1821: Fulgencio Yegros, former Paraguay head of state
July 17th, 2020 Headsman
Fulgencio Yegros was executed on this date in 1821.
Yegros (English Wikipedia entry | Spanish) was one of the key conspirators in the 1811 mutiny that brought about independent Paraguay and subsequently the chief of the five-man Junta Superior Gubernativa — making him at least arguably Paraguay’s first head of state.
His run didn’t last long; by 1814, this career officer had been sidelined by a far more potent character, Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia. Francia’s despotism drew resistance from Asuncion‘s Creole elites, including the retired Yegros, whose participation in an 1820 plot to overthrow the government was betrayed — and whose furious repression with dozens of executions initiates a period of absolute dictatorship marked as the “Franciato”, to terminate only with the man’s death in 1840.
Four days after his former 1811 revolution collaborator Pedro Juan Caballero committed suicide in prison — leaving scrawled on his prison walls the words “I know that suicide is against the law of God and man, but the Tyrant’s thirst for blood shall not be quenched with mine” — Yegros became part of the quenching. He and seven other conspirators, notably Dr. Juan Aristegui and Captain Miguel Montiel, were shot under an orange tree just outside Francia’s state residence, probably while the dictator himself watched. “Those not killed by the initial volley were dispatched by machete or bayonet, for the executioners, three in number, were permitted but one ball each per victim.” (Source)
On this day..
- 1931: Charles Simpson, "make it snappy" - 2019
- 1857: John Dorsey - 2018
- 1946: Draza Mihailovic, Chetnik commander - 2017
- 1920: Gerald Smyth, Royal Irish Constabulary officer - 2016
- 1787: Jacob "Hannikel" Reinhard - 2015
- 1651: Wilhelm Biener, faithful counsellor - 2014
- 1903: Dora Wright, in Indian Territory - 2013
- 1537: Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis - 2012
- 1798: Henry Joy McCracken - 2011
- 1749: Samuel Henzi, excluded - 2010
- 1793: Charlotte Corday, Marat's murderess - 2009
- 1918: Tsar Nicholas II and his family - 2008
Entry Filed under: 19th Century,Capital Punishment,Death Penalty,Execution,Famous,Heads of State,History,Martyrs,Mass Executions,Paraguay,Politicians,Power,Revolutionaries,Separatists,Shot,Soldiers,Treason
Tags: 1820s, 1821, asuncion, fulgencio yegros, july 17
