Juan Domingo Pignatelli de Aragón y de Gonzaga, 6th VI Duke of Solferino, 19th Conde de Fuentes. Gómez de Olea y Bustinza, Javier; Pedro Moreno Meyerhoff (2007)
''Anales de la Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía''. Vol. X., pp. 223 (footnote 45), 226.
Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía. Retrieved 1 May 2023. (1762–1819) was a Spanish military commander.

Early career

After studying at the Real Seminario de Nobles de Madrid, Pignatelli enlisted in 1773 as a cadet in the Spanish Royal Guard (Guardias de Corps). In 1779 he was attached as colonel to the Montesa Cavalry Regiment, seeing action at Gibraltar. Gil Novales, Alberto (2010)
''Diccionario biográfico de España (1808-1833)'': P/Z, p. 2418.
Fundación Mapfre. Retrieved 1 May 2023. during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. In 1793, 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 ...

, he was promoted to field marshal and in 1795 appointed commander-in-chief of the coast of Santander (Comandante General de Toda la Costa de Santander). Pignatelli was appointed military governor of Zamora in 1801. He was promoted, in October 1802, to lieutenant general in the same promotion as other notable Spanish military commanders of the Spanish armies during the Peninsular War, including the

Duke of the Infantado Duke of the Infantado ( es, Duque del Infantado) is a Spanish peerage title that was granted to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y Figueroa, son of Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquis of Santillana, by the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon an ...

Manuel Lapeña Manuel Lapeña Rodríguez y Ruiz de Sotillo ( ''fl.'' 1808–1811), sometimes referred to as Lapeña, was a Spanish military officer who served during the Peninsular War (''Guerra de la Independencia Española'' – the Spanish War of Independence ...

, Juan Carrafa, Francisco Castaños, Francisco Taranco, Francisco Eguía, and

Arturo O'Neill Arturo O'Neill de Tyrone y O'Kelly (January 8, 1736 – December 9, 1814) was an Irish-born Spanish colonel who served the Spanish crown as governor of several places in New Spain. He came from a lineage that occupied prominent European posi ...

, among others.
''Gaceta de Barcelona'', no. 1750, p. 14. 6 October 1802.
''Hemeroteca Digital''.

Biblioteca Nacional de España The Biblioteca Nacional de España (''National Library of Spain'') is a major public library, the largest in Spain, and one of the largest in the world. It is located in Madrid, on the Paseo de Recoletos. History The library was founded by ...

. Retrieved 30 April 2023.

Peninsular War

1808

In May, Lieutenant general Pignatelli was still governor of Zamora. Gras y Esteva, Rafael

913 __NOTOC__ Year 913 ( CMXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * June 6 – Emperor Alexander III dies of exhaustion while playing ...

(2006)
''Zamora en Tiempo de la Guerra de la Independencia'', pp. 36, 82, 92, 114–115, 133 171–172.
''Google Books''. Retrieved 29 April 2023. and on 30 September, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Spanish forces in Old Castile. By mid-October, Pignatelli, based at Logroño, commanded the army of Castile, having substituted Eguia, who was ill. This was, by far, the largest division of Spain's Army of the centre, with 10,000 infantry, 1,500 cavalry, and 14 guns.

Napier Napier may refer to: People * Napier (surname), including a list of people with that name * Napier baronets, five baronetcies and lists of the title holders Given name * Napier Shaw (1854–1945), British meteorologist * Napier Waller (1893–19 ...

(1844)
''History of the War in the Peninsula'', Vol. 1, p. 91, 93, 98.
''Google Books''. Retrieved 29 April 2023.The other divisions were as follows: Grimarest: the second division of Andalusia, with 5,000; La Peña's 4th Division, with 5,000 infantry; the artillery, plus a division of infantry, at

Cintruénigo Cintruénigo is a Spanish town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. Situated in the Merindad de Tudela in the Ribera de Navarra, in the comarca of Tudela in the lower reaches of the Alham ...

; and the remainder 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 ...

and neighbouring villages. (Napier, 1844: p. 91.) Later that month,

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
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dismissed Pignatelli for having retreated from Logroño before

Ney The ''ney'' ( fa, Ney/نی, ar, Al-Nāy/الناي), is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in Persian music and Arabic music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. The ney has been played continually ...

's troops and abandoning all his guns at the foot of the mountains around

Nalda Nalda is a municipality of the autonomous community of La Rioja (Spain). It is located near the capital, Logroño. Its population in January 2006 was 1,074 inhabitants over a 24.6 square kilometre area. History The town was the scene of the ...

. His troops were redistributed among the divisions of Grimarest, La Peña, and Llamas,

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 Peninsular War'', Vol. I, pp. 385, 392–294.
''Project Gutenberg''. Retrieved 30 April 2023. and a brigade of six battalions under Cartaojal, which was then sent back and managed to recover the abandoned guns. In December, the Junta Suprema ordered Marquis de La Romana to dismiss Pignatelli from the post of captain general of Old Castile and to court-martial him for the "scandalous and cowardly abandonment of Valladolid and Avila". As it is not clear if La Romana received the order or if he decided not to act on it, the Junta repeated the order the following February.

1809

By the end of January Pignatelli, still captain general of Old Castile, had raised a new regiment, the Volunteers of Avila, which he sent to supplement the under-manned garrison at Ciudad Rodrigo.

(1903)
''A History of the Peninsular War'', Vol. II, p. 258, footnote 306.
''Project Gutenberg''. Retrieved 30 April 2023.

1810

In November, the Regency absolved Pignatelli, by then no longer governor of Zamora, of having abandoned Valladolid and Avila to their fate before the enemy.
''Gazeta de la Regencia de España e Indias del jeuves 22 de noviembre de 1810'', p. 933.
''

Boletín Oficial del Estado The ''Boletín Oficial del Estado'' (''BOE''; " en, Official State Gazette, label=none", from 1661 to 1936 known as the ''Gaceta de Madrid'', " en, Madrid Gazette, label=none") is the official gazette of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain and may be p ...

''. Retrieved 29 April 2023.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pignatelli, Juan 1757 births 1819 deaths People from the Kingdom of Sardinia Immigrants to Spain Spanish captain generals Spanish generals Spanish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars