Dominican Restoration War

Dominican Restoration War
Illustration of Dominican forces laying siege to the San Luis Fortress during the Battle of Santiago (1863)
Date 16 August 1863 – 15 July 1865 (1 year, 10 months, 4 weeks and 1 day) Location  Dominican Republic Result Dominican victory Restoration of Dominican sovereignty Withdrawal of Spanish forces Separation of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo from Spain Establishment of the Second Republic
Belligerents
Dominican Republic	Kingdom of Spain
Commanders and leaders
José Antonio Salcedo Gaspar Polanco Benigno Filomeno de Rojas Pedro Antonio Pimentel Gregorio Luperon Ulises Francisco Espaillat Santiago Rodríguez Matías Ramón Mella Juan Pablo Duarte José María Cabral Timoteo Ogando José Cabrera Benito Monción Marcos Evangelista Adón Pedro Florentino Furcy Fondeur	Isabella II Pedro Santana Felipe Ribero Carlos de Vargas José de la Gándara Máximo Gómez Manuel de Regla Mota Eusebio Puello Wenceslao Figuereo Modesto Díaz Luis Marcano Nicolás Estévanez Manuel Buceta Juan Suero Juan Nepomuceno Ravelo Jacinto de la Concha Eugenio Miches
Strength
15,000–17,000	51,000 Spanish 12,000 Dominican auxiliaries[1]
Casualties and losses
4,000 dead[1] 38 artillery pieces captured	10,888 killed or wounded in action[1] 20,000–30,000 dead from disease[1] 10,000 Dominican auxiliaries (battle casualties and disease deaths)[1]

The Dominican Restoration War or the Dominican War of Restoration (Spanish: Guerra de la Restauración), called War of Santo Domingo in Spain (Guerra de Santo Domingo),^[2] was a guerrilla war between 1863 and 1865 in the Dominican Republic between Dominican nationalists and Spain, the latter of which had recolonized the country 17 years after its independence. The war resulted in the restoration of Dominican sovereignty, the withdrawal of Spanish forces, the separation of the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo from Spain, and the establishment of a second republic in the Dominican Republic.

During the period of the First Dominican Republic, the nation endured repeated attacks from Haiti, and annexation attempts from France, Spain, Great Britain, and the United States, all of which threatened national sovereignty. Also posing a threat to the nation was the dictatorial ways of the presidents who during those years alternated in power. Pedro Santana and Buenaventura Báez were the two most prolific politicians competing during this time. At the end of his last term, Santana decided to annex the country to Spain; his idea was to end the permanent threats from Haiti, but also to remain in power, since in exchange he accepted the position of captain general of the new Spanish province of Santo Domingo. Such a decision would unleash the Dominican Republic's second war of independence. Elements of a civil war also takes place, as this conflict pits the supporters of annexation to Spain against the independentistas or restorers (since their objective was to restore the First Republic).

The war began following the Grito del Capotillo, on August 16, 1863.  After the Dominican capture of Santiago, a series of bloody raids and campaigns would spread throughout the Cibao, Northwest Line, Center and South. (In almost all of them, the tactic of guerrilla warfare was used, except on two occasions: the first, when Salcedo and General Gregorio Luperón wanted to change it to that of positions and were defeated by the Dominican annexationist general Antonio Abad Alfau in the Battle of Sabana de San Pedro, on the restorative canton of San Pedro, an action which extended to Battle of Arroyo Bermejo. And the second, when General Gaspar Polanco attacked in Monte Cristi, on December 24, 1864, to the well-entrenched Spaniards). After the destruction of Santiago, the Spaniards marched towards Puerto Plata. Upon reaching Puerto Plata, they joined forces with the garrison in the fort, leaving the town vulnerable to pillaging by the rebels. Rumors circulated that the Spanish troops suffered from a lack of tents.

As the war progressed, Dominican forces continued to triumph in these regions, forcing the Spanish Marshal José de La Gándara to concentrate his troops in San Carlos, Monte Cristi, Puerto Plata and Samaná, after Santana's demise due to his military failure in Monte Plata, El Seibo and Higüey. The Spanish commander's attempts, with more than 4,000 men under his command, to crush the restoration movement in the South were frustrated with the attacks of the Dominicans in Nigua, Fundación, Sabana Grande, Nizao, Yaguate, Azua, San Juan, Las Matas de Farfán, Barahona and Neiba. On his march through the wild fields of the Southwest, La Gándara only found destroyed and abandoned crops, empty and burned towns. In addition, they endured further attacks by the Dominicans, resulting in a loss of 1,200 killed and wounded among the Spanish troops.^[3] Dysentery and malaria took a significant toll on the troops, especially native Spanish soldiers, with reports suggesting up to 1,500 per month lost to disease. By early 1865, most of the municipalities were under Dominican control. It was due to this situation, as well as renewed pressure from the United States, that the Spanish finally capitulated. Treaties were negotiated between both parties, and on July 11, 1865, the remaining Spanish forces left the island, ending the war.

Though this war brought about the definitive closure of European colonialism in the Dominican Republic, in the aftermath, the war would not bring stability; The continuous confrontations between the conservatives, led by Buenaventura Báez, who sought out further annexationist projects to the United States, and the liberals, like Gregorio Luperón himself, who aspired to modernize and democratize the republican institutions) continued to destabilize and impoverish the country in the following decades.