Alejandro O'Reilly

Alejandro O'Reilly painted by Francisco de Goya

Marshal Alejandro O'Reilly

Alejandro O'Reilly (born October 24, 1723 in Baltrasna, Co. Meath , Ireland , † March 23, 1794 in Bonete, Albacete , Spain ) was a Spanish general of Irish origin, second governor of the Spanish colony of Louisiana in North America and most recently captain general of Andalusia .

Life

Alejandro O'Reilly y McDowell was born on October 24, 1723 as Alexander O'Reilly ( Irish Ó Raghallaigh ) in Baltrasna ( Irish An Baile Trasna ) in the Irish county of Meath ( Irish An Mhí ) as the son of Thomas O'Reilly and Rose McDowell born. His grandfather, John Reyly, was a colonel in the army of James II, whose regiment, the O'Reilly Dragoons, fought in the siege of Derry.

Alejandro joined the Spanish army as a mercenary at a young age and made a quick career. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1739 when war broke out with England and Austria . His regiment was sent to Italy to face the Austrians. He was seriously injured in the Battle of Camposanto (February 8, 1743) and spent the night on the battlefield before being rescued. In 1757 he entered Austrian service and at the end of the Seven Years' War took part in several campaigns against the Prussians. He studied the latest military tactics for three years. After his return he was given the rank of brigadier and was allowed to begin the systematic reorganization of the Spanish army. At the end of the war between France and England in 1762, Havana was surprised by the British navy without being at war with Spain. In peacetime, the French colony Louisiana was ceded (from the Great Lakes ) to Spain, which in return had to cede Florida to England. As a specialist in fortress construction , O'Reilly was sent to Cuba to analyze the state of the defense forces in the viceroyalty of New Spain and to give a report to the crown. He arrived in Havana on June 3, 1763. Because the governor, the Conde de Ricla , was ill, O'Reilly took over the task of reorganizing the militia and defenses. During this time he was accompanied by Luis de Las Casas , whose sister Rosa de las Casas was soon to become his wife.

When O'Reilly was done, he left Havana for Puerto Rico in 1764 . The praise from the governor, the Conde de Ricla, was so great that the crown wanted to reorganize the defense in the other colonies as well. His Irish compatriot Colonel Thomas O'Daly accompanied him there as an experienced chief engineer. O'Reilly, who is known as the "father of the Puerto Rican military", taught the troops on the ground discipline, which helped them to fame in future engagements. In 1769, O'Reilly was named governor of the Louisiana Colony . In May 1769 an expedition left Coruña and arrived in Havana on June 24th . After two weeks of further preparation, 21 warships with over 2,000 men on board left Cuba for New Orleans . After a difficult journey, they arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi and took three days to gain a foothold on the river. As the leader of the Spanish army, O'Reilly led a retaliatory strike against those responsible for driving Governor Antonio de Ulloa out of the colony. Upon his arrival in New Orleans, the capital of the colony, O'Reilly declared Louisiana under Spanish ownership in August 1769. In the city he is still known as "Bloody O'Reilly" because of the execution of six prominent French people in October 1769. He set up a Spanish colonial government to replace the French structures. Upon completion of his mission, O'Reilly was replaced as governor in March 1770.

For a long time the barbarian corsairs of Algiers carried out attacks against Spanish shipping in the Mediterranean region. The king chose O'Reilly to command an invasion of Algiers and punish the city. Although a force of over 20,000 soldiers was embarked on around 400 transport ships from Cartagena , this expedition sailed into disaster in June 1775. The Algerians had learned of the attack, assembled their forces on the coast and met the invasion in July 1775 with successful defense. The number of victims was so great that the continuation of the invasion had to be stopped. The news of the failed expedition outraged the Spanish public and was directed against foreign officers. The king's chief minister, Jerónimo Grimaldi , a Genoese who appeared to have proposed the invasion, was ousted from office. Carlos III O'Reilly continued to cover and appointed him Captain General of Andalusia , with the special task of reorganizing the defense system of the Bay of Cadiz . From 1780 to 1786 his beneficial activity included control of all civil and military authorities. Although the Cadiz region flourished, O'Reilly had to resign on April 27, 1786 because of the resentment of a great opposition at the court. While his critics cheered his fall, the vast majority in Andalusia regretted his departure. In his final years of service he lived in Madrid , which he left with an army in 1794 to support the French royalists. However, on the way to Alicante , he suffered a heart attack and died in the village of Bonete near Albacete .

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : O'Reilly, Alexander Graf . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 21st part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing House, Vienna 1870, p. 88 ( digital copy ).

Web links

Commons : Alejandro O'Reilly  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Samuel Fannin: Alexander “Bloody” O'Reilly: “a monster of fortune”. History Ireland. Ireland's History Magazine , Volume 9, Issue 3 (Autumn 2001), pp. 26-30. Online access