| 84th Mixed Brigade 84.ª Brigada Mixta | |
|---|---|
 Military flag of the Popular Army | |
| Active | March 1937 – January 1938 (1st unit) April 1938 – January 1939 (2nd unit) |
| Country | .svg) Spain |
| Branch | Spanish Republican Army -Infantry |
| Type | Mixed Brigade |
| Role | Home Defence |
| Size | Fourbattalions: The 333, 334, 335 and 336 |
| Part of | 40th Division (1937 - 1938) 60th Division (1938 - 1939) |
| Garrison/HQ | Valencia Vallfogona |
| Engagements | Spanish Civil War
|
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Benjamín Juan Iseli Andrés |
The84th Mixed Brigade (Spanish:84.ª Brigada Mixta),[1] was amixed brigade of theSpanish Republican Army in theSpanish Civil War. It was formed in March 1937 withbattalions of theIron Column (Spanish:Columna de Hierro) and was disbanded after the tragic events atMora de Rubielos when 46 soldiers were shot by firing squad in adecimation following the brigade'sBattle of Teruel December combats in harsh winter conditions.[2]
In April 1938 a new unit was established with the same number; the new mixed brigade took part in theBattle of the Segre and theBattle of the Ebro before vanishing in the debacle of theCatalonia Offensive.[3]
The 84th Mixed Brigade was one of the units that were established following the militarization of elements of the Iron Column that were located in the eastern sector of theTeruel Front. Most of its members were fromanarchist background as well as soldiers of garrison regiments from Valencia. The mixed brigade was made up of the following battalions, all of which had nicknames:
During the instruction period the unit was under the command of Infantry CommanderLeopoldo Ramírez Jiménez.[2]Under Ramírez the unit was made part of the40th Division of the reserve of theLevantine Army. Once the instruction period was over Ramírez was relieved of his duty by Infantry CommanderMiguel Ferrer Canet, who had previously led the 2nd Battalion of the82nd Mixed Brigade. Ferrer's leadership of the unit was brief for the 84th Mixed Brigade ended up having four different leaders in little more than eight months, between its inception and December 1937. The next leader wasCarabineros CommanderÁngel Castaño Gutiérrez, who was followed by Militia MajorBenjamín Juan Iseli Andrés.[2] The cantonment of the unit was in theCeladas sector of the Teruel front, contributing to the siege of the Republican forces around the city since the onset of the war. However, the 84th Mixed Brigade did not take part in any important military operation during the long siege, except for a failed Republican offensive in April.
When the large-scale republican attack against Teruel began in December, the 40th Division led byAndrés Nieto Carmona was made part of the20th Army Corps, which carried on its shoulders the main weight of the offensive. On 14 December the 84th Mixed Brigade launched an attack against enemy positions at theEscandón Pass, which it conquered two days later. On the 19 the brigade moved forward towardsTeruel on theN-234 road seizingCastellar andCastralvo, arriving to Teruel town on 21 December.[2] When the unit entered the town it was subject to determined attacks by the well-entrenched enemy and the men had to fight in harsh conditions of extreme cold. On Christmas eve the brigade tried to storm the Military Headquarters, which were fiercely defended by rebel ColonelDomingo Rey d'Harcourt. The street combats ended up in a bloodbath for the 84th Mixed Brigade, which at the end of the confrontation had over 600 casualties —about 25% of its total troops.[4] On 31 December the much-battered brigade withdrew to the outskirts of Teruel for a break, entering the small town again the following day and holding its ground until the surrender of the last strongholds of rebel forces on 7 and 8 January.[3]
After weeks of intense combats, the survivors of the much depleted 84th Mixed Brigade were sent behind Republican lines toMora de Rubielos for a time of much needed rest. The rebel side, however, launched its vigorous mid-January 1938 counterattack and, lacking troops to put up an effective resistance, the Republican high command resorted to the desperate measure of recalling all available reserves, including the exhausted 84th Mixed Brigade, whose men barely had had time to recover.[3]
When the brigade was summoned back to Teruel to defend the graveyard sector on 17 January —barely a week after the much needed break for its men, the 1st and the 2nd battalions were so exhausted that they refused to engage again in frontline combat, and the 4th battalion declined to relieve them when called to do so. Then the rebellion was harshly put down: On 20 January at dawn three sergeants and forty-three soldiers of the brigade were summarily executed by firing squad while other sixty members of the brigade awaited trial.[3] On 21 January the fate of the brigade was sealed when an effort by the remaining and spent troops of the disgraced unit to take the strategic hill known asEl Muletón ended in catastrophic failure. The Division CommanderAndrés Nieto, a Communist who had once been mayor ofMérida, took responsibility for the behavior of the men while Brigade CommanderBenjamín Iseli shrank away from facing the facts, pretending not to know about the mood of his troops.[3] Even though the latter's attitude was not the direct cause of the disbandment of the 84th Mixed Brigade, it certainly had great influence in it. A few days later the brigade was officially broken up and its remaining members were scattered among units of the39th Division. Thus, in a matter of two weeks, and despite the sacrifices of the 84th Mixed Brigade at Teruel, from having been exemplary frontline heroes its soldiers had been branded as disloyal and untrustworthy.[4] In addition to the 46 soldiers executed, 80 more were sent as prisoners by the Republic to forced work camps for the remainder of the war.[5]
On 19 April 1938 the123th Mixed Brigade was renamed "84th Mixed Brigade" and became part of the60th Division of the18th Army Corps. Its cantonment was atVallfogona and it was led by Militia MajorAgustín Vilella Freixa. Its chief of staff was Militia CaptainBenito García Freixas and itsCommissarJuan Soler Muñoz. The first mission carried out by the renamed brigade was to move to the bridgehead atBalaguer in order to cover the sector between the road toTàrrega and theSegre River.[3]At the onset of theBattle of the Ebro it already joined the end of July combats and took up the first line facingVilalba dels Arcs, in the zone betweenLa Pobla de Massaluca andCuatro Caminos. In this position it faced the relentless charges of the Francoist counteroffensive for eight days until it was forced to withdraw to Gaeta Hill(Vértice Gaeta). Finally the brigade lost that position on 21 August, ending up badly shattered. At the beginning of September the much depleted unit was withdrawn from the bridgehead and kept garrisoned at the Republican bank of the lowerEbro.[3]
It is known that when the 84th Mixed Brigade reachedIvars d'Urgell on 5 December it had a new leader, Militia MajorLuis de los Arcos Sáiz.[3] There are no data, however, about its performance in the impendingCatalonia Offensive, so that it probably fell apart before or during the chaotic northward rush that ended with the Republican military in the Northeast at the beginning of February 1939.[3]