José Pascual de Zayas

General José Pascual Zayas y Chacón, painting by Vicente López Portaña, 1818, Museo de Bellas Artes (Cuba)

José Pascual de Zayas-Bazan y Chacón (born June 5, 1772 Havana , † October 27, 1827 in Chiclana ) was a Spanish general during the struggle for freedom against the French.

Life

origin

José de Zayas was born in 1772 to Manuel de Zayas-Bazán y Santa Cruz (1747–1799) and María de Loreto Chacón y Duarte (1743–1799) in Cuba , he came from a noble family that settled in as early as the sixteenth century Havana had settled. From an early age he showed a strong propensity for a military career.

Early military service

He joined the Asturias Infantry Regiment on September 15, 1783 as a cadet . Four years later, in 1787, he was promoted to lieutenant . In 1789 his regiment was moved to Oran and strengthened the garrison there. On October 9, 1790, a severe earthquake caused the Asturias regiment to lose 400 soldiers, Zayas was among the injured. He stayed in Oran until 1792, when the city was evacuated by the Spanish after a siege.

In the First Coalition War of 1793 he was assigned to the artillery corps of the Navarre Army and was taken prisoner by the French on July 23. On his return he was promoted to lieutenant on September 28, 1794 . In 1795 he took over the 2nd battalion of the Asturias regiment and came to the naval garrison in Vigo . During this time, Zayas' regiment was used twice in Central and South America. After his return, his battalion was assigned the protection of the Ferrol naval base on August 26, 1800 . Zayas was slightly wounded in an attack by English naval forces near Brión. On May 22, 1801 he joined the Grenadier Battalion of the Asturias Regiment and was promoted to Capitaine on April 6, 1804 . In 1805 he was appointed adjutant to General Gonzalo O'Farrill and served with his regiment for two years in Tuscany for the new King of Etruria under Charles of Bourbon-Parma . In July 1807 he moved with the regiment to Hamburg , intended as part of the Napoleonic defense against British landings on the North Sea. Back in Spain at the end of 1807, he took over the second battalion of the Princessa regiment on March 11, 1808 . This regiment belonged to the division of the Marquis of La Romana , which was used in the service of France in Funen .

Napoleonic Wars

After the outbreak of the war of independence against Napoleon , the Supreme Council of Madrid commissioned him in April 1808, without the knowledge of the French, to go to Bayonne with Evaristo Perez de Castro to inform King Ferdinand VII about the true political status in Spain. Back in Spain, he placed himself under the command of Lieutenant General Gregorio García de la Cuesta . In Valladolid he was promoted to colonel and charged with organizing new troops for a gathering army. On June 12th he took part in the Battle of Cabezón, where the defeated troops under General Cuesta were forced to retreat to Benavente .

Zayas marched to Foncebadón in León to discuss the defense of the province of Galicia with General Blake . Zayas fought as a result at Tarancon, but no longer took part in the Battle of Uclés (January 13, 1809) because he had been recalled as a troop leader in the south. Zayas took command of the line regiment from Jaen on January 8th . With these troops he took part in the recapture of the Tajo Bridge near Almaraz on January 29th. During the advance into the province of Extremadura , Zayas already led his own infantry brigade, with which he participated as a reserve on the left wing of the Cuesta Army at the Battle of Medellín (March 28). On April 8, 1809 he was promoted to brigadier general and took over the leadership of the army's vanguard .

In the emerging typical guerrilla tactics , he organized small attacks against the French occupying forces under Marshal Victor between the Tejo and Guadiana . He was promoted to major general on July 28 for his armed acts . The Central Junta tried to popularize the British public and ordered the La Mancha Army to go on the offensive. The Spaniards under Cuesta were defeated on August 8 at the Battle of Almonacid . On August 12, 1809, the Chief General Cuesta suffered a stroke in Deleitosa and was replaced by General Francisco de Eguía , who confirmed Zayas in command of the vanguard. After the defeat at Ocaña (November 1809), Zayas led the remains of the army back to Andalusia . After another defeat at Alcalá la Real , Zayas withdrew to Murcia , where he reinforced and reorganized his troops.

On January 20, 1810, Marshal Soult entered Andalusia via the Despeñaperros pass.

After the unrest in Andalusia , Zayas was appointed Deputy Governor of Seville on January 24, 1810 by the junta . In the autumn campaign, the combined Eguía army fought unsuccessfully in the Sierra Morena in combat with French troops under Victor and Sebastiani. General Eguía was dismissed and General de Areizaga became the new Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army .

In the spring of 1811 Zayas' division was in the Cádiz area and was operating near Ronda against the French troops under Victor . On February 21, a flank maneuver began with which the Cádiz defense hoped to break the siege ring of Marshal Victor. Spanish forces under General Manuel Lapeña landed behind enemy lines at Algeciras and Tarifa between the 23rd and 27th for the same purpose . Zaya's division was meanwhile stationed on the Isle de Leon. On the night of March 2-3, while attempting to cross the canal, he was beaten and forced to retreat to his starting positions. On March 18, he left Cadiz, landed at Palos and tried to attack Soult's troops, who were besieging Badajoz . However, the border town had already fallen on the 11th, and by March 31st, Zaya's troops had to retreat to Cadiz after several skirmishes with French avant- gardes.

Badajoz was to be retaken as a result by a joint attack with the British under General William Carr Beresford . The Spanish Expeditionary Force was under General Blake; its 1st division was led by Zayas.

Blake landed at Ayamonte on the Guadiana on April 18 to join the British, after uniting with the remnants of the Extremadura Army under General Castaños , they met the enemy on May 15 at the Battle of Albuera . The Spanish troops under Zayas held out steadfastly against a flank thrust by the French V Corps. When the British Colborne Brigade on the right wing of the Allies was thrown back by a French cavalry attack, it was Zaya's troops who restored the situation with a counter-attack. Zayas tried to pursue the retreating enemy, but embarked on June 30th at Ayamonte back to Cadiz. He was then reappointed to protect the Isle de Leon .

In early August 1811, Zayas' division was transferred to General Blake's army in Murcia , his troops were operating in the Valencia area , which was threatened by the French army under Marshal Suchet .

On August 14th of that month, Zayas came to Valencia, accompanied by Blake. His division remained under quarantine in Villena until September 21 because of an impending epidemic . After that, his troops in Valencia were used to reinforce the garrison there. On October 25, Zayas' troops left town to reinforce Blake in the Battle of Sagunto ( Murviedro ). Zayas was attacked by the French near Puzol and at the same time bypassed further north, within sight of Sagunto . When Blake's main forces on the right wing were defeated, Zayas saw himself bypassed by the opponent at Puzol. He led in good order retreats to the coast and saved the center and left wing of the defeated army. Zayas marched with his troops to Cuenca to stop the French reinforcements coming from Madrid. On November 28, 1811, his division was cornered by the French at Cuenca near Valencia. Meanwhile, on December 26, Suchet launched his main attack against the Blake Army. Zayas' forces attempted to break out near Valencia, but were forced to surrender on January 9, 1812. As a prisoner of war, Zayas was taken to Vincennes Castle near Paris.

Rest of life

Freed by the Treaty of Valençay on December 11, 1813, Zayas accompanied King Ferdinand VII on his return to Spain. On March 25, 1814, he was promoted to lieutenant general. He ensured that order was maintained in Madrid and was awarded the Grand Cross of San Fernando in 1815.

During the Hundred Days of 1815, Zayas commanded the 1st Division of the Main Army in Catalonia . After Napoleon's second abdication, Zaya's troops were moved to Valencia. In 1815 he still refused to administer the Viceroyalty of Peru , but in 1817 he went to New Castile as governor . On August 11, 1816 he was appointed Deputy Military Commander of New Castile and from December 30 to January 24, 1817 took over the post of Commander-in-Chief. After the proclamation of the new constitution, Zayas became the military governor and the king's deputy in Cuba.

From 1820 to 1822 he was a member of the Parliament of Havana and from 1821 a member of the Standing Committee of the Cortes.

After his return to Spain he was entrusted with the defense of the royal castle from July 7, 1822. As captain general of Madrid, he negotiated in March 1823 with the French army invading the country under Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières . He supported the advance of the Duke of Angouleme's troops and led his division to Andalusia. He secured Cadiz for the king and moved into his headquarters in Chiclana . After the restoration of absolutism , he spent his last days, living at his sister's expense, with his close friends Andres Arango and General José Maria Cadasal in southern Spain. He died there in 1827.

Web links

• Life sketch on Biografias y Vidas (Spanish)
• Biography of José Manuel Rodriguez Gómez from Napoleon Series (English)
• CV on eborense biografia (spanish)