EL ALCÁNTARA EN EL VERANO DEL 21 249
essentially did not change further. For this reason, in the last century´s twenties,
similar circumstances occurred. Except for horses, mules and wagons,
our troops, both peninsular and those of the Protectorate, depended on their
espadrilles, their magnificent rifles and their scarce machine guns. Instruction
was reduced to the minimum: few shooting exercises. The tedious African
days were used to employ the soldiers working as road laborers.
But at the same time, military intelligence was not able to discover
that beyond the line of contact, a new army was being formed, still small,
but very different from the irregular indigenous one that had existed till then.
And in this way the army of the General Command of Melilla, immobilized
since January 1921, was taken by surprise, involved in hundreds of confidences
and half negotiations, all contradictory. After the capture on June 1
of the Abarrán position garrisoned by a company of regulars and another of
police, at the end of July a strong position garrisoned by two magnificent
companies of Spaniards was lost in Igueriben. Suddenly the entire advanced
line was threatened. General Fernández Silvestre made his decisions that
night, to cancel them later and hastily activate them again. The old military
saying of „order plus counter-order, disorder“ could be completed with even
more disorder by returning to primitive orders, and that is what happened.
The defeat of the operational column was joined by the rearguard population
rebellion when they observed that the troops that were supposed to defend
them not only withdrew, but also appeared to flee. There was no going back.
The disaster had been consummated.
Among all the units that were caught in this accumulation of errors,
there was one that, due to its characteristics, fought united. It was the 14th
Cavalry Regiment of „Alcántara Chasers“. Its performance as a Regiment
was brilliant, which led to the corresponding contradictory trial being instructed
for the award of the Laureate Cross of San Fernando in its collective
modality. Due to very different circumstances, the concession was only
granted in July 2012 and delivered in a solemn ceremony on October the
2nd of that year.
KEY WORDS: Spanish Protectorate, Moroccan High Commission,
Melilla General Command, General Manuel Fernández Silvestre, Lieutenant
Colonel Fernando Primo de Rivera, Dar Driuss, Monte Arruit, Zeluán.
Laureate Cross of San Fernando.
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Revista de Historia Militar, I extraordinario de 2021, pp. 249-320. ISSN: 0482-5748