Pedro Florentino

He was born in Hincha, today Haitian territory. His father was José Antonio Florentino, of Italian descent. Pedro Alejandrino was the name of this stubborn character, protagonist in two wars for Independence. His historical figure has been so discussed and controversial to the point that there is more than one version about the date and place of his birth. His biographer and defender, Don Sócrates Nolasco, assures that Florentino must have been born between 1805 and 1806; but other information maintains that he was 52 years old in 1861, so his birth must have occurred in 1809; and the same historian Nolasco cites statements offered in Azua by Florentino himself who declared that he was 55 years old in 1863, that his birthplace had been Santo Domingo and that he had lived inSan Juan de la Maguana , which sets the date of his coming to the world in 1808. It would be worth sticking then to what he himself declared and establishing it as conventional truth.

He owns stills and agricultural and livestock properties in San Juan de la Maguana . He was a patriot of radical nationalism and questionable methods due to the violent and primitive character that Florentino gave him. He was an officer in the fight against the Haitian incursions that lasted for nearly thirteen years. He fought under the orders of General Antonio Duvergé, as an artillery officer and commander of one of the Dominican columns that victoriously fought the famous Battle of Sabana Larga on January 24, 1856.

On October 11, 1856 under the presidency of the leader of his political devotion, Buenaventura Báez, went on to occupy the Arms Command of San Francisco de Macorís and later to serve as Governor of La Vega, a province that then included Moca, Cotuí, Bonao, Constanza, Jarabacoa and San Francisco de Macorís to the Northeast coast. He was also a Government Delegate in the entire Northern region, from Bonao to Monte Cristi. Among other important positions, Florentino had been Chief of the Southern Borders and commander of Las Matas de Farfán. When the liberal revolution of 1857, he left La Vega and came to the Capital, which was then under an eleven-month siege, to fight in defense of the Baecista government.

From there he returned to the South and already during the annexation regime, suspicions arose that he was involved in conspiracies. In January 1863, he was called for interrogation in Azua and the authorities gave him the choice between El Seibo , Santo Domingo or Azua, as a place of residence as a prisoner. He chose Azua and in September 1863, after the outbreak of the Restoration War in the North, he placed himself at the head of the national movement in the Southern region.

He led the uprisings of San Juan , Las Matas de Farfán and Sabana Mula, between September 16 and 17 and days later that of Neyba and Barahona , whose protagonist and main organizer was General Ángel Félix –Liberata–. Together with him and other officers such as General Aniceto Martínez, Florentino, superior leader of the movement in the entire region, attacked Azua , took Baní , San Cristóbal and on the banks of the Haina he threatened to march on the Capital, just as he had been told. proposed to President Salcedo.

The Spanish counterattack came. On October 15, 1863, the Spanish general José de la Gándara left the Capital heading south, leading a well-armed column of three thousand men, accompanied by the Spanishized general Eusebio Puello. After being detained in San Cristóbal for about a month , De la Gándara unleashed a vast-scale offensive before which the resistance of the patriots was broken. On November 18, in the middle of a fire, Baní fell. The Spanish attack became unstoppable, the Dominicans could not find a way to stop that overwhelming march and the Southern region once again fell into the hands of the annexationists.

The Florentino superior leader did not find a way to offer effective resistance to that attack, he himself withdrew towards the vicinity of the border; demoralization Gabino Simonó, Rudecindo de León, Francisco Martínez, Domingo Piñeiro, Julián Morris, Pedro Zorilla, Manuel Baldemora, Juan Gregorio Rincón, José Corporán, Luciano Solís, Romualdo Montero, Juan de la Cruz, Epifanio Jiménez Sierra and José Luis Paredes.

• History of the Dominican Republic
• List of people from the Dominican Republic