Arsenio Linares y Pombo (22 October 1848 – 7 August 1914) was a Spanish military officer and government official. Born in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, he earned the rank of lieutenant in 1868 and participated in operations against rebellions in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and in the Carlist Wars on mainland Spain putting down rebellions by Basque separatists. He occupied posts in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, and Melilla, and later returned to

. Linares described himself as passionately loyal to King

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...

. He was an antisemite and a white supremacist, in his memoirs (published 1906) he made numerous disparaging remarks about Jewish people as well as people of African descent.Discurso pronunciado por ... Arsenio Linares Pombo en la sesión del Senado del día 7 de febrero de 1906 consumiendo el primer turno en contra de la totalidad del dictamen sobre el Proyecto de ley de represión de los delitos contra la Patria y el Ejército by Arsenio Linares y Pombo, 1906 Ideologically Linares said he was opposed to democracy, which he believed was a "flawed idea." On this basis he supported the coup d'état led by

Arsenio Martínez Campos Arsenio Martínez-Campos y Antón, born Martínez y Campos (14 December 1831, in Segovia, Spain – 23 September 1900, in Zarauz, Spain), was a Spanish officer who rose against the First Spanish Republic in a military revolution in 1874 and res ...

to overthrow the

First Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic ( es, República Española), historiographically referred to as the First Spanish Republic, was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874. The Republic's founding ensued after th ...

and restore the monarchy. He organized the defense of

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

during the

Battle of San Juan Hill The Battle of San Juan Hill, also known as the Battle for the San Juan Heights, was a major battle of the Spanish–American War fought between an American force under the command of William Rufus Shafter and Joseph Wheeler against a Spanish fo ...

. Linares failed to reinforce this position, choosing to hold nearly 10,000 Spanish reserves in the city of Santiago. Spanish entrenchments, crucial to the defense of the city, had been poorly constructed. Rather than being on the forward or

military crest Military crest is a term in military science that refers to, "An area on the forward or reverse slope of a hill or ridge just below the topographical crest from which maximum observation and direct fire covering the slope down to the base of the hi ...

of the San Juan Height where they could have a clear field of fire all the way down the hill, they were constructed on the hilltop, itself allowing the Americans to escape even near

point-blank Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel paral ...

rifle volleying when they went below the Spanish soldiers lines of observation. After the

Pombo wrote to his commander:"The situation is fatal; surrender inevitable; we are only prolonging the agony; the sacrifice is useless..."The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Warfare: From Ancient Egypt to Iraq By DK pg. 453 He was named Minister of War in 1900 by Prime Minister

Francisco Silvela Francisco Silvela y Le Vielleuze (15 December 1843, in Madrid – 29 May 1905, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician who became Prime Minister of Spain on 3 May 1899, succeeding Práxedes Mateo Sagasta. He served in this capacity until 22 October ...

, and occupied this post under subsequent governments. He was appointed senator for life in 1900. In 1909, his call-up of troops from

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

to be sent to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

led to the Tragic Week in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. He died in

in 1914.

References

Sources

Arsenio Linares y Pombo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linares y Pombo, Arsenio 1848 births 1914 deaths People from Valencia Spanish generals Spanish military personnel of the Spanish–American War Spanish military personnel of the Third Carlist War (Governmental faction) Spanish monarchists Far-right politics in Spain Antisemitism in Spain