Manuel Fernández Silvestre

Manuel Fernández Silvestre (December 16, 1871 – July 22, 1921) was a Spanish general.

Manuel Fernández Silvestre was the son of a lieutenant colonel of artillery, Victor Fernández and Eleuteria Silvestre. In 1889, he enrolled in the Toledo Infantry Academy, where he met with the future high commissioner of Spanish Morocco, Dámaso Berenguer. He served as commander of the Spanish enclaves in Morocco: Ceuta from 1919 to 1920 and of Melilla from 1920 to 1921. Afterward he commanded all Spanish armies in Africa during the opening phase of the Rif War in which his forces suffered a massive and disastrous defeat at Annual. With the battle lost, Silvestre was either killed or committed suicide on July 22, 1921. This is considered one of the worst defeats ever suffered by the contemporary Spanish Army.

Biography Youth Silvestre was born in El Caney in the Spanish Cuba to the second marriage of his father, artillery lieutenant colonel Victor Fernandez y Pentiaga and his mother Eleuteria Silvestre Quesada. Silvestre joined the Toledo General Military Academy where he met future General and Prime Minister Damaso Berenguer y Fuste who was 2 years younger than Silvestre. Silvestre graduated on March 9, 1893, as a cavalry second lieutenant, aged 21.

Career Cuba Silvestre first saw military action in 1890 at the age of 19 in a skirmish as a cadet against the Mambises guerrillas which were seeking independence for Cuba. After he graduated from the academy, Silvestre returned to Cuba in 1895 to fight against the Mambises, until the Spanish lost the 1898 Spanish–American War in which he suffered 16 wounds, including a severe wound that led to an incapacity of the left arm, which, in the future, he disguised very well. During his time in Cuba, the aggressive Silvestre had a marked preference for cavalry charges and fighting hand to hand against the Mambises. He was widely liked and respected by the men under his command. As a militarist educated by army officers and an africanista, Alfonso favoured swashbuckling, macho generals whom he saw as potential conquerors of Africa, leading to Silvestre's position as a royal favourite . Between 1913 and 120 Silvestre led several campaigns against Mulai Ahmed er Raisuni, a notorious North Moroccan brigand. Silvestre defeated Raisuni in October 1919 in the Battle of Fondak Pass. Although Raisuni and most of his followers managed to slip away, they eventually joined forces with the Spanish army against rival rebel leader Abd el-Krim. Raisuni's warriors played a key role in the Spanish capture of Larache and Arcila and in containing Abd El-Krim's offensives in 1923 and 1924, but he was taken prisoner by Abd El-Krim, who had him executed in 1925.

After stopping in Ceuta, Silvestre travelled to Meilila in 1920 to take up the position as Commandant-General of the city. From Meilila, in January 1921, he led the Riff invasion to destroy the local resistance, now led by Abd el-Krim. Berenguer commanded from his headquarters at Tétouan, south of Ceuta, and Silvestre was based at Meilila, 130 miles away, which adversely affected the quality of communication between them. The average Spanish soldier in Morocco in 1921 was paid the equivalent of US$0.34 per day and lived on a simple diet of coffee, bread, beans, rice and meat offcuts. Krim had sent Silvestre a letter warning him not to cross the Amekran River, as he would likely die. Silvestre commented to the Spanish press about the letter: "This man Abd el-Krim is crazy. I'm not going to take seriously the threats of a little Berber caid [judge] whom I had at my mercy a short time ago. His insolence merits a new punishment". The Riffians now surrounded the new Spanish base at Igueriben and used captured Spanish artillery to bring down fire on the Spanish. At that point, Silvestre, who having previously underestimated Krim now swung to the other extreme and called a council of his senior officers to announce he was ordering a general retreat back to the coast. Soon, the Riffians had entered the perimeter of the Spanish camp at Annual, killing every Spaniard they encountered.

A recent (2021) account of the Annual disaster by the Spanish military historian Javier Garcia de Gabiola summarises various accounts of Silvestre's end before concluding that he was probably shot down at the main exit from the camp after his senior staff officers were dispersed by rifle fire from the tribesmen gathered there.

A total of 15,000 Spanish soldiers fell in the days from July 22 to August 9; most died during the Battle of Annual (known as the Disaster of Annual to Spanish historians). Krim followed up his victory at Annual by laying siege to all of the blocaos in the Riff mountains, none of which had much food or water stored, and all of which he took.