Why was Saturnino Martín Cerezo honored by the Spanish government?

Question

Saturnino Martín Cerezo (page not available in English) a lieutenant in the Spanish army, was involved in the famous Siege of Baler, in which a small contingent of Spanish soldiers held out against Filipino forces for a period of over 330 days. This event is well-known in Spain, being dramatized in films such as Los Ultimos de Filipinas (Our Last Men in the Phillipines). After the death of the captain, Cerezo took command of the soldiers until the end of the siege. For this action, he received various honors in Spain including the Laurel of San Fernando, a healthy pension, and several streets named in his honor.

However, the siege only continued because, presumably, Cerezo ignored evidence that Spain no longer was in control of the Phillipines, which led to the deaths of over a dozen soldiers. More notably, Cerezo ignored or dismissed several envoys sent by the Spanish government, including a lieutenant colonel (Aguilar), refusing to surrender, which seems like insubordination. In this (admittedly rather hagiographical) article, the author quotes from a telegram sent by Aguilar's superior, a general, to the Ministry of War:

Regreso con teniente coronel Aguilar, que estuvo en Baler y convenció filipinos sitiadores embarque destacamento con todos los honores de guerra; pero teniente Martín, jefe del mismo, negóse en absoluto a abandonar Baler, a pesar de mis órdenes y razones Jefe de Estado Mayor. Personalmente daré cuenta a V.E. de motivos que se cree esto obedece.

With my best guess about archaic Spanish and telegram abbreviations, this says:

I am returning with lieutenant colonel Aguilar, who was in Baler and convinced the besieging Filipino forces to let the regiment embark with all the honors of war, but Lieutenant Martín, commander of the aforementioned, absolutely refused to abandon Baler, in spite of my orders and arguments, Chief of Staff. I will personally give account to Your Excellency of what are believed to be the reasons for this.

The writer of the article also suggests that the cause of "the last in the Phillipines" was not even viewed positively by the contemporaneous Spanish press.

Despite these actions, he was not reprimanded, but rather honored. I'm a bit surprised that, even when Cerezo's disobedience of orders was the object of discussion between a general and the Chief of Staff, he ended up being rewarded and subject to no censure.

Why did Cerezo receive so many honors despite having disregarded the orders of his superiors, with negative consequences for the soldiers under his command? Why did he not face consequences for ignoring the envoys?

Answer 1

I guess the real reason is the same one which explains why there are so many movies about Vietnam in the US: when you lose a war you're in desperate need of heroes. The Spanish-Cuban-American War was a complete disaster for Spain, losing the last remnants of its former glorious empire and sending the country on a vain exercise of soul-searching that many would say it is still looking for.

In that sort of mood, the courageous resistance of a group of soldiers against all odds, no matter how futile, instilled some sort of inspiration among the general population. Just like the news of some Japanese soldier stranded in the jungle for sixty years without knowing that the WWII was over generates more respect than derision for the poor guy.

Actually, the war was (quickly and mercilessly) lost by Spain because its imperial policy wasn't a good match for its third-rate power economy and its less-than-third-rate power defense budget, all of which had generated a tradition of corruption and nepotism in the armed forces, which collapsed against a more prepared army. So they took a story about a few men becoming paranoid due to isolation and stress and turned it into a tale of heroism and resistance to the last man. It is hardly a weird thing; from Custer's charge at Little Big Horn to the Light Brigade at Balaclava, whitewashing military blunders into legends of bravery is a common thing everywhere.

Probably the main reason that made a hero of Martín Cerezo was Martín Cerezo himself. His stubbornness (and that of his superior, Lieutenant Juan Alonso Zayas) may had cost a dozen lives, but he had managed to surrender with all military honors at the end of a war that had been not just a defeat, but a complete humiliation of the country. In 1898, few days after the Maine incident, Spanish newspapers run headlines in favour of declaring war against the USA and starting funding campaigns to go to war. Just three months later Spain had lost most of its navy, a third of its army, and all its colonies beyond the sea.

The behaviour of the Spanish armed forces was a complete disaster, left and right and from top to bottom. Admiral Cervera evaded a court-martial with all the grace and panache he lacked in avoiding the US Navy at Manila Bay. The press was boiling with stories of units which surrendered at the sight of the first marine they saw, or where massacred by ragtags armed with machetes - and the latter were more respected than the former. In this situation, Martín Cerezo manoeuvred skilfully to present himself as a brave man preferring death to dishonor. He campaigned in the press for a recognition to "the heroes of Baler"; he brought the ministry of defense to trial for deserting its brave soldiers - a narrative the common Spaniard with a relative or friend who had fought in the war was eager to buy. He even tried to get the King of Spain involved in the case and wrote a book - which was quite a best-seller - "so these facts of bravery are not going to be forgotten". In other words, as a military man he wasn't maybe brilliant, but as a politician he really had qualities.

In the end, just like with Admiral Cervera, it was easier for the Spanish elites and the Armed Forces High Command to honor him and making a hero of him than starting a judicial process that was inevitably going to expose everything that was wrong in the Spanish forces. Since there was more than enough shit for everyone to share, they decided it was better for everyone - particularly themselves - to just cover it up.

Answer 2

I disagree with the answer of Rekesoft, which doesn't give concrete historical documents supporting his thesis. Here is the second part of the decree issued by the Chief General of the region scarcely two months before the event.

Art. 2.° Serán también juzgados en juicio sumarísimo y condenados como reos del mismo delito de traición, a la pena de cadena perpetua o a la de muerte, según las circunstancias: 1.º Los que propongan la capitulación o rendición al enemigo de plaza, barco o puesto militar o de fuerzas que se encuentren sitiadas, bloqueadas o amenazadas por las enemigas. 2.º Los que viertan noticias o especies que tiendan a desalentar a los defensores de la patria. Manila, 23 de Abril de 1898.= El General en Jefe, Basilio Angustí y Dávila.

The decree leaves very clear that those that surrender to the enemy a position would face court martial. It also leaves clear that it was feared that people would give false news to the Spanish military to encourage them to surrender. Isolated from the rest of the army how would they know if the news they were receiving were true?

The rest is fertile imagination.