| A Coin tells a Story: Spain's last stand in Latin America
Spain's last stand in latin America: The fortress of Real Felipe
For most historians, the battle of Ayacucho fought in the Peruvian Andes on December 9th 1824 marked the end of 400 years of Spanish rule in Latin America. In that battle the Peruvian patriots aided by Colombian, Chilean and Argentinian troops under the joint command of General San Martin and of Simon Bolivar finally defeated the Spanish troops led the by Spanish Viceroy (Virrey) la Serna.
A small nucleus of royalist resistance remained however in the capital Lima, and the port city of El Callao. There, the remaining Spanish troops under the command of General Canterac and Brigadier Jose Ramon Rodil refused to surrender the Port city and its fortress of Real Felipe. Soon, the spanish troops were joined by 8000 civilians, some Spanish and others Creoles who vowed to remain loyal to the spanish king.
The Patriots encircled the port city and its fortress, laying a siege that was to last for one year. The 2800 soldiers of the spanish garrsion would not surrender the fortress, under the obstinate command of Jose Rodil, who still held out hope of receiving reinforcements from Spain. Rodil has gone down in history as a fiercely loyal commander who did not hesitate to execute any of his own soldiers or even civilians at the smallest sign of weakness, or of wavering loyalty to the crown.
The reinforcements from Spain never arrived. The prolonged siege took a terrible toll of the besieged, who at the end were forced to eat the flesh of rats to survive. The situation was made worse by the treason of some spanish commanders who switched sides early in 1826 to join the patriot cause. After a year of siege, only 326 spanish soldiers, and a few hundred civilians remained, the rest having succumbed to scurvy, typhus, hunger and the continuous bombardment of the patriot army.
Brigadier Rodil was finally forced to surrender the fortress of Real Felipe. He was honored by his captors as a man who obstinately defended the cause of his king, and was eventually released, returning to Spain. The fall of the Real Felipe marked the end of Spanish rule in Latin America.
This coin bears witness to that siege: it is a Peru Libre 8 Reales coin of 1822, minted by the patriots in the capital city Lima, and countermaked by the royalists at El Callao with the Spanish crown and dated 1824.
Regards,
Eduard
Last edited by Eduard; 05-09-2009 at 10:31 AM.
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