Manuel Silvestre Gutiérrez Chávez (

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...

; —

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

; ) was a

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

that participated in the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

headed by his brother

Tomás Gutiérrez Tomás Francisco Gutiérrez Chávez (March 7, 1817 – July 26, 1872) was a Peruvian Colonel who, along with his brothers, led a coup against President José Balta Montero and served as the Supreme Leader of Peru for four days in July 1872. Fr ...

against then president

José Balta José Balta y Montero (25 April 1814 – 26 July 1872) was a Peruvian soldier and politician who served as the 19th President of Peru from 1868 to 1872. He was the son of John Balta Bru and Agustina Montero Casafranca. In 1865, he aided Ma ...

on July 22, 1872, dying in the events that took place four days later.

Early life

Gutiérrez was born in

to a family of Spanish descent in March 1817, the son of parents Luis Gutiérrez and Julia Chávez. He enlisted, along with his three brothers in the

Peruvian Army The Peruvian Army (, abbreviated EP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of national territory on land through military force. Additional missions include assistance in s ...

, with Tomás distinguishing himself above the others. He was described by historian

Jorge Basadre Jorge Alfredo Basadre Grohmann (12 February 1903 – 29 June 1980) was a Peruvian historian known for his extensive publications about the independent history of his country. He served during two different administrations as Minister of Educati ...

as having frizzy hair and being fairer, more intelligent and enlightened than his brothers but thought to be "harsh and sinister."

Military career

Silvestre had a less distinguished career than Tomás, starting in the 1850s, in the wars and revolutions of Peru. Silvestre was barely remembered for his performance alongside

during the

Chiclayo Chiclayo (; mochica language, Mochica: ''Cɥiclaiæp'') is the principal city and capital of the Lambayeque region and Chiclayo Province in northern Peru. It is located from the Pacific coast, from the city of Trujillo, Peru, Trujillo, and from ...

revolution: seriously injured in the head, he received the nickname "broken head" () ever since. In April 1870, both Silvestre and Marceliano were put on trial, accused separately of

flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, floggin ...

. Silvestre had Colonel Juan Manuel Garrido arrested, to whom he applied two hundred lashes. Marceliano, in turn, ordered the guard Luis Montejo to be flogged. Of the two trials, Silvestre's caused a public scandal. Lawyer

Fernando Casós Flores Fernando Casós Flores ( Trujillo; – Lima; ) was a Peruvian politician and writer. He played an important role in the coup d'état against José Balta in 1872, serving as Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations ...

defended Silvestre. In August 1871 the Supreme Court issued an adverse ruling against Silvestre, so he was separated from the battalion he commanded; However, he returned shortly after to assume command of it.

Coup d'état

The Gutiérrez colonels, dissatisfied with the triumph of Manuel Pardo, the first civilian to win the presidential elections in 1872, plotted a coup against President

. Previously, they tried to convince the president to annul the elections, to no avail. Then Silvestre convinced Tomás to carry out the coup plan once and for all, given that there were only a few days left before the change of command would take place. The plan was then carried out at 2 p.m. of July 22, with Silvestre taking control of Government Palace and capturing Balta. Four days later, while taking the

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

at San Juan de Dios Station, he got into an altercation with a pro-Balta crowd, firing at them once with a

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

and woulding protestor Jaime Pacheco, who in turn shot him in the left arm. A

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...

thus began, resulting in

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Francisco Verdejo fatally shooting Gutiérrez in the head. His body was taken to the nearby Church of the Orphans, but was later dragged out and hanged from a lamppost next to Tomás at the

Plaza de Armas ''Plaza de armas'' (pl. ; literally ''arms square'' or ''place-of-arms'') is a Spanish language, Spanish term commonly used to refer to town square, town squares in Latin America, Spain and the Philippines, as well as a name commonly given to th ...

, and then again hanged from the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

, being later burned in a

bonfire A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used for waste disposal or as part of a religious feast, such as Saint John's Eve. Etymology The earliest attestations date to the late 15th century, with the Catholicon Anglicum spelling i ...

alongside two of his brothers. Only Marcelino survived, who rehabilitated himself by fighting in the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutierrez, Silvestre 1826 births 1872 deaths People from Arequipa People murdered in Peru Peruvian military personnel Peruvian people of Spanish descent Peruvian people of Galician descent

Early life

Military career

Coup d'état

See also

References