José Toral y Velázquez facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
José Toral y Velázquez
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circa 1898
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| Born | August 18, 1832 Mazarrón, Murcia, Spain |
| Died | July 10, 1904 (aged 71) Carabanchel, Community of Madrid, Spain |
| Allegiance |  Spain |
| Service/ |
 Spanish Army |
| Years of service | 1842-1899 |
| Rank |  General de brigada |
| Commands held | Madrid garrison Division, IV Corps IV Corps (temporary) |
| Battles/wars | Spanish-American War
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José Toral y Velázquez (born August 18, 1832 – died July 10, 1904) was a Spanish Army general. He was a leader in the Spanish Army during the Spanish–American War. General Toral was in charge of a division in Cuba. He became famous for surrendering the city of Santiago de Cuba on July 17, 1898. This happened after a long fight known as the Siege of Santiago.
Contents
Early Life and Military Career
José Toral was born on August 18, 1832. His hometown was Mazarrón, a city in southeastern Spain. Even though the area was busy with mining, Toral's family had a long history of serving in the military.
He joined the Academia General Militar, a military school, when he was just 10 years old. He worked in the part of the Spanish Army that handled paperwork and organization. Toral was an active soldier from the 1840s to the 1870s. He served in Spain and in its colonies. He helped put down rebellions during this time.
Toral was a strong supporter of the Spanish monarchy (kings and queens). He did not like the First Spanish Republic, which was a time when Spain did not have a king. He supported a plan to bring the monarchy back. Because of his efforts, he was promoted to a high rank, brigadier general, in 1889. In 1895, he became the commander of the garrison in Madrid. A garrison is a group of soldiers who protect a place. His job was to keep government buildings and officials safe. He also led troops in parades and special events.
In late 1895, Toral volunteered to serve in Cuba. He was sent to the Spanish Army garrison in Guantánamo. He worked there during the Cuban War of Independence. This war was fought between Cuba and Spain.
When the Spanish–American War started in April 1898, General Arsenio Linares y Pombo asked Toral to be his second-in-command. They were at the garrison in Santiago de Cuba. Linares created a military group to plan the city's defenses. He chose Toral to be part of this group. Later, Toral was given command of one of the two divisions in IV Corps. This was the unit that defended Santiago de Cuba.
In late May, there was an attempted uprising in a neighborhood in eastern Santiago de Cuba. The uprising was stopped. Toral ordered his soldiers to find and punish the leaders of the uprising. However, the soldiers could not find the leaders because they had hidden among the people. Toral then ordered that 50 men be chosen from the community and executed. This happened on May 29.
Battle and Surrender at Santiago de Cuba
On July 1, 1898, General Linares was hurt during the Battle of San Juan Hill. Toral then became the temporary commander of IV Corps. Toral took over a defense that was not well planned. He had more than 6,000 troops. But only 1,200 of them were sent to defend San Juan Heights. This area was key to protecting the city. After the defeat at San Juan, most of the Spanish soldiers moved back inside the city.
The United States Navy had cut the telegraph cables to Guantánamo on June 7. This meant Toral could not easily send messages. So, he sent a messenger to another general, Félix Pareja Mesa, asking for more soldiers. But General Mesa never received the message.
Early on July 3, U.S. General William Rufus Shafter asked Toral to surrender. Toral refused. A few hours later, Spanish Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete tried to leave Santiago de Cuba's harbor with his ships. But the U.S. Navy destroyed his fleet.
General Shafter contacted Toral again later on July 3. He asked him to surrender a second time. Shafter warned that the city would be attacked on July 5 if he did not surrender. Toral kept trying to negotiate, hoping to gain more time. On July 8, Toral offered to surrender. But he wanted to be allowed to take his men and weapons to the town of Holguín. General Shafter's troops were suffering from sickness, heat, and lack of supplies. He wanted to agree to Toral's offer. But President William McKinley of the United States said no. He demanded that Toral surrender completely, without any conditions.
Shafter warned Toral that the bombing of Santiago de Cuba would begin on July 10 if he did not surrender. Toral again said no. The U.S. Navy and Army began shelling the city on July 10. They continued until July 11. Toral still refused to give up and kept negotiating. Shafter then offered to send all Spanish prisoners of war back to Spain at America's cost. He also said Toral could take his men and weapons if he surrendered.
Meanwhile, General Ramón Blanco y Erenas, the top Spanish commander in Cuba, urged Toral to surrender. He wanted to save the city from more shelling. The Spanish government in Madrid also pressured Toral to surrender. Toral still hesitated. But the Americans cut off the city's water supply. Conditions for the people living in the city quickly became very bad.
General Toral finally surrendered all his remaining men in Santiago de Cuba. This included 12,000 men in Guantánamo and six other small Spanish Army groups in Cuba. This happened on July 17, 1898. This surrender effectively ended the fighting on land in Cuba during the war. Toral was worried about his reputation after the war. He insisted that the word "capitulation" (meaning a formal agreement to surrender) be used instead of "surrender" in all documents. He also demanded that his men be allowed to keep their weapons.
After the War
On July 22, the Spanish government asked the United States for peace. Spain and the United States signed a peace agreement, called the "Protocol of Peace," on August 12.
Toral left for Spain on August 15, 1898, as part of the peace agreement. However, the Spanish people blamed him for the loss in Cuba. When he arrived, there were public protests against him. Some of these protests were violent. In the city of Vigo, people threw stones at him.
Toral was put on trial by a military court for surrendering Santiago de Cuba. He was defended by a lawyer named Julián Suárez Inclán. Toral was found not guilty on August 9, 1899.
Even after being found innocent, people continued to criticize him. He became very sad. A few months before he died, he was taken to a hospital in Carabanchel, a suburb of Madrid. He passed away there on July 10, 1904.
See also
In Spanish: José Toral y Velázquez para niños
