''El degüello'' (Spanish: ''El toque a degüello'') is a

bugle call A bugle call is a short tune, originating as a military signal announcing scheduled and certain non-scheduled events on a military installation, battlefield, or ship. Historically, bugles, drums, and other loud musical instruments were used ...

, notable in the United States for its use as a

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

Mexican Army The Mexican Army () is the combined Army, land and Air Force, air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National Defense o ...

buglers during the 1836

Siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

and

Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a siege of the Alamo, 13-day siege, Mexico, Mexican troops under president of Mexico, President Antonio L� ...

to signal that the defenders of the garrison would receive

no quarter No quarter, during War, military conflict or piracy, implies that combatants would not be taken Prisoner of war, prisoner, but executed. Since the Hague Convention of 1899, it is considered a war crime; it is also prohibited in customary interna ...

by the attacking Mexican Army under General

Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876),Callcott, Wilfred H., "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez De,''Handbook of Texas Online'' Retrieved 18 April 2017. often known as Santa Anna, wa ...

. The Degüello was introduced to the Americas by the Spanish armies and was later adopted by the patriot armies fighting against them during the

Spanish American wars of independence The Spanish American wars of independence () took place across the Spanish Empire during the early 19th century. The struggles in both hemispheres began shortly after the outbreak of the Peninsular War, forming part of the broader context of the ...

. It was also widely used by Simon Bolivar's armies, notably during the Battle of Junín and the

Battle of Ayacucho The Battle of Ayacucho (, ) was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. This battle secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of belligerent South American states. In Peru it is conside ...

. "''Degüello''" is a Spanish noun from the verb "'' degollar''", to describe the action of

throat In vertebrate anatomy, the throat is the front part of the neck, internally positioned in front of the vertebrae. It contains the Human pharynx, pharynx and larynx. An important section of it is the epiglottis, separating the esophagus from the t ...

-cutting. More figuratively, it means "give no quarter". It "signifies the act of beheading or throat-cutting and in Spanish history became associated with the battle music, which, in different versions, meant complete destruction of the enemy without mercy." It is similar to the war cry "''¡A degüello!''" used by Cuban rebels in the 19th century to launch mounted charges against the Spanish infantry.

Musical compositions

Martha Keller's ''The Alamo'' in ''Brady's Bend and Other Ballads'', published in 1946, became popularized through Juanita Coulson's

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

, "No Quarter, No Quarter." In it, Keller wrote, "When they sound the 'No Quarter', they'll rise to the slaughter, when they play 'The Deguello', the wail of despair." K. R. Wood's 1997 compilation album ''Fathers of Texas'' explains the bugle call and what it meant at the Alamo through song and narration.

Depiction in films

In films, ''El Degüello'' varies, sometimes markedly. It is an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

in the two John Wayne films '' Rio Bravo'' (1959) and '' The Alamo'' (1960), and was also used in '' The Alamo'' (2004). In the first two films mentioned, the same music is used: not the actual Deguello, but music written by film composer

Dimitri Tiomkin Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin (May 10, 1894 – November 11, 1979) was a Russian and American film composer and conductor. Classically trained in Saint Petersburg before the Bolshevik Revolution, he moved to Berlin and then New York City after t ...

. In the third film, it is in the form of a military

dirge A dirge () is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as may be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegy, elegies. Dirges are of ...

. It is depicted as a bugle call in Disney's '' Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier'' (1955), in '' The Last Command'' (1955), in '' Viva Max!'' (1969), and in the made-for-television movie '' The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory'' (1987). Degüello is the title of an episode of '' Endeavour'', in Series 6, Episode 4 (2019).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deguello, El Military music Bugle calls Military history of Mexico Spanish words and phrases Death music

Musical compositions

Depiction in films

See also

References