The unit was created in January 1937, on the Teruel front, from the militarization of the Rosal Column; it was integrated into the 42nd Division of the 13th Army Corps.

[1][2] Command of the new brigade fell to the major militia José Neira Jarabo, with the anarchist Sigfrido Canut Martorell as political commissar.

Later, the 59th MB was deployed north of Teruel, covering the northern flank of the Republican front in Santa Bárbara de Celadas.

[4] The next day the brigade crossed the Ebro through the Ribarroja-Fayón sector, reaching the line that ran from Els Auts, the road junction from Maella to Fraga and the mouth of the Matarraña river.

Between October 8 and 20 it faced sustained enemy assaults, having to abandon its positions; after the front was broken, on November 5, the 59th MB lost the town of Miravet and two days later it had to withdraw from Móra d'Ebre.