The Torres-Benedito Column was a

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

that operated at the beginning of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

History

The column was created in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

shortly after the outbreak of the

. It was made up of soldiers from the former regiments of the region, as well as volunteers from the CNT, UGT, POUM,

Syndicalist Party The Syndicalist Party (; ) was a left-wing political party in Spain, formed by Ángel Pestaña in 1932. Pestaña, a leading member of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) trade union, formed the party in response to the growing influence ...

and

Valencian Left Valencian Left ( ca-valencia, Esquerra Valenciana) is a nationalist Valencian leftist party founded in the Valencian Community, founded in April, 1998 a group of ex-members of Unitat del Poble Valencià (Valencian People's Union) formed left this ...

. In total, it grouped 3,180 troops, of whom 842 were military and 2335 were militiamen. The leadership of these forces was in the hands of the anarchist Domingo Torres and the artillery lieutenant José Benedito Lleó, a member of the Valencian Left and a war delegate in the Popular Executive Committee of Valencia; while Torres acted as a kind of "political" delegate, Benedito performed the functions of military adviser. Politically, the column had a partially

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

preponderance. The column left Castellón on August 18, crossing the province of Teruel until they reached the Francoist lines around the city of

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel Province. It has a population of 35,675 in 2014 making it the least populated provincial capital in the country. It is noted for its harsh climate, with a ...

, taking positions in Villalba Baja and Corbalán. During its existence it operated on the Teruel Front, constituting one of the most important columns operating in the sector. Later it was reinforced by the Iberia Column and the CNT 13 Column, leaving all these forces under the command of Jesús Velasco Echave - who replaced Benedito in September. Later the column forces reached a total of 4,100 troops. It came to have its own publication, "Victoria", a newspaper that was published in

Alfambra Alfambra is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. , the municipality has a population of 676 inhabitants. This locality is famous for the Battle of Alfambra fought in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War Historical Ori ...

. In the spring of 1937 it was militarized and transformed into the 81st Mixed Brigade, a process that arrived after some internal opposition.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{cite book , last = Navarro , first = Francisco Javier , title = To the revolution for culture , publisher = University of Valencia , year = 2004 , isbn = 84-370-5866-X Defunct anarchist militant groups Military units and formations of the Spanish Civil War Confederal militias Military units and formations established in 1936 Military units and formations disestablished in 1937