Francisco Cajigal de la Vega
Francisco Cajigal de la Vega (in a different spelling also Cagigal or Caxigal ) (* 1691 in Ribamontán al Monte , Province of Cantabria , Spain ; † April 30, 1777 in Madrid , Spain) was a Spanish officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of Cuba and Viceroy of New Spain officiated.
Life
Origin and career in Europe
Francisco Cajigal came from a family of Spanish nobility. His father was Graf (Spanish: conde ) de la Hoz. Francisco entered the service of the Spanish Army and served in the regiment of the Spanish Guards.
In the War of the Spanish Succession he took part in the siege of Gibraltar (1727) and accompanied the Spanish campaign in Algeria and the capture of Oran in 1732.
Term of office as governor of Cuba
King Philip V initially appointed him Commander-in-Chief of Santiago de Cuba in gratitude for his loyalty and services . When he got there in 1741, the War of Jenkins' Ear against the British was in full swing. There was probably tension between Cajigal and the governor of the province of Cuba, Juan Francisco de Güemes y Horcasitas .
The British under Edward Vernon had managed to land in Guantanamo Bay ; they besieged Santiago de Cuba for four months. Despite negative intervention by Governor Güemes, Cajigal was promoted to field marshal after the British withdrew in 1745.
When Güemes was promoted to Viceroy of New Spain, Cajigal finally took over the post of governor of Cuba in 1747. During his tenure, he defended the Spanish fortifications in Florida from attacks by British corsairs . He had the shipbuilding continued under the sovereignty of the Real Compañia de la Habana , which his predecessor had built, and had the port fortifications of Havana expanded. In 1760 he was promoted to lieutenant general.
Tenure as Viceroy of New Spain
In February 1760, the incumbent Viceroy of New Spain, Agustín Ahumada y Villalón, died in Mexico City . The sealed death instructions presented to the Real Audiencia of Mexico envisaged Cajigal as a temporary successor.
Cajigal left Havana on March 28th and reached Mexico City on April 28th, 1760. During his brief tenure until October, he cut taxes to further stimulate the economy and lifted trade restrictions on iron and steel and Florida products.
In financial matters he was probably not squeamish and sold posts in the judiciary and customs administration. Allegations of corruption against him could not be proven. With the accession to the throne by Charles III. a general amnesty was issued, which had little effect due to numerous exemptions in Mexico.
He increased the strength of the army in the viceroyalty to three thousand men and appointed his son company commander of the cavalry guard in New Spain.
In October 1760 he handed the viceroyalty over to Joaquín de Montserrat and went back to Havana as governor. He stayed there until the following year.
Return to Spain
In 1762 he returned to Spain. Charles III called him to his council of war. In the Seven Years' War he went into the field again under the command of Pedro Abarca, Count of Aranda in Spain and Portugal. In 1768 he took over the chairmanship of the council of war. He died in Madrid in 1777.
literature
- Juana Vázquez Gómez: Dictionary of Mexican Rulers, 1325-1997 . Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport CT 1997, ISBN 0-313-30049-6 , pp. 41 ( Google Books ).
Web links
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Agustín Ahumada y Villalón |
Viceroy of New Spain 1760 |
Joaquin de Montserrat |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cajigal de la Vega, Francisco |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cagigal de la Vega, Francisco; Caxigal de la Vega, Francisco |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish officer and colonial administrator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1691 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ribamontán al Monte , Cantabria Province , Spain |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 30, 1777 |
| Place of death | Madrid , Spain |