José María Fernández de Córdoba y Rojas (also José de Córdoba) (6 April 1774 in

San Fernando, Cádiz San Fernando (, "Saint Ferdinand") is a town in the Cádiz (province), province of Cádiz, Spain. It is home to more than 97,500 inhabitants. The city also uses the name "''La Isla''" (The Island). The people from San Fernando are locally known as ...

– 15 December 1810 in

Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Potosí Department, Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the list of highest cities in the world, highest cities in the wo ...

), was a Spanish military who played an important role in the early stages of the

Argentine War of Independence The Argentine War of Independence () was a secessionist civil war (until 1816) fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli, Martín Miguel de Güemes, Martin Miguel de Guemes and José de ...

. He was the son of

José de Córdoba y Ramos José de Córdoba y Ramos (September 26, 1732 – April 3, 1815) was a Spanish Navy officer and explorer who sailed around the world and fought in several battles of the French Revolutionary Wars. Biography Born into a family of sailors, he w ...

, a vice admiral and commander of the Spanish fleet, who was defeated at the

Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797) The Battle of Cape St. Vincent was a fleet action fought on 14 February 1797 between the British and Spanish navies off Cape St. Vincent as part of the War of the First Coalition. In one of the opening battles of the recently declared war be ...

and who was consequently dismissed from service. José also served in the Spanish Navy and fought against the French (

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts and the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by forces of the French Re ...

) and British. In 1801, he travelled as frigate captain to the

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires ( or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or ) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was ...

. There, he distinguished himself in repelling the

British invasions of the River Plate The British invasions of the River Plate were two unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colony of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, located around the Río de la Plata in South America – in present-day Argenti ...

in 1806 and 1807. In 1809 he entered the Army as major general under the orders of Vicente Nieto. In 1809 he was sent north to suppress the

Chuquisaca Revolution The Chuquisaca Revolution was a popular uprising on 25 May 1809 against Ramón García de León y Pizarro, Governor-intendant of the Intendancy of Chuquisaca (or Charcas) (today Sucre, Bolivia). The Real Audiencia of Charcas, with support fro ...

. Córdoba and Nieto remained in the Charcas area, at the request of

José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa, 1st Marquess of Concordia, KOS (), (sometimes spelled ''Souza'') (June 3, 1743 in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain – June 30, 1821 in Madrid) was a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator in America. Fr ...

, Viceroy of Peru. Here they learned from the

May Revolution The May Revolution () was a week-long series of events that took place from 18 to 25 May 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

and the approach of the

Army of the North The Army of the North (), contemporaneously called Army of Peru (), was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was freeing the Argentine Northwest a ...

. Nieto and Córdoba moved their army south and defeated the rebels in the Battle of Cotagaita. But on 7 November 1810 Nieto and Córdoba were decisively defeated in the Battle of Suipacha and taken prisoner. They were condemned to death and executed in Potosi.

Marriage and Children

He married María de la Paz Rodríguez de Valcárcel y O'Conrry and had at least 2 sons; *

Luis Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

, general, diplomat and Marquis of Mendigorría *

Fernando Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...

, military, politician, and Prime minister of Spain for one day {{DEFAULTSORT:Cordoba y Rojas, Jose Royalists in the Hispanic American Revolution 1774 births 1810 deaths Spanish people executed abroad 19th-century executions by Argentina Executed military leaders People from San Fernando, Cádiz People executed by Argentina by firing squad Spanish military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars People from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata