José María Coppinger (April 5, 1773 – August 15, 1844) was a Spanish soldier who served in the infantry of the Royal Spanish Army ''(Ejército de Tierra)'' and governed

East Florida East Florida () was a colony of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of the Spanish Empire from 1783 to 1821. The British gained control over Spanish Florida in 1763 as part of the Treaty of Paris (1763), Tre ...

(1816–1821) and several areas in Cuba including Pinar Del Río,

Bayamo Bayamo is the capital city of the Granma Province of Cuba and one of the largest cities in the Oriente region. Overview The community of Bayamo lies on a plain by the Bayamo River. It is affected by the violent Bayamo wind. One of the mos ...

, the ''Cuatro Villas'' (the towns of Trinidad, Santo Espiritu, Villa Clara, San Juan de los Remedios) and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

at various times between 1801 and 1834. He was also a member of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Ferdinand and San Hermenegildo.

Biography

Family

José María Lopez de Gamarra y Coppinger was born in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

on April 5, 1773, and baptized on April 18 at the Cathedral of Havana. He was the son of Cornelius Coppinger y O'Brien and María de los Dolores López de Gamarra y Hernández Arturo. His father was of Irish origin and engaged in the slave trade, fleeing Ireland because he had hidden a priest in the family house, which was considered treasonous at the time. After immigrating to Spain, Cornelius Coppinger became a naturalized Spanish citizen in 1767. The Cornelius Coppinger family was of successful merchant,

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

, property owner, and civil official origin. His mother was Cuban but her family was originally from

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, having immigrated to Cuba in the 17th century. She was the daughter of Francisco López Gamarra y Ayala, a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

of the

Real Audiencia A ''Real Audiencia'' (), or simply an ''Audiencia'' (), was an appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as Royal Audience. The additional designation ''chancillería'' (or ''cancillería'', Catala ...

, Spain's supreme Court in Havana, and accountant of the Royal Treasury. Coppinger's family was Roman Catholic, the faith in which he was raised. He was the second of four sons.

Career

Coppinger joined the

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 ...

in his youth, attaining the rank of captain. In 1797, he was made Captain of the

Regiment of Hibernia The Regimiento ''Hibernia'' (Hibernia Regiment) was one of the Spanish army's foreign regiments (''infantería de línea extranjera''). Known by many in Spain as "O'Neill's Regiment", it was formed in 1709. Serafín María de Sotto, 3rd Count of ...

and ''Ayudante Mayor'' (Adjutant Commander) of the Second Battalion. In 1801 he became

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 (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

and the military governor of the third largest province in Cuba,

Pinar Del Rio Pinar may refer to: * Pınar, Turkish feminine given name * Píñar, municipality located in the province of Granada, Spain * Pinar del Río, a city of Cuba * Pinar del Río Province The Pinar del Río Province is one of the 15 provinces of Cu ...

, previously known as Nueva Filipinas (New Philippines), and the town of

. Later, in 1814, he was appointed governor and ''Capitán a Guerra'' (a chief magistrate invested with military power) of the ''Cuatro Villas'' of Cuba (the towns of Trinidad, Santo Espiritu, Villa Clara, and San Juan de los Remedios). Colonel Coppinger left this position on January 6, 1816, when he was appointed governor of

to replace Governor Kindelán. That same month he moved to the provincial capital,

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

. In this year, Coppinger sold what is now called Sibbald, a tract of 16,000 acres of timberland between the Trout River and Six Mile Creek, to Charles F. Sibbald of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and on April 16, 1819, he sold another 200 acres at Sondag's Bluff to Isabela Higginbottom. During Coppinger's tenure, the Nassau-St. Mary's region north of St. Augustine was divided into the regions of Nassau, Upper St. Marys, and Lower St. Marys, with magistrates courts and militia in each. This system ensured minimal complaint from the region to authorities in St. Augustine. Coppinger held this post until July 10, 1821, when Spain ceded Florida to the United States and Coppinger handed over St. Augustine to Colonel Robert Butler, making him the last Spanish governor of the province. Coppinger's superiors had previously sent him confidential instructions, which he received on June 8, to issue orders for the evacuation of the Spanish population of St. Augustine and the rest of East Florida to move them to Cuba,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The situation was similar to that faced by the former Spanish governor

Melchor Feliú Melchor Feliú (?-1766) was the last governor in the First Spanish Period of Florida's history, governing from March 20, 1762 to July 27, 1763. Feliú oversaw the cession of Florida to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris on July 21, 1763 and th ...

in 1763, who also ordered an evacuation when Florida was ceded to Great Britain with the Spanish defeat in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. The citizens who immigrated to Cuba in 1821 acquired (or already owned) houses and farmlands on the northeastern coast of Cuba or at the Bay of Pigs. Coppinger also tried to persuade the

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

chiefs to move their tribespeople to Texas, and ordered that the U.S. flag be flown at the same level as the Spanish flag. On January 28, 1825, Coppinger relieved General Francisco Lemaur of command of the fortress complex of

San Juan de Ulúa San Juan de Ulúa, now known as Castle of San Juan de Ulúa, is a large complex of fortresses, prisons and one former palace on an island of the same name in the Gulf of Mexico overlooking the seaport of Veracruz, Mexico. Juan de Grijalva' ...

in Mexico. In the battle fought there during the attempted Spanish reconquest of Mexico, Coppinger, the last commander of the fortress, finally capitulated on November 21, 1825, after an epidemic of scurvy broke out among the Spanish troops. In 1834, Coppinger was appointed governor of Trinidad province in the central part of Cuba, an office he occupied until 1837. He spent his last days in Cuba, where he died on August 15, 1844, in Cárdenas.

Personal life

José María Coppinger married María Josefa Saravia y Villegas in Cuba, in the Parish of Santo Christo del Buen Viaje in Havana on July 11, 1797. They had four children: María de la Trinidad, José María, José Cornelius and María Antonia. His second marriage was to Narcisa Armenteros y Muñoz. Coppinger's descendants still live in Cuba and (after the overthrow of

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...

and

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

's assuming power) Florida.

References

External links

Osceola's Legacy
by Patricia Riles Wickman. {{DEFAULTSORT:Coppinger, Jose Maria 1773 births 1844 deaths Royal governors of La Florida 19th-century Cuban politicians Cuban people of Irish descent Cuban people of Spanish descent