Timoteo Ogando

Timoteo Ogando Encarnación (July 31, 1818 – June 11, 1908) was a Dominican general and politician. In his lifetime, his activism spanned throughout seven different decades, including during the decades of conflict against Haiti, Spain and the United States. This gives him the distinction of holding the longest military career of the 19th and 20th century in the Dominican Republic.

Early years He was born in Pedro Corto, (in the province of present day San Juan) on July 31, 1818. His parents, (both Dominicans of Spanish descent), were Juan Ogando Montero and María Catalina Encarnación (May Talina), who had 14 children: 12 boys and 2 girls. All of his siblings participated in the wars against Haiti and Spain.

Leader for independence At just 23 years of age, together with his 21-year-old brother Andrés, they enlisted in the ranks of General Francisco Moreno to participate in struggles of the Dominican War of Independence.

Recognized as a man of arms in his region, he joined in June 1861, the call to arms made by the exiled patriot, Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, together with José María Cabral for the Dominicans to join the fight against the annexation to Spain, carried out in March of that year by President Pedro Santana. Ogando managed to save the life of the Februaryist Juan Pablo Pina, who was a friend of Juan Pablo Duarte, and other combatants, sending them to Haiti, due to his skill as a horseman along with his knowledge of the roads of the region. Cabral also managed to save his life by taking refuge in Haiti. He participated in the Battle of La Canela, the last of the battle until he was wounded on December 5, 1864.

Báez was deposed in 1874, he supported the government of Ignacio María González and was part of his entourage when he visited Cibao in the middle of that year. In August he participated in the beginning of the revolutionary movement that began in Santiago with the assault on the San Luis fortress. After González's attempt to arrest Gregorio Luperón, members of the liberal party (or blues), grouped in the patriotic association Liga de la Paz and those of the Amantes de la Luz society, accused the President of having violated the Constitution and of embezzlement of public funds.

He died on June 11, 1908, at the age of 89, in Santo Domingo.