Juan Senen Contreras

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Juan Senen de Contreras

Juan Senen de Contreras (* 1760 in Madrid ; † 1826 there ) was a Spanish general .

Life

Contreras toured since 1787 on behalf of Charles III. England , France , Prussia , Austria and Russia and ran military studies there. In 1788 he took part in the Russo-Austrian Turkish War as an observer and was there when Friedrich Josias von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld conquered the fortress of Chotin .

On his return, he published his travel diary and a history of the Turkish campaign of 1788 in 1791. After the outbreak of war against France in 1808 he was selected by the Junta of Seville commissioned in the regions Alentejo and Algarve to conduct guerrilla warfare. He then organized popular uprisings in the areas and successfully resisted the French commander Andoche Junot . Then he retired to the Sierra Morena with the Duke of El Infantado Pedro Alcántara de Toledo y Salm-Salm . At Montrion he held up the main French power with 11,000 men and fought on Wellington's left wing in the Battle of Talavera (1809) .

As a result, he became a division commander and was given supreme command of a corps to cover the country between the Tagus and Guadiana . In the first siege of Badajoz he was able to hold the city successfully against the French troops. After further successful battles Contreras became captain general of Galicia , established order and led the defense during the siege of Tarragona . This time the defense was unsuccessful and Contreras was captured. Since he did not want to convert to Napoleon, he was brought to the castle of Bouillon and held there. In October 1812 he managed to escape and he escaped to London , where he published a report on the siege of Tarragona, which was also printed in the Paris collection of the Mémoires relatifs aux révolutlons de France et d'Espagne (vol. 3) in 1825 . In March 1814 Contreras returned to Spain with Ferdinand VII , where he resigned from military service and devoted himself to his studies. He died in Madrid in 1826.

Fonts

  • Compendio de los veinte libros de reflexiones militares.
  • Sitio de Tarragona: lo que pasó entre los franceses el general Contreras que la defendió, sus observaciones sobre la Francia, y noticia del nuevo modo de defender las plazas.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Senen Contreras, Juan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Contreras, Juan Senen de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish general
DATE OF BIRTH 1760
PLACE OF BIRTH Madrid
DATE OF DEATH 1826
Place of death Madrid