Santiago Rodríguez Masagó ( – 27 May 1879), also known as Santiago Rodríguez, nicknamed "Chago" was a Dominican military leader. Little is known of his birth but sources suggest that he was either born in

Cap-Haïtien Cap-Haïtien (; ; "Haitian Cape") is a List of communes of Haiti, commune of about 400,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Departments of Haiti, department of Nord (Haitian department), Nord. Previously named ''Cap‑Fran� ...

or the area of

Fort-Liberté Fort-Liberté (; ) is a List of communes of Haiti, commune and administrative capital of the Nord-Est (department), Nord-Est Departments of Haiti, department of Haiti. It is close to the border of the Dominican Republic and is one of the oldest c ...

(in a part where it is present day Dajabón). He is known for having opposed the annexation of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and then having fought the

Spanish Crown The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

; and for being one of the rebels of the famous Grito del Capotillo that began the

Dominican Restoration War The Dominican Restoration War or the Dominican War of Restoration (), called War of Santo Domingo in Spain (''Guerra de Santo Domingo''),Losada, J. C. (2012). ''Batallas decisivas de la historia de España.'' Ed. Aguilar, pgs. 371-386. was a G ...

with General

Gregorio Luperón Gregorio Luperón (September 8, 1839 – May 21, 1897) was a Dominican revolutionary, military general, businessman, liberal politician, Freemasonry, freemason, and statesman who was one of the leaders in the Dominican Restoration War. Luperón w ...

Early years

Although little is known about his origin, many historians agree that the son of the landowner Vicente Rodríguez (of Dominican descent), and Josefina Masagó (of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an descent), two wealthy merchants from the city of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

in the Dominican Republic. At an early age Santiago Rodríguez moved to the border region in the company of his father Vicente Rodríguez who had to dedicate himself to commercial activities and free-range livestock raising where there were natural conditions for free-range livestock raising such as fertile plains, drinking water, despite that an important part of them had become the property of Haitians. Tobacco (andullos), coffee, products made from guano such as serones, hats, organas, backpacks, as well as other goods that Haiti imported from Europe were also sold. These productive activities on the Dominican-Haitian border allowed General Santiago Rodríguez to accumulate a large fortune, get to know all the nooks and crannies of that region and establish friendly relations with many people, in addition to having a large number of workers at his service. On the border, General Santiago Rodríguez established a friendship with another important character: General Benito Monción (Benoit), who, although he was born in La Vega in 1827, at an early age his mother had taken him to live in Dajabón, where he worked as a laborer on Rodríguez's ranch.

Early military career

In 1843, General Santiago Rodríguez began his military career when he participated in the Reform movement that culminated in the

Praslin Praslin () is the second largest island (38.5 km2) of the Inner Seychelles, lying northeast of Mahé, Seychelles, Mahé. Praslin has a population of around 7,533 people and comprises two administrative districts: Baie Sainte Anne and Grand ...

revolution in Haiti and the overthrow of the island's president Jean Pierre Boyer. In recognition of his work, the new president, Charles Riviére-Hérard, recognized him as an army officer. Due to the prestige and fame he had on the border, after the proclamation of Dominican independence in 1844 the new government commissioned generals Matías Ramón Mella and Manuel Mena to meet with Santiago Rodríguez, after which he appointed him as military assistant of Dajabón Square and made his debut in the independence efforts when it unsuccessfully confronted the powerful Haitian troops led by Jean-Louis Pierrot, who had been defeated in the Battle of Santiago. Due to the damage caused by Pierrot's troops in Dajabón, Santiago Rodríguez and a large group of people moved to live in Sabaneta from where he participated in the various battles of the

Dominican War of Independence The Dominican War of Independence () was a war of independence that began when the Dominican Republic declared independence from the Republic of Haiti on February 27, 1844 and ended on January 24, 1856. Before the war, the island of Hispaniola ...

, between 1844 and 1856, to prevent the attempts of the Haitian political leaders to absorb the nascent republic. He participated in the battles of Talanquera and Sabana Larga or Jácuba, Dajabón, on January 3, 1856 in which he was wounded.

Dominican Restoration War

Annexation to Spain

With the excuse that the frequent Haitian invasions represented a threat to the existence of the Dominican Republic and that it was also necessary to overcome the economic stagnation of the republic, on March 18, 1861, General Pedro Santana proclaimed the annexation of the republic to the kingdom of Spain, which at that time was in decline. With the annexation, the leading groups managed to concretize the project that they had conceived since the founding of the First Dominican Republic in 1844. The action had the support of the most important military leaders, intellectuals and numerous prominent personalities from Santo Domingo and various towns in the country, as can be seen in the manifestos published on the occasion, among which was Sabaneta, where 63 people spoke in favor of the annexation. From all this it can be inferred that, in principle, the annexation to Spain had a certain level of popular acceptance. However, he did not agree with the annexation, especially after seeing the measures taken by the new authorities. Dominicans had less income and more difficulties developing their lives normally. The national currency was withdrawn and a new one was imposed, at a very high exchange rate. Public jobs were assigned to Spaniards and the Dominicans who previously held them were fired. Another serious regret was the imposition of very high taxes on the already impoverished population. Laws were also established that treated Dominican farmers almost like slaves, forcing them to work several days a week for public works without any type of payment. Racial discrimination against those who supported the annexation due to their condition as Creoles, blacks and

mulattoes ( , ) is a racial classification that refers to people of mixed African and European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the word is (). The use of this term began in the United States shortly ...

, had transpired. The only promise kept by the Spanish was abolition of slavery, which had been maintained since the constitution of 1844. All these factors, added to some measures taken by the Catholic Church, caused the town to reach the limit. The fight against the annexation government was started on May 2, 1861 by Colonel José Contreras in Moca and continued in July of this same year by

Francisco del Rosario Sánchez Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comm ...

, who was captured in an ambush in El Cercado and then shot after having crossed the Dominican-Haitian border in the company of General José María Cabral who skillfully managed to escape. In February 1863 there were revolutionary uprisings in Neiba on February 9, Guayubín on the 21st, Sabaneta on the 22nd and Santiago de los Caballeros on the night of the 24th.

Uprising of 1863

General Santiago Rodríguez is credited with having organized and financed the Sabaneta and Guayubín insurrections. For this he made contact with the main leaders of the Northwest Region, recruited a large number of men, acquired weapons (machetes, sabers, rifles, ammunition, supplies, etc.) and was the one who drew up the military strategy to follow to confront the powerful Spanish army, along with Lucas de Peña, Benito Monción, José Cabrera and other military leaders. In a manifesto, the insurgents proclaimed the following: Already with a feeling of Dominicanness formed, the Dominicans united, organized by heroes like Santiago Rodríguez, who was at the head of the initial movement. It was he who chose the right moment to launch into the fight. He led the first revolt of February 1863, which was unsuccessful. Given the circumstances, he took refuge in

, where together with other restoration leaders such as Pedro Antonio Pimentel, Benito Monción and José Cabrera, they organized the Grito de Capotillo, which occurred on August 16, 1863 and began the

. After the Restoration of the country, Rodríguez held various military occupations.

Death and legacy

He died on May 24, 1879, in Agua Clara, Sabaneta Spanish.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez Masago, Santiago 1800s births 1879 deaths 19th-century rebels 19th-century Dominican Republic politicians Dominican Republic independence activists Dominican Republic revolutionaries Red Party (Dominican Republic) politicians People of the Dominican War of Independence People of the Dominican Restoration War People of the Six Years' War People from Nord-Est (department) Dominican Republic expatriates in Haiti Dominican Republic military personnel Dominican Republic people of Haitian descent