Antoine de Malet (in Spanish, Antonio Malet), Marquis of Coupigny (1761–1825) was a French-born Spanish military officer.

Early career

Having obtained Spanish nationality, Coupigny joined the Spanish Royal Guard as a cadet in 1776 and was promoted to ''alférez'' that same year. In 1780 he was promoted to ''alférez'' of Grenadiers. He saw action at the

Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants. The American war had end ...

in 1781 and in the

War of the Pyrenees The War of the Pyrenees, also known as War of Roussillon or War of the Convention, was the Pyrenean front of the First Coalition's war against the First French Republic. It pitted Revolutionary France against the kingdoms of Spain and Portuga ...

, where he was wounded. In 1781 he was promoted to second lieutenant, to lieutenant in 1786 and in 1796 to captain of the Royal Guards. In 1801, Coupigny participated in the

War of the Oranges The War of the Oranges ( pt, Guerra das Laranjas; french: Guerre des Oranges; es, Guerra de las Naranjas) was a brief conflict in 1801 in which Spanish forces, instigated by the government of France, and ultimately supported by the French mil ...

, seeing service at the sieges of Olivenza and Jurumenha. At the outbreak of the

War of the Third Coalition The War of the Third Coalition) * In French historiography, it is known as the Austrian campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Autriche de 1805) or the German campaign of 1805 (french: Campagne d'Allemagne de 1805) was a European conflict spanni ...

, in 1805, he was appointed commanding officer of

Campo de Gibraltar Campo de Gibraltar (, "Gibraltar Countryside") is a comarca (county) in the province of Cádiz, Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia, the southernmost part of mainland Europe. It comprises the municipalities of ...

Peninsular War

In 1807, Coupigny led the vanguard of the Spanish division that invaded Portugal. Isabel Sánchez, José Luis
"Antoine de Malet".
''Diccionario Biográfico electrónico''.

Real Academia de la Historia The Real Academia de la Historia (RAH, 'Royal Academy of History') is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history "ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the diff ...

. Retrieved 8 February 2023. In 1808 the Junta Suprema promoted Coupigny to field marshal and lieutenant general. Given the command of the 2nd Division of the Army of Andalusia, under General

Castaños Castaños is a city in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. It is located at 101° 25' 58" West, 26° 47' 3" North, in the state's central region ''(Región Centro)''. External links Municipal information on Coahuila state website
{ ...

, Coupigny's troops, some 7,300 foot soldiers and 500 horse,

Oman, Charles Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman, (12 January 1860 – 23 June 1946) was a British military historian. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering. Occasionally his ...

(1902)
''A History of the Peninsula War'', Vol. I.
''Project Gutenberg''. Retrieved 8 February 2023. made up the vanguard of the Spanish forces at the decisive

Battle of Bailén The Battle of Bailén was fought in 1808 between the Spanish Army of Andalusia, led by Generals Francisco Castaños and Theodor von Reding, and the Imperial French Army's II corps d'observation de la Gironde under General Pierre Dupont de l' ...

. He fought at

Tudela Tudela may refer to: *Tudela, Navarre, a town and municipality in northern Spain ** Benjamin of Tudela Medieval Jewish traveller ** William of Tudela, Medieval troubadour who wrote the first part of the ''Song of the Albigensian Crusade'' ** Battl ...

(November 1808) and

Belchite Belchite is a municipality and town in the province of Zaragoza, Spain, about 40 km southeast of Zaragoza. It is the capital of Campo de Belchite ''comarca'' (administrative region) and is located in a plain surrounded by low hills, the highe ...

(June 1809), being promoted to commander of the Royal Guard that same year. In January 1809, Coupigny commanded the 5,121 troops of the 1st Division of the Army of the Centre; battalions from his division participated at the defeat at Uclés (January 1809). Following the death of General Reding in April 1809, Coupigny took interim command of the Army of Catalonia, with only 6,000 men left from Reding's army.

(1908)
''A History of the Peninsular War, Sep. 1809-Dec. 1810'', Vol. 3.
''Project Gutenberg''. Retrieved 8 February 2023. In 1811 he commanded the 4th Army at La Albuera and, when Lapeña was relieved of command as a result of

Albuera La Albuera is a village southeast of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. it had a population of c. 2,000 inhabitants. History It was scene of the Battle of Albuera (16 May 1811) between Spanish, Portuguese and British troops under William Carr Beresf ...

, Coupigny was given command of the Army of Andalusia. In 1812, Coupigny was appointed captain general of the Balearic Islands.

Post-war career

Following the 1817 ''

pronunciamento A ''pronunciamiento'' (, pt, pronunciamento ; "proclamation , announcement or declaration") is a form of military rebellion or ''coup d'état'' particularly associated with Spain, Portugal and Latin America, especially in the 19th century. Typol ...

'' by generals Milans del Bosch and

Luis de Lacy Brigadier-General Luis Roberto de Lacy, 11 January 1775 – 5 July 1817, was a Spanish professional soldier of Irish descent, who served in the Spanish and First_French_Empire, French Imperial armies. He played a prominent role in the 1808 to ...

, Coupigny ordered Lacy's execution, which led to him having to abandon Mallorca and his post, in 1820, when the revolt led by

Rafael del Riego Rafael del Riego y Flórez (7 April 1784 – 7 November 1823) was a Spanish general and liberal politician, who played a key role in the outbreak of the Liberal Triennium (''Trienio liberal'' in Spanish). Early life Riego was born on 7 April ...

forced King Ferdinand VII to restore the 1812 Constitution, bringing about the Trienio Liberal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coupigny, Marquis of Spanish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 1761 births 1825 deaths People from Arras French emigrants to Spain