Antonio Escobar Huertas

Who was Antonio Escobar Huertas?

Antonio Escobar Huerta was a Spanish military officer. Escobar was a catholic and a conservative. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he was a colonel of the Spanish Civil Guard in the city of Barcelona. He remained loyal to the Republican government and on 19 July with his 800 men aided decisively to the defeat of the coup in Barcelona. Later he was promoted to General, and on January 1939, he led the Republican forces in the failed Valsequillo Offensive. On 16 February 1939, he was one of the officers who said to the Prime Minister Juan Negrin that further military resistance was impossible. In March 1939, he was the commander of the Estremadura Army, supported the Casado's coup and crushed the Communist resistance in Ciudad Real. On 26 March 1939, he was captured by the Nationalists and executed on 8 February 1940 in Barcelona.