Carlos Palanca Gutiérrez (24 April 1819 – 16 June 1876) was a Spanish military commander and diplomat who reached the rank of field marshal. Born in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

to a merchant family, Palanca studied in France before joining the army in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

on 18 April 1839. He served in 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 Monarchy of Spain, Spanish monarchy: the conservative a ...

. He was stationed in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

in 1843–1844 and 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 ...

in 1844–1845. In 1852, he left again for Manila.Miguel Parrilla Nieto
"Palanca Gutiérrez, Carlos"
'' Diccionario Biográfico Español'' (Real Academia de la Historia, 2018), retrieved 2 September 2024. When France decided to launch a punitive expedition against Vietnam over the persecution of Christians in 1857, Spain placed an expeditionary force at its disposal, since the Spanish missionary bishop had been among the victims. Palanca was second in command. For his actions in the fighting, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and received the Légion d'Honneur from

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

. In 1859, he returned to Madrid. In 1860, he was appointed minister plenipotentiaty to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

to negotiate a peace treaty. In 1862, he was promoted to colonel. He signed the

Treaty of Saigon Treaty of Saigon may refer to: * Treaty of Saigon (1862), between France and Vietnam * Treaty of Saigon (1874), between France and Vietnam {{dab ...

on 5 June 1862, bringing the war to an end. Although France obtained

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...

, Palanca had been ordered not to negotiate for land, although he reported that he probably could have obtained a territorial concession.James W. Cortada, "Spain and Cochinchina, 1858–1863", ''Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali'' 42.3 67(1975): 392–398. Palanca continued to participate in mopping up operations into 1863, when he returned to Spain with the rank of brigadier. In 1864, he was sent to

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, where he contracted dysentery and had to recuperate in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

. From 1864 to 1865, he was against stationed in the Philippines. When he protested his posting in

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...

, he was imprisoned. The

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

of 1868 resulted in his release, promotion to field marshal and appointment as military governor of the

Province of Murcia The Region of Murcia (, ; ; ) is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Mediterranean coast. The region is in area and had a population of 1,511,251 as at the start of 2020. About a ...

. In 1868–1870, he was posted to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. In 1871, Palanca was named political governor and military commander of the Departamento Oriental in Cuba. In 1872–1873, he was . For his service during the

Ten Years' War The Ten Years' War (; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. On 10 October 1868, sugar mil ...

in Cuba, he received the

Cross of Military Merit The Cross of Military Merit () is Spain's military awards for gallantry or merit in war or peace and is awarded to members of the Spanish Armed Forces, Guardia Civil or civilians. History and attribution Established on 3 August 1864 by Queen ...

from the

First Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), historiographically referred to as the First Spanish Republic (), was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874. The Republic's founding ensued after the abdication of King ...

, which also appointed him Captain General of and . He was recalled to Madrid in 1874, where he wrote an article that offended the government, for which he was sentenced to house arrest. Through the intervention of

Joaquín Jovellar y Soler Joaquín Jovellar y Soler (28 December 1819 – 17 April 1892) was a Spanish general who served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 12 September 1875 to 2 December 1875 and governor and captain-general of the Philippines from 7 April 1883 to 1 A ...

, he was pardoned in 1875. In retirement, Palanca lived in

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 ...

. He visited

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. He died in Madrid. He published three books in his lifetime: ''Manual de voces de mando para las maniobras de infantería'' (Manila, 1854); ''Reseña histórica de la expedición de Cochinchina'' (Cartagena, 1869); and ''Tratado sobre colonias militares'' (Madrid, 1874).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palanca Gutierrez, Carlos 1819 births 1876 deaths People from Valencia Knights of the Legion of Honour People of the Cochinchina campaign People of the Dominican Restoration War People of the Ten Years' War