Mariano Álvarez de Castro

Mariano Alvarez de Castro

Mariano Jose Manuel Álvarez Bermúdez de Castro y López (born September 8, 1749 in Granada , † January 22, 1810 in Figueres ) was a Spanish general who was particularly known for the defense of Gerona during the war against the French .

Life

Early career

Álvarez de Castro was born in Granada in 1749 and entered the army on December 14, 1768 at the age of 19 as a cadet in the Royal Guard. From 1772 to 1775 he studied mathematics at the Academy of Barcelona . He was promoted quickly and took part in the war years 1779 to 1783 a. a. participated in the siege of Gibraltar . In 1793 he was made a colonel . From 1790 to 1793 he was a teacher in the cadet school at the Madrid Academy . During the war against France (Guerra del Rosellón) in the Pyrenees (1793–1795) he took part in several battles: Castillo de Baños, blockade of Mas Deu, attack on Perpignan and Rivesaltes, battles at Trouillas and St. Colombe de La Commanderie . He allegedly spent 75 days in this position under French artillery fire and was wounded at Pla de Rey and Banyuls-dels-Aspres. In 1795 he was promoted to brigadier general and trained the mounted artillery of the Royal Guard Corps in Aranjuez . In 1801 he took part in the war on the border with Portugal and became governor of Alegrete . In 1807 he was stationed with his regiment in Madrid and after the French intervention was given command of the fortress hill of Montjuich in Barcelona .

Defense of Gerona

On February 29, 1808, he refused to hand over the fortress of Montjuich to the French troops invading Barcelona. He left Barcelona and joined the Spanish insurgents in Catalonia . On October 14, 1808, he took the lead in the Catalan army that gathered in Ampurdan . On November 24th he attacked the French troops on the Fluvia, on February 2nd, 1809 his corps was defeated at Castellón de Ampurias. He was then appointed fortress governor of the city of Gerona and in 1809 led the defense of the third siege attempt by the French army under Gouvion St. Cyr . Álvarez had set up his headquarters in the middle of the courthouse just outside the cathedral. On June 8th, the French under General Verdier dug the trenches and began the formal siege of Gerona . The defenders numbered 5,723 men, but the Spanish army under General Blake regularly took care of additional supplies. Alvarez swore the crew to defend Gerona to the last breath. On July 8th, almost 4,000 Germans and French attacked the fortress of Montjuich, which controlled the access to the city from the north, after heavy fire. After a month of wrestling and the onset of mine fighting , Alvarez had to surrender the ruins of the fort to the French on the evening of August 11th. On September 1, 1809, General Blake succeeded by a simulated attack operation to bring a convoy secured by about 4,500 men into the city and to strengthen the garrison with food and war supplies. The crew at this time numbered 9,371 men and had 168 cannons. On September 4, this convoy under General Garcia Conde withdrew from the besieged city, but left 2,800 men to compensate for the losses so far.

After a final general assault by the French, now commanded by Marshal Augereau , Alvarez made a final attempt to break out on December 7th. After the failure of the same, Alvarez fell ill with a fever on December 9th and handed over the leadership to General Bolivar . After the surrender negotiations had been initiated, Gerona surrendered on December 11, 1809. On December 21, Alvarez was taken to Figueres Castle as a prisoner of war. In Perpignan he was to be tried for treason against King Joseph . On January 8, 1810, he returned to Figueres via Narbonne . Imprisoned there on January 10th, he awaited the trial, but died a few days later of the physical weakness that the siege had demanded of him.

Web links

• Biography on guerre de girona (spanish)
• Levantamiento de Gerona (Spanish)