Andalusia-Extremadura Column

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Andalusia-Extremadura Column
Columna Andalucía-Extremadura
Active	1936 - 1937
Disbanded	1937
Country	Spanish Republic
Allegiance	CNT-FAI
Branch	Confederal militias
Type	Militia
Role	Home defense
Size	4,700
Commanders
Notable commanders	Juan, Francisco and Sebastián Rodríguez Muñoz

The Andalusia-Extremadura Column ^[1] was a confederal militia composed of anarchist militants and workers that participated in the Spanish Civil War, on the fronts of Córdoba and Jáen.

History[]

Its organization began in Bujalance at the end of September 1936 after the Republicans lost the towns of Castro del Río and Espejo.^[2] Their first act of war was on October 21, 1936 in the failed operation to recover Castro del Río, although they achieved success by taking part in the town, they saw the need to abandon it and fall back to Bujalance. During the fall, they dedicated themselves to fortifying the front line, which they could not use during the nationalist offensive of December 20. It reached a real disaster with the loss of the towns of El Carpio, Villafranca, Montoro, Bujalance and Villa del Río. In December 1936, there were 4,700 militiamen in the column.

After the defeat they retreated towards Villa del Río to reach Andújar. The remains of the column were moved to Manzanares where it was reorganized and militarized in January 1937, integrating into the 88th Mixed Brigade. At the beginning of 1937, they returned to the front of Villa del Río, until they were urgently required to participate in the Battle of Pozoblanco and subsequent counter-offensive. The concurrent "brigades" achieved a victory over the nationalist forces of Gonzalo Queipo de Llano. Later they occupied positions on the front of Hinojosa del Duque and Belalcázar.

Structure and composition[]

The Andalusia–Extremadura Column were largely members of the CNT-FAI. The command was in the hands of anarchists brothers from Bujalance: Juan, Francisco and Sebastián Rodríguez Muñoz, together known as “Los Jubiles”. The origin of the column's manpower was in the so-called CNT-FAI Centuries, such as:

• The Centuria de los Gavilanes of Bujalance, the Arcas Battalion, Zímermán Battalion made up of Sevillian anarchists and the Pancho Villa Battalion from Jaén, Castro del Río and Baena.

• The Alcoy Battalion created by Levantine militiamen who had already fought in the Córdoba offensive, and later served in the Battle of Cerro Muriano.

• The Fermín Salvochea Battalion was formed on August 20 in Almodóvar del Río whose members were from Almodóvar and also from Villaviciosa. The former mayor of Almodóvar was their political commissioner. They joined the column after the defense of Villaviciosa.

References[]