Francisco José de Ovando y Solís Rol de La Cerda, 1st Marquis of Brindisi ( es, Francisco José de Ovando y Solís Rol de La Cerda, primer Marqués de Brindisi) (c. 1693 – December 9, 1755) was a Spanish soldier who served as

governor of Chile The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General. There were 66 such governors or captains du ...

Early life

Francisco José de Ovando was born in the city of Caceres in

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

. In 1710, at the age of seventeen, he joined the Spanish Army as a cadet, and in 1717 he transferred to the naval infantry, as a member of which he participated in the capture of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

in July 1718, during the

War of the Quadruple Alliance The War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) was caused by Spanish attempts to recover territories in Italy ceded in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. Largely focused on Sicily, it included minor engagements in North America and Northern Europe as we ...

. After a period of several years in which he returned to administrative work within the Spanish Army, he returned to the navy in 1728 as a lieutenant in charge of the frigate ''Génova''. Two years later, he was commissioned to study naval construction at

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. In 1731, he was given the command of the frigate ''Guipúzcoa'', which as part of the fleet under Admiral Cornejo, took part in the attack to Livorno.

Capture of Brindisi

He was promoted to Captain in 1733 and took command of the frigate ''Galga'', which as part of the fleet of the Marquis of Clavijo captured

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

during the

War of the Polish Succession The War of the Polish Succession ( pl, Wojna o sukcesję polską; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II of Poland, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of thei ...

. In 1734 he was sent to capture the castle of Brindisi near Tarento. In that opportunity, he personally landed and led a force composed of 200 men from his ship and 100 naval infantry to capture the fortress. After the battle he sailed back to Naples, where he was personally congratulated by the

Infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to th ...

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

for his outstanding valor and performance in battle, and was rewarded with the title of ''Marquis of Brindisi'' (in most literature he appears credited as ''Marquis of Ovando'', which is simply a corruption of his title and his last name), was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and was given the command of the Man-of-war ''El León'', of seventy cannons. In 1736, Ovando took command of the frigate ''San Cayetano'', which he sailed to

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

to join the Windward Fleet ( es, Flota de Barlovento, links=no), and was sent to the

Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

to root out smugglers and European traders, mainly British and Dutch, who were violating the monopoly of the

Spanish Main During the Spanish colonization of America, the Spanish Main was the collective term for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico. The term was used to di ...

. In 1740 he participated, with his ship ''Dragón'', in the defense of Cartagena de Indias from the British attack of Admiral Vernon. The Spanish Prime Minister

Marquis of Ensenada A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman ...

promoted Ovando in 1743 to Fleet Commander, charging him with the inspection of all the fortresses, harbors and arsenals in the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed fro ...

as inspector and commander-in-chief of the Southern Seas' Fleet (3).

As Governor of Chile

Francisco José de Ovando was appointed ''interim''

Governor of Chile The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General. There were 66 such governors or captains du ...

by his predecessor

José Antonio Manso de Velasco José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, who had been promoted to

Viceroy of Peru The viceroys of Peru ruled the Viceroyalty of Peru from 1544 to 1824 in the name of the monarch of Spain. The territories under ''de jure'' rule by the viceroys included in the 16th and 17th century almost all of South America except eastern Braz ...

and whom he had travelled to

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

to escort back to Peru. He took over his position on July 28, 1745 and remained there until March 26 of the following year, when his successor,

Domingo Ortiz de Rosas Domingo Ortiz de Rosas y García de Villasuso, 1st Marquis of Poblaciones ( es, Domingo Ortiz de Rosas y García de Villasuso, primer Marqués de Poblaciones) (1683–1756) was a Spanish soldier who served as governor of Chile. As Governor of Chi ...

, arrived. He immediately returned to his fleet command on board of the ship ''San Fermín'' and departed to chart the

Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands ( es, Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic i ...

. On October 26, 1746, he was eyewitness of the devastating Lima-Callao earthquake of which he (and his family) was one of the few survivors. Other notable acts undertaken during his government were the creation, on March 11, 1747, of the first University in the colonial territory of Chile: the

Royal University of San Felipe The Royal University of San Felipe ( es, Real Universidad de San Felipe) was a university created by Philip V of Spain, King Philip V in 1738, in territory which was then part of the Kingdom of Spain. It was officially founded in Santiago in 1747 ...

(''Real Universidad de San Felipe''), of which the first rector was Tomás de Azúa e Iturgoyen

This university would eventually become today's

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

As Governor-General of the Philippines

He arrived in Manila on July 20, 1750 and immediately had trouble with the Audiencia and archbishop. He also dealt with Moros. His term ended in July 1754 and died at sea in 1755 on his way back to Acapulco. The town of Obando in the province of Bulacan, which he founded on May 14, 1753, was named after him.Source: http://www.bulacan.gov.ph/obando/history.php

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