Saturnino Martín Cerezo (11 February 1866 – 2 December 1945) was a Spanish military officer. Martín Cerezo was best known for his commanding of Spanish defenders during the

Siege of Baler The siege of Baler (; ) was a battle of the Philippine Revolution. Filipino revolutionaries laid siege to a fortified church defended by Spanish troops in the town of Baler, Aurora, for 337 days, from 1 July 1898 until 2 June 1899. The Spanish� ...

Biography

Martín Cerezo joined the Spanish army at a young age. During the

Philippine War of Independence The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

, he served as an officer with the Spanish army garrisoning the islands, then a Spanish imperial possession. In 1898, with the war going badly for the Spanish, Martín Cerezo's unit was assigned to the town of Baler. In June 1898, Cerezo's unit was ambushed by Philippine guerillas—Cerezo's commanding officer, Juan Alonso Zayas, was seriously wounded, and the Spanish were soon besieged in a church in Baler. Martín Cerezo took command of the garrison when Zayas succumbed to his injuries in October. The siege continued until 2 June 1899, when the Spanish garrison was informed of the End of the Spanish-American War and the subsequent end of Spanish rule in the Philippines. Martín Cerezo and the surviving garrison were evacuated to Spain, and their defense of Baler was widely praised in Spain.

References

1866 births Spanish army officers 1945 deaths {{Spain-mil-bio-stub