José Pons de Ojeda (1816 – July 18, 1866), later known as León de Pallejas, was a Uruguayan general of Spanish origin who participated 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 ...

, the

Argentine Civil Wars The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place in the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Beginning concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1818), the conflict prevente ...

and the

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War (, , ), also known as the War of the Triple Alliance (, , ), was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It wa ...

Biography

Pallejas was born as the son of Manuel Pons de Palleja who was a surgeon in 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 ...

and María de los Reyes de Ojeda. He fought in the

on the side of Carlos María Isidro de Borbón.José de Pons y Ojeda , Real Academia de la Historia
/ref> When the

Carlists Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855), on the Spanish throne. The ...

were defeated, he changed his name and fled to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, from where he emigrated to

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. He worked as a merchant in

Paysandú Paysandú () is the capital and most populous city of the Paysandú Department in western Uruguay. Located on the banks of the Uruguay River, it is the country's List of cities in Uruguay, fourth-largest city and a vital cultural and economic hu ...

, but when

Manuel Oribe Manuel Ceferino Oribe y Viana (August 26, 1792 – November 12, 1857) was the 2nd Constitutional president of Uruguay and founder of Uruguay's National Party, the oldest Uruguayan political party and considered one of the two Uruguayan "tr ...

returned to Uruguay in 1842 , after the Battle of Arroyo Grande, he accompanied the withdrawal of Fructuoso Rivera's supporters to

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, and joined the Colorado Party. Curiously, he served a year as a private and only later did he present himself to General

José María Paz Brigadier General José María Paz y Haedo (September 9, 1791 – October 22, 1854) was an Argentine military figure, notable in the Argentine War of Independence and the Argentine Civil Wars. Childhood Born in Córdoba, Argentina, the son ...

, identifying himself as a career officer. In the defense against the

Great Siege of Montevideo The Great Siege of Montevideo (), named as ''Sitio Grande'' in Uruguayan historiography, was the siege suffered by the city of Montevideo between 1843 and 1851 during the Uruguayan Civil War.Walter Rela (1998). Uruguay: República Oriental de ...

, he began to show his qualities, recognized by his own and enemies: courage, ability to command and cruelty. He was well liked by his soldiers, whom he treated almost as equals. He was then promoted to the rank of colonel. He joined the campaign of the Ejército Grande of

Justo José de Urquiza Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860. Life Justo José de Urquiza y García was bor ...

against

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rozas y López de Osornio (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confedera ...

and fought in the

Battle of Caseros The Battle of Caseros (; ) was fought near the town of El Palomar, Argentina, on 3 February 1852, between forces of the Argentine Confederation, commanded by Juan Manuel de Rosas, and a coalition consisting of the Argentine provinces of Entre ...

as head of the " Voltígeros" battalion. He was the first to enter

El Palomar de Caseros EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

, where the Rosas forces hospital had been organized. Because Rosas's soldiers in the hospital were unaware of the surrender of their superiors, killing the platoon that showed up to receive the surrender, he ordered the wounded in the hospital to be killed with a bayonet. When the senior surgeon Claudio Mamerto Cuenca tried to dissuade him, he pierced him with his sword. Back in

, he seconded General César Díaz in the revolution that overthrew President

Juan Francisco Giró Juan Francisco José Giró Zufriategui (June 3, 1791, Montevideo – May 8, 1863) was a Uruguayan politician and the President of Uruguay from 1852 until 1853. He was deposed by a military mutiny in September 1853 by one of the Colorado party ...

in July 1853. He supported the new president,

Venancio Flores Venancio Flores Barrios (18 May 1808 – 19 February 1868) was a Uruguayan political leader and general who served as President of Uruguay from 1854 to 1855 (interim) and from 1865 to 1868. Background and early career In 1839, he was made polit ...

, and withdrew when he was overthrown. He dedicated himself to rural tasks in his stay in the

Durazno Department Durazno (; ) is a Departments of Uruguay, department of Uruguay. Its capital is Durazno. Its name means ''"peach"'' in Spanish language, Spanish, referring to the department's peaches and its status as an agricultural breadbasket. It is located i ...

. When Venancio Flores invaded the country in 1863, President Bernardo Prudencio Berro had Pallejas imprisoned as a possible ally of Flores. He was released after the fall of Berro and formed the "Florida" battalion, with which he marched to the

. While privately opposed to that war, he led his battalion very effectively. He was a very cruel leader to enemies, although there were times when he was even too lenient. He was considered insensitive to his own sufferings. He was friendly with his subordinates, even his soldiers, but in battle he transformed and demanded the maximum: he yelled and insulted his subordinates, and exposed himself to unnecessary risks. On one occasion he sent the band of his regiment to the rear. When told that this violated the Regulations, he replied: "In order to die, you don't need regulations." From the front he sent sixty letters to the Montevideo newspapers, which became one of the key sources of historical information for the war. He fought under the orders of Flores in the

Battle of Yatay In the Paraguayan War, the Battle of Yatay was fought on August 17, 1865, between the troops of the Treaty of the Triple Alliance, Triple Alliance (Argentina, Empire of Brazil, Brazil and Uruguay) and the soldiers of Paraguay near Paso de los L ...

, in the

Siege of Uruguaiana The siege of Uruguaiana was an engagement in the Paraguayan War that began in late August 1865, and ended on 18 September that year when the Paraguayans were forced to surrender due to low food supplies. Paraguayan forces surrendered in spite ...

, in Estero Bellaco and in the bloody victory of

Tuyutí Tuyutí (), "white mud" in guaraní, is a marsh with a pond located in the southwest corner of Paraguay. It became famous during the Paraguayan War, while the allied army bivouacked on it for two years. The Battle of Tuyutí in 1866 was the bigge ...

. In the

Battle of Boquerón A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

he repeated his exploits, but was killed during the battle. A photo of him from a few days before that battle is preserved, and of his soldiers moving his body, both obtained by the photographers . He was promoted post mortem to the rank of general.

References

Bibliography

*Zenequelli, Lilia: ''Chronicle of a war, The Triple Alliance''. Ed. Dunken, Bs. As., 1997. *Arteaga, Juan José and Coolighan, María Luisa: ''Historia del Uruguay'', Ed. Barreiro y Ramos, Montevideo, 1992. *Cutolo, Vicente: ''New Argentine Biographical Dictionary'', Volume 7, Ed. Elche, Bs. As., 1968-1985. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pallejas, León de 1816 births 1866 deaths Uruguayan National Army generals 19th-century Spanish military personnel Military personnel of the First Carlist War Spanish emigrants to Uruguay Carlists Military personnel from Seville Colorado Party (Uruguay) politicians Uruguayan military personnel of the Paraguayan War