Francisco Javier Girón, 2nd Duke of Ahumada (11 March 1803 - 18 December 1869) was a Spanish Army officer known for being the founder of the Civil Guard and its first

director-general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...

Biography

Family

Girón was born in an important military-aristocratic family, the House of Girón, an ancient family that dates back to the 12th century. Girón was the son of

Pedro Agustín Girón Pedro Agustín Girón y de Las Casas, 1st Duke of Ahumada, 4th Marquess of the Amarillas (1778–1842) was a Spanish military officer and politician. The son of a general, he fought against the French during the French Revolutionary Wars. Dur ...

, 1st Duke of Ahumada and 4th Marquess of Amarillas. He was also a descendant of Pedro Téllez-Girón, better known as Pedro Girón, Master of the

Order of Calatrava The Order of Calatrava ( es, Orden de Calatrava, pt, Ordem de Calatrava) was one of the four Spanish military orders and the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Orde ...

between 1445 and 1466. On the maternal side, he also belonged to a noble family traditionally linked to arms. His mother was Concepción Ezpeleta Enrile, who was the daughter of General José Manuel de Ezpeleta, 1st Count of Ezpeleta de Beire, who was Viceroy of Navarre and Viceroy of New Granada. On behalf of his father, Girón was nephew of

Luis de las Casas y Aragorri Luis de las Casas y Aragorri (Sopuerta, Spain, 25 August 1745 – Puerto de Santa María, 19 July 1800) was Spanish Governor of Cuba and the Commander in Chief of the Province of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La L ...

Governor-General of Cuba This is a list of colonial heads of Cuba. Dates in italics indicate ''de facto'' continuation of office. For continuation after independence ''see'' List of presidents of Cuba. See also * List of governors of Provincia de Santiago de Cuba * ...

and Captain-General of

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, ...

and grandson of

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 O ...

. On the other hand, he was also a descendant of the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II, on the part of the mother of his paternal grandfather Jerónimo Girón y Moctezuma, 3rd Marquess of the Amarillas. Likewise, on the mother's side, he was nephew of the José María Ezpeleta, 7th Marquess of Montehermoso, Fermín Ezpeleta and Joaquín Ezpeleta, all of them politicians and military, and nephew of Pascual Enrile y Alcedo,

Governor-General of the Philippines The Governor-General of the Philippines (Spanish: ''Gobernador y Capitán General de Filipinas''; Filipino: ''Gobernador-Heneral ng Pilipinas/Kapitan Heneral ng Pilipinas''; Japanese: ) was the title of the government executive during the colo ...

. Finally, he was the great-grandson of Jerónimo Enrile y Guerci, director of the General Asiento in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

and 1st Marquess of Casa Enrile, and great-grandson of Simon de Aragorri y Olavide, a wealthy banker of French-Spanish origin who was

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

during the reign of Carlos III and key man in the Court of Madrid, according to impressions of

Alexander Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister ...

during his trip to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1799.

Military career

The Spanish uprising against the French invasion led his father to the battlefield, where he would achieve honors and fame fighting Napoleon's troops. Girón remained in the house of his paternal grandfather, Jerónimo Girón y Moctezuma. With such family, Girón entered in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

very soon, at the age of 12. Girón was against the uprising of General

Rafael del 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 ...

in 1820 and that forced him to go to exile during the Liberal Triennium. After the restoration of absolutism in 1823, he came back from exile. In 1829 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assigned to

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. In 1831 he reached the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

—which supposed a double family joy, because said rise coincided with that of his father to

captain general Captain general (and its literal equivalent in several languages) is a high military rank of general officer grade, and a gubernatorial title. History The term "Captain General" started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of Comma ...

—, and in 1834 he was promoted to

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

. Under the orders of General Narváez he takes part in almost all the clashes that take place in Castile and

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

between the government army and the supporters of Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, brother of

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 ...

and uncle, therefore, of Isabel II. After the

First Carlist War The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833 to 1840, the first of three Carlist Wars. It was fought between two factions over the succession to the throne and the nature of the Spanish monarchy: the conservative and devolutionist ...

, his merits were recognized in campaign and loyalty to the Queen with the promotion to field marshal and the appointment as Military Inspector-General. In 1842, when his father died, he assumed the titles of Marquess of the Amarillas, inherited from his grandfather, and of Duke of Ahumada, granted to his father by the Queen Governor,

Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies ( it, Maria Cristina Ferdinanda di Borbone, Principessa delle Due Sicilie, es, link=no, María Cristina de Borbón, Princesa de las Dos Sicilias; 27 April 1806 – 22 August 1878) was Queen of Spain from 182 ...

Civil Guard

On April 15, 1844, the government led by

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Luis González Bravo Luis González Bravo y López de Arjona (8 July 1811, in Cádiz, Spain – 1 September 1871, in Biarritz, France) was a Spanish politician, diplomat, intellectual, speaker, author, arts mentor and promoter, and journalist graduated from law s ...

entrusted him with the task of organizing a new law enforcement corp, the Civil Guard. The Duke was chosen because of his fame of an orderly person with an extraordinary capacity for work and meticulousness. The Duke dedicated all his forces to create an effective police corp under the principles of courage, discipline, rigid instruction, dedication to others and subordination to established power. The Duke of Ahumada was Director-General of the Civil Guard (at that time called Inspector-General) between 1844 and 1854 and from 1856 to 1858.

Last years

The Duke entered in politics in 1844, being elected senator from Córdoba from 1844 to 1846 and from 1861 to 1862. During 1845 to 1846 Girón was life senator. In November 1846 he was 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 ...

and was named Commander-General of the Alabarderos Company of the

Royal Guard A royal guard is a group of military bodyguards, soldiers or armed retainers responsible for the protection of a royal person, such as the emperor or empress, king or queen, or prince or princess. They often are an elite unit of the regular arm ...

. In possession of the most important decorations, obtained during a military career of more than half a century, the 2nd Duke of Ahumada and 5th Marquess of the Amarillas, died in

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 ...

on December 18, 1869.

References

{{Authority control 1803 births 1869 deaths Civil Guard (Spain) Spanish army officers Recipients of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Recipients of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Grand Crosses of the Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegild Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand Military personnel of the First Carlist War Members of the Senate of Spain