Antonio Barceló y Pont de la Terra (1 January 1717 – 30 January 1797) was a Spanish

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

and general admiral of the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

. Of humble origins, Barceló rose to admiral on military merits alone, an unusual event at his time. He was active against Barbary piracy and slave trade in the western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, adopting their tactics to counter them and serving himself as a pirate hunter for most of his career. He later developed extensively the usage of naval artillery and

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

s, leading to the creation of the '' fuerzas sutiles''.

Biography

He was the oldest of the five sons of Onofre Barceló, a small time

against the Muslim piracy that attacked the coasts of the western Mediterranean. Antonio started his career as a cabin boy in Onofre's xebec ''Santo Cristo de Santa Margarita'', eventually replacing Onofre as its captain, and added a job as a royal mail ship between

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 ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. With the Spanish Navy focused on the

War of Jenkins' Ear The War of Jenkins' Ear was fought by Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and History of Spain (1700–1808), Spain between 1739 and 1748. The majority of the fighting took place in Viceroyalty of New Granada, New Granada and the Caribbean ...

since 1739, Barceló and other privateers were recruited and received the official mission to prevent further piracy. Eventually he became lieutenant general of the Spanish Navy. He is also famous for his bombardments of

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

( Bombardment of Algiers in August 1783 and 2nd Bombardment of Algiers in July 1784) and use of

s during the Great Siege of Gibraltar. Antonio is also credited with putting sailors and ships under the patronage of the Virgin of Carmel and shifting away from the patronage of St. Elmo. Today, on the feast day of the Viring of Carmel, blessing of boats still takes place in many Spanish towns.

References

External links

College of the Theatine Fathers, the house where the Captain was born
1717 births 1797 deaths Spanish generals 18th-century Spanish military personnel Spanish admirals Spanish military personnel of the American Revolutionary War Spanish privateers Pirate hunters Military history of Gibraltar People from Palma de Mallorca {{Spain-mil-bio-stub

Biography

References

Further reading

External links