by the Nationalist movement, who viewed his policies as favoring those supporting the annexation of the country. On October 15, 1864, Head of State Salcedo sent word to his wife (who lived in Guayubín) with a young soldier who was nearly in his mid-twenties named

Ulises Heureaux Ulises Hilarión Heureaux Leibert (; October 21, 1845 – July 26, 1899) nicknamed Lilís, was president of the Dominican Republic from September 1, 1882 to September 1, 1884, from January 6, 1887 to February 27, 1889 and again from April 30, 18 ...

. After on the same day, he was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

by Coronel Agustín Masagó by the order of General

Gaspar Polanco Gaspar Polanco Borbón (1816 – 28 November 1867) was a Dominican military general and politician. He has been one of the most notable military figures in the history of the Dominican Republic and served as the country's president. In August ...

. Salcedo married Águeda Rodríguez of Guayubín, Monte Cristi. Together they had at least four children: José Tomás (born 1841 and married Rosa Elvira Brea in 1869), Antonia (born 1846), Cristina (born 1851), and Julia (married Rosendo Batista in 1888) Salcedo y Rodríguez. Antonia Salcedo married and had a daughter with another Restoration figure, Dionisio Troncoso (1834–1891), named Antonia María Troncoso y Salcedo. A great granddaughter of Pepillo, Genoveva Cruz, was 95 in 2017. The town of Pepillo Salcedo, in

Monte Cristi province Monte Cristi () is a province in the northwest of the Dominican Republic. The capital city is San Fernando de Monte Cristi (usually simply Monte Cristi). The spelling Montecristi is also seen. The Montecristi province is located in the Cibao front ...

, was named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salcedo, Jose Antonio 1816 births 1864 deaths 19th-century Dominican Republic politicians Politicians from Madrid Presidents of the Dominican Republic People of the Dominican Restoration War Military personnel from Madrid Dominican Republic people of Spanish descent Spanish expatriates in the Dominican Republic Assassinated heads of state White Dominicans