Francisco Copons y Navia, 1st Count of Tarifa (21 July 1764—18 September 1842) was a Spanish soldier, active during 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 ...

and the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

. He was appointed

Captain general of Catalonia The office of Captain General of Catalonia ( es, Capitán general de Cataluña; ca, Capitá general de Catalunya) was created in 1713 by the Nueva Planta decrees of King Philip V of Spain to replace that of Viceroy of Catalonia This is a list of ...

in 1812 and promoted to

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in 1814.

Military career

War of the Pyrenees

After graduating from the Military Academy at Puerto de Santa María, Copons served as a lieutenant in the Infantry during the first

, in which he distinguished himself in several actions and was promoted to Captain at the proposal of General

Antonio Ricardos Antonio Ricardos Carrillo de Albornoz (1727 in Barbastro – 13 March 1794) was a Spanish general. He joined the army of the Kingdom of Spain and fought against Habsburg Austria, the Portugal, and the First French Republic during a long military ...

. He later again distinguished himself, this time under the orders of the Count de la Unión, who promoted him to Regimental Sergeant Major. Following the death, in battle, of the Count, Copons once again distinguished himself at the head of the

Tercio A ''tercio'' (; Spanish for " third") was a military unit of the Spanish Army during the reign of the Spanish Habsburgs in the early modern period. The tercios were renowned for the effectiveness of their battlefield formations, forming the el ...

s de Migueletes de Olot y Camprodón.Cassinello Perez, Andrés
"Francisco Copons y Navia". ''Diccionario Biográfico electrónico'' (''DB~e''.).

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 29 December 2022. He took part in the occupation of

French Cerdagne French Cerdagne ( ca, Alta Cerdanya, ) is the northern half of Cerdanya, which came under French control as a result of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, while the southern half remained in Spain (as part of Catalonia). Catalans often refer t ...

under General Cuesta, where he was seriously wounded and rewarded for his action by being promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. He was promoted to colonel in December 1807.

Peninsular War

Copons was in Madrid on 2 May 1808 and he left the next day to join his regiment at Tarifa.

General Castaños A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...

gave him the command of the Batallón de Tiradores de España, with which he fought at the

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' ...

as a major of the 2nd Division under Marquis de Coupigny. He accompanied the Army of Andalusia in its march towards the

Ebro Valley , name_etymology = , image = Zaragoza shel.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza , map = SpainEbroBasin.png , map_size = , map_caption = The Ebro ...

, deploying his batallion in the vanguard and entering

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

, distinguishing himself at

Lerín View of Lerín Lerín is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. External links LERIN in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia Euskomedia Fundazioa The Euskomedia Fund ...

on 13 October 1808. At the

Battle of Tudela The Battle of Tudela (23 November 1808) saw an Imperial French army led by Marshal Jean Lannes attack a Spanish army under General Castaños. The battle resulted in the complete victory of the Imperial forces over their adversaries. The comba ...

, Copons's battalion covered the 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
{ ...

's retreat and went on to fight at Tarancón and at

Uclés Uclés is a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the province of Cuenca, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 64.61 km2 and, as of 1 January 2020, it has a registered population of 212. History ...

. In February 1809, Copons was appointed Colonel of the Murcia Infantry Regiment, made up of the units defeated at Uclés. At the

Battle of Talavera The Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809) was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish ar ...

, Copons once again distinguished himself and was promoted to brigadier in August 1809.Gil Novales, Alberto (2010)
''Diccionario biográfico de España (1808-1833)'': A/F, pp. 773-775.

Fundación Mapfre Fundación is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Magdalena. Its people are known as Fundanenses. The primary economic activity is livestock-raising, for production of both meat and milk. Other crops are: corn, yuca, ora ...

. Retrieved 29 December 2022. He was appointed field marshal in February 1810 when the Regency gave him the command of all the dispersed troops in the county of Niebla (fewer than 600 men) and within a year he was able to build up a division of 2,900 soldiers, a 735-strong Cavalry Regiment and a company of Artillery comprising four guns and 82 artillerymen, with which he was able to attack the French troops besieging Cádiz as well as the troops under the

Duke of Arenberg The House of Arenberg is an aristocratic lineage that is constituted by three successive families that took their name from Arenberg, a small territory of the Holy Roman Empire in the Eifel region. The inheritance of the House of Croÿ-Aarschot m ...

in Huelva. Copons was appointed

in December 1812.

Post-war career

On 24 March 1814, as Capitán General of Catalonia, and accompanied by his second-in-command, Baron de Eroles, Copons received

Fernando VII , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles IV of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Parma , birth_date = 14 October 1784 , birth_place = El Escorial, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Madrid, Spain , burial_pla ...

on the banks of the Fluviá on the King's return to Spain from his captivity in France. However, by order of the King, Eroles detained Copons during the night of 4-5 June 1814, and had him confined at Siguenza, pending criminal trial, until early April 1816, when he was allowed to continue to Madrid. In May 1818, Copons was appointed military and civil governor of Barcelona. Following the outbreak of the military uprising in January 1820 by

Rafael de 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 ...

against the absolutist rule of Ferdinand VII, Copons was relieved of his post in March 1820 and held in detention at the

Miraflores Charterhouse Miraflores Charterhouse ( es, Cartuja de Miraflores) is an Isabelline style charterhouse, or Carthusian monastery of the Order of the Carthusians, built on a hill (known as Miraflores) about three kilometres from the center of the Spanish city of ...

, in Burgos, before being expelled from Barcelona. In January 1821, he was appointed member of the Board of Advisors at the Ministry of War. In August 1822, Copons was appointed Captain general of New Castile, but he resigned the post less than a month later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copons y Navia, Francisco Spanish soldiers Spanish generals Spanish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Captains General of Catalonia 1764 births 1842 deaths