Pedro Caro Sureda, 3rd Marquis of La Romana (2 October 1761 – 23 January 1811) was a

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

officer and nobleman who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. His two younger brothers, José Caro Sureda,. Martín-Lanuza, Alberto
"José Caro Sureda".

Real Academia de la Historia The Royal Academy of History (, RAH) 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 different branches of life, of c ...

. Retrieved 4 August 2023. and Juan Caro Sureda. Isabel Sánchez, José Luis
"Juan Caro Sureda". ''Diccionario Biográfico electrónico'' (''DB~e'').

. Retrieved 4 August 2023. also served in the Spanish army during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

Biography

Early career

Born at

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

to a family of Balearic

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

, La Romana was educated in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, France. His education was classical; he read Greek and Latin, as well as speaking French and English. He entered the Seminario de Nobles in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and later studied at the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

.. Casinello Pérez, Andrés
"Pedro Caro Sureda". ''Diccionario Biográfico electrónico'' (''DB~e'').

. Retrieved 28 April 2023. Like many Spanish officers of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, La Romana served in 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

in his youth. After entering the military academy in 1775, he reached the rank of

frigate captain Frigate captain is a naval rank in the naval forces of several countries. Corvette captain lies one level below frigate captain. It is usually equivalent to the Commonwealth/US Navy rank of commander. Countries using this rank include Argenti ...

in 1791. He saw action at Minorca (1781) and at Gibraltar (1782). In 1793, La Romana transferred to the Infantry Regiment "Inmemorial del Rey" No. 1, serving under his uncle, General Ventura Caro. He saw action in the

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

, part of the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition () was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI, constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French First Republic, Frenc ...

, and was promoted to field marshal in 1794. He then transferred to the Army of Catalonia, serving first under the orders of Luis Firmín de Carvajal, Conde de la Unión and, following Carvajal's death at Black Mountain (1794), under Urrutia. Following the signing of 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 s ...

(1795) he was promoted to lieutenant general for his services during that campaign. In 1800 he was appointed

Captain General of Catalonia The office of Captain General of Catalonia (; ) was created in 1713 by the Nueva Planta decrees of King Philip V of Spain to replace that of Viceroy of Catalonia. List of Captains General of Catalonia Under Philip V Under Ferdinand VI ...

. King Charles IV, bullied and pressured by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, agreed in 1807 to provide a veteran infantry division to bolster the

Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. La Romana was given command of this

Division of the North The Division of the North () was a Spanish division, made up of fourteen battalions of infantry and five regiments of cavalry, "all completed to war strength", Oman, Charles (1902)''A History of the Peninsular War'', Vol. I, pp. 367, 374–375. ...

and spent 1807 and 1808 performing garrison duties in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and later

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

under Marshal Bernadotte.

Peninsular War

When the

broke out, La Romana was approached by the British who offered to evacuate his men to Spain. At least 9,000 men of the 15,000-strong division were able to board

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

ships on 27 August and return to Spain. Their defection reduced Bernadotte's Hanseatic Army to a string of glorified coastal garrisons, severely sapping Napoleon's left (north) wing in the contest with Austria for mastery over central Europe in 1809. La Romana arrived at Santander on the

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

n front and received command of the Army of Galicia on 11 November. This army, under General Blake, suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Espinosa that same day. With this force, La Romana fought some rearguard actions for General John Moore's retreat westwards to Corunna. Using his limited means, La Romana conducted small-scale attacks against the French in 1809. These met with success and his men were able to distract the French and overwhelm isolated garrisons such as Villafranca. Following the French defeat at Puente Sanpayo on 6 June, Marshal

Soult Marshal General of France, Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as P ...

abandoned his attempts to reestablish French rule in Galicia. When Soult moved against the British on the Portuguese frontier, La Romana drove the French from

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

as well. La Romana was appointed to the Central Junta on 29 August and served until 1810. He then returned to military operations under

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

but died suddenly on 23 January 1811 while preparing the relief of

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

. With Castaños, La Romana was the Spanish general most trusted and respected by Wellington. At the news of his death, Wellington wrote, "his loss is the greatest which the cause could sustain."Longford, p. 309.

Gallery

The Marquis of La Romana owned eleven paintings by Goya, of which nine have survived.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * Longford, Elizabeth (1969). ''Wellington: The Years of the Sword''. New York: Harper and Row Publishers. {{DEFAULTSORT:Caro y Sureda, Pedro 1761 births 1811 deaths People from Palma de Mallorca Spanish captain generals Spanish generals Spanish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Marquesses of Romana University of Salamanca alumni Captains General of Catalonia