Agustina de Aragon

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Agustina of Saragossa

Agustina Raimunda Maria Saragossa i Domènech (* probably March 4, 1786, place of birth disputed; † May 29, 1857 in Ceuta ), called Agustina de Aragón or Agostina von Saragossa , was a Spanish independence fighter during the Napoleonic occupation . She first fought as a civilian and was later accepted into the Spanish Army. She became a symbol of the Spanish struggle for freedom and served as a motif for painters and writers.

Siege of Zaragoza

Agustina de Aragón (2012), by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau

During the first day of the siege of Zaragoza , the young woman carried provisions to a battery of guns that covered the city gate. All key defenders had fallen or given up due to heavy losses. Despite the proximity of enemy troops, Agustina rushed to a gun and fired it at the advancing French from close range.

They feared an ambush and regrouped, which gave the defenders the opportunity to man the position, which had already been believed lost, with a new will to defend themselves and to continue the fight. After the battle, the Spanish general Palafox also recognized the civilian's heroism. Under Palafox, the Spaniards held the city for another 61 days until the French withdrew on August 14 and only took the city the following year .

Further life

After the death of her husband in captivity, Agustina fled Zaragoza and continued the resistance fight. Her rebel group received support from Duke Wellington , and she was raised to the rank of officer. Her participation in the Battle of Vitoria was recognized by General Pablo Morillo , and she is said to have commanded a gun emplacement. Historian Nick Lipscombe denies the latter.

After the war she remarried and died at the age of 71 in Ceuta as a respected war heroine.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Antonius Lux (ed.): Great women of world history. A thousand biographies in words and pictures . Sebastian Lux Verlag , Munich 1963, p. 18.
  2. ↑ The Battle of Vitoria , 2013 brochure from the Municipality of Vitoria
  3. ↑ Nick Lipscombe: Wellington's Guns: The Untold Story of Wellington and his Artillery in the Peninsula and at Waterloo

Web links

Commons : Agustina de Aragón  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Aragon, Agustina de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Domènech, Agustina Raimunda María Saragossa; Aragon, Agustina de; Saragossa, Agostina of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish independence fighter during the Napoleonic Wars
DATE OF BIRTH uncertain: March 4, 1786
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 1857
Place of death Ceuta