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Siege of Santuario de Nuestra Senora de la Cabeza
Part of the Spanish Civil War
Date September 14, 1936 ? May 1, 1937 Location Nuestra Senora de la Cabeza Sanctuary , north of Andujar , Jaen , Andalusia , Spain 38°10′44″N 4°02′19″W  /  38.17889°N 4.03861°W  / 38.17889; -4.03861 Result Republican victory
Belligerents
Spanish Republic Spanish Republican Army Spanish Republican Air Force	Nationalist Spain Guardia Civil FE de las JONS
Commanders and leaders
Lt. Col. Carlos Garcia Vallejo Maj. Pedro Martinez Carton	Cpt. Santiago Cortes ( DOW ) Lt. Francisco Ruano Beltran ( POW )
Strength
September 1936 :1,500 soldiers and militiamen May 1937 :6,000-12,000 soldiers 15 T-26 tanks	September 1936 : 165 Guardia Civil gendarmes 72 FE de las JONS volunteers 870-887 civilians
Casualties and losses
	150 dead, 250 wounded

The siege of Santuario de Nuestra Senora de la Cabeza took place from 14 September 1936 to 1 May 1937 in Andujar , Jaen , during the Spanish Civil War . The Republican army surrounded around 1,200 rebel civil guards and falangists who supported the Nationalists and forced them to surrender after a protracted offensive.

Background [ edit ]

After the failed coup of July 1936 in Andalusia, many groups of rebel civil guards retreated from their garrisons to hilltops, monasteries and others easily defensible points, living by robbing from the neighborhood. The longest surviving group of rebels was the encampment of the Nuestra Senora de la Cabeza's Sanctuary.

The siege [ edit ]

In August 1936, 250 civil guards from Jaen, most of their families, 100 falangists and about 1,000 members of the bourgeoisie of Andujar (Beevor: around 1,200 civil guards and falangists), ^[1] retreated to the Nuestra Senora de la Cabeza's shrine, near Andujar. During the first months of the war, there had been no attack launched against this enclave, because the Republican committee of Andujar did not know that the civil guards of the shrine were rebels. After gathering a good supply of food, the civil guards decided to send a declaration of war to the committee in September 1936. Their commander, Major Nofuentes, who wanted to surrender, was deposed by captain Santiago Cortes and the Republicans started the siege. Nationalist aircraft from Cordoba and Seville dropped supplies into the encampment (160,000 pounds of food from Seville and 140,000 pounds from Cordoba). Medical supplies and delicate goods were attached to live turkeys. Furthermore, pigeons sent news and messages to the Nationalists in Seville.

In December 1936, Queipo de Llano launched an offensive in order to occupy Andujar and relieve the shrine, but the offensive was stopped at Lopera in January 1937 (20 milles away from Andujar). In April 1937, the Republican government decided to crush the resistance of the rebels and sent a large force (20,000 men), led by communist major Martinez Carton. The Republican forces split the rebel enclave in two and conquered the encampment of Lugar Nuevo. Franco then gave permission to Cortes to evacuate women and children and to surrender should resistance become impossible, but Cortes rejected the evacuation of the women and children. On April 30, Cortes was wounded and on May 1, the Republicans broke into the sanctuary.

Aftermath [ edit ]

The remaining rebels were taken prisoner and Cortes died of wounds in hospital. ^[2] The rebels received little recognition in Nationalist Spain. ^[3]

See also [ edit ]

• List of Spanish Republican military equipment of the Spanish Civil War
• List of Spanish Nationalist military equipment of the Spanish Civil War

Footnotes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

• Beevor, Antony . (2006). The Battle for Spain. The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. Penguin Books. London.
• Thomas, Hugh . (2001). The Spanish Civil War. Penguin Books. London.
• Antonio Marin Munoz . (2004). I besiege to the Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Head, of Andujar (1936-1937). Madrid.

External links [ edit ]

• Website dedicated to the siege