Marcos Evangelista Adón

Marcos Evangelista Adon
General Adon, pictured with rifle in hand, c. 1840s-1860s
Born	1800 El Seibo, Captaincy General of Santo Domingo
Died	October 22, 1872 (aged 72) Jacmel, Haiti
Buried	National Pantheon of the Dominican Republic
Allegiance	Dominican Republic
Service / branch	Dominican Army
Rank	General
Battles / wars	Dominican War of Independence Dominican Restoration War Six Years' War

Marcos Evangelista Adón (1800 – October 22, 1872) was a Dominican revolutionary who was a hero in 3 national wars of the Dominican Republic.

Life

Adón was born in 1800 to José Lino Adón and Bernarda Abad, both Dominicans of African descent. Although born in the city of El Seibo, he would later relocate to the capital city of Santo Domingo.

He was among the participants of the independence revolt on the night of February 27, 1844. Apparently he was part of the contingent of Seybanos who accompanied Pedro Santana to the capital, in the days following the proclamation of Independence. In the ranks of the Dominican Army, he participated in many bloody battles fought in the southern region against Haitian forces in the Dominican War of Independence. At the end of the war in 1856 he held the rank of colonel and later appears, in the lists drawn up by the Spanish authorities of La Anexión, with the rank of General of the Reserves. When Santana proclaimed reincorporation of Dominican Republic into the Spanish monarchy, he was 61 years old. In the files of the Dominicans who held military ranks, the Spanish described him as a man of “a lot of influence with turbulent people,” which is equivalent to saying with the Creoles that they did not willingly accept the betrayal consummated in March 1861.

Like Eusebio Manzueta, Marcos Adón was one of Pedro Santana's friends and subordinates, who did not openly oppose the decision of the general, but observed, after the fact, a distant attitude of non-complacency, in front of the civil and military authorities that Spain designated in the country. This explains the reports from spies and informers in the service of foreigners, who warned of the conduct and behavior of those men who had extensive military experience. And the Spaniards were not far from reality, since Marcos Adón was one of the first in the eastern region of the country to support the movement that began at Cerro de Capotillo on August 16, 1863, when the definitive stage of the Dominican Restoration War began. On October 2, 1863, in Hato Mayor, he led the uprising against Spain.

Once the insurrectional movement in that region failed, Adón was arrested and sent to the capital city on October 16. In November, he was sent as a prisoner to Cuba and transferred, in the same capacity, to Spain from where he escaped, returning to Santo Domingo, to join the ranks of the patriots who were fighting against the Spanish troops. Together with Eusebio Manzueta, Chief of Operations in the Eastern region, he established himself near what is now Villa Mella at the head of a flying guerrilla contingent, which prevented the passage of Spanish troops and the crossing of small steamships through the Ozama River and Yabacao River, which supplied the army quartered in the Guanuma camp. Adón's guerrillas did not allow themselves to be seen by the enemy and at night they attacked the supply convoys, creating serious problems for the opposing forces, as recognized by military leaders González Tablas and José de la Gándera, in works that review that episode.

As a result of a successful assault on a large Spanish supply convoy that also caused numerous casualties, deaths and injuries, Marcos Adón decided to found a small town near the site of his camp, which he named “Victoria del Ozama” (Ozama Victory). That small town today is known by the name of “La Victoria" (The Victory), and is located kilometers beyond Villa Mella. By that date, March or April 1864, the guerrilla leader was 64 years old, which means that he had entered old age, although physically fierce, he was a strong, agile and bold man as described, capable of personally leading a guerrilla contingent. in a large region, since their activities reached the foothills of the Cordillera Central, blocking the way for the Spanish intentions to penetrate the Cibao valley.

The activity of Marcos Adón, head of the guerrilla vanguard that was part of the troops in the region, commanded by Eusebio Manzueta, caused serious damage to the enemy contingents, presenting a situation worthy of taking into account on that military front. At the service of Spain, as vanguard soldiers, troops and leaders, there were Dominicans of recognized value proven on the battlefields. At least two of them operated on the so-called Eastern Line, which was how that part of the Dominican Republic was known. One was Juan Contreras, respected as a combatant, appointed by the Spanish Chief of Operations of Monte Plata. The other, Juan Suero, called the Black Cid, also commanded troops in that region. Contreras was defeated in the Battle of Arroyo Bermejo by the patriots under the command of Gregorio Luperón, a bloody and long confrontation in which Contreras was killed in battle.

It was a sensitive loss for the enemy, but militarily and politically more costly because Luperón, in rapid movement, occupied Monte Plata, Sabana Grande de Boyá and Bayaguana, making the field of operations of the opposing troops more limited. Shortly afterwards, coincidentally on March 19, 1864, twenty years after the historic Battle of Azua had been fought, Luperón defeated the Juan Suero in the Battle of Paso del Muerto on the banks of the Yabacao River, the most costly for Spain because Suero and other Dominican soldiers who served under their flags had died in combat. In both confrontations, Marcos Adón was present, playing a starring role with his guerrillas, who had joined a German citizen named Brigman, supposedly naturalized although there is no record of this, who along with Olegario Tenares and other patriots was seriously injured. The permanent and tenacious offensive of the patriots ended up eliminating the possibilities of an armistice advantageous for Spain as wanted by General José de la Gandera, governor and Captain General of the province of Santo Domingo.

Adón, at the head of his guerrillas, approached the outskirts of Santo Domingo. He demanded the of the national territory by the Spanish government, in the early hours of the morning of July 11, 1865, as head of the vanguard of the patriot troops of the Eastern Line, barefoot, half-naked, hungry, loaded with glory, Marcos Adón, Brigadier General of the Armies of the Republic, entered the city of Santo Domingo. The small population, which was said to have numbered no more than 7,000 inhabitants, took to the deteriorated streets to applaud and acclaim them. At that moment a singular episode in the history of America and the Great Epic of the Dominican people culminated.

In the years following the capitulation of the Spanish forces, Adon continued to be a soldier of the country. He was Commander of Weapons of Santo Domingo and in the government of José María Cabral, Minister of War. When Báez returned to the presidency of the Dominican Republic in 1868, he went into exile to join with Luperón, Cabral and Pedro Antonio Pimentel to fight with them the project of annexation to the United States. He was then 68 years old. His age did not prevent him from being the head of the expeditionary vanguard, which entered the national territory from the south to confront the Baezista government supported by the United States. A man of republican convictions, he was always the first to face danger. At that time, residing in Haiti, they made a portrait that has served as an illustration in different publications. Tall, with dark skin, serene and firm gaze, wide-brimmed hat, plywood rifle, cockerel saber on his belt, high mid-calf boots, braids and cape; He is an authentic Creole man, a typical Dominican guerrilla, perhaps seventy years old, on whom time, despite his sacrificial existence, seems to have had no effect.

Marcos Adón died, exiled, poor and alone, in Jacmel, Haiti, on October 22, 1872, when the last stage of the Six Years' War was being fought. He was 72 years old.

Historiagraphy

Like other Dominican heroes, he did not leave any fortune, farms, or assets of his own or taken from the State's assets. He honored the military uniform and his example also honors, and dignifies, the history of the Dominican people.

See also

• Pedro Santana
• Gregorio Luperón
• José María Cabral
• Pedro Valverde