Gregorio García de la Cuesta y Fernández de Celis (9 May 1741 – 1811) was a prominent
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
general
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 ...
of 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 ...
.
Early career
Born in
La Lastra,
Cantabria
Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
, to a family of
petty nobles, Cuesta entered military service in 1758 as a member of the
Spanish Royal Guard
The Royal Guard ( es, Guardia Real) is an independent regiment of the Spanish Armed Forces that is dedicated to the protection of the King of Spain and members of the Spanish Royal Family. It currently has a strength of 1,500 troops. While the gu ...
s Regiment. He saw several successes as a
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 ...
during the
War of the Pyrenees in the years 1793 to 1795. On 20 December 1795, he led 8,000 Spanish and Portuguese in a successful attack in the
Battle of Collioure, capturing
Collioure,
Fort Saint-Elme and
Port-Vendres. Cuesta's force killed or captured 4,000 of the 5,000 defenders. He led a division under
José de Urrutia y de las Casas
José Ramón de Urrutia y de las Casas (19 November 1739 – 1 March 1803) was a Spanish captain general and military engineer.
Biography
He participated in the Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779 – 1783), the Russo-Turkish War, for which Catherine ...
at the successful
Battle of Bascara on 14 June 1795. His corps of 7,000 to 9,000 troops captured 1,500 Frenchmen at
Puigcerdà on 26 July. The following day, he fell upon and seized the town of Bellver with its 1,000-man French garrison. Unknown to Cuesta, both actions occurred after the
Peace of Basel
The Peace of Basel of 1795 consists of three peace treaties involving France during the French Revolution (represented by François de Barthélemy).
*The first was with Prussia (represented by Karl August von Hardenberg) on 5 April;
*The sec ...
had been signed on 22 July 1795. Political intrigues prevented further advancement until the turmoil of 1805 produced his appointment to
Commander in Chief of the Army of Castile.
Peninsular War
When war with
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
broke out in 1808, Cuesta was already 67 years old. He was at first reluctant to lead the insurgents who rose up in
Valladolid
Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...
but agreed after a
gallows
A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...
was erected outside his house and the indignant populace threatened to hang him.
His army was ramshackle, ill-trained and underequipped and his hastily recruited force of 5,000
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
stood little chance against the
Grande Armée of
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. It was heavily defeated at
Cabezón, forcing Cuesta's withdrawal from his seat of command at Valladolid.
Cuesta managed to combine what was left of his army with
Lieutenant General Blake's Army of Galicia but, pulling rank and insisting on a foolhardy march on Valladolid, left his new force vulnerable to a French counterattack. Paralyzed by disunity of command, the pair were defeated on 14 July at the
Battle of Medina de Rioseco
The Battle of Medina de Rioseco, also known as the Battle of Moclín, was fought during the Peninsular War on 14 July 1808 when a combined body of Spanish militia and regulars moved to rupture the French line of communications to Madrid. G ...
when Cuesta failed to close the gap between his troops and Blake's.
Negotiations with the
Central Junta led to Cuesta's brief promotion to
Commander-in-Chief of the
Spanish Army. In the absence of a military and political command structure, strategy and coordination with other Spanish forces proved impossible. He was soon sacked and arrested due to political machinating by his opponents.
Following the loss of
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
to Napoleon at the
Battle of Somosierra
The Battle of Somosierra took place on 30 November 1808, during the Peninsular War, when a combined Franco-Spanish- Polish force under the direct command of Napoleon Bonaparte forced a passage through a Spanish Divison stationed at the Si ...
the situation in Spain became more desperate and Cuesta was allowed to reconstitute the
Army of Extremadura in order to defend the southern frontier. In defiance of the military wisdom of the time Cuesta pursued an offensive as soon as he had constructed a fighting force. This met with success. In January and February 1809, all of
Badajoz
Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populatio ...
was reclaimed from the
French.
Cuesta was refused supplies and reinforcements until local authorities could review the appointments he had made to the army. As a result, a French offensive in the Spring annulled Cuesta's previous gains. On 26 March, Cuesta was badly wounded and trampled by cavalry, and his army savagely defeated, at the
Battle of Medellín. Like
Blücher after him, he continued fighting as a near-invalid.
Cuesta joined forces with the
British army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
under
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
. Relations with his British allies were difficult, Cuesta promising and then failing to supply the British troops more than once, much to Wellesley's irritation. Further difficulties arose in the aftermath of 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 a ...
. Though the Anglo-Spanish army won the costly battle, Wellington planned for a withdrawal to stop French General
Nicolas Soult
Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia, (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804 and often called Marshal Soult. Soult was one of only six officers in Frenc ...
and 30,000 troops cutting him off from Portugal. Cuesta refused to co-operate. Later, Wellington was furious when he heard that Cuesta abandoned the injured British soldiers Wellesley left in his care to the French as prisoners. More Spanish defeats followed as Cuesta attempted to fight the French without co-ordinating with his allies or attempting to gain prior advantage.
In 1810, Cuesta suffered a serious
stroke from which he died in retirement a year later. Cuesta's reputation was that of a hopelessly proud, arrogant, xenophobic, and reactionary
officer
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...
. While his personal bravery was never in question, Cuesta's reputation suffered during and after the war, due mainly to his limited understanding of the Spanish army's deficiencies but also his behaviour to fellow officers and allies. His arrogance led him to attempt to fight the veteran French army head on with several disastrous results.
Footnotes
References
*Chandler, David G. ''The Campaigns of Napoleon.'' New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
*Gates, David. ''The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War.'' Da Capo Press 2001.
* Smith, Digby. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill, 1998.
External links
A biography of Gregorio García de la Cuesta by Jose Manuel Rodriguez and Arsenio Garcia Fuentes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia de la Cuesta, Gregorio
1741 births
1811 deaths
People from the Saja and Nansa Valleys
Military personnel from Cantabria
Cantabrian nobility
Spanish untitled nobility
Spanish captain generals
Spanish generals
Spanish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars