Enrique José O'Donnell y Anatar, conde de La Bisbal or (English: Henry Joseph O'Donnell) (1769 – 17 May 1834) was a Spanish general of Irish descent who fought in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

Biography

O'Donnell was born in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

, a descendant of the Irish noble dynasty of

O'Donnell of Tyrconnell The O'Donnell dynasty ( or ''Ó Domhnaill,'' ''Ó Doṁnaill'' ''or Ua Domaill;'' meaning "descendant of Dónal") were the dominant Irish clan of the kingdom of Tyrconnell in Ulster in the north of History of Ireland (1169–1536), medieval an ...

who left Ireland after the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England and Sc ...

, A member of the branch of the family that settled in Austria, General Karl O'Donnell Count of Tyrconnell (1715–1771), held important commands during 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 ...

. His father was Joseph O'Donnell y O'Donnell (1722–1787), Colonel of the Spanish Infantry Regiment of Ireland, Lieutenant General of the Spanish Army, and his mother was Mariana de Anethan y Mareshal, of Luxemburg. Born in Spain, he early entered the Spanish army, fighting in 1793–1795 in the Convention War, and in 1810 became general, receiving a command in

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, where in that year he earned his title and the rank of field-marshal. While fighting against General Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, (1764–1830), he managed to enter the besieged

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

and move troops to

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. At the Battle of La Bisbal he defeated General

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, earning thus the title of Count of

La Bisbal LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

although he was wounded in a leg. In 1811 he was appointed Captain General of

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 ...

and from 22 January 1812 to 7 March 1813 he was one of the members of the III Council of Regency, taking part as a sort of shady patron in the revolt in Catalonia led by Captain General

Luis Roberto de Lacy Brigadier-General Luis Roberto de Lacy (11 January 1775 – 5 July 1817) was a Spanish professional soldier of Irish descent, who served in the Spanish and French Imperial armies. He played a prominent role in the 1808 to 1814 Spanish War of ...

( San Roque, executed by firing squad at the Castle of Bellver,

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 ...

, in 1817), and who was also descended from Irish-Spanish military people, and had tried to set up a Republic. He afterwards held posts of great responsibility under

Ferdinand VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

. During the

Liberal Triennium The , () or Three Liberal Years, was a period of three years in Spain between 1820 and 1823 when a liberal government ruled Spain after a military uprising in January 1820 by the lieutenant-colonel Rafael del Riego against the absolutist rule o ...

he supported the liberals despite his absolutist convictions, because he was against French intervention. The events of 1823 compelled his flight into France to

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where he was interned. When King Ferdinand VII of Spain died in 1834, O'Donnell died in

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on the way back to Spain.

Family

O'Donnell was the brother of Carlos O'Donnell y Mareschal, the father of general and politician

Leopoldo O'Donnell Leopoldo O'Donnell y Jorris, 1st Duke of Tetuán, GE (12 January 1809 – 5 November 1867), was a Spanish general and Grandee who was Prime Minister of Spain on several occasions. Early life He was born at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Cana ...

y Jorris (invested as

Duke of Tetuan Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ...

and

Count of Lucena {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Count of Lucena (''Condado de Lucena'') is a Spanish hereditary comital title conferred on General Leopoldo O'Donnell y Joris by Queen Isabella II of Spain, on 25 July 1847. It was granted to him after defeating c ...

),Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition states that

was the second son of Henry O'Donnell . and father of Lieutenant General of the Spanish Army Enrique O'Donnell y Jorris.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Henry Joseph, Count Of La Bisbal 1769 births 1834 deaths Spanish generals Counts of Bisbal Spanish people of Irish descent

Enrique Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk (Du ...

Wild Geese (soldiers) Spanish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars